“Um. From the look on your face, it seems I poked you where it hurts, Young Master. I would appreciate it if you didn’t get too mad at me.”
Reutrina hid her mouth with the back of her hand and smiled seductively. To calm Riley, she added,
“It is what you get for angering a princess first… You can think of it that way, can’t you?”
Reutrina lowered her hand and moved it toward the tea on the table. She then gracefully tasted what was on the cup.
“Ah, this tea has a pretty good aroma?”
Reutrina was leisurely continuing on about tea. Having noticed the reaction, Riley, who was shocked earlier, asked again as he opened and closed the left hand that he had hidden under the table.
“How did you do it?”
“What are you talking about?”
“What you did just now.”
“That?”
Reutrina tilted her head and acted like she knew nothing of it. Riley wiggled his eyebrows and said in a lower voice,
“Princess.”
“Oh my… Are you trying to threaten me now? Still… I think you are quite cool in a way!”
“…”
“Lazy-ass, never held a sword, takes nap through whole day… Because of all of those rumors, there are other ones questioning if you are a vegetable. The rumors about you being a lazy sword is… I think they are just smoke screens just like how mine are.”
This time, instead of the hand, she used the cup to hide her mouth. She smiled with her eyes and asked,
“Am I right?”
Riley didn’t answer. He clicked the tongue and opened the book that he closed earlier.
“If you are that curious… Should I tell you how I was able to read your thoughts, Young Master?”
Unlike his usual self, Riley was being dragged by someone else. Because the conversation felt like that, Riley decided to ignore her question and look at the book. However, perhaps because of the nightmares that she just mentioned, which refused to leave his mind alone, Riley was simply not able to keep his eyes on the words.
“However, I have a condition.”
“A condition?”
“Yes, a condition.”
Riley thought Reutrina must be trying to ask something, so he kept silent as if he was saying she should go ahead and ask. Reutrina laid down the cup on the table. She then tapped the table with her finger.
“Yes, princess.”
It seemed that must be how she called her guard. Her guard, who was on standby at a corner of the garden, nodded and came to where Riley and Reutrina were sitting.
“If you could step on my guard’s pride, then I might tell you.”
Reutrina said jokingly. Confused, Riley stared at Reutrina.
“I don’t think that was hard to understand. Young Master, with a sword… give my guard a beating. If you do, I could tell you.”
Having heard what she just said, Ian, who was vacantly staring at the guard coming this way, stepped in, wondering what this was about.
“P… Princess? Just what are you…”
“… Why should I?”
Ian’s words were interrupted by Riley.
“Ahah… The thing is, the guard that I brought had never once lost to anyone in our Duke’s House, so he is pretty full of it.”
“…”
“So, I would like you to straight him out so he will learn a little that it is a big world. A human being needs to know the bitter taste of defeat in order to grow stronger, right?”
Reutrina slurped at the tea. She then stopped drinking and winked at Riley.
“What do you think?”
Step on her guard’s pride…
There were two things Reutrina could gain from this.
For her guard, there was something to be learned from the duel regardless of the outcome.
The other thing was getting a feel for the skill level of Riley, the one who held the title of Lazy-sword.
The request was the kind that had more for Reutrina to gain than simply asking Riley by saying ‘please show us your skills.’
“Please don’t think too much about it. I’m not trying to do something to you. This guard had been stepping in too often without knowing his place, so I am concerned it may lead to troubles later.”
As if she read Riley’s thoughts again, Reutrina seductively narrowed her eyes. She looked at the guard standing next to her and said,
“Remember yesterday? This guy tried to take out a sword against you at the corridor without knowing his place. There had been many instances like that lately.”
“…”
“If it was not inside mansion but a market instead, he probably would have swung the sword right away.”
Having heard what she said, Riley steadily looked at the guard and asked in a low voice,
“Are you sure he is not just insane?”