Usually, Hyazelki wakes up when Lihan is already out for early morning training and comes out of the room around the time he returns from training.
But today, it was her who woke up earlier than him.
“Hia? Where are you going?”
Hyazelki, who woke up earlier than usual, was also dressed differently than usual.
Instead of a pretty dress, with beautiful lace and gems, she was wearing an easy-to-move activity suit.
She approached the bewildered Lihan and touched his forehead with her palm.
“You don’t have a fever. Does your head hurt? Are you all right now?”
“Yes…… I’m fine…… What happened?”
To him, who was confused, Hyazelki explained step by step.
“Sorry, you got hurt because of me. Hiel came yesterday and treated you and me. Lihan slept for a very long time due to the lack of sleep he had accumulated.”
“Ah…”
Lihan scratched his head realising that falling down the stairs was not a dream.
Lihan, who seemed to be confused as usual, looked cute to Hyazelki. She smiled quietly and reached out to him.
“Come on, let’s go together.”
“Where are you going?”
“Where are we going? We have to go to training.”
“Huh? You, too?”
Hyazelki smiled and nodded to him who was showing a face that he couldn’t understand anything at all.
“Yes. I’m going to start training with you from today.”
* * *
Hyazelki, who is far behind Lihan, naturally received a different training than him.
From strengthening basic physical strength, she began to learn how to hold a sword and swing it in one direction first.
Kael sometimes showed his face to the training ground with a sullen face but said nothing.
‘This is why Lihan slept so well…….’
Shortly after starting training, Hyazelki realized.
That why does Lihan has always slept close to falling down unconscious because he was really tired.
When she moved her body, which was not usually moving or flexible, the muscles of her whole body seemed to scream.
“Ah…”
Hyazelki, who fell on the bed on her back, made a groaning sound.
‘I don’t even want to move…….’
But she felt reassured. If she trained herself like this, she thought it would be okay for the curse to threaten her.
Knock, knock.
Hyazelki, who was closing her eyes to rest for a moment, opened her eyes again at the sound of knocking on the door.
“Come in!”
Hyazelki, who was raising her body at the same time as the answer, fell back on the bed due to the muscle pain that came at once.
‘Ugh… I can’t get up…….’
The door opened, not knowing she was crying inwardly.
“……Hia, you’re having a hard time with muscle pain, aren’t you?”
It was Lihan’s voice.
“Lihan……Help…….”
Lihan approached Hyazelki with slow steps and looked at her lying down with her back facing up.
“Lie down straight. I’ll give you a footbath.”
“Footbath?”
Hyazelki quickly lay upright as Lihan said.
Since he started training first, he would know better than her, so she followed without a word.
Lihan placed a warm towel on Hyazelki’s arms and legs that were lying upright.
“Ugh… It’s hot…….”
“But hold it in. Warm packs are good for muscle pain.”
“Hah…”
Lihan, who was looking down at Hyazelki with a big smile, tried to sit on the bed, but thought something and pulled a chair nearby before sitting down.
The warm compress warmed her whole body.
Lihan’s face, staring still at the mushy Hyazelki with her mouth slightly open, seemed lost in thought.
“……Hia.”
“What…?”
Because she was able to relax her muscles with a warm compress, she was about to fall asleep.
Lihan slightly bit his lips at Hyazelki’s sluggish answer.
He rolled his eyes around as if to hide his feelings, and soon rubbed his face with his palm.
“Why, did you say you’d learn swordsmanship?”
“What?”
“………I said I would protect you……….”
Hyazelki, who had her eyes closed, opened her eyes at the question.
Lihan stared at her with a somewhat disappointed expression, and when she opened her eyes, he quickly turned his head away.
“You’re not going to protect me anymore?”
“……I will protect you.”
“Then why?”
“If I’m protecting you, there’s no need for Hia to learn swordsmanship.”
Hyazelki turned her head without moving as if she had no intention of removing the towels placed on her arms and legs.
“What if I get hurt while you’re away?”
“…….”
“……I want to live long this time.”
Lihan tilted his head at her murmur, which was said in a vague way.
“What?”
“No, I don’t want you to get hurt because of me…….”
“I don’t like Hia getting hard training…….”
The two children rubbed their lips together and contemplated.
They muttered with the same expression, as if they could not yield to each other.
There was a moment of silence in the room.
It was Hyazelki who broke the silence first.
“Lihan.”
“What?”
“You don’t want me to be strong?”
“……No.”
Lihan, who was troubled for a moment by her question, shook his head slowly.
“But I don’t want you to go through that hard process until you become strong.”
“I don’t like doing nothing. So I’ll be stubborn this time.”
Lihan looked down as if he was upset, and said nothing.
He didn’t want to approve, but he didn’t seem to have anything to refute.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want her to be strong, but he hated the hard process of her getting there. He didn’t want to stop her because he wanted to, but he wanted her to stop because he was worried she would get hurt or sick.
