Chapter 66…
Watching like a contestant waiting for the judges’ verdict in a cooking competition, Clearus smiled gently.
“Is it good?”
“Yes!”
Eli answered immediately.
Surprisingly, even though it was the same ingredients, the taste was different.
“It’s really delicious! Wow! How is it like this?”
“It’s the Berndt family’s special sauce and cooking method. If you like, I can send a chef to teach you.”
“Really?!”
“Yes.”
Eli began eating the food with her own hands.
However, after a few bites, she lowered her hand again.
“Hmm… that’s strange… the taste is different.”
“?”
She had taken a piece from the same chunk of meat, so why?
Eli tilted her head in confusion.
Even after trying it again, it didn’t taste like when Clearus had fed it to her.
“It tastes different from when Clearus fed me…”
“Eh…?”
Clearus asked blankly, while Lilkia and Lady Laval, who were listening nearby, covered their mouths.
Does our princess even realize what she’s saying right now?!
Of course, she didn’t.
Eli was just speaking honestly about what she felt.
“Feed me again.”
“Uh…”
Clearus hesitated to reach out as he had earlier.
He felt embarrassed!
Feeding a child wasn’t shameful, but for some reason, it made him feel shy.
He couldn’t bring himself to look directly at Eli, who had lowered her eyes toward him, peeking up like a baby bird with her mouth slightly open.
“Oh my, this looks so delicious. I’m curious too; may I have a bite?”
Lilkia offered a helping hand.
Even nowadays, Eli often had simple meals with people around her.
She refused meals with maids and servants—they were too much—but she sometimes shared late-night snacks with Lilkia or the head servant.
It had become natural now, so no one found it odd for Lilkia to join Eli at meals.
Additionally, it helped prevent poisoning, so adults had secretly agreed on this.
“Go ahead, try it!”
“It doesn’t look much different from what I usually eat, though.”
Lilkia took a big bite, then opened her eyes wide.
“It’s really delicious!”
Could this be the Berndt family’s secret technique…!
Training while eating something this tasty, no wonder the results are good.
“Really?”
“Yes, try it again.”
Lilkia fed Eli a bite.
Without knowing what it was, Eli took it.
After chewing a few times, her face scrunched up.
“…It’s the same.”
“…Ah, I’m sorry. I guess me feeding you isn’t good.”
Lilkia pouted and returned to her spot.
“…One more bite. Try it again.”
Thanks to the extra time Lilkia bought, Clearus regained his composure and tried feeding Eli again.
Eli eagerly accepted it.
“This is definitely tastier!”
“….”
Clearus’ face turned bright red, as if it might explode.
Lilkia stretched her philtrum and looked at Lady Laval.
Our lord… is quite impressive, isn’t he? Right?
Meanwhile, the innocent Eli had unknowingly become a “guilty” little culprit.
Lilkia had to acknowledge the Berndt family’s training methods.
Training might be similar for everyone: move until it hurts, eat well, and repeat until the body adjusts.
But a truly good training method existed.
How to move efficiently, how to avoid injury, and how to make even the same tasks enjoyable.
Lilkia had mastered the first two, but not the third.
The trainees she raised generally had some ability. Enduring pain was their responsibility. If they fell behind, it was a polite “goodbye.”
But there was no falling behind in His Majesty’s exercises. He had to be led along.
To do that, training had to be enjoyable, like play.
Lilkia only knew two extremes: train rigorously or play freely.
Training was too hard for Eli, making her hate it; playing wasn’t proper exercise.
Yet, the difficult task had been achieved by the Berndt family.
“Indeed, Berndt…!”
Unlike adult bodyguards, the Berndt family started training children from a very young age.
Thus, methods for training children had naturally developed.
Cooking meals that suited children’s tastes was part of that.
“What an extraordinary family.”
Having often disregarded Dulsen, Lilkia tended to underestimate the Berndt family and their knights.
Even now, Dulsen was still amusing. But the Berndt family was definitely reassessed.
“What will you do today?”
Lilkia gently asked Clearus, who had arrived at the palace again.
She was curious about the next training program from the Berndt family.
“…Well.”
Today, Clearus wore a strangely troubled expression.
“Have you run out of tasks?”
“No! Berndt’s training programs are endless!”
“Then why the troubled look?”
“Haah…”
Clearus let out a long sigh instead of answering.
Something seemed wrong…
“Is there some family trouble…?”
Training had fostered trust. She could ask this much.
Clearus shook his head slightly.
“If it were that, I wouldn’t show worry on the outside.”
As head of the family, he maintained a strong and unwavering heart.
But as Clearus, he couldn’t control his own feelings.
“Then what is it…?”
“Haah…”
Before his sigh ended, a lively sound approached from afar.
“I’ll do my best!”
“This is all for the Mage Corps!”
“Yes! Let’s all work hard!”
Eli… and Babian and Jurna.
“Huh? They’re training too?”
Yesterday and today were Lilkia’s days off.
Even the captain of the guards needed breaks.
Normally, they wouldn’t have needed to watch Eli’s training, but Clearus’ program was so fun they voluntarily came.
Hence, Lilkia didn’t know what agreement had been made in the palace yesterday.
“His Majesty’s stamina has improved.”
“That’s good, but…”
Clearus’ visits to train in the palace every few days had already passed a month.
Children in growth stages developed quickly.
Eli was becoming very sturdy.
“With increased stamina, His Majesty felt confident enough to train with the Mage Corps.”
“Ah, a joint training session. That should be fine, but why that expression?”
“….”
Clearus remained silent, his face radiating dissatisfaction.
‘Ah.’
Lilkia finally realized her own dullness.
But Eli seemed equally oblivious.
Otherwise, how could she have suggested training with the other children?
‘Oh dear…’
Lilkia sincerely sympathized with Clearus.
“Lord Berndt, long time no see.”
Babian greeted awkwardly.
Normally, she would have parted her skirt and bowed elegantly, but today she wore pants.
“Ah…”
Babian, uncomfortable without her skirt, rubbed her palms on her thighs and awkwardly crossed her legs.
Jurna was similar.
“Wearing pants feels strange…”
“Yes, I feel like I’m only wearing underwear.”
Most noblewomen wore skirts from birth. Living their lives in dresses, comfort itself might feel strange.
Seeing the two unsure, Eli raised her legs enthusiastically.
“Look! You can do this too! It’s so comfortable!”
“Ah… yes, maybe I can do positions I normally can’t…”
Yet they couldn’t fully relax.
Even though Eli wore pants, they wanted to hide whenever they met the servants in the corridor.
As they neared the training ground, seeing women knights in pants eased them slightly, but the presence of Lord Berndt made them shrink back.
“Have you arrived? Let’s start with warm-ups.”
Clearus ignored their awkwardness and started training briskly.
“This will be easy for Eli, right?”
“Yes!”
Eli dangled from the rope swing that Clearus held, arms and legs gripping tightly.
Swinging back and forth, she squealed with delight.
“Babian, Jurna! This is fun! Come try!”
Seeing Eli so excited, the other two stared at each other, then bravely approached.
“Hold it like this so you don’t fall…”
Eli even demonstrated, having tried it herself.
Clearus had no room to intervene.
His cheeks puffed up more and more.
