With the golden bear cub in his arms, Rotsard landed, rolling on the ground while immediately creating a tall and thin wall of ice surrounding a third of the field the duel was taking place, and then casting an actual spell on it.
Rotsard's Dance of the Frozen Lake projected the illusion of himself roughly holding Polaris by the paw and leading Justin on a wild goose chase around.
Meanwhile, the actual Rotsard sat up, using his ice wall as a backrest, and looked down at the golden bear cub he held gently in his arms.
"Hey, little cutie. You must be so confused, but I needed to talk to you to explain some things. Sorry, but could you not disappear and hear me o…"
"...nnrao…? Nnnraooo! Nnrao, nrao, nnnraooo…!"
The bleached-blond-haired youth spoke to the baby fae in a soft and apologetic voice, and then he was left speechless when, after a few sniffs, it let out a shocked growl and began nuzzling against his stomach and chest while letting out a heart-wrenching cry.
"Wh-what is…? Little one, what's going on? Did I hurt you…!?"
"Nnnnraooo!"
With the bear cub acting so out of his expectations, Rotsard asked with a worried voice, grabbing and trying to delicately move the fae away to check whether it's visibly injured, but Polaris let out a particularly desperate cry and started clinging to him with all of her bear cub might, prompting Rotsard to immediately stop and start brushing his hand against its head and back.
The golden fur was incredibly soft to touch, and Rotsard couldn't help it any longer and hugged the baby fae while continuing to pat it.
"...nnnnnnnraooo…"
In response, Polaris seemed to relax and let out a soft growl of comfort, leaning into the hug and nuzzling its head against the youth's chest.
Forgetting himself for a moment, Rotsard just kept holding the bear cub in a protective embrace while smiling softly at the heart-melting cuteness…
"?!?!"
…all while the speechless teacher Oltial, who ended up on the inside of Rotsard's ice wall, was looking back and forth between the real cute scene, and the illusion that Justin was chasing frantically on the outside…
"..oh…!"
Suddenly, Rotsard's eyes widened, and he let out a small gasp of realization.
Due to the absence of his natural mana barrier, the prolonged physical contact with the fae resulted in some of its mana coming in contact with his.
"You are of dual element? Light AND ice! Before you became a fae, were you perhaps something like the Great Northern Snow Bear? Awww~ Is my mana reminding you of your parents?"
The youth let out a gentle whisper while lightly scratching the bear cub behind its ears to get its attention.
"Nraoo, nrao, nrao, nnnnraaaao…!"
As if very eager to answer, Polaris raised its head and started growling, sadly ending the little tirade with a long groan of complaint.
"I see, I see. You went through a lot, huh?"
"Nnraaao!"
Needless to say, Rotsard had no clue what the baby fae wanted to say, but he still nodded and muttered, making Polaris growl eagerly as if it was happy he understood it.
…which, once again, he didn't…
"You know? I wanted to talk with you like that because there are some things you should know."
"...nrao…?"
Rotsard ended up grabbing the little cub and propping it up so it looked into his eyes before speaking, but that only made it let out a confused groan and reach out, touching his nose with its own.
"...you little cutie, you…!"
Rotsard stood no chance against such cuteness and brought Polaris close before showering its fuzzy little head with kisses.
"Mwah!"
"Nnnnnrao~!"
After a particularly big one, Polaris let out a happy growl and closed its eyes with content, clearly feeling so safe that it was about to fall asleep.
"Sweetie, no… your master is going to break through my spell at any moment, I really need to tell you a few things…"
"...nrao…"
Having to disturb Polaris was really distressing for Rotsard, but as they actually were in the middle of a duel, some things had to be done… even if it made the bear cub let out a grumbling, sulking growl of a sleepy child.
To show proof of the urgency of the situation, Rotsard leaned to the side while looking over his shoulder, wanting to showcase how Justin was dealing with the illusion.
The bleached-bond-haired youth honestly expected to see the future hero about to break his wall…
"...well, maybe not…"
…until he actually saw Justin still chasing an illusion, completely unaware that what he is looking at is the distorted image moving through the ice, prompting Rotsard's sigh…
"But still, listen. You might think I'm nice, but in the future, when you and your master will be facing challengers and enemies, they won't be anything like me. They will try to harm your master and you without caring how cute either of you are. No tears or up-turn looks will move them."
"Nraoo…?"
Rotsard took a deep breath and started explaining, although he started patting the bear cub again. This time, it sensed his seriousness and growled attentively.
"Yes, even I will have to be very mean to you when you're together with your master in public. I want to preemptively apologize to you, but it's something that has to happen, you know?"
Rotsad's beastly yellow eyes filled with sadness, and his hands stopped mid pat, causing Polaris to look up at him with a worried look in its big, adorable honey-brown eyes.