When Jamie’s firm chest was visible, she had thought it was a nice view, but now she seemed to have become a nice view for them. Erica covered her upper body with both arms. Her face was red enough to burst.

“I didn’t do it on purpose…”

“…Just because you train with them doesn’t mean you need to mingle. When there’s no training, stay by my side.”

Duke Felix cleared his throat awkwardly after speaking. He took the lead.

“Hurry up and shower, then change your clothes.”

Looking at him, Erica’s eyes widened.

‘So… you’re telling me to be an outcast?’

Erica, who regularly attended parties, was a very outgoing person. Although she was slightly dejected now after experiencing death once, she actually had quite a few friends and acquaintances.

Someone who loved both talking and listening, who couldn’t stand being without people around. That was who she was.

So Duke Felix’s words were somewhat shocking. Come to think of it, Duke Felix, who barely showed his face in social circles, seemed to particularly enjoy being alone.

After showering and changing into new clothes, Erica had dinner with Duke Felix and then entered his study. She glanced at Duke Felix, who was quietly reading a book.

‘He’s the complete opposite of me.’

But did that matter? In any case, her life depended on him. If she didn’t want to die three years later, she absolutely had to make a good impression on him.

However, she really, really wanted to go to a party. She wanted to hear the band perform, wear a dress more splendid than anyone else’s, and dance. Having gone through tough training, she only wanted to relieve stress.

‘There must be a tremendous number of party invitations arriving at the Count’s mansion right now, aren’t there any here?’

Erica’s eyes scanned Duke Felix’s desk. And she discovered something. The basket on the desk was filled with letters, and among them, she spotted a familiar pattern. Seeing it, Erica exclaimed:

“This is…!”

Stepping briskly toward the desk, Erica trembled while looking at the golden imperial palace invitation.

“Th-this is an invitation to the imperial palace party, isn’t it?”

“…So what?”

Duke Felix closed the book he was reading and approached Erica. Erica had many friends, but not many high-ranking children. They seemed to think that Erica, a mere count’s daughter, was very arrogant and sneered whenever they saw her.

[Acting so high and mighty without ever receiving an imperial palace invitation.]

[What…? Ha, I’m going to marry Marquis Otis, you know? When I become a duchess, invitations to the imperial palace will come in abundance!]

They giggled among themselves at that remark.

[What are you talking about, marriage? Otis says otherwise?]

[Hey, someone call Otis over. Erica, you’re more naive than I thought? Heheh.]

She didn’t know then. That Duke Cox was planning to use her father under the pretext of engagement without any intention of marriage. She simply thought they were jealous.

[Hmph. When I become Duchess Cox, you’ll have to get on my good side then?]

She didn’t know how arrogant she had been. She hadn’t even considered the person who was supposed to give her the title.

“Erica? Erica Mills?”

At Duke Felix’s words, Erica snapped out of her reminiscence. Meanwhile, Duke Felix had been staring at Erica’s short bob for a while. 

Her long hair had been beautiful too, but every time her bob swayed, her neck, more delicate than a deer’s, was visible. He thought he wanted to leave a kiss mark on that delicate white neck.

“Want me to give it to you? The imperial palace party invitation.”

“…Ah.”

Erica looked at the invitation in her hand. But since her friends couldn’t go to the imperial palace party, only high-ranking children with whom she had bad relationships would be there to pick fights. And at this point, she didn’t particularly want to see Otis either.

“No, it’s fine…”

With a gloomy face, she placed the invitation on top of the pile of letters. Seeing that, Duke Felix’s eyebrows slightly rose.

“I’m going, though?”

“?”

“Since I’m going, you have to come along too. As an apprentice knight.”

“Ah. That’s right.”

Erica blinked her eyes and then suddenly raised her head.

“Then I need a new dress and shoes, a hat and a bag!”

She smiled vividly, looking nothing like her gloomy self earlier. Looking at her face, Duke Felix stroked her cheek. Seeing his pleased smile, Erica thought he seemed to be in a very good mood. Duke Felix whispered softly in her ear.

