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The next day, the Punishment Unit finally entered the training grounds for the first time.

This place had been off-limits, as other knight orders had been using it.

The commander of the Punishment Unit, Burgor, commanded us to each find a weapon and partner to spar with.

The training grounds were noisy. Some guys were excitedly holding wooden swords, while others treated the place like a playground.

Among them, a few were busy mocking my face.

“Look at that guy.”

“He got stomped by Balron’s crew, right?”

“They say he’s from the Allen Family, but he’s nothing special.”

“Of course! Look at the size difference.”

I tried my best to ignore their whispers.

This morning, I had received treatment from Scholar Krellyn, my body wrapped up with bandages.

But the discomfort in my neck from Vivian’s nagging yesterday was more bothersome than the wounds under the bandages.

“…”

Feeling uneasy, I kept fidgeting with my neck.

Burgor shouted.

“Alright, alright! Move quickly! Grab your weapons and find a partner to start sparring!”

I looked around the Punishment Unit and spotted Balron, Willas, and Martin, who had shared a room with me and had beaten me up yesterday.

They were all snickering at my face.

I walked over to a wooden crate on one side of the training area.

Various weapons were prepared.

Of course, I picked up the weapon I was most familiar with.

It was a two-handed sword, the weapon favored by the men of the Allen Family.

I then approached Balron, Willas, and Martin and said,

“Pick up your weapons.”

“Hey, are you okay? Your face looks different from yesterday.”

They laughed at me teasingly for a while.

At that moment, Burgor shouted.

“Salute to the lord!”

-Chhhhh!

In response to the command, the entire Punishment Unit saluted the person approaching the training grounds.

It was Vivian Rondore.

Her fiery red hair announced her presence from afar.

Perhaps it was because of yesterday’s incident, but my heart raced significantly.

She looked down at us from outside the training grounds.

The Punishment Unit whispered and murmured.

‘Why… is she here?’

‘Did she come to watch us?’

‘Isn’t this the first time?’

During all this, I made eye contact with Vivian.

She also seemed to have spotted me in the crowd with my black hair.

We held a long gaze.

Her eyes certainly looked different from usual.

They had an intense and sharp shine that was unusual.

She had been dazed yesterday when she left, but now there was a strong power radiating from her.

“Resume training!”

Those words made me glance back at Balron and the others.

“Hurry up.”

As Vivian’s eyes landed on me, my competitive spirit ignited.

The fact that she had come looking for me, who had been holed up in my room, meant that she must share a similar competitive spirit.

So, I just had to show her my stubborn resilience.

I had to struggle so much that it would be shameful to cry about my own problems.

Then at least, my heart wouldn’t be as uncomfortable when she discussed death.

The trio dawdled, slowly picking up their weapons.

The acne-ridden Martin was the first.

“Kyle Allen, I know you’re frustrated, but calm down, okay? If you don’t want to get hit like yesterday. You’re still 14, so you’re small and weak—”

-Thwack!!

“Ack!!”

Martin stumbled and rolled on the ground, clutching his ankle.

While I had succeeded in dragging Vivian out of the room, it was clear that I had become her complete enemy.

That alone was pushing my frustration to its peak.

I needed somewhere to vent my anger.

I looked at the trio.

While I might take a beating in a fistfight, I was confident if it was with swords.

I took a deep breath.

Then I said to them,

“…I guess I was late in greeting you?”

****

“Surrender…! Argh!!! I—surrender!!! I said surrender!!”

“Get up!! You’re not getting a response!!”

Vivian watched quietly from a distance as Kyle Allen relentlessly thrashed a prisoner from the Punishment Unit with a wooden sword.

Shouting and swinging his sword, there were already about a dozen boy soldiers lying defeated around him.

All of them were guys who had mixed it up with him and had to surrender after being utterly beaten.

No matter how much Kyle Allen was the heir of a knightly family, this outcome was surprising.

