The Sword That Fits My Hand
The Hunting Festival was a month away, the Alliance Festival roughly two months after that. And on top of it all, a diplomatic delegation would be arriving in the Cadea Empire right as the festival began.
My schedule keeps filling up with things that were never there before.
Not that the Alliance Festival would have anything to do with me directly.
I took out my planner and revised the entries once more. It's going to be a chaotic year.
Once the Hunting Festival wrapped up successfully, I'd have to ask for a bonus. I'd burned through every coin of my saved-up salary, which meant it was time to start building the pile back up again.
I folded the planner shut, tucked it into the drawer, and rose from my chair. Beyond the window, the sky had quietly darkened, and from below the building drifted the low murmur of employees making their way back to the dormitories.
All I have to do is help the remaining staff finish up their work, then head to the training grounds.
I was rolling out the stiffness in my shoulders and about to leave the room when the wooden tower housing that empty furball came into view.
What on earth keeps that furball so busy?
I hadn't caught a glimpse of him in days. Was he off fetching yet more information for me again?
Maybe I should make some extra jerky before I head in.
I'd have to borrow the kitchen first thing tomorrow morning.
With the furball's whereabouts and the furball's snacks both on my mind, I descended the central staircase to the first floor — and ran straight into Ed, who was coming in through the main entrance of the estate.
"Oh, Miss Freya."
"Yes?"
I stepped off the last stair just as Ed came to a stop precisely in front of me.
"Where is His Highness?"
"In his study at the moment."
Ed was carrying a fresh letter. I glanced at it briefly, then shifted my gaze back to him.
"A letter arriving at this hour?"
Ed nodded. "Yes. It's from Dame Annette."
"Ah……"
A short sigh escaped me.
Dame Annette.
Once known throughout the empire as Annette Ballot, the Grand Duchess.
That's right — the woman called Dame Annette was the Grand Duke's own mother.
And, as it happens, one of the Cadea Empire's most celebrated female knights.
I'd heard that after the previous Grand Duke fell on the battlefield, Annette — then the Grand Duchess — passed the position of head of the family on to the current Grand Duke.
"My son. Your father is no longer of this world, so I intend to pursue what I set out to do."
Born into a house that had produced knights for generations, Annette had loved Estan Ballot, the previous Grand Duke, dearly, and had become his Grand Duchess without hesitation — yet she had always yearned for the battlefield. It was her habitual refrain: that if the chance ever came, she would take up her sword once more and return to the front lines. That she would remain at the empire's people's side and protect them with her own two hands.
Knowing this full well, the Grand Duke had honored his mother's wishes and taken up the mantle of head of the family.
What an impressive family, in every possible way.
The Grand Duke was remarkable enough on his own, but now I found myself curious about the previous Grand Duchess as well.
Oh, right — I heard she prefers being called Dame Annette rather than the former Grand Duchess.
How unusual of her.
A female knight, hm.
The Tenasis Empire had female knights too, but only a handful — you could count them on one hand.
Come to think of it, I never crossed paths with more than three of them before I died.
And even when I did, exchanging a single word with them was nearly impossible. Serhin, pale as a drawn blade, was always at my side, and on the rare occasions I was alone, I wore a mask — so no one ever dared approach me.
There was even a rumor going around that I carried a plague. Who would want to get close after that?
Living in such isolation, I had no memory of ever holding a conversation with a fellow female knight.
Which was why, at the news that Dame Annette would be visiting, my heart fluttered a little — on the one hand.
On the other hand, Riel had once warned me, almost gravely.
"You see, Dame Annette refuses to keep any unmarried maids in the Grand Duke's residence."
Apparently, until just a year before I joined, the residence had employed a fair number of unmarried maids. But year after year, maids with impure motives would sneak into the Grand Duke's bedchamber — until the incident: a knight mistook one such maid for an assassin and killed her on the spot.
After that, the residence stopped hiring unmarried maids entirely, apparently.
The ones already employed were all given glowing letters of recommendation and sent on their way.
Well, fair enough. I can't say I don't understand.
The desire to climb the social ladder is one every human being carries.
Besides, for all the Grand Duke's cruel temperament and insufferable personality, no other noble house had the wealth or power to stand against him — a considerable advantage, as far as schemers were concerned.
Oh, wait — isn't the Third Princess after the Grand Duke too, now that I think about it?
What was he, a prize stallion?
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
Looking at it all, I suppose the Grand Duke hasn't exactly had a smooth road either.
In any case, since that incident, I was the only person ever hired as an employee while unmarried.
