*Closing Story – Future Together*
Leah was studying history with Sharillo. She had to pass the history exam somehow in order to take the knight’s class.
Sharillo would pass without extra study, but not Leah. She had no recollection of taking history lessons except for those related to combat and war. Most of the time she spent thinking about something else or doing something else.
“Emperor Lahiburn conducted…”
“Lahiburn, 15 years! The way the Lahiburn dynasty ruled!”
Desperate to take knight’s lessons, Leah memorized an entire history book. Even the name and achievements of the emperors, and the years of the historic events. Now she could easily list what achievements they have made just by listening to the name of the emperor.
“I haven’t finished with the questions yet, so listen to the end. What is the difference between the way Emperor Lahiburn ruled and the way the triumvirate ruled in the past, and how did this style of rule affect the nation?”
However, the stumbling block was that memorizing test questions did not mean that she could get the answers right.
“Why do you keep changing the question? And it’s not even in the book. I can’t solve a single one!”
Leah jumped up from her seat in anger. Anna, who was quietly doodling next to her while Leah and Sharillo were studying history, looked at them surprised.
In fact, Sharillo explained to Leah in a calm tone without much change in his expression.
“The teacher already explained everything in class. And if you think about the achievements of Emperor Lahiburn, you can easily find out the answer.”
Leah got even angrier when she looked at Sharillo who looked like he was saying, “How can you not answer such an easy thing?”
“Hmpf! You must be happy to be so smart!”
As Leah screamed, Sharillo said, frowning his brow.
“I told you not to call me you. You should call me older brother.”
“We were born on the same day! You’re not any older than me! I won’t! I won’t study with you. I’ll do it alone!”
Leah yelled in anger and rushed out with her book. She could hear Sharillo and Anna calling from behind, but she didn’t stop.
She left the palace and went out into the garden. She was panting from anger but it subsided soon, and now she felt empty. She sat down sluggishly.
“I really want to do well on this test…”
Leah was really upset. The only thing she was actually interested in was the knight class, but on the other hand, it was something she wanted to learn because she was confident that she would do well in it.
Sharillo was good at everything, and Anna was excellent at drawing. Although her mother and father complimented her for being good at whatever she did, Leah knew she was not good at painting, music, or studying. The only thing that Leah was more confident than Sharillo and Anna was anything involving physical activity.
But Leah never had a chance to take the knight’s class because it was dangerous. And finally, her father gave her a chance to the class if she passed the history text, but Leah was about to lose her only chance. Leah was so upset that she was about to cry.
“Hmph, I’m the only one who doesn’t know how to do anything. I wouldn’t be so upset if I was good at drawing like Anna or if I was as smart as Sharillo…”
“Agh! Help me!”
A sudden scream caused Leah to jump up from her seat. It was the voice of a child, not an adult. It was a voice coming from quite a distance, but Leah easily estimated the direction and ran towards it.
It was a place where there was a big pond where she sometimes came with Sharillo to play fishing. At the edge of the pond, a boy around her age was scurrying his arms and legs, shouting for help.
“Hey! You there, kid!”
Leah called the boy. He raised his voice even more when he realized that someone was close to him to help him.
“Save… Ugh! Help!”
Leah put her hand on her waist, shook her head and said in a pathetic tone.
“The water there only comes up to my shoulder. Stop floundering and stand upright and you’ll be able to walk out.”
But words were useless. The child, who had already fallen into terror, could not stand up and kept swinging his arms and legs. Leah stood by the pond and kept shouting, “Step on the ground!” But the child continued to drink water.
“Well, I guess talking won’t do.”
Leah sighed and took off her shoes and went into the pond. Originally, it was clear water, so you could see the fish moving around well, but the boy shook it so much that it was muddy. Nevertheless, the water was still cold and his body trembled.
Leah slowly approached the child. When the child found out that Leah had come to rescue him, he rushed at her. Because of the child, Leah was also messed up in the water.
The height of the water was only up to her shoulders, but when she felt like she was going to be swept away and drowned together, Leah plunged her head under the water. The child thought she was here to save him, but she seemed to be trying to kill him, so he tried to stare angrily at Leah, but it was useless.
Leah continued to press the child’s head down. Leah also had to drink a lot of water because of the rebellious child who wanted to live.
