After a moment, Luke, who had been playing with Danny, decided to take a break for Danny’s sake.
However, Danny, who jumped into the seat where Luke was sitting, refused to come down from Luke’s lap.
Even when Lua called out to Danny, it was the same.
“Looks like Danny had a lot of fun with you; he doesn’t want to come to me at all.”
“Ha ha, it’s fine. Just leave him be for a bit.”
“Are you sure? Won’t your legs hurt later?”
“Don’t worry; Danny is small, so he isn’t heavy at all.”
Luke smiled as he patted the panting Danny’s back while he settled on his lap.
“If it becomes too troublesome for me later, I’ll put him down, so don’t worry too much.”
“Well… okay then.”
Lua nodded her head once and leaned toward Danny with a playful tone of mock reproach.
“Geez, Danny. After everything I’ve done to feed and put you to sleep, now you don’t want me anymore? I’m so hurt—what a betrayer!”
“Hahaha.”
At that reaction, both Luke and Yerna burst into laughter.
Well, it is true that Luke is somewhat cute.
Though I don’t know if animals see it that way.
——
Since this was a reunion after a long time, Lua couldn’t miss out on sharing updates about their lives.
So while Luke and Lua sat on the bench resting, they talked about how they had been doing.
“Oh my, really? You’re graduating early? That’s amazing!”
Well, the truth is, given Luke’s strong passion for studying, one could catch a glimpse of that desire even in their brief meeting.
But still, this talk of graduating from Tigr Academy at age ten is indeed a remarkable thing one wouldn’t hear in a lifetime.
That academy is famous for having a much higher education level compared to other academies, yet he managed to complete the entire eight-year curriculum in just one year.
This must be a testament to Luke’s unique and extraordinary abilities.
Lua couldn’t help but wonder inwardly, ‘What kind of person will this kid grow up to be?’
As she covered her mouth with one hand to express her genuine surprise, Luke responded with understated gratitude.
“Thanks for congratulating me.”
Lua, realizing that her exuberance might have seemed excessive given Luke’s calm demeanor, awkwardly scratched her cheek and smiled.
“Hahaha, your reaction seems a bit too bland.”
Even for the accomplishment of graduating from Tigr Academy at ten years old, it seems only Luke could be so nonchalant.
But above all, there’s something fascinating about how well that type of reaction suits him.
“Anyway, that’s all for my story. So, Lua, how have you been? Are you still studying child psychology these days?”
“Aah, right! I think I’ll be able to officially become a counselor soon!”
“Oh? That’s great to hear. Congrats! When do you think that will be?”
“Well, if I can just fulfill my counseling hours, maybe later this year? The qualification exam isn’t too hard for me!”
Lua had been quite busy trying to become a formal counselor, engaging in various activities like going to children’s facilities such as orphanages to experience direct counseling with children.
Her speech continued.
“… So recently, I’ve been counseling at ‘Raham’s House’!”
As Luke quietly listened to her story, he perked up at the familiar term and asked.
“Hm, have you done any activities at ‘Raham’s House’ before?”
“Yeah! Do you know it, Luke?”
Of course I do. It’s the place created by my first apostle.
Luke smiled awkwardly and nodded.
“I went there once. That Raham is someone I know. I used to meet him often when I was doing street performances.”
“Really? You performed on the street? What did you do?”
“Well, I needed some pocket money, so I played the cello for a while.”
“Is that so? You play the cello well! Amazing! When can I hear you play again?”
In the past, was that ten-year-old girl seen playing the cello on the street?
That must have been so cute.
Well, she would be pretty even now.
As Lua looked at Luke with eager eyes, unfortunately, he had already stopped performing on the street.
“Well, I haven’t been doing it regularly these days. I haven’t had the time, and I moved as well. I don’t need pocket money anymore. I haven’t even taken the cello out on the street for the past few months.”
In truth, even when he had played the cello on the streets for money, he only did so briefly in front of his house or somewhere close in the woods.
These days, with Pyris enjoying playing with Diana, Luke hadn’t been as obsessed with the cello and only played a little by himself to keep a touch on his spirit language.
“Aah, really? That’s disappointing. I wanted to hear it.”
At Lua’s sincere disappointment, Luke chuckled and said.
