005

I tapped the Head Knight’s back, to my bewilderment he flinched.

“Am I that scary or are you that incompetent? Anyways Sir Head Knight, teach me to use a sword,” doubt was quite evidently displayed in his expression.

‘How did I not sense her walking behind me and also why is she even asking to get taught how to wield a sword? She’s just a child. Was this an independent choice? Shouldn’t children be playing with toys right now? She probably just wants to get attention from the Duke and Duchess, I might as well just teach her, she won’t last long anyway because she is a sheltered noble child.’

“If you’re going to doubt me at least be subtle about it so you won’t hurt my feelings, mister.”

‘This child is quite...odd.’

“Anyways what is your answer, mister knight?”

“Fine. I’ll teach you, but don’t expect me to go easy on you just because you’re the daughter of the Duke,” he said with a slight edge to his tone.

“Hey what is your name? I can’t keep calling you mister Head Knight.”

“My name is Tristan Lionel. Anyway, first I need to gauge where you are at right now.”

‘She shouldn’t be able to do much now, 6-year-olds have bad cognitive abilities.’

He must be quite lazy, what am I even meant to do? Do I just pick up the wooden sword and swing? Oh well, I guess I’ll just pick it up.

This might need to take some getting used to, this would be too heavy for normal children to wield but luckily I have been developing my physical ability alongside real-life applications for some of my theories. I walked over to the straw dummy attached to a stick and started swinging at it. On my 4th swing, I made a clean cut across the torso of the dummy, even cutting through the wood, in fact, this even surprised myself.

Sir Lionel stood there quite stunned to say the least, the rest of the knights training suddenly went dead silent.

“What?” I asked to break them out of their stupor.

“A-Ah you did very well Young Miss, I think you have an affinity with the sword,” replied the Head Knight. Abruptly after he finished speaking all the other knights snapped back into reality, they all started yelling praises for my skill and were crying, whether they were tears of joy or hurt, I don’t know.

“Can you actually teach me now? But first I want to try archery.”

“Y-yes I will teach you and please follow me to the shooting grounds,” we then started walking to the side of the sword training area to a space with targets all aligned fairly far away from a wooden platform where some knights were using bows.

Sir Lionel was about to speak but I just went ahead to take a bow and a few arrows then I found an empty slot where I could test if I was able to use a bow properly. The bow was relatively lighter than the sword but it would require more coordination which I don’t know if the body of a child has.

Lift the elbow. Straighten the back. Load the arrow. Pull the string back. Aim. Breathe. Release.

Bullseye, I’m surprised I had this sort of talent, I feel like I’m cheating the game of life. I might as well enlist in the Royal army at this point, I don't have an affinity with any magic so I need to bring honour to my family in some way.

‘HJVBDFHBEUFB! Why is this child like this?! Or more like how?! Such talent, it is obvious that the Dukedom has produced a rare prodigy! This child has too much talent, I’m an entire 16 years older than her but it took me 2 years of practice to shoot an arrow with such accuracy. Ah, I can hear my pride being shattered, I think I can hear all the knights’ self-esteem just plummet to rock bottom. I was called a genius for becoming the Head Knight at the age of 18 but I don’t know anymore.’

“U-uh well then you have displayed that you are quite proficient in weaponry, I’ll formally start your training tomorrow but I will only train you once you gain the approval of the Duke.”

“Very well, I will abide by that condition,” I suppose that is logical since although he is the Head Knight, he is still subordinate to the Duke. After bidding goodbye to all the knights and thanking them for their service, I headed to the dining room to eat dinner with my parents.

I can almost feel myself aging just by thinking about having to deal with the Duchess again. I pushed aside all the ringing emotions swarming through my body along with the door to the dining hall. I was met with the hateful gaze of the Duchess and the indifferent expression of my father, once we started eating, a deafening silence quickly fell upon the room.

Surprisingly, the Duke broke the silence, “See me at my office after you finish eating.”

“Very well, father.”

The meal continued with only the weak fury of the Duchess being directed to me, I sensed no real bloodlust in her gaze aside from her petty embarrassment. Once I finished eating, I arose and walked to the Duke’s office alongside the Duke. The moment the door closed, I had a chill run down my spine, as if I had a strange premonition that something bad was about to happen.

“Ah! My adorable daughter! You’re so cute and smart! I knew you would be so talented, your cheeks are so cute!”

I merely responded with a flat stare causing my father to sulk in the corner however contrary to my expression, I was in a state of shock.

This had never occurred before, why is his personality now so different? Was everyone else also chained in previous lives? What is going on!? His actions are becoming more difficult to predict, did my actions cause this major alteration in the story? In every other life, my father would be distant, solely focusing on his work as a duke and meetings with the King.