Western Outing
“…So, Kyle’s older brother and sister showed up at the Academy just yesterday.”
“Yes, Lady Elga. That’s what I heard.”
“And Tisha and the Saintess were there with them as well.”
Leto nodded, confirming that part was true too.
Elga found herself lightly biting a fingernail before sinking into thought.
Of all the important moments, I had to be away…
One of the surest ways to win a person’s heart was to make contact with their family. It was a method people had been using for ages, and it worked. Show the family a good face, and you banked solid points.
Kyle was someone she absolutely needed. Someone she wanted right by her side. As the young lady of Litorio—and as a woman—she couldn’t help being greedy for him. His abilities were one thing, but the man himself held a formidable charm. He didn’t seem to realize it, yet everyone around him certainly did. Why else would Tisha, who had never shown interest in anything outside of shamanism, suddenly start paying him so much attention? Why else would the Saintess, a woman who served the gods, keep stealing glances at him?
There were reasons. Even a simple word, even the most ordinary gesture, could land with tremendous weight on the other person. Elga herself was one of the victims who had crashed into that force and never quite recovered her senses.
The silver lining, at least… is that Kyle hasn’t refused the tea times. He keeps coming.
She wouldn’t deny it. At first the meetings had been transparent. She had meant to use the man named Kyle in order to become the official heir of the Grand Duchy. The advantages had been obvious, and she and Kyle had already finished talking it through. Hadn’t they both agreed to use each other and allow themselves to be used?
Yet somewhere along the way, little by little, she had started taking an interest in him. Even as a John Nassen, he showed a slightly different side—and that had been endlessly fascinating. But more than anything, what pulled hardest at Elga’s heart was this:
How does he know me so well?
He spoke and acted with exact knowledge of what she disliked and what she liked. She could feel, clearly, that he was being considerate—that he was taking extreme care not to make a mistake. The sight of it was enough to draw a smile to her lips without her noticing.
Of course she had no idea he was a transmigrator, so the only conclusion she could reach was one:
He’s looking out for me. Really looking out for me.
Yes. That was why he kept encouraging her—saying she could become the heir of the Grand Duchy, that she absolutely had to pull it off. Why he actually helped make it possible, and why he came by with kind words.
Once her thoughts arrived there, how could she not start hoping?
In short it was a misunderstanding, but a misunderstanding with reasons behind it.
One of the comments left about Elga’s various appearances. The pity was that it hadn’t been a “best” comment, so Kyle had never seen it. Had he known that much, he would have been even more careful in how he treated her. Unfortunately, he seemed to believe she would keep her distance of her own accord and simply use him. Elga had intended to do exactly that—yet it was no longer going the way she wanted.
“Leto.”
“Yes, Lady Elga.”
“I’m sorry, but could you find out where Kyle is right now?”
She knew it was a bit of an unreasonable request. Even so, she pushed through the apology and asked.
“If it’s Kyle, he’s currently out on the outdoor training grounds, running hard.”
“Pardon? How… do you know that in such detail?”
“…Ah.”
Leto trailed off as if he’d made a slip. Before coming to stand beside Elga, he had just finished another round of lively “training.” Correction: he had simply been beaten by Kyle until the dust flew, rain or no rain. At first it had ended after one hit; gradually the number of hits had increased. Each blow hurt so much he couldn’t even scream. The bright side was that today’s evaluation had at least been positive.
“Looks like you’re finally ready to start some real training.”
Afterward he had watched Kyle, face bright and refreshed, warming up out on the outdoor grounds. That was how he could report the location with such precision.
“I, uh, saw him on the way here. Once Kyle starts exercising he tends to go for quite a while, doesn’t he? So…”
“That’s true. I know he never skips a day.”
That was another point that drew Elga’s favor toward Kyle: his thorough self-discipline. Was there any other mode of male behavior that stirred a woman’s heart quite like that? Every time she caught sight of that solid build she flinched—and she was hardly the only female student who did.
In that case…
There was still a tea time scheduled with Kyle today; it simply happened to be two hours from now. Normally she would return to her room, read, and practice various official duties. Today, however, Elga decided to twist that schedule a little. Besides, she had started feeling a touch guilty that Kyle always came to her.
“I’ll be out for a bit.”
“Eh? Where to…?”
“Wherever Kyle is.”
“If it’s the outdoor training grounds, I should come with—”
“No. Leto, you rest. You’ve been up to something lately, haven’t you?”
Elga had more or less noticed that Leto was doing something, even if she didn’t know the full picture. While the startled Leto fell silent, she set off for the outdoor training grounds to meet Kyle.
