The Personal Guard Trains

“Oh!” cried a girl as a rattan basket fell from her hands. Pure-white sheets scattered across the hall floor.

“F-Forgive me.”

Perhaps she was intimidated by me, or perhaps she was just nervous, but the young maid’s apology was sheepish and quiet, and she had a tense look on her face. She was trying to refold the sprawled-out sheets in a hurry, but they slipped through her trembling hands once again.

The basket had rolled over to my feet, so I picked it up and placed it by her side. When she raised her head to look at me, I offered her my hand, and her hazel eyes opened wide.

“I... Um.”

“You don’t want to be down on the ground, it’s dirty,” I said.

She seemed hesitant about taking my hand, so I took hers instead, a little forcefully, and pulled her to her feet. The maid became perfectly still and appeared to be holding her breath. I let go of her hand and gathered up the laundry. After a light pat to remove the dirt, I placed the sheets back into the basket.

“Here you are,” I said, handing the basket back to the maid.

She took it, seeming stunned. “Th-Th-Thank you!” She looked up at me with the startled eyes of a small animal, and I couldn’t help but smile awkwardly.

“You’re welcome,” I said. “Take care not to trip again.”

After a gasp, she gathered her breath and said, “P-Please excuse me.” Her face turned red so quickly that I could almost hear the change happen. The maid flung her head down in a bow and turned to leave.

I scratched my cheek as I watched her depart. She took off with a hastiness unbecoming of a well-raised girl. What’s the matter with her? I thought. Do I look like a monster or something?

A voice called out from behind me while I stood there looking dejected. “Hey there, charmer.”

I turned to follow the voice and found Dennis—a colleague who’d entered the royal guard at the same time as I had.

“You shouldn’t be leading on these inexperienced girls when you’re not even interested,” Dennis said. “It’s not fair to them.”

“If you say things like that, you’ll give people the wrong impression of me. All I did was pick up some laundry.”

“That’s all you did?” he teased. “By itself, that’s out of character for you in my eyes.”

I frowned but didn’t argue. Most days, I would’ve spared no more than a single look at the maid before moving on. So why had I acted differently?

The reason was simple—

“What’s gotten you in such a good mood?”

—as Dennis said, I was in an amazing mood.

To be more accurate, I was blissful.

“Nothing in particular.”

“Tell the truth,” he prodded. “You have the young maids swooning because you’re all smiles instead of your usual cold self. And you know our supervisor, the one that has it in for you? He was shaking in his boots, going on about how you’ve finally gone crazy.”

That was far from a compliment, but I couldn’t argue because I knew he was right.

I was no stranger to having supervisors gripe at me when they passed by, but my recent responses to them hadn’t done me any favors. Nobody could blame a supervisor for questioning the sanity of a man who, instead of maintaining silence and a cold glare like he usually would, smiled from ear to ear and said, “I’ll do my best.”

“Seriously, what happened? Did the princess that you think so highly of pay you a compliment or something?”

“No. If she had, you’d know it.”

“Well that’s...disturbing.” Dennis shrugged his shoulders in an exaggerated manner.

His mocking, faint smile got on my nerves. “If you don’t need me, then I’m leaving,” I said before starting to walk away. He didn’t try to keep me there.

“It’s great that you’re happy and all, but just be sure not to cause any trouble for your mistress.” He said this sluggishly and without particular urgency, and I didn’t turn to face him.

In truth, I didn’t care for his warning. I’d thought that I was being as alert in my duties as ever, and I certainly wouldn’t be causing any problems for Lady Rosemary.

I could admit that I was getting slightly carried away in my merriment, but I couldn’t be blamed for it—after all, I was about to accompany Lady Rosemary on her first big outing. And she’d asked me herself. I was so overjoyed by the prospect that I felt ready to draw my last breath. Well, that was a lie. Death would have to wait.

Just me and her, on a journey. Which means that I’ll be the only one for her to rely on. Me, and only me! What could be more lovely? I want to kneel before her and pledge to fulfill her every wish. Unfortunately, we’ll be pretending to be siblings while on the galley, so I’ll have to give up on that idea.

