Chapter 110
“I’m sorry, Oscar. I really messed up back then.”
Joseph bowed his head.
He placed one hand on his chest like a gentleman apologizing to a lady—it looked dramatic, but not entirely wrong.
In fact, the angle of his bow was almost too perfect.
It felt like he had studied a book titled How Gentlemen Apologize.
“I’m sorry too, for hiding the truth all this time.”
Joseph turned to Boris, who was standing beside Oscar, and gave the same kind of bow—hand on chest, about 70 degrees forward.
Then, without saying anything else, he turned around and went to his bed.
He lifted a pillow and pulled something out, handing one item each to Oscar and Boris.
“These are gifts as my apology. I’m not saying these make up for what I did, but I couldn’t come empty-handed.”
What he gave them… were two insects.
One looked like a spider.
The other, a giant beetle.
“…Are you joking?”
Oscar’s body trembled in anger.
His eyes turned red as if he was about to punch Joseph—but he held back, maybe because Joseph still had bandages on his head.
Instead, Oscar ran up and grabbed him by the collar.
“How could you?! How could you act like nothing happened and pretend to be my friend? Do you know how messed up this is?!”
The two bugs slipped from Joseph’s hands and fell to the floor.
They started crawling… right toward me! I had to jump up and down to avoid them.
“I’m sorry. Back then, I really thought you’d like them…”
“What?! Do you think that’s something you say now?!”
Tears welled up in Oscar’s eyes.
To him, this sounded like Joseph was mocking him.
Oscar was too young, too hurt, and too betrayed to understand Joseph’s strange way of thinking.
Joseph had lied for five years.
All that time, he pretended to be Oscar’s friend, while watching him blame Boris.
Oscar had been sharpening his anger toward Boris, but the real culprit was right beside him all along, silently watching.
“Are you making fun of me? You saw how upset I was all this time. What were you thinking?”
Oscar raised his fist again.
But again, he couldn’t bring himself to punch someone who was already hurt. His hand just shook.
“If I could go back, I wouldn’t do it again. I know now you hated it.”
Joseph didn’t look guilty—he looked determined.
A big tear rolled down Oscar’s cheek.
Then he suddenly pushed Joseph hard and shouted:
“When you’re healed, I’m going to punch you! So don’t talk to me until then!”
Oscar wiped his tears and stormed out of the room, slamming the door.
Joseph, who had fallen onto the bed, slowly sat up again.
But maybe he should’ve stayed down.
SMACK.
“How could you do this to me?!”
That was Boris.
Unlike Oscar, who held back, Boris didn’t hesitate.
He punched Joseph straight in the face.
Joseph fell again, and Boris stood over him, crying hard.
“You betrayed me! I told you I didn’t remember doing anything bad! I said I didn’t think it was me!”
Boris kept wiping his eyes with his sleeve, but more tears kept falling.
Joseph sat up, holding his sore cheek.
“Everyone blamed me. Said it was all my fault… but I really didn’t do it. Still, they all looked at me like they knew I would.”
“I’m sorry, big brother. This is all my fault.”
Joseph bowed his head again.
But it didn’t feel like a heartfelt apology.
It felt like he was just following instructions from a book titled How to Say Sorry.
SMACK.
Boris hit him again.
Then he rubbed his eyes so hard it looked like he might hurt his skin.
After a long silence, Boris stomped over to me.
I had been busy avoiding the creepy spider and beetle, and ended up trapped in a corner of the room.
Boris didn’t even look at me. He crouched down and grabbed the beetle.
He stuffed it into his pocket.
Then, with his other hand, he picked up one of the spider’s legs.
“This one too! Take it away!”
I flailed my arms and begged with my whole body to get rid of the bug.
Boris, with eyes still red from crying, stared at me for a moment.
Then he threw the spider to the middle of the room and stormed out just like Oscar.
“Ow…”
Joseph groaned and sat up again.
“Ptooey!”
He spit something into his hand.
“My tooth fell out. It’s been wobbly for days.”
He held up two tiny teeth.
