Chapter 156: I Believe People Should Know Their Place (2)
Chapter 156: I Believe People Should Know Their Place (2)
Ace—or rather, April—attended to the bath with practiced, skillful hands.
She washed Isabella’s fair skin with a towel worked into a soft lather. Isabella, for her part, surrendered her body to the touch. As she received the service, she took the opportunity to piece together the circumstances.
“So, you dressed as a man to avoid public attention?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“And that actually worked?”
“If one acts with enough confidence, people are surprisingly slow to doubt.”
“No, but still...”
Isabella trailed off. Come to think of it, she herself hadn't suspected for a moment that Ace—April—was a woman. Every time she saw her, she had simply thought, How can a man be so beautiful?
“But is it really alright to reveal your identity to me?”
At Isabella’s question, April gently poured water over her back and replied, “Because you are the one who will one day become the Young Master’s wife, My Lady.”
“...”
It was okay to reveal her secret? Just for that one reason?
Now that I think about it, this person is a total Patrick-supremacist.
April was a woman of few words, so it wasn't always obvious, but as the butler Ace, she had shown nothing but absolute obedience to Patrick Schneider’s orders. One might argue that a butler obeying their master is nothing special, but...
When the master was Patrick Schneider, the difficulty level changed significantly.
That’s not something you can do with an ordinary level of mental fortitude.
No, definitely not.
Wait, but...
Suddenly, an important fact occurred to Isabella. If April’s true identity was a woman...
“You’ve been sharing a room with Patrick, haven't you?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
Strictly speaking, the rooms were separate. However, they shared an independent living space within the same building. They lived in a private area where no one from the outside could know what they were doing.
Isabella turned her head to look at April.
How does someone even look like this?
Isabella had grown up hearing she was a beauty. She had even been called the greatest beauty in the kingdom. While half of that was likely flattery toward her status as a princess, she had never felt intimidated by anyone else's looks. Until now.
April’s beauty was almost excessive, even to another woman. It went beyond jealousy; it made Isabella feel a sense of self-deprecation. And yet, Patrick—a healthy man at the peak of his youth—had lived in the same quarters as this April for over three years. That meant...
“So, you and Patrick... are... you know... that...”
How was she supposed to put this? Was it even okay to ask? Would it be too rude? No, this was an important matter. Who cared if it was rude? She was a princess; surely she could ask this much? Still, she felt she should choose her words carefully. What was the right term?
As Isabella struggled through a fierce internal conflict to find the right words, April spoke calmly.
“The Young Master has never once requested my services at night.”
“Really?”
“Yes. In fact, there was a time when I approached him first to offer.”
“...Excuse me?”
“On the day the Young Master came of age. I thought he should finally know the touch of a woman, so I intended to offer myself, however lacking I may be.”
“And... then?”
“He refused.”
“Is he... impotent?”
It was a rather crude word for a princess of a nation to use. However, April didn't seem flustered at all as she continued composedly.
“He is not.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Judging by the copies of The Duchess’s Secret Outing and The Knight Princess Captured by the Enemy hidden under the Young Master’s bed, he is certainly not.”
“Ah...”
He reads stuff like that?
Right. Got it.
I’ll keep that in mind.
*
“Achoo!”
“What? What was that for?”
“I don’t know, I suddenly felt a chill...”
For a master of Patrick’s caliber to feel a chill was no ordinary occurrence. However...
“It’s because you haven't drunk enough. Have another.”
“Yeah. Let’s drink, let’s drink.”
Indeed. What could be more important than free booze? Patrick went back to pouring drinks with Matthew, completely unaware that his private secrets were being laid bare.
*
Isabella let out a sigh and spoke.
“Anyway, so you and Patrick aren't in that kind of relationship?”
“We are not.”
“...Truly?”
At Isabella’s lingering doubt, April replied in a steady voice.
“The Young Master is a noble and magnificent person.”
“...”
Him?
Isabella desperately suppressed the urge to say those words out loud. Instead, she asked something more important.
“Setting Patrick aside...”
“...”
