I snatched the book from Kir’s hand. Who doesn’t want to grow up? Ever since I was little, I was stressed about how little I was growing, but these days, it’s as if my growth has stopped altogether. What a complex this was. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him, and he came and annoyed me. Leaving Kir alone, I went to Mary with a sigh of relief holding the book in my arms.

“I will borrow this.”

“Are you going early today? Why? It’s earlier than usual… Ah! He was your guest.”

Mary questioned why I had left earlier than usual, then exclaimed when she spotted Kir chasing after me. Then, with curious eyes, she looked at Kir and me alternately.

“Are you going to borrow it for a few days?”

Still, she seems to have not forgotten what she was doing. Instead of satisfying her curiosity, Mary had been asking the right questions. After thinking about it for a while, I said enough just in case.

“A week.”

Mary quickly made the list and handed over the book. The moment I tried to hold the book in my arms again, Kir, who had quietly followed, picked up the book first. However, the actions of that nasty kid seemed to stir up my temper, not consideration.

“Give it to me.”

“I will take it.”

I put my hand on my waist and glared at him, but Kir didn’t budge. I feel that he has changed a lot. In the past, if I made a face like this, he wouldn’t even look at me. He must have forgotten all the respect he had for me.

Had he completely forgotten the past when he looked at me with envy and chased after me? It was all because I was not growing taller! He was now looking down at me from above, will he have the same feelings as before?

I want to be a slender beauty too! Hey! Hey! I took my anger out on the floor for no reason.

“Are you going to keep doing that?”

Kir, holding the book by his side, nodded his head and urged me to leave. That’s the way he looked at an immature younger sibling. When he was young, he was the bad one because he was immature. But after being away for a while, he grew up so quickly that I hated him for pretending to be an adult.

I hate it, so there was grumpiness in it.

“I have to go. My father is here with me.”

I don’t care if your father came or not! Was what I want to shout, but if the Grand Duke traveled, there was a high probability that Father would have come as well. Then my mind brightened. I must have been bewitched by Kir after meeting him for the first time in a while. I didn’t remember that right away.

“Is Father here too?”

“Of course.”

The Grand Duke raised Kir in the wrong way, but he took good care of the welfare of his employees to the extent that my dream was to become a civil servant. Father was even able to come to see me, thanks to the Grand Duke’s occasional long leave. When he had the chance to come to the capital like this, there was no way they wouldn’t come together. I was excited that I would be seeing my father after a long time.

“Mary, I’m going. Thank you for your work. Let’s go.”

I greeted Mary and pulled Kir’s arm. Kir followed meekly. There were so many beings immersed in research that I didn’t have to give a separate greeting when I went home. The same goes for Miss Katie. As long as it wasn’t to ask something I didn’t know or to submit an assignment, I didn’t have to go there to greet her.

When I came out of the Sage’s Study building, the carriage that Kir was riding was waiting. Kir lifted me up to make it easier for me to get into the carriage.

I quickly sat down in a chair and felt a strange sense of incongruity. And when I found out the reason, I blamed myself a little. I promised not to do that, but I was quite, no, indifferent and cold towards Kir in many ways. I had to fix it, but it was a part that was not easily fixed, as if my unconsciousness was playing a big part.

“Give me your hand.”

Kir immediately held out his left hand to my request. It felt strange because it had been a long time since he had acted without revealing or asking questions. I stopped trying to indulge in a strange sentiment, and I waved my hand to let him know that wasn’t what I wanted.

“The other side.”

Kir’s eyebrows narrowed slightly. Besides, unlike before, he didn’t act right away. I asked again before he turned the conversation around.

“I know everything. So hurry up and give it to me.”