Chapter 11
His honed blade tore through the wind, coming towards me with terrifying force.
But to me, tempered by ten years of all kinds of training and real combat experience, it was honestly far too slow.
‘He supposedly won the tournament twice, and this is all he’s got?’
It was disappointing, but I decided to humor him once for the sake of his pride.
I waited until he got close, then swung my sword to block his strike once.
“…Guhk!”
Suddenly, he took a large step backward.
Instantly, his blade tip wavered, and his breathing became ragged. Even though I had only blocked lightly, it seemed he had taken significant damage.
Bent over, clutching his wrist, he muttered as he looked at me.
“How can a woman have this level of skill……”
His surprise was natural. I had survived the Lumiel Orphanage and become ‘Ark’ solely through my swordsmanship skills.
Moreover, the monstrous strength granted by illegal drugs was powerful enough to defeat Alex and Theo.
So Windsor, who was likely born a noble and learned swordsmanship like a greenhouse flower, couldn’t beat me even if he died and came back to life.
“Since you are the swordsmanship instructor but seem unaware, allow me to explain.”
I explained to him with an expressionless face.
“The technique I just used is a horizontal slash. It’s a technique where you swing the sword sideways, aiming for the opponent’s flank or neck.”
“Sh-shut up……!”
“By fixing your wrist and rotating your arm and waist together, you can generate strong power.”
“I know that much!”
His voice boomed loudly. He seemed to have thrown all noble decorum to the wind.
Even though our blades had only clashed once, his shoulders were heaving as he gasped for breath.
I lowered my sword-wielding hand and asked.
“Will you stop now?”
“…Don’t be ridiculous!”
Gritting his teeth, he raised his sword again and forced a swing. His movements were even more pathetic than before.
Enough to make me yawn.
I seized the opening as he thrust his sword, closed in, and instantly reversed my grip on my sword.
Then, I lightly struck his solar plexus with the blunt pommel.
“Argh!”
Even though I hit him gently, he screamed as if his bones had broken.
He collapsed to the ground, still clutching his sword. Not missing the moment, I explained.
“This is an uppercut. A technique to attack from below the area the opponent is defending, lowering your waist and using a wrist snap as the sword rises.”
“Please, shut up……”
“It should be with the blade, but since I can’t take your life, I used the hilt.”
“Ha, you truly are an insolent maid……!”
Gritting his teeth, he instantly got up and attacked me with his sword.
No, he tried to.
But before his blade could even reach me, the hilt of my sword struck him squarely in the center of his chest, stopping him.
“Agh!”
Clutching his chest, he rolled backward once. The sword had already left his hand and was clattering on the floor.
I sheathed my sword, then approached him, who was writhing in pain, and said.
“Finally, this is a thrust. Step one foot forward, lean your upper body, push the sword tip forward, aiming for the opponent’s chest or neck……”
“Stop! Stop, please! I lost! I surrender!”
“Do you admit defeat?”
“Yes! I admit it! So call a doctor, quickly! I can’t breathe!”
“I’ll call one. But before that, apologize to His Highness the Prince.”
“F-for what?!”
“For failing to properly conduct His Highness’s swordsmanship lesson due to your inadequate skills and improper sword.”
“But I……!”
I simply looked down at him without a word. He then thrashed and screamed.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness! Actually, I lied about winning the tournament twice! I was wrong!”
“…….”
Even after he confessed his wrongs, I remained silent.
He looked at me, the whites of his eyes showing, and shrieked.
“Why! You told me to apologize, and I did! Aren’t you going to move this now?!”
“…Isn’t there one more thing?”
“Wh-what more?!”
“Your true identity.”
His struggling movements stopped abruptly.
But only for a moment. Biting his lip hard, he played dumb.
“My identity? I-I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“Is that so?”
I smiled faintly and continued.
“You’re impressive. Even while your life is threatened, you don’t use the distinctive dialect of the Theban Archipelago.”
“…What?”
“Since ancient times, people from island villages have been known for their strong, stubborn dialects. Strong enough to notice even after many years.”
“……!”
“Her Majesty, Empress Lienne, was often criticized for using the Theban dialect at official events……”
I lowered my voice and whispered near his ear.
“How is it that you, Sir, can avoid using the dialect so perfectly?”
“…….”
“Even though you are supposedly close enough to see Her Majesty the Empress three times a week.”
“Wh-what does it matter if I don’t use the dialect?!”
