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Chapter 20
‘Good.
He’s starting to get flustered.’
I couldn’t lose the momentum.
I pressed on him relentlessly.
“Is there another reason?
A reason you can’t teach Tev swordsmanship?”
“… All my skills belong to the House of Atlante, and I can’t teach them to those who don’t swear loyalty to the Atlantes.”
“Really?
Then that won’t be a reason either.
I told you, didn’t I?
He will become my guardian knight.
My guardian knight will be loyal to me, and being loyal to me is being loyal to the Atlantes… So like I said, that won’t be a reason either.”
I feigned sympathy by furrowing my brows and turning my lips downward, creating a frown that resembled an upside-down smile.
At this, Sir Joseph’s already fierce face became even more intense.
“My lady, I ask that you please stop your jesting.”
“Sir Joseph, I’m not jesting.” I told him in a serious tone, “Tev must be my guardian knight.
Fortunately, he has exceptional talent, but talent alone is not enough.
He needs a mentor to guide him.
And I think you are the best one, so I came to find you.”
“Lady Sylvia.”
Did he feel the sincerity in my honest words?
His atmosphere changed.
Just a moment ago, he was trying to refuse and send me away by any means, but now he was considering whether or not to accept my request.
So, now was my chance.
“Please test him.”
“Excuse me?”
“Please test Tev.
Whether to accept him as your disciple or not.
Make your decision after that.”
“Why you are undertaking such…”
“Please.”
I looked straight into Sir Joseph’s eyes.
I saw his pupils trembling slightly, so I lowered my head.
“This is my first and last request.”
A brief silence, and then what followed was…
“Goodness.
Understood, my lady.
I shall permit him to take the test for now, as you wish.”
Unlike his initial firm refusal, the response was much more subdued.
“Thank you.”
With my head bowed, I smiled.
I knew it would come to this end.
Sir Joseph was a stubborn stickler for principles.
That was why he clashed with Sylvia in my memories, over and over.
“That is not our duty.”
When Sylvia took the knights around on her whims and tormented them, he firmly refused.
“Please show mercy, my lady.”
When Sylvia tried to slap someone she didn’t like, he stepped in and stopped her.
Sylvia disliked Joseph for always opposing her wishes.
But…
“How dare you speak ill of Lady Sylvia?
I will impose strict punishment.”
He also punished the knights who secretly insulted Sylvia.
“I will protect you, my lady.”
He also protected her alone when no one else cared about her.
‘He was the person Sylvia felt sorry and grateful for.’
Knight Commander Joseph, who heard that he was inflexible and rigid to the point of being frustrating.
However, he had a blind loyalty to the Atlante ducal family and a seemingly tough yet soft heart.
This made it difficult for him to refuse Lady Sylvia immediately, even though she usually disliked him, when she suddenly approached him with an outrageous request.
“My test is for him to spar with me.
If he wins the sparring match, I will accept your request, my lady.”
At his following words, I had to force myself to hide my excitement. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
‘Sir Joseph may have thought he was subtly telling us to give up.’
Because it was natural for a boy who had never held a sword before to lose when sparring with the commander of the Atlante House Knights.
He would think it was fortunate if Tev could even withstand his sword without fear.
But that was only for ordinary kids.
“Alright.
Shall we do it right now?”
It didn’t apply to the future genius swordsman at all, who dared to speak informally to the commander of the Atlante House Knights.
“… If I end up taking you as my disciple, I’ll have to fix that choice of your language first.”
“Why don’t you think about that after you beat me?”
‘It’s good he isn’t afraid, but isn’t he getting too cocky?’
What if Sir Joseph didn’t spare him?!
Of course, he wouldn’t kill Tev during the sparring match… but he could beat Tev half to death.
Tev, however, just flaunted a grin at me as if he wasn’t worried at all.
“Don’t worry.
I’ll win and make that bandit my mentor.”
Bandit?
Sir Joseph did look like a bandit, but Tev was probably the first one to call him that outright.
Sir Joseph’s face crumpled as if he also heard what Tev just said.
‘That stern Sir Joseph looks…!’
I covered my mouth at the funny sight, and Tev laughed along.
Then he turned to me, raising his chin, and declared, “Just watch me from there smiling like that.
I’ll do as you wish.”
‘… The kid tries to act cool.’
With a soft smile, I looked at Tev, who was oddly shining.
‘Boy, is he really Tev Hiddleton?’
He had the same appearance and name but was completely different from the reticent and serious Tev Hiddleton in Sylvia’s memories.
What on earth happened that such a cheeky and cute kid changed 180 degrees into a stone-like man within a few years?
While I was making useless deductions, the sparring match began.
“I’ll give you the first move.”
“You’ll regret it?”
“No way.
Being bitten by a mosquito seems itchier than dealing with the sword of a tiny guy like you.”
“What?
Mosquito?
…You bastard!”
Provoked by Sir Joseph, Tev charged at him with a sword in both hands.
