BTTD 11

Chapter 11

A rough stone the size of half a building pillar was brought in on a cart. The white, opaque mineral looked as if a massive block of ice had been frozen solid.

‘If they had to use a horse and cart, it must weigh a ton.’

I glared at Valentin with a fed-up expression.

Judging by the way the corners of his lips curved up so refreshingly, he seemed to be enjoying this situation immensely.

“Isn’t that Millihariten?”

“No way.”

“You really went all out.”

The knights were more excited than I was, the person actually involved.

‘Don’t you all have training to do?’

Until now they’d at least tried to sneak glances, but now they were openly staring.

‘What’s Millihariten? Why is everyone reacting like this?’

Fortunately, Neumann kindly explained first.

“Millihariten is a mineral found only in extremely cold regions. Its strength is incomparable even to Nicetra. It’s used to forge unbreakable swords, which is why it’s known among knights as the mineral of dreams.”

A mineral of dreams.

What had looked like nothing more than a giant ice chunk suddenly seemed to gleam with brilliance.

“There are very few who can refine it, so only a handful of swords made from Millihariten exist.”

Neumann added that they had brought it in as one solid mass because it was so difficult to break apart.

‘So the thing in front of me is basically the strongest mineral in existence.’

I didn’t particularly want to attract attention by cleanly defeating the strongest of the strong—but this time, a whole tin of Reynol cookies was at stake.

I couldn’t give up.

I scanned the Millihariten in front of me and clenched my fist.

When I glanced at Valentin, he mischievously shook the tin of Reynol cookies.

‘Don’t shake it. They’ll break!’

In my urgency, a low growl slipped out on its own.

My hesitation had long since vanished. I just needed to finish this smashing show quickly and secure the cookies.

After retreating to the edge of the training grounds for a running start, I took a deep breath and charged toward the massive mineral.

As the wind brushed past my ears, I focused all my strength into my arms and thighs.

Bang!!!!

My fist collided with the mineral. A tremendous shockwave stirred the air.

But that was all.

Millihariten remained in place, dignified and unchanged.

“Ow…”

Only my hand suffered for it.

At the same time, my pride—which I’d thought would remain intact—took a hit too.

‘You’re the first mineral to stay unscathed in front of me. And in front of everyone, no less!’

It was true that I’d been holding back a little all this time so I wouldn’t seem like a ferocious beast. But now that things had turned out like this, my pride was stung.

‘I really did my best.’

Dejected, I silently rubbed my aching hand.

“As expected, Millihariten is incredible.”

“With a Millihariten sword, you could at least save your life against a monster.”

Amid the murmurs of admiration, I trudged toward Valentin.

I lowered the corners of my eyes as much as possible and let my ears droop so low they nearly blended into my face.

“Your Grace…”

Give me the cookies. You showed them to me—don’t take them back unfairly.

‘How will Valentin react to my first failure?’

Half curious, half afraid, I raised my gaze from where it had been fixed at his feet. Valentin still hadn’t taken his eyes off the Millihariten.

‘Is he shocked that I couldn’t break it? No—wasn’t he expecting me to fail? It’s supposed to make unbreakable swords, after all.’

As I grumbled inwardly, I heard a faint crackling sound by my ear.

It was so subtle that no one else seemed to notice—but a beast’s keen hearing didn’t miss it.

‘Crack?’

What was that ominous sound?

The sharp noise, like a needle scraping against an eardrum, gradually grew loud enough for everyone to hear.

I stiffly turned my head, like a rusted suit of armor in need of oil.

‘No way…’

The Millihariten, which had seemed so solid, began to crack from within.

The fractures spread densely like a spiderweb, and only stopped once they reached the surface.

As everyone stared blankly with mouths agape, Valentin was the first to break the silence.

“You succeeded.”

I whipped my head around and locked eyes with the little puppy perched atop the tin case, his black eyes sparkling with a smile.

“Well done.”

Even though I’d wanted those Reynol cookies so badly, I couldn’t immediately snatch them up.

I wasn’t sure whether to marvel at Millihariten for not crumbling despite the immense impact—or to be stunned by my own monstrous strength for cracking it.

‘Am I the only one confused? Did that really just happen?’

Looking around, I saw George Teller staring with his eyes wide.

When our gazes met, his face went pale, and I worried I might have just widened the distance between us even further.

Only Valentin—who personally placed the adorable tin case into my arms, asking why I wasn’t taking it—looked completely carefree.

