Chapter 38. Couple's Fight
"Pant, pant... I can't do this anymore... Go easy on me..."
"This isn't human stamina..."
The knights of Delmark collapsed in the training ground, each groaning in pain.
But Kaligo was unfazed.
"Don't make weak excuses! Anyone who collapses before me, who just arrived at the mansion yesterday, won't be able to lift their head today."
"If you put it that way, we also went on a magic beast subjugation yesterday and just came back?"
"Then it's about the same. Me, who slept uncomfortably in a place that's not even my home for days, and you lot, who slept comfortably with your legs stretched out before going on a magic beast subjugation. Right?"
Kaligo kicked his subordinates, telling them to get up. Rather than standing, the knights rolled on the floor to avoid his feet.
Kaligo was a knight counted among the elite within the knight order. He had good stamina, good skills, and good affability, and was considered a candidate for the next commander.
But the knights hoped the day he became commander would never come.
The reason lay in his extremely harsh training intensity.
'Please, someone stop the training...'
Just as the knights were rolling on the floor desperately wishing for that, someone appeared at the entrance of the training ground. All eyes focused there at once.
There stood Blair with the servants. Carrying baskets in their hands.
"It seemed like everyone was working hard, so I brought some snacks."
The eyes of the knights, who had looked half-dead, sparkled.
God has answered!
Even those who normally didn't think favorably of Blair saw her as an angel at this moment.
"If we're interrupting, we can leave them, so you can eat later..."
"No! I want to eat now!"
"You put in the effort to prepare these, so isn't it proper to eat them while they're still warm?"
The knights, who had been sprawled out like corpses, hurriedly got up and approached Blair and the servants.
Kaligo kicked the backside of one subordinate approaching Blair, but the subordinates ignored him.
Eventually, Kaligo raised both hands.
"Fine, it would be impolite to send the Madam away without a proper greeting when she came in person. Thirty-minute break."
Cheers erupted from among the knights.
The servants distributed snacks to them. It was a baguette with meat and vegetables, along with apple juice.
To Kaligo, who was watching his subordinates eat, Blair came personally to deliver a snack.
He received the snack and rejoiced like a child.
"Oh my, you came to give it to me personally... I'm deeply honored, Madam. A household definitely needs a lady of the house."
"I was worried I might be interrupting training, so I didn't come this way often, but if I had known everyone would be this happy, I should have brought something sooner."
"Those guys are just happy to have their training interrupted. Anyway, thank you for the food."
He must have been hungry too, as he immediately started eating the baguette.
Beside him, Blair's eyes watching his behavior turned cold, unlike just a moment ago.
In truth, Blair hadn't visited the training ground purely to look after the knights.
This morning, as soon as Herdin left the bedroom, Blair sent a letter to Mikhail requesting an investigation into Kaligo.
But with the person who killed her right before her eyes, she couldn't just sit still and wait. Thinking she should do something, she came using the knights as an excuse.
"Oh, this is delicious. While coming down from the territory, I kept thinking about freshly baked warm bread... The bread they sell at inns is like rocks, I tell you. You've never tried it, have you, Madam?"
"The bread is hard like rocks?"
"I'm telling you it's true. You'll probably visit the territory someday, so try it then. It feels like it'll crack your te―"
"...Crack my teeth?"
"Tch, I shouldn't use such language in front of a noble lady... I apologize, I grew up rough so I don't know these things well..."
Kaligo belatedly slapped his own coarse mouth, then spotted a subordinate passing by and nudged him.
"Go get me one more bread."
"Me?"
"Can't you see I'm talking with the Madam right now?"
The subordinate grumbled as he went to get the bread. The fact that he grumbled was proof that Kaligo was a good superior. It meant he allowed it.
Blair blankly watched such Kaligo. The man who killed her was too ordinary to be called a murderer.
He rejoiced when someone looked after him, rejoiced when he ate something delicious, got along well with people, and didn't view her with prejudice.
That's why she was even more scared.
That someone like this could have killed her.
"It seems you've been in Delmark for a long time. Everyone seems to follow you well."
"I've been here longer than those guys, yeah. Was it when I was thirteen? Around then I came to Delmark."
"Then where were you affiliated before that?"
