Chapter 16 (Part 7)

[So, you have to time it precisely during the morning commute. That’s when their bodies will switch.]  

Liam recalled the face of the arrogant female mage who had firmly instructed him.  

Skeptical, he had gone to check for himself. If she had been spouting nonsense, he had planned to make her pay.  

But just as she had said, Grace, on her way to work, suddenly collapsed forward.  

‘Well, at least I won’t have to forcibly take her away now.’  

If, as the mage claimed, the detestable “Leonardo Fernandez” was in this body, then all Liam needed to do was claim it for himself.  

As he toyed with the vial in his pocket, Liam brushed back Grace’s hair, which was damp with sweat.  

‘If only you’d behaved like this from the beginning.’  

Liam could still vividly recall the first time he met Grace.  

It had been the day of the knight examination. The moment Grace, her hair tied high, stepped onto the platform, Liam had thought the Goddess herself had been bound to the earth.  

Once he confirmed she was human, an overwhelming desire to stand beside her, shoulder to shoulder, had consumed him.  

So, he had sabotaged the strongest contender.  

‘I didn’t think a simple stomachache would keep him from competing.’  

The memory made Liam chuckle to himself.  

No matter how skilled someone was, he realized, they were powerless against basic bodily functions.  

‘In any case, no one can beat me unless they’re Grace Lowell.’  

Even if someone resisted, he could easily overpower a mere mage. At least, if their skills were as poor as the last time, when they had clumsily tried to imitate Grace Lowell’s swordsmanship.  

But if Grace Lowell returned midway, it could become troublesome.  

That was why he had prepared the Great Beast Restraints.  

‘Of course, handling a naive girl who knows nothing about relationships wouldn’t be difficult, either.’  

Every time she put on that innocent face, as though she knew nothing about men and women, despite being beautiful enough to captivate countless men, Liam had to suppress the urge to ruin her completely.  

He had endured, believing that his patience would eventually be rewarded.  

But then, she had kicked him aside.  

All because of a pretty-faced mage. After years of staying by her side, she had discarded her deputy commander as though he were trash.  

He had stepped back willingly, knowing Grace Lowell couldn’t do anything without him.  

‘But now, she’s heading back to the shelter with that mage?’  

The sight of Grace happily packing her things, looking as radiant as a bride about to start her new life, had filled Liam with rage.  

But it was fine. In the end, she wouldn’t belong to that mage—she would be his.  

“It’s okay. I’ll treat you well.”  

Brushing back Grace’s sweat-soaked hair, Liam stopped the carriage deep in the forest.  

Just in case, he had poured a small amount of sedative into her mouth when she fainted, and it seemed to have worn off, as she began to stir.  

He placed her on an old bed and brought a chair to sit in front of her.  

“―What… is this?”  

Slowly opening her eyes, Leonardo, now in Grace’s body, frowned deeply from the splitting headache and murmured.  

Then, their eyes met.  

“What the hell? It’s real?”  

Liam immediately realized the person in front of him wasn’t Grace. It was unmistakable.  

The moment Grace opened her eyes and met his gaze, instead of confusion, her face burned with anger, radiating hostility.  

“How can a person’s body change like this?”  

Liam smirked, as though thinking about how he could exploit this information, and curled his lips into a grin.  

“Hey, Leonardo Fernandez.”  

“…”  

Leonardo, in Grace’s body, calmly assessed his surroundings.  

The cold metallic sensation on his wrists and ankles told him he was restrained. Most likely with restraints designed for high-level beasts.  

“I’m not into men, but since the body is female, I guess it’s fine.”  

Liam rose from his chair and approached Leonardo.  

Seeing the fury burning in Leonardo’s eyes, Liam laughed.  

“Who told you to covet what’s mine?”  

At his words, Leonardo’s face contorted in anger.  

“Who said it’s yours?”  

“Grace Lowell. That body you’re in—it’s a gem I’ve polished myself.”  

Liam grinned as he spoke.  

During his time as deputy commander, there hadn’t been a single fool who failed to recognize Grace’s worth.  

“Do you know how anxious I was, worried that some scoundrels might get to her and have a taste before I did?”  