It wasn’t surprising just because he was doing this, but Kyle’s body wasn’t in peak condition.

Vivian knew this better than anyone from seeing him up close last night.

The sheets on the bed he had laid on were stained with blood, needing to be changed.

Moreover, Kyle’s size was quite small compared to the other boy soldiers in the Punishment Unit.

The average age of the boy soldiers was around 16 or 17, hitting the growth spurt, while Kyle was just a 14-year-old entering that phase.

And among 14-year-olds, Kyle was likely on the smaller side.

Even now, he was comparable in size to Vivian.

Vivian had heard that Northerners were known for their size.

Living in cold regions, creatures tended to grow larger.

So the white bear, symbol of the Allen family, was certainly bigger compared to the black bear from the south.

They even said that Northern dragons had tails longer than those from the south.

Without realizing it, Vivian asked.

“…I heard Northerners are, well, bigger in size.”

The head butler, Phiphi, quickly caught on and responded.

“Yes. It is said that especially the men from the Allen family grow taller than usual. They say the undefeated knight, Jade Allen, is a head taller than the average Northerner.”

“But… Kyle Allen…”

“Isn’t that big, right? But that’s apparently normal.”

“Huh?”

“They’re born small and grow rapidly when they hit their growth spurts. Now that the heir of the Allen family is hitting that growth spurt… well, he should grow substantially, right?”

“…”

‘Are you scared of adults? Then you’ll crumble like that. I’ll hold on. Just five more years. By then, no one will be able to look me in the eye.’

Even now, Kyle Allen was knocking down those larger than him.

If he grew larger than the others, it seemed unlikely that his words yesterday would end as mere empty talk.

Maybe that was why it seemed he would accomplish the other things he had said as well.

At that moment, Kyle Allen turned to look at Vivian.

“…”

Vivian swallowed her spit unconsciously.

But she didn’t shy away from his gaze.

The insults she had overheard about her family from last night flooded back, making it impossible to turn away.

“Next!”

Kyle Allen demanded for his next opponent.

To Vivian, that seemed to signal her to watch.

It was as if he was saying he would show how strong he truly was.

“…”

Honestly, Vivian was shaken as well.

If she were in Kyle Allen’s position, would she be able to do that?

To knock down a dozen opponents who were bigger and stronger than her while in a not-so-normal state?

Putting aside whether it was possible or not, would she even have the heart to challenge them?

‘Seeing your weakness… your family would know all about it.’

Kyle Allen’s words echoed in her mind.

Vivian clenched her fist and gritted her teeth.

As her hatred for Kyle Allen flared, her resolve grew stronger.

She no longer wanted to show a weak side to Kyle Allen, her enemy.

Thinking about how he might dismiss her family would raise her fury to a peak, and that was unacceptable.

Phiphi spoke to Vivian.

“Lady Vivian, it’s time for you to go in. Lady Linne will be arriving soon.”

If it were before, my heart would have dropped every time this moment came.

“Yes.”

But not today.

Today, I wasn’t afraid.

Frustrated, Kyle Allen was moving forward just as he had said he would.

If I stood still, it would only be a blink before he moved away and laughed at me.

I couldn’t bear that kind of future. I wasn’t going to be intimidated by that cursed Allen family.

So, Vivian steadied her heart. In doing so, she prepared to face Lady Linne.

…

Suddenly—

-Crack!!

Even with the tearing pain, Vivian didn’t let out a single groan.

“The central church strictly prohibits the existence of witches. They are—to—”

-Crack!

Vivian focused on not letting her expression change, no matter how hard Lady Linne swung the switch.

Somehow, it seemed that Lady Linne’s lingering annoyance from earlier dissipated, and her touch became rather soft.

It wasn’t precise.

She had hardened her heart, so perhaps it was just that the punishment felt less painful.

“Those who worship demons, witches, survive through generations—”

“That’s enough.”

