episode_0061

“…”

Today was a day with a different schedule.

It was a time to enter the greenhouse with classmates, laugh and chat, and talk about the past snow festival over a warm cup of cocoa.

But Flora was walking down the street dressed in her clothes.

The 4th day of Karsein’s training period.

She stopped in her tracks, recalling the scene she had secretly witnessed near the water pump that day.

-So this is a confiscation? I’ll turn a blind eye to your misconduct.

Thinking of Bruce’s voice, Flora stood still.

“No matter how you look at it, that was given to me by my sister… It was stolen, right?”

But why didn’t she say anything?

She had her things stolen, why didn’t she get angry?

“I don’t know. What Teo Kyung said and…”

Flora was once again lost in confusion.

As she saw someone entering the armory entrance, she quickly hid her body.

“Carefully move everything. If anything breaks, you’re done!”

Claire raised her fist and warned the porters as she peeked her head out.

“Right. Today is the day when my second sister comes.”

The next day would probably be her turn.

She didn’t need to come with such complicated feelings. She could see it with her own eyes tomorrow.

But… strangely, Flora felt a tightness in her chest as she looked at her second sister.

Why.

Every time she saw Karsein giving something to her, she got angry.

Because she didn’t like it. She always created trouble for Karsein.

And when Karsein suffered, she felt relieved.

But now, instead of worrying about being stolen from, she felt anxious and frustrated.

It wasn’t the worry of her little sister giving something to Karsein.

It wasn’t rooted in the anxiety of losing her family.

It was a feeling that was hard to describe.

She couldn’t explain it in detail.

The only thing she was sure of was that she had doubts about herself as she watched that figure.

Why. Why on earth?

She had heard from Teo Kyung that her actions were not wrong, so why did she feel this way?

She was back to square one.

She didn’t know. She didn’t know what this feeling was.

Something was wrong, and she felt like she had done something wrong.

With the unsettled feeling that she had to go see Karsein again today, Flora turned away from her little sister’s eyes and headed towards the armory.

***

And so the morning of the 5th day dawned.

Claire, who had made all the preparations, carefully observed the knights doing their morning drills in the armory with her arms crossed.

“Uh, huh?!”

“Claire, why are you teaching Greek magic to my colleague?”

“This guy is causing trouble. Do you think I didn’t see that? You deliberately hit Karsein and left!”

She caught one.

She wasn’t joking when she threatened to kill him.

“How dare you touch someone’s sibling. Hey, get up.”

“Uh, Claire!”

Grabbing the knight’s collar, Claire was about to drag him out of the training ground.

“I am a trainee knight, Theo Ramstair. May I say a word to you, Claire?”

A polite-looking figure emerged.

“What is it?”

“When training in the armory, incidents like this happen frequently. During overtaking, such incidents are quite common.”

“So? Are you saying this guy hit Karsein on purpose?”

Flustered, Theo swallowed hard.

“Yes, yes… that was… ”

“I see. It was a misunderstanding. It was a friendly gesture. It’s not violence, just a tradition to help newcomers adjust.”

As Claire seemed to listen to him, convincing lies flowed smoothly from Theo’s mouth.

“Even if it’s not that, the trainee nobleman Karsein is physically inferior to us, so he falls behind. It’s inevitable that he blocks the way for other knights. But excluding him wouldn’t be fair, right?”

“Is that so?”

As Claire seemed to be listening to Theo’s words, he continued to spout convincing lies.

“Even if Karsein is a trainee, he’s currently a trainee in the armory. So?”

“It’s like a small ceremony for newcomers. It’s not violence, just a tradition to help them adjust.”

Claire let go of the knight’s collar.

Brushing her hair back, she looked at him with an interested gaze, putting pressure on Theo.

“Then watch Karsein continue to be treated like this. Is that your intention? Because of such a ridiculous tradition.”

“Excuse me? No, no!”

“That’s what I mean. According to the armory’s rules, Karsein is a trainee, and he’s falling behind because he’s slow. So it’s normal for him to get hit while overtaking, right? You’re saying that, aren’t you?”

Theo trembled at Claire’s intimidating presence.

“He’s my junior. So… I’ll take care of him myself. Please overlook this.”

With his tail between his legs, Theo finally bowed his head.

Claire watched him closely, then smirked.

But just giving a warning wasn’t enough.

“So, send that guy to another squad today.”

“Yes, yes?”

“It happened during overtaking. It will happen several times during training. So just transfer him to another squad.”

“Sending him to another squad is not that easy…”

“He made a mistake that could be misunderstood, right? Or, I don’t mind expelling him from our squad. There are plenty of knights waiting to join. And we should eliminate bad customs one by one, shouldn’t we?”

Quietly.

Claire would be satisfied as long as he was sent to another squad as if he were being exiled.

“Shall we send him to the second squad for the remaining three days of his training period?”

“Sure, do that.”

Theo reluctantly looked at his subordinate, but he had no choice but to send him to another squad.

‘These brats. They should have done this earlier.’

Thanks to that, the morning drill time was very peaceful.

No, it was quiet to the point of silence.

No one dared to approach when the second daughter of the Margrave was glaring at them with wide eyes.

After the morning drill was over.

Today, too, Karsein was lying on the ground panting.

Claire walked up to her sister and squatted down.

“Do you run like this every day?”

“Yes.”

“So those guys bother you like that every day?”

Karsein sighed deeply and took a sip of water.

