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CHAPTER 07
“Marie, good morning.”
“Good morning, Ireina!”
A maid with neatly pinned-up long hair cheerfully returned Ireina’s greeting. Around her, male servants were loitering.
“Are you already going to work?”
“Yes. I have afternoon training today, so I need to finish my work early in the morning.”
“Good luck.”
“You too.”
Even in a maid’s uniform, Marie’s slim figure stood out as she headed toward the main building while returning greetings from others.
“Marie is in charge of the young master’s room, right?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Nothing.”
As Marie passed by, Ireina’s nose twitched. There was that strange scent again coming from her. It wasn’t the first time Marie had carried such a peculiar fragrance. Judging by how her body reacted to it, it didn’t seem to be something good.
Well, the young master is a Sword Master anyway—he won’t be easily affected.
The less she knew, the better. Ireina quickly pushed thoughts of Marie aside and focused on her meal.
“See you in the evening.”
“Ruin, good luck.”
Ireina waved her off as Ruin left. Thinking of the quiet annex compared to the busy main house, she couldn’t help smiling.
If things got busier, she might be reassigned to the main house—but not yet. For now, she was enjoying her daily naps in the annex, and her complexion was steadily improving.
Good food, moderate exercise, and enough sleep—nothing could be better.
And starting tomorrow, she could finally hold a sword. The thought of sparring soon lifted her mood.
* * *
A week later, the ducal couple arrived in the capital. For three straight days, welcome parties were held, and the servants were worked to exhaustion.
Ireina couldn’t avoid it either, so she underwent rushed extra training and moved through the banquet halls. Every night she returned to her room, barely managed to greet Ruin, and collapsed.
The parties continued late into the night, but training schedules remained unchanged, pushing the servants to the brink. By the time it ended, everyone had dark circles under their eyes.
After the festivities, each servant was given a one-day reward vacation. Ruin and Ireina agreed to take theirs on the same day, spending the morning lazily resting in their room.
“Honestly, are you both just going to stay in your room on your day off?”
“Yes, I think I need to rest today.”
Bessie came to visit their room. Ireina leaned against her bed and greeted her.
“Ruin, want to go there?”
“There? Oh! That place?! Ireina, you’ve never been there, right?”
Bessie subtly signaled Ruin. Realizing what she meant, Ruin jumped up.
“Where is that?”
“There’s a place with an incredible view. Let’s go, let’s go.”
Ruin hurriedly pulled Ireina along. As they walked, Ireina noticed the path was familiar.
“…Isn’t this the knight training ground? Isn’t it training time?”
“That’s right.”
Bessie nodded, trying to hide her excitement.
“Wait, aren’t civilians not allowed during training?”
“They don’t really mind if you just watch from far away. In fact, the knights kind of like being watched.”
“I think I’ll pass.”
“Oh come on, don’t be so innocent. There are tons of people hiding to watch.”
Before Ireina could escape, Ruin and Bessie grabbed her arms and ran.
“Shh.”
Soon they arrived at a corner of the training grounds. Ruin signaled for silence, and the three crouched behind bushes.
“Ruin, won’t the knights already notice us?”
“They haven’t directly caught us yet, so it’s fine. See? There are people hiding over there too, behind the windows and trees.”
“Seems like a lot of people came on their day off.”
Ruin and Bessie settled in, pointing out other hiding spots. Seeing other heads peeking out, Ireina eventually crouched down as well.
The knights were in the middle of training—this was their time alone, without servants. The energy in the air was intense. Every swing of the sword made the thin training uniforms cling to their bodies, revealing well-trained muscles.
“Eeeek!”
Soft squeals echoed from a distance. Maids hid all over the grounds, secretly watching the knights. As upper-ranked maids, Ruin, Bessie, and Ireina were bolder, sitting near the bushes with better visibility.
“So this is the ‘spectacle’ they were talking about? This is it. No need to go anywhere else.”
“Exactly.”
Ireina’s eyes followed the knights’ movements—how their shoulders shifted as swords fell, how their bodies moved in sparring.
To be able to openly watch others train like this—it was an unexpected gain.
With satisfied expressions, the three of them watched, cheeks slightly flushed.
Oh, the ducal knights are quite impressive.
As the hidden spectators forgot to stay hidden and began gasping aloud, the knights eventually noticed them and started chasing the spying maids away.
Marie was also among those being chased out, her face still smiling brightly despite being discovered. Even as she was escorted away, the knights couldn’t quite stop looking at her.
But none of them came near where Ireina was hiding.
“Is it okay for us to be here like this? Marie even got chased away despite being assigned to the young master’s room.”
“Are we the same as her? We’re upper maids who enter the duke’s chambers.”
Bessie answered calmly. Ireina, slightly uneasy, tried to shift her attention elsewhere.
“Oh—there’s the young master!”
Ruin suddenly exclaimed.
The entrance to the training ground brightened, as if light itself had appeared. Ireina blinked in disbelief.
“…Is it even possible for someone to be that handsome?”
She muttered without realizing it. Hearing the giggles beside her, she realized she had said it out loud.
In all her life, she had never seen someone who looked like they were glowing. He had been handsome from a distance before—but this was on another level.
“Is the young master… a fairy or something?”
“What?”
Ruin whispered back, not hearing properly. Ireina’s mind turned chaotic as she stared straight at him.
“Do you think it’s okay for us to be here?”
At her eager tone, Ruin and Bessie exchanged meaningful looks.
“You’ve fallen for him.”
“Yeah, our young master is dangerously attractive.”
Ignoring them, Ireina nodded absently while focusing on him.
Long limbs, a perfectly balanced upper body shaped like an inverted triangle, strong legs supporting it all—he had the kind of physique she had only dreamed of.
A body blessed by the gods.
She had no complaints about her own body, but compared to Karl, there was no contest. If they fought, she would clearly lose in strength. She would have to rely on speed and technique.
Ruin and Bessie exchanged glances again as they watched her drift into her own world.
The knights finished clearing out the remaining hidden maids and reorganized into formation. It looked like they were preparing for group combat training rather than individual sparring.
At the signal from the front line, the knights moved in unison—fluid, synchronized, almost as if they were one body.
“Wow… this is amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“You’ve never watched group training before?”
“Yes, our territory is small, so we don’t have knights. Soldiers train in squads, but it’s definitely different from knights.”
Ireina spoke carefully, slightly understating the truth. The Louis territory was often subject to enemy incursions. Its militia trained systematically in response. Her father couldn’t afford knights, but he knew how to make good use of his people.
“Oh right, you’re from the Louis territory. That’s a rural area, isn’t it? Still, it’s a border region, so imperial knights must be stationed there, right?”
“Imperial knights are mostly stationed in the Hayron territory. They rotate every few months for training duty.”
Ruin nodded.
“The Louis territory really is small.”
“But it seems safe, so that’s good.”
Ruin and Bessie looked relieved.
“Wait, you’ve never once come to watch knight training while working? Unbelievable! Ireina, you can’t just work all the time—you have to enjoy life!”
“Ruin! Shh!”
Ruin raised her voice dramatically, and Bessie quickly pulled her down. The knights’ gaze swept coldly over the bushes.
“…That was close.”
“We came today because we heard the young master would be here—we can’t get caught.”
They held their breath and peeked out again as training resumed.
“As expected, they’re much more serious today.”
“They like to act proper even though they secretly enjoy being watched.”
“Does the young master come here often?”
“Not really. He mostly trains alone now.”
Ruin explained that ever since he became a Sword Master, he mostly trained individually.
Meaning today might be the only chance to see his swordsmanship.
