The princess I saw after such a long ti was the sa as always.
She was still oblivious, yet devoted to and continued to follow around, calling ‘Sir Ian.’
It had only been a re two months.
There hadn’t been enough ti for any significant changes to occur.
It was simply that my sense of ti beca excessively distorted from dealing with all sorts of extre incidents, starting with the news about the Underling of the Evil God.
Even so, it was a full sixty days of the pri of our youth.
It was a period that could have felt long to anyone, especially if they had been anxiously waiting for soone.
That was precisely the case with the princess.
When we t again after a long ti, she looked up at with shining eyes, hands clasped together. The look on her face made it clear that just seeing was enough to make her happy.
She truly was a perplexing woman.
Objectively speaking, I wasn’t in any position to be so admired by her.
Though it stemd from a misunderstanding, there was a ti when the princess and I were embroiled in intense conflict.
Moreover, despite the circumstances, I was the one who had assaulted her in front of a crowd.
Had it not been for the Dragonblood Script, I wouldn’t have had any excuses if I were to be executed at that ti.
In truth, most of what I had done to the princess could be considered bad.
And yet, she liked so much.
She seed to be thrilled just to see .
I couldn’t fathom why.
I could only speculate that she was simply thrilled to et soone who had shown her genuine kindness, expecting nothing in return, for the first ti in a long while.
Sotis, that affection felt burdenso, like it did now.
But it had been a while since we last t.
And there was no way I could dislike such a lovely junior who so eagerly followed around.
I greeted her with a faint smile.
“…It’s been a while, Your Highness.”
“You’re so amazing, Sir Ian!”
The complint ca out of nowhere.
My confused gaze turned toward her.
But the princess was already in the posture of a prophet proclaiming the truth.
Simply put, she was utterly convinced that the claim ‘Sir Ian is amazing’ was so self-evident that no one would dare to question it.
Before I even had the ti to be embarrassed, the princess’s praise ca pouring down.
“I heard about how you defeated the Underling of the Evil God! When I heard you nearly died, honestly, my heart ached so much… But Sir Ian, you’re truly the knight of all knights! How could you charge at that monster without any fear…”
“…Hold on a mont, Your Highness.”
She seed ready to have spent several minutes extolling my deeds had I not stopped her.
After silencing the princess, I subtly glanced around.
Thankfully, the central avenue was mostly empty.
It was still early morning and the vacation wasn’t over yet.
Unless soone had been waiting for like the princess, there weren’t many who would be out and about at dawn.
Well, at the Academy, there actually were quite a few people who might.
But most of them would already be holed up in the training rooms or the library by now.
Still, just in case, I cautiously reminded the princess.
“Your Highness, you do know, right? That incident is still classified… If word gets out that the Underling of the Evil God appeared, it’ll cause a huge uproar.”
“B-But there were many witnesses, and the evidence is undeniable, so most people probably already know! Besides, why should we hide Sir Ian’s heroic deeds…!”
“…Because it’s exhausting.”
It was a sigh-laden response.
It’s not that I disliked having my achievents being widely known or basking in the admiration that cos with growing fa.
After all, doesn’t every human have a desire for recognition?
I was no different.
But right now, my desire for rest was stronger.
After uncovering secrets tied to my family and surviving a near-death crisis, I then had to deal with a string of other events, including Senior Elsie’s confession.
The accumulated fatigue, both physical and psychological, was overwhelming.
In any case, it wasn’t possible to keep the appearance of the Evil God’s Undeling a secret for long.
The incident was far too significant to be simply covered up.
So why not enjoy a brief period of peace while I could?
It was a perfectly reasonable judgent.
However, the princess seed to interpret my desire differently.
Her light grey eyes grew dreamy once again.
“Even your humility in not seeking honour… It’s admirable, Sir Ian. You’re truly different from those driven by greed…”
I was about to reply, but then I just smacked my lips and let it be.
Without her dragon’s eyes, the utterly clueless Princess was hopeless.
Unless she took off those rose-tinted glasses, the day when the princess would understand my true feelings seed far off.
In the end, I decided to change the subject of the conversation.
“By the way, have you heard any news about Da Irene?”
“…A-AH! Yes, yes!”
The Princess, who had been absentmindedly gazing at , suddenly seed to recall and responded with a jolt
She quickly nodded her head.
“I was inford… She ntioned that she still has so training left, so she’ll be staying at the manor a bit longer. Thank you, Sir Ian, for looking after even my subordinate….”
As she spoke, the sincerity in her words was evident as she politely bowed.
Her concern for her subordinates seed genuine.
After all, that’s probably why she still kept Da Irene around despite her current state.
I doubt Da Irene was so dejected from the beginning.
She likely broke down after a series of shocking failures.
In that case, even I couldn’t be free from the weight of that responsibility.
Technically, the bla should be placed on my future self, but it’s not as if I’m completely unrelated to that person.
So, I wasn’t deserving of the princess’s gratitude.
“No, rather, it’s actually I who received a lot of help from Da Irene. Uh, she provided so crucial testimony…”
Praising Da Irene out of the blue, I ended up saying all sorts of things.
Crucial testimony?
That’s more of an intelligence agent’s job, not sothing an escort knight should be concerned with. Especially considering it occurred while she failed to protect the person she was supposed to guard.
Besides, I wasn’t even sure if her testimony could be considered ‘crucial.’
On the day I left the manor, Da Irene had once again emphasised to ,
“B-Back then, I rember there was a sudden flash of light…!”
