CH 23

Louisa was writhing in bed.

“Come on, Big Sis! That hurt!”

“Don’t move so much, there’s no space!”

Her younger siblings are extremely frustrated but their complaints don’t reach Louisa’s ears. She and her many siblings were sleeping together in a narrow bed, but so if Louisa so much as rolled over or moved her limbs, it would be a terrible nuisance for everyone around her.

Ever since she met the knight apprentice Floto that day, Louisa’s life has been so sunny. Not just that day, but every day since then, Floto would come to the farm on patrol and then stay there to do farm work. And for some reason, Floto often talks to Louisa.

Is it because Louisa happened to be the first he spoke to? Is it because she said she was the children’s leader during their first meeting? That can’t be right. He was talking normally with everyone else, and if he wanted guidance, he’d just ask the old farmers. If he wanted to get close to someone, some children are closer to him in age. It didn’t have to be Louisa.

Then why was he talking so intimately with Louisa every day? Could it be because Floto likes Louisa? With those thoughts in mind, Louisa can’t sleep at night and writhes like this.

Not only will her life become easier, but she might even fall in love with a beautiful knight apprentice. With that prospect in her mind, Louisa had a happy dream today as well.

It had been several months since Floto had visited the farm. In the beginning, Floto was suddenly sluggish, but as Louisa talked to him more frequently, Floto gradually regained his energy.

Louisa doesn’t know why Floto wasn’t feeling well. However, seeing Floto smiling sadly made Louisa feel a deep pain in her chest, and pushed her to desperately try to cheer him up by talking to him. She doesn’t know what happened to Floto that made him recover. All she can say is that she’s glad she’s brought Floto’s life back.

Then one day, when the distance between them gradually closed, Floto told Louisa to stay a little longer after finishing the work on the farm. The two sit side by side on the bank of the stream that separates the forest from the grassy plain where the farm is.

Maybe he’ll even confess his love for her…

When she thought of that, Louisa becomes restless and anxious. Her face is burning hot and her heart is pounding.

As Floto sits next to her, his profile is looking at the forest with a serious expression, he’s so beautiful. Louisa’s eyes are fascinated by this mysterious beauty like he had been cut out of a painting somewhere.

She stops trying to say anything and continues to wait for Floto’s words as he’s lost in thought. With Louisa’s heart pounding, Floto made up his mind and faced Louisa with a serious expression, while she was ready for him.

“Louisa… you have a talent for magic,” Floto said. “It would help you out a lot if you learned how to use spells. If you’d like, I could teach you some of them?”

“…………………… Yes?”

After a long silence, Louisa finally returned a dumbfounded reply, it was all she could do. She doesn’t quite understand what Floto is saying.

“I see…” Floto said. “Then I’ll teach you magic from now on.”

“………… Yeah?”

“Let’s do it here when the work on the farm is over, starting from tomorrow! See you then!”

“… Hmm?”

Floto got up with a nice smile and waved as he left. Louisa still didn’t quite understand what he meant.

Ma-gic? Magic? Can she use magic? There are some nobles who can’t even use it, much less commoners. Was he making fun of her?

Such questions and answers repeated in Louisa’s head. Even poor people know that magic can only be used by those of noble bloodlines. No matter how far back you look in her family tree, there can be no noble blood in a pauper’s house like Louisa’s. Even Louisa knows that much.

To begin with, even though she didn’t explicitly say “Yes” to Floto, she still ended up learning magic from him. The “Yes?” was intended to ask for clarification, but then there was his “I see,” and then him thinking her “Yeah” was another affirmative, even while she tilted her neck in confusion.

For goodness sake… Louisa shook her head, thinking Floto didn’t know or would not listen to people.

“Fuu… honestly, Floto… wait, WHAAAATTTTTTT?!”

Then, Louisa’s panicked scream echoed through the northern forest.

Several months have passed since Floto started teaching Louisa magic. During that time, the two of them sat side by side on the bank every day after work on the farm alone together. From Louisa’s point of view, being alone with Floto was more fun than his magic class. This is a small date, she thinks, and her delusion progresses.

But what surprised Louisa the most was that she really could use magic. At first, she thought Floto was just saying they were studying magic as an excuse for the two of them to meet like this, but it wasn’t the case. While she was learning magic from Floto for a while, Louisa really did become able to use spells as he promised.

“Come on, concentrate a bit more,” Floto said.

“Uuu, mmm…” Louisa grunted.

