The Story of a Middle-Aged Knight Who Tried to Live a Relaxed Slow Life in the Countryside, Only for a Duke's Daughter Whose Engagement Was Broken Off to Move in With Him

On the Bed

Your gift will give me the strength to post the next chapter, the next story.

Hello, sorry for the late update. Busy taking care of my father. Trying hard to motivate him to move his body around.

For now I'll be posting in bulk since it's already in the backlog.

Take good care of yourself and your family. Thank you and enjoy.

*****

「This might sting a bit, but please bear with it, okay?」

Saying that, Cistilia pressed a poultice against my chest.

「Gahhhhh!?」

It stung like crazy.

「Hang in there, Magistrate. A poultice made from moon-waiting grass works wonders, you know.」

Granny spoke up from behind Cistilia.

「D-Does it even work on broken bones?」

「In fact, broken bones are precisely where moon-waiting grass shines best. If you leave a fracture alone, the bone might knit back together crooked, see? Moon-waiting grass makes sure to 'mend' the bones properly.」

「Seriously? That stuff is amazing.」

「Ho ho ho. You ought to thank the Madam for her foresight in bringing that moon-waiting grass back.」

「I told you, she's not my wife!」

After Patrick spouted off some one-sided nonsense like 'I won the duel, but I waive my rights' and rushed off, I was carried to a bedroom in the manor, where Cistilia and Granny were tending to my injuries.

Fortunately, my injuries were lighter than I had braced myself for.

(Thanks to Watta.)

Before returning to his village, Watta had given me a breastplate carved from monster bone as a token of his gratitude.

Crafty bastard that I was, I had secretly tucked it under my clothes.

Mind you, despite wearing a breastplate said to be harder than iron, my ribs were still broken.

Even Watta's custom-made breastplate had cracked.

Yet the wooden sword Patrick used hadn't broken at all.

I had no choice but to be astounded by Patrick's skill.

Maryse stayed behind at the manor afterward, looking after Cistilia and, by extension, me.

...Or rather, since she had arrived double-riding on Patrick's horse and that jerk had galloped off with the steed, she was simply stranded here.

At any rate, it was a situation best described as 'lost the battle, but won the war.'

Granny spoke in an exasperated tone.

「Well, you did win the battle between men over Lady Cistilia, didn't you?」

「That's right. Now I am Leonardo's wife in both name and reality.」

「Hey, you're just taking advantage of the messy situation to make this an accomplished fact, aren't you?」

When I glared at her, Cistilia averted her eyes with a face that looked ready to break into a whistle.

Cistilia sat on a chair beside the bed, while Granny stood behind her.

「Magistrate, it's best if you don't move.」

Cistilia and Granny wrapped my chest round and round with the bandages Maryse had brought.

「That was quite the argument you two had. It carried all the way down to the village. Ho ho ho. As expected, you're quite something, Magistrate. You're still so young at heart!」

「Gah... Everyone could hear all of that...?」

Somehow, I didn't feel like I could fulfill my duties as a magistrate anymore.

Patrick promised not to relieve me of my position, but at this rate, I might end up submitting my own resignation.

「Well then, this old woman will take her leave. Wouldn't want to get in the way of you two. Heh heh heh.」

「Ah, hey...」

I tried to reach out toward Granny as she hurriedly made her exit, but a sudden sharp pain in my chest stopped my arm.

「Ow, ow, ow...」

「A-Are you all right, Leonardo?」

「Yeah... I won't be able to move much for a while.」

I used to be in the order of knights, a place full of violent skirmishes.

I was well used to minor injuries.

Though, to be fair, getting hurt this badly was the first time since I got thrashed by a monster back in my rookie days.

Cistilia and I fell silent.

An awkward air settled over the bedroom.

「U-Um...」

Cistilia was the one to break the silence.

「What is it?」

「...Thank you very much.」

Placing her hands on the bed, Cistilia bowed her head.

