Emotional Concerns 2

As soon as she concluded that her feeling that he had suddenly become kinder was her own misconception, Yuria heard his words asking with undeniable kindness, and she thought he was mocking her.

But simultaneously, she felt complicated emotions.

Joy? Anger? Not quite.

This mixture of numerous emotions was something she couldn’t express in words.

But one thing was certain.

‘It’s irritating.’

It was irritating how he seemed to play with people’s hearts.

Yet the fact that she didn’t dislike it made things even more complicated.

With these feelings, Yuria finished her meal and asked Theodore:

“Young Lord Theodore, what were the assassins like yesterday?”

At Yuria’s question, Theodore answered as if he had been waiting for it.

“Twelve of them. Their skills were worthy of being called elite, but that meant nothing before me, a special human who must survive in this world above all else.”

Theodore mixed in a bit of self-praise, and while Yuria still thought it was annoying, it sounded slightly different from before.

‘The hidden meaning of those words must be that he’s the real Chosen One.’

However, that wasn’t reason enough for her to change her attitude toward his manner of speaking.

Was there any reason to prevent feeling annoyed when someone talented openly states that they’re talented?

“How did you handle the assassins?”

“I just broke their limbs and sent them to the Arcan Empire. The royal family should be torturing them properly.”

“…I think there will be an uproar today.”

“We don’t need to hurry anyway. Unless the wrongdoers get anxious and make a fuss, we as victims don’t need to worry and make a scene.”

“You’re right.”

Yuria nodded and agreed with Theodore’s words.

He and she were merely victims targeted by assassins sent by William.

“What will happen to William?”

The problem was William Artin.

Though he was claimed to be the Chosen One in the Britannia Empire, Yuria was convinced he was a fake.

After what she had seen and experienced yesterday, plus her near-certain speculation about the existence of the real Chosen One.

‘It makes no sense from the beginning that such a person would be the Chosen One.’

Convinced that Theodore before her was actually Theodore Artin, she also understood that William’s fate depended on his intentions.

If he ever changed his mind and publicly revealed his identity, William would easily fall from grace.

But he didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so for now.

“Anyway, William is now in a state where he can’t have an heir, so he won’t have a good time.”

“…Wait. Did you say he can’t have an heir?”

Yuria doubted her ears for a moment, wondering if she had misheard. But Theodore confirmed that she had heard correctly.

“No, you heard correctly. It might be unpleasant for you to hear, but his goal yesterday was to forcibly rape you.”

Yuria bit her lip slightly, feeling a sense of humiliation at those words. But it was only for a brief moment.

“I knew that. If he tried to kidnap me, his purpose was obvious. I could tell from his vulgar behavior yesterday.”

However, Yuria was determined to become a renowned swordswoman on the continent. She had no intention of being dragged down by shame and humiliation over something like this.

Her resolve to achieve her dream by pushing straight through any hardship was not weak enough to be shaken by the mere fact that someone had tried to rape her.

“The fact that he has become unable to produce an heir is rather satisfying. But Young Lord Theodore… no, never mind. I won’t ask about that. Thank you for letting me know.”

Yuria almost asked Theodore if it was his desire to protect her from William’s rape attempt that made him render William unable to produce an heir.

But that might have driven her temporarily mad with embarrassment, so she just thanked him for informing her of this fact.

“Yes, I thought it would be better for you to know, as you’re a strong person with dreams.”

Yuria nodded at Theodore’s words.

“Yes, thank you for such an assessment.”

If he had added a few more words here, Yuria would have retracted her previous statement and gotten angry, but for some reason, Theodore didn’t add anything more.

‘Usually at times like this, he would say I’m dreaming an impossible dream or that I have no chance.’

Yuria was puzzled by Theodore’s behavior, who unusually didn’t make such evaluations, and seeing her puzzled expression, Theodore said:

“What? Is it strange that I’m not saying you’re dreaming an impossible dream or that you have no chance of getting one over on me?”

“Yes, it seems like something that would make me angry if I heard it, but it’s strange that you’re not saying it.”

Yuria answered honestly. Not only did she dislike unnecessary roundabout speech, but she also knew well from countless conversations with Theodore that trying to twist words would only harm herself.

It was better to be straightforward.

“Well, my evaluation changed a bit after yesterday. You turned out to be much more impressive and interesting than I thought. So I’ve decided to suspend judgment from today.”

“Really?”

Yuria inwardly felt happy, as if she had been acknowledged. The fact that she felt joy because he wasn’t setting a definite limit on her potential was actually strange when she thought about it.

Who was he that his evaluation could change her emotions like this?

But Yuria put that question aside for now and purely enjoyed the current happiness.

‘Good. I’ll train even harder and become surprisingly strong.’

Theodore asked, looking at her burning with motivation.

“By the way, Lady Yuria.”

“Yes, Young Lord Theodore.”

“There was an assassin attack yesterday, but you don’t seem worried at all? You’re unexpectedly cold-hearted.”

Yuria smiled slightly at Theodore’s words.

“Oh? Me? Why would I worry about Young Lord Theodore? I know better than to worry about you rather than worry if I’ll be safe when involved.”

