/
Olivier’s laughter was short.
He himself seemed to be surprised that he laughed out loud.
Taking off his hand from his mouth, he looked at it in disbelief before he lowered it.
“I feel the same way.”
After Olivier said this, he stared at her for a moment without saying anything else.
As if he was imprinting her image in his eyes.
“When we first met
 You were injured, and you looked like you were having a difficult time. But it’s not like that now.”
His gentle words seemed to have the same effect as warming Radis’ nervous shoulders.
“So
 I’m glad.”
Radis felt her whole body start to relax.
‘Why
?’
Meeting his gaze, Radis stared back into Olivier’s purple eyes.
The way he looked at her made it seem like he was an artist who wanted to capture every detail of the moment so that he could transfer the essence of the other person onto a canvas.
‘Seriously, why?’
Then, footsteps resounded from outside the hallway.
Olivier seemed to have heard it, too.
With his eyes still transfixed on her, he asked.
“Will you be attending the New Year’s ball?”
“Ah, yes
”
“I’ll see you again.”
Olivier smiled. Their gazes met.
His eyes contained genuine happiness.
‘Your Highness, seriously, why are you being like this
?’
But Radis had no courage to utter the words, and so there was no other choice but to smile back awkwardly.
.
.
.
15. New Year’s Eve
The Russell Marquisate’s townhouse was a summer villa that was located at a vacation spot with an overlooking view of the great city of Dvirath and the capital city of Elarion.
The roof of the three-story mansion was red, and the garden was complete with a small pond and carefully trimmed topiary.
This kind of cute mansion did not suit Yves at all. But as it turned out, it was decorated according to the tastes of Elder Madam Mariel.
Early in the morning, Radis stood in an open space that was surrounded by ambiguous topiary shapes. She wasn’t quite sure if they were dogs or deer.
And her hand was an ornamental sword that she had borrowed from a decorative armor from inside the mansion.
The blade was not sharp and it was out of balance because of the excessive adornments on it, but it did not matter.
Actually, even if it was a branch, she would have been fine with it.
Rather than a physical workout, this was more of a mental exercise.
‘What was that?’
A day had already passed, but she still couldn’t get it out of her mind.
‘Why is His Highness the Third Prince showing such favor towards me? Maybe he has also been looking for an opportunity to approach Marquis Russell? Wait, no, I don’t think that’s it, based on the Marquis’ attitude.’
As much as her mind had been thrown into turmoil, she let her body unleash her strength.
With her soft hair fluttering in the gentle wind, her sword moved smoothly as well.
‘What on earth is the Third Prince thinking?’
What she was demonstrating right now was the imperial swordsmanship techniques that Armano had taught her before.
She had repeated this tens of thousands of times, and so these movements had become fully ingrained in her body by now.
If she ever wanted to just move her body without thinking at all, this kind of practice was the best for her.
In fact, imperial swordsmanship was very complicated. So that you can respond to a variety of situations at the drop of a hat, each movement was woven into the next. There were thirty-two techniques, and more than a hundred steps to follow.
Such a kind of swordsmanship did not have any shortcuts when it came to mastering it.
Only perpetual repetition.
She practiced it over and over, and as time went by, Radis’ thoughts shifted.
‘Not bad.’
Her usual sword from before felt a true warrior’s sword, ready to be brought to any battlefield at any given time. But the sword she was holding right now, which had lost its usefulness and strength, simply felt as soft as water.
Even so, her body was infinitely light, and her feet seemed to barely graze past the grass.
‘It feels good.’
Oh, how great it felt to wield a sword.
Even though it was so cold this winter day that her breaths could be seen as puffs in the air, Radis’ back was soaked in sweat now. She then sheathed the sword and looked to the side.
Between the two topiaries, which might be dogs or deer, there stood Yves Russell, who was wearing a black robe.
With his mouth agape for some reason.
“Were you watching me?”
“H
Huh?”
Radis smiled brightly.
She was in a great mood right now.
It felt like she came across an epiphany.
Imperial swordsmanship was a balanced technique between attack and defense, and her movements felt so light just now.
Everything was connected, and she could change the direction of her movements as much as possible.
Wielding a sword in this way would make it possible that the opponent would not be able to imagine what would come next.
‘It can be anything.’
Something seemed to be swelling up in her heart.
Yves seemed surprised, too.
He rubbed his eyes with both hands.
Then, his bangs opened a little and showed his sparkling amber eyes.
“What was that?”
“Last time, you asked me to show you my swordsmanship, right?”
Whenever she was holding a sword, her senses tended to become extremely sensitive.
There’s no way she did not sense Yves’ presence as he walked over here while half-asleep.
Normally, she would have stopped practicing because she was shy, but she continued nevertheless. It’s because Yves asked her last time to show him.
“That— Was that imperial swordsmanship just now?”
“Yes.”
“How? How did you learn imperial swordsmanship? No, before that, it’s so cold right now but you’re sweating so much! Let’s go in first. Let’s talk on the way.”
This was what Yves first said as he led Radis back to the mansion.