“Let’s do this!”
With a spirited shout, Hamil rose from the bed, went to the bathroom, quickly washed her face with cold water, rinsed her hair, and brushed her teeth.
“Another fighting day ahead!!”
Looking at herself in the mirror, Hamil cheered herself up, changed into her training gear, and secured her beloved twin swords at her waist.
“Another exciting day. A day full of energy. The world is wonderful.”
Murmuring words that seemed to bypass her brain, she hummed on her way to the training ground when she spotted a child peeking around the stairs, wearing white pajamas.
Judging by the disheveled, pale blonde hair sticking out all over the place, the child must have had a very deep sleep.
Quietly approaching, Hamil tapped the child’s shoulder.
“Hey, little one.”
“Eek! You startled me!”
The child blinked rosy eyes, placed both hands on their chest, exhaled, and then tilted their head at Hamil.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Hamil. What’s your name?”
“I’m Rose. Rose Loenbaum.”
Loenbaum? That name sounds familiar—wasn’t it the Duke’s name? After a moment of thought, Hamil asked Rose.
“Are you the niece the Duke is so fond of?”
“Yes!”
At her confident answer, Hamil burst into laughter.
“I see. But why are you here? Where’s your uncle?”
“He went to work. I’m playing hide-and-seek right now.”
Hide-and-seek? Isn’t that the game where someone hides and another seeks? Do they play hide-and-seek differently in the empire?
“Who are you playing with?”
“Fenrex. Fenrex transforms into a wolf and sniffs me out.”
Rose scrunched her nose, mimicking the sniffing sound, making Hamil laugh out loud at her cuteness.
“You are so adorable. How old are you?”
Rose spread her palm wide open.
“I’m five years old. I’ll turn six after my birthday next month.”
“Wow, you’ll be a year older!”
Rose eagerly nodded at Hamil’s exaggerated reaction.
“When I turn six, they said I’ll become an older sister. Hehe.”
“Do you want to be an older sister?”
“Yes! They said older sisters can do anything!”
Laughing, Hamil nodded in agreement.
“That’s right. Older sisters can do everything. Are you not interested in swordsmanship?”
Even with the sudden change in topic, Rose answered without hesitation.
“What’s swordsmanship?”
“It’s when you swing a sword like this.”
Hamil moved both arms flamboyantly, prompting Rose to clap in excitement.
“That’s so cool!”
“It looks even cooler with a sword in hand. Want to come watch me practice with a sword?”
“Yes!”
Rose spread her arms wide.
“Hug me!”
Laughing heartily, Hamil scooped Rose up in her arms.
She then stepped out of the main house and walked toward the training ground.
Since she had requested exclusive use of the training ground from the Duke, she reached it without encountering other knights.
Hamil placed Rose on a flat stone.
Looking around curiously, Rose exclaimed,
“This is where Uncle went swoosh-swoosh!”
“Swoosh-swoosh?”
Rose clasped her hands together and moved them up and down.
“Oh, so the Duke trained in swordsmanship here.”
Rose nodded enthusiastically.
“I sat here and watched Uncle practice!”
“Ahahaha, I set you up in the perfect spot!”
While stretching and chatting with Rose, Hamil drew the swords from her waist.
“Why do you have two swords?”
“Because I’m a dual wielder.”
Rose tilted her head in curiosity.
“Dual wielder?”
“Watch closely.”
With a grin, Hamil sprinted toward the scarecrow she had set up the day before.
She moved both swords swiftly and precisely.
“Did you see that?”
After regaining her stance, Hamil asked.
“I didn’t see anything.”
“You couldn’t see it?”
Rose nodded.
“But look at the scarecrow.”
Hamil tapped the scarecrow with the flat of her blade.
Then, the scarecrow fell apart, its pieces scattering across the ground.
“Woooooow.”
Rose clapped her hands and exclaimed in amazement.
