🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 1
Have you ever experienced your whole world turning upside down?
A few years ago, Olivia would have answered that question with a simple, “Nothing like that has ever happened to me.”
But things were different now.
“Olive, stop joking. You know I hate things like this.”
Olivia, once an ordinary noble lady, had gone through three turbulent years after her fiancé left her and was now growing into a rather suspiciously accomplished knight.
In truth, Olivia felt quite grateful toward the man standing before her.
After all, he was the one who had turned her world upside down.
…Even if he had already ruined her date about four times.
“I’m not joking. I’m serious.”
Completely serious.
Olivia was genuinely enjoying herself with all her heart.
At least, she had been before this man interrupted.
Her sharp gaze landed on the man who had completely shattered the pleasant atmosphere without seeming to realize he had done anything wrong.
“My date today is Sir Eugene, not you, Brother. Why do you keep trying to ruin it?”
“…What?”
The man staring blankly at her in disbelief was Aiden Oblivion.
He was the vice-captain of the knight order Olivia belonged to and the best friend of her older brother, Cesare.
He had once been Olivia’s fiancé as well…
But that was all in the past.
“Vice-Captain, don’t you think you’re being a little too meddlesome?”
“Captain, have you completely lost your mind? How could you bring such a young girl—”
“Brother—no, Senior.”
Suppressing a sigh, Olivia called out to Aiden.
“Are you jealous, perhaps?”
“What?”
“The way you’re acting, it really looks like jealousy.”
“What nonsense!”
Unlike Aiden, whose face turned pale, Olivia’s expression brightened.
Her green eyes curved gently, and a dimple appeared in one cheek.
Seeing her smile up close, Aiden’s ears turned red as though dyed with flower petals.
“I’m just worried, Olive. You’re still young, and I’m your brother’s friend. I have a duty to protect—”
“No, you don’t.”
“You’re no longer my fiancé, and I became an adult several months ago. I’m old enough to choose my own dates.”
So disappear already.
Olivia glared at him with that thought written all over her face.
“If it’s not jealousy, then trust my judgment and leave. But if it is jealousy—”
“…If it is?”
“Keep it buried.”
“Because it’s already too late.”
Olivia had once loved Aiden.
In truth, she still loved him.
But she had no intention of accepting the feelings of an idiot who still hadn’t even realized his own emotions and merely threw childish tantrums.
How long had she waited for the day she could throw those words back at him?
Olivia slipped her arm through the arm of Eugene, Captain of the Lux Knights, and smiled brightly.
“Didn’t you once say that a friend’s little sister isn’t a woman?”
* * *
Founded alongside the Laurencia Empire itself, the prestigious Veritas Academy had produced countless outstanding knights.
Normally, the training grounds of Veritas Academy would be filled with the spirited shouts of students sparring.
Yet today—
“Again?”
“She’s insane. Three hours already.”
“If you ask me, she’s the craziest person here.”
“You only figured that out now?”
Instead of battle cries, the arena echoed with the voices of students.
Because all of their attention had been stolen by one person.
Clang! Clang!
Brown hair tied high whipped wildly in the air.
A woman wielding several daggers charged toward a greatsword as large as a human body.
To anyone else, the outcome should have been obvious.
Yet no one dared predict the winner.
There was one lesson everyone had learned after spending three years with Olivia.
Never judge Olivia Kishiar lightly.
The seemingly slender woman, who looked as though a gust of wind might knock her over, was Olivia Kishiar.
Three years ago, she had transferred into the Knight Department.
Since then, she had crushed students who had trained far longer than she had and risen to the top of her class.
Considering that the former Olivia had been an ordinary noble lady with not even a shred of martial ability, it was utterly unbelievable.
Whoosh!
Their weapons rushed toward each other.
BOOM!
A deafening crash echoed.
At the same moment, the battle that had seemed destined to continue came to an end.
Olivia elegantly avoided the descending greatsword with movements as graceful as a cat.
Her opponent visibly panicked after missing.
Not missing the opportunity, Olivia stepped onto the broad blade embedded in the ground and launched herself upward.
Everyone watching had the same thought.
It was as though gravity worked differently around Olivia.
Lightly leaping over the man, she landed behind him and kicked the back of his knees, sending him sprawling.
Her dagger gleamed menacingly in the sunlight.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
“Enough. The winner is Miss Olivia Kishiar. Well fought, both of you.”
“Thank you, Professor. Bennett, that was a good match.”
“…Likewise. I learned a lot.”
Smiling sweetly, Olivia took out a handkerchief and dabbed away her sweat.
Moments ago, she had looked ready to tear everything apart.
Now she looked like the perfect noble lady.
The handkerchief, carefully ironed and unlike anything a knight would use, was the kind carried by aristocratic young ladies.
After neatly folding it and placing it back in her pocket, Olivia turned gracefully and disappeared into the building.
The sun was setting.
The sparring session, which had begun at noon, was finally over.
Bennett remained rigid until she vanished completely.
Then he collapsed to the ground.
“Bennett! Are you okay? How did you end up being today’s opponent?”
“Which bastard said Olivia wasn’t coming to the training grounds this afternoon? Confess immediately.”
“Is that really important right now? You should’ve been more careful around this time of year. Practical training starts soon.”
“It was you, wasn’t it? I knew it! You sacrificed me to Olivia and escaped! Today either you die or I die! Get over here!”
“AAAAAH! You did the same thing to me last week!”
Chaos erupted across the training grounds.
Bennett’s resentment after serving as Olivia’s sparring partner for three hours was not easily soothed.
Soon, screams filled the evening air.
Olivia Kishiar.
Student of the Knight Department at Veritas Academy.
A mutant noble lady feared by everyone.
She had suddenly appeared and climbed above them all.
And that had already been three years ago.
“By the way, have you heard the rumor?”
“What rumor?”
“About why Olivia transferred.”
Why had that crazy young lady abandoned the noble field of Monster Classification and entered a profession where she beat people up for a living?
Anyone who had sparred with Olivia had wondered about it.
Bennett glanced around and lowered his voice.
“They say she came to catch her runaway fiancé.”
“What?”
“They say he left only a letter breaking off the engagement and ran away to a dispatched knight order. Apparently she’s using us as practice because she plans to kill him when she catches him.”
Good heavens.
Everyone’s faces filled with sympathy.
Olivia was the kind of person who always followed through.
Which meant her fiancé would surely be found dead.
Cause of death…
“What does it feel like to be killed by your fiancée?”
“No idea. I’ve never seen a man killed by his fiancée.”
“Looks like we’re about to.”
And so the students pitied the nameless fiancé of Lady Kishiar.
