The Troubles of Happiness

After discovering that the world he was in was likely based on the Fairy-Tale Magic system, Manus lived peacefully for over another month.

Although this discovery greatly changed Manus's plans for the future, it truly had little effect on his daily life for the time being.

At this stage, he had intended to be a good child anyway.

That day, Manus meditated as usual, but instead of training his spiritual power, he was constructing a magical model within his Spirit Sea.

"Hmm, theoretically, this magic should be able to achieve the effects of [Totem Possession]. I just don't know how different it is from the real [Totem Possession]."

After completing it, Manus restored his spiritual power while examining the model he had constructed and deducing the state of magical power when the spell was cast.

This was a Nature Magic model that Manus had constructed himself after spending nearly two years studying an enormous number of low-level Nature Magic spells, using the skill description as a reference... though it remained entirely theoretical.

Limited by his continued inability to put it into practice, this was the greatest achievement Manus could currently attain within the Nature Magic system.

If he continued climbing higher without verifying this result, it would be easy for all subsequent achievements built upon it to turn out wrong, leaving all his work useless.

"After class today, it'll be time to study another system."

He casually picked up the experimental draft on the table and inscribed the model of this spell onto it. Then Manus packed his small bag and went downstairs, where Aivina happened to be changing into her coat.

Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Aivina turned to look at Manus, unable to keep a trace of satisfaction from appearing in her eyes.

Naturally, she was full of delight and pride at her son's precociousness, excellence, and eagerness to learn.

Though, for safety reasons, she had always kept her son away from knowledge of Charms. Back when she was in school, one of her classmates had ended up in St. Mungo's years after graduation because of researching Charms on his own, and he still had not been discharged.

But on second thought, children around this age were beginning to experience Magical Outbursts one after another. After that, letting them learn some simple knowledge of Charms did not seem all that dangerous, did it?

After all, children did not have wands. At most, they would wave around a toy wand. Given the difficulty of wandless casting, as long as the parents kept the real wands out of reach, the children probably would not even have the means to get into trouble if they wanted to.

Besides, what child would be so self-disciplined when it came to dry, tedious knowledge of Charms? They might be interested at first, but once they actually saw the books, they would probably take two looks at most before tossing them aside to play with toys.

But her child was different...

At first, they had merely wanted to use the relatively less dangerous magic of Potions to make Manus realize that magic was not as wonderful as he imagined, and that actually studying it was terribly dull.

Yet who could have expected that he would not be discouraged at all? Instead, he studied with great dedication and even did quite well. Eileen often praised him whenever Aivina went to pick him up.

If it had been someone else, Aivina might have assumed they were merely being polite because they had accepted her family's money. But she knew Eileen's temperament far too well. If Eileen could do such a thing for money, her family would not be living like this now.

From Manus's performance in Potions, Aivina could tell that he was serious when he said he wanted to learn magic. Yet that made her even more afraid to let him come into contact with Charms so early.

Even if something went wrong in Potions, at worst it would produce something like corrosive liquid. There would also be obvious signs before it got out of control, and with Eileen watching him one-on-one, nothing could possibly happen.

But if something went wrong with Charms, there would not be the slightest warning before a real accident occurred. Even if there was, there would be no time to react. At best, someone might lose a chunk here or a limb there; at worst, they would die on the spot.

Sigh... it was all because Manus was more mature and intelligent than children his age. And he was eager to learn, too, multiplying the chances of danger. What other family would have such troubles?

Not only would they not find it troubling, if she told others about it, they would probably think she was showing off!

Thinking back to how she had initially stressed to Eileen that Manus must not be exposed to knowledge of Charms, and the expression Eileen had worn after asking why and hearing her reasons...

Aivina could not help giving a bitter smile inwardly.

As her thoughts churned, Aivina had already put on her coat. She slipped her wand into her pocket, then held out a hand to Manus.

"Manu, let's go."

They followed the route they had walked countless times to the place where they had lessons: a mill that had been cleaned out after being abandoned for who knew how many years. But when they pushed open the door, they found someone else besides Madam Eileen.

"Severus?"

Manus blinked in confusion. Then understanding flashed through his eyes, and he smiled.

Judging from the magical glow around Severus, he had already experienced a Magical Outburst. Then he was clearly not here to play with Manus; most likely, he was here for lessons.

A Magical Outburst was good news~

Although Manus knew that a wizard's child would most likely be a wizard as well, even if the child was born to a wizard and a Muggle, only seeing Severus truly become a young wizard put him completely at ease.

Theoretically, even Squibs could become spellcasters through proper guidance. After all, compared to Muggles, who might not possess magical talent at all, they still had a seed of magical power.

But that was not a method he could produce right now, nor did he have the ability to awaken the magical power within Severus without him knowing.

So if Severus truly had been a Squib, it would have meant that Manus's early emotional investment would be unlikely to bring any return in the short term—at least, not before he came of age.

It sounded somewhat cold, as though he were using Severus, but human feelings were supposed to be reciprocal. Blindly pouring emotion into someone despite receiving nothing in return was a sign that something was wrong with one's mind.

Looking at the young wizard who was currently his only friend, Manus's smile was exceptionally sincere.

Still, it was strange. Severus was Aunt Eileen's son, so why did he have to come specifically at this time for lessons as well?

"Manus~"

Severus was especially excited when he saw Manus.

Although they had played together just two days ago, this time was different. He was already a young wizard!

He might not have had a clear understanding of many things, but Severus understood one thing: if he had not truly become a young wizard, then he and Manus would not really belong to the same world.

Even his parents, who had once loved each other and entered marriage together, had become what they were today because one was a wizard and the other a Muggle.

Let alone him and Manus, who were only friends, even if they were close friends and still each other's only friends.