“Hahaha! How was that? Isn’t this big sister amazing? The best, right?”
“It was so cool! You’re the best!”
Hamil burst out laughing at Rose’s enthusiastic thumbs-up.
“Ah, Rose.”
Hearing her uncle’s voice breaking through the laughter, Rose turned her head.
“Uncle!”
“You…”
Ian picked up Rose as she ran barefoot toward him.
Expecting her to wake up by now, Ian had gone to her room, only to find her gone. He had his servants search the house, but she was nowhere to be found.
Ignoring the pain in his chest from the fear gripping his heart, he finally located her using tracking magic.
Unaware of Ian’s worries, Rose was brimming with excitement.
“Uncle! Just now, Big Sister went swoosh-swoosh, and the scarecrow went swish-swish! It was so cool!”
After speaking quickly, Rose looked at Hamil and said,
“Big Sister, show Uncle too!!”
“Should I?”
“Yes, yes! Uncle would love to see it too, right? Uncle, you want to see it, don’t you?”
Ian, unable to resist Rose’s earnestness, nodded weakly.
“Yes. I want to see it.”
“See? Uncle wants to see it too! Show us again, please!!”
Hamil rubbed her nose and nodded.
“Since Rose wants it so much, I’ll give an encore performance. This time, watch carefully.”
“Okay!”
Rose clenched her tiny fists and opened her eyes wide in anticipation.
Meanwhile, Ian gave Hamil a disinterested look.
Hamil took a few steps back, putting more distance between her and the scarecrow, and reversed her grip on the swords.
‘Oh, interesting.’
Ian narrowed his eyes.
At that moment, Hamil dashed toward the scarecrow and swung her swords.
Tap-tap-tap.
Once again, the scarecrow shattered into multiple pieces, scattering onto the ground.
“Wow! That’s amazing! So amazing!”
Rose clapped with all her might, her admiration echoing around the training ground.
Hamil winked at her and said,
“Thank you, my lady.”
Ian winced at Hamil’s overly suave tone.
“What did you think, Duke?”
With a hopeful, puppy-like gaze begging for praise, Hamil turned to Ian. Instead of compliments, Ian delivered cold criticism.
“When you swing your sword, your right arm bends at a 15-degree angle. As for your left arm, it wobbles. You need muscle-strengthening exercises for both arms.”
Hamil’s eyes widened in surprise.
“It’s the same with your lower body. While it’s good that you mimic the proper stance, your shaky posture prevents you from achieving the angle you’re aiming for.”
“…Wow. Tell me more! Please!”
Contrary to Ian’s expectations that his harsh words would intimidate Hamil, Hamil looked at him with sparkling eyes like Rose.
Smirking, Ian said,
“Lastly, if you ever bring Rose here like this again, I’ll ban you from using the training ground.”
“W-what!?”
Ian decisively turned away. He ignored the voices calling after him as he walked back to the main house.
Rose looked up at Ian and asked,
“Uncle, are you mad?”
“No, I’m just surprised.”
“Why?”
“Because Rose came to the training ground without telling Uncle. Uncle thought you ran away because you didn’t like him.”
Ian’s somber tone startled Rose, who quickly exclaimed,
“No, that’s not true! I was playing hide-and-seek with Fenrex!”
“Fenrex?”
“Yes! Fenrex was going to sniff me out, but then I met Big Sister and went to the training ground!”
Ian thought of Fenrex, who had likely transformed into a wolf and was sniffing around the house, trying to find Rose.
She was playing hide-and-seek with a wolf pup?
“Rose, when did you start playing hide-and-seek?”
“Hmm, I don’t know! I was playing, then when I opened my eyes, I was in bed, so I hid again.”
Ian chuckled, realizing what had happened.
‘She continued a hide-and-seek game she dreamed about.’
He couldn’t bring himself to scold her for her innocent actions.
