I Possessed the Villain’s Childhood Friend – Chapter 62

Leon was handling various duties in his office.

With a thoroughness that eliminated any distractions, Leon was in fact waiting for one specific piece of news.

And then—

“Your Highness.”

A knock echoed, followed by a male voice.

It was his guard, Kernan.

“A letter has arrived from Duke Ados.”

“Thanks. Just leave it on the desk.”

“Understood.”

The office door opened, and the armored Kernan entered, holding a white letter envelope in his left hand.

“Thank you for your hard work, Your Highness.”

“We’re all doing our jobs here.”

At Leon’s light reply, Kernan bowed slightly, finished his business, and left the room quietly.

“Hm.”

Leon confirmed the door was completely closed before putting down the pen he had been busily scribbling with. He then shifted his gaze to the letter Kernan had left behind.

The seal on the letter displayed a scale with a sword and shield on either side.

It was the emblem of the Akses House, one of the two great ducal families.

“Finally, it’s here.”

Without hesitation, Leon broke the seal and unfolded the letter.

The elegant handwriting conveyed the awaited news without a doubt—Reina had arrived at the Akses Duke House and was ready to move at any time.

“Good.”

Snap!

As he flicked his fingers, the letter was completely consumed by flames and vanished.

There was no way the contents of this letter could leak to anyone else.

Leon turned his attention back to the stack of documents he had been working on.

If he focused sincerely, he could finish the pile in about an hour.

“Kernan.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Prepare a carriage that can set off in three hours.”

“A carriage, Your Highness?”

Kernan’s voice was tinged with surprise at the sudden order for a carriage.

But Leon continued without a care.

“Yes.”

“May I ask the destination?”

“We’re heading to Heros.”

Even though Leon couldn’t see Kernan, it was clear he wore a light smile as he spoke.

★

A sharp thrust lunged at me like a striking snake.

Faster than Helen’s punch.

And sharper too.

Even considering the rapier was specialized for thrusting, the speed was impressive.

“Master. You need to exert force at the precise moment to block the attacks. Didn’t you learn that a moment’s misalignment can lead to a fatal injury last time?”

“I know that!”

But it isn’t as easy as just saying it.

Especially with a rapier, where the contact area is so small.

“Ugh!”

Even as I swung my sword to block the incoming thrust, Alex had already pulled his rapier back to transition to his next move.

Repeating this would only lead to me collecting more wounds.

So I had to use the side of my sword to block with minimal movement.

But for that, as he said, I needed to exert the right amount of force at the exact timing.

The moment I miss that…

“Guhh!”

In an instant, Alex’s rapier had found its way into my opening.

“Haah, haah, haah.”

Heavy breaths filled the training hall.

Alex too heaved with sweat pouring down his body from over three hours of sparring.

The difference was that my breath was rough due to the wounds, while Alex was struggling solely from fatigue.

While he had minor scratches, there were certainly fewer than mine.

“I must be getting old. To tire out from just this much sparring.”

“Consider my position where I’m cornered by just this level of sparring.”

“I can’t allow myself to be outdone by you yet, Master.”

With that, Alex bore a kind smile, sheathing his rapier.

It was the signal that the sparring had ended.

I slowly sank to the floor as he pressed his left pinky finger down with his thumb.

With the sound of clunk, the door closed, and I plopped down.

“You’ve improved quite a bit over the past week. At least you can manage to succeed once out of five times now. But it’s still disappointing that your push-back strength isn’t enough.”

That was a spot-on observation.

To achieve perfect parrying, I needed to deflect with certain strength at the perfect timing.

But currently, all I could manage was blocking Alex’s attacks.

It was still impossible to break his flow and launch a counterattack.

“If it weren’t for the rapier, you could’ve succeeded even more.”

I grumbled slightly at Alex with some dissatisfaction.

In response, Alex closed his eyes and nodded gently.

“That’s why I told you on the day we started sparring. If you master perfect parrying against a rapier, then you’ll at least get a chance to counterattack against anyone.”

“….”

In both sparring and banter, I had faced a complete defeat.

“Thank you for your hard work, Master.”

“Thank you for today as well.”

Alex left the training hall with impeccable butler etiquette.

As I swallowed hard in admiration of such a figure,

“Aike, here.”

Reina approached me, handing over a towel and water.

“Thanks.”

It had already been four days since Reina started staying at the mansion.

And she had been caring for me at the end of each of my sparring sessions for these four days.

“I’ll heal you now.”

“Ah, please take care of it.”

I took off my tattered shirt from fatigue and leaned my back against Reina.

I’ll be scolded by Noelle again today.

I felt a twinge of guilt for always making Noelle repair my clothes, but there was nothing I could do.

“O flowing water, grant mercy to the traveler before you.”

As Reina began her incantation, my overheated body began to cool, and my wounds started to heal.

The healing magic of the water element was indeed remarkable.

