Ivan took Jin’s hand and slowly walked toward where the car was parked.

 

Several bodyguards, following Ivan’s instructions, were positioned nearby, concealed so as not to draw attention from the crowd.

 

“Jin. What did I tell you to say to people who keep bothering you from now on?”

 

“Shut up. Get lost.”

 

“And if they still keep bothering you?”

 

“Ask for their affiliation and name.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

No one would fail to realize that the person’s affiliation and name, once obtained that way, would go straight into Ivan’s ears.

 

Nor would anyone miscalculate who would ultimately suffer if they earned the displeasure of Moribelle’s representative.

 

Though there were still some who looked down on Ivan because he was only a twenty-year-old representative, no one had been brazen enough to act outright ridiculous manner in front of him yet.

 

The position Moribelle had built over a long time was vast and heavy.

 

Jin’s small hand fidgeted inside Ivan’s large one.

 

“Uncomfortable?”

 

“No.”

 

Even within the smooth, cold texture, Jin imagined Ivan’s warmth. Of course, she couldn’t honestly admit that she was fidgeting precisely because of that imagination.

 

For his part, Ivan glanced down at the hand that no longer felt any pain at all.

 

Only recently had he learned that the sensation he’d felt from Jin tightly gripping his finger on the day he brought her in had been her guiding energy.

 

It meant that Jin had already awakened as a guide back then.

 

Just how powerful must her guiding energy have been to pass through the special gloves and still transmit to him?

 

As her training progressed, Jin grew increasingly comfortable controlling her own guiding energy. She had learned how to regulate the guiding energy inside her body efficiently in everyday situations.

 

That was why holding hands like this no longer caused any stinging or prickling pain at all.

 

Jin must have been curious why he always wore these gloves, yet she had never once asked about them.

 

Finding that oddly touching, Ivan looked down at her—and when their eyes met, Jin gave a faint smile.

 

Ivan didn’t realize that Jin’s gaze was resting on his red eyes.

 

🦋

 

As soon as she finished the compulsory education she had grown utterly sick of in every possible sense, Jin began receiving private lessons from Charlotte.

 

“She’s remarkably intelligent. I’d say the moment you teach her one thing, she grasps ten. It’s not that she lacked the education children her age should have received—quite the opposite: teach her anything and she absorbs it like a sponge, straight through. It really feels like I’m looking at myself as a child.”

 

Charlotte, having come to Ivan’s office to share her impressions, glanced sideways at Simon, who for some reason looked uneasy.

 

‘What, does he think I’m going to say something wrong? Come on, really. What does he take me for?’

 

Charlotte was extremely pleased to have become Jin’s private tutor. Though only two weeks had passed, her satisfaction level was sky-high.

 

At first, she had worried that lessons would be difficult because Jin, unlike most children her age, was clumsy at expressing emotions and rarely smiled—but those fears had been unfounded.

 

Whenever Charlotte saw children who acted like little adults, she couldn’t help but feel rage boil up to the top of her head at the unfairness of the world.

 

It wasn’t the children’s fault. 

 

The usual culprit was the negligent adults around them who had left the child in a harsh environment without proper care or protection.

 

Of course, Jin was a slightly different case.

 

From what Simon had told her, even though the environment Jin grew up in had been barren to the point of being brutal, she had still received plenty of love from her parents.

 

She had been forced to live confined in a rundown, tiny house, yet her innate temperament—sharp perceptiveness and excellent situational judgment—had made her understand far too early exactly what kind of world she was living in.

 

Sometimes, exceptional intelligence caused a child to grow up much too quickly.

 

“I trust you’ll guide her well, Teacher.”

 

“Ugh, ‘Teacher’? Please don’t. That gives me goosebumps… Ahem. Just speak comfortably, seriously. You’re my employer, after all. You pay me generously, too. Treat me the way you treat Simon.”

 

At Charlotte’s reply, Simon’s shoulders twitched once, but neither Charlotte nor Ivan paid any attention to it.

 

“If there’s anything Jin shows interest in or wants to have, no matter what it is, tell Simon. Of course, you can tell me directly as well.”

 

“Other than books, she doesn’t really show interest in much else for now. With books, though, she reads everything—novels, humanities, hobby books, you name it. Honestly, it’s almost exactly like looking at myself.”

 

“Charlotte…”

 

Simon had been on edge ever since earlier because of how casually Charlotte was treating Ivan.

 

Even though Ivan was young, he was the representative of Moribelle—a massive corporation.

 

The presence of Moribelle’s representative was comparable to that of a high-ranking government official. 

 

Everyone knew just how much Moribelle contributed to the government.

