CH.
36 — ENTERING THE PALACE (1)

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Many things had changed after the monsters subjugation and our return to the capital.

First of all, Leonard graduated.
It was also early graduation.

“Congratulations, Young Master!”

“Thank you, Agoth.”

“Congratulations, Leonard.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

On the day Leonard returned to the villa, Caesar came to celebrate with a huge amount of gifts.

It was said that it had taken two full hours just to stack up the large and small gift boxes in the lobby due to the sheer volume of gifts.

“Congratulations, Brother.”

“Thank you, Helena.
It’s all thanks to your teachings.”

Leonard said shyly at my words of congratulations.

Heh, of course.
My disciple couldn’t possibly have such a crappy skill.

“By the way, Helena, how are you feeling?”

Even at this moment when he was in the spotlight, Leonard was still worried about me.

“I’m sorry for leaving you hurt and coming back first.
I was worried all along.”

“I was the one who sent you back first.
And I’ve already recovered from my injury a long time ago.
It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

I turned my injured arm around and said confidently.

After returning to the capital, Caesar had brought in the imperial doctor, and all the drugs that could be called ‘good medicine’ were used for me.
It could be said that it had been too extreme.

But thanks to that, my arm healed well with no after-effects.

“Really? You’re not holding it in so as to not make me worry?”

“It really is, I’m telling you.
It doesn’t hurt at all.”

“Alright, then it will be fine.”

“Mm? What will be fine?”

As soon as I tilted my head and asked, Leonard hugged me tightly.

Aha, he meant it would be fine to hug.

“I was really worried, Helena.”

“Oh dear… Brother…”

Haah, I couldn’t help it.
Who made him such an angel-like brother?

As expected, my older brother is the best in the world. I raised my arms and hugged Leonard tightly.

“I like you the best in the world.”

“You are the most precious to me, Helena.”

Whoa, it feels good.

Our family’s angel has finally returned home.
It warms my heart.

It hadn’t been long since I thought that…

“Are you guys going to turn it down a little now?”

I heard a very sharp voice beside me.

Leonard and I turned our heads at the same time.
Caesar was standing beside us, arms crossed, looking at us with discontent.

Whoa, it’s the gray wolf.
His blazing red eyes are very fierce.

“What? Are you jealous?”

As I asked, Caesar raised an eyebrow.
It hit the nail on the head, but he acted as if he didn’t want to admit it.

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Oh, look.

I deliberately hugged Leonard more tightly.

Well, good Leonard, stop holding me in your arms for Caesar’s sake… I thought he’d soon let me go, but… Leonard held me even tighter.

Oh, Brother.
You’re pretty good at this, aren’t you?

“Ah, stop it, you brother and sister!”

Finally, Caesar yelled.
He looked as if he was slighted and was about to cry.

Haha.
What should I do? If I wanted to make fun of him before, I want to make fun of him even more now.

‘Even though I like him… I still have a bit of a perverted side.”

With that in mind, I hugged Leonard more tenderly. Khuhuhu.

***

Leonard had decided to join the Red Knights as deputy commander starting spring next year.

The position of deputy commander of the Red Knights had been empty for some time now, but I thought Dalton had intentionally left it empty in order to lure Leonard.

Because that person had been eyeing Leonard for quite some time.

Well, thanks to that, I was positively supported during this time of monster subjugation, so it’s not like it was a bad thing.

And as I had originally planned, I entered the Imperial Palace as the Crown Prince’s swordsmanship instructor.

“… or so I thought.”

At the training ground dedicated to the imperial family.

Standing in the center of the spacious and comfortable training ground, I grumbled with a sigh as I swung my sword.

“Why did I have to be the trainees instructor as well?”

That’s right.

I was definitely “the Crown Prince’s swordsmanship instructor,” but somehow, I also had to teach the trainees of the Order of the Knights.

After the monster subjugation, the Red Knights were the first to ask for my teachings, and other knights who were also paying attention had secretly asked for instructions as well.

In addition, Hamilton had said, “This is a supreme opportunity to further solidify your position and increase the power of His Highness.”

“What, isn’t it just once a month? I don’t think it’s going to be that tight.”

