My Brother's Fiancée Has Arrived (2)
My Brother's Fiancée Has Arrived (2)
"See? We met again in no time, didn't we?"
Looking at the girl standing in the center of the guest parlor with a bright smile, I let out a sigh.
I thought I could avoid seeing her, but here we were, meeting again after just one day. On top of that, I had to stick by her side all day long.
"I am Alex."
"Yes. I'm counting on you from today on, my guide and bodyguard."
"I didn't hear anything about being a guide."
I could understand guarding, but guiding? It was impossible for someone like me, who had done nothing but run in circles between the study, my room, and the training ground, to guide anyone.
"I will help with the guiding."
Flora, who knew my situation, chimed in beside me, but her offer brought absolutely no comfort.
We hadn't even been together for a minute, and I was already starting to feel exhausted. And yet, I had to spend the whole day with her.
Just how long did I have to hang around with her?
"What is your itinerary for the visit?"
"Itinerary?"
Simon's fiancée tilted her head. The sight of her doing so was quite something, but I was so annoyed that I barely registered it.
"I am asking when you plan to return home."
At my words, the girl narrowed her eyes.
"Don't tell me... are you saying you don't want to be with me?"
Hmm. Surprisingly quick-witted, aren't we?
"Yes."
At my blunt reply, the girl's eyes went wide. After staring at me for a moment, she burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! You are really funny. I've never met anyone like you before."
Tsk. I'd blurted it out in irritation, ready to deal with whatever happened, but it seemed to have piqued her interest instead.
"Yeah, yeah, this is great. Unlike Simon, it'll be fun hanging out with you."
The girl answered my question with a genuinely delighted expression.
"I don't really know either. Father said he would call for me once his business is finished, but since I don't know what that business is, there's no telling when it'll end."
Ugh, as expected, a completely unhelpful answer.
But, calling for her once his business was finished... Did that mean some business required her to stay at the Duke's estate for now? Or had something happened that forced her to leave the marquisate?
'Could it be?'
An ominous gut feeling began to prickle at my senses.
But I still lacked information.
No, even if I realized something, nothing would change.
'Let's not get distracted and just focus on my own job.'
"Then, where do you plan to go today?"
It would be nice if she just read a book in her room. A tea party in the parlor would be fine too.
"Then, let's go right now!"
Contrary to my hopes, she strode energetically toward the parlor door.
Huh? Come to think of it, she wasn't wearing a dress.
Her outfit was so flashy that I hadn't noticed at first, but she wasn't wearing a dress. She was wearing a knight order's uniform—the kind worn by female knights.
"For our first stop, guide me to the training ground! Let's have the duel—no, sparring match—we couldn't finish yesterday!"
A duel... Her true feelings had slipped out. No matter how I looked at it, she was definitely in her rebellious phase.
This was definitely a classic case of eighth-grader syndrome.
"Hurry up. And Alex! Call me Adria!"
She spoke as she stepped into the hallway first, and I sighed as I followed behind her.
When we arrived at the training ground, the eyes of the knights and squires doing their own training settled on us.
"Wow, so this is the training ground of the Gracia Dukedom. Then, do you also train here?"
I didn't train here, but I couldn't take Adria to the ducal family's private training ground without permission from a superior.
Adria looked around the training ground.
A few knights frowned when they saw her and me arrive.
No, their frowns were definitely directed at me.
Fortunately, no one said anything. A few of the knights recognized her.
They signaled to the other knights, and soon all of them began to slip away from the training ground.
"Oh, did I interrupt their practice?"
As she watched them leave, Adria wore an apologetic expression.
"Then, let us head back."
I quickly seized the opportunity, but unfortunately, she shook her head.
"Since we're here anyway, let's spar quickly! It'll be better for you too if there are no people around."
It seemed she really believed the rumor about me being 'The Hidden Blade of the Duchy'.
But if she truly believed that, why would she expect me to spar with her?
At this point, it was hard to tell whether she was simply a nuisance or incredibly naive.
Since everyone had cleared out, it was hard to avoid it any longer.
I had tried making all sorts of excuses on the way here, but since she threatened to refuse my protection if I didn't show my skills, I couldn't come up with any more.
