Until the next day, Elisha was at a loss. She was appreciative towards the knights and, at the sa ti, worried that they might get hurt.
‘Why ?’
Although Elisha felt assured by the Black Lion Knights, she felt frustrated because she could not frankly thank them. Being so preciously protected made her panic. It was frightening to be treated too well.
Because Elisha had had a hard life, she began to imagine the withdrawal of their fondness for her.
As Elisha unhurriedly wandered through the backyard, she ran into Nora. Nora spotted her and then turned her head to avoid her.
“Nora, wait a minute!”
Elisha followed her. She noticed Nora grabbing her arm. At a glance, she could tell her shirt was stained with blood.
“Did you get injured?”
“I’m fine.”
Nora turned her head and greeted her politely as usual. She wanted to avoid her but reluctantly gave her a greeting. Elisha had no idea why she was acting like this.
“… … you’re bleeding.”
“I tend to heal faster than other people, so I had taken my bandages off too early and my wound burst.”
“We have to stop the bleeding. Co here, Nora.”
She took Nora’s hand and led her to take a seat next to her on a bench nearby.
“Can you show your injury?”
she solicited. Nora held out her arm, and Elisha rolled up her blood-stained shirt and fastened Nora’s wrist with her silk handkerchief.
“It looks like a valuable handkerchief—”
“Not at all. This isn’t important.”
Elisha cut off such sentints.
“There are other handkerchiefs that are actually very precious.”
“Really?”
“I don’t have it anymore. But it was a very old handkerchief.”
“So you had it in the past?”
Elisha calmly nodded.
“Yes, I wasn’t able to keep it for very long, but… … . It was sothing I had kept until the very end.”
Elisha recalled the old handkerchief she had received from Nora in her previous life. Obviously, Nora wouldn’t understand her words. Nora tilted her head.
“Nora, are you disappointed in for not expressing my gratitude?”
“Uh?”
“It looked like you wanted to avoid . Am I wrong, Nora?”
Startled, she looked up at Elisha and urgently mumbled,
“No, it is not. I just… … .”
Nora bit her lip and continued.
“I thought you may be disappointed when you saw fighting.”
“Why would I be disappointed?”
“You must have thought I was a great knight. You found out it’s a lie.”
The more Nora spoke, the more Elisha could not understand her.
“What do you an?”
“…… When I go to war, I beco a different person. I’m violent. When I go berserk, chasing the enemy to the end and cutting them down, is the only way to satisfy . It’s like I explode with everything I’ve suppressed during my ti in normal society. Sotis I beco more cruel than necessary.”
“… … .”
“That’s why I am stricter on keeping my chivalry more than others, but… … . My true nature is that. I’m that sort of person. So, when the delicate lady saw fighting, I thought it was inevitable you would be afraid of .”
Elisha understood Nora’s words. She chuckled bitterly.
“Nora. It’s really hard to be nice, and even harder to be sane in this world. Especially for children like us… … . who were abandoned in a monastery.”
“Lady.”
“By your standards, I also… … . I’m the sa sort of person. So, I am grateful enough that Nora is a good person to . And seeing you fight didn’t frighten . It’s just heartbreaking that you got hurt because of .”
Nora said nothing. Elisha also thought that she was a naive person.
‘Co to think of it, there was a ti when I saw Lapis, and wished I had a brother.’
Elisha thought about Nora’s age. She was nineteen years old.
‘You are truly a genius. Nora.’
Just as talent was essential to a wizard, talent was also crucial to a sworder above a certain level. Being an excellent swordsfighter was not simply attained with strength and skill, but one also had to be talented in magic.
‘Co to think of it, when I was young, I wanted a younger sister.’
When her mother passed away, she had grieved for a long ti. It was a very old mory, and she infrequently rembered it.
‘Maybe a younger sister like Nora would have been nice.’
Won were everywhere in the monastery. So, if she had a family, she naturally thought it would be a woman.
“I… … . Strangely, I feel close with you, Nora. I don’t even know why.”
“Madam.”
“So, don’t worry about these trivial things, Nora. I’m really sorry I couldn’t tell you before. Thank you for fighting for .”
Of course, they fought a little for Elisha and primarily for Lucerne. Or as their honor as knights.
Elisha surmised as much. But even if the motive of fighting for her was as much as a speck of dust, she was genuinely pleased and grateful. She could swear by it.
The two of them had a long conversation and then parted ways. She felt strangely at ease.
***
No matter how turbulent it was yesterday, the mansion grew peaceful again. The knights trained in the gymnasium with the diligent Nora supervising them.
Ian disappeared again, and after Corinne trained, he took a nap. Lazri and Lapis were locked in the lab.
In the afternoon, Elisha had called upon a rchant to the mansion to buy needed furniture.
‘There will be no major wars for a while, so Lucerne will stay in the capital.’
Then, they might welco guests and hold light gatherings like other aristocratic households. Unfortunately, the mansion lacked tableware to serve guests, so Elisha spent the afternoon picking plates.
“Elisha.”
When Lucerne appeared in the room, she was looking at plates with the dealer. Elisha was stunned.
Reviews
All reviews (0)