A Chance Encounter
What was more important than Louise's room was Kyle's lesson.
After all, I wasn't carrying any luggage right now, and I didn't need a room immediately.
I spent time drinking tea with Louise.
Since there were still about 30 minutes before swordsmanship class ended, it was fine to spend time like this.
"Yes!"
"What now?"
"Where are you staying?"
"I'll tell you after class."
I was watching Kyle and Elin training in front of the training ground.
With Louise beside me.
Louise seemed to be seeing Kyle for the first time.
After all, there wasn't much talk about Kyle in the newspapers, so it couldn't be helped.
Kyle hadn't gone to other territories and had only lived in Eristirol.
"Oh... that's the young master?"
"Yeah."
"Oh... not bad."
As Louise said, Kyle wasn't bad.
Rather, he didn't belong to the good category.
His face was handsome, his body well-toned, so compared to ordinary men, he was definitely better.
"Right?"
"Yeah, I can guess why the tight-ass suddenly became a tutor."
"I'm not tight at all."
"You used to leave the party right away when an ugly tank joined."
"There was such an incident."
"But it wasn't just because she was ugly."
"That's because she was looking at him with strange eyes."
"That was just looking..."
"No, that's not it."
The gaze she had at the time didn't sit well with me.
She had looked at him with some strange eyes.
Anyway, that's how it was.
"Um... tell her to wash up first. Coming with sweat all over is gross."
"Okay, got it."
Kyle wasn't particularly smelly with sweat, so it should be fine.
Sometimes when massaging, I wiped the sweat and it was okay.
"Master, the magic instructor has arrived. Please meet her after washing first."
"Yes."
I left the training ground with Kyle and wiped the sweat on Kyle's body.
It wasn't enough time to wash everyone immediately.
It would be better to wash after magic class.
"Master, she has a bit of poor manners. She might use informal speech or say strange things... I hope you'll understand with a generous heart."
Louise could speak formal speech if she wanted, but...
She would probably speak informal with Kyle.
I hadn't seen Louise use formal speech with anyone yet.
"And she has a naturally free style. You don't have to be too burdened in class."
"Um..."
"Any more questions about Louise?"
"What is the relationship between Miss Sophia and that person? It seems like you've known each other for a long time."
"Ah."
I heard them using informal speech with each other.
Since I don't use informal speech in the castle, it was natural to be curious.
It wasn't a special relationship, but they had known each other for a long time.
Among the people I knew, perhaps not as long as my parents.
"Just a mage I met during my adventurer days."
"I see."
Yeah, really no special bond.
Just met when gathering a party during adventurer days.
I wiped the sweat on Kyle's back while talking about Louise.
Unlike with Elin, there were many questions.
After all, I had heard more from the knight commander about Elin, so it was natural.
"Master, is this outfit sufficient?"
"Yes."
Kyle put on the clothes I gave him.
It was a bit uncomfortable compared to the clothes worn during sword training, but as a noble, I had to wear clothes of a certain level.
It was a bit uncomfortable rather than too comfortable, but such clothes suited him better.
"Here?"
"Yeah."
"Um.. are you the young master? Hello?"
"Yes."
Louise greeted Kyle with a smile.
With her unique strange eyes, Kyle also had a bit of a strange look.
"Um.. since it's annoying, you can just call me Kyle, right?"
"Yes, no problem."
The crazy woman who called Kyle from the beginning.
Normally, even if you like being casual, do you do it like that?
I like being casual too, but I wouldn't immediately use informal speech with the eldest son of the great Eristirol.
"Um.. have you never tried magic before?"
"Yes."
"I see... then I should test your aptitude first. Kyle, lend me your hand for a moment."
"Hand.. you mean?"
"Yeah, lend me your hand."
What was the point of asking for the hand?
Kyle gave his right hand as Louise said.
"Got it."
"....?"
Then Louise grabbed Kyle's hand.
Why grab the hand?
I didn't know.
She said she was testing aptitude, but how was that related to holding the hand?
"Huuuuh......"
Louise holding Kyle's hand and pondering.
Could it be that Kyle had no aptitude for magic?
Even so, Kyle was the son of a noble, so there should be some.
"Hmmm...."
