Side Stories (1)

A month had passed since Irene and Bratt left.

There was only one trainee left behind by them, Judith.

Those who failed had no reason to stay, and those who passed and turned into official trainees returned to their families for a while until August, the official admission date.

However, without parents, Judith had nowhere to go.

Standing in the center of the hall, she shouted.

"AHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHH!"

She also spit out harsh words.

"You dog bastards! I'll definitely surpass them! I'm going to smash everything and throw it all away!"

Shouting, screaming over and over again. Until her throat became sore.

Until her voice cracked and her throat hurt. Still, her heart didn't cool down.

The resentment didn't go away.

"Pant, Pant. Damn it…"

She hated Ilya Lindsay.

She hated the one who didn't have to go through suffering since birth.

She even hated Irene Pareira.

She hated him even more because he was a kind person yet a fool who was born with more talent and stamina than Ilya, but cursing him was hard.

And finally, Bratt Lloyd.

The guy she hated the most.

'Bastard, you said that you were going to win somehow!'

He was disgusting when she first saw him and the same when she continued the training along with him.

In fact, until the moment he left, she didn't pay much attention to him.

That bastard's atmosphere didn't fit well with Judith's.

But then the face he showed at the last minute.

It wasn't as bad as the other trainees who tried their best to place higher than the opponent and lost.

It made her even more annoyed. The last appearance of the pitiful guy aroused her anger.

'Enough now.'

Judith spit, then took a deep breath and picked up the sword lying next to her.

Her sword was violent like a burning flame.

It was something she had realized through the sword dance that Ian had shown and the sword she refined after the countless battles with Bratt.

Of course, she didn't have an opponent anymore, but it was okay.

Just a little bit more, and she would become an official trainee, and there are plenty of seniors better than him.

Some people were full of themselves too.

But she had to put it all aside.

Wield the sword to demolish Ilya and Irene.

It was when she was thinking about it.

Kang!

An iron sword used for practice was lifted, and the attack unfolded.

Judith was shocked.

It wasn't that someone had thrown the sword with all their might.

And there was no one there to counter her sword, especially since her sword was looked at like a child's sword by the instructors.

However, if the one who unfolded the attack was one of the trainees, then it was a different story.

She called out the person's name.

"Bratt…"

"I went home and thought about it."

Bratt raised his sword again and took his stance.

A sense of politeness.

A feeling of suffocation, as if dense water was approaching her.

"I can't do much if it's Ilya Lindsay or Irene Pareira, but there was no way I could leave after getting beaten by you."

"So?"

"It means that I requested and pleaded with the school master. To take me back."

"The school master has a nice personality. Accepting someone like you."

"He has a personality that can't be compared to yours."

"Shit."

"I've been wanting to say this for a long time, but curse in moderation. It's like a scared dog is barking at me."

"You're really shitty."

Another curse and another, Judith's expression wasn't bad. Nor was Bratt's.

After meeting again after a long time, the two shared swords instead of words. Until the sun went down.

'… you aren't inferior to either of them.'

Ian watched the boy and girl for a long time.

A happy smile lingered on his face.

On the way home from the school, Ilya felt bad.

When she first entered the school, she just wanted to be on top, but not anymore.

Aside from what happened, the friends she made and the people she met were quite precious to her.

Of course, she didn't change her decision not to go back to the school.

'As long as there is my family's swordsmanship, there is no place better for me to grow.'

A smile appeared as she remembered her family.

No matter how precious the bonds with her friends were, it couldn't be compared to home.

She missed her parents, whom she hadn't seen for a year, and she wanted to see the knights of her family who loved her like she was their own daughter.

And… her brother, who hasn't come out of his room for several years. She wanted to see him.

'It will work out!'

The burdensome expectations, wonder, and respect that those around her have.

The sharp accusations, ridicule, and scorn. She understood how painful they were.

But to endure it and overcome it wasn't impossible.

'Because Irene Pareira did it.'

A boy who didn't give in to the words of the many people who talked about him. And the boy who finally completed a great sword.

That story will be told, but she will tell how the boy and even her brother could get out.

Little by little, as time went…

He will definitely cheer up.

Because her brother wasn't a weak person.

"Uh?"

As she was in thought, she saw flowers blooming outside the wagon's window.

They were Yellow Adonis. The same flower that was engraved on the bracelet that Irene gave her.

She stopped the wagon.

"Do you want those flowers? Heading to the estate, I'll stop by a flower shop right away…"

"No, these are fine. We're going to be fine again."

Ilya, who wrapped the flowers in paper, smelled them as she remembered the past.

Until she was seven, the family garden was full of Yellow Adonis.

The flower which Carl would give her was the same.