But still...we’ll be “siblings.” I’ll have the honor of calling Lady Rosemary my little sister. That doesn’t sound bad, I thought. My mouth crumpled into a smirk. Not bad at all. Good, in fact. Magnificent.

I imagined her calling me “Big Brother” in her sweet, piping voice, and the mere thought brought me indescribable pleasure. Uh-oh, I feel like I might be discovering a side of myself that should’ve stayed hidden.

I cleared my throat to disguise the strange noise that I’d almost let out. A passing maid shot me a suspicious look, but I ignored her. Go ahead and side-eye me. You’re not Lady Rosemary, so I don’t care in the least.

But if Lady Rosemary were to treat me coldly... Wait, I think that might actually work for me.

I pictured Lady Rosemary with her hands on her hips as she puffed out her cheeks. In my imagination, she’d say, “What’s with that weird look on your face, Big Brother?!” And then, in my mind, my adorable little sister would pout and gaze up at me, definitively putting me in my place. “Get rid of that gross smirk!”

Just thinking about it made my face light up in rapture. I bit on my lips and moaned, “Oh, yes.”

If it came from Lady Rosemary, then even verbal abuse was worth more than rewards or medals. The gaze that my gentlehearted princess showed me and me alone was icy, but it always sparked an inferno in my heart.

One thing must be made clear: my feelings weren’t due to me having weird fetishes or anything like that. All that mattered was that Lady Rosemary gave me special treatment.

“Ah, Klaus, found you...” a carefree voice called out to me.

I turned around. The voice had come from Dennis, whom I’d parted with not long ago. After one look at my face, he grimaced. He’d raised his hand in greeting but now lowered it with a short groan.

“What?” I asked.

“I remembered that I wanted something from you, but never mind. It doesn’t matter anymore, so could you get lost?”

“What?”

“Look somewhere else! I don’t wanna see that look on your face! It’s terrifying me!!!” Dennis yelled, turning pale. “You’re supposed to always look unconcerned, aren’t you?!”

I poked at my cheeks and jaw with my left hand, unsure of what my face looked like to him, and then tilted my head.

Dennis let out a shrill scream.

How rude, I thought in a huff before returning to work. For some reason, everyone I met for the rest of the day gave me the same reaction that Dennis had.

***

Before I knew it, night had come. I’d finished most of the arrangements, so the people I’d tapped for coverage could carry on my work. Instead of returning to my own room, I headed somewhere else. The inside of the palace was bright even at night, illuminated by torches placed at regular intervals. I made my way outside, to the training grounds on the dark outskirts of the palace.

I passed by fewer and fewer people as I walked. In the distance, nocturnal birds were chirping. A warm breeze blew through, and sparks crackled from a watch fire by a guard post. Pebbles crunched beneath my boots as I trod on them. Though the training grounds were usually bustling at noon, they were perfectly still when I arrived. With the watch fire behind me, the shadow I cast into the darkness was long.

“You’re here,” called someone curtly in a low tone of voice. A tall figure pushed himself away from the wall that he’d been leaning against.

At the same time, the area became faintly illuminated as the moon emerged from behind its cloud cover. My eyes had been accustomed to the darkness, so the brightness was almost blinding. I squinted instinctively and then slowly reopened my eyes.

A dark figure stood with the blue moon at his back. The wind swept through his black hair and the coattails of his knight’s uniform. Moonlight delineated his silhouette, and his black eyes were peering at me.

I gasped. I couldn’t see his face, but it felt like he had a sword at my throat. His stare was enough to overwhelm me.

“Do you need me for something, Captain?” I asked, feigning composure.

Without responding, the man—Leonhart von Orsein—threw something at me.

The object flew toward me in a parabolic trajectory, and I caught it with my left hand. It was a training sword with a dulled blade.

“Wait, so you called me out to—”

“To train, as you can see. We’ll do this daily, until two nights before your departure.”

