14 – 6. The Hidden Princess Obsesses (2)
Celia Wegnoran sighed deeply as she walked through the corridors of the infirmary.
“Ah…”
It had been a long time since she had seen the graceful gait of a high noble.
She staggered like a drunken fool in broad daylight, but she didn’t care about her gait.
“What a mess…”
Celia imagined the moment she was dragged into the officer’s research room.
Her in front of the company commander and the assistant company commander. Were they prey in front of their nemesis?
Even now, her arms trembled at the thought.
“Three hours of scolding…”
Evan Peters, who was in charge of the 2nd-year 1st platoon and the platoon commander, was a person who was well-liked by many with his gentle nature.
The cheerful merchant approached novices with soft words, even if platoon members made mistakes. He was the one who encouraged them with words like “Do better next time.”
Because of this, there were jokes among the novices that 3rd Platoon Commander Kyan was a demon, and Evan Peters was an angel.
For the first time, the platoon commander scolded her.
“I never knew the platoon commander could get angry like that.”
Perhaps it was said that when a kind person gets angry, it’s really terrifying… Celia now understood the meaning of those words.
Evan, with a twisted expression, relentlessly reprimanded Celia. She had to endure the criticism directed at her.
There was no room for excuses. Her mistake was so clear from the start.
She was blinded by the points and abandoned her comrades and charged ahead. If it weren’t for Ian, a situation that could have been truly unbearable might have occurred.
Celia was a person who could not even fathom her own mistakes, and she acknowledged them all.
“Still, luckily I wasn’t demoted…”
Celia had even prepared herself to be stripped of her platoon leader position.
According to what she heard from the platoon commander, the injured personnel had requested leniency for her.
That was why.
“Is this the end now?”
The reason Selia went around apologizing one by one in the hospital rooms.
Having finished her apologies, Selia now left behind her final visit to a sickbed.
Holding a bouquet filled with purple hyacinths in her arms, she looked at the name written in front of the hospital room.
“Ian Volkanoft…”
A pain, for some reason, pierced her chest at his name.
Actually… half of the reason she came to pay her respects was because of Ian.
“Is Ian someone precious to me?”
The memory from the burning house still vividly remained. Ian, who had thrown himself for her when they were young. And herself, crying while looking at him.
Why?
Her grandmother had said that through a burning lamp, one could know who was precious to them. However, why did Ian appear in her own burning lamp?
Then, could it be that Ian is someone precious to her?
After the training ended, Selia questioned herself countless times.
“To be honest, I’m not sure. But…”
Why Ian instead of Arie?
She couldn’t answer that question. However… one thing was certain.
“I want to see Ian…”
Suppressing her troubled heart, Selia stood in front of Ian’s hospital room.
Though she felt embarrassed that she had come, regretting and whatnot, to look at him face-to-face, Selia came up with a solution.
“Phew… Pull yourself together, Selia. I didn’t come to see Ian because I want to. I came to express gratitude as a Wignorun person… It is the duty of a noble to show gratitude if one has received help. Yeah… that’s right.”
It may be a persuasive argument… but now that her mind was at ease, it didn’t matter.
As her troubled heart settled, a faint smile appeared on Selia’s face.
A basket full of purple hyacinths… he would surely like it.
Since she was young, he always liked these flowers. Whenever she wondered where he had gone, he would always be sitting on a hill covered in blooming hyacinths.
And coincidentally, the flower language of hyacinths meant “I’m sorry,” so Selia chose this flower intentionally.
“And besides, there won’t be anyone else paying a visit to Ian. He will be lonely.”
Since Ian would be alone in the hospital room anyway, Selia thought she should at least keep him company.
Celia thought that way as she opened the door slightly.
She could see.
“Oh? Princess, princess?!”
Elizabeth Arcana, who was gently stroking Ian’s cheek as he slept, with a sad smile.
“Why is the princess next to Ian, and why is she stroking his face? What on earth…”
At that moment, Celia’s thoughts came to a halt.
***
Ian thought he had a fair chance against Alex.
“It will be difficult. But it’s not completely impossible.”
If an expert of at least the intermediate level were to utter such words against a mana master, it would be considered insane. However, Ian had his own thoughts.
“Moreover, the difficulty level was adjusted for me.”
If it were against the prime of Alex, he would have assumed defeat from the start.
But now, was Alex in a weakened state?
“At least the lowest. The lowest.”
He had many things at his disposal, including Nathalian, and he believed that he could secure victory if he used them appropriately.
However, Alex’s barrier was too high.
“Heuh… heuh…”
– Ian… I will wipe away your sweat… You’ve worked hard…
His rough breaths surged out explosively. Ian, who had collapsed to the floor, gazed at the image floating in the air.
[You have died. Cause of death: Artery rupture]
[Would you like to retry?]
“He’s really strong. He’s not just a master for show.”
Alex’s power was beyond imagination.
As someone who was known as the ancient god’s assassin and the empire’s first sword, he overwhelmed Ian with a completely different swordsmanship.
“What kind of swordsmanship have I seen until now?”
In fact, while he didn’t know about other things, he had some confidence in facing opponents who used swords… But Alex thoroughly crushed Ian’s confidence.
It was an unexpected event that he couldn’t even keep up with his swordsmanship.
And no wonder, Ian was not simply someone called the sword saint of the past.
“Even though there were so many people who used swords around me.”
From Noble mtl dot com
Not to mention the hero, Ariel. She was soon to be evaluated as a sword empress who would reach the master level. Even Ian’s family, the Volkhanov family, was renowned for their swordsmanship.
Because of that, I thought Jo Ye’s swordsmanship was somewhat deep.
