FSW Chapter 16

Scar

"Hic!"

The moment their eyes met, his face looked as though he'd seen a ghost. Watching his agitation made her feel oddly embarrassed—like a teenager caught by their parents with an explicit romance novel.

'I wasn't even the one who brought it up!'

"A-are you on your way to training?"

"That's right."

"Y-Your Highness."

"Yes?"

"Do you... usually train alone with that boy?"

Whatever he was thinking, Hilton's face had turned red. He turned his head away slightly, then—as though he'd firmly resolved something—gripped Nishina's shoulders with determination. Then he offered earnest advice.

"I'm only saying this just in case, but even out of curiosity, that kind of thing is not appropriate for Your Highness yet."

"Ha! I don't know what you're imagining, but I've never done anything like that, nor do I have any intention of doing so!"

She protested her innocence, but he didn't seem to hear her. Lost in his own world, he muttered like a father who'd lost his daughter.

"Sob, our Princess... our angelic Princess..."

Hilton covered his mouth, his broad shoulders trembling pitifully.

What an unjust misunderstanding! Burning with indignation, she burst out,

"Forget laying hands on anyone—I've never even brushed past the hem of a man's—"

But Nishina trailed off mid-shout. Sir Russell had suddenly come to mind.

It hadn't been for the same reasons as those ladies had discussed, but she had arbitrarily rolled up his pant leg. And recently, she'd even touched his hair.

And it felt incredibly good, too!

Of course, it had been an extension of animal therapy, but the reason didn't matter to the person on the receiving end. Only the result mattered.

The former had been to treat an injury, and while she'd asked permission for the latter, perhaps he'd had no choice but to agree given their vast difference in status—and thinking of it that way didn't just prick her conscience, it stabbed it.

'What if I, as a princess of this nation, leveraged my position to commit sexual harassment?!'

Having reached that conclusion, Nishina's face turned ashen. The reason she'd arrived at such an extreme conclusion was that the young ladies' conversation today had been far too shocking—but her mind was too exhausted to realize this.

"Your Highness, surely you didn't really..."

At her reaction, as though she'd remembered something, Hilton fell into full panic. But Nishina was equally panicked and had no mental capacity to offer him any clarification.

So flustered was she that she rushed out of the palace without even remembering to bring the desserts she'd set aside for him. Her destination was, naturally, the training grounds.

F-first things first! She'd meet him right away and explain the misunderstanding. If he'd felt any shame or discomfort, she'd have to prostrate herself in apology this time.

Frantically turning this over in her mind, Nishina roughly scrubbed her face. She didn't understand why she always ended up owing Sir Russell apologies. First causing trouble with her terrible stamina. Then falling asleep without permission and getting him punished. And now... s-sexual harassment...

At this rate, she couldn't complain even if he came to hate her someday. Trudge, trudge—dejected, kicking up clouds of dust as she headed toward the training grounds, Nishina stopped abruptly.

Beneath the shade of a tree in the corner of the training grounds, she'd spotted her instructor. With his shirt off, no less. It seemed he'd been changing out of the shirt ruined during morning training.

She'd planned to apologize the moment she saw him. But faced with the exposed sight, Nishina couldn't even think to look away—she froze solid as a statue. His still-growing body wasn't bulky, but it was compactly woven with muscle, not an ounce of excess fat. Yet what truly seized her gaze were the scars carved deep into his skin.

Nishina's face twisted at the large wound marks that looked ready to bleed at any moment.

Among the straight slashes were dark red marks branded like burns—clearly bruises from blunt trauma.

Had the Count abused him?

She tried to recall the original story, but there was no way to know. He wasn't the protagonist. The tragedy the original dealt with had been filled enough with the protagonist's story alone. There was no reason for detailed childhood stories of supporting characters to appear.

The only thing she remembered was a scene where the Count had slapped Lavis across the face when they'd happened to meet in the palace, and the narration had described his violence as "natural."

From that single line, she'd vaguely guessed at the color of his undrawn past. But predictions and reality existed in different categories, it seemed. She'd clearly anticipated a dark shade, yet she was still this shaken.

No—what spread through her throat wasn't surprise. It was thick with sorrow. Those were traces of a fierce life. The fact that he, so terribly young, had survived while carrying all those wounds felt unbearably sharp.

Her feet, forgetting their weight, moved toward him in an instant. Her cold hand came to rest on his scars. At the faint touch of her fingertips, his body flinched and trembled. Reflexively, she curled her hand into a fist. A voice thick with lamentation spilled out involuntarily.

"Did it... did it hurt?"

Nishina, quickly withdrawing her hand, asked with concern. He looked quite startled—whether from the cold temperature or the sudden contact, she couldn't tell.

