LADBITW Chapter 6

"You seem to be in a good mood."

Leonard, sprawled on the ground, panted heavily as he tore off his armor haphazardly.

Besides him, over a dozen knights lay scattered about, having been beautifully trounced by their Grand Duke, who'd gotten into the spirit after so long.

"Not particularly."

Killian smiled like a languid predator, his red eyes curving elegantly.

"My beloved knights seem to have grown rusty."

At the ominous words, the prone knights cried out in protest like children.

Sad premonitions never missed. Their Grand Duke's voice rang out, driving them on.

"Everyone except Leonard, who landed a hit on me, run twenty laps around the training ground. Last place gets ten extra."

"I love you, Grand Duke!"

The loyal Leonard swiftly declared his love in a booming voice. Though sprawled before his lord, his flattering voice held strict military discipline.

The knights grumbled miserably as they slowly rose to their feet.

Killian smirked at the sight, raising one corner of his mouth.

"Everyone except Leonard, who loves me, run thirty laps around the training ground. Bottom half gets ten extra."

"We love you, Grand Duke!"

The knights shouted in unison, leaping up and throwing off their armor as they bolted.

The noble knights, stripped nearly bare without exception, began running desperately, each determined to reduce their laps by ten.

Killian gazed at his loving knights with a coquettish smile.

"Not a single one thinks they might end up in the bottom half if they slack off, yet none believe they'll actually come in last?"

Leonard giggled.

"The brilliant foundation of comradeship. 'I may not beat him, but I'm at least better than that guy.'"

Killian looked at him quietly and spoke.

"Leonard. Did you know Lietta was a blessingsayer?"

Leonard's report had described her as an ordinary widow. There'd been no mention of her being a blessingsayer.

Had he excluded it as information unrelated to her circumstances?

That seemed unlikely for such a noteworthy ability—especially when her husband had died of illness.

Leonard blinked with a bewildered expression.

"...The lady from Sevitas?"

"You didn't know."

As expected.

His capable subordinate wouldn't have overlooked such information.

Leonard, who'd been lying down, smoothly sat up.

"I'll look into it."

Killian turned his head as he answered.

"Never mind."

He wasn't a superior who tormented subordinates meaninglessly. The difficulty of gathering information differed from when they'd been in Sevitas. It wasn't even information related to anything highly suspicious or important.

The woman's lack of suspicious background had already been verified—hardly worth investigating further.

She wasn't someone directly connected to money or interests like Casarius anyway.

"I apologize."

Leonard understood his meaning but apologized for the inadequacy in the information he'd gathered.

Earnest fellow.

Killian waved his hand dismissively.

He didn't particularly care about such circumstances himself.

Leonard was someone accustomed to Killian's ways, so his information gathering would have stopped at thoroughly verifying she wasn't a woman with suspicious background.

Confirming that Lietta had never been publicly known as a blessingsayer in Sevitas was sufficient. Killian thought he could simply ask her next time they met.

By the time he'd nearly forgotten that incident, Killian encountered Lietta again.

"Lietta?"

Killian, returning to the main building where he resided after exercising with the knights at the castle's training ground, spotted Lietta and called her name.

She seemed to have noticed him from afar already, ready to greet him. Lietta pressed her hand to her chest and bowed politely.

She wore everyday clothes again today.

Perhaps because the weather had warmed, her outfit was lighter than what he'd seen before.

"I greet the Grand Duke."

"'My lord.'"

"Ah, yes. 'My lord.'"

When Killian corrected her absently, Lietta's face flushed as she realized her mistake and bowed her head.

'She's lived here over a month already. Grand Duke, as if I were some foreign nobleman.'

Though not dressed formally, she looked far more beautiful with just slightly lighter clothing. Her neatly pinned blonde hair, plain linen dress, and pale sky-blue eyes suited spring well.

'She's quite a beauty indeed.'

Killian thought impassively.

"What brings you here?"

"The East Annex requested a blessing, so I was on my way."

Killian recalled Ern's passing report that she was settling in well as a blessingsayer, and nodded lightly.

"I see. You're doing well then."

"Thanks to your care."

