"Haah."
Lancel wiped the sweat dripping down his chin.
No matter how much he trained his body since starting at age eleven, he was still just a youngster. At best, his body would crumple with a single punch from an adult.
Lancel didn't have the ambition to build a physique that could physically stand against them anyway.
Just.
A body that could handle a sword the way he wanted when necessary. Strength. Endurance. That's all Lancel wanted. After all, no one—adult or not—would survive once a blade pierced their body.
"Young Master Lancel uses his sword in a peculiar way."
"Indeed."
"Do you think he developed bad habits?"
"Still, he wins all his practice matches..."
"That's what's so strange."
That day too, Lancel swung his sword until late evening. Until he carried the sleeping Marigold on his back and boarded the carriage.
"Lancel."
"Yes?"
"You smell like sweat."
"...Because I was sweating."
"So this is Lancel's scent..."
"Don't smell me."
"Sniff, sniff."
"..."
* * *
They say that in the capital city Rodnis, the world changes completely in a single day.
But that saying seemed irrelevant to this remote region.
For twelve-year-old Lancel Dante and nine-year-old Marigold living in this frontier, each day passed without any change to their routine.
Even after Lancel's body had completely healed and Marigold returned to her barony, nothing changed.
"Laaanceeel! It's morning!"
"Let me sleep a little longer."
"You need to eat breakfast! Get up, get up!"
"Just a bit more."
Early in the morning, Lancel lifted Marigold, who had been shaking him awake, and laid her down right beside him.
After patting her back a few times, her eyes began to blink heavily.
"Need to eat... breakfast... mmm..."
Every morning, Marigold would come to wake him up as if it were the most natural thing, and they would part at night.
Making excuses that it was too late to return home and staying over for days at a time had become just another common occurrence.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she lived at the Dante mansion for more than half of each month.
And.
The change to this boring, predictable, ordinary daily life came.
When a year passed and summer arrived once again.
21.
Truth be told, Lancel wasn't in a particularly good mood that day.
He couldn't pinpoint exactly why, but for various reasons, he just felt off.
The servants seemed to think it was because of the first fight between Lancel and Marigold, but no, that couldn't be it. Really, it couldn't.
How could a grown man who had lived for hundreds of years be in a bad mood after arguing with a nine-year-old child? That was absurd. Yes, absolutely absurd.
-Lancel, you idiot! Do you know what that was? Waaah!
-...? Can't we just make another one?
-H-how can you say that?
-What? We can't find it now anyway, so what should we...
-Waaaaaah!
-Please calm down. It's my fault for losing it, but... there's nothing we can do now, right?
-Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!
-...
Yes.
No.
Absolutely not.
"Rio, Kyle, Lancel."
Viscount Dante spoke as Lancel was ruffling his hair, thinking about Marigold who had gone home practically wailing.
"We received a communication from Her Highness the Princess today. All three of you will be entering the Violet Imperial Knights Order as squires as early as next month."
'So it's finally here.'
Lancel immediately assessed the reactions around him to this sudden announcement.
Kyle Dante, excitedly shouting, "Are we really entering the Imperial Knights Order, Father?!"
Rio Dante, nodding silently while suppressing his pounding heart.
Viscount Dante, nodding with satisfaction at their reactions.
"You know that not just anyone can enter there, right? Prepare yourselves thoroughly. Show those other noble children that you won't fall behind!"
Yes. Objectively speaking, such opportunities didn't come often.
The Imperial Knights Order rarely visited the frontier.
And the chance to enter as squires and receive their training was even rarer.
It was practically a miracle.
'That may be true, but...'
Lancel could clearly imagine how much his father must have groveled and flattered others to push his three sons into the Violet Knights Order.
"Um..."
Of course.
He wasn't going to go.
"I won't go, Father," Lancel said, raising his hand.
"Please just send my brothers and leave me behind, Father."
"...?"
Silence fell over the dinner table.
22.
"Tsk..."
Lancel returned to his room, rubbing the bump on his head.
His refusal had been promptly dissolved by a knock on the crown of his head.
'This is troublesome. What should I do?'
He understood.
From Viscount Dante's perspective, who had swallowed his pride as a lord to secure these positions with great difficulty, Lancel's refusal was laughable.
Lancel's preferences didn't matter. If words didn't work, he would clearly force him to go.
-What reason could you possibly have for disliking being a squire for a while? Give me an explanation I can accept.
Lancel didn't even have a logical argument to counter the Viscount's words.
'I can't exactly say it's because I know the future.'
Being a squire just meant serving under them for a few years, running errands, learning swordsmanship, and gaining practical experience.
