The Mishap in the Training Hall
She hadn’t put in that much strength.
Idel had only gently lowered her practice sword to a position that was easy to block, out of consideration for her.
‘…Blood.’
Was that all it was? Idel had even dropped the sword she was holding.
Her fingers had gone numb from the pain, something she hadn’t experienced since she was five.
The boy who had faced the weakest opponent he’d ever met stared at her in disbelief.
“Ha…”
“Huh?”
At Dante’s voice, Jiana’s eyebrows shot up even higher.
Her question had come out as nothing more than a tired sigh, which looked utterly rude.
‘I was right about you all along.’
That scumbag Dante Knightray had taken advantage of the fact that no one was watching to bully Idel.
Jiana could no longer hold it in and snorted, then shouted at Dante.
“The fact that you have no answer means you can’t even make an excuse!”
“Huu, that’s… that’s not….”
“Idel, don’t say anything if it hurts! Just wait a little, okay? I’ll finish it for you instead!”
She gritted her teeth as if she wouldn’t hold back and lifted the practice sword she had brought for training.
“You believe me, don’t you?”
Believe in what?
“Wait, just a second….”
“Be quiet and take the blow!”
Jiana charged at Dante without the slightest hesitation.
Dante reflexively caught her sword.
He stared at her with wide eyes.
Jiana bit her lip hard at the sight of Dante easily deflecting her attack.
“…My sword is light, isn’t it?”
She was annoyed, but now was not the time.
She immediately pulled back and naturally bent her knees, gathering momentum.
“Ha!”
With a powerful shout, Jiana charged forward again.
Of course, the impact was nothing.
Jiana was correct that she had started learning the sword before Idel, but she was still at the beginner level.
Because the difference in skill was so obvious, Dante would have easily overpowered her in any other situation.
The problem was….
“Yah!”
“Ugh.”
The problem was that Dante was hesitating.
Every time he swung down, his eyes kept landing on Idel in her protective stance.
Every time he pushed with strength, the sword that had slipped from her hand kept flashing before his eyes.
‘If I end up hurting Jiana too….’
Just thinking about it made the world spin.
“Jiana, first put the sword down….”
“Put it down my foot!”
Jiana cut him off with a single strike and charged again.
By then Idel had finally recovered her senses.
She wiped the blood from her nose and looked up.
In front of her, pure chaos reigned.
‘I want to know what the hell is going on here…?’
Why was Dante suddenly swinging his sword with those weird words?
What had Jiana been imagining that made her scream about trusting her “unnie” out of nowhere?
Idel stared at the chaotic scene of Jiana swinging wildly at Dante and Dante’s startled reaction.
She was stunned by the absurdity of it all.
‘Even the childhood memories of the male and female leads are this messed up?’
What a fresh story this was….
“Were you trying to dodge my sword just now?”
“If I caught it, Jiana would get hurt….”
“You really ignored me! Show me the Clementine family’s secret swordsmanship! Yah! Yah, yah!”
…It was truly a hopeless mess.
Idel slowly stood up from the training mat, watching the two of them deteriorate into a complete mess.
Since the bleeding had mostly stopped, she figured she should call someone now to separate them.
‘How hard did he hit her anyway?’
By the time the nosebleed stopped, the pain should have eased, but her nose still throbbed.
Her head was starting to ache too.
Idel pressed her temple and shot a glare at Dante.
‘He said he would show me the way or something, but it was all lies, wasn’t it? He just wanted to pour his emotions out?’
Of course Dante Knightray would never do that, but she still had to scold him.
Idel brushed aside the pointless thoughts in her head and turned toward the exit.
If she stepped outside, she figured there was probably at least one servant working there.
Just as Idel moved toward the entrance, a familiar face appeared at the door.
“Ellie? What am I even seeing right now? Are you two sparring with swords? Eh, no, that’s not the vibe at all…?”
Patrick Icadorn!
Idel’s eyes widened in surprise at the arrival of the one person who could end this situation.
