Chapter 72
Chapter 72
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Red Team's Secret Plan
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Florian read my expression and let out a faint chuckle.
"When I was little, my mother used to soothe me just like this."
Florian gently rocked my body on his back.
My feet dangled in the air, swinging back and forth, and a reflexive good mood started to creep in.
A soft breeze brushed past me like ripples on a lake.
My tears gradually dried up and vanished under the sunlight and Florian's gentle voice.
"Feeling better now?"
"Yeah. Thank you, Perry."
"Don't cry alone from now on—come to me instead. I can't replace your mother, but I can comfort you."
He was a fundamentally kind-hearted kid.
Just a brief time under his father's protection had melted away a lifetime of sharp tension like ice cream on a hot day.
He still feared and wary of adults a little, but he'd grown affectionate toward weak, young me before I knew it.
For people like the empress and the southern duke to raise such a child into someone who bared his fangs at the world... they were truly remarkable.
"We don't have mothers, but we do have fathers. And you've got Erich and Dietrich too."
"Yeah."
"So don't get too upset."
"Got it..."
Was he an angel?
Florian carried me on his back for quite a while. He never once showed a hint of strain, even by the time we reached the infirmary.
"Ugh!"
A sharp crack echoed as wooden swords clashed, unleashing a burst of scorching red heat.
Dietrich stumbled back several steps from the hot blast, shaking out one hand as if it stung.
I watched him anxiously.
Of all things, he had to end up as the Red Team leader.
Ever since learning that actual combat would break out during the friendly match, Dietrich had thrown himself into sword training even harder for days on end.
Aside from his family lessons, he practically lived on the training grounds.
With the Blue Team leader Marc set to clash head-on, his competitive fire had ignited—he was determined not to lose.
"How about calling it here for today?"
"No, just a little longer!"
Even as Florian, who was overseeing the spar, tried to intervene, Dietrich stubbornly raised his sword again.
He seemed so innocently sweet most days, but he had a sneaky streak of fierce competitiveness.
Even from afar, I could see his legs trembling, yet Dietrich refused to back down.
Their strength and build are pretty much even now.
Once we started feeding him proper meals, Florian shot up like a weed.
Same age, similar builds, and they'd both started sword training around the same time.
Dietrich and Florian made perfect sparring partners.
But Florian had already awakened his Divine Grace.
No matter how evenly matched their strength and skill, the moment Florian tapped into his Grace, Dietrich was bound to be pushed back.
The North treats spars like real battles, so they can use Grace freely...
Dietrich's wooden sword slashed fiercely down at Florian.
But Florian deflected it effortlessly, then cloaked the air around him in searing heat. Dietrich's swing veered wildly off course.
His face twisted as he slammed his sword into the ground with a heavy thud.
"Argh! Dodging that too?!"
"You're no wild boar. Stop relying on brute force."
Florian's wooden sword lightly tapped Dietrich's throat—where his own sword lay drooping on the ground—then pulled away.
"If you want to awaken your Grace, try using the environment more."
"There's a lake in the garden. What if I jump in there..."
"Not that kind of brute method."
"Didn't your Grace awaken when the crown palace caught fire? You know any refined ways?"
Wasn't that a bit harsh?
The moment I thought that, Dietrich snatched up his sword again and struck at Florian's wrist.
Florian, caught by the childish taunt and allowing the attack, narrowed his eyes.
"I haven't surrendered yet?"
"...Wanna bet?"
"Go all out. No holding back like before."
Florian gritted his teeth as he watched Dietrich grin.
Then his entire arm flushed with a reddish glow, and flames erupted from the ground.
Good thing we're in the outdoor training grounds!
We almost burned our house down!
Dietrich dodged the roaring blaze like some circus act, but he couldn't evade it entirely.
One tongue of flame coiled around his ankle and hurled him viciously aside.
Blades of fire honed sharp as knives all zeroed in on Dietrich as he tumbled across the dirt.
"Surrender?"
"Ngh... Over my dead body!"
"Suit yourself."
The flames plummeted toward Dietrich at Florian's command, ready to pin him completely.
The knights had ordered flame-retardant lotion applied beforehand to prevent burns, but would that be enough?
The acrid scent of singed cloth reached even my nose, a good distance away.
Yet Dietrich only furrowed his brow a little, refusing to let out so much as a pained yelp.
Dietrich's gonna get seriously hurt!
I jumped up and dashed between them.
As I leaped through the arrowhead of flames aimed at Dietrich, both boys grimaced in unison.
"Baby, it's dangerous!"
"It's just sparring. Ditri's being stubborn."
"It's not? If I try a bit harder, I can shatter Grace like this no problem."
"Why not drop the denial when even your little sister knows better?"
Even as he spoke coldly, Florian dismissed every hovering flame into the air.
Not a single ember remained once the fire fully died down. Dietrich scowled and clicked his tongue, rubbing his throbbing wrist.
"It's just a friendly match. Why go so hard?"
"I want to crush Marc and Uncle flat this time."
"Lose this year, win next."
"Next year's next year. And it's not just the friendly match... I just want to use my Grace already."
"Dad didn't awaken his until he was nine."
"My situation's different from Dad's."
As he said that, Dietrich dropped his gaze to the ground instead of meeting my eyes.
Covered head to toe in dirt and soot, he muttered on.
"Erich's a genius, and you just earned credit for that medicine forest thing. Grandpa dotes on you tons too."
"So?"
"Honestly, I can't match you or big bro. So I need to awaken my Grace fast."
As he spoke, Dietrich glanced at Florian too.
His same-age peer had awakened his Grace long ago.
He must have felt competitive toward him as well.
...No surprise there. Jealousy runs in the family.
Still, seeing me and Erich carve out our own niches in the family would make anyone antsy.
He probably wanted to show some results through the friendly match.
"Ditri, gotta win?"
"Obviously. I'm gonna beat Marc this time and make sure he never talks smack about our family again."
Ambitious goals were fine by me.
I had zero intention of losing to Marc either.
And I had just the method. I sidled right up to Dietrich and whispered in his ear.
He squirmed and giggled from the tickles, then stared wide-eyed at me and Florian in turn.
"Florian?"
"Yeah!"
Florian raised an eyebrow.
"Got something to say to me?"
The Red Team hadn't picked a shadow knight yet. We'd first aimed for Erich, but that ship had sailed.
Time for our next card.
If Florian joined our side, I had a tactic I wanted to try.
"Hey, baby Ella wants me to ask if you're up for joining the friendly match."
Florian hesitated instead of answering right away, glancing once toward the nearby knights practicing.
"I overheard the knights talking. The Blue Team's bringing a seventeen-year-old apprentice knight. You guys could get someone instead of me..."
A seventeen-year-old in knight training was basically an adult.
A four-year-old like me would just be a dangling liability against him.
"Doesn't matter."
But that was irrelevant.
No matter what tactics Marc cooked up, I had my own ideas.
"Come here."
I beckoned Dietrich and Florian closer.