FSW Chapter 26

"Your Highness! Are you listening!"

At the voice hammering her ears, she jerked her head up. Having approached right in front of her somehow, Carlos glared at her with a terrifying expression. She pretended to wipe away drool that hadn't even dripped and coughed unnecessarily.

"Of course."

"Which section did I just read?"

At Carlos's pointed question, devoid of even a speck of trust, Nishina sneaked a glance at the open book. The book was filled only with incomprehensible scribbled notes. Having written them half-asleep, they'd turned into bizarre hieroglyphics.

Nishina skimmed the book quickly and guessed roughly.

"Um, page 180, third line?"

"...It's page 210. Just how long ago did you fall asleep...!"

Carlos, shocked, finally raised his voice. While he poured out a storm of nagging, Nishina secretly yawned and rubbed her eyes.

Yesterday, she'd chatted with Wier and Saelik until sunset, then after eating a late dinner, went straight to the library and brought back a pile of books to read through the night. The books borrowed from the general reading room—books from the imperial family's exclusive library couldn't be taken out—weren't exactly scholarly texts on spirits but rather adventure stories featuring spirits as protagonists, but the plot was so fascinating she'd ended up racing through to the end nonstop.

Should she have slept for at least an hour? Her vision quickly became hazy again. She tried hard to keep her eyes wide open, but soon her head thunk dropped. At the pitiful sight of her becoming one with the desk, Carlos finally raised the white flag. He closed the book with a snap.

"Since Your Highness seems to be in poor condition, it would be best to stop here for today."

His glare was fierce. Oh, he seems genuinely angry.

Still, when a teacher says they'll end class early, there's no student who would refuse.

"Haha, you're right, aren't you?"

Lest he change his mind, Nishina quickly gathered her books and left. It seemed like Carlos was grinding his teeth behind her, but... let's pretend she didn't hear that.

After Carlos's lesson, sword training with Lavis was scheduled. Since unexpected free time had opened up, she considered taking a brief nap, but mysteriously, once class ended her head cleared. She'd been so sleepy earlier—what kind of principle was at work, she had no idea.

More than thirty minutes remained until training time. Nishina pondered briefly how to spend this suddenly available time. It was an awkward amount of time to do anything. After considering several plans, Nishina finally decided to go meet Lavis.

It was because she'd never visited the training grounds except for that first day when she'd gone to find him. More than anything, she wanted to sneak a peek at him training. Since what she did with him was mostly physical conditioning and the most basic of basics, she'd hardly seen him handle a sword.

She really regretted not being able to observe the tournament.

'Next year, I'll throw a tantrum if I have to, but I'll definitely observe.'

Making this firm resolution, Nishina carried out her impulsive plan.

Before going to meet him, Nishina stopped briefly at her bedroom. On the neatly cleaned bed—unlike this morning—sat a long glass bottle. The owner of the bottle filled with water was a white hydrangea that closely resembled a peony.

Yesterday, when she'd said the blooming hydrangeas were beautiful, Wier and Saelik had picked one and brought it to her.

"Is it okay to just pick them like this?"

When she asked worriedly, they shrugged saying there were too many hydrangeas asking to be given as gifts, making it hard to choose. Moreover, when she mentioned Lavis while talking about her friend, they'd even picked an extra flower for his share.

—Hmph, deliver it or don't!

Saelik's face had reddened slightly when saying that, making her laugh. Nishina, who'd unconsciously broken into a beaming smile, carefully took one hydrangea from the vase. The flower with water still drip-drip dropping from its end remained fresh.

Only after packing the beautifully wrapped flower—with Joy's help—and the snacks she'd prepared in advance did Nishina leave the palace.

'He'll be surprised, won't he?'

The unannounced visit would obviously make his eyes go round. When those pretty-colored eyes shook intensely, she'd present the flower hidden behind her back.

Then would he smile as brightly as the flower? Or perhaps he'd blush as usual. Either would be delightful. Nishina quite liked it when emotions settled on his expressionless face.

Even under the hot sun that made sweat bead on her nose, her steps were nothing if not light. She arrived at the training grounds, which she'd thought would be far, in an instant.

However, just before reaching her destination, a thwack—a dull sound stopped her steps abruptly. It was quiet enough that she would have passed by if her hearing weren't sharp. Soon after, she heard a man's shouting voice.

Nishina was rarely alone within the palace, but when alone like now, she always followed Hilton's precautions:

1. Travel only in bright places with many people as much as possible.
2. Avoid dangerous or unsettling situations unconditionally.
3. When troublesome situations arise, don't step forward alone but find him immediately.

But a strange sense of foreboding grabbed her ankle. The source of the sound was a warehouse located in a corner along the path to the training grounds. She remembered Hilton telling her it was where knights' training equipment was stored. That place was dark with poor lighting and a location people rarely passed by. And this commotion probably had a high likelihood of falling under number 2.

Normally, she would have turned back without looking and found Hilton. She wouldn't have done something like walking in alone. However, her naturally turning steps betrayed reason and headed toward the source of the sound.

"Isn't this kid deficient?"

The closer she got, the clearer the voices became. Even the ptui sound of someone spitting on the ground.

It was an unsettling situation just as expected, but Nishina felt no fear. An inexplicable anxiety had surged to the tip of her throat.

Walking carefully to the back of the warehouse, she encountered an unexpected color. Silver hair that shone even under the sun, even in this shadow-draped place. His hair that shouldn't be found here.

