***
Mr. Huran, who taught Blanc swordsmanship, was surprised to see my posture.
“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! How could a lady…!”
His pupils shook.
“When did you learn this?”
“I’ve never learned it…”
Mr. Huran knelt down with tears in his eyes. It was a burden to see a grown man on the verge of tears.
“My Lady is the true incarnation of the sword….”
I wasn’t sure, but according to Mr. Huran, my posture of holding the sword, the speed, and even the destructive power were not at the level of criminals. I couldn’t blame him for not believing easily, because I did not myself.
“Would you like to do some light training with me?” Mr. Huran asked.
No matter how much of a genius I was, it was not easy to train with an adult. However, to my surprise, I avoided all attacks from Mr. Huran. It was pitiful, but his speed was so slow that I could read all his movements. Mr. Huran finally burst into tears.
“My Lady! Would you like to formally learn the sword from me?”
“Yes.”
I then went on to learn swords with my brother Blanc. I hadn’t developed any particular interest in swords. Holding a sword gave me a free spirit, but that was just about as far as it went. As usual, I didn’t like to sweat, but the safety and the lives of my family were more important than my personal enjoyment.
It was just that.
I stood beside him and watched as he swung his sword around as hard as he could. My brother, who was just too cute, only looked serious when he held his sword. This was the little devil Blancis Jayus, the man who was supposed to be a valuable asset to the Marquis of Evelian. But what if I take that man away from the Marquis of Evelian? What if my brother, who worships those stronger than himself, decides to turn that interest towards me?
That way the destruction of the Jayus family, as well as the destruction of the world, may be prevented. I grabbed the wooden sword that I was holding with more strength.
***
Rather than passing fast, the years passed slowly as if to see who was able to hold on to it.
For the past year or so, I had been fighting a solitary battle to save my family. And the results were very sweet. I looked around the room, which, unlike last year, was piled with all kinds of jewels. It used to be a girl’s room with rustic bedding and flowy floral curtains, unlike now.
‘Heh heh heh,’ I laughed, clutching the jewels to my chest.
“Money is so good. Right, Blanc?”
“Huh? Why money?”
Blanc, still very young, did not know about the importance of money and luxury. However, I was different. I was already an adult with a soul steeped in desire, and I knew very well the importance of money. And that wealth could be a measure of my family’s survival.
Last summer, shortly after I learned that I had a talent for swords, I followed my father to a foreign country. It was to carry on the family line.
My father suggested that I should become a knight, but I flatly refused. Thanks to my firm conviction, I was able to find a way to keep my family alive. It was by making money through the family business. If all my plans were to fail in the future, I was going to use my family’s money to make ends meet.
[I prefer money over honor.]
So for the past year, I’ve struggled to find items that could make money. Finally, I discovered the “New World” in Belua, where I followed my father.
[Father, this is it!]
My father reprimanded me when he saw the ‘thing’ I had chosen.
[Yuria, if you read those books, the other nobles will make fun of you.]
[The Empire is so boring and dull.]
The Empire was a place where aristocracy and culture were important. They had a culture that regarded books as a lowly tool for studying and training.
The books I was holding included ‘The Youngest Daughter of the Duke When I Regress’, ‘No More Good Children’, ‘The Legend of the Black Dragon’, and others. I read many novels in my previous life, and my current world was one of the novels I read. That was how much literature of various genres I’ve waded through. I believed in the limitless potential of the fiction genre. However, the culture in my country considered such novels vulgar.
[Don’t worry, father. You’re supposed to break down a culture that’s out of the ordinary.]
[Break down?]
[Of course. I’ll give you an example.]
My father nodded with an incredulous stare.
[Suppose the heroine returns to the past after being unceremoniously murdered by an evil woman. What’s the first thing she should do?]
[She should live hard and be grateful for the life she was given once again.]
[What are you talking about? After seducing and marrying the crown prince, the heroine must avenge the evil woman who killed her and her family!]
[…]
My father eventually admitted that I was a weird child.
Nevertheless, I spent three days persuading my father, and he said that he would evaluate my abilities.
At first, there was no reaction within the Empire… Starting with a bookstore owned by the Jayus family, the fiction genre gradually began to spread throughout the Empire. And it was a huge hit. No matter how valuable the history and philosophy recorded in the books, they were still boring.
Stories about the heroine being murdered and going back in time and taking revenge on her killer, made people’s lives thrilling. Thanks to this, Jayus family was able to earn a lot of money.
As I looked at my parents, who were marveling at me, I said,
[The most important factor for running a successful business is to be the first to take the road no one else has taken.]
That was how my family got richer. Of course, there was a side effect. The imperial family and the nobility of the capital became interested in our house. Rural aristocrats generally lived quietly, building up their livelihood on a daily basis. However, the provincial aristocrats who were successful in their businesses and became wealthy managed to be noticed. Later, we always got invited to banquets from other lands.
Thanks to this, our family became one of the leading families in the region, though not as high as the nobles in the capital.
As I was having dinner with my family, I heard a shocking story.
“…..Marquis Evelian?”
“Yes. It’s an honor. Our family is invited to the Agelisk, which is held once every fifty years.”
“What?”
As if I couldn’t believe my ears, I got up and spoke loudly.
“This is not the time for the Jayus family to meet Marquis Evelian!”
“What do you mean?”
Without answering my mother, I ran toward my father’s office.
Once, when we had a small banquet at home, Blancis had shown off his swordsmanship skills.
Thanks to the family’s fame, Blanc’s talents spread throughout society. Blancis honed his sword alone until he turned 15. It wasn’t time for him to leave the mansion so soon.
I fished through the papers on my father’s desk and took out the invitation. My hands trembled as I looked at it.
The Agelisk, enforced by the Marquis of Evelian, was a system that gathered young boys and girls with a talent for swordsmanship from across the Empire and trained them for three years.
“If we refuse….”
No. No one knew when the Agelisk would be held again. It was all about the Marquis’s feelings. It was such a precious opportunity and was an invitation no one could never refuse.
But.
“Why now?”
The novel began when the Marquis of Evelian was 20 and Blancis was 17. So I didn’t know what had happened before that. Perhaps, in the original story Blancis wasn’t invited to Agelisk at this time, and he was an innocent boy growing up in the protection of his home until then.
Was that why there was no mention of it? I let out a deep sigh. Blancis was already admiring me. But I had only held the sword for a year… and I spent more time abroad on business.
Would Blancis be swayed by the villain Roger now?
And three years would be a long time. ‘Does that mean that I can find out what will happen to Blanc while Agelisk is held?’
“Yuria. What’s wrong?”
My father came into the office with a worried look on his face.
“It’s nothing, father.”
I made up my mind quietly. There was a way. It was a bit annoying and cumbersome, but still, for the sake of my family and my life I had to do it.
My father patted me on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry too much. Blanc is a much more mature child than we think.”
My father thought that I was worried about Blanc going to a strange place.
“I’m sure he’ll do well.”
“No, father,” I said, looking up at him with determined eyes.
“I’ll go.”
“What?”
“I’ve changed my mind. I want to be a knight. Isn’t this the priority for the eldest daughter of the family?”
The invitation didn’t come for Blancis, but for the Jayus family. We were at a point where rumors had not yet spread that I was learning to use a sword. The Marquis of Evelian must have sent the invitation, thinking that our family’s eldest son would be there.
“I will join Agelisk instead of Blancis.”
I had decided to take advantage of that loophole.