“Revenge that inflicts physical pain is useless, you said. Yet you seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, didn’t you?”
After leaving Lea’s room, Yurien turned his dissatisfaction on Baron Bashport and his wife.
Baron Bashport, however, did not shrink back and spoke calmly.
“One whose soul has been torn apart may die at any moment because of the void left by the soul they lost. As you saw earlier, not only have their strength and body itself weakened, but their mind is also extremely unstable. It would be better for them to give up on life. If we are to keep that one tied to this world, then even if it is coercive and cruel, we must plant in them a reason to live.”
“Through anger and resentment?”
“Speaking from the experience of this old man, who has lived with anger and resentment as his foundation, it is highly effective.”
Because they were people who had endured the grief of losing their child by constantly rekindling their hatred for the chief figures of the coup, Yurien could not argue further.
Baroness Bashport stepped forward to defend her husband.
“Lea—Learie was already driven into quite a corner even before her soul was torn apart. Did you not see it as well, my lord? Despite possessing such beauty, there was that emptiness in her, swallowing the sorrow and pain that filled the room.”
“Mm.”
Lea herself likely had not noticed, preoccupied with touching and examining the body that had become a woman’s.
Though no one had scolded her, she had the look of a chastened puppy, eyes that seemed ready to spill tears at any moment, and yet the emotionless line of her mouth that bore it all in silence made it clear that her heart was dying.
That was why Baroness Bashport was very pleased with Lea’s current state.
“What do you intend to do from here?”
“As her teacher, I shall breathe hope into her, bestow grace upon her, and keep her alive.”
“Your enemy?”
“If one who lives a life worse than death is given death, they merely receive peace. At the very least, we must make her life better than death for there to be any pleasure in breaking her.”
In the end, it was no different from saying they would administer emergency treatment so that she could feel the pain they inflicted.
In truth, the baron and his wife had already felt considerable satisfaction from the agony she had suffered in becoming Learie.
Now it was time for them to inflict a corresponding measure of pain once more.
But Yurien, concerned over just how great that pain would be, subtly moved to restrain them.
“Very well. I, too, shall join in that play.”
“You, my lord?”
“If she must be made to survive and endure, then at this point there is no better material than myself.”
“That is most true, but do you intend to inform Learie of the rebellion plan?”
When the baron asked cautiously, Yurien shook his head.
“I will not tell her the plan. Merely knowing that I am the ringleader of the rebellion should be enough to make her want to live, whether for the sake of my foolish sister or to stop me.”
“Understood.”
The baron also agreed with Yurien’s thinking.
“After all, without Learie’s participation, the rebellion cannot succeed.”
“Bear this in mind. There are three months left until her debut into society.”
“Do not worry, my lord. My wife will raise her into a most proper lady.”
“Good. When do you intend to begin?”
At Yurien’s question, the baroness smiled.
It was still a smile devoid of warmth.
“Need you even ask?”
The baroness picked up a bucket filled with water for washing.
“We must begin at once.”
She strode over and opened the door to Lea’s room.
Immediately after, the sound of water splashing rang out, followed by the baroness’s stern command.
“Get up this instant, you lowborn wench! How dare you wake later than men!”
“Pff! What are you—!”
Smack!
“You still haven’t come to your senses, girl!”
“Y-you people told me just now to sleep well!”
“Do you not know?”
The baroness cackled.
“After fulfilling a wife’s duty until her husband, who returned home late past midnight, falls asleep, she must rise again and tend to the household.”
“That’s absurd…”
Smack!
“Even your queen, had she married off as a mere princess, would not have been much different.”
“……”
Only then did the atmosphere in the room quiet down. Watching it, Baron Bashport also curled up the corners of his mouth and nudged Yurien in the side.
“Is this not what one would call proper education?”
“Do you truly think you can plant hope to live in her this way?”
“It is very simple.”
The baron’s eyes gleamed dangerously.
“One who already possessed the temperament of a woman has now become a woman in truth. That makes it all the easier.”
--
Drenched by the sudden deluge of water, Lea shut her mouth under the baroness’s coercion and stood upright.
Smack!
“Take the strength out of your eyes. Are you planning to devour your husband?”
“Urgh…!”
Her vision flashed, and she reflexively tried to assume a combat stance, but her weakened body could not comply.
As Lea tottered and collapsed to the side, the baroness threw another bucket of water over her.
“Good. We shall start again from the beginning. Get up!”
