Chapter 23

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He looked at me with shaking eyes then, as if he hadn’t lost his energy a while ago, he bravely said.

“It’s alright, it’s my fault, I didn’t think you were such a weakling. From now on, just trust this brother, and don’t learn self-defense!”

I just laughed because I don’t think I can keep those words. Nanuk, who was staring at me, asked lowly.

“Rosiane, why did you suddenly want to learn self-defense?”

I thought for a moment whether I should tell him what I saw at night, then shook my head. If they want to hide it, it’s probably right to pretend I don’t know.

Instead, I came up with a plausible excuse.

“That’s because, I can’t just get help forever.”

I remembered the situations that would have been dangerous if Erdos and Eryte had not come. In the future, there will be times when they will not be able to save me or will be late.

On top of that, I had not yet mastered magic properly, so I needed something to buy time.

At my words, Eryte’s expression was strangely distorted. I glanced at Nanuk, wondering if something was wrong, and I noticed that his left eyebrow was also slightly wrinkled.

After a brief silence, Nanuk’s mouth opened.

“Then, what do you think about learning from this brother, Rosiane.”

“What–?!”

At Nanuk’s words, Eryte shouted loudly. With a bewildered expression on my face, I made eye contact with Nanuk, who was smiling slightly.

Surely, Nanuk would be a good teacher. If Eryte is focused on power and Leav is focused on the brain, then Nanuk and Bernique are both equipped with power and brains.

“No–!!”

As soon as I nodded, Eryte cried out loud.

“Well then, let’s go.”

Nanuk left the room without looking at Eryte. I waved hard to Eryte through the fast-closing door.

Arriving at Nanuk’s Palace, we had a simple tea time. The cold tea soaked my throat coolly.

The combination of rich brownies and cold tea was so fantastic, I forgot to speak and chewed enthusiastically.

“Is it good?”

“Very much.”

I nodded a couple of times. Come to think of it, unlike me who was eating heartily, Nanuk was sipping his tea without even holding a fork.

I thought he wasn’t eating because I ate too eagerly, so I picked up a piece of brownie cut into small pieces and brought it to his mouth.

We can just ask them to bake brownies again. Nanuk, who was staring at the brownie I gave out, slowly opened his mouth and ate it.

And, gulp.

He swallowed it with little chewing, then drank the tea. Oh my, no way. I looked at Nanuk carefully and picked up another brownie and held it in front of him.

“…Why don’t you eat more.”

“Do you, by any chance, hate….?”

Sweet food. Before I could say more, Nanuk who had wrinkled eyebrows, ate the brownie again. This time, the brownie was slowly squashed in his mouth.

When I picked up the brownie again and looked at him, I saw Nanuk flinching slightly. Gosh, I guess you really didn’t like sweets. I wouldn’t have given it to you if you said no.

“Then, Rosiane. Give me your hand.”

Nanuk, who came to the seat opposite me, as if he was trying to change the situation, reached out to my hand. Nanuk lowered his posture when I gave him my hand without saying much.

“Show me your strength.”

It seems to be a test of physical strength in the guise of arm wrestling. Groan. I tried as hard as I could, but in the end I couldn’t move at all.

Nanuk looked at me with a strange look on his face and muttered to himself, “Hmm, I see.” Then he let go of my hand and sat down.

“First of all, Rosie is weak, so it’s better for you to go for the opponent’s vital point right away.”

Nanuk, who analyzed my condition, said so and scribbled something on the prepared paper.

Nanuk, who made 34 dots on a drawing of a human figure, returned the drawing in a way that was pleasing to me.

“The vital point is the part that can kill the opponent if you hit it, so you have to aim for it accurately at once.”

Um. Usually people explain that it’s dangerous to hit the vital points recklessly.

“You look weak, that’s why there’s a good chance that your opponent will be off guard, so you need to aim for a gap and hit it accurately.”

Anyway, I diligently put it in my head because it was something I needed.

“Rosie’s height won’t reach all of them anyway, so you don’t need to know all the vital points, but I’ll explain everything first.”

Heavy factual violence reached me. Nanuk’s quill pen pointed to the predetermined vital point.

The names of numerous vital areas, including the throat, chin, back of the neck, temple, and eyes, popped out of his mouth.

A quiet, languid tone echoed through the room quietly.

“Rosiane, you can focus on the lower half of the body and the eyes.”

“The eyes, too?”

The adult’s eyes were in a position that I wouldn’t reach even if I jumped, so I tilted my head and asked, he nodded his head.

“It’s because there is no other place that can be clearly seen from the outside, and it’s also a place where you can do a lot of damage with little effort.”

Obviously, when you put on clothes, all the other vital points are covered, while only the eyes remain. Even the man that Erdos had dealt with seemed to have his eyes pierced out.

“How do I attack the eyes?”

When I asked if I was supposed to punch it, Nanuk closed his mouth for a moment. Then he filled the empty teacup with tea then took a sip, and continued.

“…I think the best way would be to use your fingers and poke them.”

It was a terrifying thing to say with a calm face.

I imagined putting my finger in a person’s eyes for a moment and shook my head wildly….I think I’m going to feel really bad.

