Raising the Princess to Overcome Death

Chapter 256

255: Engagement – A Fixed Event

"How about this?"

Lena’s sword grazed Leo’s shoulder. The two were in the midst of a sparring session when, as if a thought had suddenly struck her, Lena pushed off from her back leg and executed another thrust after landing.

Leo smiled warmly.

It had been two months since he started spending his days in perfect harmony with Lena, days so joyful that they filled his heart to the brim. They had gone on another hunt with the Dehor hunting team and dedicated themselves to daily swordsmanship training.

Leo had gained some weight. Unlike previous rounds where he had been anxious and constantly worried about the future, which had left him gaunt with only muscle, he had now developed a relaxed, rock-solid physique thanks to eating and drinking comfortably with Lena.

He looked quite good. Leo Dexter had reached a state where he was neither too tense nor too lax, and he calmly continued teaching Lena.

[Leo, you have become the strongest swordsman on the continent, but Lena has not been able to catch up to you. As a gesture of consolation, you are granted the ability: {Swordsmanship Master}.]

"Not bad, right? You're saying to move forward right as you land? I'll try it, so block me."

"Yeah, yeah. Oh, like that. If you do it like that, you can launch an unexpected attack… Huh?"However, Lena didn’t realize that Leo was teaching her.

The only difference from their usual routine was that Leo had been researching many unusual techniques lately, leading to more frequent discussions between them about various ideas and whether certain moves were possible.

Leo asked playfully, "Why? Is this not right?"

"Hold on, more than that, just now..."

Leo had stepped in the direction Lena had intended to move after deflecting her thrust. Despite her strong parry, Leo’s sword was still poised in a threatening position, ready to strike.

How did this happen?

Just because of a single step.

Lena lowered her sword and fell into thought. There was definitely something in Leo's movement that needed to be addressed.

"Leo, how did you do that just now? Why did you move in that direction?"

Leo shrugged casually as he replied, "You deflected my sword upward, to the right."

"Yeah."

"So I used that momentum to rotate and step in that direction."

"Idiot. Do you think people would just stand still and let you stab them in the back?"

"Haha. I guess not?"

...Was it a coincidence? After reviewing the move with Leo, Lena thought hard for a while before speaking.

"It seems like staying still would be better than rotating. The position of the sword was more crucial... Ah!"

It was the position of the sword! Not the movement itself.

Like raindrops falling on parched earth, Lena absorbed the essence of deep martial knowledge that had flashed through her mind. Though the exact situation didn't arise again during the rest of their sparring session, Lena kept muttering to herself, "The sword's position, the sword's position."

With her mind completely elsewhere, Lena Ainar continued to practice while Leo, acting as her sparring partner, evaluated her progress.

‘This will take a while.’

What Lena was trying to grasp was a difficult concept.

It involved controlling space with the sword, concentrating a knight's power, a technique from the swordsmanship of 'Lloyd Agnac', the commander of the Royal Guards who protected Prince Cleo de Frederick of the Jerome Holy Kingdom.

There were several styles of swordsmanship that Lena had particularly liked over time.

One notable example was Katrina’s aggressive and deceptive style of swordsmanship. During the 8th round, when Lena first defeated Katrina (with her arms still intact), she reinterpreted Katrina’s swordsmanship and made it her own.

Lena was strong back then.

By complementing her father’s ‘swordsmanship that hides a moment’s leisure,’ she had grown rapidly, and looking back, she might have reached the level of a full-fledged knight.

Of course, Leo had already taught her Katrina’s swordsmanship. There was something in Lena’s recent chain thrusts that reminded him of Katrina’s movements, and it was clear that Lena was steadily mastering the essence of Katrina’s style.

The reason she wasn’t growing as rapidly now was likely because she hadn’t yet experienced the blood-soaked reality of actual combat. No matter how well she mimicked Katrina’s swordsmanship, it wasn’t complete.

When Lena showcased the swordsmanship of Sir Lloyd Agnac, it was on the day she declared the annulment of their engagement. Even at that time, when Leo’s skill was at {Swordsmanship.3v: Bart Style}, far beyond that of an ordinary knight, an enraged Lena had bested him.

That was probably Lena’s strongest moment. It had to be, because...

– “I thought... You hated me because I wasn’t strong enough! Now... Now I’m stronger! But... But you...!”

It was a round where Lena had gritted her teeth and pushed herself to the limit. She had gone on a warrior's pilgrimage to the Jerome Holy Kingdom, sparring with numerous knights, and she had finally caught up to Leo. In just one year.

An incredible pace.

Especially considering that her skill at the start of the scenario was barely that of a junior knight.

Minseo, that bastard, hadn’t paid any attention to Lena’s growth, thinking, “What good is it for a future princess to wield a sword?”

Sigh.

Leo exhaled deeply.

Sitting on the terrace near Lena’s house, he raised and lowered his sword, watching her as she remained lost in thought. He knew that today would be the last of their peaceful days.

Soon, Dehor would call for them. By now, the chieftains’ meeting must have been taking place, and the news would soon come that Lena had to go to the battlefield in place of her father, the Great Warrior.

Everything was... ready. Except for one thing.

"Lena! Have this while you practice."

Leo poured some warm Audre tea and called out to Lena. He approached her as she was deep in thought, practicing her footwork, and handed her the cup. Lena wiped away the sweat beading on her forehead and smiled brightly.

"Thanks."

Avril Castle, now beginning to stir with the sudden news of war. In a still-peaceful clearing, Lena and Leo shared a cup of tea.

*

“Ow, ow, ow. Leo, I’m dying here…”

“That’s why I told you not to drag your feet.”

A few weeks later.

