“Is that really so?”
Sidney turned her head towards the empty field and questioned. The birds flying up high above the tall trees, and the clouds spread wide across the gray sky caught her eye.
Nothing is always, constantly, unchangeably the same.
Just as today’s sky and yesterday’s sky, tomorrow’s wind and the wind from the day before yesterday are different despite seeming similar… Walter and herself must have been slowly changing too.
Just like new buds sprout and flowers bloom when spring comes…
“Walter, everything in the world changes. And such changes are natural.”
And so, envisioning that day when even the world would change, Sidney took a step forward.
[This is the timeline separator]“Wow, who is that? To wield a bastard sword so freely with such a thin build… And not even backing down against Lord Asner.”
“That… isn’t that Lord Warden? The red hair and build are just like Lord Warden’s.”
The soldiers returning from training one by one stopped and peered at the training ground.
Many of them looked quite bewildered at the news that Sidney Warden was Walter Asner’s sparring partner.
“What? Lord Warden is sparring? It’s true.”
“So that’s the famous Warden family’s swordsmanship. Each attack flows like water, elegant and powerful.”
“What are you all doing! If you’ve finished training, you should return to headquarters…”
The officer who pushed through the murmuring soldiers let out a gasp with wide eyes.
Walter, who had been clashing swords and testing strength, pushed Sidney’s sword to the side with brute force.
Instead of Sidney tumbling along with the sword, Walter’s upper body bent forward and staggered because of this.
‘She released the force on her sword while twisting her waist and lifting her leg. Damn, she’s trying to strike Lord Walter’s side with her knee using the very force he used to push away her sword.’
The officer once again became convinced as he watched Sidney, unlike Walter, immediately regain her stance. That Captain Sidney Warden was an even more formidable expert than the rumors suggested.
“W-What? What just happened?”
“I don’t know. It looks like Lord Asner got hit.”
The soldiers’ whispering, unable to follow Sidney and Walter’s quick movements with their eyes, quieted down as Sidney took an offensive stance.
[This is the timeline separator]My hands and both shoulders are still tingling from trying to endure and draw out Walter’s strength as much as possible. Now’s the time, now when Walter’s balance is broken is the last chance.
Whoosh, Sidney leaped up kicking off the ground and raised the bastard sword over her head.
As expected, in the instant Walter pulled his left foot back and spun around, swinging his sword upward from below, Sidney tilted her left shoulder slightly backward.
Clang, with a thunderous sound, the weighted bastard sword slid against Walter’s sword and whirled around with the left foot as pivot.
The blade that swung in a large arc stopped just in front of Walter’s neck.
Walter burst out angrily with an incredulous face.
“Are you crazy? You, you almost gave up your leg just now.”
I suppose so. Sidney lowered her gaze, recalling the trajectory Walter’s bastard sword had been drawing.
As expected, the blade that should have been aimed at her thigh was pointing towards the sky.
“At most, it would have been a bruise from the flat of the blade, not the edge.”
“What if this had been real combat?”
What are you saying? If it had been a battlefield, there would have been no need to so elaborately create an opportunity.
Sidney stepped back, withdrawing the bastard sword. Then, glancing around at the soldiers whistling and cheering at the edge of the training ground, she said gruffly,
“Then you would have aimed for my abdomen instead of blocking my sword.”
How embarrassing. As she hurried to leave, Walter covered his face with one hand and lamented.
“Ah, really. How am I supposed to beat you?”
“Did you have any intention of winning?”
Walter’s eyes peeking through his fingers sparkled mischievously.
“If you’d just let me win… That wouldn’t work, would it?”
“As if.”
What’s this, if training is over they should scurry back right away. Sidney turned her back on the soldiers chanting her name and headed towards the bench.
From behind, someone shouted ‘Everyone go back!’ and then the sound of running footsteps was heard. As she set down the training bastard sword, she glanced over her shoulder.
The man with light blue short hair was wearing a black uniform with silver epaulettes signifying his affiliation with the Imperial Military Legal Department.
“Do military legal officers also receive morning training these days?”
“Ah, Jason Canie is an exception. He’s a well-known hothead in the Military Legal Department.”
Jason Canie, the third son of Count Canie, the Minister of Legal Affairs, was more often called a ‘mad dog’ for relentlessly pursuing corruption and unfair treatment regardless of rank or position.
He meddled so much here and there that they sent him to the Governor-General’s Office in the Kingdom of Anes, so why is he here? Did he get kicked out of there too?
Sidney tilted her head slightly as she put on her jacket followed by her coat.
Just as she fastened the last button, Jason Canie extended his hand, breathing heavily.
