Chapter 81 - As of Today, I'm a Knights Faculty Student (1)

Before the tea gathering ended, the Queen surprised me again.

"The princess will start attending the knights faculty tomorrow."

"What?"

The announcement came so far out of nowhere that I blurted out a question, but the Queen took no offense. Instead, she kindly explained why.

"She received an ability from her mother's family, so she needs training from Katrin."

That made sense.

"And she has another ability. She needs someone to spar with her and help her improve."

Did she mean me?

"People will pay less attention to her now that they believe she didn't receive the royal family's ability. But some may attack her recklessly, thinking she's out of the succession."

The Queen was right. I'd experienced that more than once myself.

"There will be field trips, too. I'd like you to protect her while you're with her. Please."

Oh, of course. She hadn't written me that letter of recommendation for nothing.

It looked as though my work as a bodyguard was only just beginning.

After one shock after another, I left the palace in a daze. It wasn't until Katrin and I had ridden out through the outer walls in the carriage that I came to my senses and asked her, "Is the princess in so much danger that you need to use me?"

"Yes. She was attacked several times even when the king was healthy. We drove the attackers off without much trouble because we were inside the palace."

Just as I thought. The palace was a frightening place.

"If things were that bad while the king was healthy, she'll struggle to stay alive even inside the palace if he collapses—or dies. That's why the king sent her to the academy while he can still get around: to put at least a little distance between her and her brothers' watchful eyes."

The king had looked as though he might collapse tomorrow. Now that the princess had awakened, even I could see she needed protection.

"We'll have to protect her," Katrin said.

Hmm. Apparently I was now firmly included in that "we."

Not long after we left the outer walls, the carriage stopped. We had arrived at the Rattenhammar count's estate—Katrin's home and the Queen's family home.

The mansion was beautiful. It was smaller than the ducal mansion on our estate, but far larger than the duke's "villa" in the capital. Unlike Duke Gresia, the count was a central noble based in the capital. The mere fact that his family owned a mansion this large in the heart of the city spoke to its standing.

A butler led us to the count's study.

"A pleasure to meet you. I'm the Count of Rattenhammar."

An elderly man who still looked vigorous sat on a sofa and looked me over as I entered. His hair was sparse, his eyes sharp, and his body looked solid. One glance told me he was a proper noble.

I returned his greeting. "I'm Alex."

Being a proper noble also meant he was thoroughly particular about class. There was no reason to give him my full name and make him frown.

After looking me over, he turned straight to Katrin. "The awakening ceremony went well?"

"Yes. It went according to plan," Katrin replied stiffly.

"According to plan... Good."

They sounded less like father and daughter than a superior and his subordinate. It was common enough among proper nobles, so I didn't find it particularly remarkable.

Having heard her answer, the count turned back to me. Rather than invite me to sit, he brought up something else.

"Katrin tells me you were a great help in obtaining our ancestor's relic."

"I merely did what our contract required. I was amply compensated."

"Compensated, you say. That includes our ancestor's dagger, I take it?"

The dagger? Why bring it up when we were talking about my compensation? Was the old man greedy as well as noble?

I stole a glance at Katrin. Her face was rigid, but at my questioning look she moved her fingers slightly: a mercenary signal telling me to answer yes. The dagger had been more of a gift from her, but apparently she'd described it as compensation.

"The contract makes it difficult for me to discuss that part. I can tell you that the dagger belongs to me now."

There was no need to lie. I only had to invoke the contract and let him draw the wrong conclusion.

"... So it was compensation."

Just as I'd expected, he misunderstood at once.

"I see. Keep helping Katrin and Princess Aisha."

"I will, sir."

It was an unmistakable dismissal, and I answered promptly.

"Katrin, stay a moment."

I was sent out alone, and a waiting maid came to guide me.

"Where are we going?"

"Lady Katrin asked me to take you to the training hall."

Good grief. After all that thinking, was it time to put my body to work?

I followed the maid. Unusually, the training hall was beneath the building. Then again, even with a mansion this large, finding space for an outdoor training hall in the crowded capital would have been difficult.

Solid stone walls surrounded the hall, and the stone was anything but ordinary.

"It's like they've plastered the place with money."

There was even a sofa and table off to one side, where I could sit and drink tea prepared by the maid. Drinking tea in a training hall that smelled of sweat—this was my first real culture shock since coming to the capital.

Thoughts flitted through my mind: the royals I'd seen at today's awakening ceremony, and the count I'd just met. They were all people I couldn't dare stand against.