“What?! Nobody told me this!” I bit back at once.

However, the captain was deaf to my protest. He took off the coat of his knight’s uniform.

“It might not seem so to you, but I’m a busy person,” I complained.

“What a coincidence,” the captain said aloofly while rolling his shoulders. “I am as well.”

Certainly, my task list was nothing compared to the captain’s. Although I had an enormous amount of things that I needed to do early because of my trip, it was nothing compared to the workload of someone with an official position like the captain.

I shut my mouth.

“If that’s all you have to say, then hurry up and prepare yourself.”

I had more to say, but the captain wasn’t the sort of person who’d back down. Realizing that arguing was pointless, I begrudgingly moved my fingers to the collar of my uniform.

“Why now, out of the blue...?” I grumbled.

I hadn’t truly been after an answer, but I got one anyway.

“The idea came to me today, after observing the way you’ve been acting recently.”

I flinched. Dennis’s words from that afternoon passed through my mind.

“Judging by that reaction,” the captain said, “you know what I’m talking about.”

I said nothing.

“I’ll take your silence as a ‘yes.’”

“It’s not like I’m causing anyone any trouble,” I protested.

“I’m telling you because you’re on the verge of doing just that. The princess cannot be entrusted to a man who can’t rein himself in.”

“What do you—?!”

I heard something zipping through the air, and, just like that, a sword had been thrust at my throat, too quick to follow with my eyes. The captain’s glare was as sharp as his dark-gray blade—no, more so. He’d narrowed his eyes to slits, and they reflected the moonlight and shone like those of a beast in the darkness.

I’d been confronted with his intensity directly, and a cold bead of sweat ran down my spine. His blade had no potential to harm me, but it still took my breath away. If I even flinch, he’ll rip me apart.

Before me was the Black Lion, who’d once been the scourge of the battlefield.

“Her Highness is a national treasure. She’s a jewel that we must protect at all costs. A man who can’t even react to my sword, as slow as I’m swinging it, has no place guarding her. The very idea is preposterous.”

I was astounded by his remark. Slow?! That’s a funny way to describe it. I couldn’t even tell when his attack started!

But when I checked, I saw that the captain wasn’t holding his sword in his dominant hand. He can make moves like that using just his left hand? I was amazed to the point of stupefaction.

“Show me that you can at least deflect attacks from my left hand.” The captain pulled his sword away from my neck, spun it around, and then lowered it.

The sense of intimidation vanished as he disengaged and I exhaled deeply, emptying my lungs. My heartbeat was deafening.

“If you can’t, then tell me now. I’ll find another man for the job.”

Though my breathing was troubled, I replied at once. “No need!”

Giving my job to some other knight, now that’s what’s preposterous!

“That’s my job, and I won’t let anyone else have it.” I tensed the muscles in my stomach and shot him a challenging glare, but the captain’s expression didn’t change—not even a little.

“Don’t force yourself,” he said nonchalantly. “There are others who are suitable for the task.”

I couldn’t ignore that remark. A mad grin rose to my face. I knew that I was rising to an obvious provocation, but I’d heard too much to back down now. And even if it hadn’t been, I’d had enough of this nonsense.

There are others who are suitable for the task? You’ve said it now. Captain, you’re the one who’s been snatching my job from me at every opportunity.

The frustration and rage that I’d felt on the day when I’d watched Lady Rosemary leave for a clandestine trip to the port city... All of it resurged within me. At the time, I’d wanted to plead, “Why can’t it be me?” I’d wanted to push the captain out of the way and scream, “That’s where I belong!”

Truthfully, I detested the man in front of me who seemed to think that he deserved the faith that Lady Rosemary placed in him.

“I’ll make you take those words back.”

Seeing me brandish my sword, the captain smirked. “Go ahead and try.”

His calm and collected attitude caused my anger to spike.

I’ll knock you down to your knees at least once, I snarled in my mind. And when I do, I’ll be able to leave on this journey with a smile on my face.