#036. Isn’t It More Likely She’ll Be Someone to Swear Loyalty To One Day?
Liana never felt ashamed of her swordsmanship. If she had, she would never have taken on the role of Knight Commander.
The Kyverhane family had long been the sharpest sword of the royal family, and Liana took great pride in that heritage.
The fact that she was recognized even within the Kyverhane family for her unmatched martial prowess was her personal pride.
Despite being not yet twenty, she was appointed the commander of the Imperial Knights, and not one person whispered that she earned her title solely due to her status as the Crown Princess or her prestigious lineage. That was purely thanks to her overwhelming skill.
There was only one thing she truly regretted — that the adorable, delicate person she loved hated blood and violence, and so she couldn’t freely dote on them.
That was why Liana had never once shown Blanche her sparring in the past three years.
But now, that had all gone to waste — or so Liana thought, her eyes sharpening.
“So you broke the rules because you trusted me?”
Blanche’s voice halted her tongue, which had been on the verge of turning razor-sharp.
“Your Majesty.”
Only after hearing Blanche’s voice did Liana realize she’d made a mistake and quickly softened her gaze. It wouldn’t do to look frightening in front of a child who was already scared. There would be time to scold the careless knight later.
“Yes, Blanche. Shall we go over there?”
Was her voice gentle enough? Liana could normally switch effortlessly between her roles as the benevolent empress and the strict knight commander, but she wasn’t confident in her tone this time.
Wanting to quickly get away and comfort the child, she reached out to scoop Blanche into her arms — but the child firmly grabbed her hand instead. Blanche’s small hand looked like a toy in Liana’s long, slender palm.
“You were amazing.”
Liana blinked at the unexpected words.
“…What?”
“You were really, really amazing.”
At that moment, Liana noticed that Blanche’s usually calm face was flushed, and her eyes sparkled like never before.
“Oh… the sparring?”
Not quite believing what she’d heard, she asked again. And Blanche responded even more passionately, nodding vigorously while clenching her hand tightly.
“Yes!”
Liana opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t find the words, only mouthing silently for a while. Finally, she managed to get out a question.
“You… weren’t scared?”
“Not at all.”
The answer came instantly. But the heat in Blanche’s voice and the gleam in her eyes showed it wasn’t a mere formality — she meant it.
Liana held back a smile that threatened to curl her lips and called out to the nearby knight.
“Sir Linton.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!”
Still tense from being reprimanded earlier, Sir Linton stood stiffly.
“Ordinarily, allowing civilians into the training grounds during a session is strictly prohibited—”
Linton’s nervous gulp sounded like thunder. Liana relaxed her tone and allowed her lips to curve into a smile.
“But I’ll overlook it this time, for Princess Blanche’s sake.”
“Thank you! I’ll be much more careful from now on!”
“Good.”
Magnanimously forgiving Linton, Liana offered one hand to Blanche and scooped her up with the other.
“I’ll be greeting some guests briefly. Everyone, continue with self-training.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
She was a commander who acted freely, but the knights of the Imperial Order were already deeply loyal to Empress Liana, their leader.
As Liana and Blanche departed, the remaining knights waited until they were far enough before starting to whisper.
“Wow, that kid’s going to be someone big. When we were new recruits, just being near the commander made our legs go weak.”
“No kidding. I guess that’s the level it takes to be friends with the crown prince.”
“When I heard the rumors, I thought there’s no way such a kid exists. But after seeing her, she’s even more impressive than the rumors.”
While Liana had been the one to overwhelm the knights, it was Blanche — who they saw for the first time today — who left the deepest impression.
They murmured among themselves about how the child had grabbed Liana’s hand and said her sparring was amazing without a trace of fear. Then someone chuckled and made a joke.
“At this rate, won’t we end up seeing her again one day as a new recruit knight?”