He'd had something to ask her.

He considered simply asking now, but the conversation might run long, and it seemed awkward to detain someone heading to work, so Killian said:

"Stop by to see me after you finish, if you have time."

Lietta bowed respectfully in answer.

"I will. ...My lord."

Lietta maintained her bow until Killian disappeared completely into the main building, then finally straightened, exhaled a short breath, and turned her steps toward the East Annex.

'I didn't sound like I was deliberately keeping distance, did I? After receiving such kindness.'

In her entire life, there had been only one "my lord"—Casarius.

So naturally it would take some time to adjust to a new lord.

Lietta thought anew how strange it felt to address with the same title both the man who'd nearly ended her life and the one who'd pulled her from the mire.

"Ah, ah! Ahhh!"

At the sudden scream from above, Lietta looked up in alarm.

A blonde girl who'd climbed a tree clung to a branch, falling toward Lietta along with the entire tree.

Too shocked to move or even scream, Lietta stood frozen with only her eyes wide, when thunk—the falling tree stopped.

"I can't take it! Anna!"

A woman who'd appeared from nowhere was incredibly holding back the tree uprooting itself, pushing it back upright.

When the girl, who'd nearly fallen headfirst, trembled unable to climb down, the woman of extraordinary strength supported the tree with one hand while reaching toward the girl with the other.

"Come here!"

Her strength was remarkable, but supporting the tree one-handed made it unstable, and the tree with the child swayed precariously.

"I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm scared!"

The child's voice repeated urgently, choking with tears, finally breaking Lietta's paralysis. She rushed over quickly.

Lietta briefly debated whether to go toward the girl or the tree, but judging it better to add strength to the precarious tree than entrust a terrified child to an unfamiliar person, she hurried to help support the tree.

"Thank you!"

With Lietta adding her strength, the woman quickly recovered her balance. With Lietta pushing up with both hands, the force needed to keep the tree stable was halved.

The woman of extraordinary strength, her upper body now freer, leaned into a more stable position and stretched her arms high toward the child.

When her hands came within arm's reach, the girl reached out.

Thunk—the moment they grasped each other's wrists, the woman quickly called, "Let go and come here!"

Though the unstable position might have frightened her, the girl called Anna released the branch she'd been gripping with her other hand. Trusting the woman to catch her, Anna threw herself toward the woman's torso.

The woman caught the girl's body, spun lightly to regain balance, then shoved the tree away hard.

Suddenly the weight of the tree disappeared from Lietta's hands.

The momentum carried Lietta a few stumbling steps toward the tree before she stopped, staring blankly at where it had gone.

The fairly thick tree lay on its side, helplessly tossed with its roots exposed.

The roots, weakened where rain had washed away the soil, must have given way.

Anna's whimpering voice sounded from behind.

"Wahhh. Sister Seira!"

The woman of extraordinary strength, Seira, was holding and dusting off the girl called Anna.

"I told you, didn't I, that you're past the age for climbing trees! Do you think you're still a little kid? You broke a branch and fell last time too!"

The girl whimpered.

"That's why, that's why this time I climbed a thick, sturdy branch."

"Why are you climbing trees in the first place!"

"To see, to see the lord! Ow!"

Seira flicked Anna's head, then turned to Lietta with an apologetic smile.

"Goodness. Anna startled you. I'm sorry. Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I, I'm fine."

"Let me see your hands."

Since she truly wasn't hurt, Lietta waved both hands to show she was fine.

"That's a relief."

Seira swatted the bottom of Anna in her arms.

"You nearly hurt this lady too!"

"Wahhh, I'm sorry!"

But the girl had a long scrape on her shin. Noticing this, Lietta pointed out Anna's injury and urged them to take her quickly for treatment before it festered or scarred.

Seira quickly examined the wound on Anna's leg. The girl, apparently unaware she'd been hurt in her shock, craned her neck down following the gaze and her eyes went round.

Her eyes growing urgent, Seira thanked Lietta and asked her name, saying she'd like to repay her.

Lietta declined, saying it was fine and they should hurry. Seira didn't insist, smiled saying she was sorry and grateful, then walked away carrying Anna.

