Chapter 10
We returned to the castle, but the knights’ attitudes hadn’t changed.
“Oh dear, lately my body’s been all stiff—”
A knight stretched, swinging his arms.
‘Now that I’ve been dodging their trips, they’re pretending to stretch just to punch me.’
I stopped in place, and the knight went as far as to stand in front of me, swinging his arm again.
“Ugh, why am I so stiff lately? I should probably do some stretching.”
As the knight rolled his shoulders, his arm whooshed right over my head.
“Hahaha. Cut it out. The young lady can’t get by, you know?”
“Hm? The young lady’s here? She’s so tiny I didn’t even notice. Oh dear, feels like my hand bumped into something.”
Laughter erupted among the knights.
They must’ve been sure the Duke didn’t care about me—none of them held back anymore.
It felt like they wouldn’t let me pass unless I tripped once.
‘Dodging them is easy, but there’s no reason for me to deal with this myself.’
Because Swell was approaching from the opposite side.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
The knight, not realizing the displeasure in Swell’s voice, answered cheerfully.
“I was just doing some stretches because I’ve been feeling stiff.”
“Is that so? I didn’t realize your body had gotten so rusty. Had I known, I would’ve helped. Give me your arm.”
The knight hesitantly held out his arm, unsure what to expect.
Then, without warning, Swell twisted the knight’s arm behind his back.
“Aaaagh!”
As the knight screamed, Swell calmly said,
“Your shoulder’s really stiff. From now on, you should add stretching after training.”
“I-I’m fine… Aaaaagh!”
Swell pulled the arm further while punching the knight’s back.
“Leaning forward like this helps the stretch work better.”
“O-okay, I’m good now… Argh!”
“You’re still screaming, so your muscles must still be tense.”
Then he bent the knight forward in half.
“Gugh!”
“To use a sword well, your back muscles are important.”
Swell folded the knight like origami, again and again.
With each pained scream, the other knights looked at him with growing fear.
“Come to think of it, the rest of you seem a little stiff too.”
At his words, they frantically shook their heads.
“N-No, sir! We’re fine!”
“Yes, of course!”
“Really? From where I stand, your necks seem pretty stiff.”
Swell locked eyes with each of them.
“For you not to notice the young lady coming by—shameful.”
“N-No, sir!”
“We sincerely apologize!”
The knights quickly bowed and lowered their eyes.
“If you ever find it hard to stretch alone, feel free to come find me. I’ll help you.”
“No thank you!”
“We couldn’t possibly trouble you, sir!”
Swell glanced at me.
The knights noticed immediately and bowed again.
“We apologize, young lady! We were distracted and failed to notice your presence. Please, forgive us!”
At their disciplined apology, I gave a casual nod.
Swell tossed aside the knight he had folded like a napkin. I watched his comrades help him up and flee.
‘Looks like the hallways are going to be a lot more comfortable from now on.’
‘Woke up early again.’
Habits were scary things.
I knew I didn’t have to wake up early anymore, but I still got up at 4 AM out of habit.
‘I don’t feel sleepy anymore, but I’m hungry… Is there anything to eat?’
I left the bed and headed toward the kitchen—only to run into the Duke again.
“I believe I told you last time that this is sleeping time.”
I clamped my mouth shut and said nothing.
The Duke turned me around.
“Go back to bed.”
Just then, my stomach growled.
It was a small sound, but of course the Duke heard it.
“Don’t tell me you woke up because you were hungry?”
I nodded silently. The Duke looked at me with a complicated expression and said,
“Follow me.”
He led me to his room.
He sat me down on the sofa and glanced around.
“Nothing to eat…”
His brows furrowed in irritation.
“Wait here.”
He left the room and returned with a basket full of apples.
Sitting beside me, he asked,
“Want me to cut them into bunnies again?”
Honestly, whether they were bunnies or tigers, it didn’t matter once it was in my mouth. But the Duke seemed to enjoy cutting apples into bunny shapes.
