Chapter 7
Just with me
“You didn’t expect this to happen, did you?”
“No, actually I expected it a little, but it still feels strange.”
Royce stared at me, then laughed again.
It seemed like he was quite shocked. I got up and helped Royce to his feet.
‘I have to quickly get back now.’
In a short while, at 3 o’clock, the pre-ticket sale for my favorite string trio’s ‘Era of Wilderness’ performance would start. I had to go to the Triden Street concert hall near Eudelin, but if I wanted to return the practice sword to the training ground, I had to hurry.
I bowed to Royce. “Then, please go in.”
“I have plenty of time, Serdin.”
“Of course.”
Since he said he had plenty of time, I wanted to ask him to return the wooden sword for me, but it seemed like he hadn’t recovered from the shock yet, so I decided against it.
“Goodbye, then.”
“Serdi…”
Enjoying the joy of victory alone, I ran to reserve the concert ticket.
* * *
The next day, as I was getting ready to leave, I heard the flapping of a bird’s wings and looked out the window. A white bird that looked like a lark, responsible for delivering mail, was sitting on top of the mailbox.
‘A letter?’
The means to send and receive letters here was through these birds that resembled larks. The white paper had a red wax seal on it. The stamp on the wax belonged to the Velkerente family.
‘The only Velkerente I know is Royce.’
But why would he suddenly send me a letter?
「Hello, Serdin. The weather is nice. What are you doing today? If it’s okay, shall we meet?」
I thought for a moment about why Royce would want to meet me this early in the morning.
‘Ah, I got it.’
He probably wanted to cross swords with me again.
Well, it was understandable.
He must have lived the life of a powerful main character who rarely lost to anyone. Since he lost to me yesterday, he probably couldn’t sleep well. Considering his reaction after the match, it was quite possible.
I didn’t plan to be involved with him for long, but I was about to go to Eudelin to train anyway.
「I’m going to the Eudelin Training Ground No.1.」
So I sent the letter and took out the same training uniform as yesterday. Considering my win over Royce yesterday, it seemed like this training uniform actually had some sort of charm in it.
When the water rises, you row against the current, so it was good to practice a lot during times like these when my condition was good.
As I was about to leave the room, another letter arrived.
「I’ll be there.」
After checking the correspondence, I headed straight to Eudelin.
There were several people at the training ground.
I stood in a corner of the sparring area and looked around. I wanted to clash swords with a decent opponent. One opponent caught my eye. It was a second-year senior named Anthony, known for his fast swordsmanship.
“May I request a spar? I’m Serdin Vivi from the first year.”
“Of course. I’m Anthony Jarriot, second-year.”
Anthony and I, facing each other with practice swords, began our spar.
It was as if a blessing from the sword spirit had descended upon this training suit; I was able to defeat Senior Anthony quite easily.
At first, I was a bit surprised by the fast speed of his sword. However, when our swords clashed for the fifth time, his center bent, and I could exploit the gap and strike through.
“Impressive, first-year.”
I reached out to Anthony to help him to his feet.
“Thank you for accepting me, Senior Anthony.”
“You said your name’s Serdin Vivi, right? That’s a pretty name.”
“Is it?”
But at that moment, someone ran over from the other side and intercepted Anthony’s hand before I could touch it.
“…?”
Royce was looking at Anthony with a frightening expression.
* * *
As soon as Royce entered the sparring area, he felt as if something had struck his forehead with a strong impact.
“Thank you for accepting me.” Serdin said so with a calm expressionless face, holding the hand of some second-year student.
‘That look, and those words…’
It was the same thing Serdin had said to him yesterday. It meant that she wanted to start a relationship.
‘..!’
Why was she saying such things to other people too?
…Wasn’t dating something you did with only one person at a time?
Royce felt as if his head was consumed by a fever all of a sudden. Seeing the way the second-year student was looking at Serdin, Royce was almost ready to flip out.
He immediately ran over and pulled the second-year student’s hand away from Serdin.
“Senior Royce?” Serdin looked at him with puzzled eyes.
Royce shook off the second-year student’s hand and immediately led Serdin away.
“Serdin, you… You should only do this with me, not with others…”
Royce was so flustered that he even felt overwhelmed.
“But that doesn’t work for me.”
“Huh? Why?”
Serdin looked at him with eyes that seemed to know nothing.
Royce tried to calm his heart as much as possible and spoke in a rational voice, “It’s just, you know, you decided to do it with me.”
“Can’t I do this with other people?”
“Just… Just do it with me…”
“Alright. Just for today?”
“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m talking about continuing this in the future.”