Yuria’s words seemed cold, but in reality, they came from her objective judgment, knowing how extraordinary Theodore’s skills were.

Theodore’s combat ability, which she knew was versatile and skillful, made him someone that mere elite assassins could not possibly wound.

She could bet her sword that if he revealed his true abilities, he would quickly be regarded as one of the top powers on the continent.

A swordswoman betting her sword was no ordinary matter.

That’s how deeply Yuria believed in and was convinced of Theodore’s abilities.

“He’s the kind of annoyingly perfect man that I want to get one over on.”

“Haha, you really are interesting.”

Theodore laughed amusedly at Yuria’s words.

At such words, Yuria snorted slightly haughtily, but soon she got up from her seat, pushed back her long silver hair that had fallen slightly forward, and asked:

“Rather than that, please start the training now. You said there would be quite difficult training today, right?”

“Yes. If a message comes from the Arcan Empire, is it alright if I handle it for you?”

“Yes, that’s fine. You’re the one who eliminated the assassins, after all. I’ll trust you with it.”

Yuria immediately accepted his offer to handle her affairs as her fiancé.

At the very least, she could firmly believe that he would not harm her.

‘Because he’s a person who never breaks his promises.’

It could be considered a peculiar relationship of trust.

Their engagement wasn’t out of love but rather a politically arranged one by both families, yet ironically, this engagement was giving them a strong sense of trust in each other.

“Alright.”

Yuria followed Theodore outside after he quickly cleaned up the breakfast with magic.

Unlike yesterday, it seemed he intended to start lightly in the garden today.

“I’ve already warned you that the training will be difficult. I’ll ask again, do you have any thoughts of canceling?”

“No. If it’s training that will help me get stronger, I won’t cancel it no matter how difficult it is.”

Theodore nodded slightly with a smile at Yuria’s answer, which was full of dreams and passion.

“Good, that’s great passion. Then let’s begin.”

Rumble—

Yuria felt as if something was pressing down on her.

At first, she thought some kind of gravity magic had been deployed, but she quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

This chilling sensation wasn’t like gravity.

It was simply killing intent, an overwhelmingly intense killing intent that was directly pressing down on her, giving her a terror that made her want to fall to her knees.

“Ugh!”

Yuria resisted that feeling, gritting her teeth.

‘This really is hard.’

From the start, she was confronted with such killing intent, and she could feel how strong Theodore was just by being pressed down by his aura. But Yuria was determined to overcome all of this with desperate will.

The resolve that had brought her to Minst Academy wasn’t weak enough to make her kneel and falter here.

‘Definitely, definitely!’

She would definitely prove her abilities and efforts.

She would definitely get one over on Theodore and gain recognition for her skills.

‘I will never kneel!’

Theodore spoke as he watched Yuria enduring with superhuman will:

“You’re holding up well. Good, then I’ll increase the level.”

“Ugh?!”

And a much stronger pressure than before began to press down on her.

Yuria’s legs wobbled momentarily, but she endured by putting as much strength as possible into her legs, with the resolve that she would rather have her legs break than willingly kneel.

“Uuuugh!”

As she endured like that for over a minute, Theodore said:

“Good. Now try to swing your sword at me in that state.”

Even in a state where just standing and enduring was difficult, Theodore instructed her to swing her sword. And Yuria, while finding this training harder than she had expected, became even more determined.

“I’ll endure and succeed! Ugh!”

Yuria desperately drew her sword and put strength in her hand.

As she distributed the strength she had been focusing only on her legs to her hands as well, she momentarily staggered and almost fell, but even as her entire body became soaked with sweat from the struggle, she somehow managed to swing her sword.

But since she couldn’t properly position herself starting from her legs, contrary to her usually precise swordsmanship, she ended up swinging her sword with a movement so clumsy that even a beginner wouldn’t make, and she mistakenly swung it to the side of Theodore rather than in front of him.

“Ah.”

Yuria realized that she had misjudged the distance.

Due to the pressure of this aura, she couldn’t properly detect how far away her opponent was and swung her sword in a mess.

As a result, even though Theodore didn’t move a single step or do anything, her attack didn’t reach him and was swung in a completely wrong direction.

But Theodore instead praised the fact that Yuria had swung her sword.

“You did well for the first time. You can rest now.”

Theodore released his aura. As Yuria’s body relaxed from the tension, she staggered, and Theodore quickly approached and supported her as she was about to fall.

Soaked in sweat and with no strength left in her legs, Yuria would have collapsed if Theodore hadn’t supported her.

“Uh.”

However, when they made contact up close like this, Yuria felt bewildered.

‘I-I’m embarrassed. W-why is this happening?’

Even though the current situation was not shameful at all, strange feelings of embarrassment began to surge.

Her heart was pounding, and she kept being conscious of the current situation.

Being supported by Theodore meant being in close contact with him.

‘He must have… heard it.’

When she realized that her heart was beating faster than usual and that he must have heard it, Yuria began to worry about what he might think.

Though she was turning 21 this year, having grown up as the treasured daughter of a ducal house and invested her passion in sword training, she had never even had proper physical contact with the opposite sex, let alone romantic relationships.