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Chapter : 39
Training that had begun early in the morning had already continued into noon. Although the sparring grounds had quieted down due to the lunch break, Istin showed no signs of stopping. It was practically training mania—close to a trance-like obsession.
“Amazing! You’ve already done this 1,000 times! Aren’t you exhausted, young master? Earlier, you even ran ten laps around the training yard…”
A nearby knight watching in amazement commented as Istin continued stabbing a straw training dummy repeatedly with a wooden sword.
“Yesterday, huff, I stabbed it 800 times and ran eight laps. So it’s only right that today, pant, I improve more than yesterday.”
“You’re incredible! I’ll try to adopt your mindset starting today as well!”
Embarrassed by the praise, Istin scratched his cheek. He still had a long way to go if he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.
At any rate, once he finally reached his target number, Istin collapsed onto the ground. He was too exhausted to think. All he could do was catch his breath.
“Haah… haah…”
Just then, Miela came running toward him from a distance.
“Istin! Are you done training for today?”
“Ah, Miela.”
Istin quickly straightened his posture. No matter how tired he was, he wanted to appear his best in front of Miela.
‘Wait, hold on. Did she see me earlier struggling and barely keeping it together?’
Istin gave her a sidelong glance and asked with suspicion.
“I just finished. How long were you watching?”
“Not long! About ten minutes?”
With that reply, Miela came right up to him and naturally looped her arm through his.
“Wait, Miela. I’m really sweaty right now. I might smell—are you okay with that?”
Worried about his state, Istin tried to put some distance between them, but Miela didn’t let go.
“Oh, come on! What are you talking about? Titi, you always smell nice. You do now, too!”
Only then did Istin relax. Miela chuckled softly and added,
“And you know, you stayed by my side even when I was cleaning out that horse stable full of manure. Right?”
“……!”
He hadn’t expected her to remember that. Istin froze for a moment. At the same time, Miela turned her attention to the wooden sword he was holding.
“Wow, it’s a wooden sword!”
“Yeah. But it’s not exactly light. Want to try holding it?”
“Sure!”
Miela happily took the sword. She immediately swung it in the air—whoosh, whoosh!
“Huh? It feels light though?”
She muttered without thinking, then looked over at Istin’s dumbfounded expression.
“…Light?”
It felt light to her now, but not long ago, it had seemed quite heavy to him. Miela’s reaction, so different from his own first experience with the sword, left Istin speechless.
Maybe, just maybe, the one truly suited to the Valruar lineage wasn’t him, but Miela!
“Well, you see, I’ve always been surprisingly strong. It’s all from doing farm work!”
Miela shrugged casually. She still had a lot of questions.
“So you hit that straw dummy with this? Like, bam! Like this?”
“Something like that.”
Even though she was just mimicking the moves, her form wasn’t bad. Miela then shouted cheerfully,
“This is fun! I feel like I’m really focused on myself!”
“…If you’re okay with it, do you want to train together from tomorrow?”
At Istin’s suggestion, Miela beamed and nodded.
“Really? I’d love to!”
She grinned brightly. Then, as if something just occurred to her, she added,
“Oh, but first we need to eat lunch. Come on, let’s go!”
“What? You haven’t eaten yet?”
Istin was quite surprised. He’d been so focused on training he hadn’t even noticed he was hungry—but he had assumed Miela had already eaten.
A glance at the clock showed it was already 30 minutes past their usual lunchtime.
“Mhm! I was waiting so we could eat together after you finished training!”
“…Thank you. For waiting.”
Istin felt deeply touched. He knew just how much Miela valued her meals, so the fact that she had delayed lunch just to eat with him moved him.
“Yup! I peeked in the kitchen earlier and saw they were baking a chocolate cake! That must be dessert, right?”
“That’s your favorite.”
“Hehe, I like any kind of cake!”
Chatting happily, Miela and Istin headed toward the dining room.
Meanwhile, the knight who had been watching them had a confused look on his face.
‘Did I hear that right? Did Lady Miela just call the young master “Titi”?’
Anyone working for House Valruar would know how much Istin hated being called by a nickname.
He had even threatened to punish anyone who called him “Titi.” And yet here he was not only letting Miela call him that—but actually smiling about it?
‘What on earth is going on here…?’
Still, it wasn’t a bad thing. If anything, it meant the two were very close.
* * *
After lunch, Miela took Istin to her room.
“Okay, since it’s the weekend… let’s do embroidery practice together like we promised!”
“Sure, sounds good. I was getting ready to learn anyway.”
Istin pulled several new handkerchiefs from his coat. They were for practice.
“Wow, you’re really prepared! I’ll show you how first, so just watch and follow along slowly.”
“Alright.”
As soon as Istin nodded, Miela expertly threaded the needle. Even that looked impressive. Istin had failed so many times trying to do that, all he could do was sigh and stare at the frayed end of the thread.
“Look, hold it like this so the fabric doesn’t bunch up. And keep the spacing even—it’ll look weird if the stitches are irregular. You can measure or just eyeball it.”
Istin nodded again. Miela’s deft fingers moved back and forth, and letters began appearing like magic on the handkerchief. He watched in awe until something caught his eye.
“Wait, is that… my name?”
“Yep. I haven’t even finished, but you already figured it out?”
Miela giggled softly and whispered,
“I’ve been learning how to read and write lately. I asked the teacher how to write your name—because I wanted to know that before words like ‘mom’ or ‘dad.’”
“……!”
Istin’s heart fluttered. It almost tickled inside his chest.
Trying to act nonchalant, he replied,
“I see. Then I’ll embroider your name on mine.”
“Okay! And when we’re done, let’s swap them!”
Miela’s suggestion made Istin nod without hesitation.
‘To think I’ll get to keep a handkerchief embroidered by Miela…’
What a treasure. He bit his lip to stop himself from smiling too much.
Miela sat beside him, watching as he stitched, occasionally giving advice. His handiwork was still clumsy, but definitely better than before.
As they focused on embroidery, a question suddenly popped into Istin’s mind.
“By the way, Miela—how’s your imperial language class going? Is it difficult?”
“Hm, it’s not easy. But I’m doing my best because I have a goal.”
“A goal?”
“Yeah. I told you before… It’s been my dream to read a novel.”
Just imagining it made her smile with joy. Then she pouted slightly.
“But I only know basic words right now. I can read and write simple conversations, but my teacher said I need to study a lot more before I can read novels fluently.”
“It’s okay. You’re quick at learning things, Miela. I’m sure you’ll get there soon.”
Encouraged by his words, Miela perked up.
“Thanks! I’m actually thinking of going to the library soon.”
“The library?”
“Yeah. I want to try reading some really easy and simple books to start.”
“Oh, that’s… a great idea.”
Istin hesitated for a moment but managed to keep his tone natural. Honestly, he was worried.
‘The library, huh… I doubt there are many simple books Miela could read.’
More than half of the collection consisted of old, inherited volumes from the family. The rest were all dull, academic tomes.
‘I’ll have to speak with the butler. I’ll ask him to bring in some easy children’s books suitable for beginners—and to place them in the front shelves where Miela can easily find them.’
Fortunately, Istin came up with a good solution after a bit of thought.
