episode_0093

It had been about three months since the day my heart was touched by Edan.

The season that had once been spring when we had the masquerade had now changed twice, and autumn had already begun to show its colors with the ripening of tree fruits and sunsets.

With these changes, both Edan and I underwent significant transformations.

Firstly, I finally shed my commoner maid status and was granted the noble title of Viscountess as a noble lady.

My family name remained as Rosewood, my original surname.

And the fake names of my parents, used to prove my status, were decided as Louis Rosewood and Marianne Rosewood.

Of course, these two individuals did not exist in reality, merely serving as ghostly figures for formal purposes.

As the only real person among them, I was not truly a noble but more of a pseudo-noble, especially considering that my status was influenced by Princess Seraphine.

However, with the Princess’s influence, there was no issue in playing the part of a noble, and since I was not even allocated a territory as a Viscountess, there was no reason for anyone to question my background.

If I only used this status for attending the academy and nothing else, it shouldn’t pose any problems.

By the way, my name was also changed to a more noble-sounding one, with a middle name added.

Lilith Blackwood Rosewood.

It was a common practice to use the family name as a middle name, so I didn’t dwell on it too much and just went with it.

Edan seemed a bit taken aback when he heard my middle name.

“Lilith Blackwood… Lilith Blackwood… Lilith Blackwood…”

He kept repeating my name and middle name as if he were enchanted, so I initially thought he meant I shouldn’t use it.

But when I tried to change it, he simply said it was fine to keep it as it was.

Using the surname of the person a personal maid serves as a middle name might seem awkward, but as a noble from a distinguished family, it wasn’t a significant issue.

In fact, this middle name would serve as solid proof of the relationship between Edan and me.

The number of foolish suitors who thought it easy to approach a Viscountess and a maid would surely decrease significantly.

As for Edan, not much had changed in the three months since that day he touched my heart.

He continued his daily training and etiquette lessons, and our interactions remained the same as before.

Aside from gaining a bit of muscle, his height remained the same. Just slightly taller than me.

It seemed like he had reached the end of his growth spurt and wouldn’t grow any taller from here on.

Moreover, his erratic behavior for three days after touching my heart had noticeably decreased since I set new conditions.

He no longer seemed distracted during his sword training with Harold, solely focused on my heart.

“Ma’am.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Today is the sixth day, the day of the sword training with my father….”

“Yes, I am aware.”

“…Will you come to watch?”

“It’s a given that you would ask such a question.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s not anything strange, just curious.”

There were times when he openly expressed his desires like this, but it didn’t bother me. At least he wasn’t going around town gossiping about what had happened.

It seemed that the condition he had set, to touch my heart if he landed a valid hit during his duel with Harold, had made its mark.

“It seems that even Edan, being a man, finds strength in such actions.”

If I were a woman, I might have felt repulsed by his change in attitude just to touch my chest, but as a man with memories of being one, I found his behavior rather endearing.

Compared to a man’s typical sexual desires, his actions were at a reasonable level.

His mindset of not forcing himself through power or authority was quite admirable, and if I were in Edan’s position, I might have found it difficult to resist.

Setting the condition of ‘a valid hit in the duel’ to touch my chest was quite a suitable condition, I thought.

I had even considered stating ‘victory in the duel against Harold’ as a condition initially, but that seemed too blatant and degrading.

Setting a goal that seems almost within reach but remains elusive was what I thought would give Edan a sense of purpose and drive to focus on his swordsmanship training diligently. My plan seemed to have worked well.

Of course, the goal wasn’t completely out of reach, but there was still a possibility that Edan’s hand could touch my chest again if I made a mistake…

‘…Well, even if he achieves it, how many times will he be able to do it?’

It’s September now, and there’s only about half a year left until academy enrollment. Even if we combine Edan and Harold’s remaining sparring sessions, there are only about 50 left.

After three months of Harold still not being able to land a hit on Edan, it seemed like it would be quite a while before an effective strike could be delivered.

And once we enter the academy, there won’t be any more sparring sessions with Harold, so there won’t be any chance of being touched by him.

“Maid.”

“Yes?”

“For the swordsmanship sparring this afternoon, make sure the maid comes to watch.”

“Is there something special planned for today?”

“…Today, I feel like I can make a move on Father.”

…What nonsense is he talking about since morning?

Seeing Edan confidently declaring victory to me with a peculiarly confident expression, doubts arose in my mind.

Along with that, a slight sense of unease began to creep into my heart.

