The welcoming party for the two princes ended safely, and we returned to our ordinary daily lives.

Although the princes were staying at the royal palace, they were also doing their own work, so it seemed that a somewhat leisurely life would be possible for the time being until gold was discovered.

On the way back to her room after finishing today’s work, Bellia was deep in thought.

‘No matter how I think about it, this won’t do.’

Something was lacking.

The plan to use Callid to bring down Raul was progressing well, but at this rate, it would end up relying only on him.

“Princess. Do you have something on your mind?”

Ben, the guard knight, quietly asked a question by Bellia’s side.

And as Bellia was about to respond with gratitude for such concern, her eyes fell on the large sword hanging at Ben’s waist.

What if I learned swordsmanship? It would surely be helpful.

Bellia stopped walking and quietly opened her mouth.

“…Sir Ben.”

“Yes.”

“May I try holding that sword?”

As soon as he heard Bellia’s sudden request, Ben flatly refused.

“You may not.”

“I can’t?”

At the instant reply, Bellia looked at him with round eyes, but Ben’s attitude did not change.

“No. You cannot. It’s dangerous.”

“I’ll just hold it. You can watch from beside me. I won’t swing it.”

“…Princess.”

Ben called out to Bellia with a very troubled expression, but her eyes were already sparkling towards the sword.

No one can stop Bellia once she’s set her mind on something. Much less could Ben, her guard knight, stop his princess.

“…Sigh. You must only hold it. It’s really dangerous.”

Finally unable to win against her, Ben took the sword from his waist and placed it in Bellia’s hands.

Bellia’s expression brightened as she was able to hold the sword with Ben’s help.

But when she firmly gripped the sword’s handle, Bellia momentarily froze at the cold metal touch and the strange sensation that was both hard and cool. But soon she put strength into both hands and lifted the sword.

“It’s heavier than I thought?”

The arms holding the sword trembled.

If Ben hadn’t helped, she would have dropped it as soon as she lifted it.

Realizing how stubborn she had been, Bellia’s cheeks reddened.

“I’m sorry. It would have been dangerous if you hadn’t helped me.”

Ben carefully put the recovered sword back in its sheath and said with an easy smile.

“Not at all. Has your curiosity been satisfied now?”

“Hmm, are there any lighter ones than the sword you carry?”

“There are, but even those would be too heavy for you, Princess.”

“Is that so?”

Bellia pouted her lips as if disappointed.

She had thought learning swordsmanship might be a little helpful.

It seems swordsmanship was too much for someone who had spent her whole life only reading books in the library or taking walks in the garden as her only exercise.

“That’s a shame.”

Bellia let out a sigh mixed with sincerity.

Seeing her like that, Ben smiled kindly and asked.

“But why did you suddenly become interested in swords?”

“…I just thought I might need some means to protect myself.”

Hearing her words, Ben pondered for a moment before speaking.

“First of all, since you hardly move, Princess, swordsmanship would be physically demanding for you.”

Though it was the truth, just as she was about to become depressed at those words.

Ben grinned and asked.

“So how about horseback riding? I’ve heard that many women these days enjoy horseback riding as a hobby.”

“Horseback riding?”

“Yes. You could escape on horseback if necessary. I think it would be more beneficial than learning swordsmanship now.”

Ben was fully aware of the situation where Bellia had received marriage proposals from the empire’s princes.

If she marries a prince, she will have to leave for the empire alone. That would surely be a great fear.

So Ben could fully understand where Bellia’s desire to protect herself came from.

“Horseback riding……”

At Ben’s suggestion, Bellia quietly fell into thought.

Being able to ride a horse would surely be helpful anytime.

Horseback riding was just as useful a skill as learning swordsmanship.

Having thought that far, Bellia’s expression brightened.

“That sounds good. Sir Ben. Could you perhaps teach me horseback riding?”

“It would be better to learn from an expert rather than me.”

“Hmm. I don’t really want to let it be known that I’m learning something.”

Since Ben was skilled enough to teach horseback riding.

“Does that mean you don’t want to tell anyone?”

Wondering if she meant not to tell even the king or prince, Ben carefully asked.

Bellia smiled and replied.

“It’s not that much of a secret, but I don’t want to spread it around when I know it will cause worry. Besides, I thought it would be nice to learn from someone comfortable like you, Sir Ben.”

Indeed. Bellia didn’t really like facing strangers either. Ben, who knew her personality well, nodded.

“I understand. Though I may be lacking, I will do my best.”

Bellia’s gait kept becoming awkward as she felt a bit uncomfortable in her outfit that clearly revealed her body lines.

She wasn’t used to seeing herself wearing riding clothes and a hat instead of her usual dress. Somehow it made her feel a bit shy too.

As she entered the indoor riding arena set up in a corner of the royal palace, fidgeting like that, Ben greeted her with a bright smile.

“You’ve arrived.”

He was standing holding the reins of a horse that Bellia would ride for practice.

“Sir Ben. Thank you.”

“Not at all. If it helps you, Princess, it’s my greatest pleasure.”

At Ben’s kind words, Bellia smiled as if feeling a bit more at ease. Then Ben asked as if it were obvious.

