It had already been two months since I returned from Sutherland. It was the mid of summer.
With my skin burning from the scorching sun, I remained clinging to my desk and gazed resentfully at Captain Curtis through the window.
Captain Curtis had returned to the royal capital after being pushed by the residents of Sutherland to act as my bodyguard, but he ended up working for the First Knight Order.
That being said, I did not end up working with Captain Curtis as I was still undergoing training for the new knights assigned to the First Knight Order. I could only gaze with envy at Captain Curtis, who was currently undergoing training and guarding Commander Savis.
As I watched Captain Curtis walking briskly behind Commander Savis, I muttered to myself that I also wanted to finish my training quickly and start working.
But on the other hand, I felt relieved that Captain Curtis had done such a good job. Captain Curtis' behavior in Sutherland had been so excessive that I secretly worried that after we returned to the royal capital, he would stick to me like he had in the previous life.
It seemed like Captain Curtis would feel safe as long as I was close enough to come to his aid if anything happened to me. Or, perhaps we were just putting up with it because if we were really being closely escorted like in our previous lives, neither Captain Curtis nor I would be able to carry out our duties as knights.
That said, I had no doubt that Captain Curtis would care about me in every way and stay by my side as much as possible. Thanks to this, Captain Curtis was sometimes called meaningless names like "Captain in charge of Fia..." but I had decided to ignore it, thinking it was just teasing mixed with harassment by Captain Desmond or someone like that.
"Fia, Captain Curtis has arrived." (Fabian)
The day's training had come to an end without incident, and as we were having dinner, the greatest pleasure of the day, in the dining hall, Fabian noticed Captain Curtis standing at the entrance to the dining hall and told me. Over the past few months, it had become a habit for the trainees to have meals together after training, so I had been eating with Fabian more often.
For some reason, recently Charlotte had been mixed in, and sometimes Captain Curtis, Captain Desmond, Captain Quentin, and Captain Zachary had also joined. There's so much variety in the mix that it's hard to describe in a single word, I thought to myself as I placed a hand on my forehead.
...First of all, I didn't know this when I had lunch with Captain Quentin previously, but it seemed there was a separate dining hall reserved for knight captains. The captains, starting with Captain Curtis, thought that maybe they should dine there, but when they tried to urge the idea, the captains all just gave ambiguous looks.
However, even if the captains didn't mind, I thought that the other knights might feel uncomfortable if someone of the rank of Captain came to a dining hall for ordinary knights. For that reason, I casually observed the knights around me, but at least with Captain Curtis, there seemed to be no need to worry.
Today, like every other day, Captain Curtis was unable to walk straight up to us, and the knights called out to him along the way. He said that he had previously belonged to the First Knight Order, and he must have belonged to another order for about 10 years before that, so he might be familiar with many faces, but even before that, Captain Curtis seemed to have a personality that made people like him.
As I watched, I saw that none of the knights were shy about the fact that he was a captain, and they all greeted him with smiles and in a friendly manner. "It's typical of Captain Curtis to be liked by everyone," I thought happily, as I looked up at the captain standing next to me.
"Thank you for your hard work, Curtis. I didn't know what time it would be, so I started eating with Fabian first. Was that okay?" (Fia)
"Of course, Lady Fi. May I join you?" (Curtis)
Fabian tilted his head in confusion as he saw the serious knight Captain ask permission to be present and then go get his own food.
"It's scary to think that I'm getting used to this situation, but it's strange that out of the 20 captains in the Knights' Order, three of them use honorific language when speaking to you, Fia." (Fabian)
"Well, Fabian. The fact that you added Captain Cyril to the list of three Captains is what makes you so cunning, Fabian. Captain Cyril doesn't use polite language with anyone." (Fia)
I tried to argue that I wouldn't be fooled, but Fabian relaxed his lips and replied with an amused look on his face.
"I was just expressing things accurately. In that case, let me say that the only people to whom Captain Curtis and Captain Quentin use honorifics are the commander and Fia." (Fabian)
"Argh!" (Fia)
I choked on the unexpected rebuttal.
"I hesitate to say this, but when they're alone, it's fine, but when Captain Curtis and Captain Quentin are together it's awful. The other day they both were talking endlessly about what flower would suit Fia, something that a busy knight like Captain shouldn't be discussing. Before that, you were talking about what weather Fia would be like, and they both came to the conclusion that it would be a 'storm'... They both seem to be competing, but they get along well, don't they?" (Fabian)
"F-Fabian, I forgot..." (Fia)
I covered my face with my hands and clung to Fabian's mercy.
…Yeah, of course I noticed. Whenever those two get together, they somehow end up discussing trivial things about me in earnest and without end. I left it alone thinking they would eventually get bored of it, but if it had been two months and they were still not bored, I wondered how much of a life without entertainment they must be living.
As I was feeling troubled, my eyes met with Captain Curtis who had returned with food in his hands.