She wasn’t exactly happy about it.
After all, he shared the same mark as Melissa, so he was a dangerous factor to be wary of.
But….
‘That guy is just pretending, right? He won’t make things worse.’
Idel quickly made up her mind.
She walked over to Patrick with quick steps.
She had spotted his golden eyes on her and pointed at the two of them with her finger.
“Uncle, these two are fighting.”
“Eh….”
“They’re… fighting, Uncle.”
Do something.
Patrick’s expression turned a little strange at the awkward words that came out because of her sore nose.
The situation was urgent, but he never imagined Idel would actually speak to him.
‘Hmm, she wasn’t avoiding me?’
After that first time when she had attacked him, she hadn’t come near him since, so he had thought she was following Melissa’s instructions.
‘But that wasn’t it.’
Her arm still ached from the magic Melissa had used on her.
She was cornering the kid, so if he interfered carelessly, she wouldn’t let it slide.
‘Do you know how delicate mind control and manipulation are? This child is my precious card.
If anything happens because of your little games, that young master over there won’t get out unscathed, either.’
Patrick clicked his tongue lightly, recalling the venomous voice.
‘Man, his personality is just as nasty as his reputation.’
If Dante hadn’t suddenly said he wanted to get lessons from the duke, he would have turned around right there.
After all, he and Melissa were on bad terms even in Nox.
That was when….
“Uncle.”
“Ah.”
At the urgent tone from below, Patrick looked back at Idel.
Her bright blue eyes were visible through the messy face and blood.
He stared at the child’s eyes for a moment, as if asking what she was trying to say, and let out a small sigh.
“This is quite a situation….”
How did I end up with this kid….
Patrick scratched his head in irritation and strolled over to the two of them.
Then, in a flash, he jumped into the fight and grabbed both of them by the neck with his bare hands.
“Whoa~ Over! That’s enough! You two stop it! Training time is over~!”
He clapped his hands to signal the end, snatched up the swords, and tucked them under his armpit.
“Sigh….”
“Ugh….”
Letting out his own sigh, he glanced back and forth between the still grumbling Jiana and the dazed Dante.
“I don’t know what happened, but first, both of you violated the rules for personal training.
What rule was it again?”
“….”
“What rule was it?”
Patrick’s voice carried no intention of backing down.
Jiana pouted reluctantly.
“It’s a rule that we don’t fight without permission.”
“Ding dong! Correct.
Then, do you know what happens when the rule is broken?”
Of course she did.
Patrick grinned wickedly at the two kids’ crumpled faces.
Dante let out a small sigh after seeing Patrick’s smile and spoke.
There was responsibility for what he had done, and he still had questions to ask.
“Patrick, earlier, did you maybe….”
“Aigoo, Young Master.
Even if you try to divert my attention like this, it won’t work.
The rule we set is, ‘No fighting without permission, regardless of reason, we call our parents.’ Right?”
“No, it’s not that I was trying to avoid it.
It’s just that Idel….”
“Idel-nim?
Ah, so Idel-nim also participated in this vicious act?
Then there’s no helping it.”
Patrick let out an exaggerated sigh and suddenly scooped up the stunned Idel with an expression of pure pity.
Idel, suddenly grabbed, thumped Patrick’s back.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“Idel-nim looked like she was about to run away, so I’m personally escorting her.”
“What? No, I’m not!”
Of course not.
Patrick flicked his ears like someone hearing a stupid excuse and turned his gaze to the two who looked like they had more to say.
His voice was gentle yet strangely unhelpful.
“Well, since I’m holding Idel-nim, my hands are full, so you two take each other’s hands.”
“We don’t have to hold hands, right?
I’ll follow you just fine.”
“Yes.
That’s not trusting.”
“We’ll hold hands and walk together like this until we arrive.
Hold hands tightly until we get there, okay?
If you let go… I won’t know what will happen then.”
“….”
“Since both of you seem to understand, let’s go!”
Heading to the duke’s study!