Under the Archmage's Ghostly Protection
Thanks to the protection of the Archmage's ghost, Carden and Serina managed to slip out of the mansion without Marine noticing. It was only possible because Marine had let her guard down, grinning like an idiot. If she'd been on high alert, the two of them would never have escaped safely.
Marine was busy organizing her luggage in the next room, and with a rare moment of peace, I settled into the rocking chair to think about the future ahead.
Knock, knock.
The sound of a knock reached me right then. After living together for so long, I could tell it was Cani just from the rhythm.
“What is it?”
“Dinner’s ready, Young Master. Come eat.”
“Yeah, got it.”
Knock, knock.
I heard Cani knocking on the door to the next room as well. I strained my ears, hoping to catch their conversation, but unfortunately it didn’t reach this far.
I grabbed a light outer garment and left the room. The dining hall in this mansion was on the first floor. Honestly, when it was just me eating, I often had the food delivered to my room because going downstairs was a hassle. But now that Marine was joining us, it looked like that wouldn’t be an option anymore.
I trotted down the stairs and reached the dining hall, where an unusually lavish spread caught my eye. Normally when I ate alone, the portions were just right. This time, since Marine was eating with us, they seemed to have prepared a much wider variety of dishes.
A wise choice. Marine’s picky eating habits hadn’t changed much since she was little—she was still extremely selective.
I gave a light greeting to the nervous head chef and plopped down in my chair. Until now, I’d always started eating the moment I sat down since it was just me. Having to wait for someone felt strangely unfamiliar.
I sipped on the prepared wine while I waited a bit, and soon Marine came bounding down the stairs. I’d been worried she might start flying around inside the mansion now that she was a Sword Master, but thankfully she walked like a normal person indoors.
“You changed clothes?”
“Yeah. It’s home, so there’s no need to wear uncomfortable stuff.”
Marine was wearing pure white pajamas with frills and an off-the-shoulder design. For sleepwear, it felt a little too revealing. The Confucian dragon inside me screamed in protest.
“Isn’t that a bit too exposed?”
Marine sat down and looked at me, letting out a cute little snort of laughter.
“Why? It’s just inside the house anyway. There’s no one here to see except you, Hendel.”
“…”
Marine leaned her body forward, stretching toward me.
“What… are you embarrassed?”
I pushed the approaching Marine away.
“That’s enough. Just eat your food.”
“Heh.”
Becoming a Sword Master seemed to have sent her confidence through the roof. Dealing with Marine running at full speed with no brakes was starting to feel like a real burden.
Clink, clatter.
The meal began, and Marine grew quiet as she focused on eating. It was a chicken salad, but she was picking out only the chicken and leaving all the vegetables behind. How old was she to still be this picky about veggies?
I sat right next to her, stabbing the vegetables with my fork and bringing them to her mouth.
“Marine, say ah.”
Marine rolled her eyes at the tower of vegetables skewered on the fork. I could practically see the gears turning in her head as she tried to figure out how to avoid eating them. When she was younger, if I insisted, she would close her eyes tightly and force them down. Somehow, getting older had only made her regress.
I brought the fork to her mouth once more. Since I knew all of Marine’s allergies, I was aware she wasn’t unable to eat vegetables—she just didn’t want to. So I felt no guilt.
“Marine, open your mouth.”
“No.”
In the end, she openly turned her head away, completely rejecting the vegetables. I let out a long, heavy sigh.
“Why won’t you eat vegetables?”
“I hate that grassy smell they have.”
“This is a salad with plenty of dressing on it. The kiwi dressing is really good. Just try one bite.”
“Ugh…”
At this point she should have just closed her eyes and taken a bite, but Marine stubbornly avoided the vegetables. She could skip them once or twice, but it looked like she planned to keep dodging them forever. For the sake of her health, I needed to get her into the habit of eating them as soon as possible.
I glanced at Marine, who had somehow ended up fully part of the dinner table, and said,
“Ah, I really like mature women who eat their vegetables properly like Cani. Marine, you’re still such a child.”
