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Chapter 21
“Uwaaah! I finished running!”
“Yes, it took exactly 32 minutes. Including rest time, it’s 57 minutes.”
Finn said this while looking at the watch he took out from his pocket. I pouted my lips in annoyance at him for pointing out the exact time.
But he didn’t care about my complaint and continued talking.
“We will do this physical training every day from now on.”
“Eh…?”
Did I hear that wrong?
“Every day…?”
“Of course.”
“Do we really have to do this every day?”
“Yes. Depending on the situation, we might even add an extra lap.”
“Haa…”
I couldn’t hold back and let out a heavy sigh. Finn sat down beside me, bending one knee.
“It might be hard for you now, but it will help you a lot later. So please endure a little, young lady.”
His words sounded kind if you listened briefly, but in this situation, they didn’t feel gentle at all.
“I’m only five years old! And you want me to do such a huge place three times?!”
I complained with difficulty, and my pronunciation slipped. But right now, I didn’t care about that.
I really felt like I was going to die.
Every time I breathed in, it felt like a rubber band was squeezing from my throat to my lungs. Every time I breathed out, my stomach stung. In short, I couldn’t even breathe normally.
“I used to climb up and down mountains twice a day since I was five…”
“…Mountains?”
I asked Finn with blank eyes. He shrugged.
“Yes… um… and I’m not sure if I should say this, but the Duke also came with me back then. Ah, the Duke was six years old, one year older than you.”
“Uuuh?”
“There were good hunting targets on that mountain. So we ran around the mountain almost every day.”
“Hunting…?”
Hunting? At five years old? Just five?
I opened my mouth in disbelief.
“L-Lie!”
“It’s not a lie.”
I stared at Finn to check if he was serious. He looked straight at me with a calm smile, showing he was really telling the truth.
“…Do you mean hunting bugs or something?”
“Eh? Bugs? Ah, bugs… no, not really.”
Finn’s face suddenly changed. He looked very embarrassed, and one side of his eye twitched.
Huh. Is Finn afraid of bugs?
“Haha, would you like to come too, young lady? Then we can go together next time. It’s not very far from here.”
“No.”
I answered firmly, and Finn chuckled quietly.
“Oh, right, young lady. Can we start training early tomorrow morning?”
“Huh? Why?”
“I have errands to run in the afternoon that the Duke asked me to do.”
“Then why don’t we just rest tomorrow?”
“…”
Finn just smiled brightly without answering. That seemed like an answer itself, so I didn’t argue further.
“Then what time will we start?”
“Um… around 8 o’clock.”
“Huuuh…”
I barely held back a scream.
For me, who barely wakes up at 10 in the morning, this was torture.
“That’s too early! I can’t wake up then!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll wake you up.”
No, waking me up isn’t the problem!
I sent Finn a desperate look, but…
“Then I’ll come to your room at 7:30 tomorrow morning.”
Of course, my pleading didn’t work. Finn left the training ground first.
“Haah… I’m doomed.”
I muttered this and flopped back down.
The clouds in the bright blue sky looked farther away than usual.
I finally left the training ground much later.
“Now, let’s do the left leg. One, two, three!”
“Aaahhh!”
“Again. One, two, three!”
“Aaahhh!”
I was screaming in pain.
Every spot Ellie’s hands touched caused terrible pain.
I couldn’t stand it anymore and kept hitting the bed and twisting my body.
“Eh, Ellie! I want to stop now!”
“No, young lady. You have to stretch properly, or it will hurt tomorrow. And to grow taller… like this!”
“Ouch! It hurts!”
But Ellie was firm. She massaged and stretched my whole body like a professional.
“Ugh… Finn is really too much. Making the young lady work so hard…”
I kept quiet at Ellie’s complaint about Finn.
It actually felt a little relieving…
Ellie finished stretching my arms last and ended the scary massage.
Could a five-year-old even feel this much pain?
I still felt sore as I lay on the sofa. Then Ellie’s curious voice reached me.
“By the way, young lady.”
“Hmm?”
“Will you keep the squirrel?”
“….”
I naturally turned my head toward her words.
The squirrel was lying sprawled out.
Its round belly went up and down. It looked so relaxed that I couldn’t help thinking it was lucky.
“It didn’t touch the nuts earlier, but it ate a lot of cookies from your snack basket. It was so fast, I couldn’t stop it. I wonder if it’s okay for squirrels to eat cookies…”
“Ah, it’s fine.”
It looks like a squirrel, but… Pepe is fine.
I watched Pepe with blank eyes.
He was sleeping soundly on a soft purple cushion.
“Did you put that cushion there, Ellie?”
“No? He went up there by himself. Animals seem to know where they feel comfortable.”
“….”
“But you will keep this squirrel, right?”
“Hmm….”
He came with me on his own, but… I’ll keep him nearby in case he can help me later.
“Yes, for now….”
“Really? You already have a friend so quickly!”
“….”
I gave an awkward smile at Ellie’s cheerful comment.
Could I really call a squirrel my friend, knowing how strange and mischievous he is?
Still, I couldn’t just leave Pepe alone while knowing his secret.
“Yeah, that’s right. His name is Pepe.”
I’ll just take care of him.
“Oh, Pepe? Did you name him yourself, young lady?”
“No, well… I just felt like that’s what he’d be called.”
“Wow… You understood each other at first sight?”
“Y-Yes, probably.”
Ellie always asks too many questions. It’s hard to answer sometimes.
Even if I told Ellie the truth, she probably wouldn’t believe it and would just look at him like he’s cute. I didn’t need that.
Oh, right…
“Ellie, is there anyone among the servants who lives with a child?”
“No? No one. Children can’t stay in our mansion.”
“Eh? Why?”
“Well… um…”
Ellie looked at me carefully, like she was deciding whether she could tell me.
She sighed and spoke cautiously.
“The Duke doesn’t like children…”
“Eh?”
“Ah, no! But you’re different because you’re the Duke’s daughter!”
“Ah…”
“Really! I promise!”
I already knew the Duke didn’t like children much.
If he liked kids, he wouldn’t have treated me the way he did.
Then who was that child before? I nodded while thinking. Ellie’s face turned pale.
“I mean, that was before you came. Now it’s different! Even before, he didn’t hate them, just found it difficult… Anyway, you’re different.”
I didn’t care much whether the Duke liked children, but Ellie seemed to think I was hurt and worried.