“No way — she’s a foreigner, after all—”
“Hey, we have foreign-born knights too, don’t be discriminatory—”
As laughter, skepticism, and teasing rippled through the group, one knight casually remarked:
“Still… more likely than that, she’ll be someone we swear loyalty to in the future.”
A comment suggesting Blanche might one day become empress.
A silence fell as everyone pictured the faces of the crown prince and the young princess who had just left.
“…Well, they do make quite the pair.”
Someone chuckled, and the knights set aside their speculation about a distant, uncertain future and returned to their training.
But the possibility remained deeply lodged in all their hearts.
*
Indeed, Liana’s presence had a strong impact. I couldn’t shake off the image of her sparring that day.
The effect lingered even into my weekly tea time with the Grand Duke. Noticing how I kept absentmindedly fiddling with my teacup, he asked with a frown:
“What on earth happened? I’ve never seen you so out of it before.”
Though I was dazed, my thinking ability hadn’t completely disappeared. I gathered the last bits of my mental clarity and replied.
“I saw Her Majesty the Empress sparring.”
“Ahh.”
That was all the explanation he needed. The Grand Duke must’ve seen her wield a sword before too. He went quiet for a moment, then asked:
“Were you overwhelmed?”
Overwhelmed? I suppose one could say that. But I had a better word in mind.
“I was captivated.”
I could understand others saying they were overwhelmed — but I couldn’t quite agree.
“She was… beautiful.”
The Grand Duke’s face showed a hint of surprise at my unexpected response.
“Well, that’s… quite the perspective.”
He carefully chose his words.
“A unique one, at that.”
So, others didn’t see her as beautiful. I could understand that — but again, I couldn’t accept it.
“It might be a unique take, but it’s a valid one.”
Liana’s presence was immense, and her skill was unquestionable. I understood why people were afraid of her.
But even for a warrior, wasn’t that level of mastery close to an art form? It shouldn’t inspire fear — it should inspire reverence. In my past life, I had heard people praised as genius strategists or generals, but never as a genius swordswoman. It was absurd.
Maybe it was because this continent hadn’t known war in so long. People here had grown soft. Back in my day, someone like her would’ve been the guest of honor at every banquet. Everyone would’ve scrambled to befriend her.
“You do realize you’re making the sternest face I’ve ever seen on you since we met?”
The Grand Duke chuckled, amused.
“Are you interested in swordsmanship?”
Well, I couldn’t say I wasn’t. I nodded loosely. It wasn’t that I wanted to learn it myself — just that, as a general, I was interested in talented people. But the Grand Duke seemed to take it differently.
“If you’d like, I can assign you a fencing tutor.”
Then again, there’s no harm in learning something new. Even in my past life, I’d been able to take down a dozen enemies, so I wasn’t completely inexperienced.
“Since we have a training ground right here—”
Just as I was about to seriously consider his suggestion, an issue popped into my mind. I spoke cautiously.
“Um… about that. We can’t really use the training grounds anymore.”
“Hm? Why not? Oh, because it’s been unused? Don’t worry, we’ll clean it up and restore it before use.”
“No, it’s not that…”
“Then what?”
My lips felt dry. I licked them and whispered:
“…We can’t use it because we’re raising test animals there now.”
“…What?”
The Grand Duke blinked. His already large eyes seemed to grow even bigger. I stumbled over my explanation.
“There’s someone researching the behavioral differences between species, and they needed a large area. The training grounds and surrounding forest were just perfect. It’s a good environment for the animals too… So, we dismantled the facility and built enclosures.”
Did I want it to turn out like this? Of course not. Everyone should learn some self-defense. I’d wanted to keep the space for martial arts practice.
But the proposal brought by Viscount Apfenlandri for animal research was just too compelling. If we can selectively breed crops, why not livestock?
Understanding animal habits and interspecies differences would surely help with livestock farming. And if we weren’t using the space right away, wasn’t it a waste to leave it idle?
“…What the…”
The Grand Duke looked like he wanted to say something, but then gave up — realizing that complaining now wouldn’t change anything.
