Chapter 61.
Finding insects during training was common, but one crawling toward our Majesty was a serious problem.
What if something happened to our most noble and delicate Majesty and they got bitten by a bug!
“Ah! A crunchy little caterpillar!”
“…?”
However, Ellie’s eyes lit up as she leaned down to sniff the insect crawling on the ground.
Lelchia was quite shocked at the sight.
“Y-Your Majesty?”
“Lelchia-unnie! It’s a crunchy little caterpillar!”
“…Yes, it’s a caterpillar, but… are you alright?”
“Yep! Up close like this, you can hear it crunch!”
Ellie was so captivated by the crunching sound that she didn’t even notice Lelchia’s horrified expression.
‘Our Majesty…’
So brave!
It was fascinating, setting admiration aside.
How could someone change so completely just because their memories were gone?
It was astonishing that even previous biases and tastes could vanish along with memories.
‘Still, it’s better that she’s so spirited.’
The princess had grown up just like a princess.
As the sole heir of the Kingdom of Nerendis, she had been a treasure from the moment she was born.
As a baby, her cries couldn’t last more than a second, and as she grew, she was fed and clothed only with the most precious things in the world.
She had barely ever set foot on the ground herself.
Princess Elia was always carried around by Lady Laval or the royal couple.
And so, she grew into a princess who only liked beautiful things and enjoyed only the best.
Even the mere mention of bugs was enough to make her take a detour, and any strenuous or sweaty activity would be immediately halted.
People jokingly wondered, “How will our princess practice dancing later…? She’ll sweat and her feet will hurt.”
And they thought that situation might not even be a joke.
“She might even develop dances that don’t require practice.”
Perhaps that would be more realistic.
But now the princess—
“Ah! Look, a blue dew toad!”
—was running off to catch a toad.
Lelchia laughed and ran after Ellie.
“I’ll catch it too!”
Playing could be considered training.
Lelchia’s strict instructor persona melted away.
‘Breathing itself is exercise, after all!’
Moving your body is exercise enough!
…It wasn’t as if running around catching bugs with the Majesty was fun and that was just an excuse.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! There’s a butterfly here too!”
“Wow! A butterfly!”
Ellie leapt up to catch the butterfly.
Her form was messy, but her eagerness to catch it was unparalleled.
“Put more force into the back of your thighs and jump off the ground with a ‘pop’ like that, and you can jump higher!”
“Wow!”
Although she failed to catch the butterfly, she succeeded in jumping slightly higher than before.
“Did you see? Did you see?”
“Yes, I saw! You jumped really high! It was at my eye level, I think!”
“Next time, I’ll jump higher than you, Lelchia-unnie!”
“Yes! Shall we try?!”
Even play can be tiring if done earnestly.
After hopping around obsessed with jumping higher, Ellie eventually collapsed on the ground again.
“Your Majesty, it’s also important to hydrate appropriately.”
Lelchia handed Ellie the water she had received from the attendant.
Ellie took a sip, then pulled back with a face of disgust.
“Lukewarm!”
“Water at a temperature similar to your body is best for your health after exercise.”
“…….”
Ellie gripped the cup again.
“Healthy water…”
Today’s ‘exercise’ hadn’t been excessive.
In truth, she had just been playing.
She had worked up a sweat, but it didn’t feel like proper exercise or training.
This was supposed to be exercise to strengthen her body for stabilizing magic!
Even if she hadn’t exercised hard, at least she should drink something good for her body!
Ellie closed her eyes tightly and gulped down the lukewarm water.
If it was good for her body! As long as it was good for her body!
Even though the water wasn’t cold on such a hot day and felt unappetizing, she endured and drank it all.
“All done!”
“Well done!”
“Now I’ll be even healthier, right?”
“Uh… you won’t get worse, at least.”
Lelchia couldn’t lie no matter what.
“Then how do I get healthier?”
“After exercise, eating things like meat or beans will make you healthier! The more, the better.”
“Eating!”
You could get healthy by eating!
That was truly valuable information.
Among all the things Lelchia had taught, this was Ellie’s favorite.
Exercise was hard, but eating was easy.
“But if you eat without exercising, it’s useless.”
“…Ah.”
Nothing in life was free.
Ellie looked a bit dejected, but now was the time for a strict instructor.
Through catching bugs, Lelchia realized that while Ellie couldn’t follow the full-fledged training she had demonstrated at first, she could handle light aerobic exercise quite well.
So the training program could be adjusted accordingly.
“Shall we try running this time?”
“I don’t waaaant to!”
Ellie had already discovered in Lelchia’s first session that boring exercises were no fun.
Catching and playing with bugs was fun, but just running around an empty training ground was dull.
“But just one lap will make your body much better!”
Lelchia tried her best to persuade the reluctant Ellie.
Even though Ellie had grumbled about the lukewarm water, she drank it because it was good for her body, so perhaps…!
“!”
Ellie’s body twitched.
Good for her body?
That was a magical phrase that got Ellie moving.
Her eyes changed at the mention of improving her body.
“…Shall we try?”
“Let’s do it!”
Lelchia quickly patted Ellie’s back and started running together before her mood could change.
Ellie began running with a determined gaze.
It was a look Lelchia had seen many times before.
The kind of look you occasionally see in middle-aged joggers…
‘It’s the look of someone exercising to survive…’
Obsessing over one’s health to that extent was typical of someone whose work involved physical labor or someone entering middle age.
But a king taking care of his body was admirable.
Historically, many kings squandered their health and died young.
‘How admirable!’
Lelchia’s loyalty to Ellie grew even stronger.
And to honor Ellie’s passion for body care, she reassessed the training methods once more.
Intense physical training was good for building muscle.
“Contact from the royal palace.”
Cleas was in a meeting.
The vassal council of the Berndt family was held at least once a month.
The Berndt family possessed vast territories beyond the knight order.
Cleas mostly lived in the capital but couldn’t neglect the territories.
Paying attention to their lands was as important as strengthening the knight order—a duty of the Duke of Berndt.
So, once a month, someone from the territories would come to report to Cleas and receive orders before returning.
That day was today.
Normally, minor matters weren’t brought up during important meetings…
But news from the royal palace was different.
Cleas jumped up from his seat.
“Has Her Majesty fallen ill again?!”
Since the incident where Ellie collapsed, Cleas had been sensitive to messages from the palace.
He had also instructed that whether in meetings or training, any communication from the palace should be relayed immediately.
“It’s not that… it’s a request to sell some Stik fruit that they have in storage.”
“Stik fruit?”
It was an unexpected term.
“…Stik fruit?”
“Did you say Stik fruit?”
The officials listening nearby coughed awkwardly and repeated the question.
Even the steward delivering the message coughed in embarrassment.
“Yes, it was definitely Stik fruit.”
“Why… Stik fruit?”
The Stik fruit was mainly produced in the Berndt domain.
It was somewhere between a fruit and a seed, so it was simply called a fruit.
As the name suggested, its taste was inferior to regular fruit. It had a slightly bitter taste with an earthy aroma.
Though not remarkable for taste, the Stik fruit was highly sought after for its incredible effects.
It was particularly effective at improving blood circulation issues, especially in the lower body.
Middle-aged men were the most obsessed with this symptom.
“Are you sure the Majesty is the one requesting it?”
“If not, no one would have come from the ‘palace’.”
The steward’s words were correct.
For someone to come on behalf of the royal palace, it had to be a royal matter.
Yet no middle-aged men at the royal court were concerned with lower body blood circulation issues.
So that meant Ellie had personally requested it…
“Why on earth?”
Cleas couldn’t understand the reason and kept asking.
