Episode 5. Festival
Episode 5. Festival
"Fuck!"
Those were the first words Mir uttered upon waking from his nightmare.
The fact that he had failed to protect Elena, following the death of his father, was a massive trauma for Mir.
Furthermore, in this nightmare, seeing Elena die because of him made it difficult for Mir to maintain his sanity.
Mir dashed from his bed to the bathroom and began to vomit. To forget the early morning nightmare, he resumed his swordsmanship practice.
The swordsmanship Mir had learned in his past life was a style that could only be completed through training so rigorous that ordinary people would find it impossible to endure. However, the effects of the Didimcho Mir had consumed were outstanding.
Driven by his obsession with the Young Lady-nim and the effects of the Didimcho, Mir was able to grow at a rapid pace.
As the dawn passed, Mir arrived at the Duke's estate.
"The Duke-nim is looking for you."
Upon arriving at the estate, Mir was immediately escorted by a guard to the Duke's office, where he met the Duke, who was in the middle of handling paperwork.
"Did you say your name was Mir? Your swordsmanship skills are quite impressive. Where did you learn them?"
The Duke asked.
"I learned from books,"
Mir replied.
"Do not lie to me. Isn't that the swordsmanship of the Kingdom?"
"!"
"I have seen that swordsmanship before in the war against the Kingdom. From whom did you learn it?"
"...."
"If you cannot answer this question, you will die by my hand. I cannot allow a spy from the Kingdom to remain by Elena's side."
As soon as those words were spoken, the Duke's butler brought out a truth serum.
Mir thought to himself.
Why on earth did such a doting father neglect the Young Lady-nim in his past life as soon as her eyes turned red?
With this thought, Mir spoke to the Duke.
"I will take the truth serum. However, I have a condition. The Duke-nim must also take the truth serum. That is my condition."
"Do you realize that I hold your life in my hands? I am not here to negotiate right now. I let it slide yesterday because Elena was watching, but not today."
"If I were a spy, shouldn't you be preventing me from committing suicide so you can extract information from me instead?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Mir pulled a small dagger from his coat.
"...I accept the condition."
Thus, both Mir and the Duke took the truth serum, and the Duke questioned Mir first.
"What is your objective?"
"It is the Young Lady-nim's happiness."
"..!"
Flustered by Mir's answer, the Duke momentarily wondered if Mir hadn't actually taken the truth serum. However, believing it was impossible to deceive him, the Duke had no choice but to move on.
Then it was Mir's turn, and he questioned the Duke.
"Duke-nim, do you love Elena-nim?"
"Of course I love her."
Hearing the Duke's answer, Mir fell even deeper into doubt.
It was the Duke's turn again, and he asked.
"Why do you wish for Elena's happiness?"
"..I do not know."
"...?"
Mir asked again.
"Duke-nim, do you know the truth about the red eyes?"
"...I do not know how you found out about the red eyes, but there is a legend regarding them in the Ducal house."
"Can you tell me about it?"
"Hasn't your turn ended?"
"...! Then quickly, the next question!"
"Let us stop here. I have learned enough to know you have no intention of harming Elena."
After finishing his meeting with the Duke, Mir arrived at the dormitory where the Duke's apprentice knights stayed.
"Did you say your name was Mir? Come out and duel me right now!"
As soon as he reached the dormitory, Rosalia appeared and challenged Mir to a duel.
"Rosalia! You should let him unpack his things first!"
The one scolding Rosalia was her childhood friend, Eric.
"Shut up, Eric! You're only saying that because you're no match for me!"
"..."
Eric's feelings were hurt.
"I will duel you later. I have something I must do first,"
Mir said.
"Chet, fine! You have to do it later, okay!!"
With those words, Rosalia and Eric disappeared.
Right now, Mir was thinking about the truth of the red eyes from his conversation with the Duke earlier.
'There was definitely no explanation about the red eyes in the original work.'
Mir thought deeply about the original story, but no matter how hard he tried, no information came to mind.
While Mir was lost in thought,
"Mir! My knight-nim!"
Elena appeared.
"Have you arrived, Young Lady-nim?"
"Not Young Lady-nim, just Elena!"
"Understood, Young Lady-nim Elena."
"Young Lady-nim, where did you go again? It's time for your lessons!"
Roselyn-nim came looking for the Young Lady-nim, and she hid behind Mir's back.
"Mir, hide me! Today's lesson is really boring!"
"She is right here, Roselyn-nim."
"!"
Since Mir had to practice his swordsmanship, he immediately ratted her out, and the Young Lady-nim glared at him with resentful eyes.
"Mir... I can't believe you betrayed me...!"
"In exchange, I will take you to the village next time."
