Jeiha Academy 2

“I appreciate you taking the time.”

As Theodore expressed his gratitude politely with a grin, Yuria thought that he was indeed so handsome it was annoying.

“Shall we go?”

Theodore’s posture as he extended his hand politely was flawless.

He looked like a fiancé properly offering his hand to his fiancée, and the sounds of female students around them letting out screams that were close to cheers could be heard.

‘I can’t refuse, I suppose.’

The engagement between House Skyroad and House Arsein wasn’t something that could be handled simply based on personal feelings.

When the other party was not behaving in a way that violated etiquette and was keeping to proper boundaries, it would be her fault if she arbitrarily crossed those boundaries in front of many people.

‘This is to maintain proper etiquette.’

Yuria, reassuring herself like this, took his hand.

“Please lead the way.”

“Gladly.”

After moving away from the gaze of Ashley and others to a place where they were alone with no one else around, Yuria immediately let go of his hand when there was no one watching and asked:

“Where should we start first?”

In response to Yuria asking where they should begin coordinating, Theodore grinned.

“Well? First, I’d like to hear Lady Yuria’s thoughts. Your biggest goal is to maintain the position of <second place> there too, right?”

As Theodore emphasized the word “second place” in a way that sounded like he was mocking her, Yuria couldn’t suppress her irritation, crossed her arms, and spoke sarcastically:

“Yes, I suppose it must seem laughable to the great Lord Skyroad who showed first place in all departments except the Divine Arts Department in his first year.”

And to Yuria’s sarcastic remark, Theodore nodded.

“Of course it seems laughable. How could the sight of people struggling to secure a place under the feet of a being as brilliantly shining as myself, unable to even reach my toes, not seem laughable?”

Yuria glared at him as he retorted even more strongly and said:

“You really are irritating.”

“Is it inferiority?”

“No!”

Faced with Theodore who wouldn’t yield a single word, and having never won a verbal argument with him, Yuria found herself once again drawn into a verbal battle with him. She tried to calm herself down.

‘Calm down, Yuria. I’ll only lose if I argue with him.’

As she calmed herself down like this, Theodore said to her:

“If you want, I could give you a few lessons. For my beautiful fiancée, I might even go to the trouble of helping improve your skills.”

“What’s your ulterior motive?”

As a swordswoman, Yuria momentarily forgot everything else and was tempted.

Even though she didn’t like him and got irritated every time she saw him, he was clearly a swordsman who had reached a far superior level than her.

Since he ranked first in other fields such as magic, spirit arts, and martial arts, he couldn’t be called a pure swordsman, but he was at least a swordsman of a different caliber from her.

“Ulterior motive? That’s humiliating. I’m simply trying to help as a fiancé since my fiancée is passionate about swordsmanship, yet I get this kind of treatment. It’s unpleasant.”

As Theodore’s eyes became slightly cold, Yuria felt a sense of “Oh no!”

She realized she had been inappropriately rude because she had gotten irritated from their argument just now.

“I’m sorry, I made a mistake.”

Yuria immediately bowed her head politely to Theodore and apologized. Regardless of whether she liked him or not, it was wrong of her to immediately suspect him when her fiancé offered to teach her swordsmanship.

For someone with the mindset that one should apologize immediately for one’s mistakes, it was imperative to apologize to the person concerned as soon as possible.

“Well, I accept.”

It would be a lie to say that his attitude of graciously accepting her apology wasn’t irritating, but knowing that pursuing the matter further would only upset herself, Yuria asked:

“Does what you said earlier mean you’ll continue to give me lessons even when we go to the Britannia Empire?”

“Well, that’s the idea. I have to protect you anyway. While I’m protecting you, if I continue to teach you swordsmanship on the side, wouldn’t that be a more productive use of time?”

At Theodore’s words, Yuria thought that if she hadn’t known what was truly inside him, she might have deeply fallen for him too.

With that annoyingly handsome face saying he would protect her, it would be a lie to say her heart didn’t flutter at such words from her fiancé.

