No Regression for the Victor - Chapter 17

He then tried to move the tool along the ground as he’d intended, but seemed unsure of his posture, so he looked to Mikhail and asked,

“How should I move from here?”

At the Duke’s question, Mikhail jumped slightly and hurried to stand right behind him.

“Slowly, in this direction. Try stepping back with your right foot first.”

As the Duke followed Mikhail’s instructions and took a few steps backward, his earlier awkward movements—where he’d only been stabbing the ground at random—became surprisingly competent.

“Like this?”

“Yes, yes, and then your left foot… Ah, yes, just like that.”

With Mikhail’s help, the Duke managed to complete a single short furrow and then set the plow down with a sigh.

“Huu… It’s difficult.”

As he wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, the glimpse of his flushed cheeks was strangely sensual.

‘Ah.’

Without realizing it, Mikhail found himself watching the sweat trickle down the Duke’s disheveled nape and disappear inside his collar—only to catch himself, embarrassed by his own rudeness, and take a step back.

‘But it’s just… I’m shorter, so my line of sight…’

Even if he’d become a hero who defeated monsters barehanded in the Delwyn Mountains, Mikhail was still only seventeen, three years shy of adulthood.

Given that Osbrandt men usually kept growing into their early twenties, Mikhail was quite tall for a teenager, but the man in front of him still stood just a little taller. It was inevitable that the Duke’s exposed skin would fall into Mikhail’s line of sight.

‘……’

Knowing he shouldn’t, but unable to help himself, Mikhail’s gaze kept wandering that way. At that moment, the Duke turned around and asked,

“You said your name was Misha, right? You seem rather familiar with farm work.”

He remembered the name I told him…! Overwhelmed and startled by the sudden question, Mikhail struggled to calm his pounding heart as he replied.

“Yes? Ah, yes. I’m from Delwyn, so…”

Aside from the mountains running across the continent, Delwyn was mostly vast pasture and plain. Most residents were hunters with mercenaries in the family.

The adults survived by roaming from one communal hunting lodge to another with the seasons, hunting bison and deer. The children’s job, if they couldn’t help with hunting, was to stay home and tend the fields.

Until he started following the mercenary band, Mikhail, too, had stayed home working the fields.

‘Thanks to that, I’m as used to farm work as I am to wielding a sword.’

Who’d have thought it would come in handy like this? Seemingly satisfied with the answer, the Duke asked again.

“Then could you take a look at this?”

“Ah.”

The Duke, looking quite embarrassed and ashamed, pointed to the withered remnant of what had once been an ‘Osbrandt pumpkin sprout’—dead because he’d covered it with too little soil.

“Getting the seeds to sprout isn’t hard, but the roots keep dying off like this and I can’t figure out why. What am I doing wrong?”

It was a line that, no matter how you heard it, sounded absurdly out of place coming in that solemn, deep voice—the kind you’d expect to be discussing the state of world affairs, domain finances, or military strategy.

Caught by the sight of the Duke’s flushed face, Mikhail found himself answering as if bewitched.

“If you’re new to farming, would you mind if I helped you a bit, until you get used to it?”

He didn’t know why he’d blurted that out.

“Would you? But surely you have your own duties. I’d hate to take your time…”

For a moment, a faint color returned to the Duke’s face, only to be replaced by his usual sternness as Mikhail shut his eyes tightly and replied,

“It’s fine…! I have tons of free time. And I like farm work!”

Of course, in the distant past, Mikhail hadn’t been a diligent farmer. If you didn’t work, you’d be locked in the storeroom and left to starve, so it’s not like he had a choice. He just did as he was told.

Honestly, he much preferred riding out to chase prey with the adults, or traveling around with the mercenary band, hunting monsters.

But if it meant he could satisfy his curiosity about the Duke, Mikhail could become a hardworking, talented farmhand starting today.

Whether or not it was appropriate to do this for someone who had once tried to take his life as a prince…

Well, that was something Mikhail had no intention of considering.