Chapter 54: The villainess threatens (part 1)

Shuuuuat!

The sword I swung cut through the air. It was nice to hear that sound, but I wasn’t satisfied.

Duke Ezran, who was watching me from the side, also shook his head as if he was not satisfied.

“I don’t understand what to do.”

“Create a mental image, then project it on the sword.”

It sounded easy when he said that. But…

‘“Create a mental image, then project it on the sword? I don’t know what the heck that means!’

First of all, I tried to do as I was advised, I created a mental image, and at the same time, I swung my sword.

Shuuuuat!

But the result was the same. And the subsequent attempts gave similar results.

‘I have to succeed quickly!’

The reason I was trying so hard, was because I wanted to imbue Aura into the sword.

As it was in the case of all fantasy novels, there was something called ‘Aura’ in this novel as well. 

Of course, if you master it, you would become stronger.

After confirming my powerlessness during the encounter with Clie, I felt like I also needed to improve, so I increased the intensity of training.

However, I couldn’t feel Aura at all. So, I asked Duke Ezran, who was now standing next to me.

“Could you give me a demonstration?”

“I can’t.”

“…”

Duke Ezran walked away after saying that. There was no way that the duke, who was a master swordsman couldn’t unleash his Aura!

In the original novel, Eran Baslett, whom I possessed, had also learned how to use Aura at a young age.

But, I didn’t resent Duke Ezran.

Duke Ezran was always emotionless, and he didn’t even ask me why I wasn’t able to use my Aura all of a sudden.

I couldn’t understand why he didn’t. 

I couldn’t even guess the reason for the perpetual gloomy expression on his face. The original novel didn’t deal with Duke Ezran that much, so it was quite hard for me to see through him.

Maybe he wasn’t interested in the existence of Eran Baslett. Or, maybe Duke Ezran wasn’t interested in anything in general.

Anyways, that wasn’t what mattered now. My priority was to somehow develop my own power.

Shuuuat! Shuuuat! Shuuuat!

That night was filled with the sound of my sword cutting through the cold wind.

And then, I ended up catching a cold.

***

“…?”

I had no choice but to open my eyes that were about to close due to the fatigue. It was because someone had broken into my room!

“Shael?”

It was Shael. She sat down on the chair in front of my bed, and looked at me as if she was observing me.

I was going to rest at home today instead of going to the Azbel family. But, she came here instead.

“Why are you here?”

“You’re my fiancé, can’t I come over?”

‘You are a selfish villainess who is my betrothed only in name.’

I laughed and told Shael, “You may catch a cold.”

“It’s okay. I am not a weakling.”

‘Does that mean I’m a weakling?’

That’s not something anyone should say to a sick person. 

However, I didn’t counter attack due to being preoccupied with another thought.

‘Why did she come all the way here?’

If it was the Shael from a few months ago, she wouldn’t have cared if I was sick.

‘Could it be because of the dessert?’

The dessert I gave her yesterday might not have been enough.

If something happened to me, Shael would never get to eat my dessert.

To be honest, it was a very insignificant reason, but it was possible because Shael liked desserts so much.

“No way, did you come because you were worried about me?”

“…No, go to sleep.”

So that didn’t seemed to be the case. As I expected, it seemed that she came because of the dessert.

I felt a bit angry when I thought of that reason, and at the same time, I was feeling quite bored, so I decided to make fun of Shael.

“Cough!”

I deliberately made a loud coughing sound. So that Shael wouldn’t be able to ignore it.

“…!”

“Water, some water…”

Normally, this request would have been casually ignored. But as soon as Shael heard this, she hurriedly left the room. It was clear that she went to fetch water as I requested.

‘Is this really alright?’

My conscience was pricked, but I felt good when I thought that the cold Shael would accept my request so easily. It gave me feel like I had conquered her.

Kikiiik!

Shael entered the room carrying water.

Even though she had a frown on her face, she still brought the water!

‘Does she want to eat dessert for the rest of her life that much?’

I didn’t know. Either way, it was a good thing for me.

“Drink.”

“I can’t move my hand.”

There was no way a cold would render your hands unusable, so I was spouting total nonsense.

Of course, Shael, who was in a hurry, didn’t doubt it.

As I gazed at the water eagerly, Shael brought the cup directly to my mouth for me to drink.

The feeling of having everything done for me… felt quite good. 

At this point, I was finally able to understand why Clie kept intentionally coughing in front of the male leads.

“Thank you.”

“…”