“Oh, that’s good then. If I’m tired, you can give me a footbath like this. Then I’ll be fine.”
“……really?”
“Yes, it’s good to have a footbath.”
Lihan’s mouth twitched when he saw Hyazelki smiling mischievously.
After confirming that his expression had loosened, Hyazelki closed her eyes again.
She felt drowsy from overwork.
Hyazelki wanted to be sure.
‘…May this happiness last long.’
Having a hard training, Kael who disapproves of it, and a worried Lihan. Everything was satisfactory. Life has never been so pleasant.
“Summer Festival…I’m looking forward to it.”
Soon the date of the city’s Summer Festival, which Kael allowed, is coming.
“……I know.”
With a small acceptance, Lihan rose from his chair.
He left the room, saying that he would remove the cold towel and heat it up again for her. Hyazelki didn’t wait for him to come back and fell asleep.
* * *
The most celebrated Summer Festival is held in Bavaria.
Since Kael allowed it, he wanted to show the best thing about his territory.
So they chose Bavaria as their place to spend the Summer Festival.
Despite Hyazelki’s concern that people would flock to him, Kael did not budge until the day of the festival.
He was restless with anxiety, but on the day, he could see why Hyazelki was concerned.
‘Master is a dragon. Come to think of it…….’
Most maids and servants shook their heads to Kael, who said he would go to the festival.
So Lihan, Owin, Yuri and Albert ended up the only people who were allowed to go to the festival.
Hyazelki, who held Kael’s hand, seemed to be more than happy, but Kael seemed very uncomfortable, so everyone was reluctant to accompany him.
Of course, Lisa wanted to be with her, but the butler accompanied her, so she couldn’t leave the castle until the Lord said so.
Hyazelki was expecting to ride on the back of Kael, who became a huge black dragon.
Of course, moving by magic was a fascinating experience similar to that.
“Wow!”
Looking at the colorful buildings that decorated the whole city, Hyazelky couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
Kael held Lihan’s hand with one of his hands and hers with the other. Hyazelki has never seen such a splendid place in her past life.
Colorful decorations hung all over the building, and people were also energetic.
“Oh, that’s pretty.”
The sky was clear, and the weather was warm because it was out of the Northern land.
Seeing people full of laughter made her laugh too. She had never been to a place where everyone feels so good.
‘It’s like a different world.’
Thinking about the past lives, she couldn’t help but think, I really haven’t experienced anything. Being confined to one’s home all the time, it seemed like her life was spent in the mountains without people.
“Hia?”
Hyazelki, who had been thinking about the past for a while, came to her senses at Lihan’s call.
“Yes?”
“What’s wrong? Are you sick? Muscle pain again?”
“Hia, are you sick? Why don’t you want to quit swordsmanship? Isn’t it hard to train?”
Hyazelki glanced at Kael, who pretended to be asking about her condition but saying the real deal later.
“No! No! I’m very fine!”
“……Yes.”
Although he had a sour face, Kael let it slide.
Hyazelki, who laughed at him, walked the streets of Bavaria holding their hands tightly.
They sell flowers, ornaments, or dolls, many things.
As they approached the place where the flowers were arranged, Hyazelki said, looking at the watery flowers.
“I wish Jiel had come with me…….”
“I don’t want it.”
“Why? Jiel would like the festival, too.”
“I feel annoyed when he’s around. It’s better without him.”
“But I like Jiel.”
“……More than me?”
Hyazelki, who opened her mouth wide at the childish question, grabbed Lihan’s hand with a coy face.
“Let’s go over there!”
“Hia, answer before going.”
At Kael’s stubborn question, who grabbed her hand for the answer, she scratched her cheek with a troubled face.
After the accident of falling from the stairs, Hyazelky’s attitude has changed subtly since Lihan was injured.
Having only smiled, given up quickly, and not recommending anything twice, she now knows how to be insistent and grumpy
‘I like both of them…….’
Hyazelki was in great trouble to pick one person.
Kael’s expression turned more and more grumpier when she didn’t answer.
“Why can’t you answer?”
“It’s just…”
Eventually, Hyazelki sighed and approached him. Then Kael lowered his posture at her beckoned hand.
“I like papa more.”
After that day, she was calling him Papa again instead of Dad, but Kael remained calm.
One day she’ll call it herself, was his conclusion.
Whispering softly in Kael’s ear, Hyazelki turned around again.
“Let’s go!”
Then, feeling embarrassed, she ran out holding Lihan’s hand. The tip of her ears turning red.
Only then did Kael, who straightened up and walked slowly with the two.
“What’s wrong, Owin?”
Yuri, who was following Kael, asked Owin, who was looking around.
“No, it’s just…… It’s a very catchy feeling.”
“As expected, right?”
“That’s all right. It’s not a big problem.”
Owin looked around once and followed the party.
Hearing the conversation between the two, Kael said without taking his eyes off Hyazelki and Lihan.