“What about you?”
“...”
“You said you liked Patrick, didn't you? Is that as a woman? Or as a vassal...?”
“I believe,” April interrupted, cutting her off—a rare move for her. She continued in a calm voice. “I believe people should know their place.”
“...”
She poured water over Isabella’s body to rinse off the remaining soap and stood up.
“I shall take my leave now.”
Watching April’s retreating back as she left the hot spring, Isabella let out a small sigh.
“This isn't easy.”
Truly, in many ways, it was not easy at all.
*
A week had passed since Patrick began his stay at Marquis Raines’s territory. During that time, Patrick had handled two tasks with absolute certainty.
One was devastating the Marquis’s wine cellar. He had put his heart and soul into this. Matthew helped a bit, but Patrick faced the majority of the enemies (the bottles) himself.
And the second thing he did...
“Haaap!”
A vigorous shout. Disciplined sword paths. And a murderous killing intent.
“Slow.”
K-Boom!
“Gwaaakh!”
But the results didn't follow. The knight of House Raines who had charged at Patrick was struck by a powerful blow and sent flying over ten meters. In the direction he flew, a pile of senior knights who had been sent flying before him were already heaped together, groaning. They looked like a pile of corpses stacked after a battle.
Patrick looked at the heap of bodies indifferently and said, “Next.”
April appeared at his side with a towel and a water skin. “That is all for today.”
“Oh? Right.”
“Yes. You have already completed five full rotations.”
“Is that so? Well, they’ve gotten a bit better than the first day.”
A small smile began to form on the knights’ faces at Patrick’s words...
“At first, they were so pathetic I wondered how I could even use these incompetent slugs, but now they’re at least at the level where they can roll around.”
...and then it vanished.
Patrick took a drink from the water skin April provided and said, “My body feels a bit stiff after that workout. Maybe I’ll head to the hot spring?”
“I will prepare it immediately.”
“Take your time. I’ll go see the Marquis first.”
“Understood.”
As soon as Patrick disappeared, the knights of House Raines rose like zombies.
“Ugh... uuuugh...”
“He’s gone. That damn monster...”
“Dammit, move over.”
“Just kill me. I don't even have the strength to move.”
Over the past week, sparring with Patrick had brought two changes to the knights of House Raines. One was that their physical resilience had increased. And the second...
“That cursed human...”
“Is he even a person?”
“His strength? Or his personality?”
“Both.”
As one could see, they had developed spite and grit.
When Patrick first offered to look over their swordsmanship while staying at the estate, the knights had thought it was an honor.
Nice.
This is a chance.
It’ll definitely be helpful.
Even though they were essentially disciples of Marquis Raines and received instruction from a 7-Star Knight regularly, the teachings of another 7-Star Knight were no less precious. Furthermore, though they couldn't say it aloud, wasn't Patrick clearly a greater master than their lord, the Marquis? It was a fact anyone who had witnessed the previous duel had to admit.
How happy they were to have the chance to be taught by such a master! Or so they thought—before they experienced the first day.
[Come at me, one by one.]
It was, how should one put it? It was written as 'instruction,' read as 'sparring,' and the underlying meaning was 'assault.'
After thoroughly crushing the Raines Knights, Patrick spoke to the knights groaning on the ground.
[By nature, humans are like weeds; the more you step on them, the tougher and stronger they become. So, I will put in the effort to step on you with all my heart.]
[Wait, what if we die?]
[Then you die.]
[...]
[What? Why? You got a problem? Then come at me.]
Might was right. And so, for a week, Patrick began to 'step' on the knights of House Raines with great care. It wasn't just a metaphor; he literally stepped on them.
Crunch!
[Aaaargh!]
[Look at this guy. I give him a little pat and he’s whining that he can't get up? Huh? You gonna get up? Or you gonna die?]
[I... I think my leg is broken.]
[I know. So what?]
[How can I keep fighting with a broken leg? Please, medical treatment...]
[Oh, really? You gonna say that in the middle of a war? 'Hey, wait a second, my leg is broken. Let’s fight again in a bit.' Like that?]
