Chapter 13
Damian stood beside me with a sulky expression.
From the look of it, he had already heard the news, and he didn’t like it either.
No—maybe he was even more dissatisfied than I was.
But in this situation, he didn’t seem likely to agree with my opinion.
Of course. Rather than leaving me to a knight, he would choose to watch me himself.
No matter how much he hated me.
“…Are there no other knights in the Grand Duke’s residence?”
I glanced at Damian’s profile and, like grabbing at the last straw, asked Carlos.
“There would be no easy task in finding a swordsman better than Damian in the entire empire, not just this residence.”
…That made sense.
This man was a genius of the sword.
But that wasn’t what I meant to ask.
He shut me up with skill alone.
Damian would receive the title of Swordmaster just before becoming an adult—
the tenth in history, and the youngest ever.
He hadn’t reached that level yet, but Carlos’s words that no swordsman in the empire could defeat him were not wrong.
So he absolutely has no intention of letting me do anything suspicious.
Not that I planned to, anyway.
Even if I kept resisting, nothing would change.
If we only consider protection… he might actually be the safest.
Still, wasn’t this too cruel for both of us, knowing how much he hated me?
But neither of the two men in the room looked willing to listen to me.
In the end, I surrendered first.
“…Alright.”
“When do you plan to depart?”
“As soon as possible. Even tomorrow is fine.”
Carlos, who had been looking only at documents, raised his head and looked at Damian.
“Is that possible?”
“…Not immediately.”
Damian glanced over me unpleasantly.
“Going all the way to the West alone would be one thing, but carrying the burden of the imperial princess makes the schedule unreasonable.”
A burden—he said it openly.
But it was true, so I couldn’t argue.
The road to the land of mages was never smooth.
“Then when would be suitable?”
“Ten days should be enough.”
Damian folded his arms as he spoke.
“I’ll at least teach the princess some basic self-defense during that time. So she won’t hold me back too much.”
There was another faint mockery in his tone.
Holding him back…
I had many things to say, but I held them in.
Talking back here would do me no good.
“Then it’s settled. The matter of the guardian will be sent to the temple after the princess returns.”
Carlos nodded and looked back down at his documents.
“Anything else to say?”
If not, leave—that was the clear meaning.
I quietly left the study.
Just as I turned to go back to my room, Damian’s voice called from behind me.
“Princess.”
I stopped and turned.
Damian was looking at me with an annoyed expression.
“Come to the training ground tomorrow at ten in the morning.”
“…Tomorrow?”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. If you’re late, I’ll just leave you behind.”
With those words, Damian turned away sharply.
…What is this?
It suddenly felt like everything went dark.
Train under that man for ten days… and then travel to the West together?
For some reason, I had a very bad feeling.
The next day, 10 a.m.
When I arrived at the training ground exactly on time, Damian was already waiting.
Arms folded, leaning on his sword—
as if he had been there for a long time.
What time did he even come out?
I wasn’t late, yet I somehow felt intimidated.
The day I would be pressured by this man had come.
Even though I knew he was my real older brother,
memories from before my regression made it feel unfair.
“…I’m here.”
“Yes. I can see that.”
Damian answered coldly and looked me up and down.
It seemed he had decided to be openly disrespectful now.
“Today, I’ll check your basic stamina first.”
“Basic stamina?”
“I need to know how terrible you are to plan the training.”
His tone showed he expected nothing.
I felt irritated inside but held it back.
If he refused to escort me, I had no other way to reach the West.
“What should I do?”
“Run around the field first.”
Damian pointed his chin toward the wide open ground.
“How many laps?”
“Just start running. Until you can’t anymore.”
…What kind of training is this?
But I couldn’t refuse.
I walked to the end of the field and began to run.
At first, it was fine.
All I had to do was run. Easy.
But after about half a lap—
My breathing choked.
My legs felt unbearably heavy.
My heart pounded as if it would burst.
…Wait, already?
Only half a lap?
My steps slowed until I was barely moving.
Finally—
“…Huff… haah…”
I stopped after barely finishing half a lap.
Hands on my knees, gasping.
A bitter taste rose in my throat, and my vision spun.
I knew I didn’t exercise much, but was my stamina really this terrible?
That made no sense.
“…Is that the end?”
Damian’s voice fell from above.
He looked down at me crookedly, then measured the distance I had run and scoffed.
“Half a lap.”
His cold judgment dropped.
“How very impressive.”
…This time, even at the obvious sarcasm, I had nothing to say.
“It can’t be helped. Now try push-ups.”
“…Right now? Let me catch my breath.”
“Right now.”
Is he a demon?
Isn’t this man really a demon?
“Will you quit? If so, you may go back inside.”
Damian shrugged calmly at my irritated glare,
as if he hadn’t expected anything from the start.
This is making me angry.
That attitude strangely provoked my competitiveness.
I lay down on the ground deliberately,
placed my hands, and straightened my body.
So far, good.
Now I just had to bend my arms.
I bent them.
And—
Thud.
“……”
I collapsed flat on the ground.
I couldn’t even do one.
…Isn’t this too much?
It was embarrassing.
I wanted to crawl into a hole.
When I lifted my head, Damian was, of course, looking down at me.
His expression was unreadable.
“Get up.”
“……”
I slowly pushed myself up.
My whole body trembled.
Just half a lap of running and one failed push-up attempt had already exhausted me.
Damian looked at me with clear disappointment—
no, not “as if.” He truly thought I was pathetic.
“And you said you want to go to the West like this?”
It was a direct hit.
But—
“Protection is the escort’s job.”
I shot back without losing.
I wasn’t wrong.
If the escort was competent, why would I need to fight myself?
Damian let out a short laugh.
A mocking one.
“Ah, so you intend to trust me completely?”
“……”
“The imperial princess… trusting the heir of the Carter Grand Ducal House?”
His words made my chest tighten.
Annoyingly, he wasn’t wrong.
This escort was nothing more than surveillance.
And this man could abandon me at any time—
or even leave me somewhere dangerous on purpose.
The only person I could rely on was myself.
And by now, the imperial palace might have noticed my disappearance.
If so…
They might send that person to find me.
The moment a familiar face appeared in my mind,
a chill ran down my spine.
“…That’s why I said I would learn.”
I answered through clenched teeth.
“Because I want to survive too.”
Damian looked at me.
His eyes were complicated—
I couldn’t tell if it was mockery or surprise.
Soon—
“Alright.”
He gave a faint smirk.
“Then try your best.”
Even if it’s just to annoy you, I’ll endure this.
