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Recently, Alphonse’s mood resembled the overcast sky.

It wasn’t raining, yet it wasn’t refreshing either—it was just a stuck, awkward feeling.

Since that day, Hailey has wielded her sword in the Training Grounds every morning.

As a result, Alphonse, who naturally lost his spot, could no longer train at dawn, breaking his daily routine that had been consistent until now.

I wondered if his condition had faltered because of this disruption, but that didn’t seem quite right; even moving his body to create a new routine didn’t alleviate this discomfort.

This feeling persisted all the way to his sword training with Damian in the afternoon.

Normally, Alphonse would forget everything during this time, but now it was the complete opposite. The Training Grounds, the site of his swordsmanship practice, had become the root of this inexplicable feeling.

Perhaps it was because the location was the same.

Despite Hailey’s absence, Alphonse’s head constantly conjured her image. Upon reflection, it all began the moment he had seen her perform that sword dance. Ever since he witnessed her, dancing alone under the moonlight, this confusing emotion started to swirl in his mind.

With his head spinning like this, how could he expect his body to move properly?

As expected, Damian, who was observing Alphonse’s training, noticed something was off with him. After a day, it was one thing, but three days of this could only mean something was wrong.

Ultimately, Damian had no choice but to speak up.

“Alphonse? Is something wrong?”

“Huh? What do you mean, brother? Oh, it’s nothing at all?!”

“… Really? I just thought you seemed less focused than usual lately. Did something bother you? Let’s just end today’s training here.”

“But..!!”

“If you’re distracted, swinging a sword could get you hurt. I understand that you want to move more to clear your mind, but you need at least some level of focus for that to be possible.”

As a teacher, it was easy for Damian to see if his student was focused or not, like looking down from the heavens. However, since Alphonse was usually diligent in training, the lack of focus stood out even more.

Though it would have been better for Alphonse if he could argue against Damian’s words, he wasn’t oblivious to the fact that he wasn’t focusing. He quietly nodded in agreement with Damian’s decision to halt the training.

“Then how about you put the sword down for a bit and talk to me? It seems like you have something on your mind that I might help with.”

After pausing to think, Alphonse shook his head.

He had no idea how to explain his troubling feelings to someone else, nor did he understand what caused them.

To address this, he would inevitably have to discuss what happened in the early morning, but that would reveal to Damian that he’d been secretly training each dawn—something he couldn’t possibly confess.

Strangely enough, Alphonse didn’t want to talk about the events of the morning with anyone else either. He couldn’t identify why he felt this way, but he was certain about his own hesitations.

“Uh, I’m okay, brother. I think I’ll just meditate alone for a bit!”

“Hmm, alright.”

As Alphonse hurried to change the subject, Damian refrained from saying anything more.

It seemed he was a bit disappointed that Alphonse wasn’t sharing his worries, yet it didn’t seem to bother him too much; Damian ruffled Alphonse’s hair a few times before leaving the Training Grounds.

Left alone in the Training Grounds after Damian departed, Alphonse briefly set down his sword and plopped down on the dirt ground.

Was what he told Damian not just empty words? Alphonse, trying to meditate, closed his eyes and took deep breaths, but it wasn’t long before they popped open again.

As he focused and attempted to calm himself, the sound of his racing heartbeat was louder than usual in his ears. No matter how much he tried to steady his breathing, it was futile. The moment he became conscious of his heartbeat, he could see not darkness but the sight of that day’s Training Grounds.

Like a spectator watching a stage, he gazed at her dancing in the moonlight.

Thus, he could no longer maintain his meditation and was forced to open his eyes. His attempts to forget that day only brought the memories flooding back rather than releasing him from them.

“UAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Damian had already messed up his hair, but Alphonse further disheveled it with his own hand.

Despite trying every method he knew, he couldn’t erase that day’s vision from his mind. However, what troubled him the most was not knowing what the feelings he now experienced actually were.

Though Alphonse was often told he was more mature than kids his age, he was, after all, still just a ten-year-old child.

With so little absolute experience, there were many things he simply didn’t know. No matter how many books he read, understanding the world wasn’t something attainable through reading alone.