To be honest, I was curious too. Until now, my only sparring partner had been Sir Miguel. Since I hadn't won a single time, it was hard to objectively gauge how strong I actually was.
I handed the real sword I'd brought for protection to Flora and picked up a wooden sword from the rack.
Adria was already holding her sword and taking a stance.
"What format shall we use for the spar?"
"To the death!"
I stared intently at her.
No, did she want to kill me? A life-and-death match with wooden swords? Just how hard would you have to hit someone with a wooden sword for them to die?
"Sigh... Let's just make it a normal spar."
"But that's no fun."
No, finding fun in killing people is what's weird here.
I turned my head and looked at the maid standing beside Flora.
She was the maid who had been silently attending to Adria since I first saw her.
"I'm sure I don't need to tell you, but please guard her during the spar."
When I said that, the maid looked surprised.
"Huh? What do you mean by that? Guarding?"
Adria looked at me and the maid with a puzzled expression.
Did Adria not know her maid's true strength?
Since even I had a hard time discerning it, it was possible Adria hadn't noticed either.
But a maid who hid her skills from her employer... I definitely needed to keep a closer eye on her.
"I must have been mistaken."
I waved my hand as if it were nothing.
"Hmph, how pointless."
Adria pouted, and I raised my sword.
Fine. Since it's come to this, I might as well give her a proper spar. She was the one who asked for it, so even if she cried and threw a tantrum later, it wasn't my responsibility.
I took my stance and looked at Adria.
Her composed posture, even breathing, and the subtle aura emanating from her all came into view at once.
'She's not just some simple eighth-grader. She's clearly had proper swordsmanship training.'
Indeed, she wasn't just any ordinary noble, and there was no way a Marquis would raise his eldest daughter to be a hooligan who swung a sword around mindlessly.
Which meant they had taught proper swordsmanship to a noble daughter.
Ah! Then could it be an inherited ability?
What was the inherited ability of the Hierro Marquisate?
...I searched through my memories, but nothing came to mind.
With only the books in the study and the information I'd heard from the scribes, it was impossible to grasp all the inherited abilities of the Kingdom's nobility.
'Well, it's actually because I didn't pay attention to it.'
I had been too busy focusing only on the Duke's estate and the surrounding nobles to care.
Clicking my tongue at my sloppy preparation, I focused on Adria again.
'She's probably around the level of an outstanding squire.'
Even compared with squires her age who served the knights, her skills seemed superior.
Since I could read her skill level at a glance, there was quite a gap between us.
Still, I did not let my guard down.
She possessed an inherited ability. One significant enough that a Marquis would put a sword in his eldest daughter's hands.
Since I didn't know what her ability was, I couldn't afford to rush in first.
I decided to let her make the first move.
"Come."
At the words of a ten-year-old child, the girl smiled.
"Here I come! Watch out!"
She shouted loudly, and I widened my eyes, keeping them fixed on her.
Flash!
Suddenly, she vanished. No, I had lost track of her movements.
Tsk!
The moment I lost sight of her, I swung my sword toward the empty air.
Clang!
Adria appeared where my sword had swung, her wooden sword clashing against mine.
"Is it an acceleration type?"
"Wow, you knew?"
"I didn't know until just now."
"But you still blocked it? Did you actually see me? Is your inherited ability something that enhances your vision?"
Enhanced vision... Was there really an ability like that?
"I didn't see you clearly."
I had simply felt the movement of mana and reflexively brought my sword around to meet the approaching presence.
"Ugh, as expected, it really hurts when it gets blocked."
She quickly retreated, shaking the hand holding her sword.
Even I, with a knight-level physique, had felt the impact, so she, being physically weaker than me, must have felt considerable pain.
"It's not over yet."
Adria gripped her sword tightly and charged again.
She was faster than most, but this time she wasn't moving so fast that I couldn't see her.
Clang! Clang!
I blocked her strikes one by one.
As long as I could see her attacks, blocking someone of her caliber was well within my capabilities.
"Ugh! Try blocking this too!"
Surprisingly, sparring with her was quite fun.
I had always been the underdog, desperately struggling to fight back, but being on the opposite side for the first time gave me an indescribably refreshing feeling.
Did Miguel feel this way too?
