Chapter 2 (Part 6)

When she expressed her desire to learn swordsmanship, inspired by the knights wielding their swords, her father had convinced her mother, who was against it, by setting a condition.

‘If you can write a training log once a week, I’ll allow it. Can you do that?’

‘Of course!’

Since that day, Reina had personally delivered her training log to Duke Lennox. It was likely to ensure she was participating in training properly.

But lately, she had been so preoccupied with Patrick that she forgot the promise she made to her father.

“I-I’ll submit it by tomorrow.”

Missing it occasionally was fine, but doing so frequently would lead to severe reprimands. She tried to speak confidently to hide that she had forgotten but failed.

Her conscience pricked her, causing her to stutter unknowingly.

“Very well.”

She expected a scolding, but fortunately, Duke Lennox let it slide without knowing.

Duke Lennox smiled, gently patted Reina on the crown of her head, and then went downstairs.

As soon as she entered her bedroom, Reina sat on the sofa and began to write her training log with a quill pen.

The content she wrote wasn’t anything special. She just recorded the day’s training and any new techniques she had learned. She started diligently writing about three lines, but the moment Patrick’s image came to mind, the quill pen refused to move.

The moment she recalled Patrick’s smile from earlier, her mind went blank, and she couldn’t remember anything. In this state, she couldn’t possibly write the log.

“What should I do?”

Should I force myself to write something? Or should I ask the knights? 

As Reina pondered, she decided to postpone today’s task until tomorrow and lay down on her bed.

I’ll just ask tomorrow.

The atmosphere during the early morning training session the next day was very different from the previous day.

The training ground should have been heated with excitement due to the duel between two knights, but it wasn’t. The cheers were also much quieter than usual.

The fun of the duel was diminished because a third of the knights were absent. Moreover, the person giving orders from the podium today was not Patrick but Deputy Commander Ford.

Reina looked around to find Patrick, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Is something wrong?

The unusual environment bothered her, making it hard to focus on training. However, Ford’s loud voice startled her several times, forcing her to concentrate on the sword in her hand each time.

“Where is the Commander?”

After all the duels were over, Reina approached Ford and asked.

“He went out on an errand under the Duke’s orders.”

“Is something wrong?”

“There are rumors that some ruffians have been causing trouble lately, so he went to investigate with the knights.”

Seeing Reina’s anxious look, Ford explained the situation first.

Maintaining public order was usually the job of the city guards. So if the Royal Knights, especially the Commander, had to step in, it wasn’t a minor issue.

“There’s nothing to worry about. Why are you looking for the Commander? I can help you instead.”

Ford smiled as if it was no big deal.

“Do you report our training activities to my father every day?”

“Of course.”

Oh no, that was close. I could’ve gotten into big trouble.

If she had written something carelessly, it might have revealed her lack of diligence in training.

“Can I check what training we did this week?”

“Of course. Please wait a moment.”

Ford, who had gone inside the lodge, returned shortly with a few sheets of paper.

“Thank you. I’ll quickly review them and return them.”

“Take your time. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

Ford showed a kind smile.

* * *

“Will this be enough?”

Reina, holding the completed training log, headed to the study.

Knock knock.

She knocked, but there was no response. She knocked again, but it was still silent.

“Is no one here?”

Reina tilted her head and opened the door. Inside, instead of her father, she found a gleaming suit of armor on the sofa.

“Wow. A golden armor?”

She had never seen such splendid golden armor before, so she immediately walked over to it.

The shimmering gold and the various colored jewels embedded here and there made it impossible to take her eyes off it. She couldn’t help but admire it as she carefully touched the armor.

“Did Father attend the training too?”

At that moment, she recalled that her father had been the commander of the Royal 1st Knight Division when he was younger.

Though he had retired quite some time ago, seeing him occasionally spar with Patrick made it seem like his skills hadn’t rusted.

When Reina expressed interest in swordsmanship, Duke Lennox had high expectations, saying, “This should be fun. I look forward to seeing if you’ll be called a swordsmanship genius like me.”

However, Reina hadn’t inherited that talent. Her brother Louis had taken all the talent.

If she had inherited the talent, she probably would have become a swordsmanship master and would be learning something else by now.

To console herself, she tapped the solid armor with her hand. The sturdy armor produced a heavy, dull sound.

The majestic appearance of the armor captivated her even more, filling her with regret. She had never worn armor because she only trained and never participated in actual combat.

She wanted to try it on, even if just for a moment, but she couldn’t casually wear the knights’ armor, so she had only admired it from afar.

Remembering how even the apprentice knight Toby looked imposing when he wore his armor and carried a sword at his side, she felt an inexplicable urge.

And this desire led to an impulse to try it on.

“There shouldn’t be a problem if I secretly try it on and take it off before anyone sees, right?”

It would be difficult to try on someone else’s armor, but it was different if it was her father’s. As long as she didn’t get caught, she didn’t need to feel too guilty.

Reina immediately walked to the door to check if anyone was coming down the hallway. She saw the butler walking down the corridor.

“Where did Father go?”

“If you had come a little earlier, you would have seen him. The Duke went to the bath a short while ago.”

Duke Lennox, who loved soaking in hot water, usually spent at least an hour in the bath.

Since he had just gone to bathe, it seemed like it would be quite a while before he returned to the study.

Great. I can secretly try on the armor and put it back before Father returns!

A sly smile appeared on Reina’s lips.

After waiting for the butler to disappear from sight, she closed the study door. Then she tiptoed to the sofa and carefully lifted the armor. It was quite heavy, making it difficult to lift.

She thought she had been training her body, but it seemed she wasn’t strong enough to lift the golden armor easily.

Was Father really this strong?

Struggling, Reina finally managed to lift the armor and put it on. She then tried to stand up naturally.

“Uh… uh?”

However, the armor was so heavy that it was hard to balance. Her legs were too weak to support the weight of the armor.

Even though she tried to support herself with her body, her uncooperative legs caused her to stumble, and she ended up breaking a vase on the desk.

Crash.

The sound of breaking glass echoed, and shards scattered everywhere.

“Oh no! If Father finds out, it’ll be a disaster!”

She tried to pick up the vase to eliminate the evidence, but her body, encased in the hard armor, wouldn’t bend as she wanted.

This won’t do. I need to take it off quickly!

Contrary to her expectations, the armor, which she thought would come off easily, was difficult to remove. Just as it had been hard to put on, taking it off was no easy task either.

Gritting her teeth, she struggled with all her might, but it didn’t go as she hoped. Due to the sheer weight of the armor, Reina’s body began to sway and tilt in different directions.

Books fell off the shelves, and papers scattered on the floor as she bumped into everything around her.

Just as she finally managed to take off the armor, the door next to her suddenly opened. Unable to set down the armor she had barely lifted, she ended up pushing the person entering the room.

“Kyaa!”

In the unexpected situation of being pressed down by the massive armor, the other person also fell to the floor.

With a thud, the two of them hit the ground, and the sound of metal rolling echoed inside the study.

“Ouch!”

It felt like she had fallen onto a rock.

Reina’s head was resting on the other person’s neck. She tried to get up quickly while apologizing, but at that moment, she felt something thick in her hand.

What is this familiar feeling? A zucchini? No, why is Lilith’s toy here?

Had Lilith started playing with it again after not touching it for a while? I told her not to leave it lying around, but this must be the umpteenth time.

Where does she even find these things?