“And, if you’re being threatened by a man, with all your strength, knee him in his thing.”

His thing…..I would feel a bit bad, but I nodded, it was surely a good vital point.

Each person’s height and weight are different, so I needed to know the exact location of the vital point to attack, it took quite a long time to practice.

“What are you going to do this time?”

Nanuk grabbed my wrists with one hand and blocked my knees with the other. At my appearance of being caught, I was groaning and thinking about how I should attack him.

“I don’t know….?”

“Your face is close, so I think it’s okay to bite the nose or ears with your teeth.”

Nanuk gave a simple answer.

If both hands and feet are blocked at such a close distance that you can feel the breath, hard teeth can make a good weapon. It was a method that I never wanted to use because it was uncomfortable.

It’s not the self-defense technique I was thinking of, but it seems to be a method that can be used to buy time if needed.

At some point, as it began to look like survival training and not hitting the vital spots, it was time to take a short break and sit on the sofa again.

“Your Highness the Prince, I’m sorry, but if you don’t leave now, His Majesty will be waiting.”

At the servant’s words, Nanuk immediately hugged my exhausted body and started walking.

“Rosiane.”

When I arrived at the dining area, Erdos opened his arms and took me from Nanuk. He gave me a short kiss on my hair and sat me down on his lap before asking with a worried look.

“I heard you hurt your hand, are you okay?”

Hiding my right hand, I answered.

“It was nothing.”

It was healed with holy water anyway. Erdos, who gave a small sigh, carefully stroked the back of my hand with the protector.

Meanwhile, food was prepared on the table. Erdos took a spoonful of steaming soup and blew it before placing it in front of my mouth.

“It must be hard to eat by yourself because you hurt your hand.”

I took a bite and shook my head.

“I’ve been treated with holy water so my injury has completely recovered.”

“No, I’m sure you can’t hold a spoon alone.”

Erdos declared.

I held back my laughter and ate the soup in front of my mouth again. It’s because you just want to feed me.

Suddenly, I remembered when I just came here. The sight of my family members who used to feed me, who was pretending not to know how to hold a spoon.

“Here, Rosiane.”

I looked around and found friendly eyes directed at me.

Like a ghost, they found the food where my eyes were, placed it in front of my mouth, and even fought over who would feed me.

It was fascinating. To fully receive favor  towards me.

When my stomach was full to some extent, Erdos began to fill his stomach.

I especially took the salmon terrine with basil pesto, which I enjoyed the most, and put it in Erdos’ mouth.

Seeing Erdos trembling and eating the salmon terrine, Leav frowned and turned his gaze to me with his chin propped. For a moment, I thought that he would be scolded if he ate with his chin propped like that.

Grandmother used to get very angry if I didn’t show any courtesy. Especially in front of the table, there were many times when I couldn’t eat because I was so upset that my tears fell.

But no one here scolded Leav’s actions. Even with a propped chin, it doesn’t matter to them? In fact, they don’t seem to care about anything.

“As of today, the envoys of the Principality of Karkun have entered the palace.”

It was Erdos’ voice that woke me from my thoughts.

“We have tripled our security, but I think everyone should be careful until the national festival is over.”

As the number of strangers in the imperial palace increases, the possibility of safety risks increases as well. In the original story, there was an incident where Nanuk, who had grown up, was almost poisoned during the national festival of the country.

It seemed to happen frequently because it would be hard to identify the culprit.

Two attempts have been made to me as well, maybe even several attempts that may have happened without my knowledge.

I have to be careful, in fact, learning self-defense can only buy me time until someone comes, but I can’t beat those who are professionally raised for assassination.

“And Rosiane as for you—.”

Erdos paused and pressed his thumb and middle finger. As soon as the sound was heard, a man, who came out of nowhere, was seated at the end of the table.

Long indigo blue hair tied up high, blue eyes slightly brighter but less saturated, and a solid body that can be seen under a black uniform. I immediately remembered his name.

Deus de Boyd, head of the escort unit under the direct control of the Emperor, Zion.

An elusive man who always guards the Emperor by his side.

“Deus will stick with you until the national festival is over.”

At those words, everyone looked at Erdos with wide eyes.

“Isn’t Deus de Boyd the leader of Zion.”

“That’s why I can be sure of his skills.”

When Nanuk expressed his displeasure, Erdos responded concisely. I tilted my head as if I didn’t understand.

“Zion?”

“This is an escort unit under the direct control of the emperor, created by His Majesty Regision, the first emperor, after his name.”

When I pretended not to know, Leav immediately explained. It was Bernique who spoke after.

“Zion has a long history since the founding of Esteria. It’s a so-called elite unit that has never failed to stop an assassination attempt on the emperor.”

They were raised to protect the emperor, and now Erdos has done something unprecedented. It’s only for a little while, but to give your daughter Zion’s leader.

I don’t know about the other knights, but the most loyal knight of Zion, on top of that the leader, Lord Boyd, even if he was offended he wouldn’t say anything, so I opened my mouth to reject it.

“Then what about you, Your Majesty…..?”

The most valid reason for rejection is the Emperor’s safety.