After witnessing firsthand the force with which I cracked the Millihariten, Devon simply said,

“Once you learn to control your strength, you’ll be perfect.”

Then he walked past me.

He handed me a bundle of eggs—where he’d even gotten them, I had no idea.

“They’re raw, right?”

I shook one. I rubbed it.

The moment I realized Devon’s intention—that I was supposed to practice strength control using raw eggs—

Crunch.

Egg white and yolk streamed down through the crushed shell.

“Tissues!!”

Determined not to dirty the expensive-looking sofa and rug, I yanked tissues out at lightning speed.

It was far more than necessary for a single egg, but that was better than committing an irreversible mistake.

I had no desire to deal with Valentin suddenly barging into my room and giving me that look that said, “This is truly filthy, but I’ll overlook it since you’re a beast.”

‘You’re just unusually neat!’

By now I was so irritated that I wanted to beat Valentin at something—anything.

As I wiped the sticky liquid off my hands, I recalled the sparring match I’d had with him.

‘I thought I’d at least win a spar.’

No matter that Valentin was the protagonist—I was stronger.

Ridiculously stronger.

Honestly, when it came to raw strength, I was confident no knight in the order could beat me.

‘Is this what you call an innate blessing passed down by superior genes?’

I’d even indulged in a little self-praise.

So when I ended up sparring with Valentin unexpectedly, I was confident.

I even had the leisure to worry about him.

‘What if I can’t control my strength and end up injuring you, Your Grace? Really—if you’re careless, forget bones, you might lose an arm!’

I wasn’t joking. Did anyone know how many pieces of furniture had met their end because of me? I’d even unintentionally injured passing knights from time to time.

But no one listened to my heartfelt plea.

“We’ll assume this is real combat. The moment one party becomes unable to fight, we end it.”

Devon ignored me as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He even shot me a sharp look, telling me to step forward.

Did he not like that I was making His Grace wait? Hmph.

Muttering that it wouldn’t be my fault if Valentin got hurt, I shuffled toward the center where he was waiting.

But the moment Valentin slightly lifted one corner of his lips and drew the sword at his waist, I changed my mind.

The blade, gleaming in the sunlight, looked chillingly sharp. And Valentin holding it… he looked a little insane.

It might have been better if he hadn’t been smiling so prettily.

‘This is going to be okay… right?’

Unfortunately, my bad feelings were never wrong.

The instant the signal to start was given, Valentin kicked me down in a flash.

‘Gah!’

By the time his sword whistled past my ear with the sound of wind and embedded itself into the ground, I hadn’t managed a single proper movement.

If this had been real combat, I’d already have died on Valentin’s blade.

He’d driven it down with such speed and force that the sword vibrated after piercing the floor.

The thought that I might have just lost my life made my body tremble uncontrollably.

Still straddling me, Valentin looked down and folded the corners of his eyes in a pretty smile.

With the sun at his back, his warmly smiling face looked like that of a reaper. Goosebumps rose all over my body.

‘I—I’m dead… I died…’

I begged him to get off me, but instead he leaned in with a dangerously captivating expression until our noses touched.

“Strength you cannot use is nothing but pearls on a pig.”

I could only blink as I watched his green eyes slowly draw away.

Valentin lightly tapped my cheek.

“Let’s do better.”

After those short, intense words, he rose gracefully to his feet.

I lay there on the ground until his figure, glowing beautifully in the sunlight, disappeared from the training grounds.

That jerk…

Around that time, Devon—having taken Valentin’s words as criticism of himself—began tormenting me with all kinds of training.

Until then, I’d thought strength was everything, but it was true that some degree of skill was necessary.

‘There might be situations where strength alone won’t solve things.’

Shaking the round bundle of raw eggs, I pulled myself out of the memory.

Come to think of it, lately it felt like Valentin was starting to make serious use of me.

“Was he never planning to turn me human in the first place? Is he just going to kiss me without feelings and call it done?”

But that was something I’d already anticipated.

If I returned to being human, I’d lose a beast’s strength. Of course Valentin would want me to remain a beast.

‘I won’t let that happen.’

I steeled my resolve.

No matter what, I’d show Valentin the impressive side he wanted and make him fall for me. Not as a brute who relies on force—but as someone elegant, who knows how to control herself.

Despite my burning motivation, every raw egg I so much as touched shattered.

Knock knock.

By the time I’d broken the last egg, someone knocked on the door.

‘Who is it? Valentin?’

I wiped my hands clean of the soggy egg remnants with tissues.

But the person waiting beyond the door was not who I expected.