I looked at him, hoping for help.
“Yes, Yezar…”
He glanced back and forth between the miserably broken wooden sword and me before turning to the knights.
“Are you all not focusing on your training? Are you going to act so carelessly?”
At his words, the knights, who had paused, began moving again. The gazes directed at me were quickly withdrawn.
Ah, my contract husband is truly the best. After that, he looked at me, his lips twitching as if he wanted to ask something, but instead, he brought a new wooden sword.
“Give me that broken wooden sword and try this one?”
“Yes!”
I handed him the miserably broken wooden sword and took the new one. I felt a bit wronged, misunderstood because of a poorly made wooden sword.
‘It feels like misunderstandings just keep piling up in the ducal household.’
The mood wasn’t exactly pleasant. But since a way to shake off that bad feeling was right in front of me, I swung the wooden sword without dwelling on it.
[This is the timeline separator]Yezar thought for a moment. Perhaps her vibrant liveliness came from that strength.
From a spot away from the center where the knights were training, a ferocious striking sound echoed.
“Wow, my lady, you’re no joke.”
“During a spar, it seems our lord doesn’t need to hold back…?”
“I told you to focus on training.”
He responded as such, looking at Julietta. Her rose-colored hair, tied up high, swayed back and forth with her movements.
Her softly curved eyes were utterly charming, but the wooden dummy in front of her was in a pitiful state.
Moreover, about five wooden dummies, now completely unusable, had been pushed aside. Additionally, two new wooden swords he had provided were already broken and lay coldly on the ground.
“But how can we focus on training after seeing that?”
Clang—! Yezar, too, was curious how such a clear ringing sound could spread just from swinging a wooden sword.
“My lord, if you ever make a mistake with my lady, just apologize unconditionally.”
The knight who said this was a married man. Judging by how he flinched every time that clear sound rang out, his wife must be quite fierce.
Before long, the knights gathered around Yezar witnessed the moment the sixth wooden dummy met its end.
Soon, cheers and applause erupted from them.
He thought that once his wife left, he’d make them run a hundred laps around the training ground. But his kind wife, unfazed, smiled and prepared to demolish the next dummy.
Tireless, her brightly smiling face looked utterly delighted. Then, one knight muttered, puzzled.
“But surely there were knights who taught my lady swordsmanship. How could they see that and not say a word?”
That was something Yezar was curious about too. Anyone could see she wasn’t ordinary. If polished, she could become an excellent knight, leading wars to victory…
Lost in thought, Yezar shook his head. He didn’t want his wife to do anything dangerous.
It was enough for her to enjoy swordsmanship as she did now.
Julietta’s lively green eyes sparkled beautifully, the corners of her mouth curling up in delight. Even with sweat dripping, the focused furrow of her brow and her serious stance were truly impressive.
As he watched, completely engrossed, another knight answered the earlier question.
“What’s there to wonder about? It’s obvious. Even if a noble lady has talent in swordsmanship, unless she’s inheriting the family, there’s no use for it. So they probably didn’t bother mentioning it.”
Hearing that, Yezar thought of Julietta’s father, Count Orbetian.
He was so worried about his daughter getting hurt that he didn’t even consider letting her learn swordsmanship, yet he was too busy to know what she was actually doing.
Yezar recalled the bittersweet look in Julietta’s eyes.
‘If it were me, I wouldn’t want to leave such a lovely daughter alone.’
Yes, if a little child with fresh green eyes like sprouting buds and rose-tinted hair came running to me, calling me Dad…
Lost in that thought, Yezar paused for a moment. Because Julietta, standing naturally by his side, came to mind. So, him, her, and their child…
It was a thought he absolutely couldn’t let Julietta catch onto, but a smile crept onto his lips unknowingly.
At that moment, the wooden sword Julietta was swinging broke.
“Ugh, this time the wooden sword broke first.”
“Did you know about my lady’s monstrous strength, my lord?”
Ignoring the shocked voice, Yezar smiled and replied.
“I only heard she learned swordsmanship. Still, isn’t it cute how she’s so engrossed and smiling?”
The knights, with exasperated expressions, threw in a word or two.
“Goodness, you’re hopeless.”
