At the same time, Delia arrived, panting and exhausted. Her heart pounded painfully, and breathing was difficult. The condition of her leg was beyond words. Her breathing came in short, stifled gasps due to the helmet.

“Hah, hah…… huff, huff, ugh……”

As if uninterested in the new recruit, Kaiel spoke indifferently.

“One minute has passed. Again……”

But who would have known? Suddenly, Kaiel flinched mid-sentence and looked at the new recruit.

“……”

“……?”

Delia quickly lowered her head to avoid Kaiel’s gaze.

‘What’s going on, why suddenly?’

Fortunately, without any further issue, Kaiel turned his head again.

“Everyone resume dueling. New recruit, you…… ……”

The soldiers were quite shocked by the Grand Duke’s apparent struggle to issue a command, something unusual for him. Why was he suddenly acting this way?

Meanwhile, Hunt Vise quietly rose from his spot. Oddly enough, while he dawdled, no one paid him any attention. Complete isolation through thorough disregard.

Filled with anger, he glared sharply at the new recruit who had caused this mess, but received no return glance. Eventually, Hunt Vise’s eyes fell on the new recruit’s thin ankle. At that moment, Hunt Vise felt a strong impulse he shouldn’t have.

‘Just a little force would break it.’

Since he was already expelled, why leave that new recruit unscathed after ruining his future?

In the moment when the Grand Duke’s attention was briefly diverted from the new recruit, Hunt Vise lunged forward, targeting her ankle. The situation unfolded in an instant.

Thwack!

A moment later, a heavy body rolled and crashed into the corner of the training ground.

“Aaaaargh!”

It was Hunt Vise, kicked by Kaiel’s foot. Kaiel didn’t stop but strode toward him.

“I told you,”

Kaiel roughly grabbed Hunt Vise by the nape and threw him against the wall again.

“To leave.”

In the suffocatingly terrifying atmosphere, the soldiers froze completely as Kaiel slowly moved. He headed toward the new recruit who had fallen to the ground in shock.

Although he had kicked Hunt Vise away, there was a possibility of injury since Hunt Vise’s hand had been gripping her until just before.

Accustomed to such incidents in the training ground, Kaiel could assess the extent of the injury at a glance. After staring intently at the ankle, he commanded in a low voice.

“You’re fine, so stand up.”

“……”

Delia forced her body, which seemed glued to the floor, to rise. Looking at her trembling legs, she felt ridiculous.

‘What am I doing here? Should I just tell him? I’m Delia.’

“Stand still.”

How could she stop her legs from shaking on their own?

Kaiel pressed his fingers between his eyebrows, as if trying to figure out what to do with this troublesome soldier. After staring at her for a long time, he finally approached and corrected her posture himself.

“Your weight is shifted backward, that’s why you keep falling.”

He roughly grabbed Delia’s ankle and pulled it forward. Nearly losing her balance and falling, Delia instinctively reached for something to hold onto and ended up placing her hand on Kaiel’s shoulder.

Gasp.

She felt his shoulder stiffen instantly.

This went beyond whether Kaiel was intimidating or not—it was a breach of etiquette. A low-ranking soldier pressing down on the shoulder of a monarch who had served as Commander-in-Chief?

Delia hurriedly removed her hand and tried to step back. That’s when the hand holding her ankle suddenly began to move up from her calf to her thigh.

“……!”

Startled, Delia struggled and fell backward due to her restrained ankle. Unexpectedly, Kaiel, who until now had shown no concern whether she fell or not, suddenly moved swiftly to cradle the back of her head.

The soldiers’ mouths gaped open at this unexpected scene. Would he go that far just for a new recruit falling?

Delia flinched. The helmet rattled as it shook.

“Take off your helmet.”

“……”

‘So this ridiculous charade as a new recruit finally ends.’

Judging by his suddenly softened tone, Kaiel seemed to have already figured it out. However, Delia, too exhausted to move, simply shook her head and remained lying still. Eventually, Kaiel removed her helmet himself.

The smooth face beneath, drenched in sweat, was fully revealed. After falling and rolling several times, her hair was disheveled, and the wig had nearly come off.

The soldiers’ faces turned white as they recognized the long reddish-orange hair.

What a heart-stopping situation!

They had all been secretly looking down on and mocking the new recruit, and with just a little more carelessness, they might have made an irreversible mistake. They could have lost their heads to the Grand Duke.