Lady Linne clapped her hands, signaling an end to the lesson.

Vivian put down her book and let out a shallow sigh.

Her arms felt numb and ached. But she didn’t feel as completely wronged as before.

Her anger towards Kyle Allen dulled her sense of grievance.

Lady Linne said,

“Your stuttering hasn’t improved at all. We may need to think if it’s something incurable or a different fundamental problem.”

“…”

“Lady Vivian, when did you start stuttering?”

“…Since my mother fell ill.”

“Not before that, right?”

“…I, I’m not sure. I can’t say I’ve never stuttered…”

“But it worsened after the Duchess fell ill?”

Vivian nodded.

Lady Linne, sitting up straight and pondering, asked again.

“…Is it because you lost someone to rely on?”

Uncertain about that answer, Vivian couldn’t respond.

Thinking back, there had been a moment last night… when she hadn’t stuttered at all as her rage against Kyle Allen surged beyond what she could bear.

Though it wasn’t helpful information.

It was impossible to be angry to that level all the time.

Yet suddenly, the fact that there had been a moment of no stuttering brought her a glimmer of hope.

Could this stupid way of speaking be fixed someday?

While Vivian continued reflecting, Lady Linne asked.

“Lady Vivian, do you have someone you can rely on?”

“…”

Interpreting the silence as a negative, she continued.

“If not, how about looking for someone?”

“…”

Vivian barely held back a bitter laugh.

Someone to rely on? Did such a person even exist?

Everyone in the Castle of Rondore viewed her with hostile eyes.

They looked at her with expressions that seemed ready to drag her down at any moment.

In between pity, hatred, and frustration, they always looked down upon Vivian.

No matter how young she was, she understood that much. It wasn’t that she was so clueless; she was just observant enough to not be completely oblivious.

No, rather, she was stuck in a situation where her only option was to watch, making her more sensitive to everything.

As the head of the Rondore family, she found no one trustworthy within the castle.

If there had been, she wouldn’t have struggled as much or embarrassed herself in front of Kyle Allen yesterday.

After all, it was Lady Linne who told her to hide her weaknesses.

Could she really rely on someone while concealing her vulnerabilities?

Could she say she was relying on someone who she couldn’t expose her vulnerabilities to?

But Vivian didn’t voice those doubts.

Instead, she replied,

“…Yes. I’ll, I’ll try looking.”

Showing empathy towards Lady Linne.

“Then I’ll be taking my leave.”

Lady Linne bid farewell to Vivian and stood up.

With the break time ahead, Vivian moved to the window.

Today, she decided to calm her weary heart by gazing outside at the scenery.

…Or perhaps it might be a good idea to check how that infuriating Kyle Allen was making it through the day.

What I had told him about showing him what a harder life was like was no empty talk.

I knew he was trying hard.

But whether he was truly living a life as tough as mine remained in question.

So I wanted to check his day, and if he was having it easier than me, I could match my suffering with him.

I wanted to see if he could still speak words like yesterday.

But as Lady Linne left the room, she said to Vivian.

“Though you still stuttered, your attitude today was really good.”

It was a compliment for not letting out even a murmur of pain.

Lady Linne’s eyes blinked, as if her curiosity had increased.

“…Have you had any changes recently?”

“…”

Vivian thought for a moment before shaking her head.

“Not really.”

She didn’t want to reveal her innermost thoughts to Lady Linne.

Hadn’t she said it before? Don’t speak weakly.

She couldn’t say she had cried or yelled out in frustration while fighting with Kyle Allen.

Nor did she want to.

“I see.”

Lady Linne nodded slightly. And then, she finally exited the room.

Vivian found herself lost in thought again.

Now that she thought about it, she had expressed a lot of weakness yesterday after such a long time.

She had bared how tough things were and how frustrated she felt.

Maybe this was why her heart felt oddly relieved.

“…”

…The little drawback was that the one who heard her weakness was Kyle Allen.

 

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