That day’s sparring was entirely coincidental.
Upon seeing Lia return from her outing alone with a gloomy expression, Allen forcibly dragged her to the training ground.
Being of a simple nature, Allen thought that, like himself, Lia might feel better by swinging a sword aimlessly.
So, taking advantage of Diana’s class, they arrived at the training ground where Lia and the other knights were.
“Sigh… because it’s bothersome, let’s get this over with quickly. Sir, please take a sword.”
“Huh? Me? Have a sparring match with you?”
Allen looked at me with a bewildered expression, but Lia, who had already grabbed a training sword, was in a state of ‘I can handle a wooden sword by now, right?’
Trying to get her to move her body just to relieve her mood, Allen was taken aback and suddenly remembered Lia’s agile movements he had seen before.
Curiosity as a knight that he couldn’t bear welled up inside him.
“Alright! But be careful, I’m different from that guy last time.”
“Got it. Shall we begin?”
Although she hadn’t officially received her knighthood due to her young age, Allen possessed skills far beyond those of a typical squire.
Allen, who thought Lia regarded him as one of those inexperienced squires, politely warned her.
But Lia, with an indifferent expression on her face, just nodded her head, clearly showing her annoyance.
Even though she was a younger girl than me who had never received proper sword training…
Seeing the relaxed Lia, Allen felt strangely tense and swallowed nervously.
And a moment later…
Allen blinked and found the training sword near his neck.
If it had been a real sharp blade, he would have been cut just by a brush against his neck.
“W-What is this…?”
Initially, it seemed that Allen’s one-sided attacks would continue.
But as if it were to measure his skill, a fierce exchange of blows followed immediately. At some point, Allen began to step back.
As Allen turned his head, Jack, who had been watching from the side, also looked at him with astonished eyes.
The shock among the other apprentice knights who were watching the sparring was beyond words.
Then, disregarding the shock that swept through the training ground, Lia broke the silence.
“Well, then, I’ll be going now. It’s time to finish the lady’s lesson.”
Turning around, Lia’s expression was even more rigid than before she came to the training ground.
But no one noticed that she was upset.
* * *
“Jack.”
Since then, Jack and Allen, who had repeatedly reenacted sparring matches with Lia, were now sitting side by side in the training ground.
“Lia, that guy too…”
Allen said, swallowing nervously.
“It seems like he’s also a genius, doesn’t it?”
Jack nodded in agreement with Allen’s astute observation.
“That’s for sure.”
“I couldn’t believe it even when I saw it with my own eyes. He looked so mild, I thought he was just blinking like a fool. Who would have known he could wield a sword like that?”
“Mana Yang said there are as many talents as there are wizards.”
“That’s what I’m saying! This isn’t the time for this. People who don’t know anything call us geniuses, but we’ve seen the real deal.”
“You’re right. We need to work harder.”
As Jack spoke with determination, Allen also nodded resolutely.
It was at that moment when the two geniuses were so determined.
“Um…”
“Huh? Aidan!”
Allen greeted Aidan, who had just entered the training ground.
The reason why Allen was taken aback by Aidan’s appearance was one and only.
Because he had been completely blocking any time Aidan spent with Diana under the pretext of teaching him how to wield a sword.
“Why are you so late again? Did you hesitate to come again?”
“…No.”
“Your response is slow!”
Unable to lie, Aidan just fidgeted with his fingers, gazing into the air.
Allen clicked his tongue at this.
Initially, he made excuses to keep his younger brother away from Diana, but now that he actually seemed talented, he wanted to teach him. However, Aidan’s timid personality made him uncomfortable.
“But what’s in your hand?”
“…It’s pie. It’s a traditional dessert from the Daphne Kingdom, and I made it.”
“Oh! Did you bring this for our master to eat?”
As Allen grinned and reached out his hand, Aidan quickly turned his body and guarded the box containing the pie.
“No! This is for Nuna Lia.”
“Lia? Hey! Lia went to the palace with Diana. You’ll have plenty of delicious food there…”
“She’s not Nuna!”
“Huh? What do you mean…”
At Aidan’s shout, Allen made a bewildered expression. Then he realized.
Since the day they entered the Ellard Duchy, they had always dined together. He had become so accustomed to it that he had forgotten, but Lia’s status was that of a servant.
In the palace, she would naturally just stand and serve, not sit at the same table with Diana.
