The Original Novel's Cool Character Shows Her Petty Side
Chapter 15. When the original novel's cool character started shooting me jealous glares in reality, the illusion inside me shattered completely.
After sword training ended, Veronica, Karin, and I made our way back to the Grand Ducal Mansion, each of us covered in a generous layer of sand dust and sweat from the training ground.
“Haa, haa……”
I had spent a year rolling around at the Wall and prided myself on my stamina, but right after the sparring session, on top of the physical fatigue, this was my first time holding a proper wooden sword and taking a basic lesson with Veronica. Both physical exhaustion and mental fatigue came crashing down on me at once.
How the hell does she copy it after seeing it just once?
Watching ten-year-old Veronica’s sponge-like absorption right beside me, a helpless sense of competitiveness and impatience kept gnawing at my mind.
On the other hand—
“Good work, Sir Bayle. For your first day, your movements were quite decent.”
Karin, who had beaten me like a dog and then immediately proceeded to teach the young lady, merely wiped the sweat from her brow. Her breathing remained perfectly steady.
“Instructor! When you showed me that defensive stance earlier, if I pull my foot back like this while deflecting, it sets up the next attack better, right?”
“Yes, my lady. You understood it perfectly.”
Even Veronica, who had just been swinging a wooden sword as big as herself and working up a sweat, was now firing questions at Karin in a lively voice.
What a monstrous master-and-disciple pair……
Stuck between these two overpowered characters, the misery of an ordinary extra desperately flailing to learn something weighed heavily on me.
When we entered the central hall on the first floor, the Grand Duchess Rebecca should have been there to greet us after finishing her administrative duties and to finish introducing the mansion to Karin, whom she had postponed earlier. Instead, only Head Butler Shepherd was waiting.
“I trust the lesson went smoothly.”
Shepherd bowed politely toward us.
“Ah, Head Butler. Where is the Grand Duchess?”
When I asked, a troubled look flickered across Shepherd’s wrinkled face and disappeared.
“Her Ladyship…… appears to have a little more administrative work left. She has not come out of her office at all.”
Inside the fourth-floor office, the Grand Duchess Rebecca was in a very urgent situation. It was time to review the territory’s tax ledgers. Yet Rebecca’s mind was filled with the provocative lines from the thick brown-covered book the maid had secretly brought in earlier—the racy imperial capital’s erotic novel that had taken the capital by storm.
『The knight’s large hand grasped the young lady’s ample……』
‘Aaah! No! I have to focus, Rebecca!’
She had spent a long time staring into empty space with her quill in hand, letting her imagination run wild. Only when she belatedly realized dinner was approaching did she frantically stamp the remaining documents in a mad dash.
Of course, none of us on the first floor had any idea what was happening upstairs.
“She must be busy with her duties. It is understandable, since His Grace is away.”
I nodded, and Shepherd turned toward Karin.
“In Her Ladyship’s stead, I will show you to your room, Sir Karin. You must be quite tired from the sword lesson, so it would be best to check your quarters first so you can wash and rest.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Head Butler.”
Since Veronica and I were also soaked in sweat from training and planned to return to our rooms to wash, we naturally followed Shepherd up the stairs.
We passed the common areas on the second floor and finally arrived at the third-floor corridor lined with guest rooms.
“This way, Sir Karin.”
Shepherd guided Karin to the women’s guest room section on the third floor and opened one of the doors.
“This will be your room from now on, Sir Karin.”
Karin glanced around the room and nodded deeply, as if she were deeply grateful just to be allowed to use a third-floor guest room in the Grand Ducal Mansion despite being a commoner.
“It is an excellent room. Thank you for such generous treatment.”
Just as Karin was about to greet us from the doorway before unpacking and washing—
“Then we will see you at dinner after we wash up, Sir Karin.”
I raised my hand lightly in farewell and naturally began walking with Veronica toward the private staircase leading to the fourth floor. Karin’s eyes widened at the sight.
