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Swordsman Tsurgis’s Visit to Dalistia

(Part 2)

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*****

—I had been watching her all along.

Tsurgis Deltrate evaluated himself with a single word: "Mediocre."

He believed he was merely a man who had the good fortune of being born as the heir to the House of Marquis Deltrate. He first began to think this way when he heard a sigh, heavy with disappointment, from his father—the Legion Commander, Nete.

「You truly have no talent for the sword. You lack drive.」

Tsurgis didn't quite understand why he had been told that.

However, the eyes of those around him gradually made him realize.

"You're not like your father." "Your sword is light." "His Excellency handled this much with ease."

He was told such things directly, indirectly, or through whispers he happened to overhear. The fact that these words were true left him no room for rebuttal.

—But, I have no choice but to keep going.

Fortunately, he liked the sword.

Even if he wasn't acknowledged, he didn't find it painful to swing his blade single-mindedly or to ponder what he must do to make his point reach his opponent.

When he was doing something he enjoyed, he could forget the evaluations of others. While grateful for his own temperament that allowed him to focus on a single task, Tsurgis gradually stopped speaking more than was necessary.

No one seemed to mind.

Since he had never been good at talking about himself anyway, it likely looked no different to those around him.

That, in its own way, was a relief.

Quietly, he never neglected his training, solely to sharpen his blade's edge even a fraction more. Even if he could never reach his father, he had to carry the name of Deltrate.

Eventually, even if he were given up on and his sister wed a more talented man, or if he were replaced by a brother and ceased to be the heir, it was his burden to carry until that day came.

Luckily, he had Schizolda, with whom he could share similar hardships. Zumiano was a brilliant and uninhibited man; while that sometimes stung his inferiority complex, he was more often saved by the man's cheerful nature.

Then, one day.

He remembered it vividly; it was the day after the rain had stopped.

During a lunch break, he was looking for a place out of sight to practice what he couldn't do outdoors the previous day. That was when he saw her.

Sitting on a bench, without an attendant, she was quietly staring at something with a single tear trailing down her face. For some reason he couldn't explain, his eyes were drawn to her.

It was only after that he realized she was beautiful.

For a short while, he stood there, enchanted.

Vivid golden hair and eyes as blue as the sky.

Her back was straight, her posture that of a lady without a single opening. When he shifted his gaze to see what she was looking at...

Beyond the hedge, past the library window, he saw a pair.

A young man of the same second-year grade, the Crown Prince posing as a black-haired son of a Baron, and a girl with grey hair and glasses.

As the two laughed together, she watched them in silence, tears falling.

As the son of the Legion Commander, Tsurgis had naturally interacted with the Crown Prince to some extent since childhood, so he recognized his true identity.

And then, with a start, he remembered her name.

—Dalistia Abacam.

She was the woman who had been called a candidate for His Highness's fiancée since they were children. Since Tsurgis himself didn't care for noble gatherings, they hadn't interacted much, and he only knew what she looked like as a small child, but there was no mistake.

The Crown Prince, who had been sickly in his youth, still had no official fiancée. While there is a custom that seems strange to other countries—not forming a formal engagement until graduation—there were, of course, candidates.

However, one after another, the ladies of appropriate age but little expectation had become engaged before entering the academy, leaving only a few from families of suitable standing.

Looking at the most likely candidate and the scene before him, Tsurgis realized.

—She must truly love the Crown Prince.

And so, she was grieving that he was close to another woman.

He couldn't draw near to support her as he did for Schizolda; yet, the sight of her gazing at something unreachable became seared into Tsurgis's heart.

After that, every time they happened to cross paths at school, his eyes would follow her.

Her conduct was always that of a high-ranking noble, worthy of a candidate for the Prince's fiancée.

Resolute yet treating everyone without discrimination, she always wore a smile that never made the other person uncomfortable.

—How much effort must she have put in?

Tsurgis, who had to work harder than others even to acquire basic etiquette and manners, felt a deep respect for what lay beneath her graceful bearing.