‘…Surely not.’

He’s not some Sword Master.

…No matter how confident Edan is, I find that hard to believe.

***

And then, the afternoon swordsmanship sparring session.

As usual, Harold and Edan faced each other, and their swordsmanship sparring began.

The spectators were as usual, me, Dietmayer, and one healer from the Blackwood family.

Harold, looking at his son coldly with icy eyes, and Edan, focusing his gaze passionately on my father.

In the tense atmosphere today, Edan’s body lunged forward towards Harold.

-Clang!

With a swift movement, Edan closed the distance with Harold and swung his sword in a wide arc towards him.

It was a clear and obvious strike that anyone could see, but it carried a weight and impact.

Although Harold couldn’t block the strike with the same sword, which was just a brute force attack, there was no way he could avoid it.

-Thunk!

The sound of two swords clashing and both men falling back.

Harold, who had observed Edan’s movements until the end, took a bit longer to readjust his stance, but Edan’s skill was still lacking to take advantage of that opening.

Instead, Edan once again swung his sword towards Harold with a firm stance.

Although the trajectory of the sword had changed compared to before, the fundamental issue remained the same – it was a simple strike.

-Kaang!

Harold easily parried Edan’s second strike as well.

Watching this, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of disappointment.

‘…From what I can see, I have no idea what has changed.’

Today, Edan had mentioned that he might be able to land an effective strike, so I was somewhat tense, but the swordsmanship sparring was more lackluster than I had expected.

In fact, the sparring where they used all their strength and swung wildly seemed more engaging.

But the sparring that Edan was doing now was not a suitable attack method against a Sword Master.

A battle where they clashed swords and depleted similar amounts of energy and stamina.

Engaging in such a simple clash of strength would naturally tire Edan out first.

…I worried for nothing. I thought I might be able to win today, so I even thought I might have to visit Edan’s room at night.

As I watched the lackluster swordsmanship sparring, Edan began to react strangely around the fifth clash of swords.

-Whoosh!

‘…He dodged?’

Contrary to my expectations that he would continue to clash swords and tire himself out, Edan suddenly rolled his foot and dodged Harold’s strike.

And then, swiftly changing the posture that seemed to be swinging a heavy blow, he quickly changed the grip on the sword and swung it towards Harold’s side again.

Could it be that all the pretending to hold back his strength until now was to induce complacency to create this blow?

Thinking that way, everything finally fell into place.

Continuing the battle in a way that was disadvantageous to himself on purpose, and the arrogant attitude he had just now, thinking that he could land a blow today.

This, it was inevitable that it would work.

Even if he was a Sword Master like Harold, this time he had no choice but to allow a formidable thrust.

With that thought in mind, just as Ethan’s sword was about to touch Harold’s side…

– Kkaaah!

“…?!”

As if already prepared, Harold’s sword was ready and Ethan’s final attack was so anticlimactically blocked.

His hurriedly swung sword, in order to deliver the final blow, was met by the Sword Master’s sword and was knocked skyward.

‘How…?’

…No, does that make sense? He blocked this?

No matter how fast his reaction speed is, he wouldn’t have noticed until Ethan’s movement changed?

And if he had sensed something was off as soon as Ethan’s movement changed, it would have been too late to react.

Maybe Harold also sees the future like Seraphine, a momentary doubt about his response, but thanks to Harold’s explanation, the mystery was surprisingly easily solved.

“In the final blow, you were looking elsewhere, Ethan.”

“…Ah!”

“If you were planning to induce the opponent’s complacency and make a surprise attack, you should have kept your gaze until just before turning your body.”

“…Is that so.”

“Still, the attempt itself was excellent. I couldn’t figure out your intentions until halfway through. …If you had tried a similar tactic about a month ago, I might have fallen for it.”

“…Me?”

“…Today’s sparring ends here. Clean up the training ground and go back. If you want to continue with more personal training, you can do that.”

“…Yes!”

Although he failed to land the final blow, it was a rare sight to see Harold praising and comforting Ethan.

And Ethan, too, seemed somewhat relieved by Harold’s praise.

‘…Phew. I almost thought I really succeeded.’

Well, I’d like to give some kind of consolation for the effort, but a promise is a promise.

It was indeed a brilliant choice to make landing a blow on Harold a condition.

Seeing Harold’s true strength today, it seemed that at least until he entered the academy, Ethan would not have a chance to win Harold’s heart.

…Still, that blow just now, it was truly a waste.