Feeling the Change

Since 11 years ago, Theodore had limited the objects of his affection.

‘Whether friends or lovers, giving affection was something I wanted to avoid if possible.’

Yuria Arsein would not have played a major role in his life originally.

At least, that was the case in Theodore Skyroad’s plan.

‘The reason I got angry and warned William yesterday was because I can no longer view Lady Yuria as I did before.’

She was a terrible variable.

Theodore had thought that when spending a year together with Yuria Arsein at Minst Academy, he would only need to fulfill his obligations as a fiancé, but he hadn’t calculated that he would give her affection and become so conscious of her.

This was also why he had personally prepared breakfast this morning, following last night’s dinner.

If it had been him two days ago, he wouldn’t have cared what kind of meal Yuria had.

The people for whom he personally prepared heartfelt dishes were limited to his family: the Duke and Duchess of Skyroad and his younger sister Judith. But now, due to the affection he had unconsciously given, one more person had been added.

‘The garden would be good.’

The post-breakfast training ended up starting in the garden.

He had promised to properly teach her swordsmanship, and Theodore had intended to teach her many things, just as he had taught her about the counter-force technique before.

But now that his view of her had changed, his mindset in teaching her had also changed.

‘I want to make her a renowned warrior on the continent.’

Was it because of the genuine favorable feelings that had blossomed after giving her affection?

Though somewhat self-deprecating, as his attention kept being drawn to her, he found himself wanting to help her achieve her dream.

“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.”

Yuria’s answer, full of dreams and passion, was as expected, so Theodore nodded slightly with a smile.

He would give her the proper training she wanted.

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

Rumble—

Theodore moderately controlled his killing intent and directed it toward Yuria.

But the difference in skill between him and Yuria was too vast, so even this level of pressure would be overwhelming for her to stand against.

“Ugh!”

But Yuria, though pressed down by the killing intent, was gritting her teeth and resisting.

Seeing her gritting her teeth and enduring, refusing to kneel and fall despite wanting to, made him think she was both commendable and somehow dazzling.

‘She’s on my mind.’

Before his view of Yuria changed, he would have ended his observation with a mere “She’s enduring quite well.”

But was it because his view of her had changed?

He was even conscious of the beads of sweat forming on her forehead, and his attention was naturally drawn to her legs.

‘This woman is more impressive than I thought.’

This wasn’t an evaluation of her will.

He already knew she possessed such strong will.

It was an evaluation of her, who had shaken his intended indifference, as he found himself worrying about her.

‘She’s desperate.’

With superhuman will, Yuria was enduring the killing intent, proving that she hadn’t come to Minst Academy despite her mother, the Duchess Arsein’s, opposition with a light heart.

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

“Ugh?!”

Theodore raised the power of the killing intent’s pressure directed at Yuria by one level.

This time he could see her legs wobble, but she succeeded in enduring again.

Her entire body was visibly soaked with sweat, and her desperate struggle to exert strength was pitiful to see.

If someone saw the most beautiful woman of the Arcan Empire sweating all over and forcibly enduring with difficulty, many might be angered by the fact that someone could do such a cruel and vicious act to such a beautiful being.

If someone criticized him in that way, two days ago he would have provocatively taunted the critic in return.

But now?

‘I might understand.’

He actually felt like he could understand the critic’s feelings.

After all, Theodore had momentarily flinched when he saw her stagger.

But Theodore didn’t stop sending the pressure.

Stopping here would have been an insult to her.

“Uuuugh!”

And when she had endured for a minute, Theodore said to her:

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

Right now, she would find it difficult to even stand on her two legs.

Though healthy, her slender, thin legs looked as if they might break at any moment.

But rather than giving up, she seemed to become more determined upon hearing his instruction and immediately drew her sword from its scabbard.

“I’ll endure and succeed! Ugh!”

Yuria, whose entire body was soaked with sweat, could be seen gripping her sword with a painful and difficult expression.

Having been standing by concentrating her strength only in her legs, she staggered and almost fell as she distributed some of that strength to her hands, but somehow she managed to endure and swung her sword toward Theodore.

But Theodore immediately recognized that her movement was clumsy and knew that her sword was directed not at him but to his side, so he didn’t move a single step from his spot.

Swoosh—

The sword was swung through the air.

“Ah.”

Yuria seemed disheartened by the fact that she couldn’t even swing her sword properly.

And seeing her disheartened appearance, Theodore offered praise instead of provocation.

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

As Theodore said this and released his pressure, Yuria’s body, having squeezed out all her strength to the limit, was seen staggering and about to collapse as the tension was released.

At this rate, she could have scraped her limbs.

To prevent this from happening, Theodore quickly approached and supported her.

“Uh.”

Yuria made a flustered sound as she felt Theodore’s contact, his arm inserted between her sweat-soaked armpits, supporting her by almost embracing her body.