The image of her brother, who handed her a yellow bouquet and said that he would come right away, was still fixed in her eyes.

Afterwards, the Adonis turned into a painful memory for the two, but now Ilya was fine.

She felt like she had overcome the painful memories through her conversation with Irene.

'Still, my brother is…'

Her family wasn't far away, and a little worry rose.

She managed to overcome it, but her brother was still in a difficult state. Perhaps, the moment he saw the flowers, he would remember the pain of that time.

But it was something that he had to overcome at some point.

Because one shouldn't be too caught up in the past.

Conflicting thoughts raged in Ilya Lindsay's mind, and in the end, she arrived at the estate undecided.

After a while.

After listening to her father, she realized that she no longer had to make a decision.

'Your brother…. left the house. No, to be honest… it is more accurate to say that he went missing.'

The eldest son of the Lindsay family, Carl Lindsay, vanished overnight.

He was nowhere to be seen in the castle. It was the same no matter how thoroughly the estate and the nearby estates were searched.

This couldn't have happened.

'No… traces. Like magic… no, he disappeared like magic. With my humble skills, I can't even predict what happened to the young lord.'

It was the story of the family's wizard.

Disappearance where no clues could be found.

Ilya Lindsay sat down.

"…"

The happy memories from school disappeared.

The Adonis she brought home were thrown away.

And the depression came again and she couldn't help but listen to the rumors.

'Young Lord Lindsay is missing!'

'He's disappeared for almost three months now, probably suicide…'

'The Young Lord of the Lindsay family, pessimistic about the future, commits suicide!'

'Carl Lindsay couldn't overcome the defeat suffered from Ignet, an unfortunate death of a genius!'

'In the end, Carl Lindsay lost to Ignet!'

She didn't want to care.

She didn't want to listen.

But she couldn't help it. The words of people kept entering her ears and eyes, and their actions darkened Ilya's heart.

Maybe her brother was still alive.

How hard it must be for him to live through the painful rumors floating around the streets.

Maybe he was dead.

Even so, despite his death, the harsh words of people didn't stop.

What should she do?

Should she strike the throats of those who spit such nonsense?

Unfortunately, that wasn't possible.

It couldn't be done by Ilya Lindsay, who was more talented than Carl.

However, it was possible to make them shut their mouths.

'Ignet.'

Surpass her achievements one by one.

Rewrite all the records she had.

And then tell people.

If it weren't for your disgusting eyes and mouths, my brother, not me, would have been the one to defeat Ignet. I wished for such a future.

"I plan to increase the time I practice swordsmanship."

Her resolve to follow her own path faded.

The promise not to be swayed by others also faded.

It was replaced by anger against the public.

And even obsession.

"…"

Even Joshua Lindsay couldn't help but watch as bitter hatred grew on his pretty daughter's sword.

Judith and Bratt Lloyd reunited before Ilya reached her family.

Irene was staring out the window with a stiff face.

And Marcus, the servant, looked at him with sad eyes.

'Ugh, he lasted a year, but being eliminated is…'

He didn't know that Irene had passed.

It was because Irene had said nothing about it.

Now, the boy's head was filled with advice from Ian, and he even forgot that he had to inform the servant.

'What does swordsmanship mean to me?'

No, before that, what kind of person am I?

Irene Pareira had never thought of such serious things in his life.

It was natural.

When he was young, he ran away from problems and hid in his bed, and since the day he started having that mysterious dream… without any doubt or resistance, he just followed the man's sword.

For a boy, especially Irene, that was a difficult task.

His dark expression was seen.

'Ugh. What should I say that will cheer up the young lord?'

In the stillness of the wagon, Marcus thought.

Honestly, Irene seemed better.

It was a great development from a thin body to a muscular physique.

In addition to that, he saw with his own eyes that the young lord had made friends. In a way, wishing for anything more would be greedy.

'But I want to relieve even the slightest worry in the heart of young…'

It was when he was thinking of fulfilling his duty.

Something shined in the young lord's hand.

"That, Young lord, that one."

"Huh?"

"I am sorry to bother you, but… the thing in your hand…"

"Ah, this?"

"Y-yes! That! Can I see that for a moment?"

The servant asked with a trembling voice, and Irene nodded.

He was curious about what the young lord had been stroking in his hand. Irene meekly handed the object to Marcus.

After a while, a loud voice echoed inside the wagon.

"Li-Li-Lindsay family's emblem! This, this, how did you get this, sir?"

Hey all, I just paid the TL for this month and we're back to 0 funds, I had to use some funds from my credit card to complete the payment but that's not a problem.

So here I am asking again for your cooperation, I'm sorry if this is a bother but that's how things roll here.