Caesar, who was standing on the other side, answered me with a light stretch.

“Once a month for each Order.
There are three Order of the Knights, so it’s three times a month.”

“Then why didn’t you refuse?”

“I should have, but Hamilton had a pitiful face and asked me a favor… No, wait a minute.
Aren’t you supposed to be taking my side, Caesar?”

Well, you don’t have to be on my side, but I’m strangely offended.

Unsurprisingly, Caesar snorted as if saying Look at you.
What’s with that attitude?

Don’t tell me…

“Are you still pissed off? About me hugging my brother?”

“Then did you think I could stay calm after seeing that?”

Oh, what’s this? What is this guy talking about?

I let out a bitter laugh.

“Do you like me that much?”

“Don’t ask for the obvious.”

Was it obvious?

I pointed my sword at Caesar and smiled.

“Great.
Then fight me five times,  and if you defeat me even once, I will hold you tight enough that you might even lose your composure.”

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As soon as my words fell, Caesar disappeared from where he had been standing.

He rushed at me with a terrifying force, and came right in front of me before I knew it.
I instinctively raised my sword to block his attack.

The metallic sound of the swords meeting, Kang! and Ha! echoed in the wide training ground.
My whole body was thrilled by the intense collision I felt for the first time in a long while.

“You’re not backing off?”

“Ha, you must be confident about winning.”

“Master is the loveliest when she’s holding a sword.”

“Will you say the same when you lie down on the floor?”

I pushed back Caesar’s attack as best I could.
The two swords collided several times in a short moment and then fell.

Caesar skillfully deflected my attack.
This was partly thanks to getting used to my attack pattern, but his instinctive response was also greater.

I felt it from the moment I first encountered his sword, but his talent for the sword was truly natural.

‘His skills have improved.’

After barely dodging Caesar’s attack, I broke out in a cold sweat.

It was unreasonable to deal with him as leisurely as before.
Caesar was catching up with me at an astonishing speed.

‘Is it because of the experience during the monster subjugation? His movements have become more refined.’

His reaction rate was also faster.

His judgment had also become more accurate.

‘Maybe you can really beat me…’

The moment I thought so.

Caesar quickly slipped into my arms.

As I was about to deflect his sword downwards, I saw him raise his left arm and hurriedly stopped my movement.

“That’s dangerous…!”

I remembered when he blocked my sword with his arm a long time ago.

He didn’t seem to mind his body when it comes to betting.

Caesar, who stopped my sword like that, came right up to me and hugged my waist.

Ngg?

“You stopped your sword.
Shouldn’t you be vigilant during battle, Master?”

Caesar quickly lifted me up by hugging my waist.

This madman—

“Do you want to break your arm again?”

“Ouch!”

I slapped Caesar on the back like scolding a child.
Even though it hurt him, he didn’t let me down.

“Focus on the battle, you idiot!”

The words didn’t work, so I held up my sword.
This time, even Caesar put me down without fuss and quickly stepped back.

“Ugh, I-I almost died—”

“You’re already dead.”

[T/N: Now, now, I know what you weebs are thinking about… omae wa—]

“What? Now, hold on!”

The battle continued.

At my frantic attacks, Caesar was very flustered and backed away from me.

‘There’s still a long way to go.
A long way off.’

I clenched my teeth and thought about it several times.

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To be honest, I was very confused a little while ago.

Caesar dug in knowing that I would stop my sword.
And me, who had really stopped the sword…

It was a ridiculous hesitation.
If it had been in a real battle…

“Don’t look down on your master!”

“I-I’m sorry!”

My attack, which was livelier than ever, forced Caesar to focus on defense helplessly.

The result was my five-game winning streak.

Ah, of course, this was all an expression of love.
It might be suspicious, but, I was serious.

***

I felt refreshed after a bath.

“Anyway, hanging out with Caesar is the most stressful time.”

While soaking in the bathtub provided by the Imperial Palace, I muttered like a fool.

Caesar was a great opponent in that he could fight with all his might without letting his opponent go.

Now I felt our battles were not a competition to teach, but a competition to purely confront each other.

‘Sometimes I feel a little bit sad.’

