Chapter 14

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The fast carriage stopped in front of the same palace as yesterday.

No sooner after Vivian had gotten out of the carriage, she found a familiar face. It was Ben from yesterday who ignored her like a lamb. One peculiar thing was the gauze wrapped around his eyes. It looked like he was hit by someone and got hurt.

Vivian’s feet stopped in front of the carriage, puzzled that he had come out to meet her personally. Before long, Vivian noticed a glum look on Ben’s face. 

I don’t think he came out to greet me on his own. 

Vivian approached him, swallowing a smile, at the question that had finally been solved.

“Hello. Did you come to escort me?”

“Yes.”

“Because you wanted to?”

“…….”

Silence usually meant yes, but today it was more likely a no.

Vivian burst into laughter as he couldn’t hide his true feelings. Ben bowed down to her with a look of dismay.

“I was truly sorry for yesterday.”

He said, bluntly, but it didn’t seem to be a lie in an attempt to slightly alleviate the situation. Ben didn’t even look like he was lying in the first place.

Vivian nodded her head.

“Yeah, I’m sorry I hurt you too. I don’t like being underestimated.”

With that gentle voice, Ben remembered what happened yesterday. The suffocating pain was a horrifying experience to the point that he felt his hair burning. When he thought about it again, it was terrible enough to make him frown.

Ben turned around first and Vivian naturally followed him.

“I’ll keep that in mind in the future.”

“Yes. But what’s wrong with your eyes?” 

Vivian asked quietly what she had been curious about since she saw him. Today Ben, who was outside of the palace, was flinching,  away from everyone’s eyes.

“…… Nothing.”

[TN/N: Really, nothing?! ^•^ ]

He brushed his eyes in a distant manner. Vivian nodded, but somehow his mood was so serious that she didn’t ask any more questions. She asked something else instead. 

“Where are we going now?”

“We are going to an outdoor training ground. I heard you’re going to learn swordsmanship starting today.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

After a short conversation, the two just walked silently for a while. It was because they were not close enough to have a small chat, and they arrived at the training ground earlier than expected before they could talk more.

Entering the outdoor training field which looked wider than the palace, Vice Captain Enka, whom she met yesterday, was waiting. She was looking at the wooden swords piled up on one side.

“You’re here?”

Enka soon found Vivian and straightened her posture. Ben, who was ahead of Vivian, turned his head as if he were looking for someone.

“Where is the leader?”

Ben asked Enka as hadn’t found the one he was looking for.

“In there.”

Enka pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. The leader would refer to Roger. At that moment, Vivian’s nerves concentrated behind Enka. 

“Lady Lector. You said it was your first time holding a sword, right?”

“Oh, yes.”

But that didn’t last long either. Because Enka talked to her.

Enka gave Vivian a suitable wooden sword and led her inside the training ground. There were quite a few people inside watching the Knights of Eckhart training.

“Hic.”

Vivian’s shoulder shook as she saw the familiar upper body among the knights. Surrounded by the knights, Roger was taking off his top. Vivian saw the familiar scars  in detail between the bulky muscles.

He had just finished training and his face was sweaty. The same was true with his hair. As he swept his hair up with his big hands, his muscles were moving sensually.The figure, which was not much different from the dream, was attractive and wonderful.

While Vivian was casually swallowing her saliva, Roger’s sharp gaze and her eyes met through the cracks between the people.

Vivian seemed to have been caught thinking what she was thinking now, even though she just made eye contact. His strong physique and her drooling thoughts. 

So Vivian turned her head before he could even open his mouth. Clenching her cheeks that might have heated up, Vivian hurried after Enka. There was a loud noise from the side where Roger was, but he never turned his head.

“Lady is not trying to be a knight, so I was told to simply teach the basics.”

So Enka held out a wooden sword, saying, “There is nothing to be afraid of.” 

Vivian awkwardly grabbed the wooden sword, as she had never held one before even just for fun. The sensation of gripping it with her hand wasn’t too bad.

“There are three basic ways to attack using swords: slash, stab, and slash. Also, slash is divided into Oberhau, Middlehau and Unterhau, and what Lady is going to learn today is Oberhau.”

“Oberhau?”

“It means slashing down.”

Enka moved diligently while explaining, bringing a pile of straw from the corner. Vivian unconsciously pointed the wooden sword at the straw column.

“Would you like to give it a try?”

Vivian swung down. The straw pillar, which was supposed to be soft, was unexpectedly hard. Vivian relaxed for a moment with the wooden sword in her hand, as her hand seemed to be sore.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“Well, it’s tolerable.”

