The Author's Will

54 | Mirrored Blades

He paused for a moment, glancing up to observe her reaction. Irene wore a look of nonchalance, but her eyes weren't piercing or as angered as he thought she would be. Instead, there was a look of relief in them.

Holding her stern gaze, Ivan apologised with sincerity. He bowed his head and clenched his hands - which were sweating from how nervous he was.

"I won't be like that again! I promise I'll grow into someone who never spouts such rude words about others, and I'll support Prince Mikael from now on, too!" He exclaimed, and Irene noticed his ears turning red. "I apologised to him earlier and he forgave me... But it wouldn't have felt right if I didn't make things up to you, too."

Irene was silent for a moment, staring blankly at the bowing boy in front of her. She didn't know what happened to the immense pride he once had, but Ivan was a much gentler person than she thought. The more she looked at him, the more she realised he and Haren may have been more similar than expected. With a small sigh, Irene gently reached a hand up to the boy in front of her and tapped his shoulder lightly.

"What are you doing, apologising that hard to a little girl like me?" She sighed, and when he stood upright again, his amber eyes were glistening like gems.

"You're not still mad...?"

Shaking her head, Irene offered him a warm smile. "How can I be, when you worked hard all this time, trying to fix things?" She reached a hand up to pet his head, and although the boy was a bit taller than her, she managed to gently ruffle his perfect hair.

"You're a bit of an idiot, but you apologised. That means you're a good person who knows when they did something wrong. So you're forgiven." She smiled.

Ivan looked like he was about to cry, with his big eyes swelling with water, and his lips quivering a little bit. He was adorable when he looked guilty, even Irene couldn't help but feel her chest warm up by looking at his vivacious face. Ivan was so unnecessarily beautiful, it didn't even look bad when he scrunched his face up to withhold his tears.

"Ah, we should head back into the hall now - before they start wondering where we are." Irene smiled, taking Ivan's hand and glancing up at Snow, who randomly appeared overhead just to check up on her. The Phoenix took the hint that he needed to lead her back, and quickly flew over the maze to work out the way out.

As the two children walked in silence, Ivan wondered how the girl even knew how to get out of here, but didn't ask anything. Rather, his mind was occupied by something else. There were still some things he needed to say.

"Irene..." He then stopped, and she turned to face him with confusion in her cherubic face. Her little hand was so warm, and those large, round eyes were like pools of melted gold. The more he looked at her, the prettier she grew.

Ivan blushed faintly as he gazed at Irene's face, and she tilted her head a little in question. "What's wrong?" She asked, realising he had something on his mind.

A hesitant look crossed his visage, and Ivan broke his gaze away for a moment. But it was quickly overtaken by a look of resolve. The boy tightened his hand around Irene's — and then faced her with a strong gaze.

"You see... I'll be leaving Laydel with Haren, to attend school at the Pedillion Academy. So... I won't be seeing you for a really long time," he explained. "In order for me to become worthy of inheriting my family's name... I'll work hard to become someone who benefits the empire. I hope you'll wait for me, until then."

Pedillion Academy... It sounded familiar, and Irene instantly remembered what he was talking about. It was an esteemed educational institution — the only one of its kind in the entire continent, in fact. Located in the southern country of Argenia, the school was renowned for raising students of high-class and sometimes royal background, from all over the world.