“Bunnies are nice.”
If I said I didn’t care, he might take the food away.
Satisfied with my answer, the Duke smiled.
“Kids always like bunny-shaped things.”
Do they?
I thought about it but wasn’t sure.
He carved the apples beautifully and watched me eat with his chin resting in his hand.
“You really like eating, huh?”
Was he going to scold me for eating too much?
I watched him warily and put the apple down.
“I’m not trying to scold you. Eat.”
“O-okay.”
Only the sound of me chewing echoed in the quiet room.
“Anywhere hurt?”
“Hurt?”
“You went monster hunting with Swell, didn’t you? I heard it was a dangerous one.”
“I’m fine.”
“Hmm.”
The Duke watched me thoughtfully and then asked,
“Swell says you’re a genius with a sword. That you even defeated a monster.”
“W-what?”
I nearly choked on the apple.
“Thanks to that, he’s determined to make you the next Duke. Did you know?”
“He-he said that?”
Was the Duke suspicious of who I really was?
He narrowed his eyes, then suddenly laughed.
“Well, I brought you here. You ought to live up to that much.”
What a relief.
I guess no sane person would believe the dead Evil Dragon’s daughter came back to life.
As the mark of the Evil Dragon flashed through my mind, I felt a little down.
The Duke pinched my nose playfully.
“Why are you making such an ugly face?”
“Because I’m ugly.”
I knew I didn’t have a face that made people feel kindly toward me.
Even Reagan said just looking at me made him irritated.
“Who said that? I should… no, never mind.”
“Should I go dig the orphanage director out of jail and kill him…?” he muttered darkly.
Then he grabbed my shoulders seriously.
“Be confident. You might be ugly, but you’re still the best among the ugly ones in the world. I haven’t seen anyone uglier than you.”
“…Thanks.”
I nodded half-heartedly, and the Duke gave a troubled smile.
Then, as if trying to cheer me up, he asked brightly,
“Since you did such a good job this time, how about a reward? Anything you want?”
A reward!
That beef I had last time was amazing. Could I ask for that again?
It melted in my mouth…
“If you don’t want anything, I’ll just give you some jewe—”
“Beef!”
We spoke at the same time.
I looked at him resentfully.
‘If I had just waited five seconds…’
I could’ve gotten jewels instead! With those, I could buy as much beef as I wanted!
The Duke chuckled.
“Don’t look at me like that. Alright, I’ll give you both. Seriously, asking for nothing but beef. You have no greed.”
Is there anything more precious in this world than food?
After years of eating rice mixed with pebbles, you really learn to appreciate it.
‘At least you can pick out the pebbles. That guy who dumped ashes in my bowl…’
I shook my head to push away the depressing memories.
No good ever came from thinking about the past.
“By the way, Denson says he wants a proper rematch with you. I’ll let you know once a date is set.”
“I’ll win.”
The Duke smiled and tugged my cheek.
“Confident, huh. If you’ve finished your snack, go sleep now.”
“But you’re up early too.”
“No, I didn’t wake up early. I just didn’t sleep.”
“Why not?”
“Didn’t feel like it. I tend to have bad dreams.”
“Nightmares?”
“Something like that.”
So even the Duke of Clasta has nightmares.
I thought for a moment.
He gave me water, fed me nice food, and was nice in his own way.
It bothered me that someone like that couldn’t sleep.
When people don’t sleep well, they get cranky, and everything annoys them.
He might take it out on me.
“Then… should I read you a bedtime story?”
“A story?”
“I read in a book that parents read bedtime stories to kids who can’t sleep.”
“What? Hah. Alright. But I don’t have any storybooks.”
“Then I’ll just read any book.”
The Duke laughed and lay loosely on the sofa.
“Alright, pick one from over there.”
I looked at his bookshelf—every book was thick and boring-looking.
I picked the one with the prettiest spine.
Didn’t expect it to be this hard.
“So then I, the day, meet the… his story?”
“The old history.”