My sense of gratitude toward Miguel seemed to melt away instantly.
After clashing swords several times, I felt like I understood Adria's inherited ability.
It wasn't a physical enhancement type like mine, but rather an ability that used mana to accelerate her body.
Since her ability wasn't fully developed yet, her control over acceleration and deceleration was unstable, and she couldn't reach her maximum speed without proper preparation, but if she grew properly, she would likely become an incredible swordsman.
'It's because she has this kind of ability that they betrothed her to Brother Simon.'
Brother Simon, who possessed the finest mana cultivation technique, and Adria, who had an incredible acceleration ability.
Their engagement was likely meant to bind the two families together, but it must also have reflected their high expectations for the children the two would have.
But why had she come so quietly? The question welled up again.
"You, you're just blocking on purpose, aren't you? Don't just block, attack!"
As I kept defending, Adria yelled in frustration.
"Your attacks are so fast that even blocking them is overwhelming."
"Don't lie! You're answering me so casually even now!"
Oops, I got caught.
I wanted to draw the spar out a little longer, but she'd caught on, so it was time to wrap things up.
After calmly blocking her strike, I thrust my wooden sword forward, capitalizing on the gap between her attacks.
Thud!
The sword struck her body, and—
"Aaah!"
Adria screamed as she was sent flying back.
The way she flew back looked remarkably similar to how I was sent flying during my own sparring sessions.
Now that I was on the observing end, I realized just how pathetic I must have looked all this time.
Adria ended up sprawled flat on the ground, and before I knew it, her maid had rushed to her side.
"Wh-when did you get over there?"
Flora stared at the empty space beside her with startled eyes.
Did she just show a glimpse of her skills?
Seeing how quickly she took the bait I threw out, it seemed the maid had no intention of hiding her skills indefinitely.
She hurriedly examined Adria's body.
Then, she let out a sigh of relief.
Although Adria had fainted the instant the sword struck her, she had barely suffered any injuries, despite how it had looked from a distance.
There was no way I would cause any serious injury.
Even though I had attacked with excessive force out of necessity, she was a guest of the Duke's estate. Moreover, I couldn't afford to injure Brother Simon's fiancée.
"That was too harsh!"
"I am sorry. I haven't learned how to hold back my attacks yet..."
Since every spar I'd fought so far had been a desperate struggle, it was the perfect excuse.
Perfect. Everything was going according to plan.
Since she had fainted like that, she would surely rest in her room for at least a few days.
It would be even better if she got sulky and asked to change her guard.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized this wasn't just a simple guarding job. It was best to keep as much distance as possible from something this dangerous.
If I couldn't keep my distance, I had to buy time.
At the very least, I needed time to figure out what was going on.
The maid carried Adria on her back and headed toward the mansion, while I got scolded by Flora and my mother for a long time.
The next day, after a night spent in high spirits, I had no choice but to despair.
Standing right in front of me was Brother Simon's fiancée, looking completely fine.
Adria's body was much sturdier than I had thought.
Damn it, I should have beaten her a bit harder.
While I grumbled inwardly, she spoke with an excited expression.
"Yesterday was truly the best! Seriously, you're even better than the rumors. And today, we're going on an outing in the territory!"
An outing in the territory? That meant going outside the mansion. What was she talking about? Didn't she come here in secret?
At her absurd words, the question slipped out of my mouth automatically.
"I know almost nothing outside the mansion. Guiding you is impossible."
I had never set foot outside the mansion in my ten years of life. Adria probably knew more about the Duke's territory than I did.
"I'll do the guiding. You just follow from a distance."
An even more absurd voice came from beside her.
Simon de Gracia. The Duke's eldest son was putting on airs beside her, announcing that he would go on the outing with his fiancée.
The radiant boy and girl standing side by side made a truly picture-perfect scene, but I had no idea why I had to be squeezed in between them.
I'm not some third wheel squeezed between a couple on a trip, nor am I a brother-in-law tagging along on a honeymoon!
"The Duke has given his permission, so get ready immediately and come down."
Leaving behind those final, decisive words, the two of them headed toward the entrance.
I turned my head and stared in the direction of the office.
Allowing an outing at a time like this... I really couldn't understand what the Duke was thinking.