“……Wait a moment.”
Karin called out to me in a hurry. Her eyes were filled with confusion.
“Sir Bayle. Where…… are you going right now?”
“Pardon? Ah, I am on my way back to my room.”
“Then why is that room upstairs……! Is the floor above not a private sanctuary reserved solely for those of Arteta blood? How can an outsider like you go up there?”
At Karin’s flustered cry, I scratched the back of my head awkwardly.
“Ah…… Well, I thought I would be on the third floor too. It just turned out that way. His Grace specifically told me to stay upstairs.”
While I gave my embarrassed excuse, Karin’s position began to look strangely pitiful as she watched the scene.
Two people who had entered the mansion only a day apart. One was a skilled individual invited as the young lady’s official sword instructor, while the other, in Karin’s eyes, was merely a scarred, unremarkable soldier from the border who had luckily saved His Grace’s life.
Yet that soldier was staying on the fifth floor, the family quarters, while she was on the third floor. A crack formed in Karin’s pride—the pride of a commoner who had clawed her way up the social ladder to earn the title of knight.
Just then—
“Shepherd!”
Veronica, who had been standing right beside my legs, suddenly shouted at Shepherd with a sulky face. She pointed back and forth between Shepherd and me with eyes full of discontent.
“Why is my instructor in a third-floor guest room? You gave that ugly scarred uncle a room on the fifth floor!”
Another dagger stabbed straight into my chest.
‘Ugly scarred uncle……’
I understood that she was still a child and spoke without filters, but wasn’t that a bit too much?
At Veronica’s bold protest, Karin’s eyes trembled slightly. The sight of her young liege fearlessly confronting the head butler of the mansion for her sake clearly moved her. However, Shepherd was a veteran who had spent far more time in the mansion than Veronica. He did not falter at the little lady’s complaint and responded with perfect politeness and logic.
“My lady, Sir Bayle’s case is different because His Grace the Grand Duke personally declared him a member of the family and strictly ordered that he stay on the fifth floor.”
“B-But still!”
“On the other hand, Sir Karin has not yet received His Grace’s formal approval. Furthermore, Sir Karin has been assigned both the role of the young lady’s sword instructor and outer perimeter security duties, so staying in a third-floor guest room is in accordance with the rules.”
At Shepherd’s clean and firm explanation—
“…….”
Karin’s shoulders shrank. She seemed to have realized just how narrow her position was within this mansion, and how much more powerful that crude-looking soldier’s influence actually was.
“Hng……”
Veronica also bit her lips, unable to argue against Shepherd’s logic. A ten-year-old child had no power to overturn the strict rules of the Grand Ducal family. The girl could not hide her disappointment and stomped her feet, wanting to stay closer to Karin.
“But…… if Instructor stays on the fifth floor too, I can go learn swordsmanship every single day……”
Seeing Veronica’s dejected, lowered head, Karin quietly approached her.
“My lady.”
Swish.
Karin bent her knees to match Veronica’s eye level, gently took the girl’s small, soft hands in her own, and guided them to rest on her forehead.
“……Instructor?”
When Veronica looked at her with round eyes, Karin smiled softly and asked,
“My lady, could you describe for me roughly where your bedroom on the fifth floor is located, so I can picture it in my mind?”
Veronica’s cheeks flushed slightly at Karin’s romantic gesture. She stammered,
“Uh, um…… After going up the fifth-floor stairs, if you go straight to the right, it is the big room at the very end. The one where you can see the big pine tree in the garden when you open the window……”
Karin listened quietly to the child’s explanation, closed her eyes, and nodded. Then she opened her eyes and whispered in an endlessly warm voice,
“Ah…… I see.”
“……?”
“Your bedroom is directly above the room I will be staying in.”
Karin carefully released Veronica’s hands and gently stroked her cheek.
