Prologue Story

Afterward, the first thought that came to my mind was that the delusion I had before wasn’t entirely wrong.

Then, a sense of guilt crept in, making me think I shouldn’t have listened.

It would have been better if I had learned naturally by observing the situation.

I sat quietly, lowered my head, and swung my feet.

Suddenly, I found myself wondering,

‘…I wonder if Min-hee knows about this?’

Well… in the end, it’s not something that concerns me directly.

If I had to say, I only wish that Eun-hee unnie out of the three would end up the happiest.

A love triangle can’t end happily for all three, after all.

It’s a relationship where someone inevitably has to cry.

It’s not something I can interfere with, and even without me, it’s a story that will unfold on its own.

Lowering my head again, I swung my legs, then lifted my gaze.

Leaning my head against the sturdy thicket, I looked up at the sky.

The blue sky was incredibly beautiful.

Taking in the serene blue, I quietly closed my eyes.

The sound of the wind brushed against my ears.

I loved moments like these.

Sitting quietly, gazing up at the sky with my eyes closed.

It was one of those meaningless actions that I truly enjoyed.

As I stayed there like that, a distinct color began to filter through my closed eyelids.

The color approached soundlessly, one an almost translucent black, and the other a cold gray, like a chain.

“Yoo Eun-ha?”

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking in surprise.

Oh, huh? Senior Ji-hyun and oppa Seonghu?

Why are the two of them, of all people, here?

I looked up at them with a puzzled expression as they stared down at me.

“Um… what are you two doing here?”

Hearing this, Senior Ji-hyun made a strange expression.

“That’s what we should be asking…”

“We thought you’d fallen asleep.”

Seonghu oppa spoke, turning my head away from the sky I had been leaning against and giving my shoulders a few taps to straighten me up.

Wait, what’s going on?

Seonghu oppa brushed my head, picking off something.

“Look, you had a dry leaf stuck there.”

“Oh, it’s fine. A little shake and it’ll come off.”

I was wearing my hair up, so it shouldn’t have gathered that much debris.

I ran my hand over my hair, brushing off any leaves or twigs that might be clinging to it.

Then I stood up and looked at Seonghu oppa and Senior Ji-hyun.

Meeting them here felt strange.

Especially since I had just passed by Eun-hee unnie’s group.

Well, it wasn’t too odd.

This was the path from the shopping district to the high school grounds, after all.

And it was also connected to the hill behind the elementary school grounds, making it a shortcut for elementary school students like us to reach the shopping district.

Still, for some reason, it was a path that few people used.

But really, seeing these rivals walking together so closely felt odd.

I stared intently at the two of them.

Especially Senior Ji-hyun, who had confessed to Eun-hee unnie so passionately multiple times—it made me feel a mix of sympathy and the urge to cheer him on…

I scrutinized the two of them, driven by curiosity, but ultimately, I couldn’t catch even a glimpse of emotion.

Looking at Senior Ji-hyun’s face, I wondered where that passion of his was hidden.

I brushed my hair once more and took a step back.

“What were you doing here in the cold?”

“Uh… I was just sitting around because I was bored.”

Then I asked a question I wouldn’t normally have asked.

I was curious, after all.

“What about you, oppa?”

“I was supposed to meet up with some friends to train. We’re prepping for the rank exam.”

Ah, so meeting them here wasn’t entirely coincidental.

While running into them itself might have been random, the fact that we met at the same time wasn’t.

After all, we were all headed to the same place.

I see. Right now, there’s something more important than romance for them.

Even though their love lives don’t really concern me, I couldn’t help but worry about one thing.

Eun-hee unnie was feeling down the other day, saying the rank exam was coming up… will she be okay?

“Got it… well then, I’ll be off.”

Thinking I shouldn’t hold them up any longer, I gave my goodbyes and turned back.

I went the opposite direction.

“Where are you going?”

“Heading back to the elementary school.”

“Oh… taking the shortcut?”

Senior Ji-hyun looked at me with a surprised expression.

