…What Are You Doing Right Now?
1.
"How do you expect to defend the Empire with such sluggish bodies?! Strike!"
"Strike!"
The apprentice training ground in front of the quarters.
Right around the time the lesson was winding down, I took up a position in the same spot as yesterday.
"No, really, we haven't even done anything wrong, so why do we have to hide?"
What I mean is, we were crouching behind a wall, hiding.
"Master-nim ordered me to conceal myself."
"......."
Well, because that kind of thing happened yesterday.
I was the one who suffered humiliation, so I don't really know why I'm acting like a criminal, though.
"Great work, everyone! The sweat you shed today will become the nourishment of this land and cause the Empire to bloom! All hands, dismiss!"
"Dismiss!"
Shouts announcing the end of the lesson.
Just as I was wondering what to do and how to do it now.
"Come on out, Your Highness."
Wondering since when she had known, Valenti called out to me in a low voice from beyond the wall.
"Elena, I mean, how could you take a shit on the floor? Oh, Valenti! I've been waiting for you! My apologies. I was busy cleaning up Elena's bowel movement."
"......."
I stood up as naturally as possible and smiled, but.
"Put the jokes aside and draw your sword. Today's training will not be as easy as yesterday's."
Valenti was quicker on the uptake than I thought.
And here I thought it was a flawless alibi.
2.
"Today, too, one thousand sword swings. Adding in yesterday's unfinished portion, that makes a total of 1,987 swings. Begin."
"Insolent!"
"... Did you not ask me to enable you to swing a sword again?"
"I didn't make that request. It was the request of Elena, who takes a shit on the floor whenever she gets nervous."
Valenti let out a short sigh and turned her head away.
"Elena, you are at fault as well. Just how long do you intend to cater to His Highness's childish tantrums?"
"My apologies. He is not merely throwing a tantrum; Master-nim's words mean, 'I have lost my strength now and ended up with a terribly weak body, but as a man, I do not wish to show an unsightly figure in front of a woman, so please lessen the intensity of the training,' Commander-nim."
I never said anything like that, though.
I'm not ashamed in the least about becoming weak.
I'm not afraid at all of getting broken, either.
"... Is what Elena said the truth?"
"No. As the Third Prince of Artesia, I, Kalian, do not feel fear under any circumstances."
"If it were true, I was planning to take it easier than scheduled, but..."
"It is the truth. I, Kalian, do not speak falsehoods under the name of the imperial family."
Because in anyone's life, I've never seen a thing called pride bring any practical benefit.
"... Yesterday, you lost consciousness after 13 sword swings. Overcome your limits. We will conduct 14 swings."
"Very well! Let us go!"
3.
"Strike!"
Tong.
"Does a number still not appear?"
"No. The number 4,873,986,113 just appeared."
"... In what color did it appear?"
Since 0 appeared in white, the other numbers naturally would too.
"It's white."
"Haaah.... Something about falsehoods under the name of the imperial family, was it...."
Valenti heaved a long sigh and stepped closer.
Fearing a surprise attack, I twisted my body slightly, but.
Kkwaak.
Pressing her chest flush against my back, she placed her hand atop mine gripping the sword.
"Try swinging it."
The scent of cleanly washed blankets, unique to Valenti, wafted over in a rush.
When she was just pushing me away telling me to back off, and now skinship?
"Uh, y-yeah."
Her inscrutable inner thoughts bothered me, but for now, I swung the sword.
Kung!
"Oh.... 1,233! A four-digit number appeared!"
"In red, that is."
"That depends on the perspective of the beholder..."
"Let us rest for a moment."
"Yes, that sounds like a splendid idea."
When the coachman offers a carrot, snapping it up quickly is the best policy.
Following Valenti, I sat on a bench, but wherever she went, Elena was nowhere to be seen.
Not that it matters, since she's definitely watching me anyway.
Teolsseok.
A small bench on the outskirts of the training ground.
Valenti perched her hips on the far edge, sitting uncomfortably far apart from me.
"Has the training ground not become vast compared to a few months ago?"
"Mm, seems that way, perhaps."
"It is thanks to Your Highness. The newly built training ground is larger than before, allowing us to handle the training schedule that used to be dispersed all at once. For the first time since joining the knight order, there are even days where I go home while the sun is still up."
What on earth is this about now?
Did I stamp the imperial budget execution document by mistake?
"Judging by your look, you don't seem to remember. Did Your Highness not demolish the existing training ground without leaving even a speck of dust behind? After watching the apprentices train, you rushed over saying, 'Let me try it too'..."
Ah.
So she's talking about that day when I got bewitched by some brothel wench, chugged a ton of hard liquor in broad daylight, and wandered all around town completely hammered.
"But back then, that thing called a number didn't appear."
"Naturally. Rather than an apprentice wooden sword infused with mana, you picked up a tree branch and swung that around."
I feel like I vaguely remember it, yet don't.
