Chapter 1.23
About a week ago. As soon as he heard the report from Douglas, Demian headed to the training ground to confirm the answer to his curiosity with his own eyes.
By concealing his presence with mana, he was able to watch who was sweating inside the training ground without being caught.
Levi Heron and Ayla Ryner.
They were the two who had been chewed out and torn apart by the socialites’ wagging tongues even before the induction ceremony.
‘Did the Young Lady of Ryner ask her to teach her swordsmanship?’
That was what he thought at first.
However, Levi Heron returned to the training ground and practiced until her stamina was spent even after dropping Lady Ryner off at the dormitory.
The image of her sweeping her long hair up, tying it high, and swinging her sword remained in his mind.
Even though her body was so weak she had to delay her enrollment, why was she overexerting herself like that?
If she was a Heron, there would be many excellent vassals who were masters of martial arts, so why here in this dirty place?
The questions floating in his head made it impossible for him to focus on his own work.
So, Demian decided he would rather ask her directly.
“May I ask one thing?”
“Of course.”
“I’m curious if it was intentional that you used strength you had to overexert yourself to gather during the first <Demonology> lecture.”
“…….”
It seemed that the fact she had changed her reputation through a thin deception was visible to Demian’s eyes.
‘Well, it would be stranger if someone like Demian didn’t know.’
Levi knew his potential. He knew that the great aristocrats would not support him since he had no political foundation, so he had knocked on the doors of the emerging nobles early on.
A mere fifteen-year-old boy had picked only the cream of the crop among the rising powers and recruited them to his side.
‘His ability to weigh gains and losses, and his resourcefulness, are no ordinary thing.’
Furthermore, he was an existence who had polished both mana and swordsmanship to their absolute peak.
If she tried to vaguely hide her intentions from someone like Demian, she might give the impression that she had something to hide and was creating a secret.
So, Levi decided to answer honestly.
“It was. I couldn’t keep hearing myself being called Heron’s Defective Product.”
“It must have taken a toll on your body.”
“That is…… also true.”
As Levi answered, Demian realized something and spoke.
“So that’s why you chose this place instead of training at your family’s training ground with the help of the Heron knights.”
“…….”
Since he had hit the nail on the head, Levi couldn’t continue for a moment.
The reason she returned to the campus training ground to train more after dropping Ayla off instead of going straight back to the mansion was exactly as Demian said.
“Because the knights and vassals of my family worry about me. It is a difficult thing to show a weak side to those who cherish me, Your Highness.”
The moment she answered, Demian’s eyes wavered greatly.
He had once heard similar words from his mother.
“Demian. This mother is fine. Go to your room for a moment.”
He remembered his mother, who tried her best to force a smile as if she were fine while coughing up blood.
Was the reason he kept noticing the sickly Levi Heron because she overlapped with his mother?
He couldn’t reach an answer to that question, but Demian felt that the way Levi worked underwater to protect her people was just like him.
So, he impulsively added words that his usual self would never have said.
“If there is anything I can help with, tell me. It is an apology for looking down on you on induction day.”
When words of apology, of all things, came out of Demian’s mouth, Levi doubted her ears for a moment.
‘Did I hear that correctly?’
If it were a situation where there were many people and he had to mind his image as an Imperial Prince, that would be one thing, but an apology when it was just the two of them?
Furthermore, she was someone known to adore his rival, Frid.
She had thought it was reasonable for him to consider her a potential enemy and act prickly, but she never thought he would offer such a sincere apology.
Levi, who had thought Demian was a fox who only pretended to be good in public settings, felt as if she had been caught off guard by the unexpected remark.
‘The perfectionist who’s different on the inside and outside actually knows how to apologize.’
As she was ruminating on his words, not knowing what reaction to show, he spoke.
“It is because I believe effort should be followed by a reward, nothing more.”
It seemed he also found it a bit awkward that such words had come out of his own mouth.
‘A reward for effort.’
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