Vivian's Escort (2)
“Enough!!”
At Burgor’s bellow, the boy soldiers all lowered their wooden swords and sank to the ground.
Ragged breathing filled the training yard.
And matching that fierce panting, cheers erupted here and there.
The ones shouting were the men of “Kailo’s unit”—our side.
“…Haa.”
The opponent whose throat I had just pressed with my wooden blade let out a sigh.
It was Yanes, who, like me, held command over fifty boy soldiers.
Eighteen years old, already carrying himself like a grown man, rumored to have slept with some maid last time… a fellow with a dark shadow of stubble.
Yanes’s unit and mine had fought a mock battle.
A fight that ended the moment one side forced the opposing commander to yield.
Yanes had been broken by me, and so the training was over.
“…What the hell hit me just now?”
Yanes grumbled as if nursing a grudge, shoving my wooden sword aside.
His forehead was already swelling red from the blow I had just landed.
“Size difference this big and I still get dusted every single time…”
I laughed at his words and held out a hand.
Yanes eyed it for a moment, then nodded, took my hand, and rose.
Standing, he was a full head taller than me, his frame solid and thick.
Even so, he looked me over and said,
“You’re in your growth spurt now, aren’t you? Feels like you shoot up every month.”
“Yeah. Growth spurt.”
“When you’re done growing, just how much of a monster are you going to be… Is this why Rondore lost?”
As Yanes muttered the complaint half to himself, Ballon, Willas, and Martin sauntered over with easy grins and clapped my shoulders.
“Nice work, Kailo! Thanks to you we won’t have to do laundry!” Ballon said with a smile.
Willas called out toward Yanes with shameless cheer. “Yanes, wash those clothes nice and clean.”
“And clean the barracks properly too!” Martin piled on.
They snickered, ribbing Yanes without mercy.
From where I stood, the teasing had grown noticeably sharper ever since the rumor about that maid started circulating.
Yanes shook his head as if their baiting were too ridiculous for words, yet a smile still tugged at his mouth.
The slight lift at the corner of his lips told me he wasn’t truly offended.
And it wasn’t only happening among us.
Even the boy soldiers of my unit who had been knocked flat while facing Yanes’s men kept needling their opponents from the ground.
Watching it, I felt something on my own.
Testing stamina and tactics was one thing, but more than that, these matches were doing a great deal to build the unit’s solidarity and trust.
If I had still been back home, I would have had to manage and lead knights the way my father did; that was why this side of things caught my eye whether I wanted it to or not.
“Salute the family head!”
At the sudden call, the boy soldiers sprawled across the training yard scrambled to their feet.
Then they snapped salutes toward the red-haired girl approaching from afar.
I simply stood still and looked up at her.
Her eyes were searching for me as well.
—A small nod.
Vivian tipped her head once, short and sharp, signaling me.
I handed the wooden sword to Ballon and asked,
“Put this away for me, would you?”
“Called away again. Don’t let her bully you too hard, yeah?” Ballon said as he took the sword.
“We’ll be resting a bit,” Yanes needled, as if taking a little revenge of his own.
I shook my head and started walking.
.
.
.
I followed a half-step behind Vivian.
She didn’t seem to have any particular destination in mind either.
She was simply walking without purpose, as if trying to burn time.
“Why’d you call me?”
I asked her.
Vivian faltered for a moment, then answered in a flat voice while staring ahead.
“I think we need to move dinner up today.”
“Why?”
“…Because I have work to do at night.”
Once dinner was finished and night deepened, Vivian always shut herself inside her room.
Even if I knocked she told me to leave; even if I tried the door it was locked. I had always wondered what she was doing in there.
That unease of mine had probably been born from how fragile she looked.
Lately, at least, she seemed to be finding her footing again, so I had grown somewhat easier about it.
“What do you even do every single night?” I asked abruptly.
“…”
After a brief silence, Vivian answered in a low voice.
“Why do you need to know?”
“Just curious.”
At my limp reply, Vivian lowered the spines she had raised.
She answered with a sigh.
“…Studying, what else.”
“…”
Studying.
There wasn’t much I could say to that.
I had been watching her efforts lately; teasing her any further would have felt mean.
I followed her in silence.
At the corner of the castle Vivian turned right.
I stopped her and pointed toward the river ahead.
“Let’s go that way. Rest a little while we look.”
“…”
Vivian gave no answer, yet her body obediently set off toward the river.
The riverside was always good.
The soft murmur of flowing water brought a measure of calm, and it let us slip free of the adults whose hostility hung thick in the air.
The stifling atmosphere that settled over you if you stayed too long inside the castle seemed to wash away with the current.
