Alice smiled sweetly and introduced my future swordplay teacher.
But I couldn’t smile like her.
That’s because the teacher was completely different from what I expected.
‘It’s a boy, isn’t he?’
I thought it would be a girl since it would be a one who was close to Alice, and I never thought it would be a boy.
While I was so surprised that I couldn’t even greet him properly, the blond boy named Cedric came a step forward and said,
“Hi.”
“Uh…uh, hi.”
“Cedric Cainte. It’s Elena Velotte, right?”
“How…How did you know my name?”
I panicked and asked in a higher-than-usual voice, and he waved his hands as if it was insignificant.
“I’ve heard a lot of rumors.”
“Rumors? What rumors?”
Cedric grinned at my question, and declined to comment on the rumors.
The attitude made me more curious about the contents of the rumor.
I’m in the magic department, not in the swords department.
What’s there to spread my rumor there? Is it about me being Alice’s roommate, who’s in the magic department? Or about me as a student who’s not good at practical skills?
The former is fine, but the latter is a little….. no, very very embarrassing.
But Cedric seemed to have no intention of speaking about it.
I thought it was bad to press him more about the rumors, so I quit asking him.
But I couldn’t get rid of the feeling of reluctance.
‘Well, I guess it’s not a bad rumor from the atmosphere.’
When I just smiled without saying anything, Cedric also smiled looking at me.
The bright blue eyes stood out in his face.
‘Blue?’
It was a rare, but a very familiar color.
Felix had blue eyes, and also the little boy had blue eyes.
Perhaps that’s why the face of the little boy overlapped over Cedric’s.
‘Looking at it like this, I think they look a little alike…’
Cedric smiled awkwardly, as if my eyes were burdensome.
I shook my head avoiding his eyes.
“Huh? Why are you looking at me like that? Do you have anything to say?”
“No, I’m just curious about the blue eyes.”
“ Hahaha…Everyone say that. I didn’t realize this was so unusual until I came to the Academy.”
“Really?”
“Yes, our estates is in the North. Blue eyes are pretty common there, look, it’s lighter than my hair, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. It’s amazing.”
I nodded when I saw his bright blonde hair.
The Velotte estate in the south is relatively warm and sunny, while the northern part of the kingdom is cold and hard to see sunlight.
I’m not sure if that’s why, but I heard that people in the north have lighter hair and eye colors than people in the south.
Ah, Felix also had blue eyes, but surprisingly he was from the South.
Christian estate was only two hours away by train from our Velotte estate.
‘No wonder his skin was white for a sword major.’
It was darker than me or Alice, who are used to living indoors, but Cedric’s skin color was brighter than other swordplay students whose skin tone was close to copper.
“Then wait with Alice for a moment. I’ll get you a wooden sword and other equipment.”
“Oh, it’s…”
While Cedric ran to get a wooden sword. There was no time for me to turn down the sword class.
‘How should I say no?’
I wasn’t very good at saying no.
Moreover, it was hard to refuse Cedric who decided to teach me as a favor.
But no was no.
“Alice, why don’t you think about it again?”
I whispered quietly, and Alice said,
“What?”
“It’s a boy.”
“He is the best in swords department.”
“But it’s a boy.”
“So what’s wrong with it?”
“Because it’s a boy…”
I couldn’t find a clear reason, and while I was glossing over it, I made eye contact with Cedric, who was picking a wooden sword.
I smiled awkwardly at him, who did not shy away from my gaze, and pulled Alice by the arm.
“Don’t you think it’s going to be hard to train with him?”
“It’s OK. Cedric is considerate and won’t teach you hard.”
“No, it’s not that…”
I said frankly.
“It’s a bit of a burden.”
“There’s nothing to be burdened about. It’s okay. He won’t eat you. You are going to learn for self-defense, so he won’t train that hard.”
“Still…”
I hesitated for a moment, then closed my eyes and muttered.
“If I practice swordplay, he will fix my posture from behind.”
Alice, who was listening to me with a serious look, suddenly burst into laughter.
“ Hahahah… What, that’s what you are worried about? Well, that’s how swords are taught. Don’t worry too much.”
I dazed for a moment at Alice’s casual reply.
‘He’s teaching me with a pure heart, am I the one that’s weird?’