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Don’t Pull the Sleeping Dragon’s Scales (3)
Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook
Many days have passed since I started teaching Leonard swordsmanship.
Now Leonard has quite a bit of stamina. And I also have something extra to deal with while teaching him.
“By the way, Helena, have you and His Highness reconciled?”
During the sword class at the backyard, Leonard’s question as he swung his sword into the air caused me to wake up.
“Reconciliation? What for?”
“When you greeted His Highness in the hall, the atmosphere was harsh.”
“It was just a young war of nerves for children. It’s not something where reconciliation is in order.”
I grumbled like that because I felt a little sulky.
“Why do you even care about him? Did you hear anything from Father?”
“Hmm, well he wants us to get along well. Does that count? And I also think it would be good if we could get along.”
“Why?”
“Isn’t it difficult to make friends in the Imperial Castle? He must be lonely.”
Oh my god. How could there be such a pure and kind-hearted person?
Mm, alright. Brother, do whatever you want. I’ll protect you so that innocence won’t be tarnished.
“Since Brother says that, I will make up with him.”
“Really?”
“And there are still 298 swings left, so don’t stop, Brother.”
“Ugh.”
Leonard became teary and began swinging his sword again.
After fighting and winning against the beggar-like swordsmanship teacher, he doesn’t question my teachings at all. He is truly a rewarding disciple to teach.
I should go to Caesar soon, too. Reconciliation… is, of course, an excuse to understand his power.
***
After a few days of observation, Caesar and Hamilton trained swordsmanship in the hall on the second floor, mainly in the afternoon hours of sunset.
I visited the hall in time for Caesar’s training session for spying. When I entered the hall, the prince was about to start a match with Hamilton.
“Princess, what brings you here?”
Hamilton, who found me first, smiled and spoke to me. I approached with the bright and harmless expression of a 10-year-old child.
“I want to visit.”
“I see. The princess is also learning the sword with Young Lord Leonard, right?”
It’s teaching, not learning, but I nodded my head and agreed.
“I heard that His Highness’ skills are outstanding, so I wanted to see it at least once. Can’t I?”
“Of course you can. Will you be okay with it, Your Highness?”
“Hmm. Do whatever you like.”
Caesar said with a cold expression. If you allow it anyway, shouldn’t you have a better expression?
Shortly after I took a seat nearby, the two of them started the match.
As for my appreciation of watching the confrontation.
‘… Oh, that’s pretty good.’
Frankly, I was a little surprised.
‘He has a high concentration and a quick reaction speed, which is not suitable for his age.’
If Leonard gets his talent through hard work, Caesar is just born with it. It looks like me, now I think about it.
‘I can’t even compare it with Leonard’s skills right now.’
This is bad.
This child, doesn’t he have any drawbacks?
The match ended when both of them were sweating a little. I approached them and talked to them with the excuse of handing them towels to wipe their sweat off.
“As expected, you’re incredible, Your Highness. If you’re not very tired, why don’t you have a fight with me?”
“What?”
Caesar, who was wiping the sweat from his forehead, looked at me with a frown.
“I heard it hasn’t been long since you’ve learned how to use a sword. What if you get hurt?
“One learns by getting hurt.”
“If you get hurt, I’ll be in a difficult position facing the duke.”
“That’s right, Princess. You can’t learn anything if you compete with someone who has such a difference in skills.”
Hamilton also helped Caesar speak. Thank you for your concern, but it was just an obstacle to me, as I had to somehow figure out Caesar’s weakness.
“I guess you’re not interested in a match with me”.
“It’s not a matter of interest…”
“Then should we decide on a reward? For example, something like the loser makes the winner’s wish come true.”
Caesar, who had been languishing, quickly opened his eyes at my new proposal.
“Any wish?”
“As long as it’s not too shameless.”
“There’s no turning back.”
Thus, the match between me and Caesar began. We held wooden swords and stood facing each other.
“Both of you, please be careful not to get hurt. Got it?”
Hamilton, who naturally became the referee, said in a restless voice. Me and Caesar nodded, but it was clear we weren’t really listening.
