Chapter 66
Leon was enjoying a smooth, peaceful daily life.
At this time of year, thanks to Rinoa's tyranny, his days should have been as precarious as walking on thin ice.
With her keeping quiet, it was incredibly peaceful.
She wasn't just keeping quiet, either; she was even getting along well with Elodie.
Of course, getting along didn't mean they were giggling together or playing together or anything like that.
Compared to the Rinoa in the original story, who utterly despised Elodie's very existence, this was practically best-friend territory.
Thanks to the princess being there, the other noble girls didn't dare treat Elodie carelessly either.
"Isn't it great that they're getting along?"
Two pretty girls together—it was a sight, a real sight. Just looking at them made him smile.
"[How lovely....]"
There were, of course, things he didn't like as well.
It had almost turned into a disaster when Iscalon suddenly branded Rinoa as a witch.
He'd managed to gloss over it and get through the moment somehow.
"'Rinoa is a witch....'"
At this point, it was basically an established fact.
The great sage Iscalon's eyes couldn't possibly have been wrong.
There was no way the duke was actually a woman dressed as a man, so her deceased mother must have been the witch.
On top of that, judging by Aiter's reaction, he seemed to have some idea that Rinoa was a witch.
He'd thought they were chasing her because she'd taken up black magic, but that wasn't it.
They were chasing her because she was a witch, and she had also dabbled in black magic.
So the moment Elodie was cursed, he immediately identified the culprit and dropped a bunker buster on them.
"'I thought it would be enough not to touch black magic, but I never expected a surprise gimmick like this.'"
Still, the good thing was that Aiter's side still didn't seem fully certain yet. That was why the assassins in the capital had been testing the waters.
"'As long as there's no hard evidence, it's fine. No matter how much of a prince he is, he can't hurt Rinoa on suspicion alone.'"
In the end, there was only one answer.
Stay glued to Rinoa like this and keep her under close watch.
If they got through this safely, Edelheid wouldn't be destroyed by black magic.
"[What a truly admirable sight. Two lovely disciples blessed with miraculous talent, sitting side by side and burning with scholarly zeal. It feels as if my frozen heart is beating again.]"
Iscalon's slimy telepathy rang out, breaking Leon's thoughts.
"Hey, old man. Wipe the drool off your chin. I can hear every bit of your filthy thoughts."
"[Cough! How dare you treat this great sage like some drunken bum from the neighborhood! I was merely admiring those children's pure beauty and talent!]"
"Of course you were."
"[Enough nonsense. Focus!]"
He acted like a perverted old man, which made him far less trustworthy, but his skill was the real deal.
Once they started learning magic from Iscalon, they grew by the day.
Ironically, the one showing the most remarkable growth wasn't Aiter, Rinoa, or Elodie, but
"Ooh, it worked."
Leon.
Between Leon's two hands, a mass of energy condensed to the size of a soccer ball spun around, radiating a faint golden light.
What they were doing now was releasing mana outside their bodies and compressing it.
Leon had only done as Iscalon instructed, drawing the mana out and pressing it together firmly.
It was as light and simple as rolling a snowball.
But the surrounding air had frozen over at the sight.
"[Y-you brute of a swordsman! How are you the first one to pull it off!]"
"How? You just said to pull it out and press it down."
"[Do you think that's easy just because it sounds simple? Keeping mana exposed outside the body while maintaining a steady density requires painstaking control....!]"
Iscalon raged and poured out his telepathy.
The others' eyes were also fixed on the sphere Leon had made.
"...Leon, weren't you a swordsman? How are you so good at this?"
"Exactly! I can only make mine tiny."
"No, that's impressive too."
All three of them had drawn mana out above their palms, but none could keep it stable.
It kept scattering apart or turning jagged like a sea urchin.
At least Elodie managed to keep hers in a sphere, but even that was only as small as a ping-pong ball.
"It worked when I did exactly what I was told. And I can do this too."
Leon manipulated the mana ball in his hand. It wasn't just a sphere; it could become a square or a star too.
