Seraphina looked lonely sitting in front of the huge window. Her small frame looked even more fragile when framed by the light Kael had created to allow her to see better.

It made him agree to Seraphina’s request and before he knew it, he was sitting beside her.

"Is it fine for me to sit here? Please let me know if I ever make you feel uncomfortable. I will give you some space."

Kael promised, and Seraphina looked surprised that he had agreed to her wish.

A smile bloomed on her face and she buried her face in her arms to hide it.

"No, it’s alright. I am fine now."

She tried to appear like she was not affected, but the ancient magic betrayed her feelings.

[Trust: +5]

[Affection: +5]

Kael sat beside her until he felt Seraphina fall asleep. Once he was sure she would not wake up, he used his magic to take her to her room.

Then he headed to his room as well and decided to take a nap. He did not need one due to his magic, but he wanted to have one because that was what he was used to.

He woke up early again the next morning due to his habits and got started on breakfast. Seraphina joined him not much later. However, she was much more relaxed compared to the previous day.

’It seems like spending time together worked. Now I just need to keep this up and she won’t become a calamity.’

...

After breakfast came training time. And Seraphina decided to join him and Leon to train as well.

Unlike Leon, who needed specialized care, Seraphina was a total beginner, so the most important thing was to build her stamina.

Kael had her start by running while he walked Leon through the basics of mana and spell training. But as expected, nothing he did worked for Leon.

So he decided that it was time for him to get Leon an actual teacher.

The only problem was choosing the right teacher for the hero.

Kael needed someone who would be loyal, strong, and would keep his mouth shut. And unfortunately, there were not a lot of people who were powerful and would agree to this condition.

The more powerful a person was, the bigger their pride grew. And such individuals were hard to control.

But this was not the only problem Kael was currently facing in his search. The bigger problem was the temple and its attempt to sabotage Kael.

They had lost the hero to him, but that did not mean they were going to give up. Knowing those temple people, they would most likely try to frame him as an irresponsible guardian to take the hero away from him.

And the best way to do that would be to try and slip a spy into his household.

At least, that’s what they did in his past life.

As a mage, Kael had no knowledge about swordsmanship, so it was a given that he would not be able to teach the hero himself.

That’s why they decided to disguise a priest as a sword master and keep him by the hero’s side.

By the time Kael realized what was going on and kicked the teacher out, Leon had already been influenced by the fake priest. And kicking the priest out had made Leon’s relationship with him sour.

This was all in the past and Kael wanted to make sure he did not make the same mistake again. And he knew just the person who would be perfect to become Leon’s teacher.

Iris Nightbane, the one who would be called the ’Scarlet Demon Empress’ in the future, was the perfect person to teach Leon.

With her half-demon blood, she was the strongest person Kael had met in his past life.

She had originally been a slave before she was rescued by Leon and Kael in their past life. And that made her grateful to them.

It had not taken her long to bond with Leon in their past life and she had become the hero’s protector. She often threatened anyone who came close to Leon.

While her relationship with Leon was stable, her relationship with Kael was...awkward.

Or rather, she did not seem to know what to do with him. So Kael had decided to give her some space, not realizing that it would come back to bite him later.

In the end, Iris had lost control of her powers and caused a disaster.

’But that’s all in the past. This time, I will make sure she is much more stable. And to do that, I need to save her as soon as possible.’

Kael headed toward the one place he detested both in his past life and this one as well - the gladiator arena.

It was the place where slaves were kept and made to fight to the death. And this was also the place where the legend of Iris, the Scarlet Demon Empress, began.

...

[Variable Detected.]

’There are so many people here. I knew this place was popular, but I did not realize just how popular it actually was.’

Neither slavery nor gladiators were illegal in current times. In fact, watching gladiators fight was a favorite pastime of most people in these times.

Kael had always found this activity distasteful. But after his reincarnation, he found it even worse to see people enjoying watching others hurt each other.

He did not want to be here, but he had to for the sake of giving Leon the best teacher he could.

Kael felt disgusted when he paid the money to buy a ticket to head inside, but he knew this was something he needed to do.

He took his seat in the packed arena and watched as people fought each other.

Most of the fights ended up with one side getting hurt so badly that they needed urgent medical care. But that only made people even more excited.

Kael kept his head turned away until it was time for Iris to show up.

"Everyone, I know what you are here for today. You want to see whether our champion can defend her crown today as well. Now, please welcome Iris."

Iris walked toward the center of the stage and people immediately cheered. But her opponent was nowhere to be seen. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The announcer continued his job, not even seeming fazed by the audience’s loud cheers.

"Iris has conquered every obstacle we have thrown her way, and that’s why we decided to raise the challenge today. She will face an opponent like she has never faced before - a magically enhanced dummy."