Chapter 16: Zeal
The next morning, I had been pouring out my grievances to the Black Knight, but came back with nothing to show for it.
A reply from Seriel would still take some time.
I had never felt the need before because I was always at the palace, but I really needed to get my hands on a bidirectional communication magic device.
I was mulling over whether to haggle it out of the East Duke when a knock sounded.
“Captain of the Imperial Guard.”
It was Silsian.
“Your Highness.”
“I came because there was something I wanted to ask.”
“What is it?”
In her hand was a single book.
“I don’t understand this part.”
On the page she showed me was the title.
「Mechanism of Family Line Blending」
accompanied by intricate magic circles and formulas.
“Why does the magic circle have this straight line here?”
…What the hell is this.
I rubbed my eyes for a second.
The handwriting and symbols were exactly the same.
Even glancing at it, it looked difficult.
It wasn’t something a ten-year-old little girl like me could read.
Had she brought a book from the East Duke?
“Where did you get a book like this?”
“The Magic Tower.”
The Magic Tower. The educational institution dedicated solely to mages.
It claimed you could learn everything from elementary school to graduate level in one place.
All the researchers at the Imperial Research Institute were graduates of the Magic Tower.
Of course, I had never set foot there.
At the time Seriel had been a penniless princess.
“Have you visited the Magic Tower?”
“I’ve been going. I’m in third year.”
She really was the daughter of the empire’s wealthiest family.
Envious… no, she was amazing.
“I’m on leave right now, so I’ll have to return to the palace soon.”
“I see.”
“So, what do you think? About this.”
In my opinion, that’s…
Silsian had talent and passion overflowing.
Even though she was the same second-class, unlike lazy Anelia, her curiosity was boundless.
Page after page—.
She turned to the next one, solved the problem, and asked me.
“Then how about doing it like this?”
“Oh, you’re amazing.”
Page after page—.
When I explained one, she understood two, and applied three.
Her mind was sharp.
She was an interesting child to teach.
Of course, the theory part should be taught by someone else.
I didn’t know. My head was hurting.
The next day.
“Ricarton.”
Silsian had come looking for me again.
It seemed we were getting closer, because now she called me by name.
“I have something I want to ask.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“It’s this part here.”
…I didn’t know, but I gave a rough answer.
“Like this?”
“You’re amazing.”
Then she understood on her own.
…Was I even needed at this point?
She seemed like she could do it all by herself.
The next day.
“Ricarton.”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
“I have something I want to ask.”
“…Again?”
“No?”
When she looked at me with teary eyes like a abandoned kitten, how could I say no?
“…Of course. Come in.”
Silsian came every single day.
“Ricarton.”
“Ricarton.”
“Ricarton.”
…
Not even one day missed.
My head was going to explode from it.
My scalp seemed to have widened. Was this starting to cause circular baldness?
“Ricarton.”
“…Yes.”
Even the train followed her.
The room next to my private car in first-class.
Since I was going to the palace soon anyway, I had planned to tell her to go together, but she grabbed me.
Even though the East Duke’s family members were riding, because Silsian and I each had our own room, we had been pushed into first-class.
“Today, read this part.”
“Understood.”
When I said I didn’t know any of it, it had changed to “just read the textbook out loud.”
I read the textbook aloud like I was reading a fairy tale to my nephew.
Annoying, but since it was a princess’s request, I couldn’t refuse.
I was definitely not a girl like Seriel.
Absolutely not.
***
“Your Highness Silsian, I present ourselves.”
Silsian’s entrance to the palace.
“Silsian Princess will be staying in the fourth annex—.”
The reunion between mother and daughter was entirely expressionless.
The observers found it awkward.
“Ricarton.”
Right after Silsian left, Seriel called for me.
“Yes.”
“No further reports came after the investigation.”
“Since everyone has been giving the same answers since then, there was nothing to report.”
“You weren’t playing around, were you?”
“What a horribly, horribly cruel thing to say!!”
I had been running around the palace from morning to evening, and in the evening I had even played with Silsian!
I was dying of frustration.
“Did you get angry at me?”
“There’s no way.”
Seriel glared at me with pure disgust, so I immediately canceled it.
When I left the room, the Empress’s mood had soured quite a bit.
After escorting Seriel to her room, on the way back I asked a subordinate in the Imperial Guard.
“Was there anything going on while I was away?”
“No? Nothing happened.”
“Why do you look so unhappy?”
“Huh? You seem really happy today. Ever since the Captain came back, you’ve been smiling all morning until now.”
“…How bad must it have been while I was gone.”
“Your Highness’s mood is worse than the Empress’s.”
The subordinate leaned in and whispered in my ear.
“Eris again?”
“That’s why, since the Captain’s gone. A few days ago, the princess set the training hall’s curtain on fire.”
“…Is she evolving?”
“Eh?”
“It’s just a mumbling. While you were gone, Belante probably wasn’t doing her job properly. You’re welcome.”
“Yes.”
I turned my back on the saluting subordinate and instantly teleported to the Imperial Guard office.
“Uuu… uuu…”
Belante was face-down on the desk, making snoring sounds that reminded me of my hometown’s rotating sushi shop.
“Hey.”
“Uuu… uuu…”
“Vice-Captain.”
“Uuu… uuu…”
I rubbed my forehead.
Bang!!
