“See? We met again already, didn’t we?”

I sighed at the girl standing in the middle of the guest parlor, smiling brightly. I’d hoped I could avoid her, but here she was again after only a day. Worse, I had to spend the whole day with her.

“I’m Alex.”

“Mm-hmm. I’m counting on you from today on, my guide and bodyguard.”

“Nobody told me I’d be your guide.”

Guarding her was one thing, but guiding her? All I’d done was go back and forth between my room, the study, and the training ground. I was hardly qualified to show anyone around.

“I can help with that,” Flora offered, knowing my situation. It was no comfort at all.

We hadn’t been together for even a minute, and I was already getting tired of it. How was I supposed to last all day? And how long would I have to keep accompanying her?

“How long will you be visiting?”

“How long?”

Simon’s fiancée tilted her head. Ordinarily, it might have been a charming sight, but I was too irritated to appreciate it.

“I’m asking when you’ll be going home.”

The girl narrowed her eyes. “Don’t tell me... you don’t want to spend time with me?”

Huh. She was surprisingly perceptive.

“No, I don’t.”

Her eyes widened. She stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! You’re really funny. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

Tch. I’d blurted it out in frustration, ready to let the consequences fall where they might. Apparently, I’d only piqued her interest.

“Good, good. You’ll be more fun to spend time with than Simon.”

Looking genuinely delighted, she finally answered my question. “I don’t know either. Father said he’d send for me when his work was done, but I don’t know what he’s doing, so I can’t say when that’ll be.”

Ugh. Just as I’d expected, her answer was no help.

Still, he’d send for her when his work was done... Did that mean there was something requiring her to stay at the duke’s estate for now? Or had something happened that required her to leave the marquis’s estate?

‘Surely not?’

An unpleasant suspicion began to nag at me. But I didn’t have enough information yet. No—even if I figured something out, what could I do about it?

‘Forget it. Focus on my own job.’

“Where would you like to go today?”

It would be nice if she just stayed in her room and read. Tea here in the parlor would be fine too.

“Then let’s go!”

Ignoring my hopes, she strode toward the parlor door.

Wait. Now that I looked, she wasn’t wearing a dress. Her clothes were so ornate I hadn’t noticed, but they were a knightly order’s dress uniform—the sort worn by female knights.

“Take me to the training ground first! Let’s have that duel we missed yesterday—no, a sparring match!”

A duel? Her true intentions had slipped out. She was clearly going through that turbulent adolescent phase. This was a full-blown case of eighth-grader syndrome.

“Hurry up. And Alex! Call me Adria!”

She said it as she stepped into the corridor ahead of me. With another sigh, I followed her.

When we arrived at the training ground, the knights and squires practicing on their own turned to look at us.

“Wow, so this is the Gresia ducal house’s training ground. Do you train here too?”

I didn’t, but I couldn’t take Adria to the ducal family’s training ground without permission from someone above me.

Adria looked around. Several knights frowned at the sight of us. No, they were almost certainly frowning because of me.

Fortunately, no one said anything. A few knights recognized her and signaled to the others, and soon all the knights were edging out of the training ground.

“Oh. Did I interrupt their practice?” Adria looked apologetic as she watched them leave.

“Then let’s go back,” I said at once.

Unfortunately, she shook her head. “We’re here now, so let’s spar! You’d rather do it without an audience too, wouldn’t you?”

It seemed she really had heard the rumor about the “ducal house’s hidden blade.” But if she believed it, why would she expect me to spar with her? I couldn’t even tell whether she was inconsiderate or simply naive.

With everyone leaving, it was harder than ever to avoid the match. I’d tried one excuse after another on the way here, but she’d declared that she wouldn’t accept my protection unless I showed her what I could do. I was out of excuses.

To be honest, I was curious too. Miguel had been my only sparring partner, and since I’d never beaten him, it was hard to judge my own skill objectively.

I handed Flora the real sword I’d brought for guard duty and picked up one of the wooden practice swords. Adria already had hers in hand and had taken her stance.

“What rules shall we use?”

“Whoever dies loses!”

I stared at her.

Did she want to kill me? A fight to the death with wooden swords? How long would you have to beat someone with one of those before they died?

“Hah... Let’s just have a normal sparring match.”

“But that’s no fun.”

No, finding it fun to kill someone was the strange part.

I turned to the maid standing beside Flora. She had accompanied Adria without a word ever since I first saw her.

“I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you, but please guard her while we spar.”

The maid looked startled.

“Huh? What do you mean, guard me?” Adria looked from me to her maid in confusion.

Did Adria not know how skilled the maid was? I’d had trouble detecting it myself, so perhaps she hadn’t noticed. Still, a maid hiding her abilities from her employer was worth a closer look.

“I was mistaken.” I waved it off as though it were nothing.

“Hmph. What a strange thing to say.”

Adria pouted, and I raised my sword.

Fine. If we were doing this, I’d give her a proper match. She was the one who’d asked for it, so if she ended up crying, it wouldn’t be my fault.

I took my stance and studied Adria. Her steady posture, measured breathing, and the quiet force she radiated were apparent at a glance.

‘So she’s not just an eighth-grader at heart. She’s had proper sword training.’

Then again, her father wasn’t merely some nobleman. A marquis was hardly going to let his eldest daughter grow up into a hooligan who swung a sword around without a thought. That meant they’d made a point of teaching her swordsmanship.

Ah! Could it be because of her inherited ability? What was the Marquis of Hierro’s family ability again?

... I searched my memory, but nothing came to mind. The books in the study and what I’d heard from the scribes weren’t enough to tell me every noble family’s inherited ability in the kingdom.

‘Really, I just hadn’t paid attention.’

