“So then.”

The instructor, unable to hide his slightly embarrassed expression, scratched the back of his head and spoke again.

“How is the lady faring?”

For a moment, Griselda looked up at him with surprised eyes. She even momentarily forgot the ache in her shoulders from the weight of the water-filled canteen. Without realizing it, she blurted out:

“You’re the first.”

“Pardon?”

The instructor seemed puzzled. Griselda shook her head as if to gather her thoughts.

“Somehow, her condition worsens with each passing day. She can’t even bear the bed, so I feel I should lay down some cool branches for her.”

“Why the bed?”

“Because it gets soaked with sweat. When the damp fabric touches her body, it seems to remind her of the past. It’s a relief if she just shivers, but she can’t even move…. I’ve seen her lying stiff on the bed several times now, eyes wide open. At such times, she breaks out in cold sweat on top of everything else….”

Griselda recalled the lady she had seen just before coming down to the well. She thought of the girl whose soul had stopped at a point in time, merely eating, sleeping, and breathing, her body growing idly.

Beneath those large pale eyes that vividly reflected the horrific and terrifying past experiences, there was a chest and waist that had grown unrecognizably fuller compared to years ago, and hips that drew long arcs, though not very noticeable due to her thinness.

It was clearly too much for the lady who had lost time to bear. With barely any consciousness, only the outside…. The situation of becoming so miserably beautiful was, in Griselda’s eyes, no different from a single lily placed in the lady’s chamber vase. Who would understand? The mindset of the disabled, surviving on just a handful of moisture.

Griselda’s gaze, which had unknowingly taken on a subtle anger, naturally turned towards the training ground.

More precisely, towards the heir standing tall in its center.

The devil’s back view entered her eyes effortlessly without even trying. That figure standing with one hand on his waist and the sword arm hanging long below was indescribably dazzling. So she couldn’t help but look.

How divinely the noon sun cascaded like a waterfall onto the boy’s platinum hair, shattering like jewels. It looked like a religious painting frantically captured by an artist excited by divine inspiration. The nape and shoulders, seemingly casually disheveled yet flawless, were even elaborate and firm.

Yes. The devil had also grown in that time. As Griselda had once advised, he had grown into an excellent figure beyond compare. To be frank, he had grown into a breathtaking appearance that rivaled his sister. If his sister in the chamber was the white light of a fading lily, he was daringly the blinding sunlight. And such a radiant body….

Now, for some reason, it was motionless.

Griselda noticed that strange stillness. She unconsciously narrowed her eyes. It was probably a squire he had been training with, but for some reason the back looking down at the boy sitting on his behind in front of the devil didn’t move an inch, as if time had stopped for him alone. Amidst the shouts of the young men and boys. In that noisy and dusty open space. So. That. Now…. Secretly….

You’re listening to my words.

Somehow, the inside of her jaw trembled. That, without a sound, he’s listening to his sister’s situation. As realization dawned, though there was no particular reason to hide it, at that moment Griselda tried to cover her mouth. It was only the instinct of a nanny trying to maintain at least a minimum of decorum that restrained her. A shudder ran through her in an instant.

To grow silently.

It was clearly the attitude she herself had once prescribed. But witnessing it directly was indeed as repulsive as a bug. She couldn’t help but cast an indescribable disgust over her eyes. After all, isn’t filth that forgets its place and dares to reveal its desires even more creepy than ordinary filth? At this moment, the devil was like some kind of horsefly.

With a shell as colorful as a bee, yet unable to abandon its dirty habits, stubbornly refusing to let go once it finds a corner to infiltrate. So annoying and… disgustingly persistent. Flickering before her eyes. Surely not intending to be heard. From this distance.

Even while harboring such doubts, Griselda felt as if she could see the colorless, odorless nerves sprouting above the devil’s head. Thus, she couldn’t shake off the unpleasant feeling of her own mouth being intently watched, panting. She had no ability to suppress her revulsion.

Although the training ground was all brilliant flashes due to the boy standing in the center, eventually even dark breaths seemed to be heard from somewhere. Huff. Huff. Huff….

The sound of a beast lowering its body with eyes closed. The sound of silently swallowing a piercing thirst like darkness. The sister’s trace.

Breaths exhaled through the back while secretly surviving on those noble secretions.

“By the way, I’m grateful for your thoughtfulness.”

Griselda abruptly grabbed the instructor’s forearm and led him towards the castle walls. She had no other intention. It was just to get away from the devil, and an attempt to somehow wash away the unpleasant tension. The mild-mannered instructor allowed himself to be led along obediently. Griselda, habitually rubbing one hand on her apron, said:

“It’s been a while since anyone asked about the young lady’s well-being. I was a bit surprised.”

“Is… that so.”

A brief smile mixed with a sigh flitted across his face. It was as if to say he didn’t really misunderstand those unspoken feelings.

“Well, it’s a difficult time after all. Although Milo is strangely silent, it’s understandable to be anxious when war could break out at any time.”

“Anxious?”

A faint shadow fell under Griselda’s eyes as she raised her head in surprise.

“It’s the devil… isn’t it? It seems they’re looking for a pretext to invade, and what better justification could there be? In any case, it’s not a situation that benefits our west in any way.”

Griselda pressed her lips tightly shut. There’s no disagreement that the young lady bears a dishonorable and heretical rumor like a dark halo on her head. The young lady she serves is truly a disgrace secretly borne by the glorious fortress, a cancerous existence. It might be better to treat such a troublesome matter that can’t be carelessly disposed of as if it doesn’t exist.