“If you look down from the sky, we are essentially in the same space, only separated by a floor. So even if I am on the third floor, we are not truly far apart.”
“Oh……”
At Karin’s romantic and chivalrous comfort, Veronica’s purple eyes sparkled. The disappointment that had made her stomp her feet moments ago melted away.
“Really? From the sky, we are in the same place?”
“Yes. I will stand closest beneath your feet and always look up to protect you.”
At those words, Veronica burst into a bright, clear laugh, completely comforted.
“That’s a relief! Still……”
But the little lady’s persistence was not easily broken. Veronica held out her small, cute pinky finger toward Karin.
“When Daddy comes back from the capital, I will definitely beg him so Instructor can move up to the fifth floor too! I promise!”
Karin’s eyes reddened slightly, moved by the child’s pure heart, and she willingly hooked her thick pinky finger with Veronica’s.
“It is an honor, my lady. I will not forget this promise.”
A touching and beautiful oath between master and disciple was formed. It was a heartwarming scene, like a painting.
However, that warmth was not directed at me.
Slide—
Karin, who had been smiling affectionately while hooking pinkies with Veronica, casually turned her gaze and looked up at me standing on the stairs watching the scene.
“…….”
The moment Karin’s eyes, which had been beaming just seconds ago, landed on me, they froze over with cold hostility.
‘Why again!’
Karin’s gaze toward me was filled with clear animosity and jealousy, along with envy toward the rolling stone who got to stay on the same floor as the liege she served.
‘No, what did I even do! I just went into the room they gave me!’
I screamed inwardly with injustice.
‘Besides, Karin…… weren’t you supposed to be the taciturn, cool one-armed Sword Demon in the original novel? Why are you so narrow-minded! Why are you being so petty and envious!’
Seeing the original novel’s cool character shooting me jealous glares and acting petty in reality, the illusion inside me shattered completely.
‘Apologize to me! Apologize for breaking my heart by ruining the character!’
With Karin’s sharp gaze stabbing into my back, I had no choice but to follow Shepherd’s guidance and climb the stairs past the fourth floor toward the fifth with Veronica.
“Huu.”
We finally arrived at the fifth-floor corridor. Just as I was about to grab my doorknob, wanting to wash off my sweat-soaked body quickly—
“Um……”
A tiny voice, barely louder than a mosquito, came from behind me. When I turned around, Veronica was standing in front of me, fidgeting with both hands and wearing the same reluctant expression she had shown when parting with Karin on the third floor. The child glanced at me nervously and hesitantly spoke.
“Scarred uncle……”
‘She’s completely settled on calling me scarred uncle now…… It was nice when she called me knight uncle. Damn it.’
I lamented my rough skin and scars inwardly and replied in a gentle voice,
“Yes, my lady. What is it?”
Veronica moved her lips for a moment before mustering her courage and looking up at me.
“When Daddy…… comes back from the capital, please help me.”
“Help you? What would you like me to help with?”
The shy little lady was asking me for a favor first. This was not a bad sign. To live a comfortable, honey-bee life in the mansion, getting close to Veronica, the future power player, was essential. I cheered inwardly and listened attentively to the child.
“I made a promise with Instructor earlier.”
Veronica clenched her small fists and spoke with a determined expression.
“I am going to convince Daddy so Instructor can move up to the fifth floor…… but Daddy seems to listen to you more than me. So please help me ask Daddy to move Instructor’s room to the fifth floor too.”
Ah. I never expected that the resentment from the dinner banquet yesterday—when Grand Duke Gareth had ignored his own daughter and only peeled shrimp for me while reminiscing—would manifest like this. Even at her young age, Veronica was calculating. As the future villainess, she intended to recruit me, who had influence over her father, to bring Karin up to the fifth floor.
‘That works for me. If Karin moves up to the fifth floor, she will glare at me with less jealousy, and it will be a good opportunity to get closer to Veronica.’
Without the slightest hesitation, I nodded.