But as soon as I saw Eleks’ sword, that thought completely disappeared.
‘It’s incomparable… Eleks is just a different kind of person.’
His sword was both violent and gentle. He never wasted a single simple movement.
Even a light cutting motion could become the foundation for the next move.
‘But the scarier part is that swordsmanship is not the end.’
Ian, reflecting on his battle with Eleks, gritted his teeth.
Eleks, who claimed to fight with honor, ended up doing despicable things himself.
Even though enough time had passed, whenever he remembered that time, anger welled up inside him.
‘It’s unbelievable.’
From the start, he had a mana shield that ignored attacks and buffs that made him invulnerable. In the end, he reached the point of creating a defensive barrier that reflected attacks.
Even if it was just swordsmanship, there was no chance. Adding mana manipulation to the mix made it impossible.
In the end, Ian came to a conclusion.
‘It’s difficult to defeat Eleks right now.’
It was impossible to win against him.
It was quite regrettable that he couldn’t achieve even a single victory… But it wasn’t a completely futile fight.
‘But I did manage to leave a scar.’
Ian looked at Eleks’ cheek.
From the small wound, red blood was slowly seeping out.
It was the result of attacking with Ether and implementing the thousand-hand technique.
With all his might, Ian’s fist shattered Eleks’ last defense and left a scar on his cheek.
‘Of course, even that was avoided, so that’s all there is.’
But even a defeat with just a scar is not a defeat. Ian decided to be satisfied with that.
Even though he was only an expert intermediate, it was a significant achievement to have dealt meaningful damage against a master’s foe.
After ending the simulated duel program, Ian collapsed onto his bed.
The sky, which was morning just moments ago, had already turned into a dark night.
Looking around the quiet hospital room, Ian noticed something placed in front of the door.
“What’s this? Flowers?”
The basket was filled with purple hyacinths… However, the handle part seemed worn out and torn, although he didn’t know why.
‘Did someone leave and forget it here…’
In the end, Ian brought the flowers back to his room.
He left them in front of the door, as he couldn’t just throw them away. If the owner came, he could return them.
Ian looked at the hyacinths filling the basket and slowly fell asleep.
***
Morning came. Ian hurried to complete his discharge procedure, and he headed to Acro.
Originally, he had planned to leave the hospital in the afternoon, but once he checked his device for messages, that was no longer an option.
“I have something to discuss with you. Wake up and come to the smoking area after your discharge.”
– Company Commander.
“I knew I should have checked the message later.”
Regret surged within him, but it was too late. He had checked the message out of habit, and the read receipt had already been sent to the Company Commander.
If he saw it and didn’t go, something terrible would happen.
In the end, Ian had no choice but to head to Acro, swallowing his tears.
As he walked towards the smoking area, Kaien greeted him as if he had been waiting.
“You’ve been through a lot today. Did you rest well?”
“Yes. Thanks to you, I had a relaxing day. According to what I heard from the priests, there seems to be nothing wrong with my body.”
Listening quietly, Kaien nodded and then spoke.
“It’s fortunate. There were some unfortunate events, but the training went well. Anyway, you did well this time.”
“Thank you.”
Kaien, who was smoking, seemed to be forcing a smile.
Well… since the 3rd Company was selected as the best company in this training, he must have been very pleased as the Company Commander.
Being a commoner, he probably had an obsession with constantly showing results.
Ian knew that, and that’s why he aimed for the best company in the first place.
Showing an overwhelming 1st place finish against Duhan would be the best way to repay the Company Commander who believed in him.
“Originally, it would have ended as the 1st Company, as planned. Fortunately.”
Even though the plan to reach 5,000 points had failed due to the training suspension.
Having won against Duhan, Acro selected Ian’s 3rd Company as the best company.
With few casualties as well, Kaien couldn’t be happier.
“Anyway, the reason I called you is related to what I told you last time.”
“If it’s what you mentioned last time… Are you talking about the new platoon member?”
In response to Ian’s question, Kaien took a drag of his cigarette and nodded lightly.
“Yesterday, there was a officers’ meeting. We decided to bring in new members to our squad.”
“I see.”
“I tried my best to prevent it, thinking it might burden you… but unfortunately, I couldn’t stop it.”
Kaien’s expression tightened, a mix of anger and resignation. He had resisted as much as he could. But once the decision to bring in new recruits was made, there was no turning back.
“So, there will be new members in your squad. All the information is here in these documents. Please review and confirm.”
Kaien, saying this, was unusually cautious.
He pretended to be nonchalant, but he must have felt guilty for passing the burden onto Ian.
“I’m fine, really.”
Having too many new members would certainly be a burden. Currently, apart from Igor, there was no one else in the 3rd squad. Furthermore, Igor had already adapted to the squad’s atmosphere to some extent. Even if new members were to join, it wouldn’t bother him much.
Without much concern, Ian received the documents and began to review the contents.
As he calmly read through the documents, at some point, Ian’s eyes began to tremble as if there was an earthquake.
A woman with blonde hair and a wall affinity, and an elemental mage… that was not a problem. The fact that she was an elemental mage raised some concerns, but there were people like that in the Empire.
‘Eri Eberhardt?’
The problem was the occupation: a freelance artist named Youngae. And to make it worse, she was from the Eberhardt family.
To others, she might seem like an ordinary artist, but Ian knew about the Eberhardt family.
‘The 1st Princess… the family used as a disguise for Elisebeth… it must be the Eberhardt family…’
A princess hiding her identity among the new squad members… Ian felt his mind going blank.
Afinidad por la pared? Diablos señorita xD