“Then, Lia must have been watching us eat the whole time…”
With this sudden realization, Allen blinked, and suddenly remembered Lia’s memories of being a servant, a commoner, an orphan… and being bullied by other servants.
Jack’s face darkened as he realized the same thing.
Aidan, who didn’t know the details, just looked confusedly at the suddenly serious two.
It was then.
“Hey, Jack…”
Allen opened his mouth heavily.
“I hope no one’s bothering Lia again.”
‘…Let’s hope not.’
* * *
“Oh no. I’ve lost my grip and dropped it.”
Seraphine chuckled lightly.
But I couldn’t bring myself to laugh along with her.
Just a moment ago, her gaze, cold and piercing, as she said, ‘You’re the servant the youngest lady favors?’ felt too chilling, and the knife dropping right at my feet felt too intentional.
At that moment, a maid hurriedly placed a new knife in front of the princess and bent down to pick up the fallen one.
But Seraphine raised her hand to stop the maid and stared at me intently.
“…?”
While laughter and chatter filled the air at the neighboring tables, the table where the young ladies gathered was filled with silence.
As I pondered where Seraphine’s animosity toward me stemmed from, I took a short breath and slowly stepped back.
At the same time, the corners of Seraphine’s eyes twitched ever so slightly.
“Oh my. I’ve heard she’s an orphan, but I never thought it would be this… severe.”
A perceptive young lady who noticed the princess’s distorted mood scrutinized me from head to toe.
“If you haven’t learned anything, you should at least be aware of the situation. Just because no specific orders were given doesn’t mean you can just back off!”
“It seems like you lack the basics as a servant.”
“Isn’t it too presumptuous to rely solely on the princess’s favor?”
As the atmosphere grew tense, everyone added their own remarks.
But I remained silent.
The first young lady who spoke looked at me with trembling eyes and said, “You didn’t even realize you were making a fool of yourself in front of so many people? Why aren’t you picking up the knife right away and apologizing to the princess?”
Realizing that the situation could no longer be ignored, I tried to speak up.
“Uh, I’m sorry!”
At that moment, Diana suddenly stood up, picked up the knife that had fallen on the grass, and handed it to Seraphine.
“Oh, no… I… I meant it for the princess…”
“It’s noisy.”
“Y-Your Highness.”
“Thank you, Princess. You didn’t need to pick it up yourself.”
With a barely visible smile, Seraphine spoke, and Diana nodded and sat back down.
Amidst the awkward atmosphere, Seraphine glanced at me once again with cold eyes.
“Even though your mistress bent down for you, will you just stand still again this time?”
Feeling bewildered by Diana’s actions, I slowly moved forward at her words.
“I apologize. I should have explained in more detail the etiquette that outsiders should observe for my lady… For example, it’s not appropriate for someone other than the maids or servants belonging to the palace to handle objects used by nobles. Of course, even if I am a servant of the ducal mansion…”
As I finished speaking, the young ladies who had been cursing me as an uneducated orphan began to falter and look around hesitantly.
Seraphine’s expression remained cold and firm.
While others may have genuinely been unaware of the detailed etiquette, there was no way the princess living in the palace wouldn’t know.
‘Is she intentionally trying to put me in a difficult situation?’
If I had tried to pick up the item myself, I might have been scolded for being ignorant of etiquette.
‘And it had to be a knife…’
Holding a knife in front of the nobles could easily escalate into a serious situation depending on the princess’s reaction.
‘I may have inadvertently implicated the Ellard Duchy…’
It might be my sensitivity, but I couldn’t shake off the dreadful thought.
But the Ellard Duchy was a strong friendly faction of the emperor.
Furthermore, since the emperor had officially recognized it, there had been no mention of succession issues, so there was no reason for the princess to attack the Ellard Duchy.
‘Then she must really be targeting me.’
It was then, when I couldn’t understand why Seraphine, who had seen me for the first time, was showing such hostility.
“How dare you speak so recklessly as an orphan servant?!”
“Stop it.”
Just as the young lady who had started arguing with me was about to raise her voice in trembling, a brown-haired girl sitting next to Diana spoke up.
“It’s not this servant’s fault that she’s an orphan, is it?”
I paused and looked at the girl in surprise.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Bree.
If you like my work please support us in Patreon. Next post will be released on June, 8.
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