Chapter 57
“Did Jaeus stay by my side all night to heal me?”
“Yes.”
“Shushu! How can you say it like that? Someone else could have misunderstood! And of course, nothing inappropriate happened! It’s obvious he came to take care of me!”
I pounded on Joshua’s shoulders with my fists and shouted.
Joshua, who had been getting hit for a while, initially bore it well, but then subtly leaned back, probably because it started to hurt.
I couldn’t understand why he was acting so seriously, even though he must have known there was only one reason Jaeus would come to my room at night.
“You look a bit better now.”
“Huh?”
“Until just now, your expression was really anxious.”
Honestly, I didn’t fully understand why Joshua had that expression, but now he seemed much more at ease.
Ugh, the men in this house are way too cautious around Jaeus. Of course, it’s justified to be cautious, but still.
I didn’t know why Joshua was acting this way even though he knew the reason… I just assumed there must have been things happening between them that I wasn’t aware of.
“Oh, right. The Lady, the White Liquor Festival will be held soon!”
Joshua seemed a bit embarrassed and changed the subject with a sheepish smile.
But… what is the White Liquor Festival? Just hearing the name, it sounded like some kind of celebration.
I tilted my head in confusion, and Joshua explained further.
“It’s a festival hosted by the Baekryong family. It’s held around this time every year.”
“Wow! So people from other territories can come see it?”
“Yes. Everyone comes to watch. Other families also look forward to the White Liquor Festival.”
The festival wasn’t held in the mansion but in the Baekryong family’s territory.
Last time, it had been held only within the mansion, which felt a little unfair to the local residents, so it was nice that it was different this year.
Yes, there should be days like this!
“Can I go see it too?”
“Of course!”
I was overjoyed at being able to do something I couldn’t in my previous life.
My only brother, the Crown Prince, had belittled festivals beloved by the people and said that royal family members shouldn’t appear often before the citizens.
Yet in reality, he acted completely opposite to what he had said to me.
‘That brat was truly despicable. To me and to the citizens alike.’
I regretted that back then I couldn’t speak up and had to just obey his commands.
Still, I tried not to regret it entirely. Because through those experiences, I gained a family I truly cherished.
Not that I’m grateful to those who caused me hardship, of course.
Anyway, I got out of bed and stretched. I had to quickly get moving since there were things I couldn’t do yesterday due to being sick.
“And Rita will be a little busy because the festival is coming soon.”
“Why?”
“She’s in charge of this year’s festival.”
Judging by her tone, it seemed that they rotated the responsibility every year.
Hmm, so I’ll have a few more tasks to do by myself for the time being. Not that Rita would take care of me forever, so it was fine.
“How soon is the festival?”
“Uh… about a week?”
The festival was closer than I expected.
I probably started preparing late because I was sick, so that explained why Rita was so busy.
After finishing my conversation with Joshua, I changed into a comfortable training outfit instead of a dress and left the room.
It was about two hours later than when I usually went to the training hall for my early morning practice.
As soon as I opened the door and entered, the sharp sound of clashing blades stopped. Everyone’s eyes turned toward me.
What made me even more flustered was that everyone was staring at me without saying a word. Only the sound of heavy breathing filled the room.
I wasn’t used to being the center of attention, so it was pretty embarrassing.
“Uh… it’s been a while—”
“Lady!”
I awkwardly waved one hand, but before I could even finish, they swarmed around me.
They started voicing their concerns, but being surrounded by dozens of people taller than me made my head spin.
I was grateful for their concern… but it might have been better if they lined up and spoke one at a time.
“Enough!”
I tightened my stomach and raised my voice as loud as I could.
Immediately, all the knights around me went silent, their eyes shining as they waited for me to speak.
“I know all of you care about me! Thank you so much!”
“……”
“So, shall we focus on training again? I want to loosen up my stiff body from resting.”
However, the more I spoke, the more some of them looked slightly upset.
They might have misunderstood that I was speaking out of annoyance or laziness.
I didn’t mean it that way, but I realized it could be perceived differently.
