A Shifting Guard

“It’s alright. I’m Lucia’s best friend, after all. I can concede this much to her.”

At her mature response, I gave her a few “there, there” pats.

When Louis chimed in to ask what was going on, our group grew to three. To be honest, I really wanted to introduce Helena—who had no, or rather, very few friends—to Louis, who had as many friends as Lucia did.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to hit it off. With me in the middle, the two of them strolled down Widsil Street, soon finding a topic of interest and chatting away. To an outsider, they looked like old best friends who had known each other for years. I followed behind them, feeling satisfied. Helena was a bit shy, but she wasn’t the type who couldn’t speak in front of others, and Louis didn’t have a prickly bone in his body.

“Oh my goodness. It’s so beautiful.”

Helena stopped in her tracks in front of an accessory shop. The items on display shimmered as if they were emitting their own light under the meticulously calculated spotlights. Among them, Helena was captivated by a butterfly-shaped pin decorated with diamonds; she leaned her face so close to the glass it looked like her nose might stick to it, looking utterly entranced.

Louis, who also had a great interest in shiny things, chimed in with enthusiasm. He was hooked on a pendant crafted from processed sapphire.

The clerk invited us inside with a sweet voice to take a look. Those who frequented Widsil Street were usually people with deep pockets. If it was a group of children, their identities were even more obvious: either children of the wealthy bourgeoisie or aristocrats who held both money and power. When the staff showed the foresight to bring out snacks for their wealthy young guests, Helena’s wallet finally opened.

Helena, who ended up buying two of the butterfly pins that had caught her eye from the display, giggled happily.

“Why two? In case one breaks?”

“One is for Lucia.”

Usually, when one person starts buying, it creates an atmosphere where you feel like you should buy something, too. Amidst the chatter, Louis eventually purchased the pendant. The prices were breath-taking enough to make one hesitate, but these children of wealthy and powerful families paid the price willingly for a fleeting moment of pleasure without a second thought.

I was the only one whose heart raced, still unaccustomed to these denominations of money. Their only complaint was that they weren’t adults yet and couldn’t use the gold plaques. These gold plaques, which served as the Empire’s credit cards, were limited in where they could be used, but they had no spending limit. It would certainly be more convenient than lugging around gold coins.

“Llewellyn, isn’t there anything you like?”

At Helena’s words, the clerk’s eyes sparkled. There were three customers. Since she had sold two items, she likely thought there was one more to go.

Scanning my generally simple outfit, she picked something out of a black velvet box.

“How about a decorative button? They’re designed to clip onto shirt buttons, and we have a wide variety.”

The button was far too flashy—extravagant, even. I wondered if such a thing would even suit me. The clerk quickly held up a mirror. Brilliant blonde hair and violet eyes. A face more radiant than any jewel. Even the gemstone button looked plain compared to Llewellyn’s face.

Helena was having a grand time picking out various items for me. The clerk’s face brightened. I felt a bit sorry for her, but turning Helena’s attention away wasn’t difficult.

“Are you going to buy Elliot’s gift here, too?”

Helena, who had been looking at buttons with Louis, suddenly slumped. As she grew dejected, saying she still didn’t know what to buy, Louis pulled out a few suggestions. Bringing him along was a great idea. If it were just me, I probably would have just stood by saying, “That’s good, too. That looks pretty, too.”

Eventually, we left the shop and picked our next destination.

“How about a pen? Elliot always carries his own pen around.”

When I squeezed out the suggestion after racking my brain, Louis agreed that it was a good idea.

“But… he already has one he uses. Would he use one I gave him?”

“Don’t worry. Even if people have something they usually use, their hand naturally goes toward the new one once they get it.”

Louis led the way, launching into a long story about a shop his sister liked and how he’d seen Elliot using items from there. As I followed him, something caught my eye.

The shape of the mask covering the man’s face was unique, but not excessively flashy. All sorts of fashions overflowed in the capital.

The reason he drew my gaze wasn’t because he was exceptionally tall, or because he was shouting and drawing attention, or because of any peculiar behavior.

The man was gliding through the crowd with ease. Even as he passed through the crowded street, he didn’t bump into anyone, and people didn’t move to avoid him as if they couldn’t even see him. You might think one or two people would naturally move out of the way, but for everyone to do that… wasn’t it a bit strange?

As if sensing my gaze, the man turned his head. Our eyes met. Or rather, I felt like they did. Because of the distance and the mask he wore, I couldn’t see well. I narrowed my eyes, tracing the man’s figure. Strangely, his appearance wouldn’t quite settle in my vision.

“Llewellyn!”

Louis grabbed my forearm.

