"But you were the only one he taught since you were a child, right?
Did he teach another child your age back when he began to teach you?"
Arabella heard about it from Ferdinand.
Aside from the second generation of dragons, Alwin was the only one he raised from childhood.
[No. It was only ...]
Alwin recalled about the past so Arabella was able to get a glimpse of a towering Ferdinand discussing sothing she did not understand.
But she could tell it was about magic.
Since Ferdinand looked so tall from Alwin’s perspective, it was when he was just a child.
[Oh, right.
He only taught others who were deed by Raymond to be worthy to get taught by him.
And they were all much older than back then.
And up to now, he never taught children but those who needed to be polished instead.]
"See? He could have let Raymond and the others do the teaching.
Yet, he taught you himself.
And when he thought you could also learn a lot from others, didn’t he hire teachers for you?"
[H-he did.]
"Should I tell you a secret?" Arabella baited.
Alwin stared at her and thought about it for a few seconds before nodding his head.
"I heard from his thoughts.
Ferdinand taught you everything he could rember so you would be able to protect yourself when he dies.
He tried to have you learn everything you can so he can leave without any worries.
He asked you to undergo training again when I was able to hurt you because he got worried others may also be able to do so.
It wasn’t really a punishnt.
He just wanted to make sure you won’t be vulnerable and get hurt again.
And he thought that it would have been bad if he had gone into hibernation, and you got hurt."
Arabella explained what Ferdinand had wanted to do so Alwin won’t misunderstand either.
She didn’t want him to feel unloved or neglected when Ferdinand simply didn’t know how to express it before.
Alwin looked happy at her words but got embarrassed and looked away.
"He is also worried that you look up to him too much.
He fears you may be limiting yourself because of him.
He wanted to see you grow more powerful and stronger than you already do now."
Arabella took the liberty of telling Alwin about this since Ferdinand never would have said it directly.
Alwin had been protecting her so this was the least she could do in return.
She could help him understand that he already had the love and approval he had been longing for from Ferdinand.
"Limiting myself?
Never!
I was able to do what I can now only because of His Majesty," Alwin finally spoke again.
"See? That kind of thinking.
Ferdinand was worried about that.
He did teach you, but other teachers also did.
And he wanted you to keep learning.
He wanted to watch you grow to your full potential."
Arabella explained what Alwin’s elders were worried about but could not tell him directly like this.
"So, I’m truly not strong enough yet?" Alwin misunderstood.
"Wrong.
He simply believes you can grow even more than you already do now.
Ferdinand believes you have already surpassed him when it cos to magic," Arabella corrected.
"How could I have ever surpassed His Majesty?
I’m still not good enough to even compare."
Alwin was humble when it was Ferdinand he was compared to.
"That’s what you think.
But Ferdinand and Raymond, both thought you have already surpassed all their expectations.
They were amazed at what you could do at your age and simply wanted to see you reach as far as you could.
You were already more than capable enough that Ferdinand had been confident he could have gone into hibernation, and you would have been fine on your own.
But when I was able to stab you, he got worried your body reflexes may have rusted over ti because you focused a lot on magic and neglected training your body for years," Arabella reiterated.
"That’s what they think?"
Alwin’s face turned red when Arabella nodded.
He was elated his elders believe he was already very much capable and that he could still grow more.
And he did ignore training his body for years.
Alwin was absorbed in his thoughts and Arabella just listened while drinking tea, until there was a knock on the door.
"Arabella?"
It was Ferdinand.
The door opened before they could even stand.
"Oh, should I have waited outside?" Ferdinand glanced at the table where tea and so light snacks were.
Alwin instantly rose and greeted him.
[Both their eyes are red and puffy like they had been crying.]
’Oops. We completely forgot about this,’ Arabella flinched.
’Does it look like I bullied Alwin?’
She got worried she might be ruining Ferdinand’s image of her even more.
"We’re you two fighting again?
Why are both your eyes like that?
You didn’t hurt each other again, did you?"
Ferdinand eyed them both from head to foot.
He was relieved there were no signs of injury this ti.
""We were not fighting at all,"" Arabella and Alwin both said at the sa ti.
It made them look even more guilty.
[What’s wrong with their voices as well?]
"Were you yelling at each other while I was away?" Ferdinand asked next and they both shook their heads instead of speaking when they realized their voices were still hoarse from all the talking they did earlier.
’He doesn’t know but he could tell so easily.
We did scream at each other a bit.’
[Rendell didn’t seem to know so Alwin must have used a barrier.]
"What were you fighting about?"
Ferdinand was already convinced they did have a fight.
Arabella and Alwin glanced at each other.
They lost track of ti and forgot Alwin should have at least healed their eyes first so Ferdinand wouldn’t have noticed they both cried.
"F-Ferdinand, who’s more important to you?
?
Or Alwin?"
Arabella couldn’t think of anything else, so she just blurted this out as their excuse.
"You two were fighting about this to the point you made each other cry?" Ferdinand was dumbfounded.
Arabella nodded her head and Alwin had no choice but to nod as well even though he got so embarrassed about it.
"You two don’t have to fight about sothing like this. You two are both very important to ," Ferdinand told them like they were children.
Arabella felt so embarrassed as well.
But this was better than Ferdinand coming to the conclusion that she might secretly be a bully.
It was also good that Alwin heard him say this.
{See?
I told you, didn’t I?
He said it himself this ti.
You are also very important to him.}
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