“Cough! Cough…!”
Lawine covered his mouth, then glanced up with a sheepish smile.
“Sorry, Professor. Please… continue.”
“Tell me if it’s too hard for you, Young Master,” Vanitas said. “We can stop the lesson here for today.”
“No, no, please.” Lawine waved his hands quickly, then winced slightly. “I’m—Cough!—I’m fine.”
“….”
Vanitas’s eyes lingered on the boy, silently noting the tremble in his arms and the pale tint beneath his eyes.
But eventually, he continued the lesson.
Lawine had made remarkable progress. For an eight-year-old, his grasp of foundational magic was well beyond what Vanitas expected. In terms of curriculum, he was performing on par with a fifth-year elementary student in a formal academy.
Vanitas had deliberately stripped down complicated theories into the simplest explanations as much as he could in hopes of tailoring to Lawine’s intellectual level.
And surprisingly, the boy absorbed it all like a sponge.
But more than that, he genuinely enjoyed it.
“Now,” Vanitas said, tapping the next diagram in the textbook. “We studied this formula yesterday. Can you tell me what would happen if we altered the mana flow from clockwise to counterclockwise?”
Lawine leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as he examined the diagram. He was breathing a little heavier than before, but he remained focused.
“I think… it would destabilize the core,” he said. “So the spell might just… fall apart?”
“Correct.”
Lawine’s eyes lit up.
But just as he opened his mouth to respond, he coughed again, this time harder.
Vanitas closed the textbook.
“That’s enough for today.”
“B-But I—”
“I said that’s enough.”
Lawine froze, then slowly nodded. “…Okay.”
Vanitas stood and spoke with a gentle tone. “You did well. More than well.”
Lawine looked down at the textbook, then up at his tutor. “Thank you, Professor.”
* * *
Nearly three weeks had passed since Vanitas’s arrival, and the routine was more or less the same everyday.
On a certain morning, Edward planned to survey the local village and thought to bring Lawine along. His younger brother’s mood had visibly improved lately, and perhaps he finally had the energy to leave the estate and enjoy the outside air.
It had been quite some time since Lawine had last visited the village.
“….”
But just as they were about to leave, Lawine came to a sudden stop.
Edward glanced down at him. “What’s wrong, Lawine?”
The boy’s eyes drifted down the hallway, toward a certain door. “Can we… invite the professor too? He might get… lonely here.”
Edward blinked, surprised. “We shouldn’t disturb him. The professor needs rest, too.”
“Ah….” Lawine murmured, lowering his head.
——If the Young Master is inviting me so generously, there’s no reason for me to refuse.
The voice flowed from behind them, and both brothers turned.
Vanitas stood there with his arms folded.
Lawine’s face lit up instantly.
Seeing that innocent smile, Vanitas glanced toward Edward. “Would it be alright if I join you, Lord Rothsfield?”
“L-Lord…?” Edward stammered, flustered for a moment. “Y-Yes, of course, Professor. You’re welcome to.”
“Then give me a moment to prepare,” Vanitas said. “I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
“We’ll be waiting,” Edward replied, still trying to compose himself.
As Vanitas disappeared down the corridor, Edward looked down at his brother.
“You must really like your new tutor.”
Lawine nodded without hesitation. “Yes. He’s a very kind person. But… I think he seems kind of sad sometimes.”
“….”
Edward paused.
“Sad?” he repeated.
Lawine looked down at his own shoes. “I thought maybe… if he saw the village with us, it might cheer him up.”
“….”
Edward’s lips parted slightly, then closed again.
A bitter smile touched his face.
Without another word, they waited quietly in the lobby.
…..
They stepped down from the carriage and began strolling through the village streets.
It didn’t take long before familiar faces began to gather.
The Rothsfield family was well known here, and the villagers greeted them warmly. Their faces lit up at the sight of Edward, and with even more surprise and delight when they noticed the young boy beside him.
“Oh my, is that Young Master Lawine?” one older woman gasped, hands clasped over her apron. “He’s grown so much since I last saw him, Lord Rothsfield!”
“Haha,” Edward chuckled. “Lawine’s been a bit too shy to visit the village lately.”
“Well, I hope he comes more often,” the woman said kindly. “My daughter, Yelena, keeps asking if she can play with him at your house.”
“Haha~ Why not?” Edward smiled. “We’d love to have young Yelena over sometime.”
“Oh, no. That would be too much trouble, Lord Rothsfield.”
“Nonsense. It would be a pleasure.”
As they walked further down the main road, more conversations like this followed. Shopkeepers waved from their stalls. Bakers offered sweet rolls for Lawine to try. One of the blacksmiths even promised to show him how to temper iron, should he ever be curious.
“Cough! Cough…!”
