Chapter 24

Chapter 24 : Good Medicine is Bitter to the Mouth (3)

“Us?”

“Yes.”

“With Sir Aaron?”

“Yes, that’s what he said.”

Legina dismissed the attendant with a simple acknowledgment. She wondered about the purpose of the summons, but much had already changed compared to before her regression. It wouldn’t be strange for something unprecedented to occur. Only her own feelings mattered. Legina recalled her post-regression goals once more and nodded towards Aaron. First, however, was the lesson with Aaron.

Throughout the lesson, Theore tumbled. He tumbled and tumbled again. He tumbled whether he moved as Aaron instructed or not. It was all because of Legina. When Aaron wanted 1 from Theore, Legina wanted 2. Sometimes, she demanded much more, skipping 3 or 4 levels. At first, he rebelled out of defiance, but each time, the club flew, hitting only the painful spots, forcing him to surrender. He got hit and tumbled, then got hit and tumbled again… If the club Legina carried for Theore hadn’t been made of Dacon wood, he would have been severely injured.

“You b*tch! Why don’t you do it?!”

“Not ‘you,’ but ‘Noona.’”

“‘Noona,’ my foot! You’re just an old witch!”

“My lord, would you mind resting for a moment? It seems I need to have a word with my brother.”

“I will comply.”

“Hey!”

Like a born troublemaker, Theore lunged at Legina even while tumbling. It was simply a desperate lunge because there was nowhere else to run, but Legina was utterly delighted by it.

“That’s right, Theore! You can do it! If you just kneel to a mere clubbing, how can you ever call yourself a troublemaker?”

“Aargh! Don’t say ‘troublemaker,’ don’t say ‘troublemaker’!”

“It’s perfect how you detest hearing ‘troublemaker’ and get angry, my brother!”

Theore truly believed Legina had gone mad. She used to cry and beg him to please live quietly, or uphold his princely dignity, or at least stop beating people, saying she didn’t ask for much! Now, she said all that was unnecessary and told him to become a smart and sturdy troublemaker! There was no way she could say such things while sane, so his sister was clearly mad. The problem was that his sister, who was thoroughly insane, had no intention of returning to sanity. She was swinging the club, ignoring even people’s gazes. It was even a club with her name engraved in gold. Was its nickname ‘Titi’ because it was made exclusively for Theore? It seemed that whenever Theore caused a commotion in the Imperial Palace, his attendants would immediately look for that damned club.

Of course, Legina also had strict standards for wielding the club. Legina had no intention of swinging the club if Theore complied with her words. What she wanted was a brother who caused trouble but avoided being a pushover. However, Theore had never once meekly nodded to Legina’s words until now. So, what could she do? Since he didn’t meet the criteria, he had to be hit. In that process, Jesse, Theore’s escort knight, also got caught in the clubbing and walked around with a dark bruise on his face. But thanks to his bangs, which he wore down to hide the bruise on one side, he heard people outside the palace say he looked ‘cool,’ so it might not have been entirely bad. Of course, the attendants working inside the palace would often have conversations like, ‘He got hit on the right eye today. A week ago, it was the left one…’ but Legina didn’t need to worry about that.

“Hey, you!”

“Yes, Your Highness Theore.”

“Block that! Block it!”

Theore, who had hidden behind Aaron’s back to avoid Legina’s clubbing, shrieked. His sister was a problem, but this sword instructor fellow was also a problem. At first, he was surprised by his face, but Aaron worked Theore so hard that even that face now looked like a devil. Would it have been better if it had ended there? This instructor, who seemed to be in sync with his sister, would stop everything he was doing at Legina’s single word and retreat as much as she desired. Did he not think about the lesson’s progress, or did he plan the lesson to include the time Legina spent clubbing Theore?! The Imperial Prince was being clubbed, and he didn’t even try to stop it, not even pretending!

“Is that the best place you could hide, Theore?”

“Aargh!”

“My lord, would you mind stepping aside for a moment?”

“Yes.”

“Come here, Theore.”

Aaron simply followed Legina’s words to avoid troublesome situations. To anyone, Legina clearly held the strongest authority in this training ground, so there was no reason for him to ignore her and help Theore. Furthermore, he was, after all, in a contract relationship with Legina, which might even progress to an engagement. If Theore and Legina were placed on a scale, the weight would naturally tilt towards Legina. Theore, unaware of this fact, was caught by Legina again thanks to Aaron cunningly stepping aside, and had to endure his sister’s clubbing, full of her ‘love.’

“Don’t just hit my bottom!”

“But Theore. This is where it makes the most satisfying sound.”

“XX XXX XXXX!”