“But, is that really just for me?”

“Do you want an honest answer? Or a lie?”

“Tell me both.”

At Yuria’s words, Theodore nodded and said with a polite, courteous smile:

“Starting with the lie, how could I, as a fiancé, ignore it when a beautiful fiancée like you has such a burning passion? As your fiancé, I should help even a little bit for your dream, right?”

To Theodore’s words, Yuria asked coldly:

“Then what’s the truth?”

“To tell the truth, while your appearance passes as my fiancée, your abilities are honestly inadequate. If you were to be embarrassed in the Britannia Empire, it would create a blemish that casts a shadow on my brilliance that blinds others’ eyes. I have to help a bit so you won’t be embarrassed wherever you go.”

Crack-

Yuria sincerely prayed to God:

‘If I could land just one hit on that smug face, I’d give up a year of my life!’

Feeling such rage that she had thoughts like this, Yuria calmed her boiling insides and forced a smile.

“That’s right. Then I should become strong enough to surpass you so I won’t be a blemish on you.”

Theodore then looked at her with a gaze as if looking at a pitiful person.

“Oh dear, Lady Yuria. Are you sick somewhere?”

“…What do you mean?”

“It’s good to have dreams and passion, but there should be limits. Dreaming of something that can never be achieved in a lifetime. What if you despair and become pessimistic about your life to the point of suicide? How can you have such an absurd delusion?”

Theodore approached Yuria, placed his hand on her shoulder, and said:

“If you were to commit suicide, it would be like spilling ink on my perfectly shining name. So please try to think differently.”

“…Oh God, today I’m going to kill this person and go to heaven.”

“That’s a good spirit. Swing your sword with all your might with that spirit.”

At Theodore’s words, Yuria decided not to hesitate since permission had been given.

“Alright. Draw your sword too.”

Unlike Yuria who carried her sword in a scabbard at her waist, Theodore always kept his sword in a subspace.

“Honestly, I don’t even need to draw my sword against you.”

At Theodore’s words, Yuria once again felt a surge of anger.

She had diligently practiced swordsmanship since childhood and had reached the most outstanding level in her grade at Jeiha Academy, excluding Theodore.

Now in her second year, her skills were such that hardly anyone among the fourth-year seniors could match her.

‘But it means nothing to this man in front of me.’

She knew that fact well.

But…

“Draw your sword now. You said you would teach me as a swordsman, didn’t you?”

No matter how weak she might be, she had her pride as a swordswoman along with the strength she had built through her own efforts.

Even if she were to be defeated, she wanted to be defeated in a duel as a swordswoman.

“If that’s what you want, gladly.”

Theodore was seen drawing his sword.

Before her stood the top swordsman of Jeiha Academy, who was the first-place student in the Swordsmanship Department in his first year and was said to even surpass the professors.

Thump-

Feeling a flutter as a swordswoman at that fact, Yuria slowly took her stance.

She knew her swordsmanship didn’t reach that level.

‘But I won’t give up.’

However, no matter how high the wall, she would never give up.

She would definitely climb up to that wall, even if she had to crawl.

“Haaaah!”

With that thought, she charged with all her might, and in an instant, she was knocked down.

“Kyaaah!”

Clearly, she was the one who had attacked, but the moment her sword met Theodore’s, she felt an enormous reactive force and was thrown backward. In this situation, she would have fallen with her back hitting the ground first, but someone caught her from behind.

“Are you alright?”

The owner of the voice was Theodore.

He had somehow moved behind her after deflecting her from the front, and caught her by embracing her from behind.

Suddenly finding herself in the position of being embraced by him from behind, Yuria quickly escaped from his arms.

“I-I’m fine. This is nothing!”

An inexplicable embarrassment overcame her.

‘Haa, calm down.’

Theodore quietly watched as Yuria tried to calm her heart that was racing due to the unexpected situation. Yuria felt even more embarrassed under his gaze.