I looked back at him with a similarly surprised look.

‘Well, that’s right. Both of them went to this elementary school.’

“Yes.”

It wasn’t anything special, just a shortcut I’d stumbled upon while walking through the grounds.

I should get back to studying, too.

Feigning ignorance, I walked back toward the elementary school.

☆

For the time being, I studied more than I trained.

I paid special attention to magic potion recipes.

Since it was something I was learning for the first time this year, there were still parts that confused me.

Although I had scored perfect marks in all the practical sessions so far.

As I was studying, the faint sound of my pen scratching paper filled the air, but eventually, I looked up.

The focus I had maintained for so long briefly faded.

Unlike me, my friends were playing a board game like Jenga.

Watching them concentrate on their game, I unconsciously recalled Eun-hee unnie’s words.

Confessing four times…

Thinking about it, I realized I’d never actually confessed to someone myself.

Or maybe I had?

If so, it wasn’t really a true confession of love… something was lacking.

Yes, something was missing.

‘Love, huh.’

Love…

Thinking about it now, it’s bittersweet.

The beginning wasn’t good, the middle wasn’t good, and even the end wasn’t good.

The only sweet memories of romance were from those happy moments when I was in love, when we were together.

It’s definitely not a story I’d want to share with anyone.

Thinking this, I turned to Min-hee and asked,

“Hey, Min-hee.”

“Yeah?”

“Does your brother… seem down lately?”

“No, not really. Why?”

Love is one of those emotions that drives people to madness.

Anyone in love finds it difficult to control their emotions.

I imagined that Senior Ji-hyun was struggling with that too, wondering if he might be having a hard time…

But it seemed he hadn’t shown that side to Min-hee.

“Oh, no, it’s nothing. I thought he looked tired the last time I saw him.”

“Really? When was that?”

“Just the other day, I saw him in passing with Seonghu oppa.”

“Hm, that’s probably because of training. He’s been coming home really late because of it.”

I looked at her with a worried expression.

“Really? Are you okay being by yourself?”

“It’s fine. Shia’s house is right next door, you know! I’ve been staying there lately, so don’t worry.”

“Oh, I see.”

Feeling reassured, I relaxed.

Then, I returned to studying.

The second semester exams, though held at the end of the semester, were earlier than the first semester exams.

Even after the school exams were over, we still had about a month left until break.

After finishing the school exams, I realized the rank exam was now just a week away.

Mom, all fired up, said she hoped my scores would be even a little better than before.

Our homeroom teachers were also busy preparing us for the rank exam, so we had quite a bit of free time right after the exams ended.

Class I had mostly been self-studying, both before and after the exams.

Teacher Min wasn’t planning on taking the exam this year, but he hadn’t been around, saying he was helping Teacher Joon-hwi.

Still, the rank exam wasn’t an immediate future concern for us yet.

So we talked about entirely different things from the adults, expressing our hopes and regrets.

“We’re almost second graders, so once we’re in second grade… we won’t get to see Yoo-jung unnie and In-ho oppa much, will we?

Unnie and oppa said that once they’re in third grade, they’ll be moved up to another level-based class, right?”

When Min-hee mumbled with a slightly gloomy expression, Yoo-jung unnie nodded regretfully.

“Yes. Really… I guess that’s how it’ll be. It’s a shame we’ll be in different classes, but… I’m a little excited, too.”

“Huh? Why? Why-y?”

“Well, according to Teacher Joon-hwi, students like us who already developed magic at a young age might receive personal lessons when we advance to a different level-based class in third grade. So, I’m looking forward to it.”

We were surprised by this new information. Hyun-ho nodded, smiling.

“Wow, really. That’s amazing.”

“Yeah. The teachers we get are usually graduates from our school, and they’re selected to match well with us. Teacher Joon-hwi said they’re outstanding, so he told us to look forward to it.”

“Wow!”

Min-hee forgot her gloomy mood and let out an excited cheer. Hyun-ho, looking pleased, turned to ask In-ho oppa.

