Chapter 14
The real training began.
No—rather than training, it was closer to torture.
From the start, it felt like Damian intended to grind me down completely.
“Your posture is wrong. Again.”
I did it again.
“Foot position. Again.”
I did it again.
“I told you to bend your knees. Again.”
I did it again.
I repeated the same posture more than twenty times.
My wrists went numb. My shoulders ached. My legs—there was no need to mention them.
And yet, I never once heard him say, good enough.
Whenever he had the chance, Damian pointed out something wrong,
and each time, I had to start over from the beginning.
Is he doing this on purpose?
Is he picking faults just to exhaust me?
I glanced at him.
He was smirking.
No—he was clearly enjoying it.
…Of course he is.
He wanted me to collapse.
He wanted me to give up on my own—
to say it was too hard, that I couldn’t continue.
That way, he could drop this burden without lifting a finger.
Or maybe this was revenge for what happened in the annex.
But that would never happen.
I will never lose.
I clenched my teeth.
Before my regression, I had endured having my blood taken, being abandoned,
and even stabbing myself to death.
And now I would give up just because training was hard?
He was underestimating me too much.
Just wait. I won’t lose to you.
The harassment disguised as training continued.
Of course, I skipped lunch.
Damian never told me to rest, and I never said I needed one.
At this point, it wasn’t training—it was a fight.
Who would collapse first.
Who would give up first.
…I won’t lose.
My legs trembled.
Even lifting my arms was difficult.
“Your posture is still not correct, Princess.”
“…I can keep going.”
I forced the words out despite Damian’s sarcasm.
My voice was cracked.
I could barely stand.
It felt like a single gust of wind would knock me over.
“……”
Suddenly, Damian stopped smiling and looked at me.
His gaze was strange.
Uncomfortable.
Something subtle and unsettling.
“Why?”
When I asked, feeling uneasy under that look,
he pressed his lips together—then stepped back.
“…We’ll stop here for today.”
“…What?”
I doubted my ears.
“Didn’t you hear? I said we’re done for today.”
“But I still can’t even hold the posture properly.”
“If you collapse, it’ll just be troublesome for me.”
…So he did know I was close to collapsing?
As I stared at him in disbelief,
Damian looked me over bluntly and suddenly turned away.
“Come at the same time tomorrow.”
That was all.
He left the training ground immediately.
Leaving me standing there alone.
“…What?”
What kind of person is he?
* * *
Damian Carter hated Loreia Frize.
No—hate was not enough.
He despised her.
The emperor’s treasure.
The royal family’s devil.
The princess who relied on the emperor’s power to torment the Grand Ducal House.
The princess who, rumor said, laughed whenever the emperor sent poison to his father.
The princess who led the seizure of the Grand Ducal family’s wealth, calling it “the emperor’s will.”
He had never met her in person,
but the rumors alone were enough.
As a child of the Carter Grand Ducal House, he had every reason to hate her.
And yet that very princess had come to the Grand Duke’s residence.
Shamelessly.
Asking his father to become her guardian.
Asking to be hidden.
When he first heard, it was hard to suppress the boiling anger.
How dare she?
After everything she did to our family?
It was already unbelievable that she occupied a room in the residence.
But entering that child’s room,
and even demanding an escort—
those were things Damian could not tolerate.
So he decided to torment her under the excuse of training.
The Loreia Frize he knew—
the greenhouse flower raised in the imperial palace—
would surely scream in outrage and return to the capital.
If she said herself that she couldn’t do it,
even his father would have nothing to argue.
But—
…What is she trying to do?
Something was strange.
The princess endured the training with clenched teeth.
Even when she fell, she stood again.
Even when she was wrong, she tried again.
No matter how harshly he pushed her, she never said she would quit.
He even made sure she missed lunch.
Gave her no rest.
Forced her to repeat the same posture dozens of times.
And still—
“I can keep going.”
With a pale face,
looking like she might collapse at any moment,
she said those words.
Did she even know what she looked like?
Blue lips.
Shaking legs.
Eyes that looked ready to fade out.
Seeing that, he didn’t feel satisfied.
Instead—
It irritated him.
No… not irritation.
Something else.
Something uncomfortable.
That was why he stopped the training first.
He didn’t even know why the words came out.
Even after returning to his room,
his mood didn’t clear.
He opened a book, but the words wouldn’t enter his eyes.
I never heard the princess became an idiot.
Then why—
why endure obvious torment like that?
Why did a princess look so desperate?
She could have just gotten angry and quit.
…It bothers me.
Without realizing it, Damian thought that—then shook his head sharply.
No. It wasn’t that it bothered him.
It was just strange.
She wasn’t acting as expected, and that was irritating.
That was all.
Thinking that, Damian suddenly stood.
…Let’s go to the library.
He needed a book to read at night.
It felt like he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
In times like this, a boring book from the library was best.
Of course, passing the corridor with the guest rooms on the way
was unavoidable.
He wasn’t going there on purpose.
It just happened to be that way.
As Damian crossed the corridor downstairs,
he saw a familiar face.
Mia.
She was coming from the guest room hallway,
holding a tray.
The food on it was untouched.
“Mia.”
“Oh, young master.”
Mia bowed her head in greeting, then let out a deep sigh.
“What happened?”
“The princess fainted. I brought dinner, but she didn’t answer when I knocked…
When I went in, she had collapsed on the bed.”
“……”
“No matter how much I tried to wake her, she wouldn’t get up.
It seems she doesn’t even have the strength to wake.”
Mia looked straight at Damian.
Her gaze subtly pierced him.
“Young master, even so… couldn’t you go a little easier on her?”
“…What do you mean?”
“The princess is very weak, and she’s only thirteen.”
Mia knew.
She knew Damian had treated Loreia harshly on purpose.
She had watched him since he was a child.
She understood the heart of a sixteen-year-old boy.
“…It was necessary. She needs at least minimal stamina to reach the West.”
“That doesn’t explain making her skip lunch while training, does it?”
Damian pressed his lips tightly together.
He had nothing to say.
Mia sighed, as if she expected that.
“I understand how you feel, young master. I know you dislike the princess.”
“……”
“But she’s still a child.
She’s only thirteen.”
Thirteen.
The same age as the one precious treasure Damian had lost.
That small, soft, fragile, warm child—
the same age as this vicious princess.
The thought made the tightness in his chest grow even heavier.
“…Alright.”
Damian answered shortly and turned away.
He no longer felt like going to the library.
All the way back to his room,
he couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling—
like a thorn stuck in his chest.