Scandalous rumors began to reach his ears.

At the center of them were a group of gossip-loving ladies led by Wellmy Ernest, who was said to be a sister to Iola of the same age.

Rumors that despite being a fiancée candidate, she hadn't been invited to the Royal Castle lately.

—I don't like this.

Even as he thought so, Tsurgis was in no position to intervene.

Since there seemed to be no actual harm, he limited himself to saying to those who occasionally used the rumors as entertainment: 「There is surely no flaw in the lady herself.」

However, Schizolda seemed to have noticed his concern.

He was once asked if he liked her, but he gave a vague, non-committal answer.

He didn't know himself if it was "love."

Until now, he had lived only thinking about how to be the next Marquis of a martial house.

But, for example... beyond just following her with his eyes, when grades were posted, he would find himself searching for her name among them.

Even with Schizolda's help in his studies, his own grades were only slightly above average.

In contrast, her name was always among the top.

The Crown Prince's name always shone even higher.

That grey-haired girl, Iola, was in roughly the same position as Tsurgis.

—What exactly was Prince Leonir dissatisfied with regarding Lady Dalistia?

Iola was a plain girl of unremarkable appearance.

However, once he started following her with his eyes, he realized her gestures were refined.

So incredibly honed... rather than a lady, she possessed the lack of openings found in a warrior.

That soft yet sharp presence reminded him somewhat of his father's rough yet powerful aura.

He felt a sense of wrongness at the dissonance between her appearance and presence, but after looking into the Crown Prince's eyes, Tsurgis finally understood.

Surely there was something in that girl that a mediocre person like himself couldn't see.

Perhaps that was what captured the Crown Prince's heart more than Lady Dalistia could.

However, two years after graduation.

This time, the Crown Prince appeared in a social setting accompanied by a girl who had changed her name to Wellmy Lyloud.

They were just like lovers.

—Why? Why with such a wicked woman?

Because of that, rumors that Lady Dalistia had been cast aside spread once more.

It was unforgivable.

Feeling this, Tsurgis finally became aware of his own love.

She was like a distant flower to someone like him, who did nothing but watch from afar.

She was always resolute, as if the rumors didn't exist, but in places where the Crown Prince appeared, her eyes looked somewhat lonely.

『Do you want to help her?』

One day, while visiting the Empire during a holiday, Zumiano suddenly said that.

『...If I can.』

After Tsurgis answered, he had almost no memory after putting on the item he was given—the "Bracelet of Courage."

He only had a vague awareness that he was behaving in ways he shouldn't, just as he was told to.

And then, when he was invited in secret and the Magus Lord Ormirage appeared and removed the bracelet.

—Tsurgis collapsed in despair.

He didn't understand Zumiano's true intentions.

By that point, Lady Dalistia had already shut herself away in the Abacam ducal estate, waiting for her opportunity.

He wanted to demand why he had been made to do such things.

『I will settle everything. Are you willing to cooperate?』

He heard the true intent behind Wellmy and the Crown Prince's behavior from the Magus Lord.

That it was to keep the danger away from Iola until the official engagement announcement.

That danger surely referred to actions like the ones he had taken while being manipulated.

If it would save Lady Dalistia.

Tsurgis jumped at the chance without a second thought.

—And now, as a follower of Wellmy, whom he had thought was a wicked woman, he was about to face Lady Dalistia.

Wellmy had told him that he had committed a crime, but that those who knew him acknowledged him.

While he was grateful to Wellmy, the feeling that he had no right to show his face to Dalistia tore at him.

「Lady Dalistia. Thank you very much for allowing us to meet with you at your estate today.」

As Wellmy gave her greeting and a graceful bow after entering the drawing room, Tsurgis bowed his head in unison.

When he raised his head afterward.

There was Dalistia, who had grown a little thinner, her pale face hidden by makeup, yet her back remained straight.

—And she was smiling, albeit weakly.

*****

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