“Hey, hey, will we get that when we’re in third grade too?”

“Probably.”

I, too, had a bright expression at the thought. Learning by oneself is quite challenging. Having a mentor or not makes a huge difference. All of my magic spells are specialized, the type that would take a long time to develop without guidance. Even if I tried to study and understand on my own, there were limits.

Of course, Teacher Joon-hwi and Teacher Min had been teaching me a lot, but there were still many constraints. The level-based classes only happened a few times a week, and they had to rotate through teaching seven students. I’d learned things like detection abilities, illusion magic in the mental category, creating barrier zones, and combining symbols, but what was lacking still felt lacking.

So this was good news. Of course, my timid nature was still an issue… meeting new people made me nervous… but my passion for magic wasn’t going to be outshone. I became excited by myself.

“Still~. I’ll be super sad if unnie and oppa leave. Ah, I wonder if any younger students will come?”

“Probably not? Even at our school, I heard magic development doesn’t start until fourth grade. Usually, private tutors only start in middle school… and even then, it’s often in small groups, not one-on-one like now.”

“In that sense, it’s pretty clear that this one here is a special case, having already planned out all the sub-magic.”

At Yoo-jung unnie’s words, Han-soo pointed at me with a raised finger. Mm-hmm, everyone agreed with that, and I scratched my head sheepishly. Yoo-jung unnie clapped her hands together, looking at me with newfound amazement.

“Really, Eun-ha, you’re remarkable. Creating just one of those spells would be impressive enough. And all of them are extraordinary. I think the barrier spell is the most amazing. I don’t even understand how you use it.”

“Right, right.”

“Well, with her personality, using them in combat would be a stretch, though.”

Han-soo waved his hand dismissively, and everyone nodded in agreement. I, too, gave a look of acceptance. Of course, I could definitely use my unique magic in combat if I wanted to. It would even be a highly dangerous weapon. But I had no intention of using my magic in that way.

“If I ever end up in a battle, I’d probably rely on other attribute-based magic to attack. My magic can only be used defensively. If it’s not attribute magic, maybe I’d use spell magic or advanced magic. Or perhaps I could recreate those spells with symbols?”

“I see.”

I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start studying other types of magic that could be used offensively in advance. Since I had good control and a lot of compatible attributes, using attribute magic that matched me best seemed ideal. Alternating between light and darkness attribute magic would be good, too. I kept practicing attribute magic consistently. After my unique magic, it was the magic I enjoyed the most while training, as it allowed freedom.

Of course, my main magic would always be my unique magic. But when it came to offense, attribute magic seemed better suited.

I muttered abruptly,

“I hope everyone does well in the mage rank exam.”

“Agreed.”

“Yeah.”

Everyone nodded at my words. I thought of Eun-hee unnie.

Eun-hee unnie, who had said she wanted to be a guard at Daehyun Magic School. Then, I recalled her mismatched, melancholic expression, and her bright smile when thinking about the future.

I truly hoped she would become a B-rank mage. As I thought that, something came to mind.

‘When will you confess?’

‘When I manage to become a proper B-rank mage.’

It was a topic I tried hard not to think about, one that kept resurfacing helplessly in my mind. Seriously, what will Ji-hyun oppa do… I couldn’t help but keep thinking about him since he was Min-hee’s brother.

Of course, I wanted Eun-hee unnie to be happy. Maybe, the best outcome would be if things worked out as she hoped and she ended up with Seonghu oppa. But it wouldn’t be pleasant if my close friend’s brother got rejected, either… Plus, there’s no guarantee that Seonghu oppa likes Eun-hee unnie.

If I had to choose someone out of the three to root for, it would ultimately be Eun-hee unnie. She’s someone I’ve known the longest and has helped me back when I was struggling with In-ha.

‘I just hope it works out well, no matter what.’

I even wondered if I should give her something. Eun-hee unnie really helped me in many ways.

I started to ponder this intently.