Chapter 2. Kneel! (4)
Chapter 2. Kneel! (4)
Accepting the spirit and memories of a 'modern South Korean commoner' into Rosalyn's mind was a novel experience in many ways.
As I've already said, Rosalyn hates things that are dirty or smelly in many ways. Even if you just make her clean her room, she's the type to freak out at the sight of dust stuck in the corners.
But ironically, Rosalyn doesn't show that much of a rejection reaction toward the memories of modern society that I possess. Maybe it's because both are 'me,' or perhaps she judges that the life of a 'modern commoner' was better in most aspects than the life of a 'medieval noble.'
Well, that's fine. The fact that I don't think better or worse of either of the two memories is a good sign for now. I'll combine the two memories well to create the judgment needed to survive while maintaining the ducal family status amidst the war five years from now.
However, there was a certain aspect of Rosalyn... that became even stronger as those two memories combined.
"......Rosalyn-nim?"
Frida, my personal assistant cum lady's maid who was checking my complexion beside me, called me cautiously.
"Your face has flushed red...... is there perhaps anything uncomfortable?"
"That is not the case at all."
Ah, good Frida.
She must have judged that I was 'sick' because my face turned red. Well, Rosalyn usually sleeps at this hour. Unless she's going out to enjoy something like a banquet, there's no reason to stay awake late at night. Even if magic is used for lighting, it's mostly at the level of a 'non-flickering candle' at best, and above all, it's expensive. In the end, the 'mainstream' is mostly lighting lit by fire.
Since she sleeps so early, by the standards of people in this era, this is a time that can truly be called 'pulling an all-nighter.'
It's not strange for her to think that I'm not in my right mind due to exhaustion.
"Your breathing seems to have become a bit rough."
"That is also fine."
To put it another way, Rosalyn's aristocratic way of thinking combined with my way of thinking as a modern South Korean commoner. Since it was a memory of a past life, one could say it was 'memories connected in a line.'
Rosalyn is a nasty girl who enjoys seeing those 'below her' suffer.
And those rolling around excitedly in front of Rosalyn right now were all Rosalyn's 'underlings.' No noble in this duchy is higher than Rosalyn von Artena. Commoners are even more so.
The sight of high-nosed nobles suffering humiliation and screaming at Rosalyn's feet was enough to fill Rosalyn's heart.
"You are also sweating a little."
"It seems the ambient temperature is a bit high even though it's night. Perhaps this girl is a little excited by the sword dance shown by the knights before my eyes."
"......"
Frida shuts her mouth at my answer.
She looked at me with eyes as if looking at some strange existence.
Oops.
Did a bit of my true feelings slip out?
I covered my mouth with my hand. Hmm, from next time, I should carry a fan if possible. My hand is a bit awkward for hiding the corners of my mouth that keep creeping up. The posture is unnatural, so to speak.
"Kyaak!"
"Hiik!"
"S, stop......!"
The 'knights' who were fighting 1-on-1 at first had become a 1-on-3 situation at some point.
Of course, that didn't mean anyone could beat Erna. Among the three, Leana was the only one who had learned swordsmanship. She is from the Ebenburg baronial family, which has produced many knights and has some influence on various knight orders within the duchy, but she's just the third daughter. They wouldn't have poured money into a third daughter to give her a proper swordsmanship teacher.
Ttak! Ttaak!
Between the sounds of wooden swords clashing,
Puk! Puk!
Sometimes the sound of something hitting flesh is heard. Of course, Erna must be controlling her strength in her own way. It would be troublesome if she really hit them wrong and broke something. I have never once told Erna that she 'can break them.'
But, why is it?
Every time the wooden sword hits those girls' bodies, Rosalyn's body also trembles a little. What I feel is a subtle pleasure. It's a little different from the pleasure of simply feeling her underlings 'rolling around.' Rather, it was a kind of pleasure that was a bit thrilling and sharp.
This is the memory of 'me as a modern society commoner.'
I was a corporate slave who lived as if oppressed by the boss while receiving a measly salary. Even though money came out, I sometimes had to go to work on weekends, and the vacation I had carefully planned would get canceled, or I would face the 'work I had to do' that hadn't been solved at all after returning from vacation—
That's right.
The me of my past life was a human with a lot of dissatisfaction with society. And most of that dissatisfaction was directed at 'people with lots of money and high status.'
The young ladies who are getting beaten— no, 'training' in front of me are all sinners who, while being members of the knight order, hid behind their families and committed 'embezzlement.' They are so-called power-type sinners.
