***

Ms. Hastred will do her best to keep her father alive.

I meant she isnt too young to get hit on, but she sighed unexpectedly. Like someone who knows the truth.

Ms. Hastred?

She smiled when he called her again because he doesnt see her responding at all.

Its Silli. Just call me Silli. Im just Cecilia Sarian because I havent been recognized by the Hastreds yet.

Cecilia Sarian. The nobles honorific G is excluded from my presence because I am a superior person. This natural consideration warmed my heart. I thought she was really thinking of me as a prince.

And of course, I will also do my best to honor my fathers will as his child. Its just that I dont know how.

?

Where is your fathers will?

She asked the biggest question. She could see him inhaling deeply as if he is frustrated.

Where is my fathers will? What did that king want me to do?

As soon as I was born, I was almost always with my uncle, Grand Duke Raphnell. It should be for the sake of educating me, but my uncle gave me a lot of freedom and did not let me study even if I wanted to. I have been doing what I wanted to do rather than studying, but my uncle did not let my father and mother know that. My father and mother, and people around me thought I am well educated. My uncle only made me study so that I could do well on my fathers test twice a year. It is a way to teach basic things and figure out problems in advance and memorize answers.

Now I know its very wrong. I feel keenly that it is not helpful to me. No matter how young the country is, when I heard other peoples thoughts about the king who is my uncle, Grand Duke Raphnell I knew what my uncle had decided what to do with my education, and who kidnapped me while I was swimming in the middle of the night.

The will of the deceased is often done at the discretion of the living.

I shouldnt have.

Silli murmured. She looked genuinely curious about what my father meant and what he wanted me to do. As I looked at her, the moonlight highlighted her nose. Her nose formed an elegant and dramatic line. Her profile further highlighted her age beyond measure.

A good person.

I suddenly remembered the word. Silli is a woman who is good enough to use the word good. A person who thinks about the true meaning of his dead father is and cares everything about me. Being a knight of both magic and faith, and a knight of the continent at a young age, she didnt try to show off and even tried to take care of everyone. She is doing all that work as if she is only breathing. She always had a unique smile.

What kind of person do I really want to be?

I wanted to be a holy knight to protect myself. I wanted to protect myself even if I faced the threat of kidnapping again. I thought I could protect myself if I am as strong as her.

You have to go back now. Its cold when you are dressed like that.

I looked at the ashes from the pipe on the ground and she held out her empty hand towards me as if she wanted to hold hands.

I can walk.

I said with my chin up straight.

Yes, Your Highness.

Silli smiled and raised her hand.

Heuk

Ack, as soon as I jumped up, barely swallowing my breath, what I saw was the faint morning sunlight between the skyring curtains. Oh, its my room. I thought so and laughed. This is my room? No, not my room, my mind thought, is this a prison, or a barn, or an abandoned stable?

Im afraid this moment is a dream. Im afraid Im finally going crazy and dreaming things. What if I am just scratching the walls of that stable, while drooling and dreaming? What should I do?

What should I do to protect myself!

I shouted like that last night, but Silli didnt answer. She just told me not to walk on the bloody road.

A bloody road

That means hes on that path again. And she probably doesnt like that kind of road very much. Why? Why did she describe the path of the knight as a bloody road? That road would be an honor.

When the magic class begins, the magic teacher asks the conditions for becoming a holy knight.

A holy knight should have both the divine and magical powers in its body. Mana is present upon the birth of an individual, but divine power is given through birth from the family, or from their blood. If you dont receive any divine power in your house, you have a very small chance of being a holy knight.

Is there a magician in Sillis family?

Theres a lot. Shes one of the high personnel in the family after all.

The wizard answered meekly, but he looked a little surprised when I called her Silli. He seemed to think it is very rude of me to call her Silli because he didnt know who I am. He probably thought of me as a guest of Silli. So I asked on purpose.

Cecilia told me to call her Silli, but its a little weird. Why isnt she called Cecil, but Silli?

Then the magic teachers face brightened. When she found out the name I called her for is allowed by Silli, he answered in a manner that seemed to have dropped a burden on his thoughts.

Her grandmothers pet name is Cecil.

Huh?

Her grandmothers name is Cecilia.

Oh, so thats the reason why.

When I nodded, the magician lowered his voice, saying, Maybe.

Maybe youre thinking of Illyde.

Illyde is the name of the heir. And Ilydes pet name is Ily. I barely endured the fact that my face almost got distorted when I am told that I am similar to Silli, so I thought it might have been in her mind. Thats nonsense. Why cant he just name her Illyde then? Its a little uncomfortable to give your daughter a nickname from your mother, so he just gave her another nickname.

I tried to concentrate throughout the magic class, but as soon as the class was over, I had no choice but to memorize all the memorable family members in my head. As expected, there is no new heir. Theres no faith in the bloodline of my family. That meant, I couldnt be a holy knight.

But I can be the head after all.

***

Silli didnt look great when he said he wanted to learn swordsmanship, but as usual, she did as he wanted. He is able to learn the sword from a dame called Sophia as a teacher. She didnt say a word when he said he wanted to be a holy knight, but Silli looked to have noticed his train of thoughts and deliberately assigned Sophia, her deputy and a holy knight, as his sword trainer.

Sophia is a knight with a slim figure, dark skin, eyes, and aggressive swordsmanship. After learning swordsmanship from her for a few weeks, he finally learned the basics of swordsmanship. Her words were rather harsh, but she looked like a commoner with the way she acted and then became a knight and barely became a baron. She told him that a teacher who knows who he is but is still struggling with her student is useless. He had a sword art class every single day and grinded his teeth.

Sometimes, Silli would participate in the swordsmanship class. What is surprising to him is that she implemented it in a very sincere manner, carrying very basic things. I am dumbfounded when she does the basic thing of wielding a sword with him. But Sophia grabbed him by the shoulder and made me look at Silli.

Look exactly at Your Grace.

Sophia said.

Thats the correct posture. Its different from your staggering posture. Thats how you should do it.

Lets talk like this.

I frowned at the tip of my nose and couldnt take my eyes off Sillis appearance. Her white shirt, black leather pants, and a wooden sword a little bigger than I had were as beautiful and neat as a picture.

Sophia is my teacher, but I learned swordsmanship by looking at Silli. I thought I wanted to swing a sword like Silli. I liked Sillis beautiful sword rather than Sophias aggressive sword style. Sillis style is calm and elegant. Whenever I looked at her swordsmanship, I thought.

The bloody road

I dont think her sword had a scent like that at all.

Silli did not say a word about my sword style. Sometimes she would only participate in swordsmanship class together, but I heard that her sword style is like that, and she never said a word of intervention. I am very troubled by the fact that she didnt say good job or fix yourself like this. Why wouldnt she say anything about my sword style? Is it too bad for her eyes? Of course it is, but for a child who only started, she must say something like you are doing great, try harder, or something like that.

From some point on, I was confused whether I was trying to be good at the sword or trying to get a word from Silli. Nevertheless, Silli did not say anything until the end.

***

By the time I started learning swordsmanship for nine weeks, a maid pushed a note, slightly visible under my soup bowl while I was eating. She did it without anyone noticing, so I naturally put the note in my sleeve.