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.CHAPTER 07.
“Hahaha! This is amazing! Amazing! It stretches so much!”
It almost felt like I could hear phantom voices.
It reminded me of the ridiculous warning that had been given to the servants.
“Only I’m allowed to pull Seila’s cheeks.”
“I’m the only one who’s allowed to bully her!”
They weren’t particularly pleasant memories.
In any case, aside from Garen, not a single person had ever tried to pinch Seila’s cheeks.
…Though I kind of understand the temptation.
Even Seila herself had never seen skin this soft, springy, moist, and smooth—like polished porcelain.
“W-Well… Miss, your skin is so soft and squishy, like freshly kneaded dough. It looks like if I pinched it, it’d stretch forever. It feels so fluffy and silky that just touching it would make anyone happy… Ah! I’m sorry.”
Seila found Mary’s endless chatter rather adorable.
It was like looking at a young niece she’d never actually had.
After rambling excitedly for a while, Mary suddenly came to her senses.
“I-I’m sorry! I should behave more properly… I keep making mistakes. I just like you so much, Miss. You’re the only one who’s ever spoken kindly to me, and it makes my heart race. I got too excited… Anyway! I’ll show you back to your room. Is there anything else you need?”
Seila smiled warmly.
“I’m thirsty. Bring me some watermelon juice.”
“Of course! I’ll remove every single seed and blend it until it’s perfectly smooth. Leave it to me!”
Mary answered energetically with a bright smile.
Watching Seila walk back toward her room, Mary clasped her hands together and bit her upper lip.
She was so cool.
To Mary, Seila already seemed larger than life.
A deep sense of pride blossomed inside her.
“You know… the young lady I serve is Miss Seila.”
There was no one around to hear her.
But she proudly declared it anyway.
* * *
For the first time, Teikan questioned the family head’s orders.
“Why must I teach the young lady?”
“I’m asking you as a favor.”
When Dephelto phrased it as a request rather than a command, Teikan eventually nodded.
So Miss Seila was the one who proposed this first…
How lightly must someone regard the sword to make such an outrageous proposal?
She couldn’t master magic, so she’d simply learn swordsmanship instead?
And not only that—she intended to graduate at the top of the Swordsmanship Class at Somarfi Academy and restore Devernon’s honor?
Ridiculous.
He himself had been hailed as a swordsmanship prodigy since childhood.
Among those his own age, he had been virtually unmatched.
Yet even he had fallen short of the descendants of the Queiback Family, the cradle of swordsmanship.
She thinks she can surpass Queiback’s bloodline?
Coming from a noble young lady who had never trained her body even once, it was nothing more than childish arrogance.
To Teikan, her words insulted every swordsman on the continent.
“I won’t go easy on her.”
“I leave her education entirely in your hands.”
“The young lady may collapse. She may even be seriously injured.”
“I won’t interfere.”
“Very well.”
With a stern expression, Teikan headed to Seila’s room.
“I don’t teach swordsmanship to just anyone. Not even if it’s the family head’s order.”
“I understand.”
“And I won’t remain ‘just anyone.'”
Seila rose gracefully from her seat.
As though she’d known he was coming, she had already changed into the practical clothes knights wore while training.
“And before anything else…”
“I owe you an apology.”
“For what?”
“The words I spoke to Lord Dephelto… depending on how they’re interpreted, they could be taken as insulting every swordsman on the continent.”
“…”
Teikan narrowed his eyes.
She felt completely different from before.
The timid girl who used to stumble through apologies was nowhere to be seen.
“I never intended that.”
“At that moment… I had nothing else to offer His Lordship. That was the only bargaining chip I possessed.”
Once again, Seila was astonished by the body’s natural elegance.
What I actually meant was:
“No, seriously. I didn’t mean it like that. I just had literally nothing else to bargain with. Please cut me some slack, okay?”
Yet somehow…
Her body had translated those thoughts into something refined and dignified.
She couldn’t help admiring its miraculous ability to turn her blunt thoughts into noble speech.
Even when she giggled inwardly, her body merely smiled with aristocratic grace.
She felt like she should have grown used to it by now.
But every time, it was fresh and strangely thrilling.
“I understand.”
Without showing much reaction, Teikan continued.
“First, we’ll conduct a basic assessment.”
He understood Seila’s intentions.
That didn’t mean he intended to teach her gently.
She would first have to meet his standards for what a thirteen-year-old swordsman should be capable of.
The young lady has never trained her body.
He believed she needed to learn just how grueling the path of the sword truly was.
“The foundation of swordsmanship is the body… and stamina.”
At higher levels, swordsmen learned to wield mana, transforming themselves into warriors on an entirely different level.
