Chapter 05
“Y-YES, MA’AM!!”
‘My poor ears…’
The female lead had the same thought when she first arrived. At least she had to go through tough training, including shouting like that, but luckily I didn’t have to.
I’d already trained like crazy under Lord Baroque for over ten years…
There was a separate training hall just for commanders, so I headed that way.
The place was huge, with wooden dividers everywhere, making it feel a bit overwhelming.
And just like before—I got lost.
‘Right. Since the story mostly followed the female lead, there weren’t many scenes about the commanders’ training halls.’
Normally, the moment a Lefevre joined the military, junior officers would be assigned right away.
But since I came earlier than planned thanks to Enrico, no one had been assigned to me yet.
Which meant I had to wander around on my own.
‘Might as well use this chance to learn my way around.’
Feeling like I was exploring a maze, I kept walking through the training grounds, checking each one. That’s when I suddenly sensed someone nearby.
In this massive military district, people were so rare that I naturally headed toward the sound.
And when I stepped inside—
I realized I’d gone to the wrong place.
I quickly turned and left.
After a bit more wandering, I finally found the shared training ground for commanders.
I took off my coat and placed it on a bench.
‘I can’t believe Schloitz was there…’
I must have entered the Supreme Commander’s private training area earlier.
Thankfully, Schloitz had his back to the entrance and was swinging his sacred sword.
From what I glimpsed, his sword strikes were fast and relentless… and I was honestly amazed.
‘Now I get why the military collapsed in despair after Schloitz died.’
Of course, I was devastated because my favorite character died, but for the military, they lost their strongest asset and top authority figure. No wonder they were terrified.
And they probably dealt with monsters all the time… I’d feel like the sky was falling too.
Thinking that, I panted for breath. I was running hard around the training field, so it wasn’t surprising.
I couldn’t help it—before I left home, Lord Baroque had said something:
“As a direct descendant of Lefevre, you’ll be appointed as a commander right away. That means your training will be self-directed… But surely, you wouldn’t slack off just because I’m not there, right?”
“Of course not!”
“Good. I trust you. But I’ll still be checking your physical condition every time you visit on leave.”
“…?”
‘That’s what you call trust…?’
Anyway, Lord Baroque’s words scared me, and my instincts told me I had to run every single day starting from my first day.
His eyes were so sharp he’d definitely notice if I ever slacked off even once.
Before, just running a couple of laps would distract me from thoughts of Schloitz.
But now, I had to run way more because I didn’t tire as easily.
By the time my mind was half-blank from running, I finally stopped, panting hard.
Leaning forward, I placed my hands on my knees as sweat dripped from my chin to the floor.
That’s when I noticed a pair of boots in my peripheral vision.
I looked up—and nearly collapsed.
I almost fell backward, but someone caught my wrist and pulled me upright with firm strength.
I wobbled a bit but didn’t fall.
“…Thank you, Sir Procyon.”
Schloitz only let go of my wrist after glancing at my legs.
I had to put in all my effort to calm my racing breath.
But that wasn’t something I could control so easily.
I’d already been breathless from running, and now Schloitz had appeared out of nowhere.
If my heart exploded on the spot, it would’ve made perfect sense.
My face was burning red again, and I felt like dying.
Schloitz said nothing but kept looking at me, as if waiting for me to catch my breath.
Which, somehow, made it even more awkward.
Just when I was thinking, “Please disappear now…”, he turned around.
I felt relieved—until…
He picked up a towel from the bench and poured water from a canteen onto it.
Then he tossed the cool, wet towel toward me.
I thanked him again, unfolded the towel, and pressed it against my face.
The cold water felt amazing.
And having my vision blocked for a moment made me feel like I could breathe again.
Once I’d calmed down a bit, I lowered the towel.
Only then did I notice Schloitz had showered after training.
His damp hair and a different shirt than before gave it away.
I could see a bit of his collarbone and quickly looked away.
His voice came from above me:
“So you ran here after fleeing earlier?”
I froze. I knew exactly what he meant.
Even though he hadn’t turned around earlier, he’d still noticed me.
“It was my first time here, and I got lost. I’m sorry.”
“Junior officers… Oh, you haven’t been assigned any yet.”
“No, not yet.”
I spoke while still holding the towel and trying to read his mood.
“I really didn’t mean to interrupt your training. I apologize.”
“Do people know the Lefevre heir spends all day apologizing like this?”
The words were sarcastic, but his tone wasn’t.
It sounded… oddly amused.
I cautiously glanced up.
The moment our eyes met, I looked away again.
Even without Venus’s warning, it was hard to look Schloitz in the eyes.
Maybe it was my guilty conscience?
But even setting that aside, his gaze was always so icy and sharp—it made eye contact difficult.
It felt like standing in front of a predator that might pounce at any moment.
Schloitz spoke again:
“I’ll send Raphael to you. Get your schedule from him.”
“Sir Raphael?”
“Yes.”
Wasn’t he Schloitz’s personal aide?
I was surprised by the sudden offer.
When I looked up, I had to meet those piercing blue eyes again—and quickly looked away.
“If the Lefevre heir gets lost again, it’ll be a pain.”
“Yes. I’ll be more careful… Sir Procyon.”
I could still feel his gaze on me, though it didn’t last long.
Then he turned and walked out of the training ground.
I stood there holding the towel he’d given me.
****
An hour later.
“Of course I should be the one escorting you!”
Raphael, who had come to find me, looked genuinely shocked.
Apparently, he had gone straight to my room early in the morning.
When he learned I was already out, he panicked and searched the whole area for me.
“Right now, only the Supreme Commander and a few others are allowed access to the Oparts. But in three months, that’ll change. If you’re not present, the entire military’s operations could be disrupted!”
“Because of the blessings?”
“Exactly!”
“Hmm…”
He wasn’t wrong.
The Lefevre Oparts were a new discovery after hundreds of years, and Schloitz had personally chosen it as a defensive relic.
If I properly gave out blessings, it would massively increase the knights’ survival rate—it was practically a miracle.
Oparts would become as essential as sacred swords.
They’d probably restructure the entire monster response strategy.
And Enrico was a genius.
Right now, I needed to give blessings once a week, but with more research, that interval would keep getting longer.
Eventually, I might only need to do it once a year.
Until then, I needed to conserve my stamina and focus on delivering blessings properly.
Raphael carefully brought something up:
“Also, Lady Lefevre… I heard your training was pretty intense yesterday. Could you take it easier? Otherwise, I might have to start nagging you.”
“Really? Got it.”
‘Well, it’s not just for me. It’s for the greater good. Even Lord Baroque can’t complain.’
Exactly. Even Schloitz’s aide was saying this much.
I couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Lady Lefevre, why are you smiling all of a sudden?”
“Oh, no reason.”
I pressed my lips together.
The thought of only running twenty laps a day from now on made my heart race.
It was hard not to smile.
“Until junior officers are assigned, you won’t have any official duties.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ve been given all those tasks.”
“…?”
I blinked in confusion.
“Is that okay?”
“No problem. For the Oparts, I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Hmm.”
I walked alongside Raphael as he showed me around.
He took me to important locations like the cafeteria, meeting room, infirmary, sacred sword storage, library, and more.
‘This is kind of amazing.’
These places had been mentioned often in the original novel “The Tragedy of the Mad Beauty.”
Unlike the Lefevre estate, which was rarely mentioned, the military district felt so familiar.
It was strange and exciting to finally see in real life the places I’d only imagined.