“Then let’s do it a thousand times.”

“….. A thousand times?”

Vivian opened her mouth wide. But Enka nodded, ignoring her dismay, and stepped back from the straw post. Vivian took off the robe and put it down on one side. And she fixed the wooden sword and grabbed it. 

She had a hunch that she would be in big trouble if sheI thought it was easy.

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My palms were numb.

The forearm supporting the wooden sword was stiff, and the weight of the wooden sword, which initially felt light, became heavy. By tomorrow, blisters will be everywhere on her hands. It hasn’t happened yet, but Vivian expected it to be.

Honestly, I didn’t think much when I hit it about 400 times.

However, I felt a strange relief from the moment I reached 500 times. It was because I had never hit something so hard.

“998, 999, 1000!”

Vivian, who was counting the number of times with her mouth just in case she did more or less, finally shouted 1,000. Enka, whom she had lost track of where she had gone, slowly appeared as she entered slash 920. She watched Vivian reach 1000 times. 

“What do you think?”

Asked Enka, holding onto a straw pole. Vivian laughed as she wiped her sweaty forehead.

“It’s hard, but I feel good. Is it because I didn’t think about it?”

Enka smiled for the first time at her positive reply. It was a moment when the impression that seemed cold was a little bright.

Vivian stretched out with a wooden sword in a not-so-bad mood. As soon as she lowered her hand, a big shadow fell over her head.

“Was it worth it?”

Roger stood there and Vivian did not know when he came.

Surprised by his unannounced appearance, Vivian dropped her wooden sword. He must have washed up, because he looked neat. He dressed well in his top and put his wet hair back neatly.

“Oh, yes, yes. It wasn’t bad.”

“Lady followed without showing any signs of hardship.”

Enka praised Vivian for her undefeated and sincere work. Vivian shrank in shame for some reason. Roger leaned down and picked up the wooden sword that fell at Vivian’s feet.

At that time, she heard the sound of Enka’s name being called from afar. Enka took a long walk after saying goodbye to the two.

Vivian rolled her eyes awkwardly when it was just the two of them left.

“Let me see it. I’ll check your posture.” 

Roger suddenly suggested. She tried to say it was okay, but he had already given her the wooden sword. Vivian unknowingly pointed the wooden sword at the straw column like before. Roger came close to her. Vivian breathed in while holding the wooden sword in his presence.

“Your shoulder is too tense.”

He held Vivian’s arm. His hands were very hot. Vivian blinked in surprise, but he was so natural that she felt like she was making a fuss. So she stayed still for now. In fact, it was because his touch was so familiar.

“The hand, too.”

The hand, which was lightly sweeping Vivian’s shoulder, came down to her arm as if touching a work of art. Vivian’s thin training suit was stamped with his touch. The touch made her on edge. It felt like his tongue was touching her, even though he was using his hands.

“If you give it strength like this…..”

His fingers, which were slowly coming down, soon touched Vivian’s hand that was holding the wooden sword. As he bent his upper body, hot breath poured into Vivian’s ears. Her temperature was hot as if she was impatient for her sexuality to be stimulated. How close was his body to her? It was close enough that it felt solid.

The sound from the noisy training ground scattered through the air, and it seemed that there were only two people left in the world. 

“Lady’s hand will be hurt.”

His big hand covered Vivian’s hand like a wave of sand. At this moment, she didn’t know why she remembered a scene from her dream where he held her thigh tightly with that hand.

It was the moment Vivian closed her eyes  due to the dizziness.

“Oh!”

There was a lively voice crossing the atmosphere as if it had been cut with scissors. It was a good thing to hear. At the sound, Vivian opened her eyes, which she had closed.

On the fence outside of the training ground, near where Vivian and Roger were standing, there stood a man. The man’s eyes were on Vivian. He looked happy as if he had seen a familiar face. 

Soon, the heat that was swallowing her disappeared as if it had evaporated. Roger stepped back from her. 

“Isn’t that Lady Lector?”

The man stretched his upper body with his hands on the fence of the training ground. Meeting Vivian in such a place was not a pleasant thing to do. Vivian scratched her cheek staring at the man she couldn’t remember. There was a flash of memory that crossed her mind.

“The last time we met was at the banquet…..”

“I remember you  from the last banquet!”

Vivian uttered before he could finish. Vivian laughed hard at the man whose face she recognized but couldn’t remember his name.

She definitely knew it back then, but it would be rude to ask his name again. She didn’t focus on the conversation, no, it turns out that she wasn’t interested other than the person beyond him.

But she didn’t remember forgetting to laugh.

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