Even so…
Everything began with physical strength.
“We’ll see whether you’re truly fit to walk the path of the sword.”
He deliberately made the test merciless.
“This is called a push-up.”
It was a strange movement that most noble children had probably never seen.
But to Seila—who had once lived on modern Earth—it was completely familiar.
“This is called a burpee.”
The movements themselves weren’t difficult.
After all…
She had once bought a one-year gym membership.
…And attended for a grand total of two weeks.
This much should be easy…
At least, that’s what she’d thought.
“Begin.”
Time passed.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
Thirty.
One hour.
Two hours.
Her breathing became ragged.
“This exercise consists of repeatedly sitting and standing. Though simple in appearance, it improves balance while strengthening the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings—”
Seila screamed internally.
No matter how loudly she screamed inside her head, her elegant body merely frowned slightly and wiped the sweat from her forehead with graceful composure.
Watching her, Teikan found himself growing increasingly confused.
Strange…
She should have collapsed by now.
Her face had turned ghostly white.
Her entire body trembled violently.
She had long since exceeded her physical limits.
Only sheer willpower kept her moving.
She’s a noble lady who’s never undergone serious training.
Then how…?
He’d expected her to collapse within two hours.
He’d expected her to beg him to stop.
Or curse him with every insult she knew.
Almost every student he’d trained had done exactly that.
Is this even possible?
She looked ready to fall at any second.
Yet somehow…
She continued performing each exercise.
Sweat dripped steadily from the ends of her glossy hair.
I’m never going to die.
I’m going to survive long enough to see the ending.
More than anyone else, Seila understood that she was the sort of character who could die at any moment.
That knowledge gave her an overwhelming determination to live.
It was that determination alone that kept her going.
I… I’m getting dizzy…
The sky seemed to spin.
I have to endure this.
If she couldn’t survive something this small…
There was no way she’d overcome the trials awaiting her later.
Compared to what was coming…
This was one of the easy ones.
I have to…
Suddenly—
Riiiiing.
A shrill ringing filled her ears.
Huh?
The world, already spinning, suddenly went black.
She couldn’t see anything.
Goosebumps raced down her spine.
A strange sensation overtook her.
Don’t tell me…!
The “constant threat of death” she’d only ever read about in the novel suddenly became terrifyingly real.
So this is what it feels like…
Now that she’d experienced it once…
She understood.
Death is coming.
After that…
She remembered nothing.
* * *
Teikan hoisted Seila onto his back and sprinted into the hallway.
Without hesitation, he jumped straight from the third floor to the first.
“Frix!”
Frix was the physician permanently stationed at the Devernon estate.
He had treated Teikan countless times on the battlefield, and that connection had eventually brought him into the Devernon family’s service.
He was also one of the few people in the mansion who could openly scold Teikan.
“What happened?”
“Please examine her!”
“What in the world did you do?”
Groaning as he worked, Frix carefully examined Seila.
“Teikan! Why are you standing there? Massage her arms and legs! Hurry!”
While shouting instructions, Frix hurriedly mixed ingredients together and brewed a recovery potion.
Only much later did he finally wipe the sweat from his forehead and sigh deeply.
“What exactly did you do to the young lady?”
“I merely taught her the fundamentals of swordsmanship.”
“One minute later and she’d have been in real danger. Do you remember me telling you that one day you’d end up killing someone?”
Frix collapsed into a chair, breathing heavily.
“But in the end, I’ve never actually killed anyone.”
“That’s because normal people quit before they die! Just how far did you push her? Were you seriously trying to kill the young lady?”
Frix spent quite some time lecturing him.
“Even back on the battlefield, I kept telling you—”
“Can we stop talking about something that happened twenty years ago?”
“It’s been twenty years, yet you still haven’t learned!”
“If I lived exactly the way physicians wanted, what could I do besides breathe?”
“You brat! Just because you’ve gotten older doesn’t mean you can keep talking back!”
“This is the 798th time you’ve given me the exact same lecture.”
“Huh… fewer than I expected!”
Clicking his tongue, Frix continued.
“Do you know something?”
“What?”
“The young lady hasn’t needed medical treatment even once in the past ten years. Yet after spending a single day with you, she ended up like this. That means your actions amounted to attempted murder! You murderer!”
Apparently deciding he’d had enough of the lecture, Teikan fell silent.
He gazed at Seila’s pale face.
“She hasn’t needed treatment even once in ten years…”
Is that really possible?
Was she truly that healthy?
Or…
Had she simply endured every injury and illness without telling anyone?
It’s none of my concern.
…And yet.
For some reason…
He couldn’t stop thinking about it.
