episode_0097

I guess I overreact in many ways when it comes to things involving Elsie.

In the original work, Amelia was unable to get married. After engaging in all sorts of evil acts, her family eventually sent her to the north.

From Delki City’s point of view, it was an inconvenient action in many ways… … In fact, as a father who loved Amelia as his daughter, he probably had no choice. He wouldn’t have wanted to kill her.

Moreover, Amelia lived with her relatives in the north, regretting her mistakes.

… … Well, I’m not that Amelia, so I can get married properly.

And saying that I can get married properly means that I don’t have that much time left. I am now seventeen. The same goes for Elsie.

Assuming that both of us get married in our early 20s, we don’t have much time left.

So, I wanted to make the most of the remaining time.

Honestly, I don’t care about the bad ending or anything like that. I’ve lived hard so far, and my relationship with the crown prince and crown prince isn’t that bad, so they won’t try to take my life. My relationship with the magic tower lord isn’t that good, but I can say that’s okay. Not silver.

So all we have to do now is enjoy the rest of our youth.

“Ha, ha, ha… … !”

“I heard that the Hoover family’s swordsmanship was excellent, but was that just a story?”

… … Why are there so many obstructionists?

I know what Elsie is thinking.

The reason he bothered to call Diane here was probably because he wanted to change Diane’s habits under the pretext of sword sparring.

In fact, Diane was acting rude and snorting until she came to Adele’s house, but when she got into a sparring match with Elsie, it seemed like she couldn’t even think about it.

The ability… … He probably wasn’t a very poor person. Although he intercepted the teacher who was teaching Adele, that teacher never specifically described him as ‘ugly’. There was no story in the original work about his ability being very poor.

However, because Adele was so quickly destroyed by her movements, it was an ambiguous character to call her ‘capable’.

but-

“Ik… … !”

Does this mean that he still has pride as a nobleman?

No, even in the original work, he tormented Adele hard because of his pride, so of course he would have pride.

“Hey!”

And because Elsie was slowly scratching her pride, Diane was rushing towards Elsie again and again.

Adele and I were both looking at that figure from afar.

Of course, the reasons why we both look at it will be different.

Adele looked a little impressed.

Diane and Adele have been involved in a bad relationship even before the main story. After hearing her teacher praising Adele, Diane pressured her teacher to stop teaching Adele, so Adele would definitely dislike her.

But Diane was sweating and attacking the person she couldn’t defeat with all her might.

As Adele, the daughter of a knightly family to her core, this is a tenacity that cannot help but be acknowledged.

And I—

I was surprised that Diane had unexpectedly good looks.

Oh, of course, my usual appearance is pretty. It may not be objectively comparable to the appearance of Adele, the heroine, Elsie, who played the role of the unfortunate villain in Part 2, and myself, who were my open rivals. Because I usually have my hair in a completely curled bun. It looked even more like that.

But now… … .

Perhaps because of the constant sweat, my bangs were flowing down. My curled blonde hair was also sagging as if it was wet with water.

And even an extremely serious expression.

Ironically, Diane looked even more attractive than usual.

Tap, tap!

The wooden swords clashed against each other, and sweat sprung out.

Elsie was able to block the Count’s sword wielded by Diane without much effort.

“Lady Carlins lasted longer than this.”

“… … Pfft!”

In response to Elsie’s provocation, Diane jumped back in with all her might.

A look that is not seen in the usual Diane, where she gives her all.

“… … .”

Apart from Adele, who was looking at me seriously, I became anxious again.

*

The sight of the high-slung nobleman dangling on the floor like a piece of toilet paper that was taken out after being dipped in it was a bit refreshing, and also looked a little pitiful.

Diane lay dead on the floor, as if everything had been thrown out.

It was something you couldn’t normally imagine.

“Lady Hoover.”

“Yes… … ?”

Diane barely answered when Adele called.

Then he saw the glass water bottle held out in front of him.

“… … .”

Adele, who was equally sweaty, but still standing, and herself stretched out on the floor.

Besides, there was no excuse. I had seen firsthand how hard Adele clashed swords with Elsie.

“… … I will be grateful.”

Diane barely sat up and accepted the bottle of water that Adele had offered her.

After emptying the water bottle in one gulp, Diane avoided Adele’s eyes.

“Today was great.”

Diane shrugged her shoulders at Adele’s words.

“… … .”

But Diane bit her lip, unable to give the same answer to Adele.

“All three were excellent.”

Elsie, who had already arrived, said that.

There was a trickle of sweat running down Elsie’s face, but she looked much better than the three of us who were soaked from head to toe.

… … Actually, out of the three of us, I was the one with the least skills.

It’s inevitable that she’ll be inferior to Adele.

However, my swordsmanship skills were worse than Diane’s, which I usually secretly ignored.

Was it because I depended too much on Elsie? At some point, I had stopped learning swordsmanship, which I had worked hard to learn when I was young.

“Next.”

“Yes?”

When Diane suddenly opened her mouth, Adele’s eyes widened as if she was a little surprised.

“Next time, it will be up to me to stand till the end.”

“… … .”

Seeing Diane saying that as if she was forcing it, Adele smiled.

“That might happen. This is my second time today. If I practice over and over again, the Young Lady Hoover might be able to stand until the end like me.”

… … Can I do that?

In the end, I couldn’t join in until the conversation was over.

*

“I heard the prom is scheduled for a few days later.”

After returning home and washing my body, I said:

“… … Really?”

Elsie frowned and said as if she was annoyed.

“Yes. I guess I should attend this time. Since I am a member of the Grand Duke’s family, I should show my face regularly in social circles.”

Actually, there is no need to do that.

Because I was a grand duchess.

Even though I wasn’t very famous in social circles, my name was high in the first place.

Just as the crown prince or crown prince has people lining up to get married without having to work too hard, I too can get as much as I want if I try.

but-

“Can we go alone this time?”

Elsie said as if she was a little worried.

I was a little happy to hear that.

Elsie couldn’t even think of putting someone else in her partner’s place.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been holding on to Elsie for too long… … .

If I really hated her, would Elsie have tried to dance with me?

“It’s probably okay. In fact, it may be better in the eyes of men. It means that I don’t have a fiancé yet.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Elsie nodded a little awkwardly.

“Then, after all, I should practice dancing, right?”

… … .

Yes, actually, the reason I brought this up was because of this.

Until now, we have never naturally hugged or kissed each other. Perhaps because we are both imbued with the idea of being nobles, we have never naturally touched each other’s bodies like we did when I was a teenager.

But, if a reason arises like this… … .

… … .

Strange.

The other person will definitely be a woman.

She’s probably younger than me, so it’s strange that I think like this.

Do I really only see Elsie as a friend?

“Then, can you teach me how to dance?”

“Of course.”

And, yes, there is also something like this.

Why am I saying this on a day when I practiced swordsmanship?

—Because this is one of the few things I am better at than Elsie.

Because it is one of the few things that can completely surpass Elsie.

It’s ugly too.

“This time, I want a man to tell me how to dance.”

“Huh?”

“You escorted me last time, so I want to escort you this time.”

While saying that, I looked up at Elsie, who naturally took my hand.

“You allowed me to protect you.”

Elsie said with a small smile on her lips.

“So, I want you to be able to protect me even in the ballroom. Whenever I’m by your side, I want to be able to protect you anytime. Even if it’s just a lip service.”

“… … .”

It’s not just words.

Elsie dragged me in.

And he put his hand on his waist.

Elsie’s body was always warm.

Elsie looked down at me.

I looked up at Elsie.

Elsie’s ruby red eyes reflected my face.