I kicked the desk leg with my foot.
If I had my way, I would have turned her into electro-grilled meat like Seriel had done, but since Belante was five years older than me, I held back.
“Hic!? What’s wrong!!”
She shot up from her chair with paper still stuck to her cheek.
“Are you sleeping during work hours now that you’re Vice-Captain?”
“C-Captain? Ah, today was your return day.”
“Wake up first.”
“I’m sorry!!”
I belatedly peeled the paper off my cheek.
Spittle stretched out like it had been glued on with glue.
“U-ugh… wash up properly.”
“Yes….”
As soon as Belante left, dejected.
“You’re back! Finally!!”
It was Liz— no, Eris— who charged in.
The moment I saw her, I understood the meaning of “eyes burning with fire as they searched.”
Her eyes really were blazing.
“The work hours are over, Your Highness.”
“What nonsense? I told you to stay focused during training time, not just mark time!”
“Me?”
“Yes!”
“When?”
“Back then. Anyway, since I’ve mastered two forms, spare me!”
“…Yes.”
Even though she was this excited, I couldn’t ignore her.
I followed Eris like Belante, slouching my shoulders.
The empty training grounds glowed with the beautiful sunset light.
Flare—!!
From Eris’s neck, mana erupted like flames.
“Look!”
At the moment she confidently swung her burning neck, a gust of cold wind blew in.
Her mana scattered.
“You were told not to do that before.”
Ricarton’s icy mana pressed down on her body.
“I-It’s different this time. This time it’s properly—”
“Your Highness, are you hitting?”
Her body jolted from my glare alone.
His mana filled the training grounds, pressing down, and Eris’s knees slowly bent. Her posture lowered.
“Ugh… Teacher, why do you keep trying to punish your students!”
“Punish? What scary words. I’m only teaching you what I’ve learned. But you keep not following what I taught?”
“Exactly how much have you taught!”
“Speaking in half-form to a student?”
“…There are more hours you weren’t here than the ones I taught!”
At those words, Ricarton blinked and scratched his chin.
“…Really?”
Eris was dying of curiosity about the face of the person who claimed to be her teacher or master.
Surely that guy was also angry like this.
“That’s right! Skipping volcano trips, prison, lava zones, arguments with the second one, and trips to the east! Skipping skipping skipping!!!”
Sparks flew from the corners of her mouth.
I really wanted to spit flames on that face right then, but
“I’m sorry.”
She was dazed by my apology.
The fire that had been boiling in her chest cooled without a trace.
Of course, since he was the Empress’s bodyguard, he didn’t bow his head or waist at all.
“…That’s fine.”
Eris, who had been boiling with anger from head to toe, felt a little embarrassed because she hadn’t expected Ricarton to apologize so readily.
That guy who never thought about others had apparently felt sorry.
Instead of pouring out more anger, Eris just stuck out her lip.
“Then throw away that ridiculous flame sword philosophy and start from one-form to two-form.”
“Ridiculous philosophy?! How dare you insult a royal!”
“Hahaha. No way. You said half-form again? You insulted the Teacher.”
“What.”
Ricarton pulled out his sword for the first time in a while.
Pang! Boing! Pang! Boing! Pang!
“Kiiiaaaak—!!”
“Hahaha!”
He released a full hour of accumulated stress.
‘This bastard!’
Cancelled.
The guy who supposedly thought about others—bullshit.
I was going to lock her in a room when I became Empress and punish her once, but
‘You’re dead! Death penalty!! You’ll be slowly dismembered!!!’
I would never spare her.
***
The next day.
“Hello, Teacher.”
In front of me stood Eris and Bruneah side by side.
Bruneah smiled gently.
Eris glared at me like she wanted to kill me.
Even though I had promised to spoil her, she was sulking.
“Then, today, don’t be slow—show me a normal-speed form.”
Srring—.
Bruneah drew her dagger, Eris drew her neck sword.
Two different sword arts unfolded from the two princesses.
Bruneah’s was fluid and smooth, like water flowing without any abrupt stops.
Eris’s had a rougher edge, but carried strength and rhythm.
Maybe it was time to show some mercy.
“You’ve improved a lot in just a month.”
“Thank you.”
“Huu.”
“Bruneah-nim. Eris-nim, instead of showing off your strange fire shows, practice more diligently.”
“Ugh…!!”
Eris puffed her cheeks with discontent again.
“Here, like this—”
She obediently followed my gentle instructions, blushing at my kind appearance.
“Like this?”
“No, raise your arms a little higher. Put strength into your lower body. No—, no—, no—”
“Ugh, it’s hard.”
Watching Eris tremble as she desperately tried to get it right, I swallowed back the sigh I had been about to let out.
Even with her lacking talent, she worked so hard. As her teacher, I had to show zeal.
I felt a little sorry for not having paid attention lately.
“It’s fine. Let’s do it slowly again from the beginning.”
I started teaching her from scratch.
Like operating a puppet, I held her wrists and waist, correcting her posture one by one.
“Teacher, what about me? How do I look?”
Bruneah, who had been swinging her sword alone until now, asked.
“Perfect.”
Clap clap clap!
An impeccable posture. Clean lines.
There was nothing to find fault with, so I praised her with applause.
But.
“Ch.”
“……??”
Bruneah puffed her cheeks discontentedly.
‘No, I praised her, why??’