"Why are you doing that?"
Kyle also asked why Louise was doing this.
Was she scared that he couldn't use magic?
Even though he was bigger than before, he was still a kid.
If he said he couldn't use it, it might be scary.
"Hmmm... Sophia, have you met the Grand Duke?"
"No."
I didn't understand either.
I had worked in the Eristirol castle for years but had never met him even once.
How was it possible not to return to the castle even once for years?
It was clear he was alive.
Since he was alive, he must have sent a message through the steward.
"Um... is she crazy?"
"What?"
What was she saying suddenly.
Suddenly saying Kyle was crazy, what did that mean.
"Aptitude doesn't make sense."
"Yeah..?"
"Most magic should be usable, right? Of course, you have to learn it."
Ah, that was what she meant.
It wasn't that Kyle's mind was crazy, but that his magic aptitude was being discussed.
If that was the case, it was fortunate.
"Um... Kyle, don't you want to learn magic with me? It might be good to visit the Magic Tower once."
"The Magic Tower is out."
"Um.... then there's no choice. Anyway, it will be worthwhile to teach for a while."
It was fortunate that there was no problem teaching Kyle magic.
It was really good that he could learn both sword and magic.
I hadn't been able to learn magic, so I thought it would be good if Kyle could learn it.
In that sense, it was really good.
"Um... but how long are you going to hold the hand...?"
I wondered how long Kyle would keep holding hands like that.
Of course, Kyle was handsome and attractive, but how long was he going to hold it like that.
"Eh? Why? Are you wanting to hold it too, Sophia?"
"What are you talking about!"
I wouldn't say that because I wanted to hold Kyle's hand.
Of course, holding Kyle's big hand would make me feel safe, but I would never do that.
"No, that's not it."
Louise said that and released the hands that were clasped.
"Um... there's nothing special to teach today, so let's do it properly from tomorrow."
"Yes."
"Alright! Then you two go back... no, Sophia, tell me where your room is."
"Ah."
I had promised to tell her.
Suddenly, I almost forgot and just left.
I felt like I didn't want to tell her something, but... still, promises are promises.
"Master, are you washing? I'll come call you when it's time for dinner."
"Yes."
Kyle said that and went to wash.
Behind him, the servants who served him in the bath followed.
"First, I'll tell you about your room."
"Yeah!"
I took Louise out of the room and moved towards Louise's room.
It was more like a guest room rather than saying Louise's room, but well, it would be her room for a while anyway.
It wasn't as good as Catherine's room, but it was still a decent room.
If you looked at the view from the window, it was better than mine.
The frozen river behind the castle and the extremely high mountain range.
Honestly, I was a bit envious.
"....."
Should I just swap rooms with mine?
No, since it was a room close to Kyle, it was too good to swap with Louise.
After all, it was just the view from the window.
It was less important than being close to Kyle.
Walking to Kyle's room in the morning and other things made it better to be close.
"Alright, is this enough?"
"Um... it's a bit boring room."
"What can I do. All rooms are like this. If you're bored, should I ask the servants to bring some toys?"
"Oh... are there toys?"
I didn't know if they really existed, but probably.
If not, I could tell them to buy some.
"Do you need anything? You didn't bring any luggage."
"Everything!"
"Hah...."
I knew from the beginning that there would be no luggage.
How did she come from the Magic Tower with no luggage at all, just carrying her body.
She said she came using magic, but wasn't it normal to carry a bag or something.
"For now, just use the pillow and blanket inside... I'll have the servants tell you. Dinner is about 30 minutes later, so come out around then."
"Is the food good?"
"Compared to what we ate in our adventurer days, it's incomparable."
Originally, Louise wouldn't have been eating with Catherine and Kyle at that level, but now she was the magic instructor and a guest.
As a guest, it was natural to set up a seat to eat together.
Honestly, I didn't like welcoming such a person as a guest.
It was like the guy I worked with as an adventurer suddenly being treated very luxuriously, or Kyle holding hands the whole time, or losing the money I earned last time at gambling...
"Hey, did you lose the money I lent you too?"
"Yeah!"
.....
Suddenly, I started thinking I needed to seriously change Louise into a magic instructor.