“The old history system…”
“Structure.”
…This book is in the common language, right?
I hadn’t studied much, but I thought I could at least read.
“…This is too hard.”
I pouted. The Duke pulled me toward him.
“No good. Come here.”
He leaned back on the sofa and sat me between his legs.
“I can’t listen to that awful reading.”
It was harsh, but fair.
“I’ll read it. Just listen carefully.”
He hugged me in his arms and began reading in a low, soft voice.
“So, we emerge from the outdated historical structure to encounter a new idea within the medium of ideals and reality—”
What?
“This transformation nurtures the inner self and elevates humans to a higher dimension of existence—”
Just moments ago, I was wide awake. But his voice felt like a spell, slowly dulling my senses.
“This emphasizes that humans are not merely part of a collective, but beings of individual will, leading to significant developments within the school of thought…”
Hearing the gentle breaths in his arms, the Duke of Clasta couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
“Out cold.”
Of all books, she had to pick the one known as a sleeping pill even at the academy.
“Couldn’t even read it properly.”
He tapped her soft cheek, and she murmured in her sleep, curling up like a kitten.
She’d been skin and bones when he first brought her here, but thanks to regular meals, she was much plumper now—and the feel was nice.
“Hmm…”
He tried to get up but realized she’d wake if he did.
He could’ve just told her to return to her room, but didn’t want to disturb her peaceful face.
“Just this once, I’ll let it go.”
He gently tugged her cheek again. She didn’t stir.
Maybe it was her warmth… but he eventually drifted off too.
When he opened his eyes, she was gone.
Instead, Orwell was placing down a report.
The Duke lifted his arm to block the sunlight and asked,
“What time is it?”
“Past ten. You’ve never slept this late. Not in years.”
“That’s true.”
“Did you read a book? That one’s infamous even as a sedative in the Epicurean school. Why not read it every night from now on?”
“That’s not why I fell asleep.”
If it were, he wouldn’t have suffered insomnia for nearly thirty years.
He ran a hand through his hair irritably.
“Where’s Ariel?”
“In sword training, I believe.”
“I see.”
Then he noticed drool stains and apple crumbs on his shirt.
He burst into laughter.
Orwell flinched.
“Wh-What’s so funny? That laugh was kind of creepy…”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
Still smiling, the Duke added,
“Anyway, stock some food in my room.”
“For someone who barely eats one meal a day? Why food?”
“Just do it.”
“Sigh. Fine. What should I stock?”
He looked at the now-empty apple basket and replied,
“Apples.”
“Sir?”
“Make sure the basket is always full. Every day.”
But it wasn’t because of Ariel.
Absolutely not.
“I still don’t know how she managed to win over Swell. I thought she’d die during the last monster hunt.”
“Thank goodness we killed the village chief beforehand. Any later and the Duke might’ve found out.”
“I heard the knights are being watched closely so they don’t act out anymore.”
“The Duke doesn’t even care about her. What business does a knight have interfering?”
“Maybe the Duke ordered Swell to help her?”
At their murmuring, the chairman spoke.
“You really think the Duke cares about that girl?”
“She does seem suspicious.”
“If he truly cared, he’d have given her proper heir treatment. Her own room, formal introductions to the Emperor. But look at her now—he hasn’t even started proper successor training.”
The elders all nodded.
“You’re right. If he meant to make her his heir, he wouldn’t be neglecting her like this.”
The chairman smiled coldly.
“I’ve known the Duke since childhood. He’s not the type to grow fond of people. After losing his family to the Evil Dragon, he went mad chasing monsters.”
He looked around the room.
“So ignore that knight. We have more than one card to play. No matter how talented she is, she’s still just a seven-year-old child.”
“But didn’t she survive the last hunt?”
“Swell must be more skilled than we expected. Still, without the Duke’s help, what could she possibly do in this castle?”
The chairman’s lips twisted into a sinister grin.
“She won’t even be able to lift her sword on the day of the duel with Denson.”
