At my words, Esmeralda smiled faintly.

“Thank you.”

“Pull it like this, and step like this.”

I didn’t know anything about archery, but I tried everything I could to experiment.

But no matter how much I pulled, it didn’t feel like when I pulled my bow. It felt stiffer and harder, so I kept adjusting my stance.

Before I knew it, I was back to being tender again.

I felt a bit deflated when I realized it. I didn’t know why I was doing this here.

“Wait!”

A small hand suddenly came between us.

“Why are you so close?”

The one who separated us, Kirian, muttered almost inaudibly.

“I don’t even hug well.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll show you.”

Kirian grabbed Esmeralda’s hand and pulled it back.

“This is how it’s done.”

As he said, when the bowstring was released, the arrow was invariably stuck in the center of the target.

“Done?”

Esmeralda’s eyes widened. She was obviously taken aback by Kirian’s overwhelming skill.

“Kirian sir! Your hand feels like soft pudding!”

Esmeralda said with an ecstatic look, holding her hand where Kirian’s had touched.

Hiss was seen sneaking a smile.

I was the only one frozen.

The taboo word came out. The taboo word.

I was scared to think how Kirian, who hates being called cute, would react to Esmeralda, who he is not very close to yet.

I held my breath, prepared to run to the mansion if something happened.

We could prevent a disaster if we call the adults.

“I know.”

Contrary to my worry, Kirian was only nonchalant.

Kirian turned his gaze to me.

“I only need to be cool to one person.”

Then suddenly he grabbed my hand.

“Nuna, is my hand really like pudding?”

The moment Esmeralda’s ecstatic look made sense.

I held back tears, pondering how to argue that the pudding was not pudding, not in the Joseon era when we couldn’t call our father ‘father’.

“Our hand sizes are almost the same now?”

Kirian nodded.

“Yes. It will be bigger than Nuna’s soon.”

Kirian took my hand tightly.

“Just wait a bit.”

Soon it was my turn again. Unlike Esmeralda’s bow, the bow in my hand was subtly satisfying to hold.

“Discovering the feel of a bow on your first try.”

I aimed at the target with a sneaky smile.

Ha, if I become a genius known by the whole empire and it messes up my retirement plans, that would be troublesome.

I gulped down my unrealistic hopes and released the tautly drawn arrow.

At that moment, a strong wind blew. A wind so powerful that it even made me wobble, snatched the arrow in an instant and blew it far away.

I looked blankly at the arrow that had landed in the training ground’s tree.

“Darn.”

I had all but secured first place. But in an instant, I was relegated to second place.

I clicked my tongue. The fact that I felt disappointed showed that I had been subtly looking forward to the first place without even realizing it.

Kirian, who was in third place, covered both cheeks with his hands and let out a silent scream, while His looked slightly regretful as he lowered his eyebrows, but the corner of his mouth seemed to twitch.

For some reason, I felt another childish fight would break out, so I trudged off to retrieve my arrow.

I would have easily pulled it out if I were an adult, but at my current height, it was totally out of reach.

“Sigh, I need to grow faster.”

After a brief moment of contemplation, I cautiously placed my foot on the lowest branch.

“Hup cha.”

Surprisingly, my body easily shot up into the tree. Did I even develop strength while living in the Duke’s house?

“Heh heh, this is something.”

I found myself smiling proudly at the elevated view without even realizing it.

Not only was my first attempt at archery successful, but I also managed to climb the tree easily?

“Ah, being a genius is troublesome.”

I grabbed the next branch. Again, my body easily shot up.

“Huh, it would be annoying if I have to save the world or something.”

I smoothly climbed up the next branch, then the next one after that.

“Ha, it’s tiring to be too talented.”

Soon, I reached a height where the arrow was almost within reach.

“Heave ho.”

I stretched out my short arm with all my might, and my fingertips barely caught the arrow’s fletching.

“Got it!”

The moment the arrow entered my hand, another gust swept through the tree.

The tree swayed, and the branch I was sitting on shook mercilessly. It felt like I had been dropped in the middle of a typhoon.

I quickly grabbed the branch tightly. Clinging to the tree, I regained some stability. So, I relaxed and waited for the wind to pass. Just then.

The wind blew even more fiercely, as if an invisible hand was pushing me.

“Whoa!”

I lost my balance and barely let go of the branch.

My body, which seemed to have grown a bit stronger, returned to that of a frail eightyearold girl at a crucial moment.

My body began to tilt dangerously.

“Miss Reina!”

“Sis!”

His and Kirian ran towards me as they heard my cry.

But it was already too late.

My body began to fall rapidly.

It wasn’t a great height, but it would certainly hurt if I fell.

I closed my eyes tightly, anticipating the coming pain.