11 — You Never Stop Learning

As expected, the rain, clouds, storms, and all that sort of miserable weather continued in Rozhe. And with that miserable weather came martial arts training and more studies to torture my brain.

On the martial arts side, things had progressed. I was using WEAPONS! Concealed ones, at that.

“You’re good with blades, right, Rohtas?”

“Yes. But ordinary swords like Master uses rather than concealed weapons. I am proficient with daggers as well, but Bellis and Cartham are better than I am.”

“Ah~ I totally get that~!”

Bellis could probably make even a wooden spade into a weapon. Would Cartham throw kitchen knives? I smiled to myself as I replaced the daggers in my mental image with gardening and cooking tools.

“In your case, Madam, you should stick to daggers, since you’re only using them in self-defense. And I believe Dahlia would be best to teach you defensive dagger techniques. She can teach you from a woman’s perspective, after all,” Rohtas said, handing me my practice dagger. It was made of wood, and the tip was rounded, so no one would be injured. What a relief!

“Yeah. But I feel like I could totally get to knight level by learning from you guys.”

“You really don’t need to do that.”

“Okay.”

And with that, I started learning defensive dagger technique from Dahlia. That would be my main weapon, but...

“You won’t always be able to pull out a concealed weapon. That’s when you use whatever’s within reach,” she told me, showing me how to defend myself with cutlery like forks and knives, and even hair clips.

I’m learning how to make anything I touch into a weapon. Yep—that means I could use a wonderful daily-use item like a broom as a weapon☆

And dagger techniques weren’t all that I started picking up. She also taught me how to get away if I really did get grabbed. Because you couldn’t really use martial arts if you were drugged or something, right? And it’s not like I could build up a resistance to poisons overnight. My family never needed to worry about any of this, sorry!

But getting tied up with rope while you’re knocked out is the standard pattern. Women and children usually end up restrained before they’re taken away, after all. Ah, I mean—I dunno if it actually happens in real life, since I’ve never been in that much danger, but I’ve read about it in books. Rohtas said the same thing, too. I didn’t get the feeling I could refuse just because I thought something that scary would never happen to me... so I agreed like a wuss.

And so, I learned how to escape from ropes.

But what if I did get kidnapped and locked up—I ended up in some jail cell before I knew it, but I could see the lock? Yep, you guessed it: they taught me lockpicking too.

I was getting the chance to practice all kinds of skills on top of martial arts and knifeplay. Although it was less “practice” and more “getting the skill beaten into me.”

I understood the practicality of all this, but...

“Ready, set, go!!”

“Hyaaaaaaaah~~~!”

I was dashing through the halls dressed in a fancy gown. And of course, I was wearing much higher heels than usual. What purpose could having me sprint full-speed through the C-shaped second floor of the Fisalis manor possibly serve?

“This is amazing. Self-defense is so hard,” I mumbled, fiddling with a lock. I was fighting with it while a maid who was good at lockpicking gave me instructions. And I was picking it with a hairpin, of course. Train as if you’re in a state of emergency! But lockpicking was actually pretty fun, so I was kinda getting into it. I might just start doing it in my spare time instead of puzzles.

“It would be terrible if anything happened to you, Madam. But training today will protect you tomorrow, so do your best!” the maid said, trying to cheer me up as I complained.

“...I was told I’d be a show wife. I was told I could just stay home.”

The “show wife” bit might’ve been repealed after we’d changed the terms of our contract, but the other ones should still be in effect. Mr. Fisalis, what happened to our agreement?

“Is something the matter?”

“Oh, nothing~! I’ll work hard practicing both knifeplay and martial arts! Ah, that’s right—I kinda wish I could see Rohtas swinging a sword,” I said, thinking about how cool he’d probably look.

“Rohtas is as good as Master is, to tell you the truth.” Stellaria dropped a bombshell.

“Seriously!?” Rohtas is that good, huh! “Mr. Fisalis is strong enough that he defeated an entire troop of enemy soldiers alone, isn’t he?” I asked, thinking I might’ve heard wrong.

“Yes. Rohtas is about on that level. Actually, when Master was younger, he hated that he would always lose to him. But now, Master’s youth and experience as a knight might give him the advantage...? No. Rohtas is definitely still more skilled than he is.” She was blushing like a maiden, spellbound. She was also talking a lot more than usual.

“...You’re actually pretty into Rohtas, aren’t you?”

“Oh my, no! Ohohoho!” She laughed me off.

But damn, Rohtas is top-tier! If he was the one who taught me swordsmanship, I really would’ve ended up becoming a knight... *Shudder* Thank goodness I have Dahlia instead.

I was practicing getting out of ropes when both my hands were tied. Really, what was I aiming for here? How far are we gonna go with this...? I stared off into the distance.

No, no! This is for self-defense! It’s for my sake! I told myself, trying to pump myself up, but wait—was Rozhe really that dangerous? I mean, I guess it didn’t matter, but...

At first, I’d tried to use force to get out, but all it ended up doing was making the rope dig into my wrists.

“Oww, oww! Why are you digging in so hard!?” I complained to the rope directly, angry at it.

“No, don’t do that! Trying to force it will have the opposite effect. Relax!” Stellaria cried, rushing to untie me. I’m saved!

When I rubbed my freed arms and shoulders... she went and tied me up again.

“Now, try again.”

We’re continuing, huh? Really.

Having learned a little from last time, I tried wriggling my hands, slowly loosening the knot bit by bit. It was so strange. I should get her to show me how to tie it later.

“This is hard... My arms are bent at an awkward angle and it’s killing my shoulders!” I muttered my complaints, but I wasn’t gonna get free until I undid that knot.

