Chapter 42
Chirp, chirp, chirp—
Before the sun had fully risen, the gentle sound of sparrows woke me up. Against my will.
“I’m so sleepy…”
“Master said to come quickly.”
Thanks to the aftermath of yesterday’s events, I couldn’t open my eyes easily and had been tossing and turning in bed with Rita for ten minutes now.
Why is Dad calling me at this hour of the morning?
“Why? Did something happen?”
“I’m not sure, miss.”
Rita coaxed and fussed over me until I finally managed to sit up in bed.
I got myself ready, though half-asleep, and it was time to get dressed. But then I noticed something strange — the clothes Rita brought me weren’t what I usually wore. She said she didn’t know what was going on, but now I was suspicious.
It wasn’t a dress. It was a dark navy training uniform made of a stretchy, comfortable material.
Hmm… she helped me put it on, so I wore it, but still, this feels like…
“Don’t tell me…”
“Shall we go?”
Before I could even ask, Rita took my hand and led me out of the room.
We ended up on the top floor of the mansion. I’d never been here before, so it was fascinating. I thought I’d explored most of the place, but apparently not.
“Where are we?”
“You’ll find out when you go in.”
There was a teasing lilt to Rita’s voice. What was she so happy about?
After walking through a long corridor, we arrived at a red velvet-coated iron door. Rita lightly pushed it open—
And I was greeted by a vast space and the sharp sound of blades clashing violently against each other.
“…What is this place?”
“It’s the indoor training hall.”
The hall’s domed, semi-transparent ceiling made it look even larger than it was. Inside, the family’s knights were everywhere.
At this point, I still didn’t realize why I’d been brought here. I’d only just woken up, and the unfamiliar sight made me feel like I was dreaming.
Rita definitely lied about not knowing anything.
“Senika.”
The moment I heard Hale’s voice, it was like waking from a dream.
Ah, right. Today’s the day I start swordsmanship lessons.
I did say I wanted to learn, but now that it’s actually happening… I’m regretting it.
“Catch.”
I took the wooden sword he tossed me with an uneasy look. I knew that sword training always began with a wooden blade—
Because for a beginner, nothing’s more dangerous than a real one.
“I’ll make sure you graduate from the wooden sword within a week.”
That meant he planned to teach me to handle it like a real sword — in one week.
I knew what that meant; I’d learned a bit in my previous life, though I hadn’t even finished wooden sword practice because my brother caught me.
After Rita double-checked the ribbon tying my hair up high so it wouldn’t come loose, the lesson began.
“Haah!”
A while later, I threw the wooden sword and flopped to the ground. I can’t do this anymore! I’m done!
My arms and legs were shaking, my throat tasted of blood, and sweat poured down like rain. I was absolutely miserable.
“I overestimated my daughter’s stamina. Didn’t think you’d collapse before an hour.”
Excuse me, but since I was born, I’ve never once exercised. Isn’t it obvious I’d have no stamina?!
“Dad, I’m tired…”
“Break’s only ten minutes.”
“What? Make it thirty!”
“No.”
So when he said he wouldn’t go easy on me, he meant it.
If only I had a hired instructor instead of my dad teaching me… No, no, bad thought. I can’t start abusing power already.
“Huu…”
I exhaled heavily. I just wanted to go back to my room, take a shower, and collapse into bed. Of course, he wouldn’t let me.
Ah! Maybe I can use breakfast as an excuse to stop? He’d probably say we’ll continue after eating, but I can just sneak away!
“Dad.”
“No.”
“I’m hungry.”
“You’re not done yet.”
“They say kids need to eat on time to grow!”
No one had ever said that — I just made it up on the spot. But hey, it wasn’t wrong.
Thankfully, my reasoning seemed to work. Hale paused, thought about it, and nodded.
“Alright.”
“Yes! So now we can—”
“You can eat breakfast after a hundred downward strikes.”
…Huh? What did he just say?
“It’ll all become your blood and flesh, my dear.”
Then, kindly as ever, he helped me up and placed the wooden sword back into my hand.
“Begin.”
I don’t think ten minutes had even passed since the last break, but the grueling training started again. I was too exhausted to even cry.
Hale counted aloud as I repeated the movements. But at some point, I realized I couldn’t hear his voice anymore.
