This didn’t end here.
Two months had passed since the attempted assassination of Crown Prince Elvan and the kidnapping of Princess Elena by the Aristocratic Faction, and spring had arrived.
The noble families involved in the incident, along with some knight families from the Second Knight Order, were secretly disposed of by the Royalist Faction and replaced by other noble families.
In short, the aristocratic families of the Aristocratic Faction disappeared, and Royalist nobles who had been promoted took their places. A related matter that was close to home was that a certain baron who owned land in the region was promoted to viscount and moved from his cramped territory to a larger one.
I had only met that former baron once when Sera-san became my adoptive mother. He was a Royalist noble, a calm man who had worked diligently for many years. But the main point is not that, but that the Reitone Baronetcy, which managed one of the cities in that barony, was also promoted to a barony in this incident and became the lord of that land.
In other words, Sera-san went from being the wife of a lower-ranking noble baronet to the wife of a middle-ranking noble baron with territory, and my title also changed from baronet’s daughter to baron’s daughter.
“How troublesome…”
“Eh, why do you dislike it?”
Theo, who was helping me with my leg rehabilitation training, stopped suddenly with a puzzled look at my muttered words.
“Yes, you left an opening.”
“Whoa!”
Without disturbing the hem of my long skirt, I crept closer using only footwork and lightly kicked the back of his knee, sending him tumbling. The unguarded Theo fell headfirst onto the training ground floor. Well, Theo is Rank 3, so I don’t think he’ll get hurt by this much.
My leg, which had damaged nerves due to my recklessness, recovered enough for combat in about two weeks. I thought it was fine to consider it healed, but the healer told me to rest for a month as a precaution, followed by functional recovery training.
As for the state of the injury, I thought it was the same as when I used the “Primordial Combat Art” before. But considering that my agility suddenly increased by 2 in the previous battle, there may be physical changes occurring as well.
I could have done the training within the academy, but I had many opportunities to go to the Royal Capital for repairs of armor and adjustments of new equipment that I had asked Gelf-san for. So, I borrowed the training grounds of the Adventurer’s Guild in the Royal Capital for combat training that involved using weapons.
Theo heard about this from somewhere (probably from Sera-san) and offered to be my training partner.
Theo, who is nominally my younger brother and a Shadow Unit knight who will be my colleague in this mission, is someone to whom I can show my abilities without any problems. In particular, Sera-san has told me to train her son without mercy, so I don’t have to hold back.
If it were serious combat training, it would be meaningless unless it was with Sera-san or Viro-san’s class, but Theo is a good opponent for functional recovery training. I thought about asking Feld-san for serious training, but Gelf-san, who was holding his head in his hands, told me that I should stop for a while.
To be honest, I feel bad about having him accompany me to the Royal Capital for this level of training, but since Theo’s protection target is different from mine, he needs a reason to approach Elena-sama’s mansion. So, Theo-kun, worried about me, is accompanying me even by adjusting his days off to match mine.
If I remember correctly… that strange girl who was there last time was Theo’s protection target.
“Don’t lose your concentration. Otherwise, you’ll die if you’re surrounded by ogres alone.”
“No, no, normally you’d die if you were surrounded by multiple ogres alone!?”
I helped the fallen Theo up, and he puffed out his cheeks in dissatisfaction while complaining. But, looking at the dissatisfied Theo, I started to think that this is what a ‘younger brother’ is like.
Still, he must have some thoughts about losing to his ‘older sister’. Theo, who was now almost at eye level with me, met my eyes and put some effort into it, saying, “A little more…”
“By the way, why is it ‘troublesome’? It’s easier to guard His Highness as a baron’s daughter than as a baronet’s daughter, right?”
I let out a light breath at Theo’s question as he brushed the dust off his waist.
“Since a lower-ranking noble has become a middle-ranking noble with territory, the possibility of being harassed increases.”
Being the closest to Princess Elena-sama as a lower-ranking noble, I had been harassed by higher-ranking nobles before.