“What’s wrong all of a sudden? I thought you’d disappeared. Is there something over there?”

Louis looked toward where I had been staring blankly. I turned my head back as well, but the man was gone.

“No. It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

It was only while I was walking toward Helena with Louis that I remembered something I had missed. Come to think of it, what color was that man’s hair?

The approaching banquet meant that the number of social gatherings had decreased. Unlike the beginning, when the goal was to get acquainted with as many kids as possible, the intervals between meetings grew longer until they finally reached a lull. Everyone would be gritting their teeth, preparing to show up in their most splendid attire.

Helena had quietly spoiled it for me, saying her pearl-decorated dress was beautiful, and Aiden wailed that he’d gained weight during the social season and his custom clothes didn’t fit. I told Elliot to look forward to Helena’s appearance and promised Aiden that I’d stop him if it looked like he was eating too many desserts in the future. My suggestion that we work out together was flatly rejected.

Thanks to the Fourth Prince becoming extremely busy, my role as his playmate entered a temporary hiatus.

Having more time meant I had to catch up on the work I’d put off, and consequently, I was caught by Spelmann to resume my lessons after a long break.

Spelmann looked satisfied as he watched me lap the training grounds as easily as before. He wasn’t one for big facial expressions, but I’d read the moods of people far worse than him. When Spelmann was in a good mood, the left corner of his mouth would twitch, making his mustache move along with it. It was a good thing I’d kept up with my exercise at home whenever I had the time.

Spelmann usually wanted me to focus on the basics, but occasionally he would act as my sparring partner. The format involved me attacking him using the stances and techniques I’d learned while he defended with a handicap and graded my performance. It didn’t happen often, but the frequency was definitely increasing. It felt like I was gaining experience points to level up, which made me proud.

“Too much strength in your shoulders.”

“Your legs have lost their tension.”

“Your center of gravity is leaning too far forward.”

“Discard the notion that you will always face a single enemy in a fair fight.”

Of course, the “experience bar” only filled up bit by tiny bit.

The torn fingers, the blistered palms, and the trembling legs didn’t feel all that bad. Since I was working this hard, I felt like I could grow into my goal of being “not a genius, but a useful fellow.” If I were truly hopeless, Spelmann wouldn’t be teaching me this passionately, would he? As I chuckled while rolling on the ground, he looked at me like I was a madman and called for a break.

Of course, the reason my mood was on an upward curve today wasn’t because I’d suddenly gone crazy and found swordsmanship incredibly fun.

[‘Rebecca Luxtill has a niece, and the girl is ten years old. Her name is Elizabeth Luxtill. I heard she came up to the capital with her aunt about a month ago. Congratulations.’]

Erkel had clapped, saying I’d already found the heroine even though I’d claimed I wanted to escape the genre. It was awkward to deny it, and since he wouldn’t believe me anyway, I gave up. At this rate, if he found out I was exchanging letters with Sissi, he’d probably start planning the wedding.

Anyway. Sissi’s alibi lined up perfectly. Thanks to that, the guard I’d barely been maintaining crumbled easily. Right. Even if this was the life of Llewellyn Edwill, whose life was destined to be ruined by involvements with men, surely I could get involved with a girl once in a while. I’d been too sensitive. I couldn’t bring myself to tell Sissi directly, but feeling guilty, I vowed to buy her a gift as an apology. I decided to go pick one out with the Eldest Son after practice today.

The Eldest Son was happy when I asked him to go downtown with me, then looked puzzled when I said I wanted to buy a gift, and finally looked shocked when he realized the recipient was the girl I’d been corresponding with lately. He even stammered in a way that was unlike him, saying, “If you… if you like her, Llewellyn. Of course, you’re still young… and well, the other party is young, too. I’m not quite prepared yet, but…” He was acting like a father sending his daughter off to marriage. I mean, did I say I was dating? Did I say I was getting married?

Since Erkel said he’d confirmed Elizabeth Luxtill’s name on the banquet list, I could just deliver the gift then.

I pushed myself up. For some reason, Llewellyn Edwill’s body didn’t tan no matter how much he rolled around under the scorching sun. He didn’t even get sunburned; I wondered if he had some sort of passive flame-resistance skill on his skin. But even if my skin didn’t burn, my stamina would drop if I stayed under the sun too long, so I figured it was better to wait in the shade until Spelmann returned. I’d sweated a lot, so I was low on fluids, too…

“Do you need some water?”

“Ah, thank you.”

Just as I realized how thirsty I was, I gratefully took the cup handed to me and drank. Magic really is convenient. If this weren’t a fantasy world but a real historical setting, it would have been hard to get even a single shard of ice in the summer—

“Gasp!”