Chapter 68 - The Apologies

I woke up with a smile the next morning. It was a bright day just like my life. I would start anew. I stood up early and then got ready even before Beth could come and serve me.

She looked at me with surprised eyes but I did it have time for her. I ran to the ground full of anticipation. I only stopped when I reached the training area.

For a minute I had thought that Sir Seymour would not come as he was a busy man but when I saw him standing there before my arrival, I took a breath of relief.

Hearing footsteps, he turned back and smiled looking at me.

"You are ealy. Sir Abigail" i felt better when he still addressed me as knight not as the lady of the palace.

"So as you, sir Seymour. Shall we start?" I asked and he shook his head.

"You need to warm up, first. Go and run 10 laps and then we will start" he replied and i nodded. 

Without wasting any time I started running. I could hear other knights saying something but I wasn't able to concentrate and I did not want to slow my speed or listen to gossip so I let it go and kept running. After a few minutes when I stopped he looked at me with a proud face.

"That was a good start, now chose the sword" he pointed at the table where there were many types of swords were decorated. I knew it was another test of his, he wanted to know if I was just asking him to teach me out of whim or if I had any idea about his ancestral technique of sword wielding.

I consciously chose a double edged sword out of many and stood in front of him when he looked at me surprised yet satisfied.

"Hold the sword like that, yes. Now copy my actions' ' He wielded the sword in slow motions so that i can see the details and i copied him. He was looking at my every action with interest.

"Now repeat it 200 times for perfection" ordered the aide thinking that i would complain but i just nodded and started the practice.

'If only he knew that Noah would not leave me out of the hook before I practiced at least 1000 times, 200 times was much less in comparison.' I continued my practice when my fixed time with him finished. He showed me one more attack and then promised me that he would be here tomorrow too.

I nodded had continued my practice again when I heard footsteps. I saw Noah coming towards me but I did not give him any attention. He stood there for a while as if he wanted to talk to me but he left after standing there for a while. 

When I finally completed my training for the day, I remembered the promise I had made to Nickolas to have a picnic lunch with him. I turned to walk out but I saw Noah standing there waiting for me.

"I want to talk to you" he said, i wanted to deny him, but his face was looking annoyed, so i decided to spare 5 minutes to him.

"Yes, tell me"

"You told me to behave myself, conscious of the honor of my father and my family, right? Do you know how rude you were when you said that? Even if your family and I are in the same boat, your remarks could spark a fight if something went wrong. Do you know that?"

"I know."

I nodded when he got down to the point. I just spat out what came to my mind as I was upset about him at that time. And i wanted to make him realise that he could not behave irrationally to me too.

"I was reckless back then. Sorry, I apologize. '' I said nonchalantly and started waking again.

"… Hey, you!" he called me back, dumbfounded. 

"Is there anything else?'' I asked the man who was still not looking satisfied.

"Do you think you can get away with such a quick apology when you have told me to behave myself in front of everyone?"

I smiled at him as he stared at me as if he was dumbfounded. I thought it's funny that I told him what I have learnt from him in my past life. He still needed to gain that calmness that he used to have.

"Do you think offering apologies disgraces your honor?"

"Of course!?"

"Why? Don't you think that failure to apologize for doing something wrong or expressing appreciation even if you receive a favor is something dishonorable? If you are blamed by others for your needless pride, can you say that it is an honorable behavior?"

"… "

"That's why I apologized for something that I felt wrong about. By the way…"

"Ugh?"

"Do you know that the way you have treated me disrespectfully until now could also escalate into a feud?"

I looked up at him with a scornful smile. He would notice my smile was meaningful if he were not stupid. Not surprisingly, the boy's expression slowly distorted.

"Ugh, that's because…"

"Please go ahead."

"Sorry, lady. I'm really sorry for that."

"I accept your apology."

"What I mean is…"

The boy stammered, very nervously. I thought he was cute at that moment.

At first he reminded me of someone in my past life, and now I don't recall him anymore when I found him at a loss what to do.

"Oh, I don't know! I was born like this from the beginning. Let me just talk informally to you. If you are uncomfortable about it, just complain formally."

"Okay. Then, can I formally complain to my father? "

"Oh, no way!"

"Why not? As a member of a noble family who values honor, you don't want to retract what you have promised me, right?"

"Dang it! Yeah, go ahead if you want. I'm ready!"

When I saw the boy muttering with his head down, I burst into laughter.

It was the first time I had a hearty laugh like that. I really felt refreshed to hear that.