At one point the child dropped as if he had lost strength. Only then did Leah scolded, “Twit!” and dragged the child’s back to shore.
The child had fainted with his eyes open. Leah put her hands together and hit the child’s chest. After four or five hard blows, the child squeaked out the water. Confirming that the child was alive, Leah lay flat on the soil.
“Phew, that’s a relief.”
In fact, Leah can’t swim and has never saved anyone who fell into the water. But sometimes she heard this and that from Havali, the head of the Phoenix Knights, one of which was about how he was saved when he fell into the water.
If you fall into the water, your head will be filled with the idea of living, and you will not be able to make rational judgments. The same was true when he fell into the water, and he grabbed the head of a swimmer who swam to save him and almost killed both of them.
Fortunately, the person who came to save Havali had excellent swimming skills, so he dove into the water and grabbed him by the neck and brought him back. And that was how Havali managed to survive. When Leah heard the story, she did not forget the part that if the person in danger was panicking, the person saving them should rather make them faint and bring them back.
Recalling the story, Leah kept pushing the boy into the water to make him faint. But she was also worried that he might die instead of just fainting from losing his breath.
So when the child exhaled his breath, she lost all her energy that was held up in anxiety. She was so nervous that she became physically tired.
Leah closed her eyes. The sunlight over her eyelids was dazzling. The rough breathing of the child drew closer and closer, and soon afterwards shadows hung over Leah’s eyelids.
When Leah opened her eyes, the child looked at her with a resentful look and asked, “Why did you do that?”
“…”
‘What, you’re asking me why I let you live?’
“I almost died.”
She thought he’d say thank you for saving my life first when she came to her senses, but the child said something completely opposite. Leah was annoyed. Because of him, she had to drink muddy water and get her clothes soaked!
“What?! I’ve worked so hard to save your life, and you can’t even thank me.”
The child asked back, “You saved me?” with an incomprehensible face. Leah jumped up and faced the child.
“So you swim yourself out and breathe through your nostrils?”
“I thought you were trying to kill me because you pushed me under the water…”
“I came to help, and you pulled me under the water first. Do you know we were both about to become water ghosts? I had to knock you out and drag you out, you idiot!”
Only then did he seem to understand Leah’s words, and the child nodded with a blank look.
“Oh… …that’s what it was. Sorry, I misunderstood. And thank you for saving me.”
The child smiled brightly and reached out his hand.
“I’m Evan. What about you?”
The boy had a similar eye level to Leah. She didn’t have time to look at his face only when she was struggling in the water, and when she dragged him out, Leah was tired, and so she couldn’t catch his appearance. But facing each other like this, he was a boy with a pretty cute face.
Sharillo and Anna were the only peers in the palace, so Leah was amazed by the boy she suddenly saw. His forehead was covered with damp black hair and his face was white as a pale ghost. His lips were purple. Nonetheless, the child’s sharp features were obvious.
“I’m Leah.”
“Nice to meet you.”
The child reached out his hand, but Leah only glanced at it.
She had never spoken to a child of her age. Sharillo was born on the same day, and Anna was together since she was a baby, so those two were so natural to be around. In fact, she has never introduced herself to anyone.
‘Are you supposed to put your hand out when you first meet someone?’
Leah followed the child by putting her hand out. Then the child smiled brightly and held Leah’s hand. Then he shook her hand lightly.
The act seemed interesting, so Leah followed the child with a strong wave of her hands. She waved her arms endlessly and Evan said with a troubled look.
“My arm hurts. Let’s stop shaking hands now.”
“Shake hands?”
“Yes. That’s a handshake. What you do when you first meet a friend.”
“Friend?”
Leah was excited by the word “friend” that Evan said.
“Oh, I’m so tired. I drank a lot of water and I’m not feeling any energy.”
The child flopped down beside Leah. Leah sat next to him, too.
“Do you have many friends?”
“Sure. When I go back to our Roman territory, I have a lot of friends. There’s more than ten!”
Leah had a pout on her lips. She didn’t even have one friend and he had ten. Then she thought about what Evan said, “Shaking hands is the first time I meet a friend.”
“So I’m your friend, too?”
When asked by Leah, Evan said with a look on his face, “Why are you asking something so obvious?”
“Of course, Leah, and you saved my life. Now you are my best friend. Just as you risked your life to save me, I would risk my life for you.”
“Wow…”