If you left the escort a short distance behind, it became a perfect place to rest.
Vivian seemed to know it too; near the bank she had the guards wait and stepped forward alone to the water’s edge.
While I took in the view, I picked up stones one by one from the ground and skipped them across the surface.
Vivian sat quietly beside me, watching the stones skip and splash.
I threw stones and glanced at her, over and over.
Before long her expression had gone blank; whatever weighed on her must have been considerable in its own right.
I asked,
“Does it feel real?”
She blinked, returning to the present, and asked back,
“What?”
“Does it feel real.”
“…What does?”
“You gathered them all and tore into them. Does anything feel different?”
Once she finally understood, Vivian let out a short, dry laugh.
Inside that laugh sat an unreadable weariness and a touch of self-mockery.
“It feels real. Everyone’s faces are murderous. You’d understand if you were in my place.”
—Thump.
As if she had suddenly wanted to look at the sky, Vivian dropped onto her back.
The grass bent softly, becoming her bed.
Her red hair spilled out in long waves, drifting with the gentle breeze.
Seeing Vivian gaze at the sky with that peaceful expression, my breath caught again.
Looking at her had become difficult, so I just kept throwing stones into the river for no good reason.
“Everyone looks like they can’t wait to kill me…”
Vivian whispered, unaware of the change in me.
Hearing it only tangled my heart further. Wanting to lighten the heavy atmosphere even a little, I tossed out a playful line.
“What am I supposed to do? In ten days I won’t even be here.”
In ten days the entire Rondore knight order would march out.
This time they would be living outside for at least ten days, I had been told.
Which meant ten days apart from Vivian.
I had expected answers like “I live just fine without you,” or “Who do you think you are?” or “I already told you I don’t need you protecting me.” Instead, Vivian stayed quiet.
Surprised by the silence, I looked back and found quiet fear and worry rising on her face.
It was enough to make me, the one who had spoken, feel embarrassed.
She had been trying so hard to act strong; just how much pressure was she under for that mask to slip?
I realized then that “the vassals’ faces are murderous” had not been simple exaggeration.
She noticed my gaze and hurriedly hid the expression.
I pretended not to see and threw another stone into the river.
“…Well, I’ll have to plan carefully. Stock up on… ten days’ worth of food. So you don’t… starve like last time.”
I rambled without any real thread. Even I could tell none of it was comforting her in the slightest.
In the end, this was probably a kind of growing pain.
Even if the vassals turned more vicious, even if she was forced into more dangerous situations along the way… she had no choice but to endure.
“…I’ll just take more maids with me.”
Vivian finally muttered.
But both of us knew it was no real solution.
If anything, trying to increase the number of maids attending her might only bring someone who meant her harm that much closer.
With our hearts still awkwardly colliding, Vivian slowly sat up.
I did not look at her.
She brushed off her clothes with a few light pats and began to walk away.
She was heading back now.
“…Or else.”
Then, without meaning to, I spoke.
When I turned, Vivian had turned as well and was looking at me.
Not the usual stubborn light in her eyes… something closer to a quiet plea for help.
I could feel her hanging on my words.
“…Or else, come on the expedition with us.”
“…What?” Her eyes went wide.
If she came on the expedition, I could stay at her side.
She would have to live among stinking men, eat bad food, walk until she was exhausted, and see cruel things… it would be hard, but at least she would be safe.
“As family head, it’d be good for you to see what your soldiers actually do. A lord who marches with them is better than one who only gives orders from afar.”
I even supplied the excuse she could use for coming along.
“…”
Vivian’s eyes wavered for a moment.
Seeing that she did not immediately reject the offer, I felt a small spark of hope.
“Have you ever been outside?”
I continued carefully.
“The scenery’s really beautiful. Better than being locked up in this stifling castle. Even if it’s hard, wandering around and taking it all in is more fun than you’d think.”
Like a wheel that had already started rolling, I found myself earnestly trying to persuade her.
Rather than leave her alone in the castle trembling with anxiety, I thought it would ease my heart more if she stayed by my side, however rough the road.
She stared at the ground for a long while, thinking, then slowly lifted her eyes to me.
Our gazes met.
…I could tell. She wanted to come with me. That much was clear in her eyes.
“…No.”
But her answer was the opposite.
“…My uncle will arrive in Loktana during the expedition. As the head of Rondore, I have to receive him.”
She refused my proposal with logic and reasons far sturdier than the excuses I had offered.
“…Then do that, I guess.”
Knowing she could not step away from the place she had taken on, I could not press any further.
Vivian turned her back as well and walked toward the castle.
In the end, all that remained of our conversation was a lingering unease.