PTB Chapter 10

The petal fell.

Spring, once in full bloom, had begun to wane. Upon checking the letter that had arrived, Dian de Benoit frowned. He was already discontent with spending these fine days in a blood-stained place, but seeing the letter addressed to his superior gave him a headache. More precisely, imagining the temper of the sender made his expression twist involuntarily.

Though he was clearly the second son of the Benoit family, aligned with the Emperor’s faction, he had long grown tired of the second princess’s sensitive temperament. If his father, the head of the family, or his elder brother had known this, they would have certainly scolded him.

“Well, as long as I stay on the Crown Prince’s good side, that’s enough.”

He intended to submit a petition requesting leave while delivering the letter. Lately, His Highness had been sweeping through the border troublemakers, leaving all the delayed paperwork to Dian.

“Your Highness Tanasis, it’s Dian.”

“Come in.”

Dian entered the largest post in the military camp, where a man was tending to his sword. The man had hair as icy as the blade he handled.

‘No matter how many times I see him, he’s such an emotionless person.’

Since serving the second prince, he had never seen him express emotions.

‘Especially when he decapitates enemies with that expressionless face…’

Having witnessed such scenes countless times, Dian had grown desensitized to the blood and gore of battle, all because of this prince.

“A letter?”

“Yes. It’s from Her Highness Aracne.”

Tanasis read through the letter, and a cold gleam flashed in his eyes.

“What does she say?”

“She says she attended the inauguration ceremony.”

“What? That self-righteous woman?”

It was a remark that could be seen as an insult to royalty, but Tanasis didn’t care. He leaned back in his chair and tossed the now-read letter onto the desk. Dian quickly picked it up and read it, then gasped.

“She went to Bastia to attend the inauguration. Princess Rose led the Remigis Order… Wait, Princess Rose?”

“Yes. The youngest went there personally. Looks like Aracne followed her.”

Tanasis tapped his desk with his index finger—a habit when deep in thought. Dian knew to stay silent at such times. He took the now-useless letter and burned it in the brazier.

The distance from Bastia to the border took more than two weeks, so the inauguration had likely ended long ago. For the usually quiet third princess to act so suddenly… Had another power appeared while the royal palace was unattended?

‘But Father didn’t give me any hint about this…’

The Benoit family’s intelligence network was active in the capital. When had this slipped past them? As Dian’s thoughts swirled, a cold voice reached his ears. Though calm, it was enough to stir excitement in him.

“We’re returning to the capital.”

“Marching to Eretria?”

“Yes. At full speed starting tomorrow, so be prepared.”

Though the road back promised hardship, Dian welcomed it. At last, freedom from the mire of the battlefield. Where petals gently fell, green leaves had begun to sprout. A sweet rest arrived only at the very end of spring.

***

“At the training grounds again?”

After being informed by a maid of Arsen’s whereabouts, Rose pouted. It had been almost a month since they’d returned from the inauguration, yet their relationship hadn’t progressed. After fulfilling his duty, the returned “Sir Lafayette” disbanded the knights and vanished. Rose had thought they were getting along well by the end, but contrary to her hopes, he hadn’t shown his face since.

‘I even confessed to him—this is too much, isn’t it?’

Even if it had been for the sake of sharing body heat, they had still embraced. If he had even a shred of intention to properly serve a royal, he wouldn’t have ignored her bold confession. Rose had buried the fact that he coldly walked away deep in her mind.

‘No way I’m giving up now. The one who wants this more has to make the move, right?’

She changed into a more practical outfit. Tossing off her cumbersome dress, she donned pants that clung comfortably. She liked the look—they seemed made for movement. After putting on the obsidian-embedded token of affection, she swung her legs and headed to the training grounds.

‘Today, I’ll ask him to teach me swordsmanship.’

She had decided to formally request lessons. Thinking back to the time they were ambushed by monsters on the road to Bastia sent chills down her spine. Without Arsen, she would’ve surely died. If she could wield a sword, at least she could defend herself.

Upon arrival, knights recognized her and greeted her warmly. Their attitude had clearly changed since the inauguration.

“Your Highness?”

Lance approached her.

“It’s been a while, Sir Lance.”

“What brings you here?”

“Have you seen Arsen?”

“If you mean the commander, he just finished training and went inside with Sir Hagen.”

It seemed they had just missed each other. Rose clicked her tongue.

“Your attire, Your Highness…”

“I came to ask for sword training.”

“You wish to learn swordsmanship?”