His wandering eyes soon met the culprit's gaze. The moment they mingled with her deep blue eyes, he reflexively stepped back. The instant he realized it was her who'd reached out without permission, what filled him wasn't confusion but worry.

"M-my apologies. I was told Your Highness would be slightly delayed..."

He fumbled to put his shirt on, but in his haste, his hands kept missing the buttons. By the time he'd managed to fasten about half the shirt, Nishina realized her fundamental mistake.

'I came here to apologize for touching him without permission, and then I went and touched him again!'

Now she truly was an irredeemable offender. No matter how shocking the scars had been, reaching out so carelessly was clear rudeness. With a look of dismay, Nishina hurriedly offered an apology.

"No, I'm the one who should apologize. To touch you without permission, such rudeness..."

Being shocked by the scars, feeling pity for them—none of that could serve as an excuse for her discourtesy. Swallowing down the emotions that had presumed too much, Nishina lowered her head. She was well aware she was an emotional person, but she shouldn't cross the line into causing harm to others.

Separate from Nishina's shame, her words seemed unexpected to him—his hands struggling with the buttons froze. He gazed at Nishina with an unreadable expression, then carefully shook his head.

"It's all right."

All right? At those words that came out like a habit yet again today, Nishina's head snapped up. Scanning his face, which held not a trace of displeasure, Nishina's expression grew serious. She'd thought this before, but that habit of saying "it's all right" was quite problematic. To feel no displeasure at her rudeness, to not refuse her selfish behavior—it was obvious he'd react the same way to anyone, regardless of their status.

"It's not all right!"

She was reproaching herself for her own mistake, but that was something she could be more careful about going forward. But what if other people harbored ill intentions toward him? He was such an innocent man who only ever said "it's all right"—if someone with bad intentions treated him selfishly, he might not be able to refuse.

In the original story, he would have simply raised his sword in silent execution. But now, she couldn't even imagine such a thing.

Though she'd known him less than a month, she understood enough to know he was the type to choose being hurt over hurting others.

"If someone does something you dislike or puts you in an unfair position, you must refuse them firmly!"

This was a teaching Nishina had received from her nanny since she was six years old. Worried about her charge who smiled at everyone and never said an unkind word, the nanny had hardened her face for the first time and said:

'If someone treats you unfairly, Princess, you must refuse them clearly.'

She'd been so firm and serious that Nishina still remembered it vividly to this day. Thinking back now, it had been teaching close to common sense—but he seemed completely unaware of its importance. So she had no choice but to tell him herself. With a grave face, mimicking the nanny of those days, she spoke.

"That includes the rudeness I committed toward you. Regardless of my status, if you felt uncomfortable or disliked it, you're allowed to say it's not all right."

She thought she'd made quite a reasonable and valid point. But instead of understanding, he fell silent with an inscrutable expression.

Hesitating, his lips moved several times before he finally managed to speak after a long pause.

"...I didn't dislike it."

Though the words were very quiet, she heard them clearly. Understanding came in an instant. Nishina, who had been staring at him blankly, stammered like a fool.

If he hadn't disliked it, then his words of "it's all right" had been entirely truthful. Which meant there was no wrongdoing on her part to feel guilty about.

She suddenly felt deeply embarrassed for getting so worked up over nothing—but more than that, his clear agitation made her even more flustered. Equally flustered herself, Nishina cleared her throat—ahem—and spoke with forced composure.

"E-even so, please refuse any actions you find unfair."

It was such an important matter, yet he still only nodded ambiguously.

Not a reassuring response at all. Instead of saying more, Nishina quickly resigned herself. And she made a firm resolution: if this gentle-to-a-fault instructor couldn't do it, then she would protect him.

"If anything like that ever happens, you must call me! No matter who it is, I'll scold them for you!"

Nishina clenched her fist and declared this boldly. She even planted her hand on her hip, radiating reliability—but it didn't seem to register with him.

"You, Your Highness?"

He blinked in bewilderment, like someone told that rabbits were actually birds. Even under his dazed gaze, Nishina thumped her chest with her fist and vowed.

"Yes! If anyone bullies you, tell me everything!"

Whether it's people who lay hands on you carelessly—or even that person.

Truth be told, she'd raised this topic partly hoping he would show clear refusal to that man as well.

"I will absolutely protect you."

Recalling the deep scars that had marked his body everywhere, Nishina made that declaration.

If he still couldn't refuse that man, then she would protect him instead. Using her position and abilities if she must. He wouldn't know it, but this was that kind of promise. At her bold declaration, his lips curved shyly.

"Yes. Thank you."

He nodded as he spoke.

Somehow it felt like she hadn't received even a scrap of trust.

'Well, whatever.'

Resolving to train even harder from now on, Nishina burned with motivation. If it were up to her mood, she felt like she could easily run five laps right now.

...If it were up to her mood, that is.