Lili and I were assigned to the same room.

At the Royal Lehan Knight Academy, students were generally required to share rooms. However, it was unheard of for teachers to room together, let alone a teacher sharing with a student.

So how did this come to be?

It all started with allegations of assault against Lawrence Givley, an instructor during the practical exam.

Apparently, Lawrence had spread rumors to the other instructors that I had beaten him before the exam began, using underhanded tactics.

This behavior, which supposedly violated the knightly code of honor, nearly led to my disqualification—until someone stepped forward to refute the claim.

The person who spoke out was none other than Lili Ituka, the newly appointed instructor of Swordmaster rank, who, like me, had joined the academy as an exceptional case by royal decree from King Kilpus.

Lili testified that I had done nothing wrong during my duel with Lawrence.

But by the time she intervened, the list of successful candidates had already been posted. In other words, all the dorm rooms had already been assigned, leaving none available for me.

Unable to disregard the testimony of someone as highly regarded as Lili Ituka, the instructors were at a loss—until Lili herself suggested, “I’ll let him stay in my room.”

Apparently, Lawrence vehemently opposed the idea until the very end.

“Just endure it for a while,” she said.

I would have refused outright, but doing so would have meant my expulsion—or rather, being turned away before I could even enroll.

Still, this was...

Difficult.

It wasn’t the drying laundry that bothered me; that was just fabric. It was Lili herself.

She had changed—grown, in a way.

Ten years had passed since then. I didn’t know the exact month she was born, but I remembered her as a scrawny brat who had spent six years following me onto battlefields. By the time we parted, she had reached her mid-teens. That much I remembered.

So now, she must be in her mid-twenties.

“Lili.”

“Call me Instructor Ituka.”

How irritating.

“Instructor Ituka.”

“What is it?”

“Did you get married?”

“I haven’t.”

Calling her “you” was acceptable, but “Lili” wasn’t? I couldn’t figure out her logic.

“Why not?”

“Do I need to explain that to you?”

“No, I suppose not.”

Unmarried, then. She’s missed her chance at marriage. Spending too much time focused on war—that’s why. Foolish girl. And the men of this world are fools as well. What are they even looking at? If their eyes are just for show, they might as well gouge them out. It’s infuriating.

She could have married one of our senior disciples. Idiots, all of them.

“I’m a man, you know.”

“I learned that from your application form. We discussed this already.”

Of course she knew. It was because of the mess caused by my mother, Queen Alina, falsifying my application form that we were in this absurd situation.

“Then it’s inappropriate for us to live together!”

Lili tilted her head slightly, as if the thought hadn’t occurred to her.

“Why? At my age, it wouldn’t be strange for me to have a child as old as you.”

That’s... true, but... what?!

So she was aware of her late marriage prospects. I see.

“That’s not the issue! Don’t you have any sense of danger?!”

“...Danger of what? Missing my chance to marry?”

“Not that! Stop saying things that make my chest hurt!”

Don’t look so puzzled! Have morals across the world crumbled after Blythe’s death?! Is it now normal for unmarried women to live with men?!

Wait, am I her father? Did I feel this way in my past life too? I can’t even remember anymore.

“Ah, I see. But it’s fine. Someone like you would be easy to pin down.”

“Ugh...”

She wasn’t wrong.

Even with the memories of Swordmaster Blythe, I didn’t carry a sword regularly. Lili was a grown woman now, and despite not being there to witness the end of her growth, she had honed her skills based on my “formless” techniques. There was no way I could win against her barehanded.

Especially not against someone whose swordsmanship was acknowledged by King Kilpus.

Lili gave a faint smile.

“And besides, haha... to someone like Eremia, a 25-year-old like me must seem like an old woman.”

I’m the one who’s far older than you! If only I could say that out loud! Grrr!

My teeth ground together as the veins at my temples throbbed.

“What a funny expression.”

“Shut up!”

Ridiculous.

Why should I, of all people, feel conscious of my disciple?

That’s right. I’ve never once thought of her as a woman.

Absolutely not.

No way would I let a little rejuvenation make me lose my composure. I’ll display the maturity of an adult. Right, Blythe?

“Anyway, it’s late. Wash your face, change, and go to sleep. You can use that bed over there.”

“What about you, Ituka?”

“Instructor.”

Tch. Annoying.

Fine, I’ll stop getting riled up. I’m just a child now, after all.

Sighing heavily to let out my irritation, I asked her again.

“What about you, Instructor Ituka? Won’t you sleep?”

“I still have some work to do.”

She lifted something resembling a roster and pointed at it.

It wasn’t a roster, but a stack of application forms. Apparently, she was compiling her class roster from the successful candidates’ forms.

“Fine. Don’t overdo it. No matter how much you train, lack of sleep stunts growth.”

“...”

I realized my mistake after saying it.

She was a grown woman of twenty-five, and I was a ten-year-old boy. I had it backward.

What was I thinking?

Somehow, this reminded me of old times, and I ended up saying unnecessary things.