“Uh, so…”
What should I say to avoid upsetting them? I bit my lower lip in thought.
Then a good idea struck me, and I smiled.
“If you all have time, can you help me warm up?”
“Yes!”
“Me! I’ll do it!”
“I’m the oldest here, so I’ll take care of it!”
The knights paused for a few seconds, then immediately started clamoring to be first, jostling in front of me.
Of course! I knew they’d like this. Considering their profession is ‘knight,’ the answer was obvious.
“Haha, everyone line up. We can do it one at a time!”
Less than thirty seconds after I said this, a long line formed in front of me, and the warm-up sparring began.
They all knew my skills and since it was just a warm-up, they lightly sparred with me.
What was amazing was that every single one of their expressions was the same: pure joy.
Whether it was from doing something with me or simply enjoying sparring, I didn’t know, but seeing their faces made me feel happy too.
But I couldn’t keep that smile for long because…
“Ugh, that’s enough!”
My body couldn’t keep up.
Even using wooden swords, my arms and legs trembled. Honestly, it was understandable… how many knights were here?
There were countless people. Not considering that before speaking was my mistake.
I couldn’t bring myself to stop them. What should I do? I probably hadn’t even gotten through a quarter of them…
“Lady, you’re tired, right?”
One of the knights approached me as I sat on the floor catching my breath. I vaguely recognized him as one of my five personal guards.
Unfortunately, I didn’t know his name. Among my five personal guards, I only knew Joshua.
It was a bit unfair because only Joshua among the five stayed directly with me, so I only vaguely recognized the others.
“Just a little?”
“Please, take a rest in this chair.”
A soft chair, which I had no idea when it appeared, was placed nearby.
“Ah, thank you.”
I didn’t miss an opportunity and sat down.
The guard followed me, glanced at me cautiously, and then spoke carefully.
“Lady, I have one request.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Don’t you need more personal guards?”
“My own personal guards?”
He nodded.
But why is he asking now? Is there so much work that five guards aren’t enough?
“Is it too hard?”
“Uh? No, not really…”
He didn’t seem to be lying. Then there must be another reason.
At that moment, I noticed the other ordinary knights behind him, their eyes shining as if they were waiting for something.
I had a vague idea why.
“Who wants to be my guard?”
“Well… actually, there are plenty of volunteers.”
“Then why not just pick someone?”
“The Master said it wasn’t particularly necessary.”
Ah, I get it. He figured it’d be faster for me to say I wanted more guards than to ask Hale for permission directly.
As expected, only someone clever enough could become my personal guard.
“Okay. I’ll tell my father.”
“Thank you!”
“But how will you choose? Got any ideas?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t have suggested it without a plan.”
A sly smile appeared on the guard’s lips.
…I’m glad the other knights didn’t see it. If they had, they would have run away.
“We’re going to have a sparring tournament for Senica, Lady!”
“Oh, nice!”
“Right?”
“When?”
“Now. We must act quickly when the opportunity arises.”
I nodded; it didn’t matter when. I’d never seen such a tournament, so it could be fun.
Also, since they were hired as family knights, they must have decent swordsmanship.
The guard, having gotten my agreement, gathered the ordinary knights and explained the plan we had discussed.
“Wow! Finally!”
“I get a chance too!”
Everyone cheered. Clearly, the claim that there were many volunteers wasn’t an exaggeration.
“As you all know, only one knight can be promoted to a personal guard.”
“……”
“So, make sure you spar without regrets.”
“Yes!”
Thus, the sparring tournament began quickly. The area was cleaned of obstacles.
Ordinary knights formed a circle around the space. Next to me, in addition to my original guard, two more personal guards joined.
They were added to prevent any potential danger to me during the sparring.
‘I’ll call them Guard 1, 2, and 3 for simplicity.’
Guard 1, who had been with me from the start, smiled like sunlight and shouted loudly.
“The rules are the same as usual sparring! I’ll be watching, so don’t try any tricks—take your position fairly!”
Thus began an unexpected sparring tournament with the prize being a place as my personal guard.