Lawine’s hand remained firmly in Edward’s, but the boy’s expression was brighter than it had been in weeks.
Vanitas walked silently beside them, hands tucked behind inside his coat pocket as he observed the interactions, responding to the villager’s trying to speak with him.
For once, Lawine didn’t seem like a boy on borrowed time. He was simply Lawine Rothsfield, the Baron’s little brother, and the boy the villagers had missed.
“Cough! Cough…!”
Vanitas glanced sideways at the boy, catching a glimpse of joy on his face despite his occasional coughing.
“Ah, apologies for this, Lawine, Marque—” Edward caught himself mid-word and cleared his throat. “Professor Astrea. It seems I have some business with the local bank.”
Vanitas turned toward him, nodding once.
“If you’d like,” Edward continued, glancing down at his brother, “you can show the professor around, Lawine.”
“Really?” Lawine blinked, surprised.
Edward smiled. “I trust you.”
Lawine’s eyes shifted to Vanitas, waiting for permission.
Vanitas gave a slight nod. “Lead the way, then.”
A grin full of excitement spread across Lawine’s face. He took a few quick steps ahead, then slowed down to wait for Vanitas, pointing toward the next street.
“This way! I remember a place that sells really good milk bread!”
“Don’t run, Young Master.”
“Ah, yes… sorry.” Lawine nodded sheepishly, adjusting his pace.
Lawine led Vanitas through winding paths and cobbled roads, showing him places he clearly held fond memories of. Perhaps these were the corners of the village he used to frequent before his condition worsened and forced him to live a more sheltered life.
As they passed a small fountain square, several children suddenly ran up.
“Master Lawine?!”
“Where’ve you been?! You disappeared!”
“….!”
Lawine blinked in surprise, head tilting slightly as he examined the faces. They looked familiar, but time had added a few inches to their heights and changed their voices just enough for him to be perplexed.
“Ah… hello?” he said uncertainly.
“It’s me, Ben!”
“And I’m Anna! You remember, right?”
Lawine’s eyes lit up with recognition.
“Oh, wow! I’m sorry I haven’t been to the village in a while,” he said, offering an apologetic smile.
“We thought you moved away!”
“Yeah, my mom said you got too fancy for us common kids,” Ben teased, grinning.
Lawine laughed lightly. “No, no, I didn’t! I’ve just… been a bit sick, that’s all.”
The group quickly fell into easy chatter, the kind only children could manage after time apart, as if no time had passed at all.
Then, one by one, their attention shifted to Vanitas, who had been standing a short distance away silently.
“Who’s that scary-looking person?” Ben asked, squinting suspiciously.
Vanitas tilted his head slightly with a blank expression as his gaze settled on the boy who looked no older than fourteen.
“Ah, no!” Lawine quickly waved his hands. “That’s my tutor. Professor Vanitas.”
Ben blinked. “Your tutor?”
“He teaches me magic,” Lawine explained proudly, straightening his posture just a little.
Anna’s eyes widened. “You’re learning magic now?”
“Mhm!” Lawine nodded. “It’s really hard, but… it’s fun.”
Vanitas raised a brow slightly at that last part.
‘Fun, huh…?’
Ben, still watching Vanitas warily, tilted his head. “He doesn’t look like a tutor. More like a bandit. If I were you, Master Lawine, I’d be careful.”
“No, no. He’s a really good teacher,” Lawine said. “Even if he’s… a little scary at first.”
“….”
Vanitas offered no response to that.
He didn’t deny it either.
As the conversation naturally wound down, the other children bid their goodbyes with waves and laughter. Lawine waved back with both hands, smiling from ear to ear as they ran off.
Once they were alone again, Lawine turned to Vanitas and resumed their walk through the cobbled street. The eight-year old boy seemed much more dignified than all the older kids.
“It seems like you’re close with a lot of the village kids,” Vanitas remarked, his tone light, observational.
“Yes,” Lawine replied. “I used to come here with my brother all the time when I was younger. Before… well, before I got too sick.”
Vanitas caught the slight change in his tone.
“We’d visit the market, the bakery, sometimes the fountain square. Brother always let me pick one snack to bring home.”
“I see,” Vanitas said. “And today?”
Lawine looked up at him, confused. “Today?”
“You’ve been showing me around all morning. Don’t tell me you forgot to pick your snack.”
Lawine blinked. “O-Oh… I didn’t think I could…”
“You can.”
The boy’s expression brightened immediately. “Then… the milk bread!”
Vanitas chuckled slightly, and then he notice Lawine pause, looking up at him.
“You… smiled.”
“….I did?” Vanitas blinked, caught off guard.
“Yes,” Lawine said, almost in disbelief. “I’ve noticed you’ve been… kind of sad lately, Professor. Why? Do you not like this place?”
Vanitas didn’t respond immediately.