If I had to name the most convenient aspect since Reina’s arrival, it would definitely be this.

There was no need to visit the infirmary within the mansion after sparring.

Reina could simply cast her healing magic, making everything alright.

“Isn’t this a bit too much every day?”

Reina’s voice came from behind, tinged with concern.

“…Is it too much?”

Since sparring at home was always like this, I might have become desensitized to it.

But I was definitely much better now.

Shortly after possessing this body, I couldn’t even wield a sword properly.

I always received wounds even worse than this while having to rely solely on emergency care under my father’s orders.

“You’re getting hit way too much.”

“That can’t be helped.”

This was the Akses House, the pinnacle of knight families.

Naturally, a low-ranked knight wouldn’t accomplish anything here.

Thus came the honor of being called the ‘sword that protects the Empire’, and people refer to it as another knight order.

“Noel might be stronger than me, too?”

“Then you should at least wear armor….”

“You know that’s not possible, right?”

Except for specific exceptions like the Central Knight Order, knights make their living fighting magical beasts.

And increasing one’s bodyweight while battling magical beasts is akin to signing a death sentence.

That’s why even in sparring and martial arts, we aim to simplify armor as much as possible.

“To begin with, it’s not like the barrier makes it hurt too much anymore; I’ve mostly gotten accustomed to it, so I can endure it.”

I said that, turning my head slightly backward.

Reina bit her lip, maintaining her healing magic.

“Don’t think of just enduring because you’re used to it, think of ways to win.”

“I want to do that too, but the experience level is just different at the moment.”

“Hmph.”

Reina snickered and slapped my back with her palm.

With a thwack, a cool sensation rushed through my back.

It didn’t hurt.

In fact, despite it being summer, Reina’s palm felt pleasantly cool.

“It’s done.”

“Thanks.”

After wiping my body with the towel Reina had just handed me, I put on the prepared shirt.

I moved slightly, and of course, there were no issues.

“Any plans for afterward?”

“Just the usual. Finish the remaining duties after lunch, then more training until dinner.”

“…Right.”

Reina sighed and turned away.

I guess she must be bored.

Since staying at this mansion, she had certainly been treated as a guest.

Saying that another way means she had nothing to do.

Reina had been recognized for her talents, and despite being a woman, she used to work an insane amount back at her family’s estate.

Combined with her usual personality, Reina unknowingly embodied strong workaholic traits.

Even at Arcana, she always used to study.

For someone like her, doing nothing right now would indeed seem boring and tiring.

I wanted to be as considerate as I could, but from my position, it was honestly not that easy.

The amount of responsibility I had was small, but my lack of ability meant I had to invest a lot of time.

Missing out on training was out of the question.

“Well, maybe I’ll try to talk to my father about it a bit later.”

To see if I could get a day off.

Since I hadn’t really had a proper conversation with Reina when she first arrived, I wanted to chat a bit.

After returning home, I hadn’t taken a day off, so I thought this request might be granted.

It should be possible around this weekend.

That was what I was thinking.

“Excuse me?”

“Just as you said, Aike. After lunch, take Lady Reina out of the mansion.”

And somehow, I ended up being kicked out by my father.

★

I slightly turned my head back, watching Aike tidy up the training hall.

Normally, this would be something I could have other servants do, but in the Akses House, it was the rule that those learning the sword would tidy up the training area.

I glanced at Aike, who was sweeping the ground with a blank expression.

He looked to have no worries at all.

“Hmph.”

Is he only aware of me?

With that thought, I found myself unconsciously wiggling my right hand.

The warmth still lingered in the hand that had just struck his back after casting healing magic.

And then, Aike’s figure, shirtless, crossed my mind.

A broad back and a muscular build.

“Ugh.”

Heat quickly rushed to my face before I even realized it.

Luckily, there was no one around, and Aike was too focused on tidying the training hall to notice.

Calm down.

If someone catches wind of such thoughts, it would be an extreme embarrassment for the Young Lady of the Rozelia Duke House.

Taking a gentle grasp of my chest and breathing deeply, I felt my warmth lessen a bit.

“It’s done, Reina. Let’s head back.”

“…Alright.”

Before long, Aike finished tidying and began to walk ahead.

I found myself unwittingly captivated by his noble figure from behind.

Understanding the gap between me and him, I couldn’t help but reflect on how hard he was trying to find a way out despite it.

That attitude was truly admirable.

“Still, I really hope he doesn’t lose.”

I want to believe that my knight is always the strongest.

With such a childlike thought, I found myself about to break into a wry smile.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing at all.”

I knew I shouldn’t be feeling this way, yet my emotions were swelling.

Just walking alongside you is enough to shake my resolution to keep these feelings in check.

“Lady Reina, it’s okay to act comfortably without worrying about anything. No one will reproach you.”

That was the shield I had, spoken by Duke Ados when I first arrived at the Akses House.

Really, I know I shouldn’t be feeling this way.