Cedric, who opened his lips, soon shut it close again.
Then he frowned slightly, raised his eyes and looked at his servant.
“Why do you even ask, knowing why?”
Paul sighed as he watched Cedric puff his cheeks, turn his back and hide under the covers.
“Did you really pretend that you couldn’t drink because of Ciel?”
“Yes.”
Surprisingly, Cedric didn’t deny it.
Paul, who thought it was quite strange, shook his head and looked up at the sound of Cedric’s next words.
“This way, she’ll only hold my hand, not Kashuel!”
Paul saw Cedric’s red eyes flashing that night, and for the first time he thought he had the same eyes as the Emperor.
* * *
“Minerva.”
Someone approached me as I leaned against a wooden post and closed my eyes.
I looked up and saw a white-haired man in sparkling armor standing with a kind expression on his face.
When I saw him, I jumped up like a spring and straightened up.
“Commander Farbe!”
“No, you can sit down. And you said you’d call me ‘Grandpa Dennis‘ if it’s just the two of us.”
Commander Farbe said, waving his hand, telling Ciel to sit down again.
“But how could I call you grandpa…”
“Hey, that’s disappointing. Even when you follow me outside, you sometimes call me Grandpa. That’s too bad.”
“I don’t know then, but now I’m working for the captain, so how could I call my boss like that?”
“I don’t mind.”
Even after joining the Knights, we talked frequently and maintained the same friendship as before.
However, now I couldn’t even call Farbe “Grandpa” even in private.
‘The Confucian instincts in me reject it…’
“How do you feel about training these days? Aren’t you tired?”
“Oh, it’s okay. I think it’s just appropriate.”
“I think you’re the first to say that training wasn’t difficult for a rookie knight. It’s amazing.”
I thought to myself as I watched Commander Farbe talking while stroking his chin.
‘Other knights would talk like me if I told them to talk in front of the commander.’
But I didn’t dare say that.
“Aside from that, was there anything else that you find difficult? Or was it hard to adapt?”
“No, I don’t think there’s anything more suitable for me than this.”
“I’m glad to hear that’s a relief.
Farbe responded with a broad smile.
“Of course. My eyes are not wrong. If you grow up like this, you would become the next leader—”
It was at the very time when Commander Farbe was excited and poured out his words.
“Ahhh!!”
The commander’s voice was buried by the tremendous shout, and after the training, all the knights who were resting were surprised and looked back toward the source of the sound.
And there stood Kashuel Alehard, his face bursting red, wielding the sword with both hands.
[Hey, it seems that he’s having a hard time controlling his anger, so the lid must have finally opened]
Caliberne, who stood still in the meantime, saw this precious sight and left a concise comment with a piercing voice.
When the noisy surroundings became quiet, Kashuel’s face, who realized that people’s eyes were on him, turned redder than before.
“What, what are you looking at? Ciel Minerva!”
No, all of us were watching, so why are you only yelling at me again?
Ciel turned her head quietly, swearing inwardly.
‘When the hell is he going back to his house…?’
If it’s a full moon, hasn’t he stayed here for a long time?
I guess it’s time to go now.
“Don’t look at me and do your job!”
After screaming like that, looking at Kashuel holding the sword again, commander Farbe chuckled.
“Oh my, he must have been ashamed to see you.”
“No, the Little Duke just hates me.”
Meanwhile, Kashuel smirked, emitting a green light from his sword.
He seemed to be practicing swordsmanship and mana control at the same time.
“Well, I wonder.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Commander Farbe smiled and shook his head.
I didn’t know the meaning of that smile, but I didn’t even feel the need to ask the commander about it.
“But, you’re practicing hard.”
Farbe murmured, looking at Kashuel.
Even though he had a pretty weary expression on his face, Kashuel didn’t let go of his sword.
Seeing that he was focusing, it looked like he was trying to release his mana.
Every time he closed his eyes tightly, the mana stone flickered and shone, and sometimes green light erupted from the sword with green sparks.
Looking closely, it wasn’t a spark at all, but it was remarkably small compared to the sphere’s mass of light.