But… what am I supposed to say when I get there? Just showing up out of nowhere is a little strange, isn’t it?
She and Kyle had not met for the pure reasons that Tisha or the Saintess had. They had met with clear “purposes” on both sides—a kind of transactional relationship. Whether things were different now or not, Elga herself wanted to take a step further from there. If Kyle wasn’t thinking along the same lines, the picture could get quite awkward. At first she had regarded him only as a good political partner. After that she had wanted him to keep being on her side. And now… she didn’t know. She didn’t even understand why she was doing this, or what she was feeling.
Just as Leto had said, Kyle was racing around the outdoor training grounds.
“How many laps is that…?”
“Just the ones I counted, it’s got to be at least ten.”
“Ten? He’s way past twenty. I’ve been watching since earlier.”
Students murmured in disbelief as they watched Kyle from a distance. Mention “outdoor training grounds” and people might picture a reasonably spacious yard. But more than ten such grounds were laid out here, so the area ballooned tenfold. Factor in the various buffer spaces and you had an enormously long course. Ordinary students were gasping after just two laps. Even those who dreamed of knighthood, those who prided themselves on stamina, hit their limit at three or four. They could manage more if they jogged slowly—but how would that compare? The Kyle currently pounding the dirt was running faster than anyone else.
After several more laps, Kyle finally eased his pace and dragged in rough breaths.
“Huu…”
On a normal day he would have finished with a tidy twenty laps and gone inside. But the words Lear and Lea had spoken yesterday kept catching in his mind and wouldn’t let go.
My body’s gone soft? I’ve never once skipped a workout, even if I have been snacking!
The remark had been shocking—so shocking he couldn’t concentrate on the exercise. So he had simply kept running. Had he really done nothing but eat and play until his body went soft? Well, yes, that was why he had come to the Academy in the first place—but he hadn’t expected it to show this quickly! He had thought he could just maintain the body he’d had at the John Nassen estate and enjoy himself! Not even two full months and it was already so obvious he’d gone soft!!
“That’s a shock…”
He hated working out. That much was certain. Even now, just thinking about everything he’d done at the John Nassen estate made his head spin. But there was something he hated just as much: the idea that all that suffering had been for nothing. That the body he’d built through every last hardship would vanish after only a short time. He couldn’t very well spend all that past agony transforming into a pig with hidden muscles.
I have to do it if only because I put in the work. Big Brother and Big Sister already said they messed around a bit themselves, so it’s fine. It’s not like my freedom to eat has been taken away. I just have to work harder and do more for whatever I eat.
He had eaten a truly alarming amount of ice cream, so today needed to be a hard session. If eating had made the body soft, then use up what you ate. Perfectly simple logic.
Just as he was catching his breath and about to start the next routine, a cup full of cold water was thrust out in front of him. Ice cubes even bobbed on the surface—he had no idea where she’d managed to find those.
“Drink.”
“…Lady Elga?”
“Aren’t you terribly thirsty? Go on.”
Why is this woman here? Did she come with another request or something?
While thinking that, Kyle accepted the cup she held out.
“Thank you, Lady Elga. I’ll gladly have it.”
He recalled that she was the type who took it rather hard when her goodwill was refused. That very trait was why Leto had wounded her so many times early on.
He could have just said thank you, smiled, and taken it. Honestly, that Leto guy…
It was probably for the best that he had only dipped into the free preview chapters and never read the main story. If he had read further, the frustration might have piled up until he ground Leto underfoot for real.
“…But what brings you here so suddenly? Wasn’t today one of our tea-time days?”
As far as he could remember, Elga had never come looking for him first. At least not on days when they already had a tea time scheduled. Frankly, a grand duke’s daughter showing up unannounced had pride issues attached as well.
“Mm. Well. I heard you were exercising, so I was curious. …And I have something to talk about.”
As expected, the second reason was the real one rather than the first. How did he know? It was written all over her face for anyone to see. The only people in the world who wouldn’t notice would be Ian—and maybe Leto, if he stretched it.
“Something to talk about? Now I’m curious.”
When Kyle deliberately opened the door for conversation, Elga’s lips curved into a small smile. She was just about to explain why she had come when footsteps sounded behind them.
“Lord Kyle John Nassen.”
“Yes, yes. You’re here again.”
At first he assumed it was those black-clad men from the Academy who used to haul him off to the headmaster’s office. After running into them enough times, it was only natural to think that. But when Kyle turned his head, he immediately realized the one who had called him was not them. The clothes were far too different for Academy staff.
“…Who are you?”
He blinked as he asked. Beside him, Elga let out a soft “Ah.”
“That crest… the Shurellitz Grand Ducal House…?”