“Why are you taking that with you?”
Cardin looked at Fay sitting next to her and spoke in an unhappy voice.
“It’s been a while since we met, so we’ll go home and eat and play together.”
“…….”
At her answer, Cardin glared at Fay and immediately turned to the window silently.
I think it means do as you please.
Perhaps because she liked his cat appearance so much, Fay continued to maintain the appearance of a cat even after riding in the carriage. She enjoys rubbing his soft soles.
squeak~
The carriage which was running well stopped suddenly. Cardin quickly catches her body leaning forward.
“What’s the matter?”
Cardin opened the window and asked the driver in front of him.
“I, I’m sorry. Duke, there’s a kid in front of the carriage.….”
As the coachman said, he looked out the window and found a child blocking the carriage. It was also a child he knew very well. Cardin got out of the carriage and approached the child.
“What brings you here?”
“The reward you mentioned last time. I’m here to ask you a favor.”
Ad looked at the Cardin nervously.
“What kind of favor are you going to ask for you to jump in front of a running carriage?”
Cardin looked down at Ad and said coldly.
“Will you listen to it?”
Ad asked, ignoring Cardin’s gaze.
“…….”
Emiliette couldn’t see well because she was in the carriage, but she knew that Cardin’s expression had become fiercer.
“Ha….”
Cardin sighed for a long time, opened his mouth, pointing at the carriage with his chin.
“Get in. There’s a lot of eyes in the palace.”
After finishing their conversation, Cardin boarded the carriage, followed by Ad. The carriage set off to the duchy in a delicate atmosphere as if it were running on thin ice. Ad sat upright on the opposite side while looking down. There was a new wound on Ad’s face in addition to the one treated last time.
Cardin only looked out the window with his chin on the back of his hand.
Shake shake~
She shook her leg to get Ad’s attention. At last, she met the eyes of Ad as he raised his head.
“Hello, Ad.”
She was conscious of the Cardin sitting next to her, so she greeted him by just mouthing the words without sound. Cardin didn’t want her to get close to Ad, but he didn’t seem like he would treat the person who saved her harshly.
“…….”
He must have seen the shape of her mouth, but she could see that he was pretending not to notice by turning his eyes away slightly.
“Meow.”
Then Fay pulled her collar down. When she lowered her head, his fluffy tail was shaking here and there in front of her eyes. She reached out to the tail like she was possessed, but she couldn’t catch the tail as it slipped out as fluidly as water. While playing with Fay like that, she could see Ad staring at Fay in front of her.
Does he like cats?
Ad didn’t take his eyes off Fay until they arrived at the duchy.
***
“Please have a seat.”
Arriving at the duchy, they all gathered in the drawing room. As Cardin recommended, Ad gently sat on a chair and looked at Cardin.
“You have a favor to ask.”
With his chin resting on the back of his hand and his head tilted, Cardin opened his mouth. He seemed nominally respectful, but she didn’t feel that way at all.
“Yes.”
But Ad didn’t seem to care about it at all. He was dealing with Cardin with an expressionless face, but she could see that his fist was full of strength.
“What is it?”
At Cardin’s words, Ad swallowed his dry saliva once and opened his mouth.
“Please teach me…. the sword.”
Cardin’s brow frowned at the following words of Ad. Ad once again said to the silent Cardin.
“I hope the duke will teach me.”
Ad, who clearly put a stop to his words, looked silently at Cardin, who was frowning. Again, their eyes collided in the air and confronted each other.
“Why is it me?”
Cardin’s mouth, which had been silent for a long time, finally opened.
“Does that mean that you want me to stand behind you?”
Cardin’s voice was even lower. His eyes were sharp enough to penetrate his opponent. Ad quickly denied Cardin’s words and spoke in a calm tone.
“No, I’m just asking you to teach me swordsmanship. I don’t want anything more.”
“If you want to learn swordsmanship, I’ll send you a good teacher right away.”
Ad shook his head at Cardin’s words.
“I want to be taught by you.”
As Ad’s straight eyes turned to Cardin, Cardin retorted lowly without raising his suspicion.
“So, what does the prince want?”
Cardin added that he doesn’t want to be involved in dirty politics, Ad quickly added that it was not the case.