Ian told Rose to wait in her room for him, even if she was playing hide-and-seek. Afterward, he bathed her, combed her messy hair into two round buns, and dressed her in a short, flared dress with pumpkin pants—making her look like a flower fairy.
“My little Rose looks adorable.”
He kissed her cheek and lifted her into his arms.
“Hehe. Am I cute?”
“Yes, like a flower fairy.”
Carrying Rose, Ian happily headed to the dining room. As they entered, the source of all the trouble waved and greeted them cheerfully.
“You’re just in time! Let’s eat together!”
“Big Sister!”
Ian put Rose down, and she quickly ran to Hamil.
“Big Sister, how do I look?”
“You look absolutely adorable! My goodness! From a messy little lady to a proper fairy!”
At Hamil’s admiration, Rose covered her mouth and giggled.
“Rose, come here. Time to eat.”
Rose grabbed Hamil’s hand and said,
“Uncle, I want to eat with Big Sister today.”
Ian felt his heart ache, even though no magic was involved.
“Big Sister, eat with me.”
“Alright.”
Hamil pulled out the chair next to her and seated Rose.
“Eat some meat, meat! Meat is life’s truth! There’s no better source of nutrients than meat.”
Hamil loaded Rose’s plate with finely cut pieces of meat.
“If I eat lots of meat, can I swoosh-swoosh like you?”
Hamil wiggled her eyebrows up and down.
“Why? Do you want to swoosh-swoosh like me?”
“Yes! It’s so cool!”
Hamil grinned with satisfaction and said,
“Then you have to eat a lot of meat. Aggressively!”
To demonstrate, Hamil stuffed her mouth full of meat using a fork.
Rose nodded and imitated her, stuffing her mouth with meat using her fork. She chewed so enthusiastically that her face shook.
“Ugh!”
Ian quickly approached Rose. He held his hand out by her mouth and said,
“Rose, spit it out.”
“Bleh.”
Half-chewed pieces of meat spilled onto his hand as Rose coughed repeatedly once her mouth was clear.
After cleaning his hand with a napkin, Ian patted Rose’s back and helped her drink water.
When Rose had calmed down, Hamil scratched her cheek and apologized.
“Sorry, Rose. Duke, I’m really sorry! I didn’t know you shouldn’t eat like that since I’ve never looked after a child before! I won’t do it again! I sincerely apologize!”
Ian gritted his teeth, unable to even get angry at the overly quick apology.
“Rose tends to swallow quickly, so we’re teaching her to eat slowly. Don’t do this again. Also, she needs to eat a balanced diet, not just meat.”
“Understood! Rose, did you hear that? From now on, let’s eat slowly and have a balanced meal!”
Even with tears brimming in her eyes, Rose nodded repeatedly, seemingly pleased by Hamil’s attention.
‘Oh, heavens.’
While Ian despaired, Hamil placed small portions of various dishes onto Rose’s plate.
“Chew slowly and thoroughly, okay?”
“Yes!”
Following Hamil’s advice, Rose picked up some salad and chewed it carefully.
Ian sat beside her and watched her eat.
Hamil also slowed down her eating pace to match Rose’s, in contrast to her earlier frantic eating.
When Rose finished all the food Hamil had placed on her plate—an unusually large amount for her—Hamil clapped enthusiastically.
“Everyone!! Rose finished her meal!! Great job, Rose!”
“Am I great?”
“Of course, you’re the best!”
Hamil gave her a thumbs-up, and Rose proudly returned the gesture.
“Then, can I swoosh-swoosh like you?”
“That—”
Ian was about to explain that she needed to grow more first when Hamil interrupted with a loud declaration.
“Of course! You’ll be the best bandit ever.”
“A bandit! Rose will become a bandit!”
“Hahaha! That’s right. Rose will be the best bandit ever!”
Ian placed a hand on his forehead.
‘She wants to learn swordsmanship, so why are we suddenly talking about bandits? And Rose, do you even know what a bandit is?’
