Most good medicines weren’t delicious. Arnold, still frowning, wiped his mouth gingerly with the back of his hand.
“So, any other places you’d like to see?”
“There are many! The stall over there–”
She came to an abrupt halt as before and forcibly squeezed a smile.
“Um, aren’t those leather goods in the stalls over there very nice?”
“There’s a town a couple of days’ ride from here where a lot of artisans live. They must be from there.”
“Nah, I see!”
She smiled and regrouped. Whew! That was a close call!
Wiping a cold sweat inwardly, she explored Arnold’s expression.
Did he notice it? He didn’t, right?
Besides being embarrassed by her attire today, Rishe has another problem.
I knew it. I’d be suffering from muscle pain by all means…
Rishe wanted to hold her head up to the problem she had deliberately ignored earlier.
The dull ache she always felt was manageable. As before, the trouble was that pain struck her when she least expected it.
Today’s training was to work on the lower body in addition to running.
Since yesterday was only the upper body, the policy seemed to be dividing the training areas by day.
I knew there was a theory that taking a break was better than working out every day.
Fortunately, the pain in her lower body hasn’t kicked in yet, but she could feel a dull ache sprouting up to her thighs.
Still, I have to conceal it. If His Highness finds out about my sore muscles, he might pursue it… By the way, that was some great coaching from Count Rovine.
While walking around in the guise of calm, she thought back to the events of the morning.
Rovine joined the training team today, observed each of the cadets carefully, and gave them advice tailored to their needs.
“Your physical fitness is excellent, but you have a tendency to push forward unnecessarily. Make it a habit to survey your surroundings and use your head. This will also help you protect yourself.”
“You seem capable of calmly assessing your abilities. It’s an excellent skill, but don’t use it to narrow down your options. If there’s a gap between what you want to do and what you can do, figure out how to bridge that.”
Rovine’s gentle and simple but sincere tone augmented the weight of his words.
You can tell he’s looking out for all of the cadets and even teaching them to think about their future. Plus he’s very good at complimenting.
Other cadets even began to completely worship Rovine after the morning’s training.
However…
Rishe peeked at Arnold’s profile as he walked next to her.
His Highness Arnold killed Count Rovine.
And that was only three years away.
I have a lot of things to discover, but the one I’m most interested in is “that thing” that’s happening right now. I don’t care how good a leader Count Rovine is, it’s still weird.
Rishe gently looked down and thought about what was bothering her since yesterday.
Should she sound Arnold out?
However, he wasn’t necessarily the one who created the situation that Rishe was wondering about.
To begin with, Count Rovine was serving his father, the current Emperor, not Arnold.
“…”
She was absorbed in her thoughts, then felt a gaze on her.
When she looked up, she saw Arnold staring at her.
Just a moment ago, they were supposed to be standing side by side, but before Rishe knew it, she was left a few steps behind.
Strap!!!
She must hurry up and catch up lest she’d really be bundled up. Although her upper body was dull and sore, it wasn’t unbearable.
But before Rishe sprint off, Arnold returned to her and said, “Am I walking too fast?”
“Huh? It’s fine, just…”
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She reflected on his question.
Come to think of it, His Royal Highness Arnold walked slower today than usual… right?
Now that she thought about it, she finally realized it.
He probably knew all along that Rishe was uncomfortable from the way she was acting.
However, he didn’t say it out loud, which meant he was casually keeping pace with her.
What’s this? This fluffy, warm feeling.
Rishe softly exhaled.
When all is said and done, His Highness Arnold is very kind.
It was hard to believe that three years later, he would be someone who would kill people for outrageous reasons.
“I’m fine… Thank you.”
“…”
When Rishe smiled and thanked him, Arnold took his gaze off her.
As Rish walked with him again, she secretly made up her mind.
Above all, I must know more about him.
It might help to stop the scourge created by Emperor Arnold Hein.
With that in mind, she looked around the market for a while.
This time she bought some decently delicious fruit, ate some smoked meat grilled at the stalls, and tasted some bread.
Arnold was dumbfounded, wondering if she would eat them all, but he didn’t seem fed up with being taken along for the shopping spree.
Eventually, after checking out all of the stalls, Arnold took out his pocket watch and looked at the time.
“Could it be… is it time to go?”
She asked, and he replied as he put away his pocket watch.
“Not really, but it’s about time to get going. If we stay in one place too long, there’s a chance that Oliver’s messenger will find us.”
“I see. Oliver-sama~ What?!”
Rishe almost dropped her baked goods for eating, and her eyes widened in surprise.
“You mean, you didn’t even inform Oliver-sama of today’s outing?!”
“Yeah.”
“That sounded as if it was a matter of course!!!”
She was appalled at the reply that was lacking the slightest bit of apology. But Arnold quickly reasoned, “The work for today was done. I haven’t set up a system where my absence for half a day will incur any adverse effects.”
“Then, what if a problem arises?”
“If things get a little messy, I’m sure Oliver will at least buy us some time.”
She wondered if that was true. Arnold didn’t seem to have any reservations about Oliver, and that was what worried her.
By any chance, was yesterday’s whispering because you didn’t want Oliver-sama to hear it? But there’s no need to hide it from your own servant if it was official-related business.
That moment, a question arose in Rishe’s mind.
Does that mean this sneaking around isn’t official business?
If so, then what was Arnold’s purpose? Looking at the confused Rishe, the roots of all evil laughed happily.
“Okay, let’s go…”
“H-hai…”
Not knowing anything, Rishe couldn’t come up with another word.
After all, she lost the battle, and declared that she would do whatever he said.
Then, they took a short walk from the market, and she became more and more confused when she saw where she was brought in.
“This is…”