“I am Jason Canie, Imperial Military Prosecutor. It’s truly an honor to meet Captain Sidney Warden, whom I’ve long admired.”
Admiration and honor, is it. Sidney hid her displeasure and responded calmly to the handshake.
“Nice to meet you. But what brings you here?”
“On my way back from morning training with the soldiers, I heard that Lord Warden was sparring.”
As she withdrew her hand, Walter Asner cut in as if he had been waiting.
“If you’ve seen everything, just leave quietly. It’d be even better if you’d turn around and get lost right now.”
“Haha, Lord Asner is as charming as ever.”
Walter knocked away Jason Canie’s hand offering a handshake and sneered.
“You seem unchanged too. Did you get kicked out of the Governor-General’s Office in Anes as well?”
“It was time for me to return.”
Despite having reason to be offended, Jason Canie retorted good-naturedly.
Judging by their casual back-and-forth, skipping even light formalities.
“You two seem quite close.”
“Not at all.”
“No way.”
As soon as the words were out, both Walter and Jason immediately denied it.
If not them, then whatever. Sidney looked at Jason Canie.
With his slightly drooping eyebrows, gently curved eyes, and softly upturned corners of his mouth, he had a typical ‘smiling face’ with a gentle and bright impression.
But his nearly closed eyes were so suspicious that they reminded her of Steve Deniro.
He’s subtly similar. Even the overly friendly attitude at first meeting… It would be better not to get too close.
“Lord Canie, it was nice to meet you. We have something to discuss, so if you’ll excuse us.”
“Oh my, I’ve taken up too much of your precious time. I’ll pay you a proper visit next time.”
Jason Canie promised a next time with a face that didn’t look sorry at all.
As expected, his exaggerated praise and greetings from earlier seemed to have had some purpose. Whatever it was, the regretful one was on his side.
Sidney nodded slightly and turned away.
“What next time. If you need someone to bite, go find them elsewhere.”
Walter’s threatening voice and Jason’s low laughter could be heard from behind.
Dong, dong,… The temple bells announcing noon startled a bird into flight. She stood there blankly for a moment, taking in the gray sky with her eyes raised.
“Anyway, nothing good comes from getting involved with that guy.”
The crime of deceiving about being a woman and inheriting the Warden earldom would be tried according to Arsenal Imperial law, while the crime of joining the Imperial Army would be tried under military law.
The former in the noble court, the latter in the military court.
Even Duke Yant’s influence doesn’t reach the military court, so would it be any different for Marquis Redford?
Moreover, if bitten by the ‘mad dog’ Jason Canie who listens to no one… It would truly be hopeless.
No, this is excessive imagination. I’ve gone too far when I don’t even know what Jason Canie’s intentions were in approaching me.
For a moment, Sidney hugged herself against the chill penetrating her body and unconsciously thought of Logan.
As I warned Steve Deniro. Will Logan really stay with me until the end?
No matter what. If I’m included in that category, then yes. Still, I shouldn’t keep relying on Logan like this.
Sidney exhaled a shallow breath and tucked her wildly flying red hair behind her ear.
“…Let’s walk for a bit.”
“Huh? Alright.”
The path through the trees was still covered in a light blanket of snow.
The surroundings were so quiet that the crunching sound of stepping on snow seemed particularly loud. After a while, Walter hesitantly spoke up.
“Um, Sidney. If it’s not Lady Owello, or the Commander, then… how about me? No, choose me.”
“What?”
Walter’s face as she turned to face him was as solemn as a soldier prepared to die. His uncharacteristically serious face and subdued voice too.
“All this time, I believed that pretending not to know your secret and helping you hide it was what you truly wanted and the best I could do. Foolishly focused only on keeping it hidden, I didn’t even think to build up strength in preparation for when you might be in danger. So of course you couldn’t trust me and had no choice but to be played by that bastard Logan Redford.”
Sidney’s eyes widened at Walter’s last words, spat out bitterly as he continued his self-reproach with eyes full of regret.
“Played… Walter, what do you mean by that?”
“I heard it from Lady Owello. That the Marien that bastard Logan Redford was desperately searching for was you, that you… didn’t want him, that you accepted marriage after he discovered your secret. I heard it all. That you wouldn’t accept such a proposal from simple blackmail, and since that bastard seemed sincere, I told Lady Owello we should watch a bit longer.”
Walter paused and swallowed hard. All the words Sidney had been thinking of as appropriate explanations while listening to him scattered.
Logan Redford to her…
“…Seemed sincere?”
The voice that came out as if squeezed from her throat was cracked and displeasing. As much as Walter seemed to have a thorough grasp of her situation.
______
In This Life, I Won’t Be Foolish To Lose You Again (Female-dominant)
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
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