Jeremy brought a handful of apples. Nanny had always loved apples. So whenever Jeremy went somewhere, he always brought her apples.
“It’s for you, Nanny.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s heavy, so I’ll carry it to your room.”
“Oh, no. Let me. You’ve traveled a long way, Jeremy. Please rest.”
Jeremy nodded. Today he suddenly realized that Nanny’s face and hands had more wrinkles. It was a natural occurrence but it hurt his heart.
“Nanny, I have a worry.”
“A worry?”
Jeremy and Nanny entered Nanny’s room.
“You taught me that there are many Muelan’s in the world.”
Editor’s Note: Quick reminder, Muelan was Jeremy’s “first love,” the blind beggar girl who was kidnapped by slavers and died when Jeremy was still very young.
“That’s right.”
“I wish there were no sad people like that.”
“That’s a good thought.”
Jeremy recounted everything that happened at the Forget-Me-Not gathering.
“I just wanted to be a good friend. Do you think Viola really hates me?”
Approaching someone who dislikes you isn’t polite. If Viola really didn’t like it, he wouldn’t approach her forcibly. He just wanted to talk to Viola properly once. Was sending Tundra to block him Viola’s way of expressing her will?
Nanny smiled knowingly, “It’s probably not that. According to rumors, Lady Viola is not a cowardly person.”
“Correct. She’s not cowardly.”
“If she didn’t like it, she would have told you directly.”
“Really?”
A spark appeared in Jeremy’s eyes.
“But your approach, My Lord, lacks consideration.”
Jeremy didn’t understand Nanny’s words but he really wanted to learn.
“Why? What part? I don’t really get it.”
“Do you know that our Lord has a fandom?”
“Fandom? What’s that?”
Nanny taught him many things.
“… Lady Viola probably didn’t want to get involved with our Lord, especially before and during her social debut.”
Jeremy thought for a moment and then spoke, “Did I make her uncomfortable?”
“Probably.”
Nanny looked at Jeremy, who was earnestly contemplating, and smiled knowingly. Their relationship couldn’t be considered typical for a lord and his servant. In other influential families, if a servant tried to discipline and teach like this, it would be a big problem. Some lords even resorted to violence, asking, ‘How dare you teach me?’ But her young lord was different. Jeremy really wanted to learn and was willing to receive guidance. What was the problem? What should he do? Jeremy was finally willing to contemplate the problem seriously.
“After listening to Nanny, I think I know now. The way I approached Viola lacked consideration.”
Jeremy bit his lip slightly, mumbling, “It seems I was selfish.”
In truth, he didn’t want to admit it. He wanted to believe that he approached Viola so actively because he wanted to be a good friend. However, he had to admit it.
“Nanny, do I not want to admit that I was wrong? Honestly, I really want to say ‘I didn’t know.’”
“But do you admit it?”
“Yeah. I don’t think there’s such a thing as irresponsible words like ‘I didn’t know.’ I don’t want to be an irresponsible person.”
He bit his lip again.
“I should have realized it sooner.”
He decided to apologize to Viola.
‘I really want to be a good friend to Viola. However, in my greed I was too forward. So, I couldn’t see other things. Yes, I was blind. It was a mistake. I was wrong.’
“If it’s our Lord, he can be a good friend.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“No problem. I’m just telling the truth.”
Jeremy vowed, “I should be a good person first.”
He started to seriously contemplate how to do it.
* * *
Viola asked, “Shall we make a deal? Of course, the choice is between the two. Whether you’ll end up as food for the fire ants, ending a miserable life, or accept my proposal.”
Her demeanor was not much different from when she pushed a dagger into Tundra’s mouth at their first meeting. No, it showed a much more advanced appearance than back then. At that time, she used a dagger to create a fierce atmosphere, but now, even without such a weapon, she emitted an even more intimidating presence.
Zenon was very proud.
‘You’ve grown, Lady Viola.’
Shailan stuttered, “I, I, I, th-that…”
“I’ll give you three seconds.”
Viola extended three fingers.
“Three.”
“I… th-that.”
“Two.”
“S-so… I’ll accept your proposal!”
Viola smiled knowingly.
“It’s okay if you don’t know what the proposal is, right?”
“Y-yes!”
With anxiety that it would be a big problem if he said it wasn’t okay, Shailan vigorously nodded his head. It was better than becoming food for the fire ants, whatever the proposal was. He couldn’t die so ingloriously after crossing the ocean with grand dreams.
“It’s nice that we can communicate well.”
“I often hear such words.”
Thus, the proposal and negotiation proceeded. Actually, the words ‘proposal and negotiation’ were not really appropriate at this point, but anyway, Viola used the expression ‘proposal and negotiation.’
“…So, I’d like you to teach me your swordsmanship.”
Hera’s eyes narrowed. She understood why Viola insisted on learning swordsmanship from the Eastern Continent instead of the Bellato sword.
‘No matter how much of a genius Viola is, there would be limits in learning Bellato’s swordsmanship.’
Hera knew that Viola invested an enormous amount of time studying to be a ‘pure Bellato.’ Otherwise, the Viola present now wouldn’t exist.
‘You can’t catch two rabbits at once.’
By mastering Bellato swordsmanship, she couldn’t defeat other ‘Black Bellatos.’ Viola was making a strategic choice now.
