I ran away.
But I don’t know why I ran.
Even if it was embarrassing to have touched him without permission, I had already apologized, so there was no need to go as far as running away.
No, wait—if I was sorry, shouldn’t I not have run away?
I should have apologized properly.
And to make matters worse, I had a promise to meet Lucas at the private training ground after work today.
We were supposed to start sword training.
I really didn’t want to go, but since I had promised, I got changed and headed to the private training ground.
It felt like it had been two years since I last came here.
After becoming the head of the house, I’d visited once to check it, but I’d never been back.
It was well-maintained.
It was almost a waste not to use it.
We stood facing each other in an awkward, embarrassing atmosphere. Lucas was still wearing the flower crown.
Why in the world did I tell him to wear it?
Maybe I should have just locked him in the dungeon like Scarlett said.
Or perhaps I should have locked him in his room.
Being locked in his room would have been enough of a punishment since it’s suffocating.
Lucas watched me quietly and then said, “If you’re tired, shall we do this another time?”
“Ah, no. It’s not like that, so let’s do it.”
Lucas tilted his head, then decided to proceed and handed me a wooden sword.
“Try attacking me.”
“Right away?”
“Yes.”
He wouldn’t laugh at how bad I am, would he?
I hesitated, then took the sword.
Lucas held his wooden sword, preparing for my attack.
His expression was so serious that I felt embarrassed for having doubted him.
I didn’t hesitate any longer and performed the only attack I knew: a downward slash from above.
Lucas blocked it easily.
He didn’t laugh after blocking it, either. He remained serious.
I took a step back.
‘If he blocked that…’
I tried the second attack I knew: a diagonal slash. Lucas blocked that easily as well.
I hadn’t expected to land a hit, but being blocked twice left me at a loss.
I was wondering what to do for my third attack when Lucas suddenly swiped my sword aside and lunged toward my abdomen with his sword.
I froze and squeezed my eyes shut.
There was no pain.
When I slowly opened my eyes, Lucas had stopped his sword just before it touched me.
He lowered his sword and said, “I think I’ve got a sense of your current skill level.”
“…It’s terrible, isn’t it? I know that much.”
I knew how to block, but my body would freeze up first, and I’d squeeze my eyes shut.
If I were a knight, I would have been kicked out immediately.
“It’s not quite that bad.”
I didn’t answer, assuming he was just trying to comfort me.
Lucas saw that I didn’t believe him and arched an eyebrow.
“You didn’t drop your sword when you attacked, so it’s not ‘terrible’.”
‘That’s the bare minimum, isn’t it?’
I realized then that Lucas had very generous standards for swordsmanship.
Seeing that I still didn’t believe him, he sighed.
“If you don’t believe me, let’s forget it. Since you already said I could use the training ground even if you didn’t teach me.”
“Ah, no… I believe you. I do, I really do.”
I answered quickly, as it was true that I wanted to learn.
Lucas finally relaxed his rigid expression.
“Since I said I’d only teach you enough to protect yourself, I’ll focus on defense. Once you get good at that, we’ll try attacking.”
“Alright.”
“Then, since you know the basics, we’ll go straight into practice. Try blocking my attack.”
‘Right away?’
I didn’t even have time to open my mouth.
Lucas tried to stab my abdomen again with his wooden sword.
My body froze again at the fast attack.
Once again, Lucas stopped his sword before it touched me.
“It seems to be a habit. You know how to block a thrust, don’t you?”
“Yes…”
I don’t know why I’m like this either.
I’d been scolded a lot because of it.
Freezing up because I was worried that even a wooden sword would hurt if it hit me—that had been a habit of mine for a long time.
“Let’s do it slowly, then.”
Lucas performed the same attack again.
This time, he stabbed at an impossibly slow speed compared to before.
It was like watching a turtle crawl.
“Are you serious?”
“From now on, I won’t stop, and I’ll really stab you.”
I hurriedly swiped his sword away.
Lucas repeated the same movement, this time a bit faster than before.
As I swiped my sword away in the same manner, I realized what he was aiming for with this training.
He was training me to adapt to blocking by starting from a very slow speed, so that I would eventually be able to block at high speeds.
I diligently blocked as told.
Finally, the turn came to attack at the fast speed he’d shown me at first, and I swiped my sword away just as I’d practiced.
Seeing the results of the training, Lucas beamed.
“You’re doing well. Look. You’re not terrible.”
My gaze was helplessly stolen away.
It was hard to keep my composure when he praised me with such a smile.
He was so… so pretty, and I wanted to touch him just like before. I was out of my mind.
“Then this time, I’ll try a different attack.”
‘Huh? What?’
I hadn’t heard him.
Lucas slashed down diagonally with his wooden sword.
I just stared helplessly at the sword falling toward me.
The sword stopped just before it touched me.
Lucas was so shocked he threw the sword away.
It seemed he hadn’t expected me to just stand there and almost get hit.
“Are you okay?”
I hadn’t been touched at all, but Lucas, startled, came up to me and began touching my head, neck, and shoulders to check if I was hurt.
When his warm hands touched my face, I was the one who was startled this time.
“Ah, no! I’m not hurt! I’m fine!”
“Did you get hit in the head? Where?”
I told him I didn’t get hit!
Lucas began to check my head in detail, practically pulling me into an embrace.
My face ended up buried in Lucas’s shoulder.
“I-I’m really fine. Would you let me go?”
“You’re stuttering, so I think you did get hit.”
“I said I didn’t.”
Lucas finally let me go. He was like a child who really wouldn’t listen.
“Continue. I’m fine. I’ll try blocking again.”
Lucas asked with a strange expression, “Your face…”
Why, what’s wrong with my face?
I raised my hand and fumbled to touch my face; it was burning hot.
I wanted to run away again.
Fearing that if I ran away now, Lucas would chase and catch me, I made up an excuse.
“I, I’m just embarrassed about my own skill level. So, continue.”
‘Damn it,’ once I said it, I felt even more embarrassed.
I didn’t want to be caught that it was because of Lucas even if I died.
Lucas nodded, looking a bit bewildered.
“Your skill isn’t bad at all, Count. Really. You don’t have to be so embarrassed.”
It was a kind thing to say, but it didn’t help.
Lucas pretended not to see my reddened face.
I would have preferred him to tease me so I could at least get angry, but he acted so maturely that I felt even more awkward.
It only ended after I had blocked every type of attack once.
Lucas was a good teacher, and the training was excellent.
That made me feel even more self-deprecating. It felt like I was the only one distracted while learning the sword.
I agreed to have another lesson tomorrow and hurriedly ran to my room.
Fortunately, Lucas didn’t say he would sleep in my room tonight.
If he had, I wouldn’t have been able to hold back, and it would have been a disaster.
