Chapter 81

Chapter 81. I Am a Knight Department Student Starting Today (1)

Before the tea party ended, the Queen surprised me once again.

“The princess will attend the Knight Department starting tomorrow.”

“Pardon?”

I was startled by the sudden remark and asked back, but the Queen was not offended. Instead, she kindly explained the reason.

“She obtained her maternal family’s ability, so she needs to be trained by Katrine.”

That was true.

“On top of that, she has another ability as well, so she needs someone beside her who can spar with her and help her build her ability.”

Was she talking about me?

“Since it has become known that she did not obtain the royal house’s ability, she will receive less attention than before. However, there will be people who think she has stepped away from the succession and attack her carelessly.”

It was just as the Queen said. I had experienced it several times myself.

“There will also be field training, so I would like her to be protected at her side. Please help her.”

Good grief. As expected, she had not written that recommendation letter for nothing.

It seemed my bodyguard duty was beginning now.

After receiving several shocks, I left the royal palace in a daze.

Only after the carriage I shared with Katrine passed through the outer wall did I finally come to my senses, and I asked Katrine,

“Is the princess’s safety so endangered that you would use me?”

“Yes. Even when His Majesty was healthy, she was attacked several times. Since it was inside the royal palace, they were repelled without much difficulty.”

As expected, the royal palace was a frightening place.

“It was already like that when His Majesty was healthy, so if he collapses completely or passes away, it will be difficult for her to preserve her life even inside the royal palace.”

“That is why, while His Majesty can still move, the princess was sent to the academy to place her even a little farther away from her brothers’ eyes.”

The king had looked as though he might collapse as soon as tomorrow, and now that the princess had awakened, even in my eyes, she needed protection.

“We have to protect the princess.”

Mm. It seemed I had now been completely included in that “we.”

Not long after we left the outer wall, the carriage stopped.

We had arrived at Katrine’s house, House Ratenhamar, which was also the Queen’s maiden family.

The mansion was extremely beautiful.

It was smaller than the ducal mansion in our territory, but it was far larger than the duke’s “villa” in the capital.

Unlike Duke Gresia, the count was a central noble based in the capital, but the fact that he possessed a mansion of this size in the center of the capital was enough to show the power of the count’s house.

We headed to the count’s study under the butler’s guidance.

“Good to meet you. I am Count Ratenhamar.”

An elderly man who still looked hale was sitting on a sofa, looking me over as I entered.

His hair was sparse, his eyes were sharp, and his body looked firm.

At a glance, he was a proper noble.

I answered his greeting.

“I am Alex.”

The phrase “proper noble” also meant, in another sense, someone who properly practiced class discrimination.

There was no reason to pointlessly say my full name and make him frown.

After looking me over, he immediately asked Katrine,

“The Awakening Ceremony ended well?”

“Yes. It went according to plan.”

Katrine answered in a stiff tone.

“According to plan……. Good.”

The conversation between the two of them did not feel like one between father and daughter. It was more like a conversation between a superior and a subordinate at work.

Since this was common for proper nobles, it did not seem particularly unusual.

After hearing her answer, the count turned his gaze toward me.

Instead of telling me to sit, he brought up something else.

“I heard from Katrine that you were of great help in obtaining our ancestor’s relic.”

“I merely acted according to the contract. I also received sufficient compensation.”

“Compensation. That would include the ancestor’s dagger as well, I suppose?”

The dagger? He brought up the dagger while talking about compensation…….

Was this old man not only a noble, but also greedy?

At his words, I quietly glanced at Katrine.

She had been wearing a stiff expression, but at my glance, she moved her finger slightly.

It was a mercenary signal telling me to give an affirmative answer.

The dagger was closer to a gift from her, but it seemed she had spoken of it as compensation.

“Because of the contract, it is difficult for me to speak about that part. However, the dagger is currently my possession.”

There was no need to lie. I only had to use the contract as an excuse and let him misunderstand.

“……So it was compensation.”

As expected, he misunderstood immediately.

“I understand. Continue to help Katrine and Princess Aisha well from now on.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

I answered immediately to his obvious request for me to leave.

“Katrine, you remain for a moment.”

I was kicked out of the room alone, and a waiting maid guided me.

“Where are we going?”

“Lady Katrine told me to guide the guest to the training ground.”

Good grief. After using my head hard, was it now time to use my body?

I followed the maid toward the training ground.

Unusually, the training ground was underground.

Well, even if the mansion was large, it seemed difficult to make an outdoor training ground in the complicated capital.

The training ground was surrounded by solid stone walls.

The stones were not ordinary stones either.

“It feels like they plastered this place with money.”

On top of that, there was even a sofa and a table on one side, so I could sit on the sofa and drink tea made by the maid.

Sitting in a sweat-smelling training ground and drinking tea gave me my first true culture shock after coming to the capital.

Several thoughts passed through my mind.

The royals I had seen at today’s Awakening Ceremony, and the count I had just met.

