Chapter 35
06. What? Is this the master bedroom?
“Sseueueup!”
Daphne gathered all her strength.
“Haaaa!”
And she lifted the wooden rod with heavy stones attached to it.
How many was this?
I don’t know. I lost count while counting.
“Sseup!”
One more time.
“Eua…….”
Daphne, barely holding the stones with her trembling arms and legs, glanced down at the artifact recording the time.
[0:29:58]
Just 2 more seconds.
[0:29:59]
Just 1 more second……!
[0:30:00]
Kwaang!
Daphne threw the wooden rod down and panted roughly.
“I almost died.”
Heoeok, heok. Daphne wiped the sweat flowing down her forehead and lay flat on her back.
It was the 4th day since she boldly declared she would receive teachings from Heross.
In this turbulent time, Heross judged it dangerous to go out without a guardian, so he had Daphne train at the mansion’s training ground.
Push-ups could be done anywhere, but carrying stones up and down hills was impossible due to the location.
So Heross proposed something else.
-Carry the stones and repeat sitting and standing.
-It should take about 1 hour.
Crazy bastard. Crazy bastard……!
Daphne once again hurled curses at Heross, then opened and guzzled the stacked stamina recovery potions.
The reason she hadn’t collapsed yet was thanks to these potions.
The person who made the potions is a genius. The best.
“Huh? Daphne!”
Into Daphne’s view, as she was digesting the potion and catching her breath, came a reddish head like an unripe tomato. It was Arius.
“Were you still training? Weren’t you here since morning? Did you rest in between and come back?”
“No.”
Daphne wiggled her index finger.
“I’ve been training from morning until now. I finished push-ups too, and now I’m repeating carrying these stones.”
“For how many hours straight?!”
“Yes. Isn’t it amazing. My persistence! My tenacity! Even father would say it’s
amazing if he sees this!”
“Father went to the imperial palace now. He probably won’t come back today.”
“Tsk. I cooked the rice and gave it to the dog.”
Daphne, pouting her lips, rotated her arms that were already getting sore, preparing for the next training.
Arius plopped down next to Daphne, pulled one leg up, rested his cheek on his knee, and looked at Daphne.
“By any chance, Daphne. Is father forcing you to do this?”
“Do I look that easy to force into doing something just because someone tells me?”
“……That’s absolutely not it. Hmm. Absolutely not.”
Arius quickly admitted he had thought wrong.
“But why are you working so hard? You could just do it moderately.”
Seeing Daphne’s face stiffen for a moment, Arius hurriedly waved his hands.
“No, no! I don’t mean it badly! Your body is weak! Of course, it seems better than before, but still weak! I was just suggesting to rest more! No bad intentions! Absolutely!”
Watching Arius pour out words rapidly, Daphne chuckled.
“Okay. Thanks for worrying.”
“Wh-What?”
Arius shouted with a bright red face.
“No, it’s not?! I’m not worrying or anything? Wh-Who worries about you?! It’s not? I never even think about someone like you?!”
Arius, whose face turned tomato-colored like his hair, buried his face in his hands and turned his head away.
Daphne smiled again, feeling the endlessly soft breeze.
“You don’t have to worry.”
“I said I’m not worrying!”
“I can do anything to become strong. So I can handle the current training too.”
“…….”
Arius peeked at Daphne through his fingers.
When he heard Daphne suddenly started running at the training ground, he thought it was a whim that wouldn’t last long.
But it wasn’t. The one being whimsical was Arius himself. Daphne steadfastly and persistently came to the training ground every day to build stamina.
And in doing so, she repelled a band of thieves and became a hero who stopped terrorism.
On top of that, she’s said to receive father’s teachings.
He felt inwardly jealous that everything seemed to be going favorably for Daphne, but all this was thanks to Daphne’s efforts.
Daphne achieved it.
‘Become strong……huh.’
Arius lowered the hands covering his face and took a deep breath.
I won’t lose. I’m not one to lose when it comes to effort either!
“I want to do it too!”
Arius picked up the wooden rod Daphne had thrown and sparkled his eyes.
“Train together! Together!”
“If I say don’t, will you not do it?”
“Then I’ll keep crying and cling, begging to do it together!”
“Do it.”
“Yeah!”