And the one who had actually committed such an act.

Everyone’s gaze soon turned to Hunt Vise, who was slumped in the corner.

Though it was karma, it was almost pitiful to think about his future.

“I’m sorry. It’s not that I didn’t trust you, Kaiel……”

Delia felt terrible, primarily because she felt sorry toward Kaiel.

“I wanted to show that you’re not a father Leo and Eddie would fear. I only planned to listen to the soldiers briefly……”

Kaiel’s pupils trembled slightly.

“Training is over for today.”

His voice sounded tense yet dejected. Nevertheless, his fierce aura remained, causing all the soldiers to hold their breath and quietly leave the training ground. Hunt Vise, who had collapsed, was dragged out like trash.

As silence fell over the now-empty training ground, Delia spoke again.

“I’m really sorry. It’s my fault, Kaiel.”

But that didn’t seem to be what mattered to him. Kaiel urgently lifted Delia’s top. Startled, she grabbed his hand.

“Wh-what are you doing? Here?”

“You fell earlier. Are you hurt? Let me see, move your hand.”

Just moments ago, he had looked like he wouldn’t care even if bones were broken, but now his eyes were filled with concern as they examined her body.

“It hurt.”

Delia spoke, thinking of her two sons.

“Not because of Kaiel…… but Leo and Eddie might not be able to adapt to this environment-“

“Turn around.”

As if he had no intention of listening to her, Kaiel abruptly flipped her body and made her lie face down on his knee. A moment later, Delia exclaimed in shock as she grabbed her waistband, which was about to slip off.

“What are you really doing, Kaiel!”

“Checking your bottom.”

“What?”

“You fell hard earlier. I didn’t know it was you, and I……”

Kaiel saw the red mark near Delia’s tailbone and embraced her tightly with a sigh.

“In a place like this, I can’t treat Leo and Eddie better or demand less of them. I might have to be even stricter than what you experienced today……”

As he spoke, Kaiel lifted Delia in his arms and stood up.

“The children might-,”

“I understand. Let’s talk about this again when Leo and Eddie are older. But I still believe the children won’t fear you. Please know that.”

Delia still didn’t worry that the children would come to fear Kaiel. Although his demeanor in the training ground had been somewhat unfamiliar.

Well, as expected, thanks to Kaiel properly disciplining Hunt Vise in the end, the brief sense of disconnect she had felt completely disappeared.

‘But I can’t send those two to a place like this.’

The plan to insist on Leo and Eddie participating in the training and helping Kaiel overcome his trauma unfortunately collapsed for a different reason.

In other words, it wasn’t Kaiel’s problem but the atmosphere of the training ground.

Meanwhile, after carrying Delia to the bedroom, Kaiel immediately stripped off all her clothes. Seeing her slightly swollen ankle, Kaiel’s brow furrowed deeply.

“I’ll wash you.”

Even though she wasn’t seriously injured and could wash herself. But Delia wasn’t one to refuse such an opportunity. She smiled brightly at the welcome suggestion.

“Sounds good. Scrub me thoroughly, Kaiel.”

That night, exhausted from being touched all over during the bath, Delia nestled in Kaiel’s arms.

Come to think of it, she was curious.

“By the way, how did you realize it was me?”

It didn’t seem like he had noticed from the beginning.

In response, Kaiel silently raised one hand and formed a circle.

“What’s that?”

“Your ankle. It fits exactly like this. This size.”

As if to demonstrate, Kaiel gently wrapped his hand around Delia’s ankle. When her ankle was gripped exactly as he had shown, Delia’s eyes widened.

“It really is!”

“I hold it often.”

Understanding his meaning, Delia chuckled as Kaiel continued.

“Also…… I couldn’t be certain, but your breathing.”

This time, Delia tilted her head in disbelief.

“Can someone really identify a person by their breathing?”

Kaiel stared at Delia intently. Then suddenly, he thrust his hand inside her clothes and began tickling her.

Laughing uncontrollably, Delia barely escaped his embrace and exclaimed with excited breath.

“How can you attack so suddenly!”

“Just like that, Delia. When you’re out of breath, you make this sound.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Kaiel captured Delia’s lips, ravaged her mouth moderately, and pulled away after just a few seconds. He skillfully made Delia breathe heavily in just a matter of seconds.

“How could I forget that sound.”

* * *