"Are you… jealous?"

Catrine gasped in surprise at his words.

"Jealous?" she repeated, turning to him in confusion. "What do you mean, Brother? What… is jealousy?"

She was only six years old, and naturally, she didn't understand complicated things like human emotions.

Merlin didn't answer immediately. He sat down where Catrine had been, then gently pulled her onto his lap.

Her face flushed as red as an apple, and she tried to wriggle free from time to time. It wasn't that she disliked sitting on his lap—on the contrary, she was quite happy.

But she remembered that she was angry with her brother, and so she tried to maintain her composure.

Merlin, however, wasn't about to let her escape. With his left arm around her waist, he held her in place while smoothing her slightly tousled silver hair.

"Jealousy is one of the traits humans possess," Merlin explained softly. "It happens when you see someone else with something you don't have, or when someone has an advantage over you—you feel upset, even angry. That feeling is called jealousy. It isn't limited to that, though. You can feel jealous if the person you love might prefer someone else, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"So…" Merlin chuckled softly, pinching her cheek. "The reason you ran away from me and got angry… was because you were jealous."

Well, he was no longer a child—he had an adult soul trapped in a child's body. Though he had once been introverted, it didn't mean he was blind to human emotions.

What Catrine was feeling was clearly jealousy. And of course, it was natural. Her affection for him had reached a perfect 100 points—she truly loved him. It would have been strange if she hadn't felt jealous.

Meanwhile, Catrine felt dazed by his explanation. Only now did she finally understand the feeling that had been troubling her—jealousy.

She lowered her head, pressing her hand against her rapidly beating chest.

"Brother, is this feeling… normal?" she asked, turning her head with a hint of panic.

She didn't know how to control it. It felt like a hand was squeezing her chest, and it was truly painful.

"Of course it's normal," Merlin said lovingly. He held her hand and stroked it gently. "As I said earlier, jealousy is a human trait—or more precisely, a trait of all rational beings. If you never feel jealous, something is wrong—especially regarding the people you care about and love."

"The people I care about and… love?" Catrine repeated, biting her lower lip.

Her beautiful, round eyes were fixed on Merlin's handsome face.

'Does this mean I… really love Brother Merlin?'

As soon as that thought appeared, embarrassment washed over her. She had always warned herself not to think such things about her brother.

But the feeling grew stronger every day—especially after Merlin had celebrated her birthday and given her a necklace as a gift.

On top of that, her mother's promise to marry her off to her brother continued to echo in her mind, making these complicated emotions even harder to ignore.

"All right," Merlin said, gently pinching her cheek. "Don't be jealous anymore, okay? The villagers were only joking—they weren't serious about matching me with their daughters. So try not to think about it too much."

He knew the source of her jealousy was likely the villagers' actions. To be honest, he hadn't expected them to offer their daughters to him.

But he also understood it was merely a formality. After all, he and the villagers came from different worlds.

Unless he were some depraved nobleman who took many women as partners regardless of their background, it was irrelevant.

Fortunately, he was not that kind of person. And more importantly, he was still a child who hadn't even entered adolescence.

"I understand, Brother," Catrine whispered, relief softening her expression. "Thank you… for understanding me."

Then, shyly, she kissed his cheek and lowered her head.

"You…" Merlin was stunned as he rubbed his cheek, still damp from her kiss.

He wasn't angry, though—he simply flicked her forehead with his finger, making the girl groan in pain.

"Brother…" Catrine puffed out her cheeks as she rubbed her sore forehead. "You're so mean!"

"Pfft!" Merlin chuckled. "Who told you to kiss me in secret? If you want to kiss me, do it properly."

He leaned toward her, kissed her on the right cheek, then pulled his face back slightly and looked at her with a playful, mischievous smile.

Catrine's face turned bright red, as if smoke were rising from it.

"This is my revenge… Hahaha!" Merlin laughed heartily.

In the distance, Gover watched the scene with a sour expression.

"Even Young Master Merlin has found his soulmate… And me? Damn… this really hurts!"

...

Two days later…

In the dining room, Ardhis, Livia, Merlin, and Catrine sat at the table, eating the breakfast laid out before them.

