🔊 TTS Settings
CHAPTER 02
“No, I’ll just go to a nearby estate—”
“No, I’ll just get married—”
“I’ll go up to the capital and meet nobles I know—”
The three of them each hurriedly proposed their own solutions after hearing Ilena’s answer.
What’s the problem with that? The fastest solution to injustice was a “physical conversation.” Ilena believed that once people moved their bodies enough to exchange understanding, there was nothing that couldn’t be understood.
That was generally how things worked in House Louis. Seeing her family in a panic, Ilena let out a meaningful little laugh.
“I already submitted an application.”
“What?!”
“Unless there’s a special reason, most noble children with verified status get accepted anyway. The acceptance letter should arrive soon. Good thing I applied in advance.”
Ilena smiled brightly. Her family stared at her in stunned silence. She simply thought she had been fortunate to act quickly and seize the opportunity.
The blade of a sword sliced past Derek’s face.
“Ilena Louis! You—!”
Derek, who was on rare leave and therefore not supposed to get injured, quickly leaned his head back. His expression was a strange mix of shock and frustration.
“You’ll get your neck cut off if you stand there dumbly.”
Ilena, the person in question, didn’t care at all. Ignoring her fuming older brother, she continued her attacks steadily. Derek’s movements grew more exaggerated in anger.
“You, you’re really going to become a maid at the ducal house?”
“Yeah. What’s the problem?”
Ilena said it as if she truly didn’t understand. Wasn’t working at a ducal house a good thing?
They needed money anyway, and the pay was excellent. She could earn in one month what a commoner family lived on for three months.
Besides, she had said she didn’t want to reveal she was a Sword Master, and they told her that was fine! With a hint of emotion, Ilena thrust her sword deeply toward Derek’s left arm.
“Ghk! You—! Do you even realize how incredible a Sword Master is? How many people become Sword Masters at seventeen? There are only a handful in history!”
As far as Ilena knew, even the empire’s famous founding emperor became a Sword Master only in his thirties. The youngest known person to reach that level was Karl Beckman, the duke she planned to work for. She remembered that when he achieved it, newspapers across the nation ran special reports.
“That genius Karl Beckman—rumored to have surpassed the founding emperor—became the commander of the Second Knights at just eighteen! And you’re saying you want to become a maid?!”
Derek fired off his words so fast it sounded like he might run out of breath. He was furious at his sister’s ignorance and his family’s naive attitude.
Ilena clearly didn’t understand what a Sword Master truly meant. That must be why she could say something like becoming a maid. If it were him, he wouldn’t even consider being a servant. He dodged Ilena’s sharp blade while grumbling.
Most knights never reached the level of Sword Master no matter how hard they trained. A Sword Master was, quite literally, a gift from the gods. One Sword Master could decide the outcome of a war.
“So what if we get a title? We don’t have the power to protect it. People would just line up trying to take advantage of us.”
“That’s a bit of an exaggeration.”
“And what, does a title suddenly make money fall from the sky?”
“Why are you suddenly acting smart? Even joining the Imperial Knights pays pretty well at the commander level.”
“Brother, didn’t you complain just recently that knight salaries were low?”
“Of course I’d earn more than a regular knight like me.”
At Ilena’s sharp remark, Derek looked away. Still, he thought becoming a knight commander was better than becoming a ducal maid.
“I don’t have the confidence to live buried in paperwork like Dad or my sister. Work myself to death and then drown in documents again?”
“You won’t be given a minor title like that anyway. If you manage an estate, of course you’ll have to work. That’s obvious.”
“I’m not doing it. I’ll just earn enough and live comfortably.”
“You really are hopelessly relaxed.”
Derek shook his head. Was that the luxury of someone who had everything? He looked at Ilena with a hint of envy. If his family had been a little better off, he might never have gone to the capital either.
But Ilena’s choice to become a maid was not, contrary to Derek’s belief, emotional—it was logical and rational.
She knew herself well. She hated troublesome work, and sitting at a desk all day handling paperwork was unthinkable. It wasn’t about ability; it was about preference.
As the third daughter of a small viscount family with a tiny estate, she was now old enough to earn her own living—and help support the household. Even though she was a Sword Master, she didn’t want attention.
Hmph.
Ilena snorted inwardly. Knights who trained endlessly to become Sword Masters might be furious if they heard her, but she herself felt no particular pride in it.