One particularly harsh-minded member of the household even subtly muttered that if the lady wasn’t going to recover anyway, she should just stop causing further disgrace and live as if dead until she passes away like the dead. Unable to bear hearing this, Griselda had finally asked if their head would need to be cut off to stop such rudeness.

It was precisely that heartlessness that occasionally settled like a lump in Griselda’s chest as she tried her best to remain as indifferent as possible. Griselda set her cheeks coolly.

“I don’t understand how these knights can all be so utterly devoid of blood and tears.”

“…Oh my.”

The instructor laughed good-naturedly even at the quiet outburst. At some point, Griselda quietly released her hand that had been clutching her apron. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened her mouth again.

“I suppose busy people have no time to spare for the circumstances of the womenfolk. But if they’re human, shouldn’t they first consider at least half of the shock the lady must have endured before groundlessly… blaming her?”

The half-truth made Griselda hesitate for a moment. But she resolutely continued.

“If I may dare say so, wounds received on the battlefield or wounds received at home are just wounds. Both are ultimately felt by people, so the appearance of pain is inevitably the same. Regardless of place or cause, it hurts. It’s difficult. Isn’t that right? And I don’t think the noble people don’t know this principle that even a mere nanny like me knows. Surely they’re not unaware because they haven’t experienced it directly.”

Griselda’s gaze briefly turned to the instructor’s eyes.

“Are they fools and idiots?”

“Wh… oa.”

The instructor finally rubbed his temple. He smiled awkwardly, looking both surprised and as if his own foot had been stepped on.

“Nanny! Nanny! Now that I see, you’re quite rough?”

“This is no time to laugh.”

“Is… that so?”

“No matter how you look at it, it’s laziness. It’s all just a manifestation and result of indifference. That’s why it’s more absurd to me. No matter how much of a loss the lady’s presence is to this fortress, they pick up and serve outside talk so carelessly without any courtesy or generosity.”

“Hmm.”

“These days, I wonder if being human means not losing the capacity to protect oneself even if one lacks the capacity to care for others. Among the easily uttered insults about the lady being crazy or possessed by a devil, I found one thing conspicuously absent – the speaker’s own lack of virtue. How nice would it be if they said, ‘I am this petty, and the lady is our mistake. I am unvirtuous, and the lady is unvirtuous.'”

“People are all like that.”

“Who is truly the inferior and pitiful person here.”

Griselda finally turned her head. In this case, even the unholy thought occurs that it might be better for the lady not to be aware until her last day.

“Whose fault is all this…”

“Young lord?”

When Griselda let the last words slip, the instructor suddenly raised his voice. Griselda’s heart sank at that moment. After being frozen for a moment, she turned around with a chilling feeling. She came face to face with the pale eyes that had approached without a sound. As if hearing sounds by vibrating the cornea, those blue eyes looked as fragile as glass. Enough to make cold sweat run down Griselda’s spine.

Johannes, who had been staring at Griselda as if nailed to her eyes, suddenly raised his gaze.

“…The sword broke.”

Then he smiled coolly towards the instructor.

“If you’re not going to let me use real swords in the future, at least use good quality wood. It’s annoying to keep replacing them.”

“As I’ve told you many times, young lord. Even if we search the central royal capital thoroughly, we won’t find a better wooden sword than this.”

“Ah…. I’m tired of hearing it. You keep using that as an excuse…”

“No, it’s because you keep blaming me unfairly for your lack of control over your strength, young lord…”

“…Because I blame you?”

“…Pardon?”

“Say that again.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Because I blame you?”

As the boy, whose very air around his shoulders seemed precious, asked jokingly with a serious expression devoid of even a faint smile, the instructor blushed and was at a loss for what to do. Johannes lightly struck one side of the instructor’s chest with the edge of his clenched fist. Look here. That impact seemed to ask on behalf of Johannes with a smile.

“It’s nothing.”

The instructor kept shouting into the air as if he had forgotten any words other than that answer. Finally, Johannes laughed briefly. Fortunately for the pitiful instructor, the one-sided joke was concluded with Johannes’s merciful forgiveness. Soon, the two naturally moved on to discussing weapons. And Griselda.

She didn’t even open her mouth while standing next to the knights. Nor could she leave her place. She just stood there, her whole body stiffening somehow like a criminal caught in the act. It’s not that she fears Johannes. But why is she like this? Even she couldn’t understand her own state. It was like that for several minutes.

“…Then I’ll find a sword you can use temporarily.”

“Alright.”

The instructor, standing unnecessarily stiffly, saluted both Johannes and Griselda before turning around sharply and walking away with steady steps. Griselda saw Johannes sigh like a laugh at the instructor’s back. The glance that came over to her too. The shoulders that turned away from her with a short bow.

Perhaps, the unsightly devil inside the immature and beautiful shell has once again entered into contemplation, Griselda thought with slight relief. At that moment.

Johannes’s head tilted downward. No. It was such a subtle angle that Griselda might have been the only one who felt so. It was just for an instant.

“…I’ll wait a bit longer.”

“……”

“Please take good care of her.”

“……”

“…I know too.”

“……”

“Well then.”

Johannes returned to the training ground. Only when she could no longer feel even the boy’s energy did sensation return to Griselda’s body. Her shoulder holding the water canteen ached terribly.

I know too. The voice finally uttered towards the nanny who gave no response seemed deeply scratched even to casual ears. What was it an answer to? Was it just Griselda’s imagination that one side of the heir’s jawline looked painfully pale as he turned his back to her?

She doesn’t know.

Griselda bit her lip.