“Even if a honeymoon is passionate, this level makes us doubt if you’re really our lord.”
“Everyone’s the same in love, but this seems excessive.”
“Those who just added unnecessary comments, I’ll spar with you one-on-one tomorrow.”
Silencing their complaints cleanly, Yezar approached Julietta. She was sweating so much.
He thought she might like it if he wiped her sweat with a handkerchief. She seemed to be taking a break, putting down her wooden sword and looking at him.
“Yezar, perfect timing! My clothes are soaked with sweat. Do you have a handkerchief?”
It seemed he’d come at just the right moment.
He smiled, intending to wipe her sweat with the handkerchief.
But something unexpected caught his eye. Her sweat-soaked clothes clung to her body, revealing her figure.
‘How could such a soft, non-muscular body threaten the duke?’
Why did that thought come to mind? Perhaps because of the faint glimpse of abs through her sweat-soaked skin.
Yes, such strength wouldn’t come from nowhere. The claim of having no muscles was a lie. Despite how soft her body felt in his arms.
“Yezar? No handkerchief?”
Her question snapped him out of it.
‘What am I thinking about in front of my wife…’
Feeling guilty, Yezar decided he didn’t want anyone else to see her like this.
“I have one, but a handkerchief won’t do. Let’s go inside and change your clothes…”
“What? Why? I was so looking forward to today!”
Julietta looked at him, utterly disappointed. Seeing her dejected eyes, his heart sank. But he didn’t want anyone, especially the male knights, to see her in such a vulnerable state.
So he came up with a compromise.
“Training ends here for today. Everyone, disperse.”
At his sudden command, both the knights and Julietta looked at him in confusion. But Yezar whispered to her quietly.
“I just wanted to spar with you quietly, without all the noise.”
He worried she might be offended if he admitted he wanted to be the only one to see her like this.
[This is the timeline separator]I stretched thoroughly, warming up my body.
After sweating once, I felt a bit hot, but Yezar wiped the sweat beading on my forehead.
He even sent the waiting maids away and attended to me himself.
After finishing my stretches, I looked around the empty training ground.
“It’s nice and quiet, but did you really have to send all the knights away? The maids too?”
“Don’t you also prefer it quiet, my lady? Too much noise would only distract you. Besides, the maids went to fetch clothes for you to change into, so I didn’t send them away.”
“Now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
Everything he said was true, but I couldn’t shake the ridiculous suspicion that he wanted to be alone with me.
The maids would prepare clothes for me when I returned anyway. His asking them to do it felt a bit deliberate.
Well, overthinking would only complicate things. I decided to focus on the good opportunity before me.
“Yezar, I’m all warmed up.”
He seemed ready too, striking a relaxed pose as he spoke to me.
“Have you ever sparred back at the count’s estate?”
“I have, but…”
When I trailed off, he asked with concern.
“Did something happen?”
I shook my head at his response. There was nothing worth worrying about. Well, not exactly something that happened, but…
“When I sparred, I lost, but the ones who got beaten up were the knights of our count’s estate.”
Recalling the past made me feel a bit guilty. Naturally, I had only trained for a short time and was physically outmatched by the knights, so I always lost.
Lacking skill, I was helpless against sudden attacks. But for some reason…
The knights all said sparring with me was tougher than sparring with other knights. Some even teared up, saying it hurt.
“Should I say every swing I make feels heavy? They said if they let their guard down even for a moment, it felt like being pummeled by several people. They avoided sparring with me because, unlike me who came out unscathed, they’d end up battered if they failed to block my attacks.”
If I had seriously pursued the path of a knight, I would’ve mastered handling surprise attacks perfectly.
Until now, I was satisfied with being able to take on a few grown men.
But with a great teacher standing before me now, I wondered if I should take it more seriously if I had the time.
Meanwhile, my husband was saying something interesting.
“Then, will I, your opponent today, end up battered too?”
“No way. You’ll be fine, Yezar, and I’ll lose. Hmm… but since you said you’d use your left hand, my wooden sword might graze you, right?”
When I teased provocatively, he laughed.
“I look forward to it, my lady.”
Seeing him take a stance as if inviting me, I rushed forward without hesitation.
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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