TYND 118

Rothy raised his head as if ready to take notes, but the people who were captivated by his cuteness didn’t offer any opinions. Rothy was a little disappointed, and his lips pouted. Theon raised his hand as if he had been waiting for it. Rothy’s face lit up.

“Yes, Theon. Speak.”

“You like books, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Last holiday, you took out ten books and started reading them, and when I came back in the evening, you were still reading in the same position. When I took them away to stop you from reading, you whined.”

“I didn’t whine.”

“Reading is a mature hobby. How about appealing to your intellectual side by frequently showing yourself reading?”

Rothy smiled brightly.

“That’s a really good idea. I’ll write it down as number 1.”

Seeing the Archduke unfairly scoring the first point, the others began to offer their opinions one by one.

In the bustling conference room where opinions were exchanged, Theon only offered his first opinion and then fell silent.

In fact, Theon was the one who wanted Rothy’s image to change the most.

If he could kill someone with his gaze, he would have died many times by now.

Just hugging Rothy’s waist in official settings drew stinging gazes.

‘How can you do that and still call yourself human?’

‘Fourteen years difference.’

‘Shameless Archduke of the North.’

In fact, an Aura master and a 7th-circle Archmage are transcendents, beings who transcend age.

Sixteen years old can be considered mature, and twenty-three years old can be considered young, truly beings for whom age is just a number.

For example, a birch tree lives for a thousand years, so what difference would 20 years and 50 years make to a tree that will live for a thousand years?

Of course, Theon was not a tree, and he thought that he had to endure the gazes as a human before being a transcendent.

Theon wanted to change Rothy’s image for a separate, different reason.

‘Rothy is cute, but also cool, handsome, and intellectual.’

It’s a pity that many people still only know him as cute when he’s not just cute.

He was a doting Archduke of the North who wanted Rothy’s diverse charms to be widely known.

---

After everyone put their heads together, three plans were made to change Rothy’s image.

First of all.

1. Show an intellectual side.

Sob, located in the very center of the Palsen territory, is a metropolis among metropolises. This place, a downtown area concentrated with state-of-the-art infrastructure and a tourist destination where tourists come from all over the country to see the climate-controlled Trimulle, suddenly became noisy.

It was because of the group that had just gotten off the magnificent magic carriage. There were five of them, and the mage walking at the very front was particularly noticeable.

Snow-white hair that reached his shoulders and round green eyes. Skin as white as snow and fairy-like features. A slender physique that was rare in the North…. He sat down at a large cafe terrace right in front of the Sob Square fountain.

“Hey, isn’t that Lord Rothy?”

“It is. Those round eyes. That mochi-like appearance. It’s the Archduke’s consort.”

“There’s a ferret on his shoulder too. I can see the servant, the escort mage, and the escort knight behind him.”

“Where did the Archduke go, leaving the baby alone?”

The Northerners who recognized Rothy began to buzz. Attention was focused on him in an instant.

The servant went inside the cafe to order drinks. The escorts did not sit in chairs and stood at a distance behind Rothy so that they could respond at any time.

Rothy draped a dark navy coat over his shoulders and crossed his legs. At this time, someone muttered, ‘Look at those slender legs. I feel sorry for him. We must give Lord Rothy a fluffy fur blanket quickly,’ but Rothy didn’t hear it.

Rothy then took out a thick book from a stiff, angular bag. At this time, someone muttered, ‘The book is so thick, why is the escort knight just watching and not holding it for him?’ but this time, fortunately, Rothy didn’t hear it either.

The title written on the cover was:

Real Overview of Magical Retroactivity and Causal Interaction on Nonlinear Dimensional Axes

Most Northerners have good eyesight. The Northerners who read the title said, “Oh my.”

“He must be reading a romance novel titled ‘Real Overview of Magical Retroactivity and Causal Interaction on Nonlinear Dimensional Axes’.”

“How can our Archduke’s consort love love stories so much?”

“He’s still young, so that’s why. He’s so cute.”

The escort knights thought it was really fortunate that Rothy didn’t hear that conversation.

Then the servant came back with the drinks. The servant handed Rothy a jet-black drink in a small, finger-sized glass and shouted loudly.

“Your Highness, it’s an espresso.”

“Thank you.”

Rothy took the small glass and sipped it while crossing his legs.

“Oh dear. He must have wanted to drink coffee-flavored hot chocolate.”

“It’s the age when he’s curious about the taste of coffee. How old is His Highness?”