“But you’re busy, aren’t you? You can’t always meet me whenever I need you.” Serdin said it as if it were obvious.
Royce was greatly shocked by Serdin’s words.
Of course, there was some truth to her words. But the thought of sharing Serdin with others and becoming just one of her many lovers drove him to the brink of insanity.
“No, I can do it. I’ll always make time whenever you want.”
“Really? You can do it with someone else too, you know.”
“No, I’ll only do it with you. So you should only do it with me too.”
Serdin wore an expression of contemplation for a moment. After thinking for a while, she eventually nodded.
“Okay. Among the people I know, you’re the best partner, Senior, so it wouldn’t be bad to just do it with you.”
“… Thank you.”
Royce didn’t even know why he was even saying thank you, but those words came out naturally, and he actually felt grateful.
After all, Serdin had chosen him among many people…
* * *
Royce seemed to really like me as a sparring partner. He kept insisting that I spar only with him and that he’d even make time whenever I needed.
‘Hmm.’
I thought about it for a moment. Sparring with him would be a good thing for me, but there was something that bothered me. It was the fact that in the original story, I was supposed to die because of the demonic beast inside Royce’s body.
“Let me think about it for a minute.”
After a few minutes of contemplation, my train of thought eventually led to one conclusion: Considering my future due to the Necroquod, I couldn’t be involved with him indefinitely… But that scenario was years in the future.
‘Then, don’t I have to just avoid joining Royce’s knight squad a few years in the future?’
To be honest, Royce was an outstanding knight, and as the protagonist, he was a man of overwhelming abilities compared to everyone around him. His qualities would continue to shine in the future. Yet, such a person wanted to spar with me.
Honestly, as a knight and a swordsman, it was a good opportunity.
Yes, I should take advantage of what I can gain now and leave later. Wouldn’t that be mutually beneficial?
“Then, does that mean I get a monopoly on you too, Senior?”
“Of course.”
In the end, when I decided to accept his offer, Royce’s previously indifferent face was full of smiles.
He seemed very happy that our deal was done.
‘But if people find out that I’m receiving exclusive training from Royce, there will definitely be others who want to join.’
I thought it would be better to keep it a secret since it could cause Royce trouble.
“Senior, we…”
“We?”
Even though I hadn’t said anything yet, Royce’s expression brightened, and he murmured ‘we’ along with my words.
“Let’s keep this relationship a secret.”
“Why?”
“Wouldn’t it be more comfortable if it’s a secret? There might be unnecessary trouble otherwise.”
“Alright, if that’s what you want, we’ll do it that way. I’ll adjust to whatever you want.”
Royce smiled brightly, like summer. He seemed more delighted to find a rival than I expected.
* * *
“You look like you’re in a good mood, Young Master.”
In the Velkerente mansion where night had fallen, Eustache smiled and handed Royce a glass of ice.
Eustache, who had been the butler of the Velkerente Dukedom for nearly ten years, had watched Royce grow up. It was only natural that he could tell something good had happened as soon as he saw his expression.
“Yes.”
Royce smiled as he gently shook the glass of cold ice. The drink was as refreshing as his mood.
“What happened? Did you achieve a feat in the knight squad?”
“I wouldn’t feel this good even if I had achieved a feat, Eustache.”
Eustache was surprised by what Royce said.
It was no exaggeration to say his young master had lived his life for the sword, almost as if born to be a knight, but he’d found something that brought him more joy than the sword?
“I’ve got to write in my diary, Eustache.”
“A diary? Isn’t this the first time you’re writing one since I first met you when you were twelve?”
“It’s because something very special happened.”
“What exactly happened?”
Royce opened his mouth with a happy expression but then he quickly closed it as if something had come to mind.
“Never mind.”
“Huh? I’m curious.”
“I decided to keep it a secret.”
Eustache felt as if a story had been cut off in the middle.
Having witnessed all the joys and sorrows of the young master’s life over the past ten years, Eustache was now faced with a happiness of his that he knew nothing about! What could it be?
Royce picked up a cookie with his thumb and index finger and said, “It’s just something sweeter than this cookie.”
And then, looking at his smiling young master, Eustache finally realized what had happened and clapped his hands in congratulations.
Even the dark night was a happy one. There would be even more joyful moments to come in the future.
After sending Eustache away, Royce sat at his desk, shaking his glass. A notebook made of Adren tree paper and a fountain pen lay before him. A faint smile spread across Royce’s face as he thought about what to write in his diary.
Where should he start? Should he start writing from the night of the masquerade ball when he first met Serdin?