Theodore could feel her heart beating wildly, and seeing Yuria embarrassed and at a loss over this, a peculiar emotion arose in Theodore’s inner mind.

He found this appearance of Yuria cute.

‘She’s cute.’

It was a completely different type of emotion from finding his sister Judith cute.

Moreover, he could vividly feel the soft and elastic touch of Yuria’s female body, which made him excessively conscious of it, and he even felt that her body, which was certainly soaked with sweat, had a pleasant fragrance.

“I’ll take you to the house for a moment, so sit and rest. We’ll resume training after a short break.”

“Y-Yes, yes.”

Yuria stuttered as she tried to answer. The sound of her heartbeat and the physical contact with him now seemed to greatly concern her.

Having grown up as the treasured daughter of House Arsein, this was probably the first time in her life she had such contact with a man.

‘Having this woman as my fiancée… might be fortunate in a way.’

Though it certainly wouldn’t have mattered to him just two days ago, such thoughts were now occurring to him, as if proving how capricious the human heart can be.

“Eek?!”

Yuria made a surprised sound. This was because Theodore had gone beyond supporting her and had lifted her up in what is called a princess carry.

“P-put me down. I can walk by myself!”

Yuria protested slightly with a face reddened from embarrassment, but Theodore deliberately didn’t show his emotions and spoke with a composed demeanor.

“Don’t be stubborn—you might fall and get hurt. It’s just for a moment.”

Saying this, Theodore carried her, lifting her very lightly, and entered the mansion.

Then he seated her on a small sofa in the living room.

“Ugh.”

“Hehe.”

Theodore couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Yuria, her face red with embarrassment from what had just happened, not knowing what to do.

“D-don’t laugh.”

Yuria immediately protested, perhaps taking it as mockery. But seeing her protesting with a reddened face, Theodore realized the change in his perspective.

What would he have thought two days ago if he had seen her like this?

‘I wouldn’t have felt any value.’

Whether she was embarrassed or ashamed, he would have just drawn a line, thinking he only needed to fulfill his predetermined duty as a fiancé.

‘It’s not love.’

For Theodore, love was something as weighty as friendship.

A friend is a relationship where promises and trust are kept, and favors are exchanged, even at the risk of one’s life.

And love is dedicating oneself even if it means sacrificing one’s life.

By those standards, Theodore’s current feelings toward Yuria couldn’t be classified as love by his criteria.

It was just that the affection he had given was gradually growing.

But even with just that, Theodore felt the change in his perspective and tried to exercise restraint so as not to be swept away by those emotions.

‘I can’t do something thoughtless by being swept away by emotions.’

Even removing William’s reproductive function was due to the emotion of anger.

Originally, even if William had targeted his life, Theodore would have proceeded step by step, enjoying the sight of William being driven by fear into a corner.

But the moment he heard that William had targeted Yuria, he became angry and punished him by removing his reproductive function for crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

‘Classes at Minst Academy will start next Monday.’

The Duke of Skyroad was worried about the emotional wounds he might receive as a father, but Theodore had long since made a decision about how to handle it.

The fact that he, not William, was the real Chosen One would eventually be revealed even if he didn’t openly reveal it himself, and Theodore had been waiting for that moment for a long time.

And he would also watch William’s fall and retribution.

“Lady Yuria.”

“Y-Yes, yes. Young Lord Theodore. Huh.”

Yuria stuttered again, then slightly bit her lip, perhaps embarrassed by continuing to show her flustered appearance.

She was trying to calm her mind with the pain of biting her lip slightly.

“I showed an embarrassing side. Young Lord Theodore, please speak.”

Looking at Yuria who was asking calmly after composing herself, Theodore spoke about the training.

“The fact that you swung your sword while enduring that killing intent was excellent considering your level. This experience will help you become stronger.”

“Yes.”

Yuria appeared to be seriously focusing on the conversation. Her mindset as a swordswoman was truly commendable.

Even two days ago, he had inwardly acknowledged her dream and passion as a swordswoman, but after yesterday’s events changed his feelings, her passion became even more deeply impressed in his eyes.

“Just now, you resisted without giving in to terrible fear. For now, in training, you’ve learned to resist, but if this were a real battle, it would be better to run away if possible.”

“Run away?”

“Yes. If an opponent emits that level of killing intent and intimidates you, it means they are an overwhelmingly stronger opponent than you. Fighting such an opponent is not courage but recklessness. In such a case, it’s better to avoid confrontation first.”

“But…”

As Yuria seemed to show some resistance, Theodore offered practical advice.

“You might feel resistant as a swordswoman. But remember that the important thing is to survive. Unless it’s a situation where you can’t avoid because you need to protect something, it’s better to avoid. Of course, this is just knowledge. I won’t let you get into such danger anyway.”

It wasn’t just as a fiancé.

As Theodore Skyroad, as an individual, he had come to not want Yuria Arsein to be in dangerous situations.