Chapter 9: Again!?

I was chatting with Corvas so casually that I completely forgot we had been standing in the training field this whole time, and now my legs were starting to feel tired. He had even handed over the marching drill instructions to his aide just so he could talk with me. On one hand, I felt a bit bad for interrupting his unit’s training session, but he didn’t seem to mind much.

Through our conversation, I also learned a lot more about him—especially about how he got the scar that runs across his face. It turns out he got it during the infamous forced march led by my grandfather.

The fact that he’s a veteran of the War of the Eight Monarchs is already impressive, but knowing he was actually one of the survivors of my grandfather’s forced march made it even more remarkable.

There were actually many other survivors from that event who later joined the Del Korynth Grenadiers, including Theros’s father, but most of them have either passed away or retired due to age.

"LADY SERAPHELLE!"

I flinched the moment I heard the shout from behind me. I instantly recognized the voices—it was my maids, Lyra and Theressa.

Crap!

I’d spent all this time just chatting with Corvas and hadn’t even gotten the chance to observe the rest of the activities around the barracks. As fun as our conversation was, I was definitely not satisfied yet!

To make things worse, I was now standing in the middle of an open field with no good place to hide. I could try running, but I wasn’t sure I’d reach the trees in time before they caught up.

Panicking, I glanced around desperately until, thankfully, a brilliant idea popped into my head.

“Captain Corvas!”

“Yes!?”

He immediately straightened up like a soldier reporting in, startled by the urgency in my voice.

“Help me hide!”

“Eh? Why are you hiding from your maids?” he asked in a confused tone. Then realization dawned on him, and a look of panic crossed his face. “Don’t tell me… you came here without Lady Eudoria’s permission!?”

It was strange that it took him this long to realize I’d been wandering around unaccompanied, with only Theros by my side.

“I did get permission! Just… not with her knowledge!”

“...What does that even mean?”

“Shhh! Just help me—it’s an order!”

His face twisted with internal conflict, but in the end, Corvas followed my demand. I wasn’t exactly giving him much choice, and I might’ve also pulled the noble daughter card—something that thankfully still worked on him.

With no time to waste, I grabbed his massive hand, which looked so comically huge compared to mine, and dragged him toward a group of soldiers who were still practicing their marching drills.

Honestly, I probably looked like a grandchild dragging her grandpa out to play, but let’s not dwell on that right now. Oh, and Theros was following along behind us too.

I quickly ordered Corvas to tell the unit to stop and form a square formation. Something like the kind of used for anti-cavalry tactics. They were still pretty untrained, so their formation was messy as hell, but it was just enough for me to squeeze in and hide in the middle.

The soldiers looked absolutely confused, but hang in there, comrades! I need your help!

In the middle of the tightly packed soldiers, I could hear the quick footsteps of two people I could already recognize. It seemed like Theressa and Lyra had arrived at the field. I was thankful I managed to hide just in time.

When their footsteps got really close, they suddenly stopped. They were probably standing nearby now.

"Geez, she runs so fast even though she's wearing a dress..."

Her voice was out of breath from exhaustion, but I could still tell it was Lyra. I wondered, was she just that slow, or was I actually that fast?

On one side, there was a moment when a soldier lost his balance because of how tightly packed they all were. Luckily, he managed to steady himself.

"Hey boy, Where is Lady Seraphelle!? Wasn’t she with you just now!?"

Now that distinctive voice belongs to Theressa, somehow she still had the breath to yell unlike Lyra. So now I know who was holding them back.

"Eh!? She only escorted me to the entrance, didn’t you run into her on the way?"

Amazing! What a acting!

Theros is really good at making up excuses like that. I’ll have to give him something later. Maybe one bottle of my milk should be enough?

No... half should be enough...

As I glanced around at the soldiers nearby, I noticed many of them turning their heads toward me with expressions that clearly said, "Isn't the person they're looking for right here?"

Panicking, I quickly signaled them by shaking my head and placing my index finger over my lips in a "shh" gesture. Though their faces showed clear hesitation, they eventually nodded and played along. I let out a long sigh of relief.

"How about you? Do you know where Lady Seraphelle is?"

"E-eh... I-I d-don't know anything!"

The hell was that?!

Curious, I peeked through a small gap between the soldiers and saw Corvas looking extremely nervous under Theressa's questioning. Seriously, you survived a major war but can't handle something like this?!

Even through the narrow gap, I could see the suspicious looks on my maids' faces as they watched Corvas' awkward behavior. Theros could only shake his head repeatedly.

"I see..." Theressa said with clear skepticism. "Then can you explain what you're all doing with that?" She pointed directly at our formation, making me instinctively shrink back.

"Haha, today we're conducting anti-cavalry training drills..."

"Anti-cavalry, huh?"

"That's correct..."

For some reason, the atmosphere suddenly grew tense. I realized even the surrounding soldiers were starting to look nervous, as if actual cavalry might charge at any moment. What's wrong with them? Their anxiety was making me anxious too.

"Hmm, what a shame if that's the case. Lyra, let's search for Lady Seraphelle elsewhere. She might have already returned."

"Right..."

Wait, did that actually work? That terrible lie from Corvas? I could hardly believe it, but thank goodness!

Peeking again, I saw them starting to turn away. Just as everyone relaxed—

"You idiot, did you really think I'd buy that?" Theressa spun back around, her tone dripping with arrogance. "You've always been a terrible liar, Father."

"Father?!"

I accidentally blurted out loud before slapping a hand over my mouth. But it was too late—the exclamation was loud enough for my maids to immediately freeze.

From every angle, the two of them looked nothing alike. No, I'm not saying I expected all of Corvas' children to be muscle-bound like him. But still, this was completely beyond anything I could have imagined.

But let's set that aside for now, because I need to face the real problem...

"I know you're hiding there, my Lady. There's no point in keeping this up," Theressa warned me.

Of course, I ignored her warning and remained nestled securely among my grenadiers, whose loyalty was absolutely unquestionable. What could two mere maids do against an entire unit of grenadiers, after all?

And... I was being naive.

It didn't take long for my grenadiers to forget their duty of protecting me. One by one, they began loosening their formation. Like Moses parting the Red Sea while being pursued by Pharaoh's army, Theressa walked through with Lyra following as the soldiers made way.

Their faces were the picture of irritation with arms crossed as they glared at me. What puzzled me most was Lyra's expression—she looked just as annoyed. Seriously, wasn't this the same Lyra who was terrified to even meet my gaze just a week ago? Did Theressa's presence suddenly make her bold?

“H-hi… hehe…”

They completely ignored my awkward greeting. Just as I was about to come up with some elaborate excuse to dodge their anger—

“W-what!? Again!?”

Before I could react, she effortlessly lifted me up into her arms like a sack of flour. It wasn’t graceful at all, and definitely not comfortable—but it did feel strangely familiar.

“Hey! Put me down! I’m not six years old anymore!”

“You’re acting like it,” she muttered flatly.

Lyra just sighed and followed along.

Meanwhile, the grenadiers stood frozen like statues, unsure whether they should salute or at least try to help me, instead of pretending like they saw nothing.

As I was being carried away like some spoiled noble kid getting abducted by her own maid, all I could do was let out a long sigh and mumble softly—

“…Why does this always happen to me?”

At this point, I’m fully convinced that Theressa really is Corvas’s daughter. Either her grip is just as strong as my father’s, or maybe I’m just really that weak...