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The food in the restaurant was truly excellent. It definitely felt like a restaurant in one of the finest hotels in the Empire.

The meat was grilled just right, and the dessert had a sweet and luxurious taste. Although I wasn’t a gourmet and couldn’t offer any profound thoughts beyond it being delicious, I could tell it was high-class cuisine that wasn’t commonly experienced.

There was a small incident where Instructor Rilya was flustered by the various forks and spoons, unsure of which to use, and asked the staff for help, but overall, it was a calm meal.

Of course, I simply used one fork and knife and had a straightforward meal. They all looked similar anyway, so why bother distinguishing between them? I had spent time on the battlefield where you just had to tear into anything with your hands.

However, I felt uneasy after we finished eating when I noticed Instructor Rilya’s expression wasn’t good.

Normally, I wouldn’t be too concerned about someone else’s feelings, but if it was Instructor Rilya, who had helped me so much until now, it was a different story.

So, I asked cautiously, albeit a bit awkwardly.

“Is there something on your mind?”

Instructor Rilya looked at me, momentarily surprised. Then she shook her head with a slight smile.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I guess I’m just not used to dining in such a high-end restaurant.”

“Seems like I’ve brought you to a rather extravagant place.”

“Yes!? Oh, no! The food was really delicious! When will I ever get to come to a place like this again? This is all thanks to Instructor Graham. It’s just….”

At that point, a faint shadow crossed Instructor Rilya’s face.

She hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking.

“Today, I was supposed to show Instructor Graham around, but everywhere was so crowded that I’ve only been receiving help from him, and I couldn’t even take him to the reserved restaurant… It feels like nothing went according to plan today.”

“…….”

So, she had been worrying about that.

It seemed that her earlier statement about wanting to show me the Capital City was not just mere words but quite heartfelt.

Even though I hadn’t been too concerned about such things since I came here intending to repay my debts.

After a moment’s contemplation, I said.

“But the performance was quite fascinating. It was my first time seeing something like that.”

“Ahaha, is that so? Thank you for saying that.”

Instructor Rilya smiled softly, then suddenly looked down with a bittersweet expression.

“However… to be honest, I didn’t find the performance very enjoyable.”

I swallowed hard. It felt like stepping on a magic mine on the battlefield.

“It was quite different from what I wanted to show to Instructor Graham.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. The Märchen Drama Troupe was a theater company I loved since I was a child. Back then, it wasn’t as famous as it is now; it was just a small troupe performing minor plays. But as a child, I eagerly waited for their performances. It was the only joy of my childhood.”

“…….”

Even if she wasn’t directly of noble blood, it was quite strange that the granddaughter of the late Count Bennett would yearn for such a small theater troupe in her childhood.

I didn’t know much about a noble’s life, but could it really be a place where one couldn’t find entertainment like that? Or was Instructor Rilya’s upbringing somehow different from that of other noble children?

My intuition leaned more towards the latter.

“The performances I loved from that troupe weren’t like this. I feel like they’ve changed a lot in the past few years, but especially tonight’s performance felt too blatant. Perhaps it’s because they’ve received royal sponsorship.”

Instructor Rilya continued with a bittersweet expression.

“Why do the things we love change or disappear over time?”

I couldn’t help but deeply resonate with that sentiment. I had felt similar emotions and thoughts before.

Having lost comrades on the battlefield and witnessing my loved ones leave me, I often posed that very question myself.

Of course, there was never an answer to return.

Instructor Rilya smiled with an effortfully bright expression, as if trying to hide her feelings.

“I really enjoyed today! I feel bad for taking up more of Instructor Graham’s busy time, so I think it’s better to part ways here.”

I pondered for a moment. Would it be alright to just let Instructor Rilya leave like this?

I felt like leaving it at this would leave an uncomfortable, lingering sensation inside me.

In the end, I impulsively spoke up.

“Instructor Rilya. Would you spare me a bit more time?”

“Yes?”

*

Buuuuuuuum!!

“Kyah!! Kyaaaaaaah!!”

I had taken Instructor Rilya on a bike ride, zooming out of the Capital City.

The roar of the bike drowned out the surroundings as the scenery sped by.

Instructor Rilya was sitting tightly behind me on the bike. Her small arms that initially clung to my shoulders had shifted to grip my waist.

“G-Graham! Too fast!!”

“Should I slow down?”

Instructor Rilya shouted loudly.

“No!!”

Surprisingly, she was enjoying the speed of the bike.

I had slowed down quite a bit for her first time riding, but it felt like I could go faster.

Buuuuuuum!!

“Kyaaaaaaah!!”

