87: The Title of Knight
“Elder Sister?”
Leticia looked back and forth between Felix, who had offered me the sword, and me.
“It hasn’t been that long.”
As I accepted the sword from Knight Commander Felix, a murmur went through the crowd, mainly from the Eustasia Knights.
I swung the sword a few times, getting a feel for it.
While I had said it hadn’t been that long, with the preparations for the inspection, I hadn’t held a sword recently.
Wielding a sword wasn’t my job.
Even so, Ciel had insisted I maintain a certain level of swordsmanship.
To be able to defend myself in emergencies.
Even now, I still practiced in the empty basement under her guidance.
She had also told me that it was a good way to tone my waistline, which I had been concerned about.
Incidentally, there was a popular ghost story in the capital about the Vanderwaals mansion having a vast torture chamber in the basement, where victims were brought night after night, their blood staining the floor…
There were countless variations, often involving vengeful spirits.
It was less a ghost story and more a convenient setting for a dramatic opening scene.
While it was a ridiculous rumor, I couldn’t dismiss it as completely baseless, since we did have a large basement that wasn’t a wine cellar or a storage room.
It was a training ground, sometimes used for temporary storage, nothing sinister.
It wasn’t a secret, so perhaps the rumors were simply embellished facts.
Our actual torture chamber was small.
And no one was brought there night after night.
The floor was stone, with proper drainage.
And since we mainly used drugs, there was no blood staining the floor.
…Though it might be stained with resentment.
I took a deep breath and, as if to dispel the ridiculous thoughts, stepped forward and thrust the sword.
I swiftly swung it horizontally, then slashed diagonally upwards, and finally brought it down in a cross-cut, following the same trajectory.
Stepping back, I held the sword aloft in both hands, just like the two men had done.
The sunlight glinted off the tip, making me squint.
“Wow…”
I heard Leticia gasp and looked at her.
At the same time, the sounds of the world rushed back. I had been momentarily oblivious to the surrounding noise.
“What was that?” “The Vanderwaals head? With a sword?” “Amazing…” “Wait, is that our lord?” “Even in the Territorial Army, there aren’t many who can move like that.” “Our Lady Adelheid is a martial artist, you know?” …The reactions were mainly divided between the Eustasia Knights and the Vandergant Territorial Army.
I lowered the sword and walked towards Leticia—she also ran towards me, as if she couldn’t bear the short distance between us.
My sister, her hands clasped together, exclaimed excitedly,
“Big Sister, that was so cool…!”
My pride swelled at hearing the word “cool,” a compliment not even Felix, the Knight Commander, had received.
――But what was I supposed to do with that?
Perhaps realizing she had called me “Big Sister,” before I could correct her, Leticia quickly adopted a more formal tone.
“…Elder Sister, are you… skilled with a sword?”
“Skilled… well, I suppose so.”
If my former comrades—my fellow trainees—knew that my sword training was now for health and fitness, they would cry.
Felix, who had approached us, patted my shoulder lightly.
“She completed the Vandergant Territorial Army Knight training course. Skipped the basics and went straight to the final six-month training program. Everyone who passes becomes a knight.”
“…Even earned the title of knight? Amazing. As expected of Elder Sister.”
Leticia’s praise made me feel a little self-conscious.
However, I brushed back my wavy silver hair and declared,
“As the head of the Vanderwaals family, it’s only natural.”
――Of course, it wasn’t ‘natural’ at all.
While both were knights, the Vandergant Territorial Knights and the Royal Eustasia Knights, under the direct command of the royal family, were different organizations with different conditions of service.
However, they both had to pass the standardized knight training program established by the Kingdom of Eustasia to ensure they could function as a unified army in emergencies.
The knight training program was a long examination, as well as training.
The final training course, itself requiring an entrance exam, honed the skills of selected candidates, shaping them into knights.
When I turned sixteen, Ciel insisted that, as the future head of the family, I should be able to protect myself, and my father agreed.
…Even though my father, and the previous heads of the family, hadn’t undergone such training.
So, while passing or failing wouldn’t affect my position as head of the family, it did affect the Territorial Army’s trust in me.
There was a big difference between not taking the test and failing it.
There was no way I could fail.
My noble education as the future head of the family continued alongside the training, and I often collapsed at my desk from exhaustion, Ciel carrying me to bed and changing me into my nightclothes.
It was a truly grueling experience, a part of my past I’d rather not remember.
I still vividly remembered one time, half-asleep, asking Ciel for a “goodnight kiss,” a childhood habit of a kiss on the cheek before bed.
She obliged.
After that, she established a proper schedule, accepting her suggestion that I needed proper rest for the daytime training.
――Until then, I had been constantly anxious.
I wasn’t a naturally gifted gem.
I was just a pebble, placed in a favorable position and polished.
As I received my noble education, I became afraid of my own lack of talent.
Because I was beginning to understand the weight of my responsibilities.
――There were geniuses. There were heroes.
Extraordinary individuals, blessed with talent and favored by fate, undoubtedly existed in this world.
And I… wasn’t one of them.