As I quietly studied the dark crimson letter in Ed's hands, he spoke first.
"It seems she'll be arriving at the Grand Duke's residence."
"……"
I looked at him.
"She wants to make sure your stay is a comfortable one."
"……"
Ed watched me with a worried expression.
Is he worried I'm about to get thrown out?
I smiled as if to say, don't be absurd.
"Once she sees that I'm simply a competent butler with not a shred of personal interest in the Grand Duke, she won't chase me off. Don't worry about it."
"No, that's not what I—"
"What's this? Has our dear aide gone and grown fond of me lately?"
Ed jerked back as if struck by lightning. "Wh-what kind of talk is that?! What if it reaches His Highness's ears somehow?!"
"……"
I tilted my head at his ghost-pale face.
"Why so serious? It was just a joke."
"You must understand that a passing aide can lose his head over a single joke!"
"I'm not going to eat you, you know."
"Aack! Please, I beg you, refrain from such remarks!"
I'll really die, I swear!
"……Honestly."
When I put on a look of mild hurt, Ed backed away, coughing. Ahem! Ahem!
"A-anyway! If anything's decided, I'll inform you right away. I'll be going now!"
"……"
Ed fled up the stairs. I watched his back disappear with remarkable speed, then turned away with a murmur.
"It's not as if the Grand Duke ordered the employees not to be friendly with each other. What is his problem?"
Ha. He's terrified I'll go blurting something out in front of the Grand Duke.
Ugh. The moment that image flashed through my mind, a chill ran down my spine.
Yeah, no. Definitely not doing that.
That night, I stopped by my personal training hall for the first time in a while.
The heavy iron gate of the tower, the creak of the hall's aged wooden doors worn down by years — every sound of it was welcome.
Ah. Today, I'm going to pour out everything I have.
My whole body felt stiff and heavy, starved of proper aura use for far too long. When you unleash it to your heart's content, you refill the emptied vessel and the vessel itself grows larger. Skipping that training for so long had left the aura inside me restless, surging and churning at the most inconvenient moments.
But tonight? Tonight, the place is mine.
Right, so today's the day I smash apart this entire building— wait. Huh?
The moment I stepped into the hall, burning with purpose, I caught sight of something I'd never seen before and stopped short.
That would be……
One wall of the Grand Duke's personal training hall held a weapons rack where an array of arms was displayed. Since they were the Grand Duke's own, most had been custom-forged to fit his grip — which meant that even when he marched off to war, I could never quite bring myself to train with them.
But today — today, among them, a single sword I had never laid eyes on before was gleaming brightly.
Good heavens……!
I bottled up the gasp threatening to burst out of me and sprinted toward it.
Its outward appearance was unmistakably plain. Among the Grand Duke's luxurious weapons, that unadorned quality stood out all the more sharply.
Perhaps that was exactly why it pulled at me all the more.
As if in a trance, I reached out, drew the sword from the rack, and lifted it in my hand.
Chk—. The plain-looking scabbard parted, and a sleek silver blade slid free.
Wow.
My breath caught again.
The feel of the hilt filling my palm perfectly, the weight of the blade settling into my fingertips — everything was achingly familiar and steady. This was not a sword I had forged and wielded in this life, and yet it fit my hand as if I'd carried it for years.
But then —
Why is this here?
It looked like someone had placed it while I was away in the capital.
……Who?!
The old man?
I tilted the silver blade, examining it closely. This was absolutely not a sword that suited the Grand Duke. Long, flexible, and slender, it was worlds apart from the blades he ordinarily favored.
Did he just leave it here for practice?
No — for a mere practice weapon, the quality was far too fine.
It looks like it was made quite some time ago, yet there isn't a trace of use on it.
It was certain.
This isn't the Grand Duke's sword.
Instead, this sword settled into my hand as though it had been waiting for it.
It's so much like the one I used back in my days as Sia.
The length, the weight — even the shape of the scabbard.
Well, well. Now that's a curious thing.
Something like nostalgia welled up in me, and I gave the sword a light swing.
Whish, whoom—. The sound of it cleaving the air was crisp and bright. A breeze followed in the wake of the blade, brushing against my skin, and the springy vibration of the steel traveled straight up into my fingertips.
This is it……!
This is exactly what I wanted!
My heart thundered like the war drums announcing the start of battle. It was an excitement entirely different from training aura or stamina.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The drums inside my chest kept pounding on and on.
A signal to move. A signal to fight.
A signal to go out and prove — to myself, to the world — that I existed.