Left behind in the room by Dahlia, Tobias leaned back in his chair.
He knows full well that he was at fault but still he can’t do anything.
Dahlia was the daughter of Carlo, his mentor as a magic tools craftsman.
The place he first met her was the green tower.
She was carrying a lot of books as she just came back from the academy’s laboratory.
When Carlo introduced him as her senior apprentice, she bowed despite the number of books she was carrying.
Her red hair was bundled up, she was wearing a plain ash-color dress while her green eyes were hidden behind a pair of large silver-framed glasses.
There was almost no brilliant of her adolescence, she looked like a boy you could normally see on the street.
After that, I met her several times in the workshop, at the time, Dahlia was an assistant to the professor at the academy so they didn’t talk much.
The time that she began to talk to him was when she was developing waterproof clothes.
Not just at the academy, she also conducted her research at the tower as well. She dried the slimes all over the rooftop and the garden while often choking on them herself.
Her enthusiasm to commit to her research like a child always made me smile.
I often tease her with [Those slimes will hold a grudge you know.]
However, as a result of her struggle with the slimes, Dahlia managed to register a profit contract with the commerce guild for the waterproof clothes and the magic tools called raincoat despite her young age.
At that time, I had no registered magic tools yet.
While being surprised by Dahlia’s achievement, the word senior apprentice pricked his heart like a thorn.
Our engagement was sudden.
When Dahlia head over to her friend’s house, her father, Carlo unusually invited him for a drink.
There, Carlo asked him [Won’t you marry Dahlia?]. It only took him a few seconds to accept the proposal.
Perhaps back then rather than being engaged to Dahlia, he wanted to succeed Carlo as a magic tools craftsman.
The next day, Dahlia was told of the engagement.
As her emerald eyes went round, she renews her greeting.
When she stood so close to him at that time, it was the first time he noticed that she was almost as tall as himself.
I was so shy and restless that I just said [You’re pretty tall huh]. However, she only gave me a bitter laugh in return.
Having Dahlia as my fiance, I thought that was a pretty good condition. She is the daughter of my mentor who was also his father’s best friend so her background was solid.
She has a mild personality similar to Carlo, he had never seen her raise her voice before.
She sometimes gets absorbed into her job but she always neatly did the housework.
Her appearance is a little plain but that doesn’t look bad either.
In fact, after the engagement, Dahlia did almost everything he asked of her.
She did ask the details of his request but she never once emotionally complain about them.
When she dyed her gorgeous red hair dark brown as he asked, he was actually secretly relieved.
As her senior apprentice, she would become a wife who will always follow behind him and he will become the husband who always stands at the front to protect her—–that’s what I thought.
On the day they would sign their marriage registration, that morning, father didn’t wake up. He passed away just like that.
It caused a big uproar at Orlando Company.
My mother kept sleeping, my brother went to another country at the time, myself who was busy with various formalities. Our business as a company was delayed.
At that time, Dahlia took a break from her magic tools work and assisted with various tasks and bookkeeping.
When the people around me said [She will be a good wife] that word fulfilled me with pride.
One day, I want to save her just like how she saved him that day. He wanted to become someone that can protect her.
When did everything go wrong?
Almost a year after Tobias’s father died, Dahlia’s father, Carlo collapsed inside the commerce guild and suddenly passed away.
By the time he rushed to the hospital, Carlo’s body had already gone cold and was undergoing the pre-funeral procedure.
Dahlia was crying her eyes out, with her tear-soaked handkerchief.
Without offering his arms for her to cry on nor giving the words of grief, he simply proceeded with the funeral.
It might be then that he felt something strange.
Somewhere inside me, I was frustrated at her. It was because of the repetition of my one-sided wish.
When I told her I want her to act calm, she switched her appearance to that of a married woman.
When I told her to not have more than two drinks, she gave up drinking and only have one drink from then on.
Even when I asked her to do an assistant’s job, she did everything without hesitation.
That’s why I thought that she would just agree to the profit contract even if I tell her about it after the fact as well.
