.jpg)
ABZ 28
It hadn't been long since I started spending time at the fortress, but I was already quite accustomed to life here.
I would wake up when the sun rose, fill the water containers, and prepare meals. Then, some others would do laundry or clean. We would work like that, eat, and go back to bed when the sun set.
I thought I could just keep enduring like that while staying at the fortress!
We were currently running in the backyard.
This awful training started not long after Lilia sent a letter to the Emperor.
It was Lilia who requested the training from Heresdon.
'I want to become stronger. So I don't cause trouble. I want to be helpful too.'
She said that if she were to go outside the castle again and encounter zombies, she wanted to gain the strength to protect herself and us.
It was truly an altruistic thought befitting a female protagonist.
Although we were supposed to join the Imperial Army, no one knew when or what kind of situation might arise.
It was right to prepare in advance, but...
Why do I have to do it too!
Uven, Lilia, and Lumi, running after tagging the opposite point, passed me in turn.
Tap, tap.
Not long after I tagged the turning point, they quickly overtook me again.
Even though I was moving my arms and legs as best as I could, the difference between me and the others was significant.
I forced my stupidly flailing body to move again and kicked off the ground.
Heresdon, whom I glanced at, was watching me with his arms crossed, and his eyes were quite sharp.
'Is this the best you can do?'
Heresdon's eyes becoming that sharp meant one of two things.
Either he thought I was slacking off, or he couldn't believe that a person's physical abilities could be so low.
Is it possible for someone to not be able to run when they're running this hard?
Just as I was about to fall, thinking that running more would only make him more suspicious...
Thud!
Lumi, who was running as unsteadily as I was due to lack of stamina, accidentally bumped my shoulder.
"Ah!"
My body tilted to the side in an instant.
I was planning to fall anyway, but I didn't intend to roll this way. Unfortunately, the place where Lumi pushed me was a slope leading to the waterway.
"Princess!"
My vision flipped back and forth.
Splash.
As I couldn't stop and fell into the water, flailing, Lilia came into view, just coming down the slope.
"Ptoo, ptoo!"
"Princess, please wait a moment!"
Lilia's voice rose a notch, as if she was startled.
As Lilia, who was running down the slope quickly, lost her balance and staggered, Heresdon grabbed her waist.
Uven, who seemed to have no intention of helping me, just watched from above with a sulky face, and Lumi, who was belatedly coming down, fell and slipped.
"Cough, cough!"
In the end, I crawled onto the shore alone and spat out the water I had swallowed.
"Lilia Swedi, I think you need to have your back patted a bit."
I heard Heresdon's words, and soon I felt a hand patting my back.
"Princess, are you alright?"
"...Yes, Niyo."
I shook my head, correcting the answer that came out reflexively that I was okay.
I kept coughing and wiping my face.
"Oh dear, your hands are quite scraped."
Next to Lilia, who was worriedly holding my hand, a large hand was extended.
"Get up first."
Heresdon, who was heartlessly urging me to get up even after seeing me coughing and saying I was sick, lowered his hand again.
It seemed he had extended it to me, not Lilia.
Heresdon scanned me and opened his mouth.
"Are you not hurt anywhere else...."
"Penelope, I'm sorry. Look, are you badly hurt?"
Lumi, who had struggled to come down the slope, repeatedly getting up and falling, interrupted Heresdon's words and apologized.
"I'm really sorry, your hand is scraped. What about your legs? Is your ankle okay?"
Lumi carefully checked my injured hand and said.
"Would you like to move a bit? You fell quite hard, so your ankle might be twisted."
As Lumi said, I turned my ankle in place and frowned.
"Does it hurt a lot?"
"...It hurts."
"I'm sorry, because of me."
I pretended to be in pain and sat down on the spot.
"Which ankle is it?"
"...The left one."
Heresdon, who knelt down and met my gaze, stared at me for a moment before getting up again.
"Then Penelope, you should rest."
"I'll escort you to the Inner castle."
Heresdon shook his head and stopped Lumi.
"I'll do it. Let's go, Penelope."
As Heresdon gestured for me to get up, Lumi said.
"You'll have to support her, she probably won't be able to walk alone. Grand Duke, I'll do it."
However, Heresdon shook his head again without any hesitation this time either.
"The day's exercise isn't over yet, so you have to run more. Lilia Swedi, please honestly check if everyone is fulfilling their target amount."
Lumi's face hardened a little at those words.
"...Yes, I will."
Lilia, who nodded, looked at me worriedly before stepping back a few steps with Lumi.
"Lilia Swedi."
As if telling her to go up and continue running, Heresdon called Lilia's name, and they went up the slope they had come down.
"Penelope, can't you walk alone?"
I nodded, thinking that I could be excused from training for a long time if I pretended to be seriously injured.
"Should I carry you on my back?"
"...I'll walk alone."
"Let's go up the stairs."
Heresdon pointed to the stairs leading to the laundry area.
'Because you twisted your ankle.'
I walked with a limp.
I took a short step with my left foot and immediately shifted my weight to my right foot.
As a result, my body leaned slightly to the right.
"It seems you're badly hurt."
Heresdon said that as he watched me limp.
"If it hurts even when weight is applied."
It was a success!
"Even though you seemed fine when you got up, even when weight was applied."
Heresdon extended his hand once more, as if telling me to take it. Just as I was about to take his hand.
"Usually, people feel stronger pain from the sudden concentration of weight when they get up."
When I raised my head, I met his eyes as he looked down at me.
My mind became complicated by his expressionless face, which made it impossible to know what he was thinking.
'Did he notice I was lying?'
Knowing that, was he just watching me until I came up the stairs and walked halfway across the backyard?
"...I was fine because I put my weight on my right foot to get up."
"No, you weren't."
Heresdon shook his head firmly.
"Am I misunderstanding again and pushing you?"
It seemed Heresdon was planning to see how far I would go.
That's why he said he would take me himself.
For some reason, my face flushed. If he had already caught on to my pretense, I had no choice but to confess quickly.
"No...."
I was about to make excuses, saying that I just didn't want to run, when.
Idorian, who had just come out through the back door of the kitchen, frowned and approached us.
"Penelope, what's wrong?"
He scanned my soaked appearance and sighed.
"What happened that you're soaking wet and even limping?"
Idorian shook his head as if he didn't understand, and then picked me up in his arms.
"Grand Duke, shouldn't you support someone if they're hurt like this?"
Idorian's voice was quite sharp, as if he was rebuking him.
"No, Your Highness. I said I would walk."
Having been suddenly held in Idorian's arms, I pushed his shoulder to get down before Idorian, who would soon learn the truth, threw me away.
However, Idorian didn't seem to have any intention of letting me down, and readjusted his hold on me.
"That's not it...."
"I was just following your words that you could walk alone."
However, Heresdon's words were completely different from what I was worried about.
"I think my thoughts were short-sighted."
He didn't seem to have any intention of revealing my fault, and didn't stop Idorian, who was carrying me, until he disappeared into the Inner castle.
.jpg)