Liam chuckled, his laughter grating, as Leonardo’s eyes grew colder and colder.  

The fact that someone like him was a knight was a disgrace to chivalry itself. Even as a mage, Leonardo felt this man needed to be put in his place.  

“―You really are pathetic.”  

Leonardo spat out the remaining sedative in his mouth onto the floor.  

Liam stared at him in disbelief before suddenly stepping closer, grabbing him by the collar, and yanking him forward.  

“Have you lost your mind? Do you not understand your situation right now?”  

“……”  

“A weakling mage like you, who can barely mimic handling a sword, thinks you can beat me, Liam Dyson, a deputy commander?”  

Liam was confident that Leonardo, trapped in a woman’s body and weighed down by restraints, could do nothing. He had learned this from past experience.  

That’s why he wasn’t afraid of a powerless mage stuck in a frail woman’s body, bound with restraints.  

“Don’t make me laugh―.”  

Before Liam could finish his sentence, his head snapped to the side with a loud thud.  

With a resounding crack, Liam was sent flying and rolled across the floor, having been struck by a powerful kick.  

“W-What the hell is this?!”  

Leonardo smirked as he brought his hands, previously tied behind his back, effortlessly to the front.  

Looking at his freed hands, Leonardo gritted his teeth and said,  

“The fact that someone with such a rotten mindset is a knight is an embarrassment to all knights.”  

“What did you just say?”  

Ignoring Liam’s growing rage, Leonardo examined the restraints on his wrists and chuckled.  

Liam must have thought he had bought something high-quality, but these restraints were nothing more than flashy counterfeits.  

‘How did someone with such poor judgment even become a deputy commander?’  

Leonardo smirked at Liam, whose face was still frozen in disbelief. Then, using his bound limbs, he lunged at Liam and kicked him again.  

“Gah, urgh!”  

Despite being restrained, Leonardo’s movements were incredibly swift and precise.  

As if annoyed by the restraints on his legs, Leonardo stomped hard on the ground with a loud crash. The sound echoed like a collapsing building, and white dust rose into the air.  

“Cough! What are you doing?!”  

Liam, unable to comprehend the unexpected turn of events, was too stunned to think clearly.  

He had come here with one singular purpose, and now that things were going awry, his mind was blank.  

“Why? Does it seem strange for a mage to use their body?”  

“I-I can’t lose to you!”  

Before Liam could finish his sentence, he was sent sprawling on the ground once again.  

Leonardo had kicked him in the face as if he were swatting away nonsense. But Liam didn’t even realize when Leonardo had approached him.  

“Ugh!”  

Having his face repeatedly kicked and his stomach struck, Liam’s appearance was a mess.  

But the worst part was that just as the dizziness and ringing in his ears began to subside, he’d be struck again, leaving him unable to recover.  

As Liam struggled to regain his senses, Leonardo spread his arms wide and tore apart the restraints binding his wrists.  

Crack.  

“M-Madness!”  

The restraints, which were supposedly unbreakable unless used on a Great Beast, were torn apart like paper.  

Even as he saw it with his own eyes, Liam couldn’t believe it and gaped in shock.  

“Ready now?”  

Before Liam could even ask what he meant, he was beaten to a pulp.  

Who would have thought that someone who once made a name for himself as a deputy commander of the knight order would end up like this, beaten senseless by a mage?  

After thoroughly pummeling Liam like a punching bag, Leonardo stepped back, shaking his sore hand.  

“I can’t keep hitting something so filthy.”  

Liam lay on the ground, his body leaking yellow fluid, and foaming at the mouth.  

Leonardo, as if disgusted by touching something dirty, pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his hands, and tossed it to the floor.  

“Why couldn’t you figure out the easier solution instead of trying to imitate someone else?”  

Back then, he had to mimic Grace’s swordsmanship, so he couldn’t show his full abilities.  

Thanks to Delia’s teachings—”Don’t go around getting beaten up”—Leonardo had learned enough swordsmanship to handle someone like Liam.

He lightly nudged Liam, who appeared to have fainted, with his foot and muttered.

“……So now, do I just wait to be rescued like a princess?”  

Somehow, he found the thought amusing.