"Kid, I heard from Gover that you and Catrine went to the village affected by the plague and managed to solve the problem. Is that true?"

Ardhis paused mid-bite, looking at Merlin with admiration and curiosity.

"What?" Livia exclaimed, turning to Merlin and Catrine with a worried expression. "Is what your father said true?"

Catrine panicked at their questions, but Merlin remained calm as ever, nodding slowly.

"Yes, Father, Mother, we did go there and managed to resolve the plague," Merlin replied honestly.

"You…" Livia gritted her teeth, her face flushing with anger. Before she could speak, Ardhis suddenly laughed.

"Hahaha! Amazing!" He clapped his hands. "To be honest, at first I was skeptical and didn't believe it. But Gover confirmed it was true. And now, with your confession, I'm even more convinced. Kid, you're truly great! Of course…"

He glanced gently at Catrine, who sat beside Merlin. "You're great too, dear."

Catrine felt embarrassed by the compliment, but at the same time, her heart swelled with warmth.

"Great, you say?" Livia pinched Ardhis' waist. "You can say that because they both survived. But what if they had been hurt, huh? Would you still call it great?"

"Ouch!" Ardhis groaned, squirming in pain, but Livia didn't let him off the hook.

Blushing, he pleaded in a defeated tone, "Honey, I was just praising our children for their achievements! Why are you angry? Shouldn't you be proud?"

Livia wanted to stay angry, but her words caught in her throat. Ardhis was right—her two children had done something extraordinary, something even soldiers couldn't accomplish.

As a mother, shouldn't she feel proud?

But the thought passed quickly. Her face hardened again as she turned to Ardhis, Merlin, and Catrine.

"There's no excuse for recklessness. Merlin and Catrine, you will be punished for your actions. I'm cutting your allowance for a month!"

Merlin: ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!

Catrine: ( ˵•̀□•́˵ )

***

Merlin walked into the mansion courtyard with a long sigh.

"Mother is really scary when she's angry," he muttered helplessly. "But that's understandable. What I did was extremely dangerous—especially since I brought Catrine with me."

If he were Livia, he would have scolded himself and Catrine too. It wasn't impossible that they could've lost their lives fighting that black-cloaked man.

Shaking his head, he sat down on the grass and began to meditate.

Ever since reaching the Ninth Spirit Core level, he hadn't checked what changes had occurred in his body.

Whoosh!

A red light burst out, wrapping around him. A refreshing sensation spread through his entire body, as if he'd been reborn.

"So this is the Ninth Spirit Core stage," he whispered as he opened his eyes.

Clenching his right fist, he threw a light punch forward.

Whoosh!

A faint but powerful shockwave erupted from his casual punch. If he ever faced that blonde-haired man again, the Primodium Twin Daggers might not be necessary.

"My mana has grown several times stronger. It's terrifying," he murmured in awe. "No wonder they say reaching the Ninth Spirit Core stage is like stepping into another world—it truly can't be compared to ordinary people."

With curiosity burning inside him, Merlin stood up and stretched both hands forward.

"Fire Magic: Fireballs!"

Buzz!

Five elementary-level fireballs formed in the air, then shot toward the wooden puppet in the distance.

Boom!

All of them hit their targets, igniting them fiercely. The power behind the attack had grown many times stronger.

"Damn, this is amazing!" he exclaimed excitedly. "System, do you think I've started walking the path to changing my fate?"

"[Hmm…]" The system paused for a moment. "[Of course, Master. But you still have a long way to go, so don't get too cocky just yet, got it?]"

Merlin rubbed his nose with a grin. "Of course, System, I understand. Even without you saying it, I'll stay humble and keep my arrogance in check."

In the novels he used to read, the main character would usually challenge someone stronger right after gaining a bit of power.

As a reader, it had looked cool. But in reality, such an act was reckless. Wouldn't it be wiser to stay humble, build up strength, and strike when the time is right?

As he basked in his excitement, a playful voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Oh? It's rare to see you come earlier than usual. Are you that eager to train with me?"

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