Chapter 33

“Yurina.”

In Yurina’s arms, he hugged her back tightly, as if he was trying to lock her in his arms forever.

“I missed you.”

He whispered with his face buried in the crook of Yurina’s neck. The unfamiliar feeling of his hot breath pouring over her sensitive neck made Yurina flinch away in his arms.

She didn’t mean to try and pull away, but Raynald pulled her waist a little harder, perhaps because he interpreted it differently.

“I’ve missed you so much.”

Raynald took a deep breath through his nose as if he was inhaling her scent. Yurina closed her eyes as she heard his breathing get deeper.

Everything was strange.

Unfamiliar place, unfamiliar face, unfamiliar height, unfamiliar voice, unfamiliar speech, unfamiliar arms.

Five years had been so long that Yurina couldn’t find a trace of the fierce 13-year-old child she knew.

That’s why it felt awkward to reunite with him, even though she thought she would have been ecstatic to see him.

But in her unfamiliarity, she was able to find one similar thing that she remembered.

The comforting warmth that soothed her both five years ago and now.

The face of 13-year-old Raynald, who was arrogantly smiling and claiming he would become a wizard and surpass Dave, appeared in her mind. A small smile came to her face as she closed her eyes and enjoyed his body temperature.

Yurina gently hugged him back, where hard muscles were now felt instead of his previously boney frame.

“I missed you too, Ray.”

It was their first reunion in five years.

* * *

Raynald rushed out of the academy, ignoring Aiden who constantly followed him around, and ran to the stable and mounted his horse.

Aiden, who had learned sword fighting and horse riding from his father, Baron Tessie, taught Raynald to fight and ride over the last five years. Horse riding was now as easy as breathing for him.

He left the academy and headed for the border between the Empire and the Kingdom.

The letter did not contain details, but there was only one checkpoint where Yurina, a noble lady, could safely cross the border with a large group of escorts. Thanks to this point, it was not difficult to predict the path Yurina would take.

“I wish I could see you…….”

When he thought of it, he must’ve been insane. Here he was, recklessly rushing to the border because he wanted to see her a bit sooner, no matter if the path he took was wrong or if the timing was off.

Despite knowing all this, he couldn’t stop himself from running to Yurina. She was coming to see him. He could no longer idly listen to Aiden’s loud chatter at the Academy.

Raynald rode carelessly, comparing the date Yurina wrote in her letter to the time she would reach the river by carriage. Fortunately, he could get to the border before her.

But just in case, he could arrive at the border even sooner by using space-movement magic from time to time and even enhancing his horse’s speed.

‘They haven’t arrived.’

Only after confirming that the Carthian carriage had not crossed the border could he relax and release the tension in his body.

One, two, three days.

After waiting a time that felt longer than five years, he could finally see a carriage with the crest of the Carthia family crossing the bridge from afar.

His heart beat harder than even when he rode his horse nonstop.

At first, he tried to wait until she exited the inn she was staying at. He thought she would definitely come outside to wash up and dine after a long trip.

However, let alone a long wait, he was impatient to see even Dave or just another member of the Carthia family. His hands trembled with anticipation.

Eventually, Raynald headed to Yurina’s room despite the impoliteness.

“Who, who are you?”

Betsy, who he hadn’t seen for a long time, still had the same face except she seemed much shorter now. Raynald was about to say hello to that familiar face, but then he caught a glimpse of someone behind Betsy.

Pink-blond hair, fair skin that shone from afar, a slender build, and a hesitant expression, as if guarding against an intruder.

Yurina Carthia. He couldn’t believe he was looking at her despite her being right in front of his eyes.

He needed to hold her with his own hands to confirm her existence. Thus, Raynald instinctively tried walking into the room without re-introducing himself Betsy.

“I asked you who you are! No, wait a minute! You can’t come in!”

After hearing Betsy’s sharp voice, he came to his senses and glanced at her. Seeing his red eyes, Betsy’s brown eyes widened.

Her mouth opened and closed as if she was trying to say something, but eventually she couldn’t say anything and moved sideways to get out of the way.

As a result, Raynald approached Yurina with no obstacles in his way. Yurina, who ran to the corner of her room to hide like prey being stalked by a predator, looked at him with her eyes full of vigilance.

Raynald was confused.

‘Was this actually Yurina?’

The girl standing in front of him was much cuter and prettier than the 15-year-old Yurina he had imagined. In particular, the blue eyes were framed by long lashes and glistened as if they were wet from rain.