“Are you going out to play now?”

When his tongue entered her ear, Erica’s body flinched. His tongue freely licked inside her ear and then bit her snow-white neck that had caught his eye earlier.

“Mmph…!”

Erica’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar sensation. It seemed like teeth marks had formed on her neck, but Duke Felix was sucking on it with relish. His hand kneaded her br*asts painfully hard.

“Ungh…. Your Grace!”

“You should call me Kai, shouldn’t you?”

That hand gradually moved down and dug between her thighs. He was feeling the concave area with his hand, and Erica hurriedly stopped him.

“Lord Kai! I’m an apprentice knight…!”

Only then did Duke Felix withdraw his hand. He regretfully put his nose to Erica’s neck again and savored her sweet scent.

“Hmm…. You were talking about dresses and such, so I thought you were just a noble lady.”

“…”

“If anyone touches your body like I just did, tell them that. That you’re Duke Felix’s apprentice knight. Tell them if they want to die at Duke Felix’s hands, they should touch you. Understand?”

Erica clenched her fists. She hated him for reminding her of her position. But since it was her choice, she forced a smile.

“Of course! I am Duke Kai Felix’s proud apprentice knight!”

Duke Felix stared at her intently, then soon dismissed her.

“Go back to your room and rest. You can skip the afternoon training.”

“…Only I don’t have to do the afternoon training?”

The afternoon training consisted of swordsmanship and horseback riding, and it went without saying that the afternoon training was more important than the morning one.

“You can’t keep up with the training anyway. You don’t even have the basic stamina.”

“…I understand.”

She had nothing to say for now. After leaving the Duke’s study, Erica was about to return to her room but decided to run in the garden instead.

[Then you should train more in the remaining time, were you just flirting with the men?]

So what if she became friendly with the commoner knights? Would they acknowledge her as a knight when she couldn’t even keep up with the training?

‘No. I need to work harder.’

Parties weren’t what mattered. She needed to work hard to become a knight.

While she was diligently running in the garden, she felt someone watching her. It was Jamie, the commoner soldier. He approached her waving his hand widely and ran alongside Erica.

“You’re working hard! That’s amazing.”

“It’s nothing, just what I should be doing…”

Jamie stared at Erica intently as she ran very slowly beside him. His gaze made Erica feel awkward.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Huh? …Because you’re so beautiful.”

“…Saying that won’t get you anything. I came here empty-handed.”

Jamie laughed at Erica’s words. Was he really a commoner? If dressed in a fine suit and groomed, he could pass for a noble. Above all, unlike other men, Jamie didn’t use vulgar words. If she hadn’t been worried about dying in three years, she would have wanted to recruit him as a servant.

‘With his good personality, he’d probably be obedient too.’

“You smell nice, miss.”

“…Huff, phew. It’s all the same sweat, huff, smell… Haah.”

She was starting to get out of breath. Since she had only run 5 laps earlier, she wanted to complete 15 more. However, the more she ran, the more her resolve began to crumble.

“Ah!”

When Erica’s foot caught on a stone and she was about to fall, Jamie embraced her. At that moment, his hand squeezed her br*ast.

‘Surely not…?’

Looking at Jamie with a strange feeling, he smiled the same way he always did. However, his hand was still touching her br*ast. Though it was dark and hard to see clearly, his thumb and index finger were rubbing her n*pple.

“Hey…!”

Erica quickly moved away from Jamie.

“Thanks for helping me! …I should go in now.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

Her face was burning hot. Erica entered the mansion feeling strange. In the end, she had only run one extra lap.

After bathing, she looked out the window and heard the sounds of diligent training from the garden. Along with the sound of swords being swung, she could hear the sounds of sparring. Imagining herself swinging a sword, Erica’s hands itched.

‘When will I be able to participate in afternoon training? I suppose I need to be able to run 20 laps first? Well, no one is good at everything from the start, I’ll take it slow.’

She lay down on the soft bed. Three years wasn’t a short time. Imagining her changed self, the corners of Erica’s mouth turned up.