Woof, Woof
I never imagined I would be facing the Grand Duke again.
I'm not mentally prepared for this yet, okay?
Just this very morning, my plan had been to take the Grand Duke's head and go home. Now that I was actually standing in front of him, I felt an absurd urge to bolt.
That rotten old man.
I should have known something was off the moment he promised me a private training ground.
But what was done was done. I followed Count Norbert into the office and took my place behind him.
The office was dark.
Does that man spend every waking hour sitting in a place like this?
Training the knights, or at the very least, taking the occasional walk…
My thoughts cut off there. I had just noticed that the paperwork stacked on the desk towered far above the Grand Duke's head, even while he was seated.
Wow. That's more paperwork than Serhin ever looked at?
And Serhin used to shove half of his pile at me whenever he wanted to slack off.
He does all of this alone?
Grand Duke… you absolute menace.
Now I feel bad for cursing him out as some muscle-brained sword-swinging oaf living in a big fancy house.
Meanwhile, the Grand Duke, who had been seated at the desk, removed the glasses he'd been wearing and set them down on the desktop.
He lifted his head, glancing between Count Norbert and me, then addressed the old man.
"What is it?"
Count Norbert bowed his head slightly before speaking.
"I request your permission to renovate my office in Verdan's Tower."
"……"
Verdan's Tower? Renovate his office?
What on earth are they talking about?
Completely lost, I could do nothing but roll my eyes.
Then the Grand Duke spoke.
"For what reason?"
It must have been a matter of some gravity, because his voice was lower than before.
Ugh, this is awkward.
You really didn't need to have this conversation while I'm standing right here, you know, old man.
At the Grand Duke's question, Count Norbert answered.
"If you grant permission, I intend to turn that office into a private training ground for Freya."
Huh?
I stared in shock at the back of Count Norbert's head.
So that was it?
That's why he dragged me here?
Wow. I don't know what Verdan's Tower even is, but he's tearing apart the office he used himself, just to build me a private training ground?
He really is a man who never goes back on his word.
Even if it had only lasted a moment, I felt guilty for having misunderstood and resented him.
I take it back, old man.
I gazed upon the back of Count Norbert's head with the fervent devotion of the recently converted.
And then, a thought struck me.
Oh, wait. He never actually checked whether I'd memorized the book, did he?
As I was puzzling over that, the Grand Duke spoke again.
"A private training ground. And why is it necessary to tell me this while bringing that maid along?"
"I made Freya a promise. That if she read the Ballot's Book of Runes and committed it to memory in a single day, I would build her a private training ground."
Ballot's Book of Runes. The name of that brick-thick tome I'd stayed up all night reading.
The moment Count Norbert finished, the Grand Duke's gaze swung toward me.
"……"
"……"
I stared right back into his eyes, refusing to be the first to flinch.
…He's going to object, isn't he.
No, he definitely will.
As far as anyone knew, I was an ominous stranger of unknown identity and missing memory. I knew perfectly well that assigning me maid duties and keeping Count Norbert at my side was, at its heart, surveillance.
There's no way he'd demolish a loyal vassal's office and build me a private training ground. Not for someone like me.
Half resigned, I held the Grand Duke's gaze, steady and unblinking.
I know, Grand Duke. I should be grateful you let me keep my head at all.
And yet, still.
I hoped he'd say yes.
If he granted me just this one thing, I promised I'd give renewed thought to that whole plan about taking his head back to the Tenasis Empire with me.
Another stretch of silence passed.
The Grand Duke still said nothing. He simply kept his eyes fixed on my face — or more precisely, on my eyes — without so much as a blink.
I matched him, boring my own stare straight into his.
How very strange.
Those violet eyes I'd faced across battlefields time and time again — eyes I'd thought I'd seen more than enough of to last a lifetime.
Today, somehow, that violet gaze felt almost mystical.
In truth, the Grand Duke's violet eyes had always been a color that stirred killing intent in me. And excitement.
Even in the chaos of battle, where ally and enemy tangled without distinction, those eyes were the one thing I could always pick out with ease.