If he talks to her about magic tools she would accompany him but in the end, it was just that.
Every magic tool she came up with was something Tobias couldn’t even imagine, that was what often made him bitter.
Looking back, Dahlia never once let him spoil her, rely on him nor ask for his help.
Then he noticed. It was but a simple story.
To Dahlia, he was nothing but a [senior apprentice].
Since he was her senior apprentice, her father as well as her mentor, Carlo get her to engage with him.
Perhaps Dahlia would still be fine even if she got engaged to someone else.
And, that might be the same for him as well.
Even so, if I was asked whether I love her or not, then yes, I love her.
If we have no one else, we might just get married just like that. That vague idea was floating in his head.
But then I met Emilia.
The girl who entered the company as a receptionist just several months before the day we were supposed to sign our marriage registration.
Slightly bright honey-colored hair, light brown eyes.
Even as she works, her expression remains innocent with only a little makeup applied to her white skin.
She was cheerful and failed at work a lot but she always worked hard.
“Becoming a Magic tools craftsman, Tobias-sama is really amazing.”
The first time we talked, that was what Emilia said with her sparkling brown eyes.
At that time, I said that it wasn’t such a great thing and ended the conversation there.
However, since then, I noticed that their eyes often met.
I have to get away from her—–that was all I think at that time.
Because I know that I was incredibly attracted to her.
It was a coincidence that Emilia was there when we were having a company dinner.
She has the blood of the nobles but her mother was someone that should remain in the shadow and her mother has to part ways with her father because they were not allowed to marry.
Giving up on the academy because of her mother’s illness, she has been living alone in poverty ever since she passed away.
When she said that she wanted to learn more and do her best from now on, everyone gave her their support.
Whether they were sympathetic or find her favorable, all the men around Emilia often call out to her.
Since she had no intention to go out with those men, she came to consult with me about how to turn them down with a troubled expression, I gave her advice like a big brother.
Still, I myself realize that I was just jealous. I had no choice but to be aware of that.
A few days before the marriage, I was supposed to have a consultation with Emilia at lunch but a customer suddenly arrives at the company. I thought that it would be rude to break a promise so I invited her to have lunch with me.
In the middle of our talk, she said [I’ve been living in a rented room so this is the first time for her to see a family house]. Hearing Emilia says that Tobias invited Emilia to take a look at his new house.
The bad one was me who proposed to Emilia while she was crying in that house.
He knows that no matter how many times he can return to that moment, he would still do the same thing.
Emilia was the only woman he truly loves.
When Tobias was dwelling in his thoughts, he heard a reserved knock from the door.
When he said please come in, a woman with bright honey-colored hair quietly entered the room.
“Um….I’m sorry.:
“Emilia, I told you to wait in the back because Dahlia was here right.”
When Dahlia came, Emilia was coincidentally not in the office so his other employees told her to stay at the back of the store. She came out after she confirmed that Dahlia already went back but he still doesn’t want her to run into Dahlia.
“I’m sorry, I was really worried…..Tobias-san, Um…Can I hear what you talk about with Dahlia-san?”
Her light brown eyes are muddy as she uneasily stares at me.
“It was just about our job as magic tools craftsmen. The talk about our engagement was already over. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Tobias answered her with a smile.
Emilia looked down and clenched her hands.
On her arm is a shining golden engagement bracelet, decorated with Carnelian, the same color as his eyes. It was originally belonged to Dahlia, even so, Emilia was still happy about it.
“…..Sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
“But I knew that you were engaged, Tobias-san. Despite that, I still ended up falling in love with you.”
As Emilia said that with a trembling voice, Tobias gently wipes the tears on her white cheek with his fingers.
“You have done nothing to be blamed for. Everything is my fault.”
The body of the girl he embraced is both small and soft——it is something that he must absolutely protect.
Only this feeling, no, only this love for her is the truth for him.
At the same time, a small voice burst inside of him.
Dahlia, I’ve never once been anything more than a senior apprentice to you.