Ah, because you were here, I must have been so anxious. The hydrangea she'd been holding carefully thud fell to the ground. But she didn't even notice that. She simply realized the situation slowly with tangled vision.

The men with vicious expressions surrounding him. Those eyes looking up at her from where he'd fallen on the ground. She reflexively stepped closer, then rustle—froze at the noise.

She dropped her gaze to the ground. A pure white flower lay crushed beneath her feet. From the crumpled petals, she recalled with excessive vividness:

The boy who'd stood clutching the flowers, who'd resembled camellias so closely.

"Hey, you. Come see us for a minute."

A shadow suddenly fell, blocking the scorching sunlight. His gaze, which had been examining neatly cut straw bundles, turned upward. When their eyes met, the other's lips twitch trembled.

The guests who'd come to find him were none other than several men. He knew they were his peers, but he didn't know their individual names. Though several months had passed since they'd trained together, this was the first time they'd exchanged words.

They had one thing in common: their gazes watching him were full of fear. They seemed to be barely mustering courage with the consolation of numerical superiority.

He briefly considered the upcoming training time with the Princess, then nodded. Her Highness had said she had class this afternoon, so about an hour remained.

The place they led him to was behind the supply warehouse. Carrying miscellaneous supplies was usually the apprentices' job, so it would be a familiar place to them. Lavis also knew his peers sometimes secretly took breaks behind the warehouse. Of course, he'd never participated.

They surrounded him in a circle in this relatively dark place even in daytime, and soon the largest boy among the group stepped forward. His face, not even hiding his displeasure, was familiar. He realized a bit late that this was the child he'd faced in the finals during the test.

So, his name was definitely 'Morris,' wasn't it?

Thinking preemptive intimidation was important, Morris puffed out his chest dramatically and shouted from the first page.

"You! I hear you're helping with the Princess's training?"

"For a mere apprentice—no, rather than that, for a monster, how dare you presume to approach Her Highness?"

Morris wrinkled his eyes as if truly contemptuous. Despite being thoroughly thrashed by him in the finals, Morris hated rather than feared Lavis. It was all Morris's will that led the cowering children to make this big scene.

Morris found it deeply humiliating to have lost to someone everyone despised, and in front of so many knights at that. So he wanted to punish that bastard somehow.

Even if the method was petty.

"Have you no shame? Her Highness the Princess must not have known better to ask someone like you, but if you had even a shred of conscience as a human, you should have refused!"

"R-right! That position was supposed to be Henry's!"

One of the group member who couldn't even make eye contact, emboldened by Morris's momentum, condemned him. The child presumed to be Henry, with light green hair, made an uncomfortable expression but didn't bother to correct the statement or stop them. It seemed he inwardly thought it had been taken from him.

He knew the Knight Commander had initially recommended Henry. Even when taking the job, he'd thought that child would do better than himself. He'd been so convinced despite knowing nothing about that child, thinking himself unsuited to the task of teaching swordsmanship to Her Highness the Princess.

Lavis kept his mouth shut without any rebuttal or reaction. Because everything they said was correct.

However, perhaps taking his silence for a different meaning, the furious Morris thwack shoved his shoulder.

"This bastard's ignoring us now!"

At the sudden physical contact, the surrounding children gasp drew in their breath in surprise. But when he continued showing no reaction, they gradually lowered their guard. Bad deeds are difficult the first time, but after that they become as easy as breathing. Moreover, if the opponent you thought was a tiger turned out to be just a cat with similar markings?

Without hesitation, rough hands flew at him.

'I wish this would end quickly.'

Even while being shoved roughly by the group, Lavis was having such thoughts.

Being shoved by multiple hands wasn't without impact, but more than that, he worried about the person who might be waiting. Though some time remained until their appointment, it was much better for him to go first and wait rather than make her wait on a summer day.

Perhaps annoyed that he showed no reaction even after all this, Morris narrowed his eyes fiercely and warned.

"Say you'll quit even now."

Anyway, someone like you won't last long before being discarded.

Despite the sneering voice, unable to confidently refute, he expressed his will for the first time.

"I refuse."

Their words weren't wrong. The things he'd unintentionally come to possess were excessive for his station. They didn't suit his place.

But, even so, he didn't want to quit until she discarded him. He wanted to spend even a few more minutes together with her. It was the first greed he'd ever indulged in his life, he who was clumsy at desiring anything at all.

At the firm answer, Morris's rage finally boiled over and he drove his fist into his cheek. He could have easily dodged, but he didn't.

Perhaps thrown with full force, his entire cheek stung. Sitting collapsed on the ground, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Tasting blood in his mouth, his lip had split as well. His hand was bright red. This was a bit problematic. Trouble crossed Lavis's face.

When he'd injured his knee, Her Highness had wrinkled that clean brow and been so upset. Probably that kind person would worry about his injury this time too. With her mouth that usually held a smile pressed firmly shut, she would be sad.

He didn't want that.

"I'm telling you to get lost and stop upsetting Her Highness the Princess with your horrible appearance! Don't you understand?"

"..."

"Isn't this kid deficient?"

Perhaps finding it amusing now that he took the hits without defending, Morris tap-tap struck his head while openly sneering. The group closing in gradually was no different. From the looks of it, they were about to kick him. Unfortunately, he couldn't let them do that.

Her Highness would notice immediately if they did. Though he had no experience fighting multiple opponents without a sword, he was confident he could subdue them without a single scratch. First, he should deal with that Morris. It was while he was planning his movements.

Thud. At the presence, he raised his head. And met eyes.

With her, watching him with trembling eyes.