I Became The Sword Of The Sword-Obsessed Male Lead (18 Chapters Left to Complete) - Chapter 16
“Maybe I should’ve just said yes when he asked.”
“Huh? Said yes to what?”
After lunch, during a short break, Mari and I were sitting comfortably, enjoying some rest.
Behind the mansion, just off the path leading to the servants’ quarters, a wide hilltop shaded by trees had become our usual resting spot.
The servants’ quarters, always bustling with maids, wasn’t a place where one could truly relax.
In contrast, this hill—bathed in the pleasant afternoon sun and gentle breeze—was simply perfect for resting.
When Mari asked me what I should’ve agreed to do, I gave her a bitter smile.
It had already been two weeks since Dietrich had made his offer about assigning me as a personal maid.
I’d surprisingly adapted to my maid duties incredibly quickly.
Even tasks I’d initially thought were difficult were now effortlessly handled in no time.
Yet, if there was one serious drawback to being a maid…
It was my pitiful stamina.
‘It’s just too exhausting!’
Aside from these brief rest breaks, I hardly had any time to properly rest at all.
If only I’d accepted Dietrich’s offer right away, I wouldn’t be struggling like this now.
As the weather gradually grew warmer, I spread my palms and fanned myself.
“It’s starting to get really hot.”
“Yeah. It’s about time for the summer hunting tournament and festival soon.”
“Hunting tournament and festival?”
Oh, how very romance-novel-like.
Of course, we were already inside a romance-novel world, but these classic tropes—ever-present in any romance novel—made my eyes sparkle with excitement.
Seeing my suddenly animated reaction, unlike my earlier mood, Mari chuckled softly.
“You’re interested?”
“Yeah! A hunting tournament and a festival—just hearing about it sounds thrilling!”
“True. Though of course, the hunting tournament isn’t something we can attend.”
“Where do they hold it?”
Mari leaned in slightly and whispered,
“At the Imperial Palace.”
“The Imperial Palace?”
“You didn’t know? Traditionally, the hunting tournament is always held there. I’ve never seen it myself, but I heard they hold it in the palace’s exclusive hunting forest.”
“An exclusive hunting forest…”
If they had a forest just for hunting, did that mean they bred animals there specifically to be hunted?
If that really was the case, it made me think there was no end to human cruelty.
Mari apparently shared my thoughts, clicking her tongue briefly in disapproval.
“Kind of gross, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Even if I could go, I wouldn’t really want to attend a hunting tournament.”
“Exactly. But the summer festival is different. It’s held for three days right in the city center—huge scale, tons to see, and on the last night, they even have a fireworks festival!”
“A fireworks festival?!”
Just hearing about it made my heart swell with romance.
Of course—the grand finale of a summer festival had to be fireworks.
“They also sell all kinds of delicious food then, so I save up my wages just for that day. Going to see it with my siblings is absolutely the best!”
That was so like Mari—utterly devoted to her siblings.
“Are you going with your siblings again this year?”
“Yeah. My youngest sibling was seriously ill last time, and their wish was to go to the summer festival. So I promised I’d take them. Oh—do you want to come with us?”
True to her kind nature, Mari even invited me along.
But I wasn’t clueless enough to intrude on a family outing—I wasn’t that lonely.
“No, I’ll go separately.”
“Really? If you do end up going, I’ll let you know what’s tasty.”
After chatting for a while, I could already feel my drained stamina slowly returning.
Just then, Mari’s cheerful smile suddenly froze into a tense, rigid expression.
“Mari?”
Following her gaze, I turned my head—and my jaw dropped at the sight of a familiar man.
Dietrich stood not far from the shade where we were sitting.
I realized then that there was a training ground nearby this hill.
Behind the mansion stretched vast grounds that included everything—from the maids’ quarters to the training field.
“H-Haidee… Lord Dietrich is really looking right at us, isn’t he?”
Mari’s small shoulders trembled with fear.
Was Dietrich really that terrifying?
I hadn’t personally seen how he usually treated the other servants, so I hadn’t truly grasped how intimidating he was.
Of course, in the original story, Dietrich was a cold-hearted man who wouldn’t tolerate even the slightest mistake.
He’d mercilessly cut down anyone who offended him or committed a serious error.
Considering that, Mari’s fear wasn’t really an exaggeration.
“Do you think he’s actually watching us?”
Even as I said that, Dietrich’s gaze was unmistakably fixed directly on us.
‘Why on earth is he staring?’
Given our vast difference in social status, it would’ve been inappropriate for me to acknowledge him as an acquaintance.
I quickly turned my head away to pretend I hadn’t seen him—but Mari’s face had already turned deathly pale.
“No, Haidee… I think he really was watching us. He’s coming this way.”
By the time I could even blurt out, “What?”, Dietrich was already standing right in front of us.