Left behind in the room by Dahlia, Tobias leaned back in his chair.
He knows full well that he was at fault but still he can’t do anything.
Dahlia was the daughter of Carlo, his mentor as a magic tools craftsman.
The place he first met her was the green tower.
She was carrying a lot of books as she just came back from the academy’s laboratory.
When Carlo introduced him as her senior apprentice, she bowed despite the number of books she was carrying.
Her red hair was bundled up, she was wearing a plain ash-color dress while her green eyes were hidden behind a pair of large silver-framed glasses.
There was almost no brilliant of her adolescence, she looked like a boy you could normally see on the street.
After that, I met her several times in the workshop, at the time, Dahlia was an assistant to the professor at the academy so they didn’t talk much.
The time that she began to talk to him was when she was developing waterproof clothes.
Not just at the academy, she also conducted her research at the tower as well. She dried the slimes all over the rooftop and the garden while often choking on them herself.
Her enthusiasm to commit to her research like a child always made me smile.
I often tease her with [Those slimes will hold a grudge you know.]
However, as a result of her struggle with the slimes, Dahlia managed to register a profit contract with the commerce guild for the waterproof clothes and the magic tools called raincoat despite her young age.
At that time, I had no registered magic tools yet.
While being surprised by Dahlia’s achievement, the word senior apprentice pricked his heart like a thorn.
Our engagement was sudden.
When Dahlia head over to her friend’s house, her father, Carlo unusually invited him for a drink.
There, Carlo asked him [Won’t you marry Dahlia?]. It only took him a few seconds to accept the proposal.
Perhaps back then rather than being engaged to Dahlia, he wanted to succeed Carlo as a magic tools craftsman.
The next day, Dahlia was told of the engagement.
As her emerald eyes went round, she renews her greeting.
When she stood so close to him at that time, it was the first time he noticed that she was almost as tall as himself.
I was so shy and restless that I just said [You’re pretty tall huh]. However, she only gave me a bitter laugh in return.
Having Dahlia as my fiance, I thought that was a pretty good condition. She is the daughter of my mentor who was also his father’s best friend so her background was solid.
She has a mild personality similar to Carlo, he had never seen her raise her voice before.
She sometimes gets absorbed into her job but she always neatly did the housework.
Her appearance is a little plain but that doesn’t look bad either.
In fact, after the engagement, Dahlia did almost everything he asked of her.
She did ask the details of his request but she never once emotionally complain about them.
When she dyed her gorgeous red hair dark brown as he asked, he was actually secretly relieved.
As her senior apprentice, she would become a wife who will always follow behind him and he will become the husband who always stands at the front to protect her—–that’s what I thought.
On the day they would sign their marriage registration, that morning, father didn’t wake up. He passed away just like that.
It caused a big uproar at Orlando Company.
My mother kept sleeping, my brother went to another country at the time, myself who was busy with various formalities. Our business as a company was delayed.
At that time, Dahlia took a break from her magic tools work and assisted with various tasks and bookkeeping.
When the people around me said [She will be a good wife] that word fulfilled me with pride.
One day, I want to save her just like how she saved him that day. He wanted to become someone that can protect her.
When did everything go wrong?
Almost a year after Tobias’s father died, Dahlia’s father, Carlo collapsed inside the commerce guild and suddenly passed away.
By the time he rushed to the hospital, Carlo’s body had already gone cold and was undergoing the pre-funeral procedure.
Dahlia was crying her eyes out, with her tear-soaked handkerchief.
Without offering his arms for her to cry on nor giving the words of grief, he simply proceeded with the funeral.
It might be then that he felt something strange.
Somewhere inside me, I was frustrated at her. It was because of the repetition of my one-sided wish.
When I told her I want her to act calm, she switched her appearance to that of a married woman.
When I told her to not have more than two drinks, she gave up drinking and only have one drink from then on.
Even when I asked her to do an assistant’s job, she did everything without hesitation.
That’s why I thought that she would just agree to the profit contract even if I tell her about it after the fact as well.