「Hmph... I just didn't like that smug boss of mine, that's all.」

「Oh, honestly, you always foul-mouth people like that.」

「I thought I'd at least land one solid strike on him at the end. But man, that guy really is a monster.」

「You were very strong as well, Leonardo.」

「Stronger than you imagined, you mean?」

「N-No, well, that too, but aren't you actually quite strong? I've heard that almost no one can even manage a proper clash of blades against Patrick.」

「Well, I watched him up close as his subordinate. Even with his wrist-slash, if you see it enough times, you come up with a counter.」

Besides, Patrick had underestimated my skill.

No, in truth, strictly speaking as swordsmanship, my skill with a blade was pathetic.

It was just wildly swinging downward like a kid in a brawl, after all.

「Good grief, it's depressing. A guy ten years younger than me is at a height of swordsmanship I can't even fathom.」

「The Earl of Rorrington's family is a distinguished house of knights, after all.」

「The world really is built unfair.」

There are people like him born blessed with everything, and then there are stones by the side of the road like me.

Cistilia spoke while timidly scanning my face.

「Um... Are you dissatisfied?」

「With what?」

「With me. Is having me by your side... not enough?」

「How on earth did you arrive at that?」

「If I do say so myself, I turned Patrick down. It's you I love, Leonardo.」

「...I know that.」

「You got the girl that even Patrick couldn't win, so shouldn't that be enough?」

Cistilia said, her cheeks slightly flushed as she averted her gaze.

「Well now, aren't you full of yourself.」

「My father used to say it: that he chose a fiancé who was the most promising and would make the finest husband of anyone he knew.」

「Granted, his house is prestigious, but he's an earl. Compared to the ducal House of Eldryuse, he's lower in status. Still, the guy excels at swordsmanship, is on the fast track to success, is handsome, and his personality isn't even terribly bad.」

「Fufu. After all, even a hard-to-please man like you acknowledges him to a degree, Leonardo. So he must be at least passing grade for a noble.」

「Are you really sure it was okay to reject a guy like that?」

「I've been telling you it's okay right from the start.」

「...Right, you did.」

That was true. Right from the beginning, Cistilia had kept saying she was completely fine with it.

I was the only one refusing to believe her.

All because I was terrified of being called a forty-year-old fool who took a young girl's whim seriously, only to end up dumped in the end.

「A-Anyhow! Since you're the one who won my heart, you ought to have more confidence in yourself, Leonardo!」

「If anything, it feels less like I won your heart and more like you captured mine.」

Even though I hadn't even said I liked her yet, the siege around my defenses was steadily tightening.

Yet, a part of me didn't altogether dislike it.

「Talking too much might worsen your condition.」

Cistilia stood up from her chair.

「Please get plenty of rest. Once your bones heal up a bit, it might be nice to let you soak in the dwarves' hot spring.」

「That sounds nice. I'm completely worn out now.」

「Fufu. Rest up.」

Having said that, Cistilia leaned over the bed.

「H-Hey.」

「I said what I did during the duel, but... I was truly, deeply happy. To know that you were thinking so seriously about me, Leonardo.」

Cistilia brought her face close to mine as I lay immobile.

Instinctively, I tried to dodge, but the bulky bandages kept me pinned in place.

Cistilia closed her eyes.

In the next moment, her lips overlapped with mine.

「Thank you very much. This is my thanks to you.」

Cistilia spoke with a flushed red face.

「A-Aren't you embarrassed?」

「Of course I'm embarrassed!」

Pouting her cheeks, Cistilia quickly pulled herself back from the bed.

「W-Well then, please get some rest!」

「Y-Yeah.」

「We'll decide on the wedding date later!」

「Like I said, stop pushing things forward just because I can't move!」

Cistilia smiled sweetly and stepped out of the room.

「Good grief... If I don't heal up fast, she really might set the date for the ceremony.」

Lying in bed with a wry smile, before I knew it, I slipped into sleep.

*****

Thank you for reading. If you want to help my hobby, please download and install LDP9 with my link down below. Just click the small yellow LDPlayer Banner.