Still, since I was also serving as a maid, even people who didn’t know I was a guard tolerated me to some extent. But if I suddenly become a middle-ranking noble, there will be more jealousy from lower-ranking and middle-ranking nobles, thinking that I was promoted by the authority of the Princess. It is not a good idea to increase enemies in a situation where you don’t even know who the enemy is.
Besides, even if I am Sera-san’s adopted daughter, it should be easy to withdraw from the family register after work if I am a lower-ranking noble, but if I am a middle-ranking noble, even the withdrawal of an adopted daughter could be a stain on the Reitone baronial family.
Furthermore, according to Elena-sama, now that I, who serve her, have become the daughter of a middle-ranking noble, other noble families of middle rank or higher may seek a connection with the Princess and propose marriage.
Elena-sama seems to protect me if I’m in trouble, but depending on the noble family, it may cause trouble for Elena-sama and Sera-san.
Moreover, although it cannot be made public, this promotion is a direct reward from His Majesty the King for protecting the Crown Prince and the Princess, so it has become even more difficult to resign from the nobility.
“I don’t want Aria-san to be engaged to another noble!”
“I don’t intend to, to begin with.”
If I’m a middle-ranking noble, I can refuse, and no upper-ranking noble should want an adopted daughter who was originally an orphan. But I think Theo-kun, the heir, will have a harder time.
The fourth bell rang, and at four o’clock in the afternoon, I cast [Purify (Clean)] on myself and Theo-kun and left the Guild’s training ground.
Our current attire is my usual academy uniform, and Theo-kun, who is not a student, is also wearing a uniform for boys.
It doesn’t matter if we wear casual clothes or adventurer’s equipment, but since I often fight in my uniform, I wear it regularly to get used to it. Theo-kun will be a student from next year, so he said he was getting used to the uniform and matched me.
Unlike the adventurer’s guilds in the countryside, most of the adventurers in the Royal Capital’s guild are skilled individuals who aim for dungeons or have connections with wealthy merchants. In terms of rank, they are at least in the upper ranks of Rank 2… in other words, they have the same ability as Theo-kun.
Since there are only such people, there are rarely people who pay one silver coin to use the training ground, and the use of the training ground was almost monopolized.
Clack.
The heels of my boots rang on the floor, and when we returned from the training ground to the Guild’s lobby, the Guild, which had been bustling with several adventurers, suddenly fell silent, and Theo-kun’s face twitched slightly at the gazes directed at us.
That’s a common sight these days. When I look around, they avert their eyes and make way for me, so there’s no particular problem… or so it should be, but today there were people who didn’t know about these ‘Royal Capital Guild circumstances’.
“Oh, oh, are the students having a rendezvous at the Guild? The Guild isn’t a playground for kids!”
A man in his mid-twenties accosted us. Since Theo-kun and I have different skin colors, he didn’t seem to see us as siblings.
He was a large warrior-type carrying an axe, with a combat power of about 300… about Rank 3, so he was a mid-level adventurer even within this Guild. Since soloing is difficult for warrior-types, he was probably a rural adventurer aiming for dungeons who came to the Guild to look for companions.
The faces of the surrounding adventurers turned blue at our sudden entanglement, and the staff in the back of the reception desk began to move in a flustered manner.
“Oh, this girl is pretty cute. Hey, say something—”
Gakin—
I grabbed the approaching man’s chin and twisted his neck sideways, making a strange sound, and the man collapsed as he was.
“C, call a healer! Hurry!!”
The Guild staff immediately moved and went to call the Guild’s healer. The Guild basically doesn’t interfere in disputes between adventurers, but since I came to the Royal Capital, a healer has been stationed there.
“…Aria-san.”
“I didn’t break his neck.”
The sound was just the load on the joints. If treated early, there will be no aftereffects.
But that doesn’t change the fact that I caused a commotion. As I headed to the reception desk, an acquaintance receptionist gave me a troubled, half-smiling look.
“I caused a commotion. If treatment costs are needed, deduct it from my account deposited with the Guild.”
“Well… there are many people like that among adventurers who come from the countryside to some extent. Since he clearly knew you were a student and harassed you, we’ll have him pay for the treatment.”