He wore a light white shirt and comfortable black trousers—looking more relaxed than usual.
“Oh—good afternoon, My Lord.”
I reluctantly stood up and bowed deeply, following Mari’s example as she sprang to her feet and gave a respectful greeting.
‘Anyway, why did he come all the way out here?’
When he didn’t respond, I cautiously lifted my head—and immediately met his intense, unwavering stare.
What? Did I do something wrong?
The only reason he’d seek me out here—despite my lowly maid status—was if something had happened to Harpe, right?
As I stared blankly upward, he finally spoke after a long pause.
“Is this your break time?”
“Yes.”
I quickly answered in place of Mari, who seemed so terrified she’d lost the ability to speak.
“How long until your break ends?”
“We’re just about done. We should head back soon.”
He crossed his arms and gave a slight nod.
“Then, since it’s time to return to work, I’d like to ask you for a favor.”
A favor?
I didn’t know what he wanted, but his slouched posture was seriously grating on my nerves.
“I left behind the towel I usually use.”
“…Huh?”
“I won’t wipe my sweat with any other towel.”
Seriously? Who even acts like that!
His ridiculous, absurd request made me laugh involuntarily.
But Dietrich looked utterly serious.
“Could you bring it to the training ground for me?”
“Hah.”
“Bring it as quickly as you can.”
And that was it.
He turned and disappeared into the training ground, leaving my head spinning.
Did he really come all this way just to ask for that?
If it wasn’t meant to torment me, his behavior made absolutely no sense.
“Mari, wasn’t Lord Dietrich just completely absurd—Mari?”
I stopped mid-complaint about Dietrich’s outrageousness when I noticed Mari’s stunned expression.
Frozen like someone in shock, she finally turned to me and asked,
“Haidee… Has Lord Dietrich ever actually used the word ‘favor’ before?”
“Huh?”
“He just asked us for a ‘favor,’ didn’t he?”
[‘I’d like to ask you for a favor.’]Well, he had said “favor”—though it sounded more like a command than a request.
I nodded and casually adjusted my clothes.
It was about time to head back to the mansion anyway.
“Yeah, he did say ‘favor.’”
“…I didn’t think he was the type to say things like that. Everyone says he’s so scary—I’ve never even dared to meet his eyes before.”
Dietrich’s personality was certainly prone to misunderstandings.
He rarely spoke, and when he smirked that crooked smile, he genuinely looked ill-tempered.
Still, he was absolutely not a bad person at heart.
‘I guess I’ve gotten used to Dietrich.’
After all, I no longer found his personality particularly unpleasant.
I decided to clear up Mari’s misunderstanding.
“No, it’s just rumors. I’ve bumped into him a few times on the path before—he was actually quite kind.”
“That really seems to be the case. ‘Favor’… that’s a word you rarely hear from nobles.”
A new emotion sparkled in Mari’s eyes—astonishment at discovering an unexpected side of Dietrich.
“Shall we go do what he asked now? Will you take it to him?”
Now that Mari’s misunderstanding had eased a bit, I thought she’d be okay—but she shook her head vigorously.
“No, I’m still too scared to go alone.”
“Then should I go instead?”
“You’d be alright going by yourself?”
I gave her a confident thumbs-up to show I was perfectly fine.
After returning to the mansion and parting ways with Mari, I headed straight to Dietrich’s room and found the towel hanging on a chair.
The walk back to the training ground was quite far, given the estate’s massive size.
The Delgado family’s land was so vast that one could ride a horse for a long time and still not reach the end.
The training ground itself, visible after about fifteen minutes of walking behind the mansion, was enormous.
Inside stood rows of knights in uniform, each bearing the Delgado family’s eagle crest tattooed on their right forearms.
“Wow!”
The famed knight order was even more awe-inspiring in person than I’d imagined.
‘So this is the Hareon Knights.’
The Hareon Knights.
One of the first things that came to mind when thinking of the Delgado dukedom.
True to the Delgado family’s reputation as a house famed for swordsmanship, the Hareon Knights boasted formidable strength.
In the original novel, it was said each individual knight of Hareon was so skilled they utterly dwarfed even the Imperial Palace’s own knights.
Their creed was simple: follow the strong, protect the weak.
However, even in the novel, they hadn’t fully sided with Dietrich.
After all, as knights sworn to the Delgado house, their ultimate loyalty lay with their true master—the head of the family.
Lost in thoughts about the Hareon Knights, I hadn’t even noticed I’d already reached the entrance of the training ground.
‘Where could Dietrich be?’
The training ground was so large I could barely make out people’s faces from where I stood.
Someone nearby, squinting as they scanned the area, suddenly tapped my shoulder.
When I turned to see who it was—
I let out an involuntary scream at the face right in front of me.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
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