"Well, don't be too discouraged. Your opponent is me, after all."
"How obnoxious."
"Wow. I just felt a new emotion. Is this what jealousy is?"
While the two of them were keenly aware of the difference in their talent, Rinoa quietly kept at her own work.
"Aren't you frustrated, Your Highness?"
"About what?"
"Lord Leon is better than us. And we're mages, too...."
"Not particularly."
Rinoa had long known that Leon was excellent at manipulating mana. It didn't surprise her in the slightest.
Her thoughts on the matter were also unchanged.
"Leon is mine, after all."
"Huh?"
"Hmm?"
"The better Leon is, the higher my own rating goes. There's no need to be jealous like an idiot."
The days when she felt inferior to Leon and envied him were long gone.
Rinoa had matured.
She'd become able to prioritize reason over momentary emotion.
So she no longer got jealous whenever she saw Leon's achievements or growth.
That was all she'd meant when she said it without thinking.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Elodie and Aiter were looking at Rinoa oddly. Elodie in particular had both hands over her face.
"[You brash little swordsman bastard. You were all style in front of her, but behind her you were doing all sorts of enviable things!]"
"I know why you're saying that, but that's not what I meant."
Leon and Iscalon were bickering too.
Only Rinoa seemed unable to grasp the situation.
"What are you talking about? Explain it clearly."
"Uh... Princess? When you said Lord Leon was yours, what exactly did you mean by that?"
"He is a slave, so it means he's my property as his master. Is there some other interpretation?"
"That's what you meant, right?"
"Don't drag it out. Just say it already."
Elodie said with a grin.
"I thought you were declaring, 'Leon is my man, so nobody can lay a hand on him!'"
"...What?"
"I thought so too. A love that transcends slave and master—a romance for the ages. The empire's social circles would be turned upside down."
Aiter piled on as well, teasing her with a wicked grin.
Only then did Rinoa realize the nuance of the words she'd carelessly blurted out, and her eyes shook violently.
But only for a moment; Rinoa quickly regained her composure.
"That isn't what I meant. I meant ownership purely in the sense of a master-servant relationship. Idiot."
"Princess, don't worry. I'll keep it secret from the others. A love that transcends status is quite romantic, isn't it?"
"...."
"I'm sorry. That was a slip of the tongue."
Having never faced such a murderous glare before, Aiter immediately backed down.
Soon Rinoa turned her head at the flow of mana she felt behind her.
Leon had, at some point, turned the mana he had been toying with on his hand into a heart shape.
"I don't really like it, but if that's what you want, my lady, I'll do my best."
The air around Rinoa rippled.
-쐐액!
A blade of wind split the mana heart in two.
Rinoa growled in a suppressed voice.
"Try running your mouth one more time... Just once more."
"...Mouth."
He was beaten up.
***
"I should just cut your mouth off. A knight only needs to know how to swing a sword."
"Eek."
Leon had tried a little teasing and gotten a harsh lesson for it.
If he teased her again, he felt like he'd end up as nothing more than a doll that just swung a sword, so he decided to stop there.
For today.
After some time, it would reset like a daily mission. He could do it again once her anger gauge had dropped a bit.
"Teasing Rinoa, huh."
If this had been the old him, he never would have dreamed of it. His personality really had mellowed.
And she was a bit of a tsundere, so she was fun to tease.
"You there."
It was while the two of them were walking along the corridor that a middle-aged man called out to them.
He was wearing the instructor's uniform of the Knight Department. His gaze was fixed squarely on Leon.
"Did you call for me?"
"That's right. Are you the slave knight?"
"I've been called that. What can I do for you?"
"I am Valdek, an instructor in the Knight Department. I came because I have a favor to ask."
A Knight Department instructor asking a favor? Leon felt fatigue before curiosity, wondering what trouble this was.
"If you have time, could you spar with the students?"
"With me?"
"I've heard your skill is excellent. You also showed a good performance in your last duel."
"Well...."