While saying that, the receptionist wrote something on the documents in a familiar manner. Adventurers who have just come to the Royal Capital seem to want to show off their power so much that I, who looks to be in my mid-teens, have been harassed several times.
The receptionist was from the Adventurer’s Guild in Horace Barony, where I was born and raised. I remember causing her quite a bit of trouble during the Orc swarm incident, both before and after it.
It was a coincidence that I ran into her again, but when I asked her why she was in the Royal Capital, she said she was planning to retire in a few years and settle down here, so she had been transferred.
I thought she might be getting married off, since she’s quite a beauty, but one day I saw her with that man I know so well, and I somehow understood.
Well, he’s always had a weakness for strong-willed beauties.
Anyway, my body had returned to normal, and as we were heading back to the academy, I told Theo that this would be my last recovery training session. He suddenly looked serious and said this:
“The reason I couldn’t go see Aria where Princess (Your Highness) is, is not just because I needed a reason, but because my protection target is the problem. Ever since the Aristocratic Faction incident, I’ve felt like she’s been hostile towards Princess (Your Highness) and Carla-sama… Please be careful.”
I have to attend classes as a student at the academy, in addition to my duties as Elena’s guard and maid.
The content of the classes isn’t easy, but the butler and maids teach me to some extent, so I can keep up reasonably well. In the first place, my main duty is as a guard, so the academy exams were adjusted from the beginning so that I could get an average score.
But that changes when it comes to “practical skills.”
On this continent, the conflict between the human race and the Evil Race has continued for many years, and although decades have passed since the last war, even in the Kingdom of Claydale, noble daughters learn self-defense.
From my point of view, it would be better to train in self-defense Magic rather than teaching them various things superficially, but noblewomen who are in danger of being kidnapped have practical lessons using weapons, even if it’s just imitation.
“Hah!”
Elena’s wooden sword struck the shield held by a male student with a bash.
Self-defense classes are co-ed. Even if they don’t have Combat Skills, women of the upper nobility learn self-defense at home, so they aren’t complete amateurs.
Even so, there is a gender gap in Status, so it’s almost impossible for men and women to have a serious mock battle, but those who aim to become female knights, or daughters of upper noble families along the border, are skilled enough to defeat wolves.
“Princess (Your Highness), that was wonderful!”
“Thank you.”
The male student who had been receiving the attacks as her partner gave Elena words of praise with a blush as she wiped away her sweat after finishing the practical exercise.
That would be enough as a Princess (Your Highness). There’s no need to acquire Swordsmanship Skill. However, if she wants to hide that her body has healed, she should stop taking practical classes.
But Elena, if the Aristocratic Faction won’t give up no matter how much she tries to withdraw, has chosen to confront them head-on in order to show that she is not a vessel to be made a puppet.
If Elena withdraws, the country will be thrown into turmoil. The current Crown Prince (he) doesn’t have the power to bring it together. If that’s the case, then perhaps she has given up on her dreamy brother and resolved to unite the country as a short-term queen.
But that could turn not only the Aristocratic Faction, but also the Royalist Faction against her. That’s why Elena needed many allies.
Thanks to her gradually showing her strength, the number of students who believed in Elena increased. But as the number of people increases, strange people also appear.
I don’t attend practical classes. There’s a possibility that I would be seriously challenged just for being a close aide to the Princess (Your Highness), and if the opponent has Swordsmanship Skill, even holding back carelessly would cause a dispute, so the academy, knowing my background, had stopped me from taking practical classes.
But the middle and upper-class noble students, who felt that I had become a Baron’s daughter and was closer to the Princess (Your Highness), seemed to think that they were more suitable as the Princess (Your Highness)’s close aide than I, who didn’t attend classes.
As usual, I was leaning against the wall of the school building, watching the practical class, when a tall female student appeared, directing a sharp gaze and the tip of her wooden sword at me.
“You there! I won’t allow someone of lowly birth to deceive Princess (Your Highness) and become her close aide! Have a match with me!”
Aria is harassed even at the academy. How will she deal with it?