‘It’s a battle to find weaknesses, so I’ll try to poke him as diverse as possible.’
With Hamilton’s opening cry, Caesar and I leaped towards each other at the same time.
‘Should I go into the pelvis first?’
I swung my sword aiming at a difficult place to defend.
But Caesar quickly blew my attack away and escaped to the side. Not only that, but he also launched a counterattack towards my upper left body.
I quickly knocked out Caesar’s sword and fell behind him to widen the distance.
“… Ho!”
“Haha?”
The position changed in an instant. Caesar and I burst out laughing at the same time.
I bumped into his sword only once, but it’s enough. This kid is incredibly talented.
‘I thought I gained quite a bit of stamina by holding the sword again these days.’
But after all, it can’t be helped that this is a child’s body. It was fortunate that the attack flowed quickly.
Well, anyway, technically, I have the upper hand.
Caesar picked up the sword. The red eyes staring at me became a little sharper.
“You’re not a beginner, are you?
“I wouldn’t have asked for a match with a bet with the intention of losing.”
Having grasped each other roughly with one sharp attack, we rushed back to each other with all our might.
‘Why is this kid so good?’
Despite my deliberate attempts at a blind or difficult attack, Caesar blocked the attack well.
It is not by education. It’s an instinctive reaction. Is he simply a natural?
‘Let’s see if you can stop this too?’
Somehow, I became greedy, and I attacked with a high-level technique that a child could never do.
Not knowing what to do this time, bewilderment appeared on Caesar’s face… or that’s what I thought.
“… What?!”
Rather than avoiding, Caesar ran towards me, blocking the attack with his left arm.
“T-That’s dangerous!”
I tried to stop the sword, but eventually my sword was stuck in Caesar’s left elbow.
It must have been quite painful, but Caesar doesn’t blink. Now the one in a difficult position is me. Caesar’s sword rushed in toward my upper body.
‘What kind of madman…!’
“Stop there!”
At the same time as Hamilton’s shout, Caesar’s sword stopped in mid-air.
We gasped and looked at each other.
Soon Hamilton ran and shouted to Caesar.
“Your Highness, are you okay?”
“Why did you stop when you had the upper hand?”
Caesar frowned and threw the sword in the air.
“It’s a draw.”
“I would have won if Hamilton hadn’t stepped up.”
“If this were a true sword, Your Highness’ left arm would have been cut off.”
“What’s wrong with an arm? Whoever gets their head cut is the loser, right?”
“Uwaa, both of you, stop talking about horrible things! I told you not to get hurt!”
Hamilton cried out with a face almost crying.
Well, I’m a little sorry. But who would have thought that he would block it with his arm?
“Anyway, it was a fun match after a long time.”
“I feel the same.”
Unlike the fierce match, we finished with a light greeting. Caesar left the hall with Hamilton who was trembling.
Left alone, I glanced down at my right hand, which still had a tingling sensation.
‘That kid is a very good thing. I like him.’
If Leonard follows and learns well as I teach, Caesar’s charm lies in his unpredictability.
Did Master who first discovered me felt this way? I’m so sure that I’ll do anything if I can raise him.
“I want to raise him.”
I realized later that the corners of my lips were raised.
***
That evening, Caesar did not come to dinner on the pretext of being tired.
Everyone thought that was the case, but I felt guilty.
‘Did I break his arm?’
It felt pretty light when the sword hit his arm— I mean.
He didn’t even frown, let alone scream, so I thought he’d get a bruise at most.
“Helena. You met His Highness earlier, right? Did you really make up?”
Leonard, who was sitting next to me, asked me.
“We made up… I think.”
But I couldn’t help but worry about it, so I ended up going to Caesar’s room after eating.
When I knocked, I heard a surprisingly cheerful “come in” from the room.
What was I worried about? I opened the door and went inside.
However, I soon found Caesar sitting in a rocking chair and was speechless for a moment.
“… Is it broken?”
I asked with a puzzled face. Caesar lifted his bandaged left arm to check, then shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s no big deal. Just leave it be.”