“You know all the theory, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

After deciding to learn horseback riding, Bellia immediately went to the library and devoured all the books related to horseback riding.

She had already perfectly mastered the basic theory.

Seeing Bellia raising her chin proudly, Ben nodded with a subtle smile.

“Then let’s start with mounting right away. I’ll hold it for you, so take it slowly and carefully.”

Ben placed a mounting block for Bellia to step on and climb up.

“Step on this and climb up. Put your left foot in here.”

Bellia carefully stepped on the mounting block and put her left foot in the stirrup as Ben instructed. Then, remembering what she had seen in the book, she climbed onto the saddle, being careful not to let her shoe touch the horse’s belly.

“Well done. You’re as skillful as if you’ve done it many times.”

“After reading the book, I imagined the movements in my head over and over. I guess that helped.”

Bellia proudly replied as she neatly inserted her right foot into the opposite stirrup.

“Being able to perform imagined movements exactly means you have a talent for horseback riding, Princess.”

Bellia scratched her cheek, feeling unnecessarily embarrassed at being praised just for successfully mounting a horse.

Ben was truly a kind teacher.

Not only was he full of affection for Bellia, but he unexpectedly had a talent for teaching as well. He explained in a very calm voice that was easy to understand, and thanks to that, Bellia was quickly becoming accustomed to horseback riding.

“It seems you really have a talent, Princess. You’re becoming friends with the horse quickly as well.”

“It’s really fun.”

Bellia dismounted with a very bright smile.

Although Ben helped her with each step when dismounting as well, it certainly wasn’t too difficult for Bellia, who didn’t seem to have bad motor skills.

“If I had lived in the library all my life, maybe I would have had talent for swordsmanship too if I had picked up a sword from a young age.”

It was clearly a joke, but Ben seriously considered it and nodded.

“That might be true. The prince is also very skilled in swordsmanship.”

“…If it had been when I was younger, I could have learned swordsmanship.”

Bellia expressed regret.

Ben would have taken it to mean that it was too late to learn swordsmanship now, but in fact it was an expression of regret about the point of regression.

If she had gone back to a much younger age, she could have learned swordsmanship and built up more thorough means to protect herself.

Then instead of worrying about rejecting Raul’s proposal, she would only have to think about protecting the Kingdom of Ronica and bringing him down.

“Sir Ben. Is it really impossible for me to learn swordsmanship now?”

“Hahaha. Princess. It’s not possible.”

“But if you teach me well, Sir Ben…”

Riding a horse wasn’t as difficult as she thought. Not only was she proud to be praised by Ben, but she also felt that moving her body was quite easy.

As a result, Bellia, who had gained some confidence, was subtly coveting swordsmanship as well.

“It’s not a matter of teaching. Wielding a sword is also for protecting oneself, but……”

Ben paused for a moment.

Then he continued with a serious expression.

“It’s also wielded to harm others.”

Bellia understood the hidden meaning of the words just from hearing that far. It meant that learning swordsmanship lightly without the awareness that one could harm someone was not allowed.

“…I’m sorry for being stubborn.”

“Not at all. I feel ashamed that I can’t be of any help when you show enthusiasm for something, Princess.”

Seeing Ben’s gloomy expression, Bellia smiled brightly and met his eyes.

“What are you saying? You’ve been such an excellent riding instructor like this.”

“Hahaha. Do you know something? It’s not that I always say only good things to you, Princess, but that you always praise me like this.”

“Is that so?”

Ben is indeed a very good person.

Bellia felt truly happy that Ben had always been by her side as her guard knight.

“I feel it’s really fortunate that you are my knight.”

Just as the first enjoyable riding lesson ended like that and she turned her body towards the exit to leave.

“…Your Highness?”

There, Callid was standing crookedly, looking at Bellia with sunken eyes, having arrived at some point.

“What brings you here?”

Bellia approached him, wondering what business he had at the riding arena.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Seeing that you came here in person, it must be urgent?”

But there was no answer.

He had an expression of deep thought.

“Your Highness?”

When Bellia called him again, Callid finally opened his mouth.

“A reply from Her Majesty the Empress has arrived. I went to meet you and was told you were at the riding arena.”

“Ah. I see. Shall we talk about the rest in my room? It doesn’t seem like something to discuss here.”

Callid nodded.

But subtly, his gaze passed over Bellia’s shoulder.

Puzzled by this, Bellia turned around and realized she hadn’t properly introduced Ben to Callid yet.

“This is Sir Ben Horilt, my guard knight. He’s been by my side protecting me since I was young.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness the Second Prince.”

Ben greeted him politely.

However, Callid glared at Ben with a displeased expression and let out a sneer.

“Nice to meet you.”

It was a tone that didn’t sound nice at all.

But since Callid wasn’t usually a very gentle person, neither Bellia nor Ben paid much attention to it.

“Then Sir Ben. I’ll return with His Highness, so please take care of the cleanup.”

Bellia hurriedly bid farewell to Ben and headed outside with Callid.

Just as they were about to leave the riding arena, Callid slightly turned his head to look back.

“……”

His strange gaze lingered on Ben for a moment before disappearing in an instant.