All of them were people I could not dare to face.

Although I was Duke Gresia’s son and had even awakened, I was still only a half-recognized illegitimate son.

When I was in the territory, I thought I had overcome that to some extent, but after coming to the capital, I saw that I had not overcome it at all.

An illegitimate son was in an even lower position than I had thought, and the ladder between classes was not broken. It had never existed in the first place.

The reason the Queen and the princess kept me close was probably also because I was an illegitimate son.

My position was sufficient for the two princes to ignore me.

Objectively speaking, the situation was utterly bleak, but right now, I felt only calm.

The count who coveted the dagger did not frighten me, and neither the two princes nor the king terrified me.

Part of it was because my experience of returning from death had removed my fear, but it was also because of my confidence in my ability to overcome death.

While I was lost in those thoughts, Katrine entered the underground training ground.

She strode toward me and apologized.

“I am sorry. I did not know the count had called you because of the dagger. I will apologize on his behalf. No, I was wrong for bringing you to this house.”

It was an apology like her.

“Until yesterday, he did not even bring up the dagger. I thought he called you simply because he was curious about you, Alex.”

Yesterday, the dagger’s effect probably had not yet been confirmed, so he would not have said anything.

Or perhaps it was because of the personality of his daughter, who clung to what was right.

“It is all right. In any case, this dagger is in my hands now. Just help me if a problem arises later.”

“Yes. I will absolutely help you.”

I had thought she had softened a little after coming to the capital, but it seemed that personality had not disappeared.

When I first met her, I found it rather frustrating, but now it did not seem so bad. Was it because I felt she was on my side?

“He must think of it as a relic of his house. I understand.”

At my words, Katrine let out a small sigh.

“He was not originally that kind of person, but ever since His Majesty’s health worsened, he seems to have become impatient.”

If a single wrong choice of faction could wipe out the entire house, there was no way he could avoid becoming impatient.

“Does the count know everything about the princess’s situation?”

At my question, Katrine bit her lip.

“……No. I did not tell him that she obtained two abilities. I do not plan to tell him for some time either.”

Huh? She told me, but she did not tell her father?

She opened her mouth with a gloomy expression.

“I promised the Queen. If the princess obtained even the royal house’s ability, we would keep it secret from anyone who seemed likely to grow ambitious.”

Oh dear. Because he coveted the dagger, had his daughters raised a wall against him?

“The princess is still young. She needs time.”

Certainly, it seemed she would need time if she was to fight her older brothers.

Of course, if the king died before that and civil war broke out, it might not mean much.

From the princess’s and Queen’s position, this might be the best they could do.

“Then who else knows everything?”

There were more people who knew than I had expected. Well, since even I had heard it, it was only natural that there would be others who knew.

“My father knows about the dagger’s awakening ability, but only the Queen, the princess, I, and you know everything.”

“Pardon? Why me? What part of me is trustworthy……?”

Although I could clean up mistakes, that was something only I knew.

I could not understand how she trusted me when she could not trust her own father.

At my words, she answered,

“You made a contract with me. And I kept confirming it.”

Ah, the contract. Right, I had made a contract to keep secrets.

However, based on the countless contracts I had experienced in my previous life, that contract had many loopholes.

“We looked into various things and decided. The Queen and I are certain that you are someone we can trust, Alex.”

Katrine stared directly at me as she spoke.

Her eyes sparkled. Was that what people called eyes that trusted someone?

It felt as though something was pricking my chest.

Well, it was not as though I intended to betray them right now.

I quietly avoided her eyes.

“I understand. More importantly, were you not planning to have a proper spar?”

“Ah, right. You will spar with me, will you not?”

“Yes. I also need to confirm it once.”

I took out the dagger.

I certainly intended to confirm it. Whether the Queen, the princess, and Katrine were people who would simply use me and throw me away.

As long as I did not die, I would have enough time to confirm it.

In the end, I intended to continue like this for now.

Katrine raised her shield and sword.

A haze rose from her sword and shield, and from my sword, a red energy visible only to my eyes surged up.

“Let us begin.”

“Yes!”

Both she and I were in formalwear.

Well, so what? There were times like this.

BAANG!

WHOOSH!

The two of us swung our rippling swords at each other.

---

The spar ended enjoyably.

If there was one unfortunate point, it was that one of my few sets of formalwear had been cut apart.

Indeed, her ability when using the shield was terrifying.

Because of her ability, it felt as though the shield could change size freely.

If she continued to grow like this, it seemed she would be able to protect not only herself, but also several other people.

The energy surging from her sword seemed stronger as well.

If she had still been at the level she was in the dungeon, I would probably have subdued her quickly.

However, this spar could be called a draw.

Using our abilities did not mean it was the same as a real battle, but at this level, it seemed I could have enough confidence in my ability.

“Still, I need to work harder.”

Since I somehow felt like I kept getting swept into useless matters, I could not spend my time leisurely.

After the spar ended, she remained at the mansion, and I headed back to the academy.