Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Nod, nod!

“Me? I’m…?”

“You’re going to be her future brother-in-law, aren’t you? The youngest young lady is absolutely right.”

Charlotte nodded enthusiastically, clapping her hands as though she were having the time of her life.

Leonard looked flustered, his gaze shifting back and forth between Charlotte and Hawk. Hawk found his expression so hilarious that he burst into laughter, clapping along with Charlotte. The other knights, who had been pretending not to watch, joined in as well.

“Looks like you still haven’t quite realized you’re a newlywed!”

“Hahaha! Well, you should enjoy your bachelor days while you still can!”

For some reason, everyone found it absolutely hilarious, and they all burst into hearty laughter.

Of course it was funny. How could they not laugh at the sight of a man who, only moments ago, had been glaring so viciously at them as though he intended to beat them all to a pulp, now holding a little girl in his arms and not knowing what to do with himself?

“Ray! Charlotte!”

Just then, Irenea entered the training grounds, accompanied by Kiri and several maids.

The knights, including Hawk, who spotted her immediately sprang to their feet and lined up.

“Greetings, Marchioness!”

“You’re all working hard with your training.”

After greeting the knights, whose discipline had instantly snapped into place and whose voices rang out loudly, Irenea approached Leonard and Charlotte.

“Charlotte, I heard you’ve been coming to the training grounds these past few days. You’re here again today?”

At Irenea’s words, Charlotte’s eyes darted from side to side.

Then, seeing the gaze fixed on her that seemed to silently plead for help, Leonard found himself speaking before he even realized it.

“She only watches from a distance while we’re training, and comes closer during breaks to bring us towels and water. She hasn’t done anything dangerous, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

Nod, nod!

“Well, that’s a relief… But why are you coming here to play in the first place? Is it because you want to get closer to your future brother-in-law?”

Once again, Charlotte’s eyes darted about.

Then she gave a shy smile and stretched both arms toward Irenea.

“Oh, just look at you.”

Despite giving her little sister a playful glare at her display of affection, Irenea took the child from Leonard and held her in her arms.

“What on earth have you been doing here to make yourself so adorable, hmm?”

In truth, it was Irenea, not Charlotte, who was rubbing her cheek against the child’s.

But Charlotte’s beaming smile was so lovely that simply smiling like that was enough to count as an adorable gesture.

Just as Leonard found himself smiling at the sight, Hawk’s mischievous voice reached his ears.

“The three of you standing together like that make the youngest young lady look more like your daughter than your little sister.”

“What?”

“Goodness, your daughter looks exactly like her mother. Not a single feature resembles her father!”

One of the knights, who was stuffing his cheeks with the meat sandwiches the maids had brought, picked up Hawk’s joke.

Just how easily amused were the knights in this order? They burst into another round of laughter.

What on earth was he supposed to do with these incorrigible fools?

Unlike Leonard, who covered his forehead with one hand, Charlotte simply beamed, apparently finding it all amusing.

Irenea laughed aloud, too.

“Just you wait, Charlotte. I’ll make sure your little sibling is born with golden hair, looking exactly like his father.”

“Rin.”

Unlike Leonard, who looked utterly bewildered, Charlotte giggled with delight.

No sound came from her, since she was unable to speak.

But her eyes curved into crescents, and deep dimples appeared in her flushed cheeks.

That adorable smile melted the hearts of all the adults gathered around them.

Just as the big, burly men stood there grinning foolishly, deciding that they absolutely had to have a daughter that cute someday…

Noticing that Irenea was getting tired, Leonard took Charlotte from her and adjusted his hold on the child.

“By the way, Charlotte said she wants to learn swordsmanship. Did you know?”

“Swordsmanship?”

Irenea’s eyes widened at the news, which she was hearing for the first time.

“So that’s why you’ve been coming to the training grounds all this time?”

Watching her sister’s expression carefully, Charlotte nodded.

The child had naturally expected her sister to shake her head and say no, but Irenea’s answer was entirely different from what she’d anticipated.

“If you want to learn, then you should. But…”

Irenea glanced around at the knights before asking,

“Is there anyone in the order capable of teaching our Charlotte?”

At that, every single knight shook his head in dismay, as though they’d rehearsed it beforehand.

“I’m not skilled enough to teach anyone…”

“What if I accidentally hurt the youngest young lady…”

The latter was an even greater concern than the former.

They simply couldn’t bring themselves to teach the young lady they were sworn to protect and serve, especially when she was so little that she barely reached their waists.

When no one volunteered to become her instructor, Charlotte’s expression fell.

As Irenea comforted the child, she turned to Leonard.

“What about you, Ray?”

“I’ve never taught anyone before, either…”

After all, he relied on brute force to overwhelm his opponents, didn’t he? Even the knights with excellent stamina ended up collapsing every time.

Leonard considered it for a moment before speaking.

“However, I do know someone I could recommend.”

And that was how the mercenaries, who had been spending their time leisurely in the annex, ended up being summoned to the training grounds.

***

“Uh… So you’re telling us to teach this tiny little lady how to use a sword?”

Michelle stared at Leonard as though he were out of his mind, but Leonard offered what he considered a perfectly reasonable explanation.

“I taught you, didn’t I?”

“That was after you’d already been trained by Camilla.”