Floto scolded her while she was thinking. But she can’t concentrate. If an adolescent girl sits side by side with the boy she likes and puts his hand on top of hers, it makes the girl’s heart skip a beat. Even so, when she was somewhat concentrating on the spell, water flowed out of Louisa’s hand.

“That’s it! You’ve done it!” Floto cried.

“Really…? Amazing…” Louisa whispered.

Until now, she could only use small spells, like igniting a small flame or causing a weak breeze for a moment. However, as Floto told her to study magic, Louisa gradually became able to use stronger spells. Little by little she could see that magic was becoming a real skill for her.

Floto not only teaches hands-on spell practice but also academics. They weren’t aware of it, but Louisa already possessed much stronger magical power and knowledge of magic than other professional wizards out in the world.

Lately, Louisa has been leading a more productive life than before. The farm wages made life easier for the family, and magic education greatly increased the possibilities for her future. And above all else, she enjoys spending time with her favorite boy. She wondered if such a luxury should be allowed. It is unthinkable from her life in the slums a while ago.

If she hones her magic more and more… you might even be able to enter a lower-class noble’s house herself. Yes, if it’s at the level of her favorite knight…

Excellent wizards are often recruited by the aristocrats. A man can enter a noble house as a vassal, and a woman as a lover. Ordinarily, the daughter of a poor man who is not so beautiful would not even be given the time of day even by lower-ranking knighthoods or baronies. But if you can become a magician with high capabilities…

When she asked Floto about it, he answered that any noble would be happy to have her. There will be some ingratiating and flattery involved, but the odds of success are high if it is a lower-ranking aristocrat, if not any other potential employer.

Even if she can’t become Floto’s legal wife… she wants to live with him someday, even if it’s just as his mistress. With that in mind, Louisa continued to study magic every day.

Such peaceful days suddenly collapse one day. A bear-like monster was glaring at the farm from the depths of the forest.

Terrifying.

Louisa was so frightened and paralyzed and unable to move. Still, when Floto grabbed her arm, the shaking stopped and she managed to keep from crying. Louisa follows Floto’s instructions and leads the children to flee back to town. Even if she stayed here, she will only get in Floto’s way. He can’t escape with them.

With that in mind, she was trying to get out of this place so as not to scare the children and agitate the monster, but one child noticed it and started crying. It’s her fault, but she has no time to regret it. Regardless, she took the kids and hurried to town.

Then, in their rush, Louisa glanced back. She saw a figure fighting the monster. Floto might not have had to bear the brunt of the fighting if Louisa hadn’t made the children cry and provoked it. She regrets it, but for now, she will evacuate the children and let him escape, too. That’s what she thought…

“FLOTO…!!!”

Floto had been skillfully dealing with the monster’s attack with his sword but was ultimately blown away by its assault.

“It’s no good, Louisa!” the old farmers yelled. “Get back here!”

They try to hold her back, Louisa breaks through their grips and rushes to her beloved. In front of Floto stands a soldier who was always on the patrol detail and a boy Louisa has never seen before, both confronting monsters. But they can’t seem to stop it.

Just as the monster raised its paw and was about to mow down those standing in front of it, it was suddenly engulfed in a huge pillar of fire, and after the flames went out, nothing remained. At that, Louisa and everyone else was stunned. They couldn’t understand what happened.

“Flora! Did you just do that, Flora? ……Hey? Flora? Are you okay?”

“I’m… fine… Your Highness… Ludwig…”

It seemed the boy who stood before Floto had protected him from the monster, and now worriedly looked back at Floto. Then, Louisa came back to her senses and her mind began to work again.

“Flo… to? … Floto was a girl? … And His Highness? Flora?… It can’t be! Lady Flora of House Carruthers? Floto? Why? What’s going on here!? Have you been lying to all of us?” Louisa cried.

“Ah… Louisa?” Floto whispered.

Floto never took off his helmet whatever time of day. He doesn’t take off his armor, either, so she had taken it for granted, but it wouldn’t be strange for him to take off his helmet and leave it beside him. And yet, even when he was studying with Louisa, he never took off his helmet.

And now that it was off, Floto’s hair flowed down. He had long, beautiful blond hair. Louisa thought he was beautiful enough to be mistaken for a beautiful sculpture or a girl. It was neither of those. He was a girl. Floto was a girl.

Even Louisa understood the meaning of the phrase “His Highness”. And the boy holding the beautiful girl “Flora” also had a beautiful face… Louisa at least knows the name of the lord of her home territory and their family. Even in the slums, there were rumors that Flora, the eldest daughter of Margrave Carruthers, was engaged to Prince Ludwig.

