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(1/1)
Rosalie remembered her younger brother, who had always followed her so obediently when he was three years old. He was different from Rosalie, who was the epitome of a soldier.
He put up a strong front on the outside, appeared stoic, and managed to live the life of a soldier, but in reality, he struggled with expressing his emotions.
Erudit’s demeanor reminded her of him.
“Younger brother… I see.”
Erudit lowered his head and moved his fork, trying hard to hide his bitter feelings from Rosalie.
“Erudit is like a little dependable younger brother.”
“I don’t like the word ‘younger brother.’”
Erudit looked straight at Rosalie and spoke. Rosalie, who didn’t expect him to dislike the word younger brother, smiled awkwardly.
“I didn’t know you didn’t like it. I won’t use it.”
Erudit swallowed a sigh at her attitude of glossing over it, like she thought he didn’t like being treated like a child.
After finishing the meal, Rosalie headed to the bookstore they had visited before. Erudit was scanning the books on the shelf when he picked up a thick book and spoke.
“Come to think of it, His Highness hasn’t been to the mansion lately.”
“…Yes.”
At Rosalie’s uncharacteristically tardy reply, Erudit stopped scanning the bookshelf. Rosalie just stared at the book at his fingertips.
“Are you going to buy that?”
“…Yes, I’ll take this one.”
Afterward, Erudit started moving his hand again and picked up three more thick books that barely fit in one hand. Despite the knight behind them offering to carry the heavy-looking books for him, Erudit refused to let go of the books in his hands, insisting that he could carry them himself.
Despite Rosalie’s concerns about the heavy load, Erudit insisted on carrying the books on his own until the end.
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After a sleepless night of sorting through piles of paperwork, Erudit took a walk around the duchy to clear his head. He let out a bitter laugh as he suddenly realized how familiar and homey everything was.
‘It’s strange… I never got this accustomed to the Academy. In fact, it felt like I was wearing clothes that didn’t fit when I was there.’
Trying not to look ridiculous to those who used to ignore him, he studied hard every day until his nose bled in order to be recognized for his abilities. He struggled to be acknowledged, and even though he spent much less time in the duchy than at the Academy, he felt more comfortable there.
“It’s so strange…”
Lost in thought, Erudit unconsciously walked all the way to the third training ground. There, he spotted Rosalie in the midst of her training.
“I’ve never seen her take a break.”
Erudit muttered to himself as he watched her wipe away the sweat, then walked a little further and called out to Rosalie.
“Your Grace.”
Rosalie, intent on her training, turned at Erudit’s call.
“Erudit? You’re up early.”
Rosalie approached him, and Erudit couldn’t help but flinch as she got closer.
Ever since impulsively going to the blacksmith’s shop and touring the village with her, Erudit had become overly sensitive to her every move.
But Rosalie, with her usual calm expression, looked at Erudit’s tense face and asked.
“You couldn’t sleep?”
“Oh… yes. I was reorganizing the documents that the former General Administrator neglected.”
“That’s a lot of work, but you should get some sleep while you can.”
At Rosalie’s words, Erudit shook his head as if he didn’t mind. Rosalie patted him gently on the shoulder, and for the first time in his life, he felt like his heart was going to burst.
Worried that his rapidly beating heart might be heard outside, Erudit blurted out whatever came to mind.
“That… the dagger that cracked in the fight because of me…”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault, Erudit. Besides, it was just a standard-issue dagger, so there are plenty of replacements.”
Rosalie waved her hand dismissively, and Erudit responded with a meaningful smile that quickly disappeared. He had entrusted Gilbert with a dagger request.
Of course, it had cost him all of his salary, but he had no regrets when he thought of Rosalie, who would be happy when she received it.
“You seem really strong, Your Grace. Your combat skills are impressive.”
“It just happened…”
Rosalie fumbled for an answer. Ever since she was young, she had harbored dreams of becoming a soldier, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Because of that, she had learned all the martial arts she could get her hands on.
She had tried so many sports, including Taekwondo, Hapkido, boxing, Muay Thai, Kendo, Judo, and more, that it was faster to count the ones she hadn’t done. When she joined the military and became a special forces soldier, she learned combat skills, so she had some confidence in her ability to fight.
‘But this body has its limits.’
“I also… wished I had learned something to protect myself. I feel a bit helpless.”
Erudit felt ashamed of being dragged away by the men at the cafe not too long ago. Rosalie, who had beaten them all up, felt cool.
“Erudit’s intelligence is enough to be a weapon, so it’s okay.”