‘It’s probably her intention to give up Bellato’s swordsmanship in order to avoid losing to my brothers, rather than learning another swordsmanship to use as a secondary support.’
It meant giving up Bellato swordsmanship for higher growth as a ‘White Bellato.’ Hera judged it as a very good choice for Viola as a White Bellato.
Of course, for Viola, the biggest factor was that she didn’t have to stab with a real sword.
Hera asked, “When will you come back?”
“Well, since I’ll just learn the basics before returning, it won’t take that long. You can report back about the Forget-Me-Not gathering.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you.”
“I wanted to see you learn something new but I didn’t know you would keep it a secret from me.”
Hera said it with a hint of disappointment but she wasn’t actually upset. She thought her sister had made a good choice. Sometimes, even allies need to keep secrets.
“But don’t take too long. There will be an official challenge to a duel from Mariantu.”
“Got it.”
Viola seemed as if she was looking forward to the duel, smiling as if with anticipation. Her legs under the skirt actually trembled slightly, but that was it.
Hera and Ersa left first, leaving Viola, Zenon, and Tundra behind. Viola decided to learn Shailan’s grass sword.
“Well… to learn the grass sword, you first need to memorize the basic movements. That’s the foundation.”
“Okay.”
“Yes?”
Viola chuckled lightly, “It’s actually cool.”
“…Really?”
“The sound of the grass flute was cool, and the way the grass swayed was cool too.”
In fact, it wasn’t cool at all. It was quite a rustic entrance. But Shailan was moved by those words. It seemed like someone appreciated his worth.
“R-Really?”
The grass sword was considered quite a ridiculous swordsmanship, even on the Eastern Continent. Because it didn’t use a real sword, rather using ancient magic to create rustic swordsmanship, fighting by chanting ancient phrases.
However, Shailan didn’t think so. To him, the grass sword was a ‘cool’ swordsmanship. He had felt like that since he was young and still felt that way.
He confessed his true feelings.
“I tried to explode the coolness factor by playing the grass flute…”
No one on the Eastern Continent ever praised him as being cool. A grandeur filled Shailan’s heart.
‘It seems that this is a style that will work well on the Central Continent.’
“I felt you had pride in your swordsmanship.”
“Of course!”
Without realizing it, Shailan had forgotten his fear. Pride in the grass sword filled his eyes.
“If I were you, I would want to spread the grass swordsmanship all over the world.”
Shailan’s eyes widened. In fact, that was precisely why he had crossed over to the Central Continent. He thought that if he became famous as an assassin, disciples would naturally form a line. Shailan was deeply moved by Viola’s empathy.
“That’s right. The grass sword will lead the next generation’s trend in refined swordsmanship.”
‘No. That’s not it. The grass sword ends with you. You’re destined to become a comic character, and there are no aspiring students who want to learn swordsmanship from a comic character.’
Viola didn’t say those sad words. But she knew one thing for sure.
“The ‘grass sword’ is personally the most regrettable swordsmanship because it is used by the comic character Shailan, even though it was originally set as a top-notch swordsmanship with more utility than Bellato’s swordsmanship.
If the ‘grass sword’ had met a proper master, it might have become a swordsmanship equivalent to or even superior to Bellato’s swordsmanship.”
Viola knew the author’s settings exactly.
“Then will you take me as your disciple?”
“A-a disciple?”
Shailan was bewildered by this sudden turn of events but he seemed not entirely unwilling to accept it. But it was much better than dying.
The conversation continued.
“Meals provided. Four times a week. Salary of 8 million Dallia per month.”
Shailan’s eyes widened and he almost choked.
Meals provided, teaching four times a week, and a salary of 8 million Dallia per month? Shailan collapsed in bewilderment.
“I’ll, I’ll serve you, uh, no, I’m the master. Please take care of me, disciple.”
“I’ll rely on you too, master.”
A bizarre relationship was formed.
Viola casually tossed out as if it were nothing, “Oh, by the way. The assassination attempt failed, right?”
“Yeah, well.”
The comic character Shailan didn’t seem to take it too seriously.
“The request from Lady Senna, who asked you to handle the situation, isn’t very threatening, but Duke Mariantu is different. Maybe he’ll try to kill you secretly?”
“M-Me?”
“Yeah. It’s the mistake created by Lady Senna. She made the assassination request, but the target is very much alive, and even together with the assassin? What do you think Duke Mariantu’s position will be? Of course, he’ll have to kill you.”
Shailan’s face turned pale. The biggest coward in the story was getting scared.
“Don’t worry. Bellato will keep you safe.”
So no matter what happens in the future, he won’t be able to run away.
‘Just devote yourself to the grass sword.’
She didn’t say that.
‘I feel like I’ve become wicked somehow.’
A strange mix of happiness and sadness washed over her. Anyway, she ended up starting the grass sword training, which wasn’t planned. She intended to just learn the basics and take some time to understand what the grass sword was about. This place, with its lush greenery, was more suitable for learning the grass sword than the Winter Castle.
That’s what Shailan thought too. Suddenly, he blinked his eyes vigorously, as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Huh? Huh? What? Yeah?”
Under Viola’s gesture, the grasses were lightly swaying.
—————————————————————
Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Bree.
If you like my work please support us in Patreon. Next post will be released on Februeary, 27.
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