“Yah!”
“Ugh.”
“To the end! Don’t lose your strength now! Focus on the tips of your fingers holding the sword!”
At Sir Bryvan’s words, Adele adjusted her grip on the sword. Now’s the time! I took advantage of the brief moment I had been pushed back by Adele’s strength.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
As I let out a yell and charged, Adele stumbled backward and eventually dropped her sword.
“Ouch…”
“Are you okay, Adele?”
Startled by Adele’s groan, I quickly rushed over to her. I hope she’s not hurt. She has to grow up beautifully for our Killian, so she can’t get hurt because of me!
While I was checking on Adele, Sir Bryvan approached.
“Teacher… When will I get as good as Tia?”
Adele, who was now holding my hand tightly, asked Sir Bryvan. Her eyebrows were drooped, making her look pitiful. Oh, dear.
“It’s alright. You did well, Lady Adele. Your strength has improved, now you just need to catch up on the fundamentals.”
“Yeah, Adele. You did so well! Don’t be disappointed. You’ll be better than me later anyway.”
I added my two cents to Sir Bryvan’s words. In fact, I wasn’t lying. Adele would truly become a Holy Knight with far greater skills than me.
“We started learning together, but I feel like I’m so slow.”
“What nonsense are you talking about, Adele? Slow! Not at all! I just…”
I have the experience of a taekwondo black belt…
Adele, who couldn’t possibly know about my past life, looked at me with pure eyes, full of admiration.
“I knew you were good, but you were especially amazing today, Tia. I’ve never seen footwork like that before! To think you would charge in while I was catching my breath.”
Hearing Adele’s words, Sir Bryvan also nodded his head.
“That doesn’t seem to be the footwork I taught you. Did you figure it out on your own while practicing, Your Highness?”
He asked so seriously that I didn’t know how to answer.
“Yeah. Something like that. Hahaha.”
I gave a vague answer. I couldn’t really say much since I was doing it like I would in taekwondo.
After cleaning up the swords and brushing off the dust, I sat on the floor with Adele, and Killian, who had just finished his private training, came running from a distance.
“Tia!”
“Killian, are you done?”
“Yeah. Just now. I finished later again today. I’m sorry. You were waiting, right?”
“Don’t be sorry. It’s fine. I can wait longer. You have to train hard.”
You have your own sword now, too. I mouthed the words while pointing to Killian’s waist, and he nodded.
“Okay. I’ll work even harder.”
He shyly stuck out his tongue a little bit between his lips… That’s a total Killian thing, or a ‘killing point.’ I feel like I had some extra hearts saved up… Where are they…
“Yeah. Fighting!”
That’s what you have to do to become a swordmaster, win the war, and have a happy ending with Adele! I felt my heart pound and smiled brightly at Killian.
“Now, shall we go get lunch?”
“Gogo!”
“Gogo!”
They don’t even know what it means. Killian and Adele, who follow whatever I say, were so adorable. They probably have a sense of what it means, but I’ll have to tell them again that it means to go somewhere later.
“Alright! Let’s go!”
I yelled bravely, but… groan. My legs were shaking. I must have been too into sparring today. As I tried to stand up with some effort, I saw two little hands, no, two hands in front of me.
“Huh?”
“Hold on, Tia.”
“I’ll help you up.”
Is it just my imagination that sparks are flying from the two pairs of eyes that spoke at the same time? Yes, it must be my imagination… We agreed to be friends. But just in case, should I play a little prank…?
I grinned and quickly grabbed Killian and Adele’s hands with both of mine! I used the momentum to stand up. They probably didn’t expect me to play such a prank, and they fell down defenselessly.
“Ugh!”
“Ack!”
“Race to the Princess’s Palace! The loser doesn’t get dessert today!”
I’m going first! I ran as fast as I could without looking back.
“Tia!!!”
“Wait for me!!!”
The sound of their feet running, the shallow dust following me, and the laughter of my friends were all engraved deep in my heart with every breath.
“That was good.”
“Me too. It was so delicious. Hehe.”
“What about you, Killian?”
Killian was pouting. I don’t know what happened because I ran ahead, but Killian was the loser today. That’s unusual. I sometimes use dirty tricks—because otherwise, I’d be the loser every time—but there’s no way Adele cheated, right?