Arius tried to repeat the same motion Daphne had done earlier, placing the wooden rod on his shoulders and carrying the stones. Daphne was about to do push-ups beside him.
“Ah, but I have something I’m curious about.”
“Short and quick.”
“Why are you so obsessed with becoming strong? What will you do once you’re strong? Do you have a goal?”
Daphne, who had placed her small palms on the ground, widened her eyes and looked at Arius.
“I!”
And she raised her voice.
“Will become strong and punch father in the face!”
“……Hitting father after learning from him is your goal?”
“Exactly that!”
“…….”
Is that a goal you can say so proudly?
Arius became confused.
***
Inside the carriage heading to the imperial palace.
Heross was staring at Pauline in the video communication orb, with his chin in his hand.
[It’s not just our grand duke family summoned by His Majesty the Emperor. The Finch marquis family is also included.]
Finch marquis family.
The family that suffered the greatest damage from this black magic terrorism.
Calling the heads of multiple families at once means there is a clear purpose.
In this situation, the purpose that can be derived is only one.
Heross, who had been tapping the window frame with his fingers, opened his mouth.
“They’re trying to build a black mage subjugation force.”
[Yes. Probably.]
Pauline nodded as if she had expected it.
[The reason they called Your Grace is probably to include the vassal families, but it’s not certain.]
“It doesn’t matter. Since I decided to carry out the orders, I just need to follow.”
[I knew you’d answer like that.]
Pauline in the orb chuckled and pushed up her monocle.
[I’ll look into various things anyway. Ah, and the third young master is training with the young lady.]
“Arius?”
[Yes.]
Pauline was monitoring and observing Daphne on behalf of Heross who left the mansion.
[Um, is it okay to leave the two together? The third young master is no longer just a weak child.]
“Daphne is more so.”
[Ah. That makes sense.]
Pauline quickly agreed.
[But the young lady is really tough. She’s been repeating the same training from morning until now.]
“I told her to do so, so she will.”
[Is…… that okay?]
Pauline looked at Heross’s mood with a face full of worry.
[Stamina recovery potions aren’t omnipotent, right? If she doesn’t do it moderately, we don’t know when the young lady will collapse again.]
“If she collapses, we can just let her collapse and recover her.”
[But.]
“Her will is excellent to leave her be just because her body is weak.”
Pauline in the orb opened her mouth, then closed it.
Her deeply furrowed brow indicated she was quite upset.
[It’s not weak, her lifespan is fixed.]
“…….”
The black mage’s curse, black butterfly disease.
It’s said she dies when the four wings turn black. That death can’t be stopped no matter what.
A twitch occurred at the corner of Heross’s eye.
“Then is it right to lock her in the annex like before and prevent her from flying?”
[I’m worried that you’ll have hope that she can fly even though two wings are already broken.]
“Having hope is free, and despairing is free. Nothing can stop it.”
[……Your Grace is only harsh to the young lady.]
Pauline sighed as if defeated and shrugged her shoulders.
[Still, well. You’re paying more attention than before. You used to not even go near her, saying it felt strangely uncomfortable just looking at her.]
Heross unconsciously touched the scar on his face, then frowned and snapped.
“If you have nothing but nonsense to say, I’ll end the communication.”
[Ah! Wait a minute! Just one question. Just one!]
Pauline hurriedly approached the orb and urgently opened her mouth.
[Do you really think the young lady can achieve something? Is that why you’re training her?]
Do I think Daphne can achieve something?
-I need to meet my black mage! Tell me where the black mage is!
-Because I have to defeat him!
Daphne’s wish is revenge against the black mage. That obsession with revenge moved Heross.
“I don’t know.”
But no one knows if the revenge will succeed or fail.
“Since I don’t know, I’m just trying.”
That’s why he’s attempting it.
Because it’s regrettable to do nothing just because the result isn’t certain.
“The attempt itself might be great.”
Heross muttered and shifted his gaze from the orb to beyond the carriage window. He looks up at a bird flying across the clear sky.
‘Birds flying is natural, I suppose.’
No matter how much you try to protect by locking in a cage.
Like that, time passed.
-I’ll make you able to hold a sword within ten days!
The morning of exactly the 10th day since
Daphne started training dawned.
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By Anna 💓