“Understood. If that is what you wish, my lady, I will do my best to speak to His Grace when he returns.”
At my straightforward answer, Veronica’s face brightened instantly.
“Really? You will really help?”
The child held out her small, adorable pinky finger toward me, just as she had done with Karin on the third floor.
“Promise.”
My large, calloused finger carefully hooked with Veronica’s soft, white pinky.
“Yes, I promise.”
Though the child’s small warmth still felt awkward against my skin, I smiled as gently as I could.
“Hehe.”
Having achieved her goal, Veronica smiled in satisfaction and trotted toward her own room. However, after taking about three steps, Veronica suddenly stopped. She turned around very carefully and glanced at me.
“……Um, maybe……”
“Yes?”
Veronica’s lips moved as if she had more to say. Her large purple eyes wavered as they scanned my scarred face and sturdy build.
“I mean, earlier at the training ground…… when you and Instructor……”
The child’s cheeks suddenly flushed bright red like rubies as she struggled to continue.
“U-Uu! Never mind! It is nothing!”
Veronica slapped both her cheeks with her hands and dashed away as if chased by something, slamming her door shut behind her.
“……?”
Left alone in the corridor, I blinked stupidly.
‘What was that? Did I scare her with my scars again? Or did I smell too bad from the sweat?’
Unable to understand the young lady’s sudden escape, I could only shrug.
“Haa, whatever. Let me just wash up first.”
I hurried toward the bathroom in my room with my uncomfortable body, completely unaware of what misunderstanding Veronica was having.
* * *
Bang.
After slamming the door shut, Veronica sank to the floor right there, gripping the doorknob tightly.
“Huuu……”
The girl’s cheeks were still flushed like peaches. In Veronica’s mind, a single intense scene from the training ground earlier was playing on endless repeat.
The center of the dusty training ground. Two people exchanging wooden swords while sweating heavily. The huge scarred uncle, pushed back while panting yet gritting his teeth to endure until the very end. And Instructor Karin, who relentlessly drove him back while her eyes flashed in a strange way.
In the final moment, when Instructor’s wooden sword grazed and dug into the uncle’s neck—
The dizzying closeness where their breaths seemed to almost touch.
‘I do not want to admit it, but……’
Veronica hugged her knees and buried her face in them. Karin was endlessly gentle only in front of Veronica and had shot Bayle with fierce, jealous glares. However, to the eyes of a ten-year-old who did not yet understand the complicated emotions between men and women, the fierce and intense sparring took on a completely different meaning.
‘The scarred uncle and Instructor…… somehow looked like Mommy and Daddy……’
The reliable and well-matched appearance of Grand Duke Gareth and Grand Duchess Rebecca smiling at each other overlapped with the silhouettes of the scarred uncle and Instructor crossing swords in the training ground earlier. The skinship of two young people clashing swords while splashing sweat looked, to the innocent child’s eyes, like a dynamic and strangely well-matched dance.
“No……”
Veronica lifted her head sharply from where she had buried her face. She recalled the nightmarish dinner when the scarred uncle had monopolized her father’s hugs and attention and even eaten all her shrimp.
‘Daddy only took care of the scarred uncle and stole all my shrimp.’
And now, even the wonderful Instructor Karin—
‘What if the scarred uncle keeps getting along with Instructor like that in the training ground…… and eventually steals even Instructor’s attention?!’
The thought alone was terrifying. Veronica’s large purple eyes wavered with a sense of crisis. After her father, she might lose her newly acquired teacher to that crude-looking scarred uncle as well.
“I will never let that happen. Instructor is Veronica’s instructor.”
The little lady flopped onto her bed and hugged her beloved rabbit plush doll so tightly it might suffocate. Inside the small chest of Veronica, who had firmly mistaken Bayle and Karin for a potential couple—
The spark of jealousy and vigilance toward the scarred uncle began to burn fiercely in a new direction.