His steps were quite fast, but his clumsy posture gave away his anticipated movements, even to someone like myself who was totally unfamiliar with swords.
As expected, Sir Joseph easily dodged and swung his sword without even drawing it from its sheath.
“Ugh!”
Tev, struck in the head by the sword Sir Joseph swung, let out a groan.
It might have been very painful since the sound of impact was clear even to me, who was in the far distance.
However, Tev’s suffering didn’t end there.
In fact, it was just the beginning.
Thud––
“Ugh!”
Smack––
“Agh!”
Thwack––
“Oof!”
Each time Sir Joseph wielded his sword, Tev’s pained cries echoed.
Those sounds continued until…
“Ah, ugh, not, done, ugh, uh!”
Tev’s battered body finally gave in and his wobbly legs buckled.
“… What do you mean, not done?”
Sir Joseph looked at Tev, who kept trying to get up, with a sickened expression.
“You’ll get more hurt.
Just go treat your wounds before they get worse.”
“Not, done, I said!”
“Ugh, stubborn kid.”
Sir Joseph pushed Tev’s shoulder lightly.
Then, Tev staggered and fell sideways.
“Look at you.
What do you mean not done?
I said, go get some rest.”
Sir Joseph was right.
Tev couldn’t continue the sparring match anymore.
It seemed that it was time to call it a day.
“Tev, that’s enough––”
“Not, done yet!”
As I tried to stop Tev, he got up from where he had fallen.
Barely standing on his wobbly legs, the fourteen-year-old boy stared at Sir Joseph with an intense gaze that seemed too powerful for his age.
“I’m not done yet!”
Sir Joseph, filled with bewilderment, looked blankly at Tev, who was full of determination.
As Tev’s sword, weak as a butterfly’s wing fluttered, approached him, Sir Joseph blocked it with one finger and said, “… Fine.
I lost.”
Sir Joseph, who had never been defeated since becoming the commander of the Atlante House Knights, admitted his defeat––to a fourteen-year-old boy who had just picked up a sword for the first time.
“You won.”
As Sir Joseph’s words ended, Tev’s body collapsed.
“Tev!”
‘Did he get hurt somewhere?’
As I hurried toward them, Sir Joseph caught Tev and briefed me about his condition, in order to pacify me.
“He just fainted.”
“Just fainted?
There’s no problem?”
“Uh…
there is a problem.
He got hit too many times?”
Indeed, blood and bruises were visible all over his body, even through his clothes.
‘Even if it’s a test to decide whether to take him as a disciple or not, is it alright to do this to a young kid?’
I looked at Tev’s blueish-purple bruises and then shifted my gaze to Sir Joseph.
He emitted a brief, forced chuckle and averted his gaze from mine, apparently aware that he went too far.
“Well, it’s been a while since I saw such a combative gaze, so I couldn’t help myself.”
“Nice excuse.”
“Hem!
Ahem!”
I considered teasing Sir Joseph a bit more as he discreetly retreated, but I let it go.
After all, he was a lifesaver to Sylvia and would be the one to train Tev in the future, so there was no need to get on his bad side from the start.
“Please take good care of him.”
“Eh?”
He was pretending not to know.
“You have to be Tev’s mentor and teach him swordsmanship since you lost the sparring match.”
“Ah, huh?”
… Ah, huh?
He didn’t seem to play dumb, so why was he having that face as if he was hearing this for the first time?
‘Did he really forget?’
Sir Joseph covered his devastated face with both hands.
‘…
He really must have forgotten.’
No way.
Did he forget the purpose of the sparring match?
Then why on earth did he think they had this match?
I stared at him in disbelief, and Sir Joseph, as if feeling the pressure from my gaze, remained silent for a moment before abruptly standing up.
“As the one responsible for Tev’s injuries and his future mentor, it is my duty to take him to a doctor.
You, my lady, should retire inside and take some rest.”
It sounded like a quickly made excuse to escape the situation, but I nodded since there was no need to be sarcastic as he would be taking Tev for treatment.
Besides, it would be difficult for me to carry Tev, who was about the same height as me even if he was skinny.
Sir Joseph lifted Tev with one arm and slung him over his shoulder.
‘I’ve heard that if you’re carried like that, you’re bound to get a bruise.’
Looking at Sir Joseph carrying Tev like a sack of rice on his shoulder, I worried about Tev’s stomach.
‘His stomach might be bruised by that too.’
I watched Sir Joseph and Tev walk away and sighed.
“Tev…
will he be okay, right?”
It would be a waste if he got sick and couldn’t eat after I fed him so much over the time.
Hmm…
I should bring him something delicious later.
‘Eating a lot and sleeping is the best cure when you’re hurt, so he’ll get better if he eats, right?’
***
As soon as I returned to my room, I took out a paper from the drawer.
It wasn’t an empty sheet with nothing written on it, but my plan written in Korean so that others wouldn’t recognize it.
“Let’s see….”