After her words, Erudit adjusted his glasses.
Rosalie, who was standing in front of him, hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth. She thought she could recommend and teach him some simple self-defense techniques.
“Well, if you’re worried, how about I teach you some simple self-defense moves?”
“Self-defense?”
“Yeah, something simple.”
Erudit hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded. Learning a few basic self-defense techniques to protect himself didn’t seem like a bad idea.
“Okay, but you should take off your glasses since it could be dangerous.”
Erudit quickly took off his glasses and left them far away so that his hands couldn’t reach them.
“Now, try to grab my neck.”
The words immobilized him. How could he dare to grab a noblewoman’s neck? Moreover, the woman in front of him was a grand noble who paid him his wages.
“…How could I possibly grab Your Grace’s neck…”
“It’s okay.”
Seeing Erudit’s hesitation, Rosalie boldly took Erudit’s hand and placed it near her throat without a second thought.
“And if you hold me like this in this state…”
Because of the confusion in his mind, Erudit couldn’t properly hear Rosalie’s explanation and was only listening with one ear while letting it go out the other. He was just feeling his body stiffen up.
“If you do it like this…”
As Rosalie adjusted her posture and applied pressure, Erudit’s face drew closer in an instant. The distance was close enough for each other’s breath to be clearly felt.
“If you exert force, you can release the neck and even land a punch on the other person. If you do it well, you can even break their nose. Try it.”
“Yes…? Uh, okay.”
Erudit stammered, flushing. Rosalie cocked her head and searched his face.
“Your face is turning red, Erudit. Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard? If it’s too difficult, hand over some of the work to me.”
“No, it’s okay.”
Erudit urgently shook his head before turning his head slightly. Rosalie, who had been suspicious of it, found this even stranger.
“You’re acting a little strange today. Are you sick?”
The deep khaki eyes staring right back at him made him want to reach for his glasses to cover his eyes.
“To be honest… I’m not used to looking at people’s eyes for a long time without glasses… It feels awkward.”
Rosalie let out a small chuckle at Erudit’s mumbled reply and relaxed her stance.
“You look good with your glasses on, but you look just as good without them.”
Rosalie pushed past Erudit, who still had his head down, and picked up the glasses he had removed.
“Here.”
Erudit, who received the glasses that Rosalie brought, slowly put them on. As expected, wearing glasses gave him a sense of stability.
“You look tired today, so let’s postpone the self-defense training for next time.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“If anyone tries to pick a fight with you, let me know.”
Erudit smiled softly at Rosalie’s playful remark. Her tone was light-hearted, but he felt a sense of security that was beyond words in her eyes that met his.
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
“Your Grace!”
Erudit called out to Rosalie as she turned to leave the training ground. With a somewhat awkward expression on his face, he spoke up.
“Thank you for the glasses chain… I really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.”
Rosalie replied with a faint smile and continued walking. Erudit watched her walk away, heading deeper into the mansion, and mumbled to himself.
“So this was why.”
Then, he let out a hollow laugh, as if he was bewildered. He no longer needed to think about why he felt comfortable in the duchy.
He found the answer, albeit late. The answer was close… very close indeed.
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After seeing off Erudit, it was the late afternoon of the next day after lunch.
“Give me the darkest robe possible.”
Looking at a wardrobe filled with robes, Rosalie spoke to Emma. Then, Emma brought out the simplest black robe without any pattern.
“I will help you put it on.”
Rosalie accepted Emma’s assistance comfortably. After donning comfortable leather pants and boots, she left the mansion wearing the robe. Outside, she signaled to Nathan, who had been preparing the horses.
“Rosalie~.”
“Let’s go.”
Rosalie mounted her horse, and Nathan followed suit. They rode off without hesitation. After a few hours of non-stop riding, they arrived at a small village located on the outskirts of the Empire.
When they arrived at the village, the night had already fallen. Rosalie walked between the buildings and stopped when she discovered Toronto hiding in the dark shadows between the buildings.
“Sir Toronto.”
“You’ve arrived, Your Grace.”
Toronto bowed his head to greet her. As Rosalie looked around after receiving his greeting, she discovered the other knights hidden in the blind spots.
“How about Callie?”
“I think she went to bed a little while ago. I haven’t seen any suspicious shadows yet.”
Toronto pointed to a darkened second-story window in the building across from them.
Rosalie continued to survey the surroundings while receiving ongoing reports from Toronto. The wide gaps between buildings and the sparsely populated neighborhood made it easy to spot anyone who approached.
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