Alphonse had several people around him who could provide him answers to his questions.

Just moments ago, there was Damian, and then there were Ken, Maria, and many others who had lived a few years longer than him. He could find someone among them who could give him clear answers regarding what he was wondering about.

Yet, just as he had rejected Damian’s offer, Alphonse himself was reluctant to discuss the matter with others, leaving him no choice but to seek the answer on his own.

*

Just like any other day, Alphonse woke up early and prepared to go outside.

Although he hadn’t wielded his sword in the Training Grounds since Hailey claimed it early in the mornings, he always took his wooden sword with him when stepping out.

With this state of mind, proper training as Damian suggested was impossible, but grabbing his wooden sword felt as necessary as putting on clothes when leaving the house.

Despite just waking up, Alphonse’s face looked determined, as if he had made a resolution.

He had spent most of the time lying in bed solidifying his resolve, so he hadn’t slept much. Though he spent more time thinking than sleeping, he didn’t feel particularly tired.

Alphonse retrieved a small lightstone he had received long ago from his drawer.

This lightstone, which shone when infused with magic power, had originally been a tool for Alphonse to practice converting magic power into aura. However, he decided to use it as a lamp instead.

Of course, for Alphonse, who had become familiar with manipulating aura and could easily light his path at night, a lamp was no longer a necessity for walking in the dark. The reason he hadn’t been caught sneaking out at dawn thus far might be because he never used a lamp.

But now, what Alphonse intended was not to secretly practice in the Training Grounds like before, but to converse with Hailey.

He thought it prudent to light the stone first to avoid startling her by suddenly appearing out of nowhere in the dark.

His final conclusion, after much deliberation, was to tell her that he had been watching her practice in the Training Grounds all this time.

Reflecting on it, Alphonse had numerous opportunities to say this to Hailey but had unknowingly avoided her each time. He only realized this truth after lying in bed thinking.

Thus, this time he would face her instead of running away.

Whatever the outcome, talking to her would surely lead to some kind of change.

“Phew… Let’s go.”

Taking a deep breath, Alphonse cautiously opened the door and stepped outside. Once he established some distance from the Lord’s Castle, he infused magic into the lightstone to create light. Holding that light in his hand, Alphonse rushed toward the Training Grounds.

Having focused his resolve, his steps toward the Training Grounds felt incredibly light.

Was it that we was excited about talking to Hailey, or had his mindset just shifted? Alphonse couldn’t tell which was true.

As he neared the Training Grounds, he noticed a small light positioned in the center, confirming his assumption that Hailey had come to the Training Grounds today as well. He had previously avoided her in the daylight, but this time, he ran toward the light without any hesitation.

“Eh?”

Contrary to his expectations, there was only a solitary lamp lit in the Training Grounds with no sign of Hailey.

Alphonse, startled, quickly looked around, but perhaps he was so flustered that he didn’t notice the hand suddenly reaching from behind to grab him.

“Wah!!”

“!!!!!”

A voice filled with intent to surprise pierced Alphonse’s eardrums.

From the moment he was gently pulled into a hug, Alphonse was convinced that the person behind him was not an enemy.

As he raised his head, he saw who the mastermind behind this surprise party was. It was simple to figure out. If anyone could pull such a prank, it had to be the owner of the lamp.

“Hehe!! How was that? Surprised, right?”

Hailey giggled as she looked down at Alphonse, who was engulfed in her embrace.

With a hopeful expression, she seemed to anticipate how startled Alphonse had been, but unfortunately for her, he didn’t seem to respond much.

Alphonse stared blankly at Hailey as she hugged him. Contrary to her expectations of how shocked he would be, he merely gazed silently at her, leaving her puzzled as she tilted her head.

“Oh? Little young master?”

“….”

When Hailey called his name again, Alphonse finally nodded to show he had heard her.

Perhaps it was because he knew where that fluffy sensation on his head came from. Or perhaps it was simply because he was so close to Hailey. Either way, Alphonse couldn’t pinpoint the source of the heat filling his head.

All he could do at this moment was silently hope that she wouldn’t notice how crimson his face was as he bowed his head.

 

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