Their conversation drifted back as they moved away.

"I'm telling Helen!"

"No! Don't tell Sister Helen! I'll do cleaning duty three times for you!"

"Only three times?"

"No, no. Five times!"

Lietta stared blankly at their retreating backs, then looked down at the tree lying on the ground.

'Is this okay?'

After hovering uncertainly near the tree for a while, Lietta suddenly realized the time and hurriedly turned in the direction she'd been heading—toward the East Annex.

Past the main building of Axias Castle where the lord resided, past two nameless buildings, around the corner of another nameless building, lay the East Annex.

The place where Grand Duke Killian's women stayed.

Women who'd been involved with Killian lived in the East Annex. This was possible because he'd once been unmarried and an imperial prince. No one dared interfere with his private life either.

Women who'd been connected to Killian usually received generous compensation and returned to their original homes, but if any wished to remain at the castle, he let them stay as long as they desired.

The number of women living this way exceeded a dozen. A modest scale compared to wild rumors that Grand Duke Axias kept a harem of a hundred women, but...

He wouldn't have needed someone like me anyway, Lietta thought.

Killian hadn't married despite being past thirty. Rumors abounded that this was due to his bad habits with women.

Never looking at the same woman twice, killing women who displeased him, killing those he favored to have them taxidermied—Lietta had heard such sinister rumors even while in Sevitas.

For Lietta herself, she'd been lucky and received kindness from the Grand Duke, but... that place was probably where women gathered, each with their own circumstances and purposes.

Before rounding the last building's corner, Lietta took a deep breath.

She stepped forward quite nervously, but—

When she raised her head, an unexpected atmosphere greeted Lietta.

The East Annex, which received good sunlight, centered on a clean, white-toned small mansion, with women who looked comfortably close to each other scattered here and there, each looking quite content.

Some lounged on blankets spread under tree shade, others sat by windows yawning while eating fruit, and some threw bread crumbs to goldfish by the pond or skipped stones.

There were even women running and playing near the clothesline, laundry half-hung.

Unable to distinguish who were "annex ladies" and who were servants, Lietta's bewildered gaze wandered.

Though some women wore slightly more elaborate dresses, with no one tightly corseted or puffed up, everyone wore similarly comfortable dresses.

The atmosphere was peaceful, even cheerful. No one looked frightened or gloomy, unpleasant or in a bad mood.

Lietta stood there in a daze, then quickly lowered her eyes.

She wasn't in a position to be observing. She should approach anyone and ask for the name of the lady who'd called for her. The atmosphere seemed less intimidating than expected...

Lietta quickened her steps toward the annex.

One by one, the women began to notice her and gather their gazes.

Then a woman who'd approached silently from behind spoke.

"Welcome. You're the blessingsayer?"

Lietta quickly turned to greet the woman who'd addressed her.

"Ah. Hello. The one who placed the request..."

A pretty woman with short black hair and purple eyes smiled brightly.

"Yes. I'm Rachel. Pleased to meet you."

Lietta was slightly surprised by her short-cut hair, rare among noble ladies. Despite the short hair, she was beautiful—a tidy, intelligent-looking beauty rather than glamorous.

Two or three of the women who'd been gathering their gazes began approaching with curious eyes.

They seemed close, casually draping arms over each other's shoulders without a change in expression.

A tall blonde woman, arm around another woman's shoulder, approached with a smile and asked.

"Rachel. Who's this?"

Rachel turned her head to answer, introducing Lietta.

"The blessingsayer's house in the Inner Castle."

The designation "the blessingsayer's house" alone was enough.

The women's eyes widened as they looked at Lietta.

Lietta quickly bowed her head.

"Hello. I'm Lietta Tristy, blessingsayer. I greet the ladies of the East Annex."

One of the women who'd been playfully nudging each other laughed as if hearing something unexpected.

"Such formal greetings are unfamiliar."

Then she lifted her skirt slightly and curtsied in mockery of elegance, offering a playful greeting.

"Welcome, blessingsayer."

Another woman tilted her head slightly and smiled.

"Welcome to the East Annex."