I’d been too focused on the ducal family and the nobles around us. Clicking my tongue at my poor preparation, I turned my attention back to Adria.

‘About as good as an exceptional squire, perhaps.’

She looked more skilled than the squires her age who attended knights, though I could gauge her skill at a glance, which meant there was still a considerable gap between us.

I didn’t let my guard down. She had an inherited ability—one powerful enough that a marquis had put a sword in his eldest daughter’s hand. Until I knew what it was, I couldn’t rush in first.

I decided to let her make the opening move.

“Come at me.”

The girl smiled at the words coming from a ten-year-old boy.

“Here I come! Watch out!” she shouted.

I opened my eyes wide and watched her.

In a flash, she vanished. No—I’d lost sight of her.

Damn!

The instant that happened, I swung my sword into empty air.

CLACK!

“Whoa! You blocked it?”

Adria appeared where I’d swung, her wooden sword pressed against mine.

“Is your ability some kind of acceleration?”

“Wow, you knew?”

“Not until just now.”

“And you still blocked me? Could you see me? Is your inherited ability something that makes your eyesight really good?”

Better eyesight? Was that an ability too?

“I couldn’t see you clearly.”

I’d felt the movement of mana and reflexively put my sword in the path of her approach.

“Ugh. It really hurts when someone blocks me.”

She darted backward and shook out her sword hand. Even I, with a knight’s physique, had felt the impact. She was physically weaker than me, so it must have hurt her quite a bit.

“We’re not done yet.”

Adria tightened her grip on the sword and charged again. She was faster than most people, but this time she wasn’t too fast for me to see.

CLACK! CLACK!

I blocked her strikes one by one. As long as I could see her sword, I could handle it.

“Argh! Try blocking this!”

To my surprise, sparring with her was rather fun. I’d always been the weaker one, struggling desperately to land a hit. Standing on the other side for the first time felt strangely refreshing.

Was this how Miguel felt? I could almost feel my gratitude toward him melting away.

After our swords met several more times, I began to understand Adria’s inherited ability. Rather than strengthening her body as mine did, it used mana to accelerate her movements. She hadn’t fully developed it yet: her control over accelerating and slowing down was unstable, and she seemed unable to reach top speed without preparing first. But if she grew into it, she would make a formidable swordswoman.

‘That must be why they engaged her to Simon.’

Simon, with his peerless mana Heart Method, and Adria, with her remarkable acceleration ability. Their engagement surely served to bind the two families, but it must also carry high hopes for the children they might have.

Then why had she arrived so quietly? The question rose in my mind again.

“You’re only blocking on purpose, aren’t you? Stop blocking and attack!” Adria snapped as I deflected yet another strike.

“Your attacks are so fast I can barely keep up.”

“Liar! You’re answering me without any trouble!”

Oops. She’d caught on. I’d wanted to keep sparring a little longer, but now I had to end it.

I calmly blocked her sword, then thrust my wooden blade through an opening between her attacks.

THUD!

It struck her body.

“Aaah!”

Adria screamed and went flying. She looked remarkably like I did whenever Miguel sent me flying during a spar. Watching it happen to someone else showed me just how pitiful I must have looked.

Adria lay sprawled on her back. Somehow, her maid was already beside her.

“Wh-when did you get over there?” Flora stared in surprise at the empty space beside her.

Had the maid let a little of her skill show? She’d taken the bait I’d tossed her so readily that she apparently had no intention of hiding it forever.

She hurriedly examined Adria, then sighed in relief. Adria had passed out the moment my sword hit her, but despite how it had looked from a distance, she was barely injured.

Of course I hadn’t seriously hurt her. I’d struck harder than necessary for a reason, but she was a guest of the ducal house—and Simon’s fiancée at that. I couldn’t injure her.

“That was too much!” the maid said.

“I’m sorry. I’ve never learned how to hold back when I attack...”

Since I’d spent every sparring match desperately throwing myself at Miguel, it made a perfect excuse.

Good. Everything had gone according to plan. Now that Adria had passed out, she would surely rest in her room for at least a few days. Better yet, she might sulk and ask for a different bodyguard.

The more I saw, the less this assignment looked like simple guard duty. It was best to keep as far from something this dangerous as I could. If I couldn’t keep my distance, I needed to buy time—at least enough to find out what was going on.

The maid carried Adria back to the mansion, while Flora, and then Mother, gave me a long scolding.

After a happy night’s sleep, I was plunged into despair the next morning.

Simon’s fiancée stood before me, looking perfectly fine. Adria was far sturdier than I’d thought.

Damn it. I should’ve hit her harder.

While I grumbled to myself, she said excitedly, “Yesterday was amazing! You were even better than the rumors. And today we’re going on an outing around the estate!”

An outing? That meant leaving the mansion. What was she talking about? Wasn’t she here in secret?

The words slipped out in my bewilderment. “I hardly know anything beyond the mansion. I can’t guide you.”

I’d never set foot outside the mansion in all my ten years. For all I knew, Adria knew the ducal estate better than I did.

“I’ll be the guide. You just follow us at a distance.”

An even more bewildering voice came from beside her.

Simon de Gresia, the duke’s eldest son, stood there beside his fiancée, looking solemn as he announced that he was taking her on an outing. The radiant boy and girl made a picture standing together, but I couldn’t understand why I had to be in it.

What was I, a friend tagging along on a couple’s trip? A groom’s little brother following the newlyweds on their honeymoon?

“The duke has given his permission. Get ready and come downstairs at once.”

With that final word leaving me no room to object, the two headed for the front entrance.

I turned toward the duke’s study. Why would he permit an outing at a time like this? I couldn’t understand what he was thinking.