But sure enough. Lacius’ low muttering about the pace carried a hint of frustration. Lacius was checking how much work was left to do, not paying any attention to his aide’s pale complexion. And he was furious at the still enormous amount.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
It’s already been a few days since he’d been able to hold Shay properly. His work schedule was murderous. He calculated that at this rate, even a month later, things would be the same. He wanted to take some time off and visit her, but Shay has her own business to attend to.
To avoid disturbing her, he endured as much as possible, but he was nearing his limit. His so-called Shay withdrawal symptoms were getting worse by the day. It’s to the point where he wanted to throw away these documents immediately.
‘It’s really hard to concentrate today.’
Sigh. As Lacius exhaled deeply, the atmosphere in the office froze. He needed to save time, so he dragged everything he had to do in the imperial palace and the court to the training grounds of the Rentus Knights. Despite this, the work seemed endless, driving him insane.
As his mood continued to worsen, someone knocked on the door loudly.
“Captain! Captain, look at this!”
“You’re making too much of a fuss.”
“You’ll change your mind when you see this!”
“What is this…?”
For a moment, Lacius fell silent. Women’s monthly magazines were one of the things he hated. There is no way a knight of Rentus, who knew that, would have deliberately brought it to torment him on purpose.
There had to be a reason. A very important reason to shove the magazine under his nose. And it took one picture to make him realize it.
“Why here… … ?”
It was a picture of Shay.
Lacius stared at Shay on the cover for a moment, mesmerized. She looked extremely dreamy as she held out a fan with a slightly mysterious smile. It was as if she was beckoning him to come over.
“Lady Oberon graces the cover! There’s an interview, too. Here it is!”
The knight fussed and opened the magazine to reveal a corner. As he read the interview, Lacius thought of Shay from last night. She had been deeply asleep, probably from exhaustion. Lacius kissed her very gently, not wanting to wake her.
He kissed her again at dawn and slipped out of the room. Shay’s appearance, illuminated by the dim light, seemed like a sacred being that had just descended from the sky. As if even a stolen kiss would be a sin.
“Was this published today?”
“Yes, it is.”
Suddenly, he felt uneasy. Isn’t <Terran Ladies> a famous monthly magazine? A sudden pang of jealousy flashed through him, worried that people who saw this cover art might fall in love with Shay. She was too precious even for him to gaze at alone, and now the entire nation would see her. He didn’t like it at all.
Just as Lacius was starting to grip the magazine tightly,
“Captain, your fiancée has come to the training grounds!”
Fiancée? Lacius wrinkled his brow. He had only one fiancée. But Shay wasn’t the type to drop by unannounced like this.
“Had she made an appointment to visit?”
“Uhm, no? However, since she has red hair and is incredibly beautiful, I thought she must be Lady Oberon… … .”
What’s going on?
Lacius got up from his seat even before the knight finished speaking. It was rare for Shay to visit the Knights without any notice. In fact, it almost never happened. They respected each other’s working spaces that much.
But the fact that she came so suddenly means that it was very urgent. His heart sank, fearing something bad might have happened.
“Oh? Lacius?”
“Captain?”
After a short moment,
He arrived in a hurry at the place where Shay was standing, almost as if being hugged by Ziontin. With a sword in her hand.
* * *
Today was the day I was supposed to meet with Ziontin.
While Raziana and Cynthia can come and visit me at the mansion, Ziontin has to work. There were no holidays for her, who has to train every day. In conclusion, the only way to meet Ziontin is to visit the Rentus Knights myself. I have no qualms about coming to the Knights of Rentus, as I might even get a glimpse of Lacius at work.
It was about 30 minutes ago that I handed the sword to Ziontin and briefly asked her how she was. Now I was learning the basics of swordsmanship from Ziontin. Grasping the handle of the sword with both hands, she lifts it to the level of her head and swings it down! This is the basics of attack, so I thought it would be good to learn it for self-defense, so I asked her to teach me while giving it to her as a gift.
“Is there any particular reason why you want to wield a sword with the hand you are using to draw?”
Ziontin was happy to be given a good sword, so she complied. But she was not entirely without words.
“Well, I thought learning the movements themselves would be helpful…?”
“You’re saying it’s not an attack for defense but an attack for offense.”
“Uh, maybe…?
I still haven’t forgotten the feeling of using the Trachian sword like a club. If I practiced the trajectory of swinging the sword, I could hit more accurately the next time a similar situation arises. Of course, I couldn’t say these words out loud.
.
“Phew, it’s hot. I’m sweating.”
“That’s because you’re wearing a dress. If you plan to come again, bring a light shirt and pants.”
“I guess I should.”
Ziontin was a pretty good teacher in some ways. Her indifferent face remained indifferent even when I made mistakes. So, I didn’t feel embarrassed at all, even when I stumbled with the practice wooden sword.
Though, if there was one problem…
“The trajectory must be exactly a straight line. It is now deviated to the left, so please correct it.”
Ugh.
“Wrong. Again.”
Ack.
“Again.”
… … !
“Again!”
She was persistent. So relentless, so meticulous, so scrupulous, and so persistent. Her strictness in saying “again” with every mistake was unwavering, making complaints useless. Also, if I whined, Ziontin might never teach me swordsmanship again.
‘Honestly, I was just asking for lighter guidance.’
But she would get angry if I said that.
Ziontin is a stubborn, principled person, so it was actually very kind of her to teach me just because I asked. Normally, she would’ve said no outright. So, rather than whining and telling her not to scold me, I looked at Ziontin, repeatedly squeezing and opening my sore hands.
“Dame, I don’t get it. No matter how much I try, it goes astray…. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”
“Then, I’ll guide you.”
Ziontin was a really good teacher. As soon as I asked for help, she came up behind me and grabbed my elbows and wrists, showing me where and how to grip correctly.
“Lift it up, then down.”
“Like this?”
“That’s right.”
After doing it a few times, I got the hang of it. But, surprisingly, at that moment, Lacius appeared. I waved happily at my man, whom I hadn’t seen in what seemed like forever.
“Hey, Lashin, what’s up? I thought you were really busy, so I was planning to just take a quick look at your face later!”
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