Episode 6. Elena's Birthday
Episode 6. Elena's Birthday
Mir and Elena returned to the Duke's residence after the festival.
The next day, Elena was in the middle of naming the puppy she had brought from the festival.
"Hmm... Your name is Astrion I!"
Mir, having witnessed the young lady's terrible naming sense, was left speechless.
"Grrr!!"
Even the puppy, upon hearing that name, was ready to bite the young lady.
"Hing.. Then what name did Mir think of! Try saying it!"
Elena, upset that her excellent naming sense was being ignored, said.
"..Then how about Maeum-i?"
"Maeum-i?"
"Yes, it was the name of the puppy I used to raise."
"Oh! That sounds good, hehe!"
In truth, Elena didn't care as long as it was a name Mir had given.
Elena and Mir named the puppy Maeum-i.
Maeum-i, with his brown fur, was able to get close to the young lady quickly.
About 2 months had passed since the festival ended.
"Maeum-i! Fetch!"
"Woof!"
Mir, who had some leeway as he had grown to a certain extent, would play ball with Elena and Maeum-i,
"Mir! Maeum-i and I made this!"
"Woof!"
And they would go play in the Duke's flower garden together.
"Let's skip today!"
"Roselyn-nim, here she is."
"..!"
He would even snitch on the young lady who was hiding in the Duke's residence to skip lessons,
And the two were becoming even closer than in their past lives.
"You know, Mir! It's something from a nightmare I had! They say there's no one who has never seen a blue sky, but at the same time, there's no one who hasn't seen a sky covered in dark clouds! I'll have a long rainy season someday, right? When that happens, you must become my Sun!"
The young lady lying on the grass said.
"...Is it the Sun this time, not the Star?"
Mir was flustered because the young lady had said the exact contents of the letter he had written in his nightmare, but he brushed it off as a coincidence.
"Yes! I think Mir can be both the Sun and the Star!!"
"I will try."
Mir, who was spending his days as usual while living with the young lady,
However, today was a little different.
"You know the official knight exam is coming up soon, right?"
Rosalia asked.
"Of course I know."
Mir replied.
Unlike Rosalia, who was 17, Mir, who was only 11 years old, could not officially take the exam.
However, because of the effect of the Didimcho, Mir looked at least 16 years old, unlike his 11-year-old age, so the Duke, considering Mir's incredible growth speed and his skill enough to beat Rosalia, helped him take this exam.
"Are you really 11?"
Eric asked.
"Waaah"
Mir replied.
Mir was usually a serious person, but since he had spent a lot of time with Eric and Rosalia and had become close, he could make jokes like this.
A week passed, and the Duke's knight exam began.
The exam was to spar with the Duke's Knight Commander. It was a matter of proving one's skills to a certain extent in that test.
"Then, I will begin the sparring."
Rosalia's turn came first. Rosalia, who was a promising prospect before Mir arrived, already had immense talent, but because she had trained even harder watching Mir's growth, Rosalia was able to pass the exam easily.
"It's your turn now, Eric?"
The next turn was Eric. In fact, if not for being pushed by Mir and Rosalia, Eric was also a skilled person with enough ability to be ranked 3rd.
However,
"Eric, you are still lacking."
"..Damn it."
Eric ended up making a mistake in the test and failed.
"Heh heh, go practice more, kiddo!"
Rosalia said.
"Shut up!"
Eric shouted.
Like that, the sparring of the apprentice knights ended one by one, and with only Rosalia having passed the exam, it was Mir's turn.
"It's impressive that you've come this far at the age of 11."
The Duke's Knight Commander said.
"You are too kind."
"Then, shall we stop the small talk and move on to the sparring?"
With that, the Knight Commander's sword immediately came toward Mir.
No matter how talented Mir was, it was impossible for an 11-year-old to defeat the Knight Commander.
"Still lacking strength."
As the sparring with the Knight Commander progressed, Mir's sword was pushed back.
In fact, since the Knight Commander and the Duke did not yet have the intention of passing Mir as an official knight, Mir's test was bound to be tougher than the other examinees.
"Dad! You didn't do that for me!"
In fact, the Duke's Knight Commander was Rosalia's father, Manolin. In fact, the reason Eric failed was partly because of the father's heart, jealous of the relationship between Rosalia and Eric.
"Go back and drink more of your mother's milk, kiddo!"
Manolin said.
"It's not over yet!"
In fact, even if he failed this test, Mir could have aimed for the next one, but he couldn't give up because he knew the changes that would happen if Elena's eyes turned red.