Maybe that’s why. Unlike his impulsive visit, he hesitated moving closer to Yurina.

“Ray?”

However, as soon as his name left her mouth, he could no longer control his urge. Raynald hugged Yurina in his arms.

‘How small.’

The last time he saw her, Yurina was only a bit smaller than him. If they held each other in a hug, no one could tell who was hugging whom.

But now, no matter how he looked at it, she was the one in his arms.

Her neck, shoulder line, and waist were all more slender than he imagined. He couldn’t hug her tightly, fearing she just might shatter like a glass doll if he applied just a bit more force in his hug.

The way she leaned her forehead on his shoulder, while she wiggled in his arms, was so cute that he laughed.

With a low laugh, he buried his face in Yurina’s neck and breathed in through his nose. He had missed this scent.

A sweet and fragrant floral scent. The scent of flower soap that always came from her. Only then did he believe that Yurina was really in front of him.

And…

“I missed you, too, Ray.”

The moment he heard Yurina’s heart, his heart, which had been beating rapidly, suddenly stopped. Raynald even stopped breathing for a moment and simply enjoyed Yurina’s warmth.

If this was a dream, he wished he’d never wake up.

* * *

Clack. Clack.

The carriage, which had been carrying three people when it arrived in the Kingdom of Crohn, was now heading to the capital with four people.

Like when they came, Betsy and Yurina sat facing each other inside the carriage, Dave sat next to Betsy and now, Raynald sat next to Yurina.

“There’s only one more person, but the wagon now seems full.”

Betsy, who was covering Yurina’s knee with a blanket, smiled happily at Raynald. She had always thought of him as her younger brother, so she was proud to meet a new version of Raynald.

Last night, she told Yurina, “It must have been difficult for him in a strange place. It might be presumptuous of me… but I’m proud of him. He grew up well.”

Yurina responded, “You can be proud of him. You took care of him when he was at the mansion. Ray also appreciates you from the bottom of his heart.”

“Ummm.”

Yurina looked somewhat stiff and glanced at Raynald who was sitting to her right.

Raynald, who had been watching her, smiled as soon as her gaze fell on him. The image of young Raynald smiling brightly with no worries flashed before her current view. For a moment, Yurina felt a distance between them again.

‘He’s unfamiliar.’

In her head, she knew the fierce little boy from her memories and the man in front of her was the same person. Despite that, she still couldn’t fully accept that fact.

To rephrase it, it felt like he was a cute kitten who had left home to return as a dashing, lithe leopard.

That was probably the case since Raynald’s appearance had changed so much in five years. Yurina also shed her baby appearance, maturing and growing taller, but her change was nothing compared to Raynald’s.

He had really become a different person. If it weren’t for those familiar red eyes, she wouldn’t even believe he was Raynald.

Of course, objectively speaking, he grew up so well that Yurina, too, felt proud. If he donned formal attire and debuted in high society right now, his beauty would be so flashy that no one would be able to take their eyes off him– regardless of gender.

‘Why are you so tall?’

He was only about two inches taller than her when he left, but now he was so much taller that he was at least a whole head’s height taller.

If she threw away her prior knowledge of him being an apprentice wizard, Raynald looked so imposing she would have thought he was an aspiring knight at first glance.

Not only did he grow taller, but he had also packed on a moderate amount of muscle throughout his body, to the point that she could feel it beyond his shirt. It wasn’t too much muscle like that of a sword-training knight, but it made his body muscularly lean, which was quite popular among young people in society these days.

That’s why he felt like a man now even though he was just a little boy when they met and parted. As soon as she realized that fact, her pride was hurt somehow. She regarded hes new scent and appearance like spoiled cheese.

‘Just why is he so unfamiliar?’

What’s more is that unlike her troubled self, Raynald seemed at ease, feeling no awkwardness at all.

She didn’t really expect a special response from him, but she felt awkward nonetheless. And she couldn’t help but continue to feel more strange since he seemed completely at peace and comfortable. She felt silly, as if she were being self-conscious for no reason.

“Umm….”

“Yurina, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Instead of saying, “I feel burdened because you stared at me too closely,” Yurina moved to the side, avoiding his eyes.

It was a struggle to even get away from him a little bit since Raynald would soon follow after her and narrow the distance again, as if he was subconsciously chasing after her without noticing.