“Goodness, where did you learn such vulgar curses? This won’t do. Today, I shall completely erase that curse from your mind.”

Today was truly another peaceful sword lesson. Of course, this was Legina’s opinion, not Theore’s. After the lesson, the three, having washed off the sweat and rested briefly, headed to the audience chamber to meet the Emperor.

“Hey, why are we being summoned?”

“I merely convey His Majesty’s command.”

“Tsk, do you think I asked to hear that kind of answer?”

“I-I apologize.”

“Hey!”

“Your voice is loud, Theore.”

“That bastard is ignoring my words!”

“He’s not ignoring you; he truly knows nothing. Should His Majesty explain the reason when he summons people?”

“Th-That’s not it, but.”

Legina watched her brother, who bit his lip with a face full of complaints, then looked at the back of the attendant walking ahead. She knew the way to the Emperor’s audience chamber, but it was an unnecessary imperial etiquette that one had to be guided by an attendant when summoned by the Emperor. Legina considered it an utterly inefficient etiquette and listened to the sound of footsteps following behind her. They were footsteps with a larger stride than hers, but not boisterous. Shortly after her regression, Legina had been highly sensitive to those following her. Even now, having people behind her felt unsettling, but Aaron’s footsteps were different. Was it because she knew he was an ally? However, considering that the footsteps of Selma, Una, and Johan sometimes felt uncomfortable, it might not be simply that reason.

Could it be his face?

At that moment, Aaron’s beautiful face came to mind, but Legina shook her head, quickly dismissing the thought. His face was beautiful enough to mesmerize, but finding stability in just that alone made no sense.

“What are you thinking about to make your face look like that?”

“Huh?”

“It’s red, isn’t it…? Aargh! Why did you hit me?! I didn’t do anything wrong this time!”

Legina, belatedly realizing her face had flushed at Theore’s grumpy remark, hit her brother’s back. She moved involuntarily out of embarrassment, but seeing her brother jump from her sharp strike, the force in her hand seemed to be unusual.

“Ahem, I’m sorry. I unintentionally lost control of my strength.”

“Tsk!”

Legina ignored her brother, who was fanning his face and glaring at her. After a slight commotion, the three people standing before the enormous doors of the audience chamber straightened their clothes. And when they seemed to be perfectly arranged, the attendant cleared his throat and announced their arrival. Beyond the slowly opening doors, the three, confirming the Emperor seated in the place of honor, slowly moved inside and bowed.

“Greetings to Your Majesty.”

“Greetings to Your Majesty.”

“Aaron Vestein greets Your Majesty, by your summons.”

Larousse, having received their greetings, lightly raised one hand. At that signal, the three raised their heads and found the Emperor somehow unable to look directly at Legina.

“The lesson time was quite long…”

“Father, you’re the one who set the lesson time. If it feels long, you should have shortened it beforehand! Do you know how much I’m suffering?”

“His Majesty’s command is absolute, so we cannot shorten the lesson time, and imperial etiquette is also strict, so we cannot greet His Majesty drenched in sweat.”

Before the Emperor could finish his sentence, Theore’s disgruntled words and Legina’s sharp remarks flew in. The chief attendant, standing behind the Emperor, sighed subtly so his master wouldn’t notice and shook his head. It might have been a forced remark to save face, but the timing was not good. Theore had been a small troublemaker throughout the land for a long time due to the Emperor’s poor upbringing, but Legina was in a situation where the father-daughter bond was about to be severed due to the Emperor’s fault. Of course, Legina would say it was already severed, but Larousse wouldn’t give up on his daughter, so perhaps the bond was barely hanging on?

In a situation where one should be more careful…

The chief attendant swallowed another rising sigh, looking at Larousse’s back, who was openly showing his fluster. Indeed, Larousse, born into royalty, promised the throne early, and smoothly ascended to it, would never have experienced being careful around anyone. It was for times like these that he himself was prepared. The chief attendant welcomed the words of a young attendant, who announced the arrival of the last awaited guest, and lightly cleared his throat.

“Your Majesty, they have arrived.”

“Ah, is that so. Let them in.”

“Yes.”

Larousse, who had been contemplating how to manage the awkward atmosphere, brightened at the chief attendant’s words and nodded. It was Legina who felt puzzled by his reaction. He had summoned her, Theore, and Aaron, and now he was calling someone else? Feeling that something strange was happening, Legina turned her head towards the open door and couldn’t help but frown as she saw the last guests entering the audience chamber.

“Hermann Slyveig greets Your Majesty, by your summons.”

“Annetta Veedis greets Your Majesty, by your summons.”

It was the unexpected arrival of the traitor and his sorceress.

– Mochinuna.