“Don’t make large movements. It will hurt your arms, and the enemy will notice. You’re nearly there! You can do it, Madam! You’re handy, so naturally you’d be good at this too.” Stellaria did a good job of praising me just when I was about to give up—both because of the pain and how boring this all was.

“Huh? R-really? Ahaa! ...Guess I can keep going. Ah, there it is!”

“See! You did wonderfully, Madam! Let’s try with the next knot.” Saying that, she tied me back up with a different knot. She was actually humming. Having fun, Stellaria?

“Again?” I was done. Ahh, geez. This is too hard! I wanna stop. Well, I wanted to stop because of the pain in my arms and shoulders, but my escape times are actually starting to get shorter and shorter.

My studies seemed to be going pretty well. And just like when Rohtas casually pulled out the noble almanac, he kept bringing me more things to do without me realizing. I only ever realized that I’d fallen into his traps afterwards.

Sometimes he’d carry a book and loiter around in a way that’d catch my attention (he was perfect at that) or put something he knew I’d want to see right in my path when I was headed somewhere. Up until now, I’d held off looking at the stuff he had, because it was always thick, difficult-looking books, but...

“That history book actually was revised recently, and we’ve just received a copy. They’ve added more illustrations to make it easier to read.”

“Oooh, I wanna see!”

Thick, but easy to read!

That bag of fruit Mr. Fisalis sent back while he was off on the front lines—the one that’d been tied so tightly you could barely undo it—was apparently based on a historical event I’d never heard of. Mr. Fisalis had tried to comfort me, saying it was just a minor incident that wasn’t well known, but my in-laws and Rohtas both knew the truth. That just showed everyone how little I’d studied. If the history book had more illustrations to make it easier to read, well... then I’d just have to read it!

Other than that, I’d found books like Economics for Dummies and See Flür and Surrounding Countries with Full-color Maps! lying around. I could just hear their silent call of “Read this and learn.”

I also found some documents about the duchy (probably written by Rohtas himself). They were illustrated too, of course. Somehow, Rohtas is even good at drawing.

...I mean, yeah, they were easier to read with pictures, but...

As the days passed, the dress I’d wear to the Argenteia’s party and the “Viola Sapphire” (damn, it’s embarrassing to say that myself!) jewelry were finished. Mr. Fisalis and I went to the salon to see the results.

“The blue really pops on the white dress, and the design really highlights Viola’s figure. The big ribbon on the back suits her cute nature, too. You did a great job, Madame,” he said, praising the dress.

“Thank you very much, Duke Fisalis.”

“And it’s wonderful how the delicate designs of the jewelry showcases the beauty of the ‘Viola Sapphire.’ This will definitely be incredible advertising,” he continued, looking the necklace and earrings over with a satisfied nod.

“I’m glad that they’re to your liking.” The jeweler looked happy, too.

“Oh, if there’s any stone left, why don’t we make a ring? Or maybe a matching pair for both of us...”

“No.”

“...Really?”

“Yes.”

Mr. Fisalis withered at my refusal, but got back on his feet quickly. “Alright then. Oh, but you need to try on the dress and the jewelry. Dahlia, Stellaria,” he ordered.

“Yes, as you wish.”

The mother-daughter pair whisked me off to the bedroom to get me changed. Once I was all dressed up, I had to put on a fashion show for an excited Mr. Fisalis in the salon. He was super happy about how everything came out.

“Since it’s so plain in the chest area, the ‘Viola Sapphire’ necklace looks stunning. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so elegant. But the big ribbon on the back shows your adorable side. Vi, show me the back again.”

“Okay.”

I spun in front of him while he sat with his long legs crossed on the sofa. He really liked the ribbon, so he made me turn around again and again. How many times do you need me to spin? I’m getting dizzy! And Madame, why did you need to bring the dress here when he was home!?

While Mr. Fisalis was loving the dress and jewelry, Madame and the jeweler were loving the praise he was heaping on them. He even tried to ask them to make matching rings again. It seemed like he really wanted something to match, since his outfit wouldn’t. But knowing him, he’d probably just go get the rings made somewhere anyway.

With the jewelry finished and the final adjustments made to the dress, all we had left was the party.

I was about to leave the salon to change, since the two merchants had left.

“Wait one minute.”

“Hm?”

Mr. Fisalis grabbed my arm, stopping me from moving. What’s up? I turned around, tilting my head in confusion.

“Where did you get that bruise?” He asked, catching a glimpse of a bruise on my wrist.

Huh? I had a bruise? I hadn’t even noticed myself, but he was pointing to a faint bruise just around the wrist bone. Huh? When did I hit it on something? I have absolutely no idea! When I was cleaning, maybe? When I was doing laundry... Wait, I can’t tell Mr. Fisalis about either of those!

...Ah, is it from when I fell from that tree? It’s been a while since then, so that might be why it’s so faint. “Ummm, uhhhhh, errrrrr...” There was absolutely no way I could tell him I fell out of a tree, so I was trying to figure out what I could say.

“It might have come from our practice getting out of bindings. At the beginning, Madam had a bit of trouble figuring out how much force to use,” Stellaria said, giving me a good follow-up.

“Y-Yeah! I thought I could just brute force my way out,” I said with a giggle, trying to smooth things over, but he just raised his eyebrows.

“Self-defense is important, but I don’t like Viola getting injured. Watch out from now on,” he warned Rohtas, Dahlia, and Stellaria using a firmer tone than usual.

“We apologize.” The servants bowed obediently in response.

It’s all my fault...! I’m sorry! I’ll be the one watching out from now on!