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I couldn’t tell how much time had passed since we were trapped here.

Taking a moment to rest, everyone was sitting in the hallway.

Myohail, who is usually talkative, seemed fascinated by this space and was focused on sending artificial spirits to investigate the surroundings. True to his eccentric nature, he seemed more interested in the structure of this place than finding a way out.

Meanwhile, Wendy sat in the corner, cautiously observing the people around her.

The ones who looked the most exhausted were Luna and Ariel.

Since they left the room earlier, the two hadn’t spoken a word. It seemed like they had something to say to each other, but couldn’t bring themselves to open their mouths… There was an uncomfortable tension in the air.

Maybe if someone stepped in to mediate, things would get better.

But Wendy had no intention of getting involved between them.

She had a bigger worry of her own.

‘Count…’

Wendy looked over at Tristan, who was sitting over there. He was leaning against the wall, quietly closing his eyes. At a glance, it looked like he was taking a quick nap, but that wasn’t the case. As proof, his fingers, which were crossed, were twitching.

That was something Tristan often did when he was deep in thought.

Since becoming his exclusive maid, Wendy had been assisting Tristan up close. Even though she was clueless and scatterbrained, she could still sense that something had changed in his mood.

As a young commoner, she had no way of knowing what kind of worries he was carrying. Even if she did find out, there was probably nothing she could do to help.

Feeling stifled, Wendy hugged her knees.

Tristan’s face as he looked at Aidan was unusual. A man who was like a grandfather to him. But at that moment, the expression Tristan wore was far from that of a grandson missing his late grandfather.

It was closer to wariness.

Tristan looked at his grandfather with a gaze full of distrust and suspicion. Seeing that, Wendy realized anew that he came from a troubled family.

The Ruelberta family’s infamy didn’t appear overnight. It was the result of the cruel atrocities committed by successive heads of the family. Tristan had been pointed at by people simply for being their descendant. And he had been striving to atone for the sins his family had committed.

Perhaps it was in that process that distrust and suspicion toward his family had grown. For Tristan, family was not something he could rely on.

To Wendy, Tristan seemed like the loneliest person in the world. Whenever she saw that desolate expression, she was suddenly gripped by an inexplicable anxiety, as if he might disappear without a word. And, presumptuously, she felt a desire to be someone he could lean on.

“?!”

That’s when it happened.

Tristan, who had been lost in thought, stood up. After glancing around at the doors, he walked across the hallway. Perhaps because everyone was tired, no one paid attention to where he was going.

And then, Wendy jumped up and ran after him.

“W-wait… Just a moment…!”

She tightly hugged the sturdy back that had protected her earlier. He stopped in his tracks.

“…What is it?”

“I-I… I’m… scared…”

“…What?”

“P-please don’t go…”

For some reason, her voice trembled. But Wendy clenched her teeth and continued.

“I-I… feel uneasy… It feels like you might go somewhere far away… Like you might go somewhere I can’t reach… So… please don’t go alone. I’m begging you…”

“I’m not going to suddenly disappear. So let go.”

“N-no… If you go, take me with you…”

“Wendy…”

Tristan looked perplexed by Wendy’s sudden request, regardless of the circumstances.

“Don’t be stubborn.”

“Don’t go… Count… *sniff*… I don’t want you to go…”

“I don’t know why you’re acting like this all of a sudden…”

Tristan tried to remove Wendy’s hands but then sighed.

“What do I have to do for you to let go?”

“Take me… take me with you…”

“No.”

Despite Wendy’s desperate plea, Tristan flatly refused. His firm attitude made Wendy shrink back a little, but she didn’t give up.

“Please… I’m begging you…”

“No. If you come along, you’ll just be a burden.”

“I-I won’t get in your way! Please believe me…!”

“That’s not the issue.”

Tristan slowly shook his head.

“Wendy. You can’t help me.”

“!”

Am I really that useless?

Wendy felt like crying out of frustration and sadness. What hurt even more was the fact that she couldn’t deny his words.

“*Sniff*… I-I’m sorry… I always make mistakes… I’ve never been of any real help…”

Wendy let go of Tristan. Tears blurred her vision.