"Argh!"
Manolin's wooden sword struck Mir's right arm. With that, the bone in Mir's right arm was shattered.
"Give up now."
However, Mir, who had talked to Elena in his past life, knew the young lady's wish and could not give up.
With his broken right arm, Mir began to continue the sparring with only his left arm.
"..Do you know your right arm is broken?"
Manolin asked.
"I have my left arm."
Mir replied.
This time, Manolin's sword struck Mir's ribs.
"Ugh!"
Mir felt immense pain, but
Seeing the sight of her being happy with a single piece of bread when coming to the Duke's residence with the young lady, Mir could not give up.
Manolin's sword knocked Mir over.
[Thud]
Mir had fallen, covered in dirt, but
Because he had a promise to become the young lady's Sun, Mir could not give up.
Like that, one exchange, two exchanges... As Manolin and Mir's swords clashed, Manolin couldn't help but be surprised.
"Why won't you give up?"
"....."
"I guess you won't answer."
The sparring continued like that.
The Duke was also watching the sparring from the window, so he was just surprised by Mir's venom.
Mir, who would not give up even if he became covered in blood and his own arm was broken.
Seeing that, Manolin was reminded of what his grandfather, Santiago, had said.
"A man can be destroyed but not defeated."
It seemed like that saying fit the boy named Mir in front of Manolin perfectly.
So Manolin raised his sword and swung the final strike at the blood-covered Mir, saying.
"Originally, I had no intention of passing you. But if you take this sword, I will pass you."
This was Manolin's arbitrary decision.
Bleeding from serious injuries, Mir replied.
"Please come at me."
The two clashed for the final time, and Mir was finally able to pass the exam.
------
"I hate you, Dad!"
Of course, it was also scheduled that Elena, who saw the blood-covered Mir, would go to vent her anger at the Duke.
------
After the sparring with Manolin ended, the heavily injured Mir was lying in the Duke's infirmary.
"Mir!"
Elena, who heard the news of Mir's injury, ran over immediately and began to glare at Manolin, who had hurt Mir, with scary eyes.
"Manolin! Why did you hurt Mir like this!"
"Dad, why don't you spar with me like that?"
Manolin had a headache just from the nagging of the young lady and his daughter, but since he had disobeyed the Duke's order and appointed Mir as an official knight, the Duke's nagging he would have to hear was also a natural procedure, so Manolin started to tear up.
"I am fine, Young Lady. Rather, it was a time to verify my skills."
Mir, who was secretly curious about his own skills, took Manolin's side, and was able to receive Manolin's tearful gaze.
"Still, Mir! Mir is my knight, but I don't like Mir becoming a knight while getting hurt like this!"
"...I apologize, Young Lady."
"So, did you promise me not to get hurt anymore?"
"I understand, Young Lady."
-----
After Mir became a knight, time flowed quickly until one week before the young lady turned 9, which was one week before Elena's birthday.
"Mir! What is my birthday present?"
"It's a secret."
"I'm curious, can't you just tell me?"
"You will know in a week."
"Tch."
After the conversation with the young lady ended, Mir went down to the village to buy the young lady's birthday present.
In fact, Mir had not yet thought of the young lady's birthday present.
As a knight of the Duke's household, he had earned enough money to buy expensive items in the village, but buying a gift that the young lady would like was a different story.
"A doll would be the safest, right?"
After a long time, the gift Mir thought of was a rabbit doll with red eyes.
Because Mir already knew that the young lady's eyes would turn red.
A gift chosen so that the young lady would not feel lonely when Mir was not around: a rabbit doll with red eyes.
After finishing wrapping the rabbit doll at the doll shop, Mir headed back to the Duke's residence.
"Mir? Where have you been?"
"I went to the village for a moment."
"Why to the village?"
"I went to the hut for the first time in a while."
"Not to buy my birthday present?"
The young lady said with a disappointed expression.
"Please wait a little longer for the Young Lady's gift."
Seeing the young lady's disappointed expression, Mir held back his urge to give her the gift right away and said.
"Okay.."
In reality, Mir had gone to the hut.
Because he didn't know what would happen if the young lady's eyes turned red on her birthday, Mir went to the hut and brought back medicinal herbs.
"I hope you don't have to use them, though."
Knowing the side effects of the herbs, Mir thought.
----
On the day of the young lady's birthday, the thing Mir had feared happened.
"Kyaaaaaa!"
"T..The young lady's eyes..!"
"M..Mir, my eyes are strange!"
Like that, at the young lady's birthday banquet, the young lady's eyes turned red.