[...]
[You lot are too soft. Hah! Where do you get off calling yourselves knights and whining about a broken leg? If you’re gonna be like that, just quit. You idiots!]
In that moment, they saw a demon.
In truth, there were many juniors at the Academy who sought instruction from Patrick. How precious was the chance to be taught by one of the Double Dragon? However, most of them tried to stay out of Patrick’s sight after just one session. Only a few, including Matthew and Isabella, could consistently endure Patrick’s training. Why? Because it felt like they were going to die.
The knights of House Raines had experienced a whole new world over the past week. As they rose like zombies to tidy up the training ground after Patrick left, their faces were as gaunt as peasants suffering from famine.
“Hell is real. Right here, right now, this is hell.”
“Hell is probably just wherever that man is.”
“Is that a human?”
“He’s a demon or a devil. Definitely.”
Everyone nodded in agreement at someone’s remark. Then, someone else spoke up.
“That day,” a knight said cautiously. “If we had all charged him at once, could we have won?”
At those words, the surrounding knights made awkward expressions.
“Is that even a question?”
“If we used the entire knight order plus the soldiers, of course we’d win.”
“Right. No matter if he’s in the 7-Star Realm, it’s only normal that we’d win.”
“Yeah... that would be normal, right?”
“...”
“Ummm...”
“Normal, huh...”
In truth, they knew. They knew how meaningless it was to discuss 'normal' logic when the opponent was anything but normal.
In a way, it might be a huge relief that we didn't charge him that day.
The fortress would definitely have been destroyed.
We almost had a group funeral.
Though they couldn't say it, they felt a deep, internal sense of relief.
*
At House Raines, there was a large training ground for group drills and a separate private training ground for the Marquis alone. And currently, in the private one...
“Hyaaaaah!”
“Still... not enough!”
Matthew and Isabella were sweating profusely as they faced Marquis Raines. The two attacked the Marquis fiercely in a coordinated pincer movement. Of course, their swords were blocked before they could even graze the Marquis’s clothes, but their momentum didn't falter in the slightest.
Impressive.
Marquis Raines was genuinely impressed. Their breath was ragged, and their limbs were trembling from exhaustion. It was only natural after sparring for a long time against an opponent with such a vast difference in skill. Yet, the fighting spirit in their eyes remained unextinguished. Even with his 7-Star prowess, he wasn't confident he could put out that fire without killing them.
Just then, Patrick appeared in the space and spoke.
“Good work, both of you.”
At his voice, Matthew and Isabella, who had been attacking the Marquis relentlessly, took a step back. Marquis Raines also sheathed his sword.
“Let’s call it a day.”
Only then did Matthew and Isabella collapse onto the ground.
“Thank you.”
“Good work, sir.”
The intensity of this training was mild compared to when Patrick ran them through the ringer. However, Marquis Raines was still a 7-Star Knight. He was a cliff that these two had yet to reach. While Patrick was looking over the Raines Knights, Marquis Raines was looking over Patrick’s companions, Matthew and Isabella. It was a sort of mutual cooperation.
“How is my knight order?”
“They’ve got some grit now.”
“You say that as if they didn't have any before.”
“You know them well.”
“...”
A bitter smile touched the Marquis’s lips. There were plenty of knights who didn't fall behind Matthew or Isabella in terms of skill. But in terms of tenacity? He had felt it personally while facing the two of them.
“Ugh... Senior, give me some water...”
“I’m a princess.”
“Princess, give me some water...”
“...”
Was there anyone else with the mental strength to push themselves until they ended up like that? No matter how much he thought about it, he wasn't sure.
Marquis Raines looked at Patrick.
“Just how hard do you push them to make them like this? One is a young lord from a prestigious family, and the other is a princess and your fiancée, isn't she?”
“So what? Do you check people’s social status before you push them, Marquis?”
“Well, I mean, a little bit...”
“I don't do that. If they’re being pushed, they all get pushed the same. Who cares about their background? They want to die or something?”
What a damn egalitarian.