“Commander, but that’s…”
The gray eyes of the Farbe, who seemed to have gone through a long period of experience, looked at me calmly and deeply.
“That’s right.”
Farbe replied in a calm voice.
“That’s not a magic swordsman, but a magic closer to a wizard.”
Both the Magician and the Wizard are equipped with mana, but their forms of mana they possess are different.
The magic sword’s mana appears as a thin, straight flash of light, and the wizard’s magic appears as a floating sphere.
“Perhaps the Little Duke knows it too. Still, he think that he should become a magic swordsman.”
The three professions that receive preferential treatment in this world are swordsman, wizard, and magic swordsman.
The number of swordsmen who could only use pure swordsmanship because they lacked magic power and wizards who could use magic but couldn’t use sword attack magic was similar.
Although the wizard was a little better, it was hard to say that even that was very good compared to the swordsman.
Magic swordsmen, who were few swordsmen with enough magical power to use through swords, were treated so well that they could not even be compared to wizards.
“I’m sure he’s looking forward to becoming a magic swordsman.”
Farbe said in a sad tone.
I understood it when I heard him.
The Duke Alehard family was a family that has produced powerful magic swordsmen for generations.
On top of that, it was clear that Kashuel would be expected to be a great magic swordsman, as his mother’s royal blood was mixed.
And there were rumors circulating that the second son and eldest daughter of the Alehard family showed the signs of being a magic swordsman.
If it was Kashuel, who still had a strong sense of pride, he would have been very anxious about that fact.
‘Kashuel was struggling in his own way.’
[Yeah, it’s not easy to do that at a young age. It’s a surprise, unlike his personality.]
Caliberne agreed with me.
“Hmm, how about you go and help him?”
“Yes?”
Surprised by the sudden remark of Commander Farbe, I asked back.
“M-me…?”
“Yes, you are a master of teaching the Crown Prince.”
“I’m not…”
I scratched my cheek awkwardly but Farbe seemed to want me to help Kashuel.
“Don’t be so humble. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with helping the Little Duke.”
“Uh…”
“And don’t you think it’s all right to help him at least once when he’s trying so hard?”
Obviously, Kashuel was practicing with a very serious expression unlike before.
Like a pretty desperate person.
‘He’s probably trying to make the sphere-shaped light into a flash somehow…’
“And at least you’re about the same age. The Little Duke seems to know you very well.”
“All right.”
Eventually, Ciel got up and answered.
“I think the commander is right.”
“Well, that’s a good idea.”, Commander Farbe smiled kindly and said.
I slowly approached Kashuel, who was still preoccupied with the sword, but he was so focused that he didn’t notice me.
“Straighten your back a little more.”
“Wha-what, you scared me!”
Kashuel shuddered and stepped back, but I said simply.
“You don’t need to hold the sword so tightly that you’re about to break it. You’re just losing more stamina.”
“Well, that’s–”
“Come on, listen to me and follow me.”
At the last word, the noisy Kashuel bit his lips.
I thought it was a strange thing to see him obeying my words for some reason, who was always quacking at me.
“Your gaze should always be on the magic stone. Think of it as sending the energy in your body to the sword.”
Come to think of it, Kashuel’s posture with a sword looked strangely awkward.
Unconsciously exercising my professional spirit, I approached him, placed my hand on the hand of Kashuel, who was holding the sword, and lifted it up.
“Hold the sword a little higher—”
Just then, Kashuel made a startling cry.
“Wha-what are you doing now!”
I was surprised at the movement of Kashuel, who collapsed while screaming in surprise.
“Yes…?”
As soon as I pulled back in surprise, Kashuel’s cry rang out.
“Gee, now you’re holding my hand!”
I quickly pulled out my hand, seeing Kashuel’s response with a blushed face screaming.
“Little Duke-”
“You, don’t tell me you were thinking that way about me?”
He muttered in embarrassment at the unfamiliar words.
“What do you mean by that?”
Then Kashuel waved his brilliantly shiny blonde hair and shouted with a red face as if about to explode.
“My mother told me that if I hold hands with a girl, I have to marry her!”