I was happy with the growth of my disciple, but I thought it would be sad if the disciple surpasses me.
Did my teacher feel the same way?

Well, I didn’t know.
When I thought of my teacher, the memories of being beaten come to mind first.

“… Ah, I feel dizzy.
I should stop now.”

It seemed that I had too many thoughts.
I shook my head and got up in the bathtub.

I dried myself, applied perfume, and changed into a simple one-piece dress instead of a training suit.

When I returned to the room with my wet hair which was not yet dry, I unexpectedly found several trainees who had been with me during the subjugation mission sitting in the room.

“Captain!”

The trainees jumped up from their seats as they saw me.
It was an orderly response.

“What is everyone doing here?”

“We came to congratulate you after hearing that you had come as a swordsmanship instructor!”

“Is it true that you will teach us too?”

“Are you going to teach us all the way? I hope so!”

Oh no, why are you all like this? How burdensome.

“Yeah, well.
That’s how it’s going to be.”

At my words, the trainees’ faces brightened.
Then at the same time, in unison, they said to me.

“Then will you accept us as disciples too?”

“H-Huh?”

Uh, all of a sudden?

I was only going to give advice or posture correction to the trainees of the Order of the Knights, not accepting disciples.
This had become too much all of a sudden.

“Will you accept us as your disciples?!”

As I hesitated, the trainees raised their voices again and urged me to answer.

Whoa, don’t do that.
I’m weak at people pushing in like that.

When I was at a loss for words at this sudden attack.

“What confidence do you have?”

I heard a low, harsh voice behind my back.

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At that threatening voice, the trainees all flinched and shuddered.
To be honest, I was a little nervous too.

Looking back, I saw Caesar staring at the trainees with a grim smile.

Wow, that’s scary.

Why did he only use his handsome face in such a cruel way?

“You seem confident enough to ask to become a disciple, don’t you? Then how about this.
He who fights with me in a life-or-death match will be allowed to enter my training ground.”

Caesar said, exuding more bloodthirst than when we fought.

Uh.
Hey.
Why would you allow it? I wouldn’t have allowed it because it would be annoying.

“Of course, I doubt anyone will survive.”

Hiccup. Someone hiccuped among the trainees.
Yeah, I understood.
You should be proud if you could still stand after receiving Caesar’s death threat.

‘He’s going to take someone’s life.
For sure.’

Shall I let it drop here? I felt sorry for the trainees.

“Disciple.”

I smiled and turned to Caesar.

Then, like a lie, Caesar’s bloodthirstiness was gone, then he looked down at me and smiled.

“Yes, Master.”

“I have to dry my wet hair, so I think you should stop.”

I tried to elegantly say, “Stop scaring children and let them go.”

Caesar grinned at my words, and he gave orders to the trainees.

“Everyone, go away.”

“T-Thank you!”

I didn’t know what they were thankful for, but the trainees said Thank you to Caesar and left the room.

Now that my disciple was here, they couldn’t say anything.
What a relief.
One of my disciples was a crazy dog, no, wolf, after all.

“Why are you scaring your subordinates?”

“Helena, if I hadn’t intervened, would you have accepted all of them as disciples?”

“No, it’s not like that… Well, I wonder what that means now.”

“You can’t.”

“Yes?”

“Helena’s disciples are over with just the three of us.”

The man who was about to kill people a while ago had turned cute because he was upset.

‘… Well, a handsome face is an innocent face.’

Unfortunately, however, Caesar had a handsome face.
When you looked at his face, your heart melted.

You should really be grateful to your ancestors for handing down those genes.
Your grandfather must have been such a great person.
Oh, right, he was my friend.

“I won’t accept it.
It’s done with your brother and Agoth.
Alright?”

In fact, even if it wasn’t Caesar’s words, I couldn’t afford to receive any more disciples.
It would be annoying.

But after hearing my confirmation, Caesar’s expression softened.

“Come on.
I will dry your hair.”

Caesar said as he took my hand and dragged me.
I meekly went to the chair as he led me and sat down.

While Caesar meticulously dried my hair with a towel, I sat and watched Caesar without lifting a hand.

I stared at his face for a very long time.

He dried my hair very carefully.
Seeing that intense expression on his face, I smiled a little.