I turned my eyes slightly to the left — and froze.
“Hmm…?”
Hale was sitting against the wall, asleep.
I stopped mid-swing and quietly tiptoed over to crouch in front of him.
Is he really asleep? Just like that?
Sure, this was his mansion and there were plenty of knights around to guard him, but still — how can someone sleep through this noise?
Unbelievable. He even tilted his head like he was really resting. Maybe after dropping me off yesterday, Theo scolded him again?
Still… even looking tired, he was so handsome. Hard to believe this man was my father.
Honestly, I never liked long-haired men before, but after meeting Hale, that completely changed.
Maybe I just disliked long hair on ugly people.
Anyway, I’d seen his face up close before, but never like this — so calm, so defenseless.
I finally had the chance to admire every detail: long lashes, smooth porcelain skin…
They say handsome people have high standards — so what did that ‘Eryllin’ he mentioned look like, I wonder?
“Having fun?”
“Wah!”
I was so lost in thought that I yelped and fell backward when a sudden voice startled me.
The eyes that had been closed a moment ago were now open, light blue and gleaming.
“Wh-when did you wake up?”
“Around your thirty-eighth downward strike?”
What?! So he wasn’t actually asleep? He’d been watching me this whole time?
So he pretended to sleep just to mess with me. I felt a bit betrayed.
But Hale didn’t seem to care. He stood, reached his hand toward me, and said:
“Senika, shall we go eat now?”
At the words I’d been waiting for, a smile instantly spread across my face.
Well… I guess it’s fine for a dad to tease his daughter a little.
“Yeah!”
I grabbed his hand, stood up, and left the training hall with him.
The next day, when Hale came to get me for sword practice, he took one look at my condition and told me to rest instead before heading back.
The reason?
“Ahh! That hurts!”
“If I press here, the pain will ease up by tomorrow, miss.”
Muscle pain. The sword training yesterday had pushed my body too far, and now I was suffering from severe soreness. That’s why Hale had given up easily today.
Right now, I was lying comfortably on my soft bed, getting a so-called ‘pain-relieving massage’ from Angela, the family’s physician that Rita had called.
But seriously… was this really supposed to make me feel better? Because it hurt even more.
“Is it supposed to hurt this much?”
“It’s because your muscles are very tense right now.”
I didn’t care about ‘muscle tension’ — I just wanted her to be gentler!
But I knew Angela well enough to know she’d insist it had to be done this way, so I just groaned and endured it.
“You’ve really grown a lot, miss.”
“Right? How long until I become an adult? I want to grow up faster!”
I hated how many restrictions I had just because I was still a child.
Of course, they only did it to protect me from danger, but for someone who only looked like a child, it was suffocating.
So I was just whining — but Angela seemed to take it seriously, pausing to think.
“Personally, I don’t think becoming an adult has many good points.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because adults are always buried in work.”
“Ah…”
That was… unexpectedly realistic.
Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing to learn about reality early, but still — I decided to play dumb and change the topic.
“So when will I become an adult? Hmm?”
“Well…”
Angela stopped massaging and gave me a thoughtful once-over.
“You look about… ten or eleven in human years right now.”
Here, adulthood came around the equivalent of twenty human years.
So I still had a long way to go.
“I’d say… maybe a month and a half? You should reach maturity by then.”
“Other family heirs probably grow faster than me, right?”
“I heard a rumor that one of them is already nearing maturity.”
That had to be Jayus. He’d been the fastest to grow when I saw him at the palace.
What was he eating to grow so fast?
I wanted to whine that I wanted to grow like that too, but Angela didn’t seem like the type who’d indulge me, so I stopped myself.
Even after just a short time, I could tell she was precise, factual, and professional — very objective.
“Reaching maturity is a wonderful thing, but the process isn’t all pleasant.”
“Why not?”
“Because the growing pains before it are… quite severe.”
“How severe?”
“Hmm…”
Angela paused before speaking again.
“From my own experience…”
“Yes?”
My eyes sparkled. A firsthand account!
“So painful you might beg to die.”
Her story was enough to scare the life out of me.
I stiffened and turned toward her. I’d expected her to be joking — but her expression was completely blank. I couldn’t tell if she was serious.
“How could you say something so scary?”
Just then, a familiar voice called out from nearby.