I am 'flogging' such people. And I'm doing it by making Erna, a commoner, do it.
Trampling on their pride as nobles, literally presenting them with humiliation.
Rosalyn enjoys such situations very much.
I bit my fingertip slightly. The breath I feel is hot. My heart beats a little faster, and the pain at the tip of that finger is felt as a subtle pleasure.
......Frida's gaze looking at me becomes even more subtle. Oh my, is it a bit dangerous beyond this?
"Stop."
I said that while clapping my hands.
"Hi, hiik."
Leana, who was still resisting to the end in her own way, muttered that while raising one hand. Just then, Erna was in the middle of swinging her wooden sword over that arm. Seeing that she stopped without striking down the moment I told her to stop, Erna's skill is definitely not ordinary.
I uncrossed my legs, stood up slowly, and stepped down from the chair.
Reason slowly returns to Erna's eyes, which had been glistening, captured by pleasure until a moment ago. It didn't even take ten seconds for her cheeks, which had been flushed with excitement, to turn stark white.
That's right. The ones you beat up with all your might are all young ladies of baronial families.
The class called nobility is truly all over the place, so there are an enormous number of people who are similar to or below a baron— but they are all people that a 'commoner' cannot handle.
Even though they are third or fourth daughters, they haven't entered a convent or gotten married, so for now, they are still 'baron's daughters.'
Only after I approached did Erna belatedly kneel on one knee on the spot. That's right. Now your head is working, isn't it?
I approached near Erna and placed my hand lightly on her head. Erna's height is definitely taller than mine, so placing my hand on the head of Erna, who was kneeling like this, felt just like placing my hand on the head of a large dog.
"Excellent, Knight Captain Erna."
Was her surname Baker, or was it Porter?
'English' is set as the 'dialect of the Artena Duchy and its vicinity' in this worldview. Of course, it's not called 'English.' Likewise, the Imperial language is German, and the Kingdom language is French. The super-ancient civilization and the Ancient Empire that ruled the region the Empire now occupies long ago used languages based on 'Ancient Greek' and 'Latin,' respectively.
The Artena Ducal family names their children in that 'duchy-specific dialect' as a minimum tradition, but at the point where 'von' is included in the names of other barons, or even in my own name right now, one can tell that German had already pushed that dialect out long ago.
In this world, or rather in this duchy, English is the 'language of commoners.' A dialect of this region. A position where one is ignored by Imperial-line nobles just by the name alone.
Sseuk-sseuk, I stroked Erna's hair gently as if stroking a large dog's head.
"You have carried out the order I gave very faithfully. It might have been burdensome. Even if you have a position, ignoring another status wasn't an easy thing to do, was it? You did well. I will praise you."
My hand went down slowly, fiddling with Erna's cheek, and soon grabbed her chin and lifted it up.
Erna looks up at me.
She's really like a puppy.
Eyes asking for help from her master.
I, Rosalyn, smiled while looking straight into those eyes of Erna.
So, Erna. Listen to me well.
"So, I look forward to your continued service, Knight Captain. If you only listen well to my commands, that position will be protected."
If I let go, you'll be thrown to the noble feed just like that.
Erna might have excellent skills for a commoner. Perhaps she might even be enough to use as my personal guard.
But if we consider this entire worldview, would her skill even be in the middle tier?
Well, it doesn't matter.
Rosalyn doesn't care about such things. As long as she can obtain what she wants by following the memories Rosalyn has— that is, the memories of my 'past life.'
If you only learn how to obtain that, I won't discard you as a pawn and will use you.
Above all—
"Loy, loyalty......"
Ah, this is good.
I like these eyes.
They aren't the rebellious eyes that looked at me at first, but the eyes of a beast lying flat on the ground.
I wrapped both my hands around Erna's cheeks. It's softer than I thought. Maybe it's because my friend was a guy who liked beauties so much.
"That is a matter of course. It's my knight order, isn't it? The knight order directly owned by this girl, Rosalyn von Artena."
I said that without even glancing at the other noble young ladies who were kneeling in a state on the verge of collapsing.
"Being loyal is a matter of course. And, operating that knight order properly is also your job."
I assured Erna, who was looking up at me blankly.
"As long as you are the Knight Captain, the words you say to those people are the same as my words. You understand, right?"
A little vitality returned to her blank eyes.
"Let's do well, us."
As I said that in a whisper, Erna nods her head hurriedly.
That was a pleasant honesty.