"Sparring with you would help the students tremendously. More than anything, it would spur their drive to improve."
What Valdek meant by drive to improve wasn't simply growing by using the bitterness of defeat as fertilizer.
The key point was that they would have "lost to a slave." No matter how strong the opponent, losing is infuriating, and if it's to a slave, even more so.
"I don't really want to."
Leon knew that, so there was no reason for him to accept the offer.
If it had been back then, he might at least have raised his mastery, but now he was at the point where trading blows with students wouldn't even register.
It would be a waste of time.
He'd rather hang around with Elodie.
"Do it."
But from the side, Rinoa lightly trampled on Leon's opinion.
"My lady...."
As someone standing above others, you should know how to bestow your talent on those below you.
"Sigh...."
"Share his talent, my foot."
Rinoa's personality may have softened, but Leon knew better than anyone that she wasn't kind-hearted enough for that to be the reason.
It was obvious she was trying to use him to raise her own standing.
Unable to refuse his master's order, Leon ended up being half-dragged to the Knight Department.
He sparred nonstop with dozens of students.
Rinoa sat not far away, leisurely watching Leon spar.
"Eek, look over there! Who's that knight?"
"He's Edelheid's slave knight. The one who beat Young Lord Rubelius with one finger not long ago."
"Wow, I see. No wonder he looked different from the others."
Rinoa could hear the conversation of girls nearby who seemed to be from the Knight Department.
"Do you know his name?"
"No. Why?"
"He's exactly my type, so when this is over, I should ask his name first."
At those overexcited voices, Rinoa clicked her tongue inwardly.
On the surface she looked completely composed, but her mood was rapidly turning sour.
The fact that those blatant, excited gazes were following Leon was oddly irritating.
Suddenly, one of Elodie's silly comments from magic training flashed through her mind.
Leon is my man, so don't touch him.
"What nonsense."
Rinoa dismissed it without hesitation.
This wasn't affection.
It was closer to possessiveness.
It was just the desire to possess Leon, her slave, the way one would want to own something valuable.
Of course, feeling possessive toward a slave was embarrassing enough, but what could she do?
Leon's skill was beyond question.
So she could admit to possessiveness. But nothing beyond that.
Right, there was no way she liked him.
Absolutely not.
But once Rinoa started thinking, the thoughts kept coming.
Had she felt this way when Leon talked with Aiter?
Had she felt this way when Leon got along well with the cadets?
No.
She hadn't thought anything then. It only surfaced when he got close with women.
That meant....
"Jealousy...?"
Me?
Over that slave brat?
That was an absurd leap.
She, the princess of Edelheid and the empire's greatest magical house, could never harbor such an ugly feeling toward a mere underling.
So this wasn't jealousy. It was irritation—irritation at Leon for failing to understand his miserable position despite being a slave.
That had to be it.
Rinoa shook off the stray thoughts clouding her mind and started reviewing Iscalon's teachings.
Draw mana from the mana circuit. Compress mana that is losing control and about to scatter into a single point.
It looked simple, but it was a technique that required intense concentration.
Beads of sweat fell from her forehead.
Without realizing it, she frowned.
It felt like it could scatter at any moment, but she didn't give up.
She was Edelheid. Maybe she could lose to Leon, but she couldn't fall behind Elodie, a commoner.
She could definitely do something this simple.
And just before Rinoa, after devoting so much time to it, was about to succeed in making a small sphere,
—Ping.
Suddenly, Rinoa's vision warped unpleasantly.
The shape in front of her blurred like smeared paint, and her vision flashed black for an instant.
"...?"
Rinoa reflexively frowned in confusion. When she rubbed the area around her eyes with the back of her hand and opened them again.
Her vision had returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
'...What was that?'
Rinoa narrowed her brow and blinked a couple more times.
Still, she felt no sign that anything was wrong. There was no dizziness either.
It was only for the briefest instant that she couldn't see ahead.
'Did some dust get in my eyes?'
Assuming it was probably just dust blown in from the training grounds, Rinoa brushed it off without a second thought.