“Don’t be too disappointed. If you come over to my house later, I’ll play for you.”
“Really? I must visit! Is that a promise?”
Well, to be honest, I’m not sure if I can keep that promise.
Still, isn’t it better to have more chains that bind me to life?
Lost in those thoughts, Luke nodded briefly and decided to change the subject.
“So, how is it there? Is Raham doing well?”
“Mr. Raham? Well, he seems to be doing well. The facility is really nice, and there are a lot of kids. Moreover, the children’s satisfaction level is really high, so I could tell the director is a good person. Seeing children believe in angels at that age makes them seem really pure.”
“That’s good to hear.”
He thought that he had done something terrible to Raham, but it seems that the person hasn’t completely broken down, which is a relief.
Even after having fallen from grace because of him, has he not given up on being good?
‘I should visit him in person sometime soon.’
Lately, he’s been too busy to check beyond the basic understanding of his current location and the facility’s evaluation, but it seems he needs to see firsthand if anything has changed.
—
With meetings, there are inevitably partings.
Now it was time to say goodbye.
“Luke, bye! It was great to see you! Let’s meet again! Bye, Yerna unni!”
“Take care, Lua, Danny!”
“Yeah, be careful!”
After waving until Lua and Danny’s figures were sufficiently distant, Luke turned back to Yerna.
“Now, let’s head back.”
Yerna nodded.
“Yeah, right. We should go back.”
Today’s walk was beneficial in many ways.
It was an opportunity to get to know Luke a bit better, perhaps?
‘A mating season…’
That was a word I had never imagined until then.
Well, it’s not unusual for a mating season.
Most animals have a period of some sort for breeding.
That’s only natural for animals.
So that’s perfectly normal.
Moreover, even for a Hyun, experiencing a mating season doesn’t mean that they uncontrollably rush to anyone in heat; they can certainly control themselves.
After all, otherwise, most Hyun would already be sexual offenders or victims of sexual crimes.
Well, while there had been discussions about whether sexual education was necessary or not…
“Mom.”
Luke turned to Yerna and asked.
To which Yerna, startled, reflexively replied.
“Uh, yes? Why, what’s up?”
With that reaction, Luke tilted his head and continued.
“I saw earlier that you and Lua were having quite a conversation; did she say anything about me?”
“Oh, it was nothing! Just some casual chatter…?”
“Really? That’s good then.”
After hearing Yerna’s response, Luke quietly nodded and began to take the lead.
As Luke walked slowly, Yerna pondered quietly.
“Yeah, already having done a lot of sexual education, and Luke’s awareness of chastity has improved significantly, so it should be fine.”
In fact, before any teaching, Luke already had a good understanding of sexual knowledge.
Moreover, they had conducted sexual education several times, and there were also contents in the academy’s textbook, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
So, unlike in the past, there’s no need for concern now.
Just as she thought that, something caught Yerna’s eye.
“Oh my, Lou. Wait a moment; could you stand there for a bit? And just slightly move your tail to the side.”
“Huh? My tail?”
Yerna’s words made Luke stop moving forward and slightly shift his tail.
Immediately, the adorable flesh-colored hole on Luke’s calf, clad in white stockings, became visible.
“See? The stockings have run! I guess it got a hole while playing with Danny earlier.”
“Is that true?”
Luke appeared surprised at the unexpected news.
Come to think of it, he did feel like he had been scratched lightly on the calf by Danny’s claws earlier—was that when it tore?
“Well, I guess there’s no helping it; we’ll have to throw those out and buy a new pair on the way.”
“Yeah, that sounds right.”
Just then, while discussing their solutions,
-Swish-.
Yerna gasped in horror at Luke’s actions.
“W-Wait a moment! Luke! What are you doing?!”
“I’m taking off my stockings. I can’t walk around in torn stockings.”
“No, please wait!! Luke, stop! You can’t take those off here!”
What on earth does this child not understand about being embarrassed?
No matter how few people are around, doing this in a park is…!
“Why? It’s not like I’m taking off my underwear. Stockings are just like socks, right?”
At Luke’s answer, Yerna felt dizzy.
He had an expression that looked like he had no idea what the problem was at all.
Yerna instantly decided to rescind her earlier thoughts that the sexual education had been sufficient.