“Didn’t you hear from Arina? If you interfere, you’ll just get more trouble from the other side?”

“So I didn’t interfere, right?”

“What?”

“They said the knights have a really bad tradition, so I’m just trying to fix it. I’m not on your side.”

Claire was puzzled.

Karsein seemed surprised or disappointed, but that was the truth.

She had prevented the knights from having a bad tradition, but she hadn’t given Karsein any special treatment.

Even if she were to argue about this, as long as she said she came to stop the bad habits of the knights who served her, that would be enough.

“And, change into this. How can you be so inflexible?”

“What now?”

“Having family members entering the knight order means they should at least wear training clothes, as it is the culture of the Empire.”

“Didn’t you hear from Arina?”

“Since I designed this in my boutique, there’s no problem, right?”

Karsein bluntly said, feeling like it was hopeless.

“I told you not to do such nonsense because it bothers me.”

***

It was a rather blunt statement, I believe.

It could have ended with just saying it was an unnecessary action for Arina, but Claire, as I knew her, sometimes wouldn’t listen even after being told once.

So, it was bothering her completely.

“You’re the one bothering me.”

I had to respond bluntly like that.

Of course, partly because someone was watching us.

“…”

Claire’s hand quietly reached up.

The difference in height wasn’t significant enough to hide the fact that she was reaching up, but I was prepared to take a hit after provoking her.

But.

Contrary to my expectations, the heat didn’t rise on her cheek as it did before.

“She’s calling a gift from her older sister nonsense. If anyone else has something to say, they should come to me and say it directly. Anyway, since I already told the boss, that guy will probably be cut off at the line.”

With a pout, Claire just touched her forehead lightly.

‘What’s wrong with her?’

I deliberately provoked Claire, knowing I would receive a blow.

Her quick-tempered nature wasn’t much different from the Claire I knew, so even if it upset me a bit, I could confidently brush it off.

That’s why I deliberately provoked her.

Instead of hitting me, Claire didn’t even utter a harsh word.

“You said it was bothering you, so I’ll leave. But, does the place where you hit me still hurt?”

“…It’s been a while, so why would it still hurt?”

“Well, when you hit me, you didn’t put as much force as you did with me. You didn’t even control your strength properly.”

Seeing my completely clueless reaction, Claire scratched her cheek.

“Well, I did control my strength when I hit you. No matter how angry I am, if I hit you with as much force as I did with you, it would really hurt.”

“…”

“What’s with that look in your eyes? Can’t believe me?”

Would you believe me if you were in my shoes?

I wanted to say it earlier, but I held back and let it go.

In response, Claire grabbed Karsein’s cheek and pulled it gently.

“What are you doing?”

“Ugh! You don’t need to know that! Just wear the clothes I gave you properly.”

Claire mentioned that there would be another training session, so she would be watching to see if Karsein wore the outfit or not.

Then, with a sulky expression, she returned to her place.

“…What’s going on?”

I was clearly trying to drive her away… I never expected her to quietly retreat on her own.

Looking at the training suit made of expensive material, I couldn’t shake off the awkward feeling for a while.

[ Claire Vagrand ]

[ Intimacy: 32% ]

When I looked up, Claire’s intimacy had surpassed 30%.

‘Okay. That’s not the issue.’

[ Flora Vagrand ]

[ Intimacy: 7% ]

The real important thing is on this side.

I felt ready as I watched the little one who was secretly observing me.

▶Would you like to put the item in your pouch?◀

[ 1. Yes. ]

[ 2. No. ]

I put the item in my pouch without hesitation.

Then, I casually threw it in a place where I could see it well.

***

This uneasy feeling was undoubtedly because of Karsein.

Flora, who had secretly entered the back alley of the training ground without anyone knowing, watched Karsein running through the knights with only her head peeking out.

But… was it a misconception?

She didn’t feel any different. Even when she looked at Karsein, the suffocating feeling didn’t go away.

However.

-Thud!

‘Huh…?’

The suffocating feeling intensified as Karsein was stabbed in the side by another knight.

After that, the little sister used magic to knock down the knight, and a conversation ensued between Theo and Karsein. Karsein openly rejected Claire’s favor.

My chest felt like it was going to burst.

Unable to bear the suffocation, Flora, who had grabbed her chest, withdrew her head that she had extended.

“Ah, ah…”

Flora, sitting down with her hands clutching her suffocating chest, felt a strange sense of déjà vu in this situation.

It was no different from the Marquis.

The place was different, but all the elements were the same.

Replacing the maids with knights.

Substituting harassment with arguments and disputes.

To Flora, who had always tormented Karsein, the situation felt almost the same as the Marquis’s.

Could it be… even here…?

‘No. No! It’s not true!!’

Flora shook her head vigorously, denying that assumption.

‘I-I didn’t ask for that. That was something the Marquis did, not me! It’s not my fault what happened in the training ground!’

As she turned away, she heard a ripping sound nearby.

She guessed it was the pouch used by the knights.

But why was that sound coming from here?

“Ugh. Why am I witnessing this because of one commoner?”

Soon, the sound of ripping stopped, and muttering was heard before the person disappeared behind the training ground.

Breathing heavily, Flora walked over to the spot.

“…”

A torn pouch was clearly visible.

There was no need to see whose it was.

Inside the pouch were the two ointments she had given not long ago.

The discomfort that had settled in one side of Flora’s chest swelled like a balloon.

-Ding!