“Seventeen or eighteen, I think.”

Twenty-three-year-old Rothy flipped through the pages.

People openly watched Rothy.

Around the beginning of autumn, when it was starting to get chilly, the Archmage Archduke’s consort, wearing a neat coat over his shoulders, drinking bitter coffee, and reading a difficult magical academic book.

Really….

“Oh my, he’s like a snowflake. Soft and fluffy.”

“He’s so cute and lovely.”

“Oh dear, what should we do? He must be cold. His nose is getting red.”

Rothy calmly continued reading, unaware that he was not achieving what he intended at all.

He mainly likes romance novels full of love, but he basically likes all kinds of printed matter, so he sometimes reads academic books that seem difficult to others when he’s bored.

But he couldn’t concentrate now.

In fact, the reason Rothy’s cheeks were flushed was because he was embarrassed by this situation.

He was ashamed of the very act of wearing an unfitting angular coat, drinking bitter coffee, and reading an academic book in front of people.

‘But Chungnip definitely said it would be effective. He said I would look like a cold city mage.’

Well, he is actually a mage from a cold territory.

Rothy pursed his lips firmly and continued to read. Occasionally sipping coffee.

Naran whispered.

“Isn’t the coffee bitter?”

“It’s not bitter. It’s rather sweet. I’m at the age where coffee is sweet now.”

“I see.”

Naran was relieved to know that the cafe owner had knowingly given him a chocomocca.

“There won’t be any dangerous things, so you guys should drink quickly too. …Naran, did you order a cold drink?”

“Yes.”

“Drinking a cold drink in this cold weather, Naran is indeed mature. I should have ordered an iced espresso too….”

“It seems that this weather is cold for Lord Rothy after all. I’ll bring a fur coat right away.”

“No. I have to wear a coat. You know today’s plan, Naran.”

“Then at least wear it properly.”

“That’s not allowed either. He said I would look more mature if I only draped the coat over my shoulders. It seems like I’m chatting for too long while reading. I’ll go back to reading now.”

The escort mage from the assassin guild, who had dedicated his life and soul to escorting Rothy, frowned slightly.

Rothy ignored the gaze and focused on the book.

There were even more onlookers. The square was buzzing. Even if he strained his ears, he couldn’t hear the conversation, but Rothy was sure that the plan was working.

‘I should go in after about an hour.’

Rothy paid attention to the surrounding situation and continued reading the book. Once he started concentrating, he quickly became immersed. He was interested in the efforts of ancient mages to manipulate time with magic.

About 30 minutes passed.

“Achoo.”

“……!”

“……!”

Squeak!

The entire square froze at Rothy’s small sneeze. Even Chi-chi, who had been told not to come out because he thought it would look cute if they were together, was startled and jumped out of the bag.

Squeak, squeak. Squeak!

Chi-chi scolded him as if he knew this would happen and wrapped his neck to warm him with his soft fur. The servant ran to the carriage to get various warming products. The escorts snatched the book from Rothy. His teary eyes followed the book he was reading with interest.

“I just sneezed, it wasn’t a cough.”

“Let’s go inside now. It’s cold.”

“It was a real sneeze this time…!”

“Reading outdoors in this weather with thin clothes for an hour was too much from the beginning. Do you want to catch a cold?”

“I’m also a Northerner. I’m not going to catch a cold in this weather…!”

Rothy struggled, but resistance was useless.

The Archduke’s consort’s outdoor reading ended with him being dragged away by the escort knight and mage.

The Northerners’ reaction to Rothy, who was being put in a carriage while being dressed in fluffy fur gloves, a fur hat, and a fur coat, was:

“Hoo-oong, our Archduke’s consort is so cute, so fragile, we have to cherish him, we have to cuddle him….”

That night, when the first plan failed.

“If I had been there, I would have known it was a sneeze.”

“I don’t think so. Theon would have immediately picked me up and….”

Rothy, who was about to instinctively refute, looked at the handsome man lying next to him and looking down at him, and corrected his words.

“That’s right. When I think about it, Theon has always accurately distinguished between sneezes and coughs.”

“That’s right.”

“I thought Theon was the most overprotective person to me, but he wasn’t. Theon is objective.”

“That’s right.”

“I think Theon is the one who treats me the most like an adult in the North.”

“That’s the right answer.”

Theon leaned down and kissed Rothy’s lips briefly.

“To me, you are not only cute, but also a cool and handsome young Archmage.”