Chapter 18
Sparring with My Contracted Husband
I looked at him, silently asking for help.
“Y-Yezaar…”
He glanced between the shattered wooden sword and me for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the knights.
“Are you all not focusing on training? Are you going to slack off like this?”
At his words, the knights who had frozen immediately resumed their movements. The intense attention that had been on me vanished in an instant.
Ah, as expected, my contracted husband is amazing.
Then, he seemed to want to ask me something but instead brought a new wooden sword.
“Give me that broken sword, and will you try this one?”
“Yes!”
I handed over the shattered sword and received the new one. It felt a little unfair that a poorly made sword had caused a misunderstanding.
‘It feels like misunderstandings just keep piling up at the Duke’s household.’
It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. But right in front of me was the perfect way to shake off that frustration, so I ignored it and swung the sword.
Yezaar paused, pondering. Perhaps her vivacious energy came directly from that strength.
From a distance away from the knights training in the center, the sharp sound of strikes echoed violently.
“Wow, Madam, you don’t mess around.”
“You probably don’t need my lord watching you during sparring…”
“You told them to focus on training, didn’t you?”
He replied while watching Julietta. Her rose-colored hair, tied high, swayed with every movement.
Her softly curved eyes were incredibly charming, yet the wooden dummy before her lay in ruin.
Already, about five dummies had been rendered unusable and set aside. Even the two new swords he had handed over were already broken and lying cold on the floor.
“But… how can one focus on training seeing that?”
Clang—! Even just swinging the wooden sword, the clear ringing sound carried perfectly, making Yezaar curious.
“Master, if Madam accidentally makes a mistake, just say she’s wrong and move on.”
The knight who spoke was a married man. Every time that clear sound rang out, he flinched slightly—apparently his wife was very strict.
Soon, the knights gathered around Yezaar witnessed the sixth dummy collapse.
Immediately, applause and exclamations followed.
If my lady enters, I’ll make her run a hundred laps around the sparring hall, thought the knight. Yet, the kind Madam didn’t mind and cheerfully prepared to destroy the next dummy.
She didn’t seem to tire; her broad smile made her look genuinely joyful. Then one knight muttered, puzzled:
“Surely there are knights who taught her swordsmanship. How come they didn’t say a single word seeing this?”
Yezaar was curious about that as well. It was clear she wasn’t ordinary. With proper training, she could become a remarkable knight capable of leading an army to victory…
He shook his head. He didn’t want his wife to do anything dangerous.
It was fine for her to enjoy swordsmanship as she did now.
Julietta’s green eyes, always lively, shone beautifully. Her smile lifted her face, and even the sweat on her forehead or the furrowed brow from concentration made her look splendid.
As he watched, another knight answered the earlier question.
“It’s obvious. Even if a noble lady has talent in swordsmanship, unless she’s continuing the family line, she won’t actually use it. So they didn’t bother saying anything.”
Hearing that, Yezaar thought of Julietta’s father, Count Orbetian.
Worried she might get hurt, he hadn’t even considered letting her train, but in reality, he was too busy to even know what she was doing.
Yezaar recalled Julietta’s bittersweet gaze.
‘If it were me, I wouldn’t want to leave such a lovely daughter unattended.’
Yes. That small girl, with bright green eyes and rose-tinted hair fluttering like a new sprout, calling me her father…
The thought made Yezaar pause for a moment. Then he remembered Julietta standing naturally by his side. So, him, her, and their child…
It was a thought Julietta must never discover, yet a smile unconsciously spread across his face.
At that moment, the wooden sword in Julietta’s hands broke.
“Ah! This time, the sword broke first.”
“Did my lord know about Madam’s immense strength?”
Ignoring the astonished voice, Yezaar smiled and replied:
“I only heard she had learned swordsmanship. But isn’t it cute how focused and happy she is while doing it?”
The knights, shocked, muttered a few words.
“Oh dear, this is serious.”
“Even for a newlywed, this is intense enough to make me doubt my lord.”
“They say love makes everyone the same, but this is excessive.”
“Those knights who made unnecessary comments just now, I’ll spar with them one-on-one tomorrow.”
Yezaar calmly dismissed their complaints and approached Julietta, who was sweating heavily.
He thought perhaps she would like it if he wiped her sweat with a handkerchief. Julietta seemed ready for a short break and looked at him, lowering her sword.
“Yezaar, perfect timing! My clothes are soaked in sweat. Do you have a handkerchief?”
He smiled, ready to wipe her sweat.
But unexpectedly, her clothes clung to her body, showing her form through the damp fabric.
‘How can someone with such a soft, unmuscular body threaten a Duke?’
Why did that thought cross his mind now? Perhaps the faintly visible abs through the sweat caught his attention.
Yes. That strength couldn’t come from a body without muscles. Despite how soft her body felt when in his arms, the thought that she was stronger than she appeared was true.
“Yezaar? Don’t you have a handkerchief?”
The question snapped him back to reality.
‘What am I thinking with my lady right in front of me…?’
He felt guilty and determined that no one else should see Julietta like this, especially the male knights.
“I do. But a handkerchief won’t do. You should go change into dry clothes…”
“What? But I was looking forward to today so much!”
Julietta looked at him, disappointed. Seeing her dejected eyes made his heart skip. He didn’t want anyone else seeing her vulnerable like this.
So he thought of another solution.
“Today’s training ends here. Everyone, return to your posts.”
The sudden order left both the knights and Julietta surprised, but Yezaar quietly whispered to her:
“I wanted to spar quietly with you without any distractions.”
Perhaps he simply wanted to see this moment for himself, even if he worried she might be upset.
I stretched once again to warm up. Though a little hot from the sweat, Yezaar wiped the beads from my forehead.
He sent the waiting maids away and personally attended to me.
Having finished stretching, I looked around the empty sparring hall.
“It’s nice and quiet. But did we have to send away all the knights? Even the maids?”
“Wouldn’t you prefer a quiet environment? Noise would just break your focus. Also, the maids went to get your change of clothes, so I didn’t send them away unnecessarily.”
“That makes sense, now that you mention it.”
It seemed logical, yet part of me suspected he simply wanted to be alone with me. His insistence on asking the maids to fetch my clothes added to that thought.
No need to overthink. I decided to focus on the good opportunity right in front of me.
“Yezaar, I’ve finished warming up.”
He assumed a relaxed stance as if ready, and asked me:
“Have you ever sparred at the Count’s household before?”
“I have, but…”
I trailed off, and he asked with concern:
“Did something happen?”
I shook my head. There was nothing he needed to worry about. More precisely…
“When I sparred, I lost. But most of the hits came from the Count’s knights.”
Recalling those times, I felt a little guilty. Naturally, I had little experience and was smaller in build than the knights, so I always lost.
With no skill, I was helpless against sudden attacks. But why…
The knights all said sparring with me was more exhausting than with others. Some even whimpered in pain.
“Each of my swings carries weight. If you take your eyes off me for a second, you feel like multiple people are hitting you at once. They avoided sparring with me because of that. Unlike me, they ended up battered if they failed to defend against my attacks.”
If one intended to be a serious knight, they would have learned perfectly how to respond to surprise attacks.
Until now, I was satisfied if I could handle a few men on my own.
But now, with such a capable teacher in front of me… maybe it’s worth learning seriously.
He was even telling an interesting story.
“So, does that mean I’ll end up battered today as well?”
“Not at all. Yezaar will stay unharmed, and I’ll lose. But… you said you’ll use your left hand, so my wooden sword might graze you.”
I teased him, and he laughed.
“I’ll be looking forward to it, Madam.”
Seeing him take his stance, I didn’t hesitate and charged forward.
