Chapter 29

“Really?”

“Yes. Was it supposed to be this humid here?”

Despite being in the north, the heavy air made Astel wonder a little.

I looked around, wiping the drops of sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.

It’s hot, but…

Apart from the various garden trees, there were a lot of Meili herbs in the vacant lot near the battleground.

‘Meili herb wasn’t a usual plant…’

Astel tilted her head and turned around. Soon it was her turn to enter the sparring room.

However, a handsome and gentle-looking man came toward us, bowing 90 degrees between the hard-working knights.

“Oh, hello. My lord! Who’s this beautiful lady?”

“Get out of my way, bastard. It’s none of your business.”

Ricardo was squeaky, but he didn’t seem to dislike him.

Not that it wasn’t, the man with green hair and gold eyes looked sad and good-natured.

It could be said that he was a person who could easily relieve anyone’s vigilance.

Unsurprisingly, the young and cute children who were with him in the battleground also followed his movements.

They all seemed to be beasts who were learning swordsmanship.

The identity of the children gathered in this place couldn’t be ascertained.

However, judging from the fact that there are children with sharp fangs like sharks and children with slightly slanted eyes like foxes, I thought that they might be the heir of each vassal family.

Small children gathered around him, chattering.

“Teacher!”

As they approached the man in front and hugged his legs, they seemed to think of him as a doll.

‘If they were the heirs of the vassal family, they must have a high natural alertness, but it’s amazing.’

Astel, curious, smiled and answered him.

“Hello, I’m Astel, a human healer.”

It hasn’t been long since she entered the Duke Castle, but it has been three years since she entered the north.

Having lived here for a long time, I had a habit of naturally thinking about what kind of beast my opponent was.

However, it wasn’t possible to know what kind of beast this person was.

Astel, gazed at them, like observing her opponents but she withdrew thinking it would be rude to stare at them like weighing and judging them.

“Ahh… You’re the one who saved the Lord after the Duke! I’m Bachel, the sword teacher of the successors.”

As he reached out his hand as if to shake hands, Ricardo clicked his tongue and slapped his hand roughly.

“How dare you touch a Lady’s body.”

Despite the harsh attitude befitting of his reputation as a tyrant, Bachel only bowed his head without a bewildered look.

“Oh my! It’s a mistake. I’m sorry.”

Astel looked at him and shook her head a little.

“It’s okay.”

“That’s a relief. Oh!”

Just by looking at him, I could tell that he was a very kind and gentle person.

“Would you like me to take you on a tour inside?”

Ricardo grunted as if annoyed by his suggestion.

“Well, whatever.”

Soon, we looked through each training facility in the Duke Castle, including the swordsmanship training center.

Children would put on their helmets and practice like it’s a real thing, an outdoor training field with a more free atmosphere, and a place where swords of various shapes are set up in a row…

Astel laughed joyfully after seeing everyone at a glance.

“Did it help you?”

Meanwhile, the children were following him around, smiling brightly.

‘He’s like a human cat.’

That’s what I thought.

“Yes! It helped a lot.”

Astel smiled at him and nodded lightly.

“But there’s a lot of people.”

“Ah, yes. A month later, a swordsmanship competition would be held in the Duke Castle. It’s the biggest event for knights, so everyone’s probably busy.”

Astel nodded at his words.

It would be a big event.

The Duke of Anais was also considered the greatest swordsman in the Empire.

“Then, all the knights in the Duke Castle would gather?”

“Yes, everyone would surely participate. I’m sure they’re all trying to win. Haha! Sounds like fun, really.”

A month later, the swordsmanship competition.

“If a swordsmanship contest were to be held, you would need a lot of dedicated healers right?”

“Oh… That’s right. We have to do all the medical examinations and doping tests for the Duke’s knights in advance!”

Ricardo squirmed into the middle of the conversation and said,

“Huh, why are you doing that? Astel? Are you trying to show off your skills again?”

Astel replied cautiously, slightly embarrassed.

“Well, if I have the chance!”

Then before that, there was a place where I wanted to show my skills first.

It’s…

* * *

…It was the Duke.

Entering his office ambitiously, Astel tried to get the timing right to talk about how she wanted to help in the swordsmanship competition.

However, the Duke’s attitude was a little more strange than usual.

He stared at me the whole time with a pitiful look on his face.

Why?

You’re in the best shape right now…

Astel tried to open her mouth carefully while pressing down on her soft cheeks for no reason.

But the Duke talked first.

“How are you feeling?”

“Oh, good!”

The Duke’s expression clouded as if my answer were foggy for a moment.