I sighed and rubbed my forehead.
“…They say if you throw your tooth on the roof, a tooth fairy will grant your wish.”
“Hm…”
Joseph stared at the teeth in his hand for a moment.
Then he shrugged and placed them on the table.
“I’ll throw them when I figure out what to wish for.”
“…Those two need time. And I think you do too, right?”
“Actually, I need something more than time.”
“What is it?”
Joseph groaned as he lay back down on the bed.
“…Can you call a doctor, Izana? I think I’m getting a nosebleed.”
I jumped up and ran out of the room.
As I was running, I thought of Boris walking off with a beetle in his pocket.
‘It’ll take time…’
But maybe there’s still hope.
I let out a deep breath of relief.
***
[Someone’s watching us!]
“Huff… huff…!”
At Raglia’s voice, I dropped my wooden sword and collapsed.
My daily life was mostly free, but I had a routine I had to follow:
First—eat well: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
Second—do physical training with Lord Rad at the training grounds.
But since the explosion incident caused by Joseph, the indoor training area was closed for now.
The outdoor one was still open, but the Emperor had banned me from using it for a while.
So I started training with Lord Rad in the garden near the guesthouse where I stayed.
“Lord Rad, I want to learn swordsmanship too!”
“Oh? You want to learn the sword, milady?”
“Yes! Please tell me honestly if I have the talent to become a Sword Master!”
After our physical training, Lord Rad agreed to teach me the basics.
He started with the simplest move—the downward strike.
It meant swinging the sword from above your head down in a big motion.
He told me to repeat it 100 times.
“Huff… huff… how am I doing, Lord Rad?”
Do I have the talent?
Lord Rad patted my head and smiled.
“Your shouting is full of spirit. It’s good to dream big. If you work hard, it can only help you.”
Hmm… that sounded like a polite way of saying “no.”
Winter had gone to the black market to get a herb that causes lucid dreams.
Apparently it was out of season and mainly used for pleasure, so it could only be found illegally.
Meanwhile, I played with Shuran and asked Alfred, who was watching me, what he thought.
Alfred gave a big smile and two thumbs up.
“You’re doing great, milady!”
“Really? I can awaken my aura, right?”
“Just bend your left knee a little more, straighten your back and shoulders, lift your chin, and swing with more strength!”
“So I really do have talent, right?”
“Hahaha! You’re doing great! The best talent is consistency, and you’re a genius at that!”
I wasn’t fully convinced, but I decided to trust them and kept swinging the wooden sword.
Then Raglia whispered to me alone.
[Someone keeps watching! I feel a creepy gaze! Maybe they recognized me!]
“Huff… huff… where are they?”
Raglia pulled me by the wrist toward a direction.
Just then, Alfred ran over.
“Milady, what’s wrong?”
“Uh, my bracelet says someone’s over there.”
I had pretended the voice came from a magical bracelet Winter gave me.
Alfred’s eyes sharpened.
He stared hard at the bushes and trees, then ran over.
Soon, I heard a loud scream from behind a tree.
“W-Wait! I’m not a suspicious person!”
Alfred returned, carrying a thin adult man under one arm.
‘That’s not West Empire clothing.’
The man wore a white uniform with a high collar and looked pretty handsome.
He shouted as he wriggled in Alfred’s grasp.
“Hello! Are you Lady Izana of House Rohia?”
“Yes, that’s me…”
“I’m Palemon, servant to Grand Duke Winter Orsus and emissary of Emperor Glass Orsus of the North Empire!”
When I heard the name “Palemon,” I clapped my hands.
“You brought the Grand Duke’s [relic]!”
Alfred gently set the man down.
Palemon fixed his clothes quickly and nodded excitedly.
“Yes, yes! Do you even know about the relic? You must be really close with our Duke! That’s such a relief!”
“But… why did you sneak in like a thief?”
I asked, puzzled.
Palemon drooped his shoulders.
“Your Emperor blocked our meeting using every excuse. So I had no choice but to sneak in. The other three with me were caught and sent back to their rooms…”
