“Ruud, there’s no need for you to greet us this exaggeratedly.”
Leon-sama said as he inched closer to Duke Odile with his long legs in no time, clapping his shoulder.
“The princess is nervous. –Let me correct that, the commodore.”
“You were the one who promoted her, right?”
“Well, that’s right. –Anyway, I’m relying on you.”
“I understand. Here, let’s come in.”
Duke Odile slightly bowed before he approached me who was waiting and said, “—Welcome to my castle, Princess Tuura. I will address you as ‘Commodore’ from now on, so please excuse my greeting you formally as ‘Princess’ just now.”
Although it was a bit stiff, Duke Odile greeted me politely.
I felt like his favorability rating just raised suddenly.
In the first place, besides having long straight red hair and beautiful sky-colored pupils, coupled with his magnificent physique, Duke Odile had delicately calm facial features. All in all, he was a dreamy gentleman.
He purposely said in front of his close aides, palace guards, and all these people that I was a ‘commodore’ despite being a ‘princess’ as well, as a reminder so that they would treat me as one. After all, we met before in the corridor after the unofficial [morning assembly] and he had already greeted me with “Princess” there, so there was no need to repeat that here.
So that I wouldn’t be seen as rude, I slowly raised my line of sight as I calmly extended my hand in order to do my part of greeting as a lady.
Duke Odile took my hand and kissed it.
“I’m Riviere Emil la Tuura. I offer you my sincere gratitude for being allowed to be in your castle this time and for the earlier greeting.”
“I’m Sigurd Odile do Gladius. I’m one of the dukes, along with Duke Evangelista. Please don’t hesitate to rely on me just like how you were with him.”
“Thank you very much for your generosity.”
I think that was a perfect greeting.
Normally, he would either release my hand that he just kissed or take my hand and escort me.
But after the greeting, he would be treating me as a [commodore], huh? If that was the case, he needed to release my hand.
“…?”
But he didn’t even let go of my hand.
“…? Uhm, your Excellency…?”
I tried making an expression that conveyed, “I’m a bit troubled here,” but he still won’t let go of my hand. Furthermore, though it was a bit impolite, I tried to move my hand that was on his grasp, but he still won’t let go. On the contrary, he put more strength in his grasp. Although he had clearly done the greeting by kissing my hand for quite some time ago.
“! Uu…”
“Oi, Ruud.”
“Duke Odile.”
His grip strength was dreadful that my expression unconsciously warped due to the pain. Leon-sama and Orgueil called out to Duke Odile at almost the same time.
Duke Odile wasn’t the slightest bit perturbed as he raised his face, but his hand finally loosened and he released my hand, perhaps he would escort me after this.
“Now then, I shall accompany you inside. An introduction is in order after that. Leave the other people to me, I won’t let them be rude.”
Duke Odile glared at the others surrounding us as if saying, “Do you have any complaint?” before he walked away.
‘Isn’t it weird?!’ I think perhaps that was what everyone there thought.
Personally, I thought that it would be weird for him to escort me like a lady when I was currently wearing a knight’s outfit. He even said that he would treat me as a commodore after this.
It was also weird for a duke like him not to delegate the task of showing me around the castle to anyone else.
In addition, I was more or less Duke Evangelista’s lover, or I was supposed to occupy a similar position. But what’s with this posture?
A lot of questions appeared in my mind as my hand was brazenly pulled (incidentally, one of his hand was put around my waist), as Duke Odile escorted me. With my position, it was obvious that I couldn’t go against him. Perhaps considering the fact that this was Duke Odile’s territory, Leon-sama and Orgueil wore straight faces as they didn’t ostensibly object. Under such circumstances, we left the place.
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The audience with Duke Odile’s close aides ended without any problem.
I never thought that I would meet all of them at once.
There was the head of the aides, the administrator, and two subordinates of Duke Odile. In total, there were four people.
After we introduced ourselves, I inquired a bit on their everyday job. It seemed that they immediately participated in the war council after lunch. The number of people participating seemed to have increased a bit at that time.
Although everyone might have a lot to think about, I was relieved since they treated me quite politely. I wasn’t that timid, but I was oddly conscious about it recently, so perhaps my stress tolerance had already decreased.
The two subordinates were short red-haired lieutenant general Noldgrain and the chestnut-colored silky hair major general Norman. The arrangements with them ended without any problem as well. That marked the big event that was happening in the morning period.
There was a small training field within the castle, but the amount of the military officers allowed to watch was staggering to the extent I wanted to shout, “Is this a show?!” Well, it is a show. I would be glad if I was allowed to take admission fee, Duke. –Sorry for having a commoner’s way of thought.
Putting aside the overflowing spectators, the weapon that was provided wasn’t a long sword, it was a thin sword instead—perhaps it was provided due to the concern that I was a woman. Thanks to it, I was able to demonstrate my true strength without exhausting my stamina at all even after having two matches one after another.
Obviously—though I felt sorry to my two opponents for saying this confidently—I was superior to them. But the two of them were equally strong. I saw them as people who used the regular, correct way of fighting, though. I wonder if they paid a lot of attention to how they were fighting? Anyhow, they were quite late in responding to my slightly irregular movement. At a glance, people who wasn’t familiar with the arts of fighting would only see them as a little bit late in response.
You wouldn’t be able to secure victory only by doing something prettily. The two of them were high-ranked officials, so perhaps they weren’t involved in any muddle battle. But this couldn’t be the end of their skills. If I were to judge them—based on the foundation of every martial arts that I’ve learned and my occupation as a soldier who faced death on almost daily basis—the two of them still had a lot to work on. Incidentally, my training partner—Orgueil—was an exception. He was on a whole different level and his skills couldn’t even fit into the category of ‘beautiful’, ‘dirty’, ‘sneaky’, or ‘frontal’.
Rather than getting frustrated, the two of them were more surprised and praised me for not holding back—I was embarrassed from their praises. I was also happy when they told me that next time I should try using the longsword without holding back. Orgueil expressionlessly clapped his hands and gave a few pointers after that. He was definitely a devilish teacher. Leon-sama hugged me as he smiled bewitchingly, causing the spectators to tease us. I felt like I wanted to run away. As for Duke Odile’s response… it was quite tricky.
Anyway, the audience, match, and ceremonial meal were [generally] a success. The war council after that, well, it was also alright.
But Duke Odile’s condition was weird. When I recalled today’s events later on, I still thought that this person was definitely weird. Despite having a calm, practical, and straightforward image, his taste was weird.
I have no doubt about it. The duke liked my [hand]. He has an obsession on [hands].
Translator’s Note:
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