A beautiful girl held by a bright young boy. They were so well-matched that Louisa’s head went blank. To her frustration, she could not see any room for her to come between them. So she said something terrible and ran off.

It’s been a week since the farm was attacked by a monster, and Louisa has been absent from work. Neither the old farmers nor her parents are harsh on Louisa, as they had also been informed of the incident. Anyone would think that if such a young child was so terrified and traumatized, there’s nothing to be done about it. Louisa was just treated as on vacation and they decided to see how she was doing for a while.

For a week Louisa thought intently. About Floto and Flora… and even then, she made up her mind that her love for Floto, no, Flora, was true.

She’ll apologize. She’ll meet up with her, apologize for her harsh words, and thank her for saving her life. If she does that, they’ll return to the way things were before… even if they can’t be like lovers, at least they’ll be friends…

With that in mind, Lousia decided to start working on the farm again the next day.

It’s been a week since Louisa returned to work on the farm. But during that time, neither Floto nor Flora appeared. Only then did Louisa realize how badly she had treated Flora. Flora who had treated her so well Flora who had risked her life to protect Louisa and the others… why did she say that? What did Flora think after hearing that? She finally came to a conclusion.

“Fuh… aha… ahahahahahah…!” Louisa cried, bursting into tears and laughter on the empty farm.

At least be friends? How convenient… who was it who hurt Flora and drove her even further away? There’s no way she’d just want to come to see her again.

After shedding so many tears, Louisa made up her mind and stood up.

That’s right. She has done a terrible thing. It’s irreversible. But at the very least, even so, in order to be able to help that person she loves even now… so that she can return this favor to that person someday… she will polish the magic that person taught her and wait for that moment.

From that day on, Louisa became more devoted to studying magic than ever before.

Margrave Albert came late with reinforcements, in time to see Flora being carried off in a stretcher. The armor on her upper right arm IS destroyed. He could easily imagine she must have been sent flying by an attack there.

Speaking of the mad horned bear, they are infamous for their ferocity. In terms of its danger, regardless of your strength, it is the first or the second-most lethal monster in the territory. Albert is confident that he can win ten times if he fights one-on-one with one, but he doesn’t want to do that. It’s a dangerous monster that will kill you instantly if you let even one attack hit. It would be nice if it was a fight where he could definitely win with his subordinates, but if he risked his life just to fight it, even if he won in strength, there was a danger of being killed by one simple mistake.

To begin with, mad horned bears are covered with hard fur and a thick layer of fat beneath that, so even a light or glancing attack can’t even deal damage. Alberto wields heavy swords and can hurt the beast regardless, but regular soldiers’ spears usually fail to harm a mad horned bear.

And regarding Flora’s sword handling, Albert also acknowledges her skill. But he doesn’t think those slender arms can do damage to a mad horned bear. In terms of ability, Flora is probably better than the mad horned bear, but there is no way to inflict damage, and even a single blow would be fatal.

Albert picked up her broken sword. The edge had been warped as if it had been intentionally blunted and could not be used for cutting anymore. It must be proof that Flora dealt with and parried the mad horned bear’s attack. The sword is also shattered in the middle.

And he’s horrified to see the scorched marks on the ground and the glass-like remains. If this powerful magic was used against human enemies or entire cities… imagining that would make Albert, a veteran commander of countless battles, horrified to his core.

“Hoo! This is so wonderful!” Christoph shouted, enraptured as he examined the glassy scorched earth.

“… I leave the inspection to you,” Albert muttered.

He left several other subordinates to assist, and then headed a short distance away into the northern forest.

“(On the day of the Third Prince Ludwig’s visit, a monster that rarely, if ever, appears, does so by chance… or was it…?)” Albert muttered quietly to himself.

Today was the day the third Prince Ludwig came to visit House Carruthers. Ludwig had told Albert to keep it a secret from Flora because he wanted to surprise her, and Albert obeyed. But of course, the rest of the manor knew to prepare for Ludwig’s arrival.

On such a day, the rare monster called the mad horned bear came to the edge of the forest even though the patrol soldiers had just left. Too many stars have aligned for it to be called a coincidence.

Of course, Albert didn’t think there are that many idiots who want to assassinate the Third Prince. However, it is true that there are too many unnatural facts to say that this event is just chance.

“This small incident… it looks like we’ll need to investigate…” Albert murmured.

A gust of wind blew and whisked it off to the sky, unheard by anyone else.

T/N: His daughter is basically capable of summoning a miniature nuclear blast on demand, which only exacerbates Albert’s fears. Christoph, meanwhile, is absolutely delighted, and that’s just extremely funny to me.