“I’m sorry for being so clingy… *sob*…”

“Wendy…”

Tristan let out a deep sigh. Then he bent one knee and looked straight at her.

Wendy couldn’t bring herself to look at his face and turned her head away. But warm fingers wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks.

“*Sniff*… Count…?”

“…I know you want to help me. But there are limits to what you can do.”

“Limits…?”

“Yes. There are things you can help with, and things you can’t.”

Limits…? And things I can and can’t help with…?

Wendy made a face that showed she couldn’t understand at all. Seeing this, Tristan let out a deep sigh and spoke.

“In other words… there are things I can handle on my own without anyone’s help.”

“Things… you can handle…?”

“Yes.”

“Things like…?”

“Is there anything else besides the bathroom?”

“The… bathroom?”

Tristan awkwardly averted his gaze.

Seeing his expression, Wendy realized she had made a ridiculous misunderstanding.

“T-then… then…”

Wendy felt her face flush with embarrassment.

“Then can I go to the bathroom now? Alone, of course.”

“Ahhh…! I-I’m so sorry!”

—

*Thwack!*

“You’ve improved a lot, William.”

“…I still have a long way to go compared to you.”

The sound of wooden swords clashing echoed as the two clashed.

In the next room, Kyle and William were sparring. And this time, it was a familiar place—the duel arena in the Ruelberta Mansion.

“*Huff*…!”

William swung his sword. The precision and sharpness in each of his attacks made it seem like he was wielding a real sword, not a wooden one.

William seemed like a completely different person. His sickly appearance was nowhere to be seen, and a proper swordsman stood there. It was as if holding a sword transformed him, and with each swing, his eyes gleamed with vitality.

But William’s opponent, Kyle, was even more impressive.

*Thwack! Thwack!*

Kyle freely wielded a wooden sword with one hand, effortlessly blocking William’s strikes.

‘He’s fast…’

I watched their sparring with my own eyes. If William’s wooden sword looked like a real one, Kyle’s sword seemed like a whip. The way it bent, suddenly lengthened, and then shortened again, combined with his wrist technique and speed, created an illusion.

The rumors that Kyle was the greatest swordsman of his generation were not unfounded. In terms of speed alone, he seemed on par with Bella’s sword, but Kyle showed no openings.

The fact that he blocked William’s desperate attacks without moving a single step showed that his swordsmanship had reached a certain level. With a bit of exaggeration, one could say he had already reached a perfected state.

Having learned a bit of swordsmanship from Bella, I could vaguely understand the difference.

If Bella’s swordsmanship was centered around various stances and was a disciplined, orthodox style, Kyle’s swordsmanship was rougher but had no openings… It was truly a swordsmanship for real combat.

“You’re still holding back, brother.”

“No, I’m not holding back.”

“Stop pretending…!”

Despite William’s relentless attacks, Kyle didn’t even blink, using only one arm to block.

At this point, William seemed to be trying to find any opening in Kyle’s defense. But even against his irregular attacks, Kyle reacted instantly, maintaining his defensive stance.

It was definitely different from Bella or Aaron’s swordsmanship.

I was particularly focused on Kyle’s movements, thinking of recreating them with ‘Jealousy’ someday.

Meanwhile, William was tirelessly trying to draw out Kyle’s true strength. But his swordsmanship was simply not enough.

William, despite his young age, used his tall stature well to face Kyle, but he was no match. Soon, William’s movements began to slow, likely due to exhaustion.

The moment of defeat was approaching.

But William’s eyes were unusually intense.

“Brother Kyle, stop playing around.”

“Playing around?”

“Get serious. I want to fight you for real.”

“I’ve been serious all along.”

“Brother, imagine you’re fighting a demon. Imagine cutting down the demon in front of you—”

“……”

At that moment, the atmosphere around Kyle changed. And then…

“?!”

Suddenly, Kyle slashed through the air. The shadow of his sword, bending like a whip, grazed William.

The speed of Kyle’s slash was enough to create a gust of wind.

At that speed, William couldn’t even react.

No… to be precise, he did react. It’s just that his reaction was meaningless.

*Thud.*

William’s wooden sword, cut in half, fell to the ground.

“See… You can do it if you put your mind to it.”

 

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