What? Why does it seem like you don’t believe me?

…why?

I was in doubt, but there was no room for resolution. The Duke has asked me a question again.

“Shall we go see your favorite sea today?”

“Was there a sea on the Duke Castle?”

It’s strange, the Duke seems to keep trying to change the atmosphere.

He replied with a ferocious smile.

“It’s not in the castle, but of course it’s in the Duchy.”

Come to think of it, I remember hearing that there was a sea that freezes when winter comes in this Duchy.

I was so curious that my eyes sparkled, and I was about to tell him that we should go see it, but soon I had a different thought.

Come to think of it, I decided to see my brother today.

Not sure what time it was, but anyway…

“Ah… I don’t think so. I’m going to meet Sir Cassian.”

My brother said there was no need to hide our meeting itself.

“We’re not that close, but since he came to the castle, we thought we’d see each other at least once.”

Astel could see the Duke clenched his teeth with a cold face.

I was a little scared when I saw him.

Maybe he’s grinding his teeth.

Because it’s a beast!

“You probably won’t see Cassian Gray, Astel.”

“…Yes?”

“Because he’s going to be busy with work.”

But my brother said he would meet me…

Astel became a little sullen.

The Duke tapped on the table as if to evoke her feelings.

“Instead, if there’s anything Astel wants, I’d like to hear it.”

The atmosphere seemed to be relaxed and the same odd situation was created.

It’s a shame that I couldn’t see my brother, but it was a good opportunity.

‘We couldn’t put it off any longer. This was the time to rock!’

Astel put her hand on the armrest, pretended not to be nervous at all, and got to the point.

“Well, yes! I want to treat you, Duke. Are you sick anywhere?”

“You’re going to treat me?”

“Yes!”

“What are you thinking, Astel?”

The Duke stared at me with his head tilted sideways.

Astel just smiled broadly.

Of course, the calculator was spinning in my head.

The man with the lightning scar under his eye would also participate in the swordsmanship competition.

It was a lucky chance to need a healer in a swordsmanship competition where at least all the knights in the Duke’s Castle would gather.

It was clear that if I participated in the process as a healer, I would be able to see the knights more closely.

Of course, in order for the proposal to work for the Duke, who’s worried that I would overworked with the current treatment, it’s necessary to get closer to him.

Astel carefully grabbed the Duke’s arm and proceeded the treatment she had prepared.

“…I’ve been treating the scratch on your arm, how was it? You don’t have a fever, and the Duke’s okay, right?”

Astel blinked at him and smiled.

“All right, there’s no problem with the imprint.”

“The Duke just said everything was fine…”

“…”

Astel opened her lips carefully.

“… You asked me to go see the sea, and I think you’re a really nice person.”

Nothing has been clarified yet to conclude so.

In the worst case scenario, the Duke of Anais could have been the final villain that destroyed Count Vietry.

But at least for Astel, Duke of Anais’ was her ‘imprint,’ and he was ‘good man.’

The Duke raised one hand and swept his face.

There was an uncanny smile hanging around his lips that couldn’t be hidden with his big hand.

Seeing the corners of his mouth go up, I felt like a snowflake was blooming in the cold winter.

“The imprint wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

Astel was staring blankly at him and muttered unconsciously.

“Oh, you’re smiling.”

“…Ah.”

The Duke’s expression hardened again.

“Are you… scared?”

Of course, there were times when he smiled in a scary way.

But not now.

“Really…”

Astel quietly took out every word from her heart.

“It’s… nice to see you smile, it feels warm.

Was it because of the imprint? Strangely, I felt like my heart felt relaxed when I’m in front of the Duke.

The Duke closed his eyes again and smiled faintly.

“Yes.”

After coughing heavily, Astel said to the Duke.

“Now that I’ve treated the wound, I’ll do a physical exam the way I developed it! Just the arm!”

Astel carefully checked the Duke’s arm looking down.

And hesitated to find the right timing.

“Well, you said you’d do anything I want. That’s why, I have a very small request.”

“Say it.”

Astel glanced up at the Duke. His eyes were still slightly curved.

…the atmosphere was good.

“Well, I heard that there will be a swordsmanship competition in a month.”

“…Yes.”

“I want to volunteer as a healer to treat the knights who would participate in the swordsmanship competition. I’ll also give them a check-up, and if they get hurt, I would also treat them… tha-that, was it okay?”

And then, from the Duke of Anais, the sound of grinding teeth could be heard.

Am I hallucinating?

“I remember that you… liked the stories of the knights. That’s why you also like Cassian Gray.”

Di-d… did I?

But why are you suddenly talking about my brother again?