If Kaligo hadn't killed her for personal reasons, he must have acted under someone's orders.
If his current lord wasn't the mastermind, it was highly likely to be someone he had prior connections with.
"Before coming to Delmark..."
Just as Kaligo opened his mouth, a presence was felt from the entrance of the training ground.
Following the presence and turning around, Herdin was seen just entering the training ground.
"Your Excellency? What brings you here at this hour? Isn't this supposed to be your busy time?"
"The work finished early, so I came to spar, but there was a guest who arrived first."
His eyes looking at Blair and Kaligo were strangely cold.
Blair looked with displeasure at him who suddenly appeared.
'If we talked a little more, I could have guessed the mastermind...'
But with Herdin here, she couldn't continue that conversation.
And above all, seeing him was uncomfortable. The fight they had was just this morning.
Especially, when she saw him, the words she had said came to mind, making her want to avoid him even more.
'I really... hate you...'
Why did she say that? She wasn't a child.
'It's not like he's the kind of person who would be hurt by mere words like that.'
It was the only phrase among the words she knew that could express her feelings, so she spat it out in a fit of anger...
But didn't it sound exactly like what a six-year-old child would say while sulking?
Of course she hated him. Disliked him.
But she disliked how the feelings expressed by that single word seemed infinitely lighter than the weight in her heart.
"I only came to deliver snacks, but I ended up taking up too much time. I'll be going now."
Blair left the training ground with the maids as if fleeing from Herdin. Herdin's cold gaze chased after her departing figure.
Kaligo, watching this, let out a small exclamation as if he noticed something.
"Ah, you two had a fight?"
"..."
"They say a couple's fight is like cutting water with a knife."
Instead of an answer, Herdin's cold gaze returned.
When he returned to the mansion right after finishing the magic beast subjugation yesterday. His mood had twisted when he saw Blair with Kaligo.
The gaze she couldn't tear away from Kaligo, her asking about Kaligo while held in his arms, that letter she didn't know who it was for, all of it.
All of those things combined to produce this result.
"Perfect timing, perfect timing."
The clueless Kaligo nudged Herdin's arm.
But Herdin's expression as he turned around was cold. The knights watching Kaligo turned pale. Only then did Kaligo sense that something was wrong.
And that belated intuition was spot on.
Herdin pointed to the back with a nod of his head and commanded.
"Go get a sword."
The hellish sparring had begun.
* * *
"Is this little guy really a predator of the forest?"
Meli looked with fascination at Pippi drinking milk. The sight of him lying on Blair's lap drinking milk looked just like a master.
Blair nodded and diligently explained the knowledge about martens she had read in books.
"Yeah. They move in packs and hunt and eat roe deer and deer that are bigger than them."
"Gasp. It looks so cute, but it's a scarier creature than it looks?"
"So among nobles who like hunting, some apparently raise martens and bring them along to hunts."
"I should get on this guy's good side. So I don't get hunted, I mean."
Blair laughed at Meli's jest. Since Blair entrusted Pippi to Meli, the two had become much closer. With Rina too, of course.
Just as Blair was talking about Pippi with Meli, footsteps were heard.
Blair, who casually looked back, brightened upon seeing Rina approaching.
Could it be, news from the guild?
But the words that came out of Rina's mouth were just ordinary daily conversation.
"Meli. The butler says to come see him for a moment if you're not busy."
"Go on, Meli."
Disappointment flashed across Blair's face as she sent Meli off, then disappeared with a bitter smile.
'It's bound to take a lot of time anyway.'
It had been half a month since she requested information about Kaligo from Mikhail.
And it had also been half a month since she fought with Herdin.
Perhaps because his enthusiasm had cooled from the argument with her, he no longer visited her bedroom that he used to visit every night.
They still had meals together as before, but that was it. Meals where almost nothing resembling conversation was exchanged, just eating together.
That day. Why, suddenly, for what reason he revealed his twisted mood, she still didn't know, but it was rather a good thing.
Since recalling the possibility that he might have killed her, it had been hard to look at his face.
She would need to make peace before obtaining Asiel, but she didn't want to think about it right now.
Just as Blair was shaking off her thoughts about Herdin and playing with Pippi, a maid entered through the open door.
"Madam, Lady Lorellain has arrived."