She had simply loved swinging a sword all day, and at some point she naturally crossed that threshold. To her, being a Sword Master was as natural as breathing or eating.
No one brags about breathing. No one goes around announcing they ate well today. So she didn’t want to go around announcing she was a Sword Master either.
And there was no noble sense of duty or chivalry behind it. Protect people? Ridiculous.
Ilena just wanted to live quietly in a peaceful estate—softly, calmly, for a long time. She was, in her own way, a pacifist. Earn enough money, help the estate, and live decently.
“Good thing I’m on leave. Otherwise you really would’ve ended up a ducal maid. You should just join the Imperial Knights instead.”
Derek said she could take the entrance test easily with his recommendation, aiming his sword at her ankle.
“I already got accepted to the ducal house.”
Ilena blocked his strike easily, recalling the acceptance letter she had received earlier. She had replied immediately, without hesitation, accepting the offer.
“What?!”
“I said I was accepted. I’m going to the capital with you tomorrow.”
“What?! Mom and Dad? Why are you only telling me this the day before leaving for the capital? And stop calling me ‘you’! I’m your brother!”
Derek shouted in disbelief, as if flames were coming out of his mouth.
“If I told you earlier, you would’ve bothered me the whole vacation. I couldn’t ruin my peaceful days.”
At Ilena’s clearly annoyed tone, Derek collapsed in despair.
“This can’t be! Mother would never allow this!”
But Derek’s final hope was shattered.
“Mom and Dad said it was fine. They said becoming a knight is always an option anyway, so there’s nothing to worry about. They even said I might make Imperial Knights tired if I join them.”
“…That’s true.”
Derek reluctantly admitted it. He imagined his sister working in the knights’ order with a perpetually bored expression. Just the thought of her standing before nobles or royalty with that indifferent face made him uneasy.
He could already picture her telling royalty, “That is not part of my duties, so I refuse,” without changing expression. If she became his subordinate, he would definitely need stomach medicine every day.
Once Derek concluded that, he quickly gave up. Ilena was already an adult—she could take care of herself. She had always been sharp since childhood.
Fine. Since he was home anyway, he might as well spar with a Sword Master.
Derek was an optimist.
“So there’s no problem, right?”
Ilena asked, confirming his now-calm expression. Since she had already been accepted, there was no backing out.
“You’re still going to train every day?”
“If I have time, of course. The ducal house even has training sessions for servants.”
“They also have study time, you know. You’re not planning to openly reveal you’re a Sword Master, right?”
Derek asked nervously.
“I won’t openly say it, but I do plan to keep training as usual.”
Ah… what am I going to do with this idiot sister?
Derek let out a deep sigh. Ilena frowned at his disappointed expression.
“If you keep moving like that, you’ll be exposed in no time. You’re smart and strong, so why are you so stupid? Is it a lack of social skills or empathy?”
“Want to try getting sliced?”
At Derek’s sharp retort, faint aura began to flow around Ilena’s sword.
“If a Sword Master shows up as a maid, the ducal house would be overjoyed. Just imagine—our house gets a Sword Master as a servant. What then?”
“They probably like quiet places.”
Ilena answered confidently. Derek looked at her sadly.
“You’re not dumb… so where did all your education go?”
At her brother’s expression, Ilena decided to stop joking. Even she realized that hiding her ability poorly would raise suspicion.
“Don’t look at me like that. I’ll be careful.”
“I don’t trust that at all. Not even a little, sister.”
“Shut up and hold your sword. I’ll handle it. Just be useful when I ask.”
“Cheh. If I knew my little sister would become a Sword Master first, I would’ve trained at home instead of joining the Imperial Knights.”
“Do you think staying in the estate would’ve made you a master?”
Derek grumbled, and Ilena chuckled. Annoyed, he immediately tried to strike her mouth.
“I can train until dinner time, right?”
Ilena declared a hellish training session. It had been a while since they sparred—it was fun.
“What? You trying to kill me?”
“It has to be that intense. I need to loosen up too. Now then—let’s go, future Sword Master.”
Ilena swung her sword horizontally.
“Aaaagh! Crazy—using aura?! Hey! Aagh! That’s not allowed! Mother! Father!”
Derek screamed and ran frantically, dodging her sword as if fleeing death itself. As promised, Ilena pressed him without pause until dinner time.
‘There will be many stronger people in the capital.’
At the thought of leaving for the capital tomorrow, she felt a faint thrill of anticipation.