As I twisted the throttle to increase the speed, Instructor Rilya’s screams grew louder. But the strength in her arms gripping me only tightened, and she didn’t say to slow down.

Continuing to drive towards our destination, we reached it after about 30 minutes.

I turned to her, who had buried her face in my back.

“We’ve arrived.”

“Y-Yes…? Ah!”

She realized she had been pressed too close to me and jumped back in surprise. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“I-I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to…!”

“It’s alright. More importantly, look over there.”

Instructor Rilya turned her gaze towards where I pointed.

What spread out before us was the view of the Capital City of Sangria. Under the setting sun, the white marble city walls and the towering Imperial Palace shone like platinum, and the landscape of the Capital City stretched out in a grand panoramic view.

She stared at the scene with her mouth agape.

“Wow… it’s so beautiful…”

I was relieved that she liked it.

I had discovered this place on the day I was returning to the Capital City after a bike test. Climbing a nearby cliff revealed the scene of the city below, and it had quite an impression on me.

It seemed Instructor Rilya shared my thoughts as she stood in silence, gazing at the view of Sangria below.

“From up here, the people look so tiny.”

Just a moment ago, I thought the Capital City was crowded with people, but from this height, they appeared only as tiny dots.

Of course, thanks to my excellent eyesight, I could still identify faces with concentrated effort, but it probably looked that way to Instructor Rilya.

“So many people live in such a big city. Compared to that, my worries suddenly feel quite small.”

“I’m not so sure about that. The depth of worries is relative, after all.”

“Is that so…?”

As she absentmindedly gazed at the scenery, Instructor Rilya suddenly spoke up.

Her words carried the weight of worries she had carried deep within her heart for a long time.

“My childhood wasn’t very happy.”

“…….”

“I think it was around when I was ten. The war started, and my grandfather, the late Count Bennett, and my father went off to the battlefield. If it had stopped there, it would’ve been fine, but both of them passed away not long after the war began. After that, the only surviving man in the family was my uncle, my father’s younger brother…”

Hearing that, I realized something.

I had heard before that the current Count Bennett was Instructor Rilya’s uncle. At that time, I thought the uncle inherited the family as the eldest son, while Instructor Rilya, not being the direct descendant, became a gentry.

But that was just my misunderstanding; in fact, Instructor Rilya’s father was the rightful heir to the Bennett family.

A left behind young daughter and a grown second son who couldn’t inherit.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what had transpired.

“What could a ten-year-old child do after suddenly losing her father and grandfather? My mother died giving birth to me, and the only adult I could rely on in the family was my uncle. Until that point, he was truly a good person. I naturally trusted my uncle…”

Instructor Rilya continued, her expression turning bitter.

“However, my uncle sent me away to a remote villa outside the Capital City. After that, I couldn’t go outside or meet anyone. My life became merely watching the scenery outside the window… If the theater troupe hadn’t occasionally come to perform, I might have gone crazy.”

I frowned and asked.

“Is that even possible? The royal family….”

Instructor Rilya shook her head slightly.

“It was during wartime. The royal family probably figured it was better for my uncle to inherit instead of having a ten-year-old girl causing chaos. In fact, my uncle managed rear supply quite effectively. I wouldn’t have been able to do such things back then.”

“…….”

“When I turned eighteen, I signed a document stating I would relinquish the title of Count and transfer all rights to my uncle. It was the only way I could finally get out. But not only did my uncle confine me, he also tried to marry me off to a suitable family. If it weren’t for Headmaster Heinkel’s visit at that time, I might have ended up being sold off in marriage.”

“Not many know this. My uncle spread rumors in social circles that I was sickly as a child and that I willingly relinquished the title due to the pressure. Others presumptuously thought I had grown up in a wealthy noble family, but this is the truth.”

“I’m not the great person Instructor Graham thinks I am. You survived on the battlefield at a young age, rose to captain, and gained recognition from Headmaster Heinkel and the Kalstein Marquis….”

“I couldn’t even escape from that place on my own. I just became an instructor a little earlier than Instructor Graham, a noble by birth but unable to even properly hold a fork or knife… just a pathetic person.”

After a long confession, Instructor Rilya looked at me with somewhat fearful eyes.

Her teary eyes clearly showed the traces of tears that were about to fall.

“I felt happy yet terrified when Instructor Graham consulted me. I’m such a pitiful person, and I feared you’d be disappointed if you knew my true self… I wanted to show you nothing but my good side…!”

In the end, Instructor Rilya couldn’t hold back and let a single tear fall.

So that’s why she had been so particular about today’s plans.

She wanted to show me a dependable side of herself.

“…….”

After a brief period of contemplation, I took a step closer to her.

 

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