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Chapter 58
Jailyn pulled a small pouch from the inside pocket of her school uniform jacket and picked out a suitable magic stone, handing it over to Stephan.
Following Stephan’s advice, Jailyn always carried magic stones on her person, never letting them out of reach.
Watching her, Adrian spoke up.
“You carry around your magic stones like that? Sounds like the perfect way to lose them.”
“B-but Stephan said this is the safest way. And the Department of Magical Design never knows when it’ll need a magic stone, so we should always keep them with us.”
“Exactly! The safest place for something valuable is right on you. If you leave it lying around and someone steals it, there’s nothing more unfair than that.”
Even if Stephan hadn’t said so, Jailyn would have carried the stones everywhere with her.
The only real lesson she had learned as a child in the orphanage was this: the more precious something is, the less you should ever let it out of your sight.
It was always that way. The moment she let something precious slip from her hands, it stopped being hers.
“Alright then. I’ll handle the groundwork. Jailyn, you take care of separating the design lines.”
“Uh, okay!”
Since there was no more room at Stephan’s worktable, Jailyn moved to her own desk assigned at the start of the semester.
Lionel, who had been quietly watching from behind, followed her.
“Huh? You’re coming with me?”
Leaning down slightly, Lionel nodded and whispered softly so only she could hear.
“Yeah. I want to watch you draw the designs.”
Their eyes met. Mischief flickered in his golden eyes, catching the morning sunlight streaming through the window and shining brilliantly.
Even though Jailyn was somewhat used to spending time with Lionel by now, she still found herself struck by moments of awe.
Her cheeks flushed as she stammered out a reply.
“Su-sure.”
Since it was early morning, before even the first class of the day, the workshop was completely empty except for them.
As Jailyn pulled out paper and writing tools from her bag, Lionel dragged over a chair from another table and sat across from her.
As she expected, drawing the design wasn’t all that difficult. She had already drawn it once before, so all she had to do was retrieve the image from her memory and adjust it into a workable blueprint for magical tool-making.
And yet, it was impossible to concentrate—because Lionel sat across from her, chin resting on his hand, staring fixedly at her hands.
Pencil poised but hesitant, unable to draw, Jailyn finally spoke up.
“Wa-watching me draw designs can’t be that interesting…”
“Really? Then how do you feel when you watch me train or spar? Isn’t it fun?”
Of course it was. His movements, focused on his sword, were mesmerizing—so much so that Jailyn would forget herself and simply watch in fascination.
Though she worried he might get hurt, that didn’t change the fact that she could watch him all day and never get bored.
“O-of course it’s fun!”
Without realizing, Jailyn clenched her fists and looked at Lionel with shining eyes.
“Right? That’s how I feel too.”
His long lashes curved sweetly as his eyes softened, and Jailyn’s heart pounded wildly.
“R-right… Well, I’ll get back to this.”
Avoiding his gaze, she quickly ducked her head.
At first she moved stiffly, self-conscious of Lionel’s presence, but soon she forgot he was even there, completely absorbed in the design.
As her hand moved, geometric shapes and runes flowed across the blank white paper.
Not wanting to disturb her focus, Lionel held his breath and simply sat still.
There was truly nothing for him to do except watch her hand move.
Sunlight poured in warmly through the window.
The clear chirping of skylarks echoed from outside, and the leaves of the garden trees rustled against one another in the breeze, singing with a refreshing timbre.
For a fleeting moment, Lionel thought the lush green leaves resembled the color of Jailyn’s eyes.
Each time the young leaves shimmered beneath the sunlight, they glowed with the same pale green as her irises.
A breeze carrying the coolness of morning dew brushed over him, making his whole body relax.
He had only come thinking he’d watch over her training after finishing his dawn practice and cleaning—but somehow, here he was.
His eyelids grew heavy. Jailyn’s moving hand flickered in and out of view.
The scratch of pencil on paper faded further and further away.
His hand slipped limply to the floor as he sank into his chair, falling asleep without even realizing it. Only when he opened his eyes again did he realize he had dozed off.
A quiet laugh escaped him. At this rate, it felt ridiculous to even claim he had insomnia.
By then, Jailyn’s design was already well underway. Lionel’s gaze drifted to the spare paper and pencils on her desk.
Careful not to disturb her, he pulled one sheet closer and began drawing meaningless lines.
But his eyes kept straying back to Jailyn’s hand.
Propping his chin on his hand again, he studied the way hers moved.
In the soft morning light, her hand gleamed gently—a perfect subject.
When he finished observing, his hand moved again.
It felt good to draw. Whenever thoughts grew too heavy, whenever the weight of his life pressed down on him, simply moving his hand let him forget it all for a little while.
He realized he had long forgotten this feeling. At some point, he had stopped allowing himself such moments. He had to push himself mercilessly, or else he would never move forward.
Was that why Jailyn liked drawing designs? Because losing herself in them let her forget reality?
He studied her face, trying to guess. No—she was different. Jailyn radiated passion.
Her graphite-stained hands, her flushed cheeks, her messy hair, even her worn yellow ribbon—none of it seemed shabby.
Her eyes, above all, sparkled with passion. Unlike himself, who moved like an empty shell.
It fascinated him. What drove her so? What could be so appealing about complicated, tedious schematics?
Living a life burdened only with duty, he couldn’t understand.
He envied her for having something he didn’t. And he wanted it. The light in her eyes—those eyes burning with passion he lacked—he didn’t want them to look away from him.
The lines crossing the white page were no longer meaningless.
Layer upon layer of lines formed into a drawing of Jailyn’s hand.
He shaded it, added light and shadow. Though he had only learned the basics, instinct guided him.
Before long, Jailyn had finished her design and was staring blankly at him as he put the final touches on his drawing.
The hand on the paper looked so lifelike it seemed she could reach out and feel its warmth.
“A-amazing.”
Brushing away eraser shavings, Lionel turned the drawing toward her.
“What do you think? Looks just like your hand, doesn’t it?”
“Y-yes. It looks alive.”
“Now you draw mine.”
“Eh? M-me? But I can’t draw…”
“Sure you can. You draw designs so well—your drawings will be fine too. Here, I’ll hold the pose for you.”
He positioned his hand with a pencil, just as she had earlier, adjusting so she could see clearly.
“Uh…”
Still flustered, Jailyn pulled out a new sheet of paper and began to sketch hesitantly.
No matter how hard she tried, it didn’t come out like his. She even glanced at his drawing for reference, but she couldn’t come close.
When she finally finished, she glanced nervously at him.
“I-it’s done… but it looks weird.”
Compared to Lionel’s drawing, hers looked like a child’s scribbles.
She didn’t want to show him, but she couldn’t refuse when he held out his hand.
The moment Lionel took the paper, laughter burst out of him.
“Pfft—what is this?”
The lines wobbled like worms, and the shape barely resembled a human hand at all.
It was worlds apart from the delicate drawing Lionel had made.
He laughed harder and harder.
The awkward, lumpy hand with stick-like fingers suddenly reminded him of the doll Jailyn had once made for him.
“You really haven’t changed a bit since back then.”
Her eyes widened in surprise as she realized he meant the doll she had made for him as a child.
“Y-you remembered that?”
“Of course. It’s not the kind of gift you could ever forget.”
At his answer, Jailyn’s eyes curved into a bright smile.