I might be Duke Gresia's son, and I might have awakened, but I was still only an illegitimate son, not fully accepted by the family. I'd thought I'd overcome that to some extent back on the estate. Coming to the capital had shown me otherwise. An illegitimate son was looked down on even more than I'd realized. The ladder between the classes wasn't broken; it had never existed at all.

The Queen and princess probably kept me close precisely because I was an illegitimate son. My position made me easy for the two princes to dismiss.

Objectively, my prospects could hardly have looked bleaker. Yet I felt calm. I wasn't afraid of the count who coveted my dagger, or of the princes, or even of the king. Part of it was that coming back from death had taken away my fear, but I was also confident in my ability to overcome death.

While I was lost in thought, Katrin entered the underground training hall. She strode over and apologized.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know the count wanted to see you because of the dagger. Let me apologize on his behalf. No, bringing you to this house was my mistake too."

It was an apology just like her.

"He hadn't even mentioned the dagger until yesterday. I thought he wanted to meet you because he was curious about you."

Yesterday, the dagger's effect wouldn't have been certain yet, so perhaps that was why he hadn't said anything. Or perhaps it was because his daughter was so determined to do what was right.

"It's all right. The dagger's in my hands now. Just help me if it causes trouble later."

"I will. Whatever it takes."

I'd thought she'd mellowed a little since coming to the capital, but that side of her hadn't gone away. When we first met, I'd found her rather exasperating. Now it didn't seem so bad. Was that because I felt she was on my side?

"He must think of it as a family relic. I understand."

Katrin gave a quiet sigh. "He wasn't always like this. Ever since the king's health began to fail, he seems to have grown impatient."

If he backed the wrong side, his entire house could be ruined. It was no wonder he was impatient.

"Does the count know everything about the princess?"

Katrin bit her lip. "... No. I haven't told him she received two abilities, and I don't intend to for some time."

What? She'd told me but wouldn't tell her own father?

She spoke with a gloomy expression. "I promised Her Majesty we'd keep it secret from anyone who might get ambitious if they learned she'd received the royal ability too."

Oh dear. Had his greed for the dagger made his daughters shut him out?

"The princess is still young. She needs time."

She certainly seemed to need time before she could fight her brothers. Of course, it would mean little if the king died first and a civil war broke out. But from the Queen's and princess's perspective, this might be their best option.

"Then who else knows everything?"

More people knew than I'd expected. Then again, they'd told me, so of course there had to be others.

"My father knows the dagger can influence an awakening. But the only ones who know everything are Her Majesty, the princess, me—and you."

"What? Why me? What makes me trustworthy...?"

I could undo a mistake, but I was the only one who knew that. I couldn't understand how she trusted me when she couldn't even trust her father.

"You signed a contract with me," she answered. "And I've kept checking on you."

Ah, the contract. We'd agreed to keep secrets. But having experienced countless contracts in my previous life, I knew that one had plenty of loopholes.

"I looked into all sorts of things before deciding. Her Majesty and I are certain you're someone we can trust."

Katrin looked straight at me as she spoke. Her eyes shone. Was that what it looked like to trust someone? I felt a sharp twinge in my chest.

Well, it wasn't as though I intended to betray them right now. I quietly averted my eyes.

"I understand. More importantly, weren't we going to have a proper spar?"

"Oh, right. You'll spar with me, won't you?"

"Yes. There are things I need to find out for myself."

I drew my dagger. I meant to find out for certain whether the Queen, the princess, and Katrin were people who would use me and cast me aside. As long as I didn't die, I had plenty of time to find out. For now, I would stay with them and see how things went.

Katrin raised her sword and shield. A shimmering haze rose from them, while red energy visible only to me surged from my blade.

"Shall we begin?"

"Yes!"

We were both wearing formal clothes, but so what? Sometimes that happened.

BANG!

WHOOSH!

We swung our shimmering blades at each other.

* * *

The spar ended on a pleasant note. My one regret was that one of my few formal outfits had been cut up.

Her ability was formidable, especially when she used her shield as well. Thanks to that ability, it felt as though she could change the shield's size at will. If she kept improving, she might be able to protect several people, not just herself. The energy rising from her sword seemed stronger too. If I'd still had the skill I'd possessed back in the Dungeon, she might have subdued me in no time.

This spar, though, could be called a draw. Using our abilities didn't make it the same as a real fight, but I thought I could afford to be confident in my skill.

"Still, I need to work harder."

I seemed to get dragged into unnecessary trouble far too easily to spend my time relaxing.

After the spar, Katrin stayed at the mansion, and I headed back to the academy.