“Yes, I understand… Thank you, Da Irene. Please take care of Ria.”
Of course, I didn’t pay much attention to it.
Anyone could claim to have seen a flash of light.
If I got knocked out by soone, I was confident I would repeat the sa testimony without changing a word.
With a wry smile, I continued exchanging pleasantries with the princess.
It was then that she brought up an unexpected topic.
“B-But, Sir Ian…?”
The princess’s face looked slightly pale as she hesitated.
The beads of cold sweat trickling down her cheek reflected her anxious state of mind.
I could only stare at her, puzzled, not understanding the reason for her unease.
A question naturally slipped from my lips.
“…Yes?”
“Well, B-By chance…”
The princess, who had been sneaking glances at to gauge my reaction, soon seed to steel herself, as she tightly closed her eyes, and asked a question.
“D-Did your little sister happen to ntion anything to you…?”
‘Little sister,’ huh.
Unless the princess hadn’t been misled, she must have been referring to Ria.
Of course, I hadn’t heard anything particular from Ria.
With growing curiosity, I asked the princess,
“No, nothing at all… Did sothing happen?”
“…A-Ahht! N-Not at all!”
The princess jumped in place and fervently denied it.
Shaking her head rapidly, she quickly turned away and began to hurry off.
“Ah, ah! I-I just rembered I have so paperwork to finish! I’ll see you later, Sir Ian!”
Her behaviour was blatantly suspicious.
For a mont, I considered following her and pressing for answers.
It seed she was desperately trying to hide sothing, and with her clumsy deanour, I thought it wouldn’t take much questioning to get the truth out of her.
But I quickly dismissed that rude idea.
The Princess, perhaps due to her nervousness, was walking rather stiffly. The sight was quite amusing yet also sowhat cute.
As her senior, it wouldn’t be right to bully a junior.
So I dragged my luggage and headed to my dormitory.
Thinking I’d take a good rest in my room today.
***Even after returning to the Academy, my daily routine didn’t change much.
My top priority was to restore the muscles I lost during my ti bedridden.
I devoted myself to rehabilitation as soon as I got up, then alternated between training and resting until my muscles recovered.
Fortunately, I had plenty of healing potions on hand.
They significantly shortened the ti it took for my muscle fibers to heal.
At this rate, I’d be able to get back into top shape before the new term begins.
However, even after returning to the Academy, there was still sothing troubling .
It was Senior Elsie.
Right after I returned to the Academy, Senior Elsie seed to have vanished.
I suspected she was probably avoiding .
Part of wanted to consult with Senior Delphine about this.
After all, Senior Delphine had a history of conflict with Senior Elsie since their first year at the Academy. Naturally, she probably knew Senior Elsie better than anyone else here.
But Senior Delphine hadn’t returned from the Yurdina territory yet.
And it wasn’t as if I could go all the way there just to consult with her. That only left with one option.
Lupine Rinella.
As Senior Elsie’s younger brother, he might be able to offer so clear answers.
Though I wasn’t exactly eager to take this step.
It wasn’t that I disliked Lupine himself, but I dreaded how he might react when he found out I’d turned down Senior Elsie’s confession.
Just imagining how much he’d nag was exhausting.
He’d probably berate , saying, ‘How could soone like you dare reject my sister?’
Given that I couldn’t figure out the reason myself, Lupine, being her brother, must have felt even more exasperated.
So, I started asking around to find out where he was.
Since the Academy was still mostly deserted, it took a bit of ti, but eventually, I managed to figure out where he had gone.
He was in the forest next to the dormitory.
I wondered if he was there to practice magic, so I heightened my senses and tracked his presence.
Maybe this would have been difficult in the past,but now that I’d reached the level of an Expert, it was no problem.
Now, if it had been the southern forest, it might have been different, but the forest near the dormitory was relatively smaller.
So it didn’t take long for to find Lupine.
However, there was soone unexpected with him.
Just seeing the pointed hat from afar was enough to tell who it was.
It was Senior Elsie.
Instinctively, I suppressed my presence and hid myself in the bushes.
Facing her directly still felt uncomfortable.
I was frustrated with myself for not understanding why I was acting this way.
Senior Elsie had her eyes tightly shut and her head bowed.
Her trembling shoulders revealed the depth of her distress.
In front of her, Lupine, filled with enthusiasm, was shouting.
“That’s right, Sister! That’s the spirit! Be brave and say it… A true noble endures montary sha to achieve sothing greater!”
From the way he was speaking, it seed they were in the middle of so sort of training.
It would make sense for Senior Elsie to be teaching Lupine, but what could Lupine possibly be teaching her?
Just as I was puzzling over this,
“I-I-I…”
Senior Elsie stamred, her voice coming out in broken fragnts.
She seed to be struggling quite a bit.
Beads of cold sweat had begun to form on her forehead.
It was then that I finally realised what Senior Elsie was practising.
She was practising how to apologise.
The simple act of saying ‘I’m sorry’ was so difficult for her that she was having a hard ti.
It was absurd, but Lupine seed to fully sympathise with Senior Elsie’s feelings.
Gritting his teeth and holding back tears, he shouted,
“Yes, that’s the spirit! Just a little more, Siste…!”
“I-I, ugh…I-
And after all that effort, Senior Elsie finally managed to force out a complete sentence.
“…Idiotic bitch, you were the one who was wrong first!”
Though it wasn’t exactly an apology.
I was dumbfounded by the ridiculous training of the Rinella siblings.
What the hell are they doing?
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