“Ahh! Pff!”
“Tuck your chin only slightly and keep your back straight. Do not let your shoulders droop. Nothing makes a woman look more wretched than a turtle neck!”
Lea ground her teeth.
Fine. I’ll do it.
Something like this was nothing compared to training as a knight or being drilled in the army.
Through sheer spite, Lea steadied her trembling body and stood at attention.
After carrying out a series of rigid movements, she kept tensing herself and maintained the posture.
Smack!
“Eek! Why, why…?”
“How dare a lady sit there imitating a soldier!”
At the result, completely different from what she had expected, and even the reason for being scolded diverging from her expectations, Lea’s spirit was utterly crushed.
The baroness did not stop there and pressed her further.
“What an ugly, unsightly thing you are! Your face is already swollen, uglier than a potato!”
That’s because you hit me.
I’ve already been slapped more than three times.
Contrary to her resentment, her body was desperately trying to find a way to earn a passing mark from the baroness.
“I told you not to draw your chin in completely. If you force it all the way back, even a woman with little flesh will end up with a double chin, or the flesh beside her cheeks will bulge out.”
Following the baroness’s words, she drew her chin in just a little.
Her reddened, swollen cheeks burned.
“Straighten your shoulders and back!”
The baroness struck her shoulders and collarbone with a wooden switch, then lashed her waist.
Her hunched shoulders straightened, and her waist formed an elegant curve, pushing her chest forward.
That alone made the top of her sleeveless shirt look as if it might burst.
Lea thought it embarrassing that her chest was being emphasized so much.
But the baroness noticed her wandering thoughts and swung the switch again.
“I told you to relax your body! Look at the tension in your shoulders! Only your abdomen should be engaged. You must hold your center of gravity with the strength of your stomach, so that no matter the posture, you can stand straight and graceful without collapsing!”
For a long while, Lea had to flounder in order to satisfy the baroness’s expectations.
Sleepiness and humiliation exploded within her, even hostility waking, but in the body of a woman, she could do nothing against Baron Bashport and his wife and was dragged along.
Because of her love for the queen, she could not die either.
Lea had truly become a young girl, receiving lessons on how to become a woman.
“Stop.”
As she was adjusting her posture according to the instructions, the baroness spoke.
“Good. From there, lower your gaze just a touch below straight ahead, and naturally gather your hands beneath your navel.”
When she did as she was told, only then did the baroness lift the corners of that cold face.
“That’s right. Well done.”
“……”
Well done?
At the sudden praise, Lea went blank.
“That is the basic posture in which a lady stands. You did well.”
Ah, but why did that praise sound so sweet?
“Thank you.”
As Lea answered without realizing it and raised her head, a faint joy at having succeeded coexisted with the tears gathered from the pain of discipline.
“You may rest.”
“Ah…”
Once permission was given, the tension left Lea, and she collapsed to the side like a doll with its strings cut.
Before she could fall completely, the baroness gave Lea’s body a light shove, burying her in the bed.
“Is this not too harsh from the very beginning?”
“You must overwhelm her from the start and put the reins on properly so she will not dare think of barking.”
“She has already become a frail woman whose stamina and strength fall far short of an ordinary person’s.”
“Once she grips a sword, that ferocity will surely return. This, whether Eareiden or Learie, forms the essence of her soul, so it cannot disappear.”
Standing in front of the door, Yurien questioned her, but Baroness Bashport answered without so much as blinking.
Yet Yurien did not find this attitude of the baron and his wife displeasing.
They were excellent cleaners and operatives.
They were prepared to faithfully carry out the orders of Yurien, their lord, and they produced results as well. Thus the king’s younger brother needed only to convey clearly what he desired.
“Is any further education needed today?”
“We have already driven her torn soul sufficiently to its limit.”
With those words, the baroness left the room.
After watching her move away for a moment, Yurien approached the bed where Lea lay.
Lea was asleep with her lips pursed and her body curled up into a ball.
Even the sight of her tightly closed eyelids somehow looked cowed.
Yurien brushed aside the hair that had fallen over her face.
“Forgive me. No, do not forgive me. For I thought that if I did this, I would be able to have you.”
Then he brought the cold back of his hand to her cheek.
“It is fate that you became a woman, and it is also fate that you will become mine.”
Because that coolness felt rather pleasant, Lea leaned into it ever so slightly.
“Rest assured. Unlike my sister, I will not wound and neglect true love.”