Lena was whining, clutching her blistered feet. Despite Leo’s constant reminders to tighten her boots, Lena had dragged her feet during the march, and now she was paying the price.

This was something that couldn’t be avoided. A fixed {event}. Leo clicked his tongue, looking at Lena with pity.

“Don’t touch it, just wait.”

As usual, Leo went to fetch hot water from the kitchen. He advised the weary Ainar warriors, “You should soak your feet in hot water too,” then returned to their tent and pulled Lena’s feet toward him, where she lay sprawled out.

“Ah, hot…! It’s hot.”

“Bear with it.”

It was a method Minseo had taught them—soaking blisters in hot water to make them burst naturally. It was much more hygienic than popping them with your hands, and it also helped relieve foot fatigue. Lena's face, which had been grimacing a moment ago, gradually relaxed.

"Ah... I finally feel like I’m alive again. Leo, how come you’re perfectly fine?"

"If you drag your feet because you're tired, that's how you get blisters. If you walk steadily, you won’t get any."

...Didn’t he say he was a sergeant in the South Korean army? A sergeant, the one who represents the soldiers—Minseo must have risen to a fairly high rank during his time in the military.

‘But then why is his swordsmanship so lousy? Could he have been a staff officer... no, that doesn’t seem right.’

There was no way to know.

Minseo’s memories were extremely vague.

The faces of people who seemed to be his parents came to mind, but their eyes, nose, and mouth were missing. His lover, Chaeha, overlapped with the image of Jenia, becoming indistinguishable from her. All that remained was a scar of guilt from the way he had treated her.

Even the world he lived in was only recalled through abstract concepts—‘democratic’, but ‘hard to make a living’, ‘equal but unequal’, ‘scientifically advanced yet abundant’—a bundle of contradictions. There was no way to tell if he had lived in an unusual world or if he was just misjudging things.

"What are you thinking about?"

"...A foolish friend."

Friend—a word that refers to someone you’ve been close to for a long time. It was the only word Leo could think of to define his relationship with Minseo. Despite everything, "trash" would be too harsh.

The early part of the scenario had been filled with countless horrifying memories. But in the end, Leo defined Minseo as a (foolish) friend and rolled over. In the cramped tent, Lena lay beside him with her feet soaking in the water... and she was pouting.

“Sorry for being so foolish!”

“Not you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Hmph! So what if I get a few blisters? I’m not the only one. I can’t stand looking at you, so get out... Ahhh!”

“You idiot!”

“Oh, what do I do? Help, this...”

Pretending to be sulky, Lena suddenly turned over, knocking over the water basin where her feet were soaking. As the water spread everywhere, Lena, who tried to get up in a hurry, banged her head on the low ceiling of the tent and stepped on her softened blister.

Naturally, the tent, barely held up by a few thin poles, collapsed. Lena landed on her backside in the puddle, bringing down the rest of the tent with her.

After floundering for a while, the two of them crawled out from the fallen tent. “What were you two doing in there?” “How did the tent collapse?” The nearby warriors burst into laughter. Lena, her face flushed red, knelt down and raised her arms.

“I’m sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me. Okay?”

Cute.

Leo, who had been momentarily angry, couldn’t help but laugh as if it had never happened. Leaving Lena to continue her self-imposed punishment, he began fixing the tent.

“Can... Can I lower my arms now?”

“No. You stay like that until the tent is fixed.”

“I... I’ll help fix it...”

“No, I said no.”

Leo wasn’t angry, but he wanted to see Lena remain in that cute, embarrassed state a bit longer. Lena, now as red as a beet, kept her head bowed, her arms still raised obediently.

But it wouldn’t do to leave her like that for too long. Noticing the Ainar tribesmen and passing soldiers watching her, some of them snickering, Lena was starting to feel more embarrassed than anything else. Leo eventually helped her to her feet.

Standing in front of the utterly ruined tent, Leo leaned over and kissed Lena’s cheek, which had a complicated expression on it.

– Whistle!

“Looks like they don’t care about being seen anymore, huh? Hahaha! Those two are going to end up getting married on the battlefield.”

Everyone knew about their engagement. As this reminder hung in the air, Leo and Lena fixed the tent together and then lay down inside. After a long silence, Lena carefully spoke up.

“Leo.”

“What?”

“Our marriage...”

Would it be okay if we waited until after we’ve both become knights? I’m a woman, and I know I’ll have to bear children, and I want to, but I don’t want to give up on my dreams because of motherhood.

But Leo was faster. As if he had read her mind, Leo spoke.

“I’m sorry, but let’s take our time with the wedding. We can wait until after the war and after we’ve become knights. And hey, how about we get married while we’re being knighted?”

Gasp.

Lena’s eyes widened in surprise, and she gasped for breath. Leo worried that he might have said something wrong, but that wasn’t the case. It was the opposite.

It was the wedding she had always dreamed of.

Not in a flowing dress, but clad in sturdy armor, binding her life with Leo’s. Lena was so overjoyed that Leo shared her thoughts that she burst into tears.

Lena rarely showed her tears, so Leo was caught off guard. He had only suggested getting married during the knighting ceremony because it seemed like a good idea...

In the small tent, Lena knelt, burying her face in her hands. Leo knelt before her as well.

Even though they had shared so much, the simple touch of their knees felt suddenly intense.

Leo wrapped his arms around Lena’s shoulders. She leaned into him, pressing her tear-streaked face against his ear, and whispered.

“You promised. We promised to do it that way. To get married like that.”

“...Yeah. We promised. It’s going to happen. I’ll make sure of it.”

Leo’s final words were a vow to himself. Their hearts beat in unison, painting a rosy picture of their future together.

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