Lance glanced at her outfit and quickly averted his eyes, realizing his action was rude.

“Ah! Please come this way.”

With a bright idea, he led her to a small circular training ground with three wooden dummies and a rack of practice swords.

“This area is for trainee knights. How about starting with a wooden sword?”

“Sounds good.”

He picked one up and demonstrated a stance. Rose tried to imitate him, awkwardly gripping the sword.

“It’s heavier than I thought. I assumed wood would be light.”

“Wooden swords still require considerable strength. You need to wield this comfortably before moving to real swords.”

The long stick shifted weight forward more than expected. It was hard to tell if she was swinging it or being swung by it. Each time she struck, she flailed awkwardly.

“No, no, like this. Wait… Your Highness, hold on.”

Unable to watch any longer, Lance grabbed her wrist.

“You don’t swing a sword like that. It’s more like…”

“What are you doing?”

“C-Commander!”

Arsen stood glaring at them, his voice colder than usual.

“Didn’t I tell you to inspect the equipment?”

“Well, that…”

“Your hand.”

“Ah!”

The boy raised his hands, dropping the wooden sword.

“You’ll be punished later for laying hands on a royal. Dismissed.”

Lance saluted and fled. Rose glared at Arsen for driving away her instructor.

“Sir Lance did nothing wrong. I was the one holding onto him.”

“What brings you here?”

“I came to learn swordsmanship. I’m prepared. Look, doesn’t this look fitting?”

Arsen was dumbfounded by the princess confidently showing off her stable boy-like pants. With hands on her hips, she declared proudly.

“Good grief. What are you wearing?”

“You told me last time that I needed proper attire. Now you have to teach me. I even stopped Lance’s training for this!”

“Were you serious about that?”

Her voice rose sharply.

“Of course! Did you think I was joking?”

“To be honest, I didn’t think you needed to learn. The royal and Remigis knights will protect you with their lives.”

“Hmph, and yet I don’t even have a single escort. I’ll protect myself. So stop arguing and teach me.”

She had come without even a maid, and only now did Arsen realize it.

“Even if the palace has guards, this is too reckless. At least bring a maid…”

“That’s why you should teach me, so I’m not defenseless.”

Pouting, she continued,

“You didn’t come to see me, so I had to come to you. Technically, this is all your fault.”

“How is this my fault?”

“Wow. Look at you playing innocent. You even held me, and now you deny it?”

Startled by the potentially scandalous remark, he protested,

“What… That didn’t happen.”

“You totally groped me! Take responsibility for touching a royal body!”

It was she who had initiated the hug, and Arsen had resisted with all his might, yet she spoke shamelessly, even pretending to hug again. He glanced around, nervous someone might hear.

“That was purely a survival measure to conserve body heat…”

“Whatever. If you teach me swordsmanship, I’ll let you off the hook. But you have to keep teaching me.”

When he still didn’t move, Rose pointed her finger at his nose and warned,

“I’m being serious. Don’t make me issue a royal command.”

“…Then first, try not to drop the sword.”

After some internal conflict, he finally picked up the fallen sword and handed it to her. She eagerly took it and gripped it tightly. Arsen corrected her stance and stood opposite her.

“Now, strike at me.”

“Hit you?”

“Yes.”

“No way. What if I hurt you?”

“You won’t. Go ahead and swing.”

“You say that, but still…”

Irritated, she swung hard, secretly hoping to hit him out of spite. But the sword slipped from her hand, flying through the air. Arsen leaned slightly to dodge and stared at the sword now lying on the ground.

“…”

“Haha, slipped out of my hand. I’ll try again.”

She awkwardly picked it up and tried again. But each time, the result was the same—the sword would fly out of her grip. Was this sword training or throwing practice? She was growing despondent.

‘Wow. Is this really my athletic ability?’

Rose de Callon had an impressively frail constitution to match her petite frame. In her modern life, she had mastered various sports, making the contrast even more stark.

“Are you planning to continue?”

Finally hearing his sentence of doom, the practice ended.

“As I said, the knights will protect you. No need to strain yourself.”

With what felt like a cold dismissal, Arsen returned to the training hall. Rose collapsed onto the ground in defeat.

‘Protect myself with swordsmanship?’

She’d be lucky just to hold the sword. Frustrated, she glared at the wooden hilt.

“Ugh, my whole body aches.”

Back in the palace, Rose sprawled across her bed. Her fragile body was sore after just that bit of training.

“You shouldn’t push your royal body with unfamiliar sword training, Your Highness.”