If he talks to her about magic tools she would accompany him but in the end, it was just that.
Every magic tool she came up with was something Tobias couldn’t even imagine, that was what often made him bitter.
Looking back, Dahlia never once let him spoil her, rely on him nor ask for his help.
Then he noticed. It was but a simple story.
To Dahlia, he was nothing but a [senior apprentice].
Since he was her senior apprentice, her father as well as her mentor, Carlo get her to engage with him.
Perhaps Dahlia would still be fine even if she got engaged to someone else.
And, that might be the same for him as well.
Even so, if I was asked whether I love her or not, then yes, I love her.
If we have no one else, we might just get married just like that. That vague idea was floating in his head.
But then I met Emilia.
The girl who entered the company as a receptionist just several months before the day we were supposed to sign our marriage registration.
Slightly bright honey-colored hair, light brown eyes.
Even as she works, her expression remains innocent with only a little makeup applied to her white skin.
She was cheerful and failed at work a lot but she always worked hard.
“Becoming a Magic tools craftsman, Tobias-sama is really amazing.”
The first time we talked, that was what Emilia said with her sparkling brown eyes.
At that time, I said that it wasn’t such a great thing and ended the conversation there.
However, since then, I noticed that their eyes often met.
I have to get away from her—–that was all I think at that time.
Because I know that I was incredibly attracted to her.
It was a coincidence that Emilia was there when we were having a company dinner.
She has the blood of the nobles but her mother was someone that should remain in the shadow and her mother has to part ways with her father because they were not allowed to marry.
Giving up on the academy because of her mother’s illness, she has been living alone in poverty ever since she passed away.
When she said that she wanted to learn more and do her best from now on, everyone gave her their support.
Whether they were sympathetic or find her favorable, all the men around Emilia often call out to her.
Since she had no intention to go out with those men, she came to consult with me about how to turn them down with a troubled expression, I gave her advice like a big brother.
Still, I myself realize that I was just jealous. I had no choice but to be aware of that.
A few days before the marriage, I was supposed to have a consultation with Emilia at lunch but a customer suddenly arrives at the company. I thought that it would be rude to break a promise so I invited her to have lunch with me.
In the middle of our talk, she said [I’ve been living in a rented room so this is the first time for her to see a family house]. Hearing Emilia says that Tobias invited Emilia to take a look at his new house.
The bad one was me who proposed to Emilia while she was crying in that house.
He knows that no matter how many times he can return to that moment, he would still do the same thing.
Emilia was the only woman he truly loves.
When Tobias was dwelling in his thoughts, he heard a reserved knock from the door.
When he said please come in, a woman with bright honey-colored hair quietly entered the room.
“Um….I’m sorry.:
“Emilia, I told you to wait in the back because Dahlia was here right.”
When Dahlia came, Emilia was coincidentally not in the office so his other employees told her to stay at the back of the store. She came out after she confirmed that Dahlia already went back but he still doesn’t want her to run into Dahlia.
“I’m sorry, I was really worried…..Tobias-san, Um…Can I hear what you talk about with Dahlia-san?”
Her light brown eyes are muddy as she uneasily stares at me.
“It was just about our job as magic tools craftsmen. The talk about our engagement was already over. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Tobias answered her with a smile.
Emilia looked down and clenched her hands.
On her arm is a shining golden engagement bracelet, decorated with Carnelian, the same color as his eyes. It was originally belonged to Dahlia, even so, Emilia was still happy about it.
“…..Sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
“But I knew that you were engaged, Tobias-san. Despite that, I still ended up falling in love with you.”
As Emilia said that with a trembling voice, Tobias gently wipes the tears on her white cheek with his fingers.
“You have done nothing to be blamed for. Everything is my fault.”
The body of the girl he embraced is both small and soft——it is something that he must absolutely protect.
Only this feeling, no, only this love for her is the truth for him.
At the same time, a small voice burst inside of him.
Dahlia, I’ve never once been anything more than a senior apprentice to you.