But well, as a result, everyone ended up happy.
"Just what kind of ordeal befell Your Highness for you to become such a total mess like this? My memories of the martial arts tournament are still so vivid, after all."
"Haha! Are you speaking of that day when you were thoroughly smashed by me and pouted for months on end?!"
"...... I have never pouted."
The hell you haven't, your face just flushed bright red again.
"It was my first time."
"Ah, well, last night I..."
"... That is not what I mean! Ever since picking up a sword... it was the first time I was defeated by someone purely through swordsmanship...!"
Right.
So of course she couldn't help but feel provoked.
"That experience was to me a very great... that is..."
"Even so, it's truly remarkable. At such a young age, did you not rise to the position of Commander of the Central Empire's Holy Knights?"
After mumbling while twitching her lips, Valenti suddenly put on a deadpan, serious face.
"The words 'at such a young age' do not make me feel particularly pleased."
Did I rub this foul-tempered bitch the wrong way again?
"Because it sounds like nothing more than: 'A greenhorn whose head hasn't even ripened yet sure is trying hard.'"
"Do you mean it feels like you're being looked down upon?"
"...... While I know that was not your intention...."
With a conflicted look on her face, Valenti fidgeted with her blameless fingers.
Given this context, it was obvious without needing to hear more.
"I'm inclined to think the one looking down on you isn't other people, but yourself."
"......?"
"Isn't achieving an accomplishment that others would envy at a young age something to take pride in?"
"That may be true, but still...."
Talking back, this little pip-squeak.
"You are defining your own limits within a world you made yourself. Saying, 'My caliber is merely impressive for my age.' Even though nobody thinks that way."
"Ah.........."
"Your predecessor as commander, who lost his life in the war with Stanishira, did he not attain that title at the age of 47? If so, you are practically dismissing even his achievements."
"N-No, that's not true...! Even now, I genuinely respect Commander Leopold...!"
"Is that so? Then does my praise still uncomfortably stick in your heart?"
"... No."
"Straighten your shoulders."
Because it makes those magnificent breasts look small.
Kyaah, Kalian.
You fucking cool bastard....
With a mouth this flashy, why wasn't I popular like this in my past life?
Perhaps this body of perfect physical appearance summoned a soul befitting it.
"Y-You have rested enough now!"
"Ah, my head suddenly aches as if it's splitting. I feel like if I don't rest for five more minutes, I'll collapse just like yesterday."
"... Do not slack off."
Valenti, this merciless wench, dared to rise from her seat before me, the prince.
"Even so, you will not collapse easily today."
While dragging my feet pretending to stand up along with her, she turned around, forcing me to quickly lift my ass.
"Well, it's thanks to having an excellent instructor."
"And here I was hoping you'd collapse again...."
"What was that? That I am excellent?"
Just like yesterday, she keeps trailing off her words so they can't be heard.
Having no damn manners toward an adult.
"... I said that if you do not get ready quickly, I will add 10 more sword swings today."
"I-I'm going! I am going!"
And so, hellish training.
Until finishing the remaining 4 swings of the wooden sword, I was bossed around mercilessly by that venomous bitch, Valenti.
4.
"Elena.... Hold..."
"Shall I hold you?"
"That's exactly it...."
Pok.
Yeah.
I missed these gigantic airbag mommy-milkers that feel like they could protect me even in a 500 km/h collision.
"The entire day's fatigue is washing right away...."
"What a relief. Then we can make our move right away."
"Right...! But first, I'd like you to get one shot out with your mouth!"
"No, just like yesterday, I am not your target."
Ah.
That damned bridal candidate nonsense again.
But Valenti can't take me in anyway, damn it.
That wench's pussy has a digital door lock installed to block big dicks.
"Please stop licking around there and get ready, Master-nim."
To think that as a prince, I can't even suck a maid's cleavage in peace.
How bitter, this life of mine.
5.
In the end, following Elena, I arrived before Valenti's bedchamber.
But.
"E-Elena. I really don't think today's the day. You can hear a ghost wailing, can't you? Could she have just freshly murdered someone or what?"
"That is completely out of the question, Master-nim. Valenti-nim is a Holy Knight."
"Holy Knights kill people too...! How many wars have I experienced..."
Kkiik.
"You will understand once you see for yourself."
Kung.
Pushed in from behind just like yesterday, I entered Valenti's room.
".........?"
Before my eyes unfolded a scenery that was more than a little baffling.
Without even her Fairy Bear pajamas on, Valenti was completely naked.
"Haa, ngh...!"
There she was, engrossed in masturbation, with sweat drenching her forehead and pussy juice smeared all over her inner thighs.
"Your Highneeess...! Ka, Kaliaaan...! Orabeoniii...! Oppaaaaaa...!"
And that, with a page of a newspaper article featuring my printed photo gripped in her hand.
"...... Ah."
"Ah?"
"Aaaaah———?!?"