"Lady Fi, your training will finally finish tomorrow, right?" (Curtis)
Captain Curtis sat down in the chair next to Fabian and spoke proudly.
"Now I can finally start guarding together with you, Lady Fi." (Curtis)
Captain Curtis' tone was full of joy, and it made me happy to think that he was counting down the days until my training was over.
"That's right. Finally, I can be of use as a knight." (Fia)
As I spoke, I began to think that perhaps the First Knight Order to which I had been assigned was actually a good fit for me.
Because in my previous life, I was a princess and was always accompanied by a knight as my guard. In other words, being able to understand the feelings of those being protected was a great advantage, wasn't it? It must be amazing to be able to understand the feelings of the King and Commander Savis better than anyone else.
"...Lady Fi, I think there are big differences between the guard knight of the Great Saint 300 years ago and those of today. It might be best not to use them as a reference." (Curtis)
"Huh?" (Fia)
It was as if he had read my mind, and when I asked him to repeat himself, Captain Curtis smiled brightly.
"Anyway, I think you should first think about how you're going to spend your vacation. No, even more importantly, what you want to eat. Tomorrow night, let's have a feast to celebrate the end of your training." (Curtis)
"Woaa!" (Fia)
That's right, I realized that my three-week vacation started tomorrow, but I was more distracted by the word "celebration."
Captain Curtis, thank you for your congratulations! Yes, I have worked hard enough these past four months. I've written many poems, practiced my dance by stepping on the feet of many knights, and even improved to the point where I can speak the Common Language of the Continent in my sleep. It's time to celebrate!
Feeling so excited, the next morning ——all of the training had finished without a hitch.
After the training was completed, all trainees were gathered together for a graduation ceremony. In my case, I was sent to the Fourth Monster Knight Order and visited Sutherland in the middle of my training, so it felt like I had missed some of the training, but I thought, "Oh well," and stood with a serious expression on my face, lined up alongside the other newly assigned knights.
The graduation ceremony came to a close with Captain Cyril giving a complex speech along with words of encouragement.
"Fia" (Cyril)
A long vacation would begin in the afternoon, so as I was about to head back to the dorm, Captain Cyril called out to me.
"Yes, what is it?" (Fia)
When I turned around, Captain Cyril was waving at me, so I jogged over to him.
"Congratulations on completing your training. I heard that you're going to dinner with Curtis tonight to celebrate the completion of your training. I was invited too, but I have an unavoidable commitment so unfortunately I can't join you. So I thought I'd offer my congratulations here." (Cyril)
"Well, that's very kind of you to say." (Fia)
I didn't know that Captain Cyril had been invited, but I wondered what it was like to invite the captain they belong to, and I replied while thinking that there was something wrong with Captain Curtis' selection of members.
"By the way, you will be on vacation for three weeks starting this afternoon. Have you decided how you are going to spend it?" (Cyril)
"Ah, about that..." (Fia)
All of the new recruits to the First Knight Order, who had been training almost without a break for the past four months, were to be given three weeks of special leave starting that afternoon. After this, they would be guarding either His Majesty the King or Commander Savis, so it seemed they were being thoughtful enough to let them go back to their parents' homes and freshen up before then.
However, in my case, even when I returned to the Ruud territory, my entire family was not there. This was because my father and my three older siblings had all become knights and were scattered around the country.
"In my case, all of my family members are knights and are away on their respective posts, so there is no one at home and I do not intend to return to the Ruud territory. Instead, I thought I would visit my sister." (Fia)
"Speaking of your sister, she was a member of the 11th Knights of the Northern Guard, right? Looking from the royal capital, that's even further north than the Ruud territory, in the northernmost part of the country, right?" (Cyril)
Captain Cyril took the form of a question, but I wasn't fooled and didn't reply.
Whether it's Captain Cyril or Captain Desmond, they both had incredibly good memories. Sometimes they took the form of questions to confirm something, but there was a 100% chance that they had remembered everything and organized the information. So, this conversation was being held with full understanding, and although it was in the form of a question, it was not actually a question. And when Captain Cyril asked me a question about something I already knew, there was almost always some kind of implication.
As if to confirm my speculation, despite my silence, Captain Cyril continued speaking fluently as if the information was already known.
"Speaking of the northern regions... isn't Blackpeak Mountain located in the northernmost part of the country?" (Cyril)
"Oh?! Now that you mention it, you're right! There's a mountain like that. However, it seems that there are a lot of vicious monsters on that mountain. I-I'm just going to see my sister." (Fia)
Even though I was trying to keep a poker face, he asked me so directly that I inadvertently let out a strange voice.
I was talking about the anxious Captain Cyril. If I were to say that I was going to Blackpeak Mountain, my precious vacation might be cancelled.
Thinking this, I feigned innocence and looked at Captain Cyril with a smile.
Author's Note
Thank you for always reading!
Thank you to everyone who read the third novel.
I'm glad that you enjoyed it(*゜▽゜)ノ