He hadn’t even realized it, but if Lawine had seen it, then maybe that was the kind of face he made when talking to the boy.
‘I’m losing my touch,’ he thought.
“This place is peaceful,” Vanitas said at last. “If anything, I wouldn’t mind spending a vacation here with my sister.”
“You have a sister?”
“Yes.”
Lawine smiled. “Then… she must be very happy to have a brother as kind as you.”
“…Kind?” Vanitas repeated, the word strange on his tongue.
“Yes.” Lawine nodded, then walked forward. “And this is my way of repaying your kindness, Professor.”
“What—”
Before Vanitas could finish, Lawine had already rushed off toward a nearby stall.
“Don’t run,” Vanitas murmured under his breath, eyes narrowing as he caught the slight stumble in the boy’s steps. “It’ll get harder to breathe…”
From a distance, he watched as Lawine handed a few coins to the vendor. The boy coughed into his sleeve just once, but Vanitas’s jaw clenched unconsciously at the sight.
A moment later, Lawine returned, holding a paper-wrapped portion of milk bread in both hands.
“I know the perfect place to eat this,” Lawine said, beaming up at him. “Follow me, Professor!”
Vanitas didn’t answer immediately, but he followed, falling into step just behind.
Lawine led them down a quiet path at the edge of the village, past a cluster of tall trees and onto a sloping hill. The view opened up to reveal a grassy overlook that watched over the fields below, dotted with beautiful flowers and windmills in the distance.
Lawine sat on the grass and patted the space beside him.
Vanitas sat down without a word as Lawine handed him a piece of milk bread.
“Thanks,” he said.
Lawine smiled and nodded, sitting cross-legged as the wind gently brushed through his hair. His eyes were fixed on the field of flowers, where the setting sun cast golden light across the petals.
“This place… used to be Father’s farm,” he said quietly. “The flowers were made with his magic.”
Vanitas glanced at them again. Rows of vibrant colors were flowing like a living canvas.
An artwork.
“….”
And he understood the implication behind Lawine’s words.
These flowers were a memory. A mark left behind by someone long gone. A lingering presence of the boy’s late father… and perhaps his mother too.
“Mother used to buy this milk bread,” Lawine continued, voice soft with nostalgia. “We’d all come here. Mother, Father, Brother, and me. We’d sit here and eat together. Just like this. Father would use his magic and make all the flowers glow during the night.”
“….”
Vanitas took a slow bite of the bread, his gaze fixed on the horizon.
He didn’t speak.
He didn’t need to.
Beside him, Lawine smiled faintly as he chewed. The breeze rustled through the field, scattering petals into the air like confetti as the moon slowly rose.
“One day…” Lawine murmured, his voice almost carried away by the breeze. “I want to recreate this scene.”
Vanitas turned slightly, watching the boy’s expression as he stared out over the hill.
“I want to grow flowers as beautiful as these,” Lawine continued. “Just like Father.”
His fingers curled lightly around a small blue blossom near his knee.
“I want to learn magic that doesn’t hurt people. Magic that brings something good into the world.”
Vanitas didn’t answer immediately. He let the boy’s words settle into the silence between them.
In a world where magic was used as a weapon, the thought of using magic solely for something kind was unthinkable.
But here was a boy who still believed in the beauty of magic. Who wanted nothing more than to leave behind something that could grow.
Vanitas glanced once more at the flowers.
“Cough! Cough…!”
Then back at the boy, who likely wouldn’t live long enough to see that dream come true.
“….”
Without a word, he rose to his feet.
“Professor?” Lawine asked, startled.
Vanitas stepped forward, making his way to the center of the field. The sun had vanished beyond the horizon, and in its place, a silver moon bathed the field in a with its glow.
The sky was clear without a single cloud.
And then…. magic.
Magic circuits began to materialize into existence around him, layer upon layer. They spun, aligned, and folded into themselves.
“….”
Not a single word passed his lips.
No chant. No incantation.
“….”
Lawine watched in silence, breath caught in his throat.
Whoosh—
As the cold breeze brushed into his skin, the field came alive.
One by one, the petals around Vanitas pulsed, glowing with radiant, iridescent hues that shifted and danced with the breeze. Blues, purples, golds, pinks… colors that didn’t exist in nature.
Colors that felt like they belonged to a dream.
The entire hill lit up, as though the moonlight had ignited the soul of every flower.
“….”
Lawine slowly stood with his mouth parted in awe, unable to find any words to describe the scene unfolding before him.
Vanitas remained still with his eyes closed, letting his mana flow seamlessly.
Just for a little longer.
So that Lawine could see his dream.
Even if only for tonight.
Unknowingly, Vanitas’s eyes lingered on a particular color.
“….”
Blue.
“….”
Just like her eyes.