Besides, Leonard had received various forms of training from his biological mother even before he’d been sold to the mercenary corps.

None of the members had ever seen Leonard’s biological mother, but judging by the techniques he’d mastered and the scars left on his body, they suspected she might have been an assassin…

In other words, young Leonard and Charlotte couldn’t possibly be compared.

Nevertheless, Leonard left Charlotte in their care with a simple request to look after her, then went off to train the knights.

That left only Charlotte, who blinked at them, along with Michelle, Heath, and Bin in the Second Training Ground.

“…That Marchioness really is something. I can’t believe she’d entrust a child to us.”

“Maybe she just couldn’t stand seeing us lazing around and wanted to give us something to do.”

“If it were me, I’d rather let a little girl this small play around than make her learn swordsmanship.”

Just what kind of family was House Blair, that they would even consider entrusting their precious young lady to mercenaries?

Then again, they’d already found it strange enough that the family had brought in a former mercenary to be her husband.

With that thought, Michelle and Bin crouched down in front of Charlotte.

Heath, sitting a little farther away, was busy carving a piece of wood with his dagger.

Bin and Michelle assumed he was probably making another little animal friend for Charlotte, and thought nothing more of it.

“Ahem. My lady, are you really sure you’re all right with learning from us?”

Nod, nod!

“It’ll be very difficult. You might wake up tomorrow with terrible muscle soreness and be unable to get out of bed, and you could even end up with scars on your body.”

Nod, nod!

Charlotte nodded with great enthusiasm, both fists clenched tightly.

Michelle and Bin exchanged a look, wondering what on earth they were supposed to do.

“Well, first… um… May we ask why you want to learn swordsmanship?”

They’d asked because they wanted to know how serious the child was about it.

If she was only doing it out of passing curiosity, they could teach her a little and leave it at that.

But if she wasn’t…

[ My parents always shielded me and died protecting me. ]

Charlotte had written the words in the dirt with her index finger.

Michelle looked a little surprised, then explained to Bin, who was sitting beside him, what she’d written.

And then the next sentence, too.

[ I want to be someone who protects others, not someone who is protected. ]

“…Have you been thinking this way ever since your parents passed away?”

Nod, nod.

“Have you never told the Marchioness about it?”

Nod, nod.

Charlotte hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the first sentence again.

Even without the child adding anything, Michelle thought he understood.

“You don’t want to tell the Marchioness the real reason, do you?”

Nod, nod.

“Then what are you going to say if the Marchioness asks you later?”

As though she’d already prepared an answer, Charlotte excitedly traced the words into the dirt with her index finger.

[ I’ll tell her it’s because my future brother-in-law is so cool. ]

“Hahaha!”

“What? What did she say?”

“She says Ray is cool. Hahaha!”

“Oh, I see.”

Bin subtly showed off his fondness for Leonard, as though to say, Of course our boy is cool. But Charlotte blinked at him in surprise.

The child tugged at Bin’s clothes, pointed to the words she’d written on the ground, and shook her head.

Bin immediately understood what she was asking.

“Yes, this fellow can’t read.”

Perhaps she’d worried that the child might look down on him. Michelle added an unnecessary explanation.

“It’s not that he doesn’t know how to read. It’s a medical condition, a medical condition. Bin is the smartest among us. He’s got an excellent memory, and he’s good at mental arithmetic, too…”

“Michelle.”

Bin frowned at him, telling him not to say anything unnecessary.

Michelle whistled and pretended to look away.

Meanwhile, Charlotte’s expression had grown downcast.

She pointed to her mouth, then crossed the index fingers of both hands into an X.

She pointed at Bin once, then at the words on the ground, and made another X.

Bin had no idea what she was trying to say, so he tilted his head to one side.

Charlotte then pounded her little fist against her chest and stamped her feet, clearly growing frustrated.

“What on earth is she trying to say…?”

“My lady, if you write it on the ground, I’ll pass the message along for you.”

“She can’t speak, and you can’t read.”

Heath had gotten up and walked over to them without anyone noticing.

“She’s frustrated because there’s no way for you two to communicate.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened, and she clapped her hands as if to say he’d gotten it exactly right.

Ignoring the astonished looks from the other two, who wondered how he’d understood her, Heath placed a wooden practice sword he’d carved himself into Charlotte’s hands.

“Give it a swing.”

At Heath’s instruction, he stepped back a few paces, and Charlotte gripped the sword and swung it several times.

Her movements were clumsy in the extreme, but Heath watched her with a stern, unwavering gaze.

When Charlotte turned to look at him as though asking whether she was doing it right, he gave her a nod.

“That weight should be about right. Don’t use an ordinary wooden sword. It’ll put too much strain on your wrists.”

Nod, nod.

“And don’t swing it on your own, either. We don’t want you developing bad habits.”

Nod, nod.

“Let’s start with some basic warm-up exercises. Follow my movements.”

Charlotte followed Heath, awkwardly loosening her wrists and ankles, then stretching her waist and sides.

Once they’d finished their warm-ups, the two of them began running side by side around the training grounds.

Well, they were supposedly running, but Heath was actually walking slowly to keep pace with Charlotte’s little legs.

Michelle stared at Heath as he checked Charlotte’s posture and offered her a few pointers, then belatedly let out a dry laugh.

“That bastard’s really enjoying himself, isn’t he?”