 

It had excellent, highly capable guides on staff, and the taxes Moribelle paid each year were staggering.

 

Even the fearless old foxes of power—who seemed afraid of nothing—yielded a step or two when it came to Ivan. 

 

No matter his age, and no matter how much they might look down on him inside, on the surface, they all acknowledged him as the representative of Moribelle.

 

And yet here was Charlotte, running her mouth far too freely in front of someone like that.

 

Of course, Simon hadn’t been completely blindsided by her personality, but he still hoped that the person he had brought in wouldn’t leave a bad impression on Ivan.

 

In reality, Charlotte wasn’t a bad person at all. She was just a little… lacking in tact.

 

The kid was genuinely kind. Really.

 

Contrary to Simon’s worries, Ivan didn’t think much of it at all.

 

In fact, he thought Charlotte’s bright and proactive personality would have a good influence on Jin as well.

 

“But, Representative.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“When do you plan to have Jin start working officially as a Moribelle guide?”

 

Ivan couldn’t answer Charlotte’s unexpected question right away.

 

He had been thinking of simply letting her be for the time being, now that she had finished compulsory education.

 

“I haven’t given that any thought yet. Do you think it’s necessary?”

 

The fact that this was a Guiding House, and that Jin was an SS-class guide—those things mattered to Moribelle and to other espers, but they didn’t matter to Jin herself.

 

She still needed more psychological therapy, and since she loved books, he wanted her to spend her time comfortably, reading whatever she wanted whenever she wanted.

 

Charlotte glanced at Ivan, who had fallen into deep thought, and instantly felt her whole body being crushed beneath the overwhelming aura he gave off.

 

‘What kind of presence is that for a twenty-year-old? He looks like the pack leader wolf who could suddenly lunge and sink his teeth into my throat, and it wouldn’t even seem strange.’

 

A chill ran down her spine. She briskly rubbed her forearms and cleared her throat again.

 

“It’s only been two weeks, so I can’t judge everything yet, but Jin seems like the type who gets energized the moment she has a clear task to do. I think she’ll also want to find out for herself just how well she can perform as a guide.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Ever since compulsory education, it’s been nonstop chaos, hasn’t it? So many people bothering her. She must be wondering if she really is that special. So I think giving her some real guiding experience—even just an hour a day—would be good for her.”

 

Charlotte added that, after all, any esper who had been granted guiding permission at Moribelle’s main headquarters would be extremely unlikely to be dangerous.

 

“What do you think, Simon?”

 

Ivan still turned to Simon for his opinion as well, since Simon had spent far more time around Jin.

 

“I agree, it should be fine. Until she becomes an adult, there will be a barrier in the guiding room anyway, and any esper who knows they’d be permanently banned would probably never risk treating Jin carelessly just because she’s young.”

 

Simon quietly added, “Anyone that stupid wouldn’t even qualify to step foot in Moribelle.”

 

“By no,w there’s probably no one left who doesn’t know Jin is an SS-class guide, right?”

 

“Of course. We’re still flooded with inquiries, and it’s obvious they’re all going crazy with curiosity about her.”

 

Even though Jin wasn’t even registered in the reservation system yet, people from every direction were already calling out of nowhere, begging to be allowed to book a session.

 

The staff taking those calls were practically drowning.

 

“Then, Teach— I mean, Charlotte.”

 

“Yes!”

 

When Ivan’s way of addressing her changed, Charlotte broke into a very bright smile and nodded enthusiastically.

 

Her voluminous curly hair swayed and danced along with the motion, and just looking at Charlotte somehow put Ivan in a cheerful mood.

 

“Could you ask Jin how she feels about it, Charlotte? Make absolutely sure she doesn’t take it as pressure or coercion.”

 

“Oh, come on. Of course I will, Representative. I have zero intention of forcing or sweet-talking her if she says no.”

 

“If Jin wants it, we’ll assign her a guiding room. Simon.”

 

“Yes. I’ll prepare one right away.”

 

On the positive decision, Charlotte smoothly poured her whole soul into a stream of honeyed flattery, how on earth could the Representative make such quick and wise decisions every time?

 

She didn’t spare a single glance at the way Simon’s eye was twitching at the sound of it.

 

Ivan found the stark temperature difference between the two of them both strange and amusing. He especially liked how Charlotte showed no fear of him, said whatever was on her mind, and was completely honest with her emotions.

 

She had called him just a friend, but it was plain to see that Simon’s composure unraveled the moment 

 

Charlotte was nearby—even if he himself seemed completely unaware of it.

 

Ivan thought it would be good to create more opportunities to talk with the two of them together.

 

Purely for his own entertainment.