“I don’t like that either. That’s not what I want to get.”
Ad clenched his fist and said in a determined voice.
“I want to be a magic swordsman.”
Ad also added that it must be Cardin himself who will teach him. Emiliette looked at Ad and clenched her fist just like him.
She really wanted Cardin to say yes.
Ad had such a natural talent that he instantly knocked down three stout men. If he can bring that capability to its highest level, Ad could certainly be a magic swordsman.
A small sigh came out of Cardin’s mouth.
It didn’t bode well.
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t do you a favor…….”
“Me too!”
She quickly rose from her seat and interrupted Cardin. She shouted on the spot, receiving everyone’s attention.
“I want to learn swordsmanship with you.”
Her words dug deeper into the brow of Cardin.
“You don’t have to learn that. It’s dangerous, so no…….”
Seeing Cardin exhaling as if he was tired, he shouted in tears.
“Papa, how long are you going to do that?”
She opened her heart to Cardin, who hesitated as if surprised by her cry.
“How long do I have to be protected? I can be strong, too. That’s why I said I’d protect Papa, too!”
She’s a little upset with Cardin, who’s always trying to protect her like a fragile glass artifact. Of course, she knew he was acting like that because he cares for her but if it continues over time, the problem will change. She needed the power to protect herself and to protect her precious people. She never intended to be protected by someone’s shadow all her life.
“And….”
She opened her mouth looking at Ad.
“At least give him a chance to do something. It’s not too late to say no afterwards.”
It was too much to not be given an opportunity just because he was born as a prince or because he is a lone prince with no family to look after him. The same was true of the numerous opportunities she never had in her previous life. And one of the people most aware of this is Cardin himself. He was also born as a member of the duke family and must have suffered countless bone-cutting trials before he became a duke.
“…….”
With his head down, Cardin swept his hair slowly with one hand and breathed a long sigh.
‘I guess he won’t listen to me.….’
“……do it.”
“What?”
“I’ll teach you. You too, Prince.”
At Cardin’s answer, Ad’s eyes widened. He accepted.
“Papa…”
She didn’t imagine Cardin would accept it, so she cried. She was grateful to Cardin for his tough decision. She approached Cardin’s side. Cardin, who was sitting in a chair, looked down at her.
“Thank you….”
She hugged Cardin’s legs and buried her face in his arms.
“I really, really love you.”
She mumbled out her true feelings that she had not been able to say because she was shy. She was too shy to even check Cardin’s face, so she only gave more strength to her arms. After a long time, no response came back, so she lifted her head up.
“Papa…?”
She could see Cardin’s blank face. She could see the redness slowly rising above his cheeks. Cardin raised his hand and covered his face as if he had come to his senses. However, if his ears had not turned red, she would have mistakenly thought that he was crying. She buried her face in Cardin’s leg again, pretending not to see it. Her ears felt feverish, too.
***
Starting next week, swordsmanship training will begin in earnest. Class hours will be around dawn or late afternoon when people are inactive and Cardin is relatively relaxed.
They decided to do the class about three times a week. With Cardin’s permission, Ad returned to the palace, leaving a thank you message. We will see each other often starting next week.
“Come on, princess. Let’s get started.”
Now she was in the middle of a magic class with Teacher Teto, who came to visit the duchy. Teto came to the duchy and apologized, saying he’s really sorry that he fell asleep suddenly. When she received an apology, she felt guilty, she just said ‘it’s okay’ to comfort Teto. They decided to start the class that she couldn’t finish last time from today.
When Teto said that she would learn formula magic from today, she swallowed her dry saliva. Obviously, if she tried modification magic like last time, it could lead to an explosion.
Fortunately, maybe he has some free time, so Cardin came to her room and recommended that they take a class together. As soon as he finished speaking, Teto’s face turned white, so she felt a little sorry, but she was relieved that Cardin was there.
Cardin was sitting on the sofa behind her and observing the class.
“Yes, I’ll try.”
Teto, who was very surprised that he understood the concept of formula accurately, showed her a real magic formula. She focused and tried the formula magic, just like he did before with Fay last time. The formula Teto taught her was magic to create a small wind.
Soon a cool wind began to flutter around.
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