ARTS 04

CHAPTER 04

Training

“Princess, you truly have remarkable talent!”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Kagerou.”

“Both Ageha’s hand-to-hand combat lessons and Higurashi’s swordsmanship training have received high praise. They say you learn incredibly quickly.”

The time I spent learning illusion magic from Kagerou was genuinely enjoyable.

Countless butterflies with wings resembling stained glass fluttered gracefully around us.

Illusion magic was very much like actual magic.

Kagerou always taught me beautiful and elegant techniques.

However, thanks to the knowledge from my previous life, I could adapt those techniques in many ways.

Not just beautiful things.

With all the anime and horror movies I had watched, I could create plenty of terrifying illusions as well.

That little secret would remain hidden from Kagerou.

Ageha taught me martial arts.

Most of her lessons focused on how to defend myself if I were attacked by a man. She taught me how to accurately strike vital points and escape dangerous situations. It was extremely practical knowledge.

Higurashi taught swordsmanship.

From daggers to longswords, he instructed me in various stances, footwork, and methods of closing the distance between myself and an opponent.

He even taught me assassination techniques.

Though he warned me that if Kagerou ever found out he had taught me such things, Kagerou would kill him.

Higurashi was usually cheerful and easygoing, often making people laugh. Yet whenever he taught, his eyes became frighteningly serious, and his intensity naturally made me focus as well.

No one in the household knew about my training.

It was a secret.

After dinner, I spent an hour reading picture books with Yardral.

Then came an hour of training.

After that, I took a bath.

Officially, everyone believed I simply spent an unusually long time bathing.

Even I thought I was a little overpowered.

Part of it was my naturally high magical power.

But more than that, it was probably because of the memories from my previous life.

This small body was wonderful.

It moved easily.

Compared to the body I had in my previous life, when I was over forty years old…

Well, sadly, I doubted I could have moved like this back then.

Perhaps because I trained every day, I fell asleep almost immediately whenever I got into bed.

The only unusual thing was that sometimes I would wake up and discover Yardral sleeping beside me.

“Boys must not enter a lady’s room without permission!”

“But I had a scary dream… I’m sorry.”

Watching Yardral being scolded by my older brother always made me feel sorry for him.

Perhaps I spoiled him too much.

“Brother, Yard is still very young.”

“Cardi!”

“If I had a frightening dream and asked whether I could sleep beside you, you would let me into your bed, wouldn’t you?”

“W-Well… yes, I would.”

“Yard, if you are truly frightened, then it can’t be helped. But boys need to become strong. Otherwise, they won’t be able to protect anyone.”

“…”

“I want you to become so strong that if I ever had a scary dream, I would want to come to your room and ask you to protect me instead. Do you understand?”

“…Yes.”

He answered with a slightly sulky expression.

How adorable.

I immediately pulled him into a hug.

“I love you very much, Yard. So grow into a wonderful man, all right?”

“Yes, Sister!”

He happily hugged me back.

“Cardi, you spoil Yard far too much!”

“That’s only because you spoil me, Brother! I’m simply passing that kindness on to Yard. The reason I can be kind is because you are kind to me.”

My older brother responded with a helpless smile.

Perfect.

My brother was weak against me.

That should settle the matter.

“Our little princess is certainly good at keeping both of her brothers happy.”

I froze.

Turning around, I found a man standing behind us.

It was my father—

Glamis Blaurouse, the Prime Minister of the kingdom.

The color drained from my face.

Since when had he been standing there?

I hadn’t sensed his presence at all.

“Will you try to keep your father happy as well?”

“…Of course!”

Immediately releasing Yardral, I rushed over and hugged my father.

One thing was certain.

This man was not someone I should ever make an enemy of.

Father lifted me into his arms, and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Have you been behaving yourself?”

“Do you think I’ve been doing bad things?”

“Hahaha! My Cardinal would never do anything bad. I love you, my princess.”

That was incredibly cheesy, Father.

Like my older brother, he possessed long silver hair that reached below his waist and pale green eyes.

He was absurdly handsome.

In fact, he looked so young that it was hard to believe he even had children.

My mother had passed away while giving birth to Yardral.

Thinking about it now…

Perhaps that was why I had struggled to interact with Yard in the beginning.

Maybe some part of me had felt as though he had taken Mother away.

As for me, my eyes were a deep emerald green.

They came from my mother.

My older brother resembled Father almost perfectly.

Yardral had inherited Mother’s hair color but Father’s eyes.

As for me, my hair was a rich crimson, as though Father’s and Mother’s hair colors had blended together, while my eyes were the same deep green as Mother’s.

But returning to the real issue—

Just who exactly was Father?

The fact that I hadn’t sensed his approach bothered me.

At the time, I simply thought:

I’ll ask Kagerou about him later.

Little did I know how important that question would become.