He lacked justification for refusing even that much.
But.
Even so.
'I don't know when Marigold will fall from grace.'
A full quarter of the Empire's territory.
The story that Marigold, who held 25 percent of this great empire, might fall from grace within the next few years.
Though it was hard to believe that a mere twelve-year-old like himself could make much difference by staying by her side, he didn't want to leave her alone.
...But he couldn't exactly tell Viscount Dante that.
Lancel ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
"Haaa."
Late afternoon.
After sighing deeply enough to sink the ground, Lancel quietly gazed at the wheat field swaying in the humid summer breeze.
He did have options, though they were rather extreme...
"Should I just run away from home?"
"Run away?"
That's when it happened.
Lancel raised his head, sensing someone approaching.
A girl with a familiar silhouette was looking at him.
"...Lady Violet."
"Hello, Lancel Dante."
A carriage passing by had stopped in front of Lancel. Her lips formed a slight smile as she leaned out the window.
"I'd like to speak with Lancel alone. Could you give us some privacy?"
"Yes, my lady."
What is she plotting?
Lancel stared blankly at her as she descended from the carriage.
.
.
.
"It's Lady Marigold!"
That afternoon.
"Aren't you with Lancel today?"
"Huh? Um..."
Marigold, who had been aimlessly wandering around the nearby village, could no longer hide her gloomy expression when she encountered the local children.
"..."
"Eh? Are you crying, Lady Marigold?"
"No. I'm not crying."
"But tears are falling down your face?"
"N-no, this is just..."
"What happened?"
"Lady Marigold is crying."
"What?"
In the setting sun of the afternoon.
Children who were heading home suddenly gathered around her.
"Who was it! Who made Lady Marigold cry!"
"Oh my, what's wrong, Lady Marigold?"
"We'll go teach them a lesson for you!"
The children's eagerness wasn't because Marigold was a noble, nor because they had received many treats from the free-spending Marigold.
They were genuinely puzzled to see the normally energetic Marigold sniffling with a crumpled expression.
"...We fought."
Marigold's voice was barely audible.
"...I fought with Lancel."
The impact of this revelation was tremendous.
"Whaaaat!"
"L-Lancel and Lady Mary...!"
"N-no way, no way...!"
"Eeeek!"
Shock.
Fear.
Astonishment.
These emotions cascaded through the children.
A quarrel between Lancel and Marigold.
To an outsider, it might seem trivial, but to them, it was an enormous event.
Marigold fighting with Lancel? They had never seen it, never heard of it, and never even imagined it.
Even at this moment, they couldn't quite picture it. That's how special the relationship between the two was to everyone.
Even passing adults stopped in their tracks, ears perked up.
"W-what did you fight about?"
"Well... um..."
Marigold fidgeted for a long time, twiddling her fingers.
Gulp.
The gathered villagers waited tensely for Marigold to speak.
As if bracing themselves for the shocking revelation to come.
"...He lost it..."
"Pardon?"
"Lancel... lost... the honey candy... I gave him..."
A collective sigh of relief spread through the crowd as the tension dissipated.
'Thank goodness!'
'It's nothing serious!'
'Just kids' squabbles, pfft!'
Relief that it wasn't a major incident. Reassurance that it was something they could easily reconcile over.
But Marigold's expression remained serious. She had rarely looked this way before.
"Lady Marigold!"
A young woman who worked as a waitress in the village knelt to meet Marigold's eyes.
"You regret fighting, don't you?"
Marigold nodded weakly. What might seem trivial to others could be the saddest thing in the world to her.
"Don't worry, Lady Marigold."
The waitress gently stroked Marigold's drooping head.
It was unthinkable for a commoner to pat a noble young lady's head, but with Marigold, things were different.
Even the servants hovering nearby didn't intervene.
Having lived here for a year and a half, Marigold had become a true neighbor to the villagers.
Sometimes, she even seemed like family.
"I'm sure Lancel wants to make up by now too."
"...Really?"
"Yes! Lancel adores you so much. Watching you two makes me wish I had such a knight for myself!"
"...R-really?"
Marigold's expression gradually brightened.
"Absolutely. If you show your generosity and apologize first, I'm sure Lancel will apologize too. Trust me!"
"Yes! Yes! Thank you! Should I... bring a gift too?"
"That would be perfect! Lady Marigold, you're so smart!"
"Hehe, then I'll be going now!"
Marigold jumped up and began urging her servants.
Having regained her energy, Marigold shouted, "Let's make new honey candy!" as she hurriedly drove her carriage back to the baronial mansion.