But today, oddly enough, far from summoning bloodlust, they simply… were.
They just…
made me want to keep looking. That was all.
Pretty, though.
Well, that thought did cross my mind. Briefly.
And then it happened.
A ringing—
Nngh!
A headache struck without warning.
I shut my eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
It happened often. Especially when I crossed paths with that man on the battlefield.
Even with a new body, this headache is exactly the same.
I quickly shook my head and lifted my gaze again.
Just then, the Grand Duke was turning his attention away from me, putting his glasses back on. He gave a small nod and said:
"There's no need to tear apart an office that's done nothing wrong. Give her the floor below instead."
"I beg your pardon?"
Count Norbert exclaimed in surprise.
"M-my lord. But that floor is—"
"You heard me."
After a brief hesitation, Count Norbert bowed his head in reluctant acceptance.
"Yes. …Thank you, my lord."
The mood had turned strange.
What is it? What's down there that warrants all this fuss?
Apparently some place of tremendous importance?
My curiosity flared up hard.
"What is Verdan's Tower, and what, pray tell, is the floor below?"
I asked outright, no subterfuge at all.
At that, Norbert's head whipped around toward me, and the Grand Duke's gaze snapped back to me as well.
I looked between the two of them and said:
"…What? Is it a place I'm not allowed to know about?"
Haah. Count Norbert shook his head with a long sigh.
"My lord, I apologize. It was my fault for bringing her here without a word of explanation—"
"No."
The Grand Duke raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Leave the maid here and go."
"…My lord."
When Count Norbert didn't move right away, the Grand Duke repeated himself, firm and unyielding.
"Go."
"…Yes, my lord."
Under the weight of that repeated command, Count Norbert had no choice but to withdraw.
Before leaving, he seemed to try to convey something to me with his eyes…
Something along the lines of: watch your mouth.
Oh, honestly, old man. Have you grown attached to me already?
Worrying about me like that.
I know perfectly well I have a big mouth, you know.
And I'm sure that man over there knows it too, by now.
After all, I'd already blabbed plenty under the influence of the World Tree Sap. There was nothing new to learn at this point.
Once Count Norbert was gone, a brief silence settled over the office.
"Weren't you the one who wanted a private training ground?"
"I did."
"And I said you could have one. So what's the problem?"
"There's no problem. I was simply curious about what kind of place the private training ground I'd be using is."
"Must you satisfy every curiosity you have?"
"Roughly speaking, yes."
"Roughly speaking?"
"In fact, I'm barely restraining myself from going mad wondering what goes on inside Your Grace's head."
"……"
"I want very badly to know who I am, you see."
"That is—"
"Yes, I know. Which is why I'm doing my best to grow into someone worthy. So — I'll put the private training ground to good use."
"……"
"And as for my question just now, I only asked because I was curious about the training ground I'd be using alone. So kindly don't take it as insolence, and—"
"Who said anything about using it alone?"
"…I beg your pardon?"
The Grand Duke leaned back loosely against his chair.
Then, with the faintest upward twitch at the corner of his otherwise impassive mouth, he said:
"I never said any such thing."
"……"
What is that supposed to mean?
Do people in the Grand Duchy of Ballot share their private training grounds in groups or something?
Well, there's no law against it, I suppose…
I asked, cautiously.
"So… I'd be sharing it with someone else, then?"
"The floor below Count Norbert's office has an owner of its own. You'll be sharing it with that owner, then."
"Ah. …I see."
I answered in a voice gone limp, almost muttering to myself.
Who could it be?
If it was the floor beneath Count Norbert's office, maybe it was a training ground used by another vassal?
Even if we shared it, as long as our hours didn't overlap it shouldn't be a problem…
I had sunk deep into thought about who my new co-tenant would be when the Grand Duke's voice reached me once more.
"Me."
I raised my head and looked at him.
"…Pardon?"
Still tilting his head at that insufferable angle, he replied:
"The owner of the floor below. I said it was me."
"……"
Woof, woof.
Somewhere, the sound of a dog barking reached my ears.