Regardless… The sulky Killian is just so!!! He’s my soft, fresh, sweet, squishy, cute, handsome marshmallow. I’m going to report you. For marriage. Oh, no!!! I can’t make that report. That would be a huge problem.
I shook my head to get rid of the silly thoughts and called out to Killian again.
“Killian?”
“It’s not fair. She…”
Thump.
“Ack!”
What was that? Did I just hear a hit?
“Killian?”
“I, I’m fine, Tia.”
I looked at Killian with a worried expression, but Adele smiled brightly and pushed a plate in front of him.
“Here, Killian. I’ll share some of my dessert with you.”
“No thanks.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“I said no.”
Killian mumbled something under his breath. Adele snickered as she watched him. Oh, man… This world has the best welfare. I get to see my favorite and second favorite bickering! I just watched them with a content smile.
A few hours earlier…
“Race to the Princess’s Palace! The loser doesn’t get dessert today! I’m going first!”
Celestia, who had knocked Killian and Adele to the ground, ran with all her might. It was the first time she had used such an aggressive trick, but it was common for Celestia to get a head start, so they were used to it. Killian and Adele brushed themselves off and immediately chased after Celestia.
“Tia!!!”
“Wait for me!!!”
At first, it was fine. The race started fair and square, but…
“Hey!”
As the distance between them grew, Adele, who was following behind, called out to Killian loudly.
“Hey! Killian!”
“What!”
Killian, who didn’t even look back, continued to widen the gap. Running this much was nothing for him anymore. He wasn’t even out of breath. If nothing went wrong, Adele would be the loser today. The thought was so satisfying. But…
“You like Tia, don’t you?”
But why did his heart sink at the one simple sentence Adele threw out? He thought only his heart had dropped, but his feet must have, too. His speed gradually decreased.
In the meantime, Adele caught up to Killian. As she passed him, Adele said, “Idiot.”
“What?”
“I like Tia, too. You’ve been caught. Bleh. So there!”
Adele, who had quickly scanned Killian from head to toe, raised one corner of her mouth and ran past him.
“Ugh. That girl!”
That cunning, sly, sneaky Adelaide.
“Tia is being fooled. I have to let her know about that wicked side of hers.”
Killian, who had been biting his lip in frustration, was too flabbergasted to try and catch up again and ended up becoming the loser. He wasn’t disappointed about not getting dessert, but being beaten by Adele really hurt his pride. And yet, she pretended to be so nice in front of Celestia…! She was a terrifying two-faced person.
“Here, Killian. I’ll share some of my dessert with you.”
“No thanks.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“I said no.”
Glaring at Adele, Killian mumbled in a small voice that Tia couldn’t hear.
“I’ll get my revenge. You evil girl.”
Killian made a promise to himself.
Today is a rare day off!
…No, it’s a workday… I’m so busy. My seven-year-old life. I’m scheduled to meet Count Tolkie in town a little later. I have to give him the signed contract and iron out the details. And the most important thing! Creating a new identity! Since there are no banks or accounts in the Salian Empire yet, I plan to create a guild as a retirement fund to grow the money I’ve earned. I’ve even thought of a name for the guild master.
“Hehe.”
“Is there something that made you happy?”
Riz, who was styling my hair, asked. Riz, who had seemed preoccupied with something for a while, was back to her usual self. I had a hunch it might have had something to do with Sir Bryvan, but I wasn’t going to ask. It’s a matter of privacy.
“Nothing much… I just have a feeling it’s going to be a fun day.”
“Our ever-cheerful Princess. You’re going to have the best day today, too.”
Huh… This isn’t how she’s supposed to act. I tilted my head and looked at Riz.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. You just don’t sound like yourself, Riz.”
“Pardon? Me? How did you know…”
Riz lifted both her arms and cocked her head, just like I had done once.
“Do I still look like Riz to you?”
I also cocked my head and held my neck out to Riz’s mouth.
“Go on, bite. If Riz has become a monster, I’ll become one too.”
“Ugh. Your Highness’s neck seems a little short…”
“You really!!!”
She’s finally back to the Riz I know. Hehehe. I turned around and hugged Riz tightly. She froze for a moment, as if she hadn’t expected it, but then she gently patted my back with her warm hands.
Just like a mother… So much that it made my eyes sting…