“Ugh…”
It’s obviously a big deal.
“Your expression is worth seeing.”
Caesar grinned at me.
I approached Caesar’s side, sat down, and continued the conversation.
“Have you been treated properly?”
“Hamilton brought a doctor in earlier. This will get better soon.”
“I mean, it’s not something to be taken lightly. I know because I have broken a finger before, so I know how painful it was when it rained later.”
“You broke your finger? What happened?”
“When blocking the opponent’s attack head-on… Not , that’s not it. It’s a mistake while playing around.”
Oops, I almost told him something that happened in my previous life.
Caesar’s face turned bewildered at my gibberish. I quickly changed the subject before Caesar dug deep.
“By the way, you got hurt because of me, but why didn’t you tell on me?”
“Why would I do such a childish thing? I got hurt while fighting fairly.”
“Ohhh—”
What? That’s so cool. I giggled to tease him and lengthened the tail of my exclamation. Caesar’s face turned red at my reaction.
“Get rid of that look.”
“I thought Your Highness hated me.”
“Even if I don’t like my opponent, I won’t do such a dirty thing.”
“You’re not saying you don’t hate me.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
“Huh? Not really. I like Your Highness though?”
Caesar’s expression changed strangely at my words. It’s hard to define whether he’s angry, surprised, or embarrassed.
Anyway, it’s pretty cute that he’s heated up to the end of his ears.
“Well, more than that, what’s with the match earlier?”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Did you relax on purpose in the end?”
Oh, you mean that?
Clearly, as soon as I saw Caesar raise his left arm, I relaxed. It seems that it is wrong to change the course of the sword, and the unfortunate event in which his arm gets cut should be avoided.
“How did you know?”
“Given the speed, I should have ended up with more than a broken arm.”
“You know that, but you blocked it with your arm? Are you crazy?”
“If I lose, what kind of weird wish would you make for me?”
“You don’t trust people.”
“What wish were you going to make?”
“I want you to be my subordinate.”
“Look at that!”
Caesar was genuinely angry, so I burst into laughter without realizing it.
“What about Your Highness? What wish were you going to make if you prevailed?”
“…Nevermind that. It’s a bet that failed anyway, so what’s the point of knowing?”
Caesar looked away from me and mumbled. Now I’m more curious because you didn’t say anything.
“What is it? You’re so petty. I told you mine.”
“You don’t need to know.”
“I mean, I’m curious. Oh, if you were trying to make me do something strange…”
I said, covering my chest with both hands, and Caesar squawked with a face red as if he would literally explode.
“Do not be ridiculous! What do you think I am?”
This is bad. It’s so fun to tease him. It’s a different kind of pleasure I’ve never had when I’m with Leonard.
“Just… I was going to propose to call each other by name.”
“Name? Does Your Highness want me to call you by your name? How difficult is this that you wanted to make a wish for it?”
“It’s difficult for everyone to call me comfortably. Hamilton even fell flat in front of me asking for forgiveness at once.”
Oh, I can imagine. That man, he looked inflexible.
‘Well, I know how it feels.’
I, too, once asked Erez for such a favor.
Everyone supported and revered me, but they all followed me behind me and didn’t want to stand by me.
So I told Erez to speak casually when we were alone.
The old-fashioned guy was serious and told me not to even joke about that, and I’ve never asked for such a request again since then.
“I’ll call you by name.”
“What? Really? Will it be okay?”
“And speak casually like a friend.”
“No, not so far…”
“So, will you fight with me from time to time, Caesar?”
I called his name.
Then Caesar froze. As if I was the first person to know what his name was.
‘If Erez had called me by my first name then, would I have reacted like this?’
Suddenly, I felt that Caesar was pitiful.
That pity is the pity toward me in the past.
“… Had I known this would be the case, I would have thought of a more plausible wish.”
Perhaps shy, Caesar murmured in a complaining tone. However, he could not hide his good mood.
How adorable is a 14-year-old boy who rejoices so much just hearing his name.
In the end, I burst out laughing out loud because the shy guy was so cute.