Upon hearing those words, the Young Lady-nim's cowlick stood up in the shape of an '!' mark.
"You have to keep that promise, Mir!"
"Young Lady-nim, we don't have time to talk right now. You must go quickly!"
With those words, the Young Lady-nim was dragged away by Roselyn-nim.
"...Honestly, it's a bit of a shame."
From his past life to this one, Mir had grown quite attached to Elena.
Having spent a week with the Young Lady-nim, sharing stories and building a bond while walking around the village, Mir thought of Elena as his own younger sister.
However, knowing that there was only one year left until the Young Lady-nim's eyes would turn red, Mir began to push himself that much harder.
Two months had passed since he came to the Duke's estate.
"Mir, I'm definitely going to win today!"
Mir had grown so much that he could now easily defeat Rosalia, who challenged him after every lesson.
"How can Mir be that strong when there's such a big age gap?"
Eric said.
"I guess that's what you call a genius."
Eric's friend replied.
"Hey, haven't you seen Mir practice? That's not talent, that's pure spite! Spite!"
Another one of Eric's friends added.
Mir's training volume was so intense that not only the apprentice knights but even the regular knights found it overwhelming to follow.
While Mir was engaged in his grueling swordsmanship training today, Elena came to find him.
"Mir! You haven't forgotten your promise to go play with me, right?"
"Young Lady-nim, I told you that you must get permission from the Duke-nim first!"
Roselyn-nim was suffering again today.
"I have already received permission from the Duke-nim. It just so happens there's a festival in the village as well."
Since Mir had been looking forward to going out with Elena, he had gone to ask the Duke for permission in advance. Although the Duke wasn't pleased, he ended up giving in after hearing the Young Lady-nim's aegyo.
"Please prepare to head out, Young Lady-nim Elena."
"Hehe, okay!"
And so, Elena and Mir went to see the festival.
Stepping outside for the first time in two months, Elena was in a very good mood.
Just being at the festival made her happy, but with Mir by her side, Elena was currently in a state of great excitement.
"Hehe, Mir! What's that?"
"It's a snack called cotton candy."
"I want cotton candy too!"
"Understood, Young Lady-nim Elena."
The two of them ate cotton candy together.
"Mir! How does this outfit look?"
"It suits you well."
"Mir, you wear this one!"
"..Understood."
They even tried on festival clothes together.
"At!"
"Be careful, Young Lady-nim."
He even caught Elena when she almost fell while running around in excitement.
"The one who wins a swordsmanship duel against this man will receive this puppy as a gift!"
"Mir! I want that puppy!"
"Young Lady-nim, you shouldn't think of a life so lightly."
"...Mir, are you perhaps scared?"
"...!"
If it had been anyone else's words, Mir would have just ignored them, but he fell for the Young Lady-nim's "Scared?" provocation.
"Uwat! I give up..."
Within just a few exchanges of the swordsmanship duel, Mir easily defeated the man.
"Woah! As expected of my knight-nim! I knew you'd win!"
"It was a natural result, Young Lady-nim."
Thus, the two of them received the puppy as a prize, and the puppy was immediately entrusted to Roselyn-nim, who was following them.
As the festival night deepened, Elena and Mir decided to climb to the top of a high mountain to watch the fireworks, the highlight of the festival.
"Mir... I'm tired..."
Being only eight years old, the Young Lady-nim grew tired early, and eventually, Mir carried her on his back.
"Young Lady-nim, are you uncomfortable in any way?"
"Hehe! Mir's back is super wide!"
Having reached the summit of the mountain, the two of them began to talk while looking up at the night sky.
"You know, Mir? I'm really happy because I haven't had any nightmares since you came! It's all thanks to Mir being my knight-nim!"
"..A nightmare is just a dream, Young Lady-nim."
"But still! The nightmares feel so real!
You know, Mir? To me, Mir is like a Star-nim in the night sky!"
"..?"
"If there were no Star-nims in that night sky, the sky would just be black! If Mir weren't here, I would have kept having nightmares and become like that black night sky."
The Young Lady-nim said to Mir with a beaming smile.
"Mir! Just like you got rid of my nightmares, always stay by my side and light up the night sky!"
Mir was almost caught off guard by the Young Lady-nim's sudden surprise attack of a confession, but since it was the word of the still-young Lady-nim, Mir laughed and brushed it off.
"Yes, if that is what the Young Lady-nim wishes, I will surely do so."
As their conversation ended, the Young Lady-nim began to nod off.
"Mir... I'm sleepy... What if I have a nightmare again?"
"It will be alright because Star-nim is right beside you."
"Hehe, that's true."
And so, the Young Lady-nim fell asleep, and their festival also came to an end.