“Moreover.”
Ignoring his increasingly labored breathing, I added another point.
“The surname ‘Noarain’… it doesn’t exist in the Theban Archipelago, does it?”
“……!”
“So why, Sir, are you pretending to be a noble?”
He stared at me, panting. Red veins had already appeared in his eyes.
“You… how do you know that……”
I gripped his shoulder tightly and warned him in a low voice.
“Hurry up and apologize. Otherwise, you won’t like what happens.”
“You……”
He gasped for air and asked.
“Just who… what are you?”
“My identity?”
I shrugged and answered.
“As you can see, I’m a maid.”
“Impossible. I can’t believe it……”
His face turned deathly pale. He let out a long, trembling sigh and confessed the truth to Calix.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness……. Truly, I lack the qualifications to be Your Highness’s swordsmanship instructor. I… I am actually… just a low-ranking knight who just finished basic training in the Imperial Knights Squadron!”
“…….”
At his words, Calix made a peculiar expression.
It was the face of someone who already knew that fact.
‘Could it be?’
Only then did a hypothesis flash through my mind.
Could the reason he tolerated Windsor’s inadequate skills until now be…
Calix, who had remained silent, finally spoke.
“Then, what about being close to my mother?”
“S-sorry…! I, I’ve actually never even met Her Majesty the Empress!”
“……!”
He clenched his fist tightly. I nodded slowly.
Just as I thought.
The reason he left Windsor alone wasn’t because of his teaching, nor because he was the instructor.
It was because of that connection to his unreachable mother.
The thought that if he fired him, he would no longer hear any news about his mother…
“Hic, hic. Please spare me! I was just doing as someone told me! Th-they offered me a lot of money!”
“Then… who was it that ordered you to become my swordsmanship instructor?”
“I, I don’t know! Only that they were a high-ranking person…! They even threatened my family, so I had no choice!”
He was now on his knees, tears falling drop by drop.
Meanwhile, Calix seemed to have guessed who it was, his jaw tightening.
‘There’s only one person.’
There’s probably only one person in this imperial palace who would instigate Windsor to become the swordsmanship instructor.
Brookston Montmer.
The man who currently holds the power of the Castium Empire.
He can’t openly covet the throne while the Imperial faction is watching, but if this situation continues, his ambitions will gradually reveal themselves.
In truth, even when the Emperor was alive, he was greedy enough to secretly embezzle imperial funds to buy luxuries and land.
‘He needed to monitor how he was living in the remote palace, whether he was having any other ideas.’
But if he assigned someone completely unrelated, it would raise suspicion, so he probably assigned him under the pretext of being one of Lienne’s close associates.
‘This must be a huge shock for him.’
I looked at Calix with a worried expression.
He stared at Windsor for a long time without a word, then clenched his fist tightly.
“The crime of hiding your status and identity, using a false closeness with my mother as a shield to deceive and mock me. According to imperial law, it is right to punish you for insulting the royal family by beheading…”
“P-please, not that, Your Highness…!”
“Punishing you isn’t even worth my time or emotion. So, I will substitute all punishment with your exile from this empire.”
At that, Windsor’s face brightened. He quickly got up and bowed repeatedly to Calix.
“Thank you! Thank you, Your Highness!”
“…I don’t need your thanks. Just disappear from my sight.”
“Yes, understood!”
In an instant, he vanished like a minnow escaping a net. Soon, only the two of us remained in the backyard.
I bowed my head to him in apology.
“…I’m sorry for causing a disturbance.”
Calix hadn’t wanted me to fight Windsor.
But, swept up by personal feelings, I had disobeyed his order and confronted Windsor. So apologizing to him was the right thing to do.
“…….”
He said nothing. A foreboding feeling crept in.
‘Am I really going to get fired for this?’
I had openly fought the swordsmanship instructor despite the master telling me not to; it was grounds for dismissal without any excuse.
But then, Calix murmured quietly.
“You keep helping me. Ever since the first day you came to the imperial palace.”
“…….”
“There’s no need to be sorry. Rather, I… am just grateful.”
Under the midday golden sunlight, his amethyst eyes looking at me seemed to shimmer.
Somehow, I couldn’t bring myself to look directly at that shimmer, so I lowered my head.
“However, there is something I’d like to ask you.”
“Yes. Ask me anything.”
He gazed intently at me.
His mysteriously glowing amethyst eyes were filled with my reflection.
“Where did you learn the sword?”