“Cough, cough…”
Cani, who had been quietly eating while trying not to draw attention, jumped in surprise. Marine shot her a sharp glare.
“What’s this? Why is she eating here?”
“She always eats with the Young Master, so…”
“Really?”
Cani sent me a silent plea for help. I nodded.
“Yeah, Cani’s right. We’ve always eaten together.”
“…”
Marine looked like she had something biting on the tip of her tongue, but after glancing at me, she swallowed whatever she was about to say. Then, without a word, she bit down on the vegetables still stuck on my fork.
Crunch, crunch.
Marine chewed the lettuce with her face scrunched up in disgust.
“…”
Her expression had been so twisted it looked like she might spit the salad out any second, but the more she chewed, the more it relaxed.
“It’s tastier than you thought, right?”
“…”
Marine stayed silent but gave a tiny nod. Watching her eat whatever I fed her brought back memories of when I used to make her eat carrots. I’d gone through so much trouble back then to get her to eat vegetables, only for her to revert to her old ways after just a few years apart. It was disappointing.
In addition to building Marine’s social skills, I now had a new goal.
That goal was: fix Marine’s picky eating before graduation.
“I’m heading out now.”
“Yes, please study hard.”
Cani, dressed in her maid uniform, bowed politely. The moment her master Hendel disappeared from view, she lifted her head.
The innocent smile she’d been wearing vanished completely as she immediately sprang into action. She had originally planned to move a bit more slowly, but after witnessing her greatest rival Marine become a Sword Master with her own eyes—and even having the advantage of cohabitation stolen from her—she felt an overwhelming sense of crisis.
Having become an expert by devouring countless romance novels, her instincts screamed that she was headed for a future where she would die alone as a single woman. She had felt a spark of hope after seeing Marine’s good-girl mask crack in front of Hendel, but now that Marine had reached Sword Master, she no longer needed to pretend to be nice in front of him.
Even if she couldn’t win his affection, she could simply monopolize him with overwhelming power. No matter how powerful Hendel was as the next head of a mighty count’s family, the authority of a Sword Master in this world was far beyond anything a count could resist. A Sword Master was the only existence even the Emperor—the most powerful ruler on the continent—treated with respect.
That was why Cani had given up on the ending where she defeated Marine and became the sole victor. Instead, what she now aimed for was an ending where there were no losers—where everyone won.
Cani had never even dreamed of becoming the legal wife. She simply thought she would be happy if she could stay by Hendel’s side until the day she died. Fortunately for her, this world accepted polygamy among nobles as the norm, and there just so happened to be many powerful women around Hendel.
From what sharp-eyed Cani could tell, they hadn’t fallen for him as hard as Marine or herself yet, but they certainly held a favorable opinion of him. In this situation, Cani drew up a grand plan.
It was clear that she alone could neither defeat Marine nor even compete with her. Therefore, she would gather the other powerful women, form an alliance, balance the power against Marine, and eventually reach a compromise where everyone received Hendel’s love.
And conveniently, Hendel had even created the perfect excuse with the tea party. It made approaching them much easier. Servants normally weren’t allowed inside the buildings, but thanks to the permit Hendel had obtained from the academy, there were no physical restrictions.
To form the alliance, she first needed to make those two women completely fall for Hendel. With sparkling eyes, Cani headed toward the Knight Department to create a happy ending for everyone.
From Cani’s perspective, Carden was in the same Magic Department as Hendel, making her difficult to approach with few points of contact. Moreover, even though it was before she became a Sword Master, Cani had seen her engage in a fierce match against Marine during the last tournament. She judged that Carden possessed considerable combat ability and would require a cautious approach.
In contrast, she had actually met and spoken with Serina during the previous tournament. Their brief conversation had established a decent relationship. On top of that, Serina was a commoner rather than a noble, and her personality seemed gentle, making her easier to approach.
The red-haired maid took her first step toward her grand plan. The operation name: [Hendel Is Just Too Amazing, Serina].
Having indirectly accumulated overwhelming romantic experience by devouring countless romance novels, she was confident she could make Serina fall for her completely.