Chapter 45

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Cain, who had gone to the royal city, received sword training at the training grounds of the Royal Guard. Although he had some regional habits, his basics were solid, so he occasionally sparred with professional knights. Due to the physical differences, most of the sparring was done between Alundirano and Cain.

The deputy commander was not always present, so on those days, someone would take turns watching and providing guidance if any issues arose.

"Yaaah!"

Alundirano raised his voice and swung his wooden sword at Cain, who was in a defensive stance. The impact was solid, and Cain's palms tingled slightly.

Cain had noticed that Alundirano sometimes made unusually loud noises and swung his sword with a wide arc.

Alundirano had learned to allocate his energy to complete the morning training. He was aware that the strikes were meant to help his body remember the forms through repetition, so he tried to keep his shoulders relaxed to a certain extent.

However, he would sometimes suddenly make a loud noise. Cain wondered why, but today he found out the reason. Alundirano's voice would get louder when a specific woman passed by the corridor near the training grounds. "What, is it puberty? That's gross," Cain thought.

"Prince Al, that's not very manly."

"What? What are you suddenly talking about, Cain?"

Cain lowered his wooden sword, which he had been holding in a defensive stance, and shook his head from side to side as if to say, "Oh well." Alundirano, startled, widened his eyes and looked around nervously. Cain made a small beckoning gesture with his hand, closing the distance between them.

"Shouting loudly to draw attention and then trying to look cool when someone looks at you, hoping they might talk to you, is rather pitiful, Your Highness."

Cain whispered this into Alundirano's ear, and Alundirano's face turned bright red. He looked half-tearful and tried desperately to come up with an excuse, but no words came out.

"Was it the one in the sky-blue dress? Or the one in the light green dress? Which one?"

Cain glanced at the corridor and described the two women walking there. Alundirano bowed his head, fidgeted, and mumbled something that Cain couldn't hear. Just as Cain was about to press for more information, a knight who had come to observe them scolded them for slacking off, so they reluctantly resumed training.

Alundirano, who had been trying to show off, now looked embarrassed and sulky as he practiced his swings.

After that, they silently continued their training until the time was up, and it was lunchtime. They wiped their sweat, changed into their jackets, and were led to the dining hall to have lunch together.

It had been a few days since Cain started coming to the training grounds, but the king and queen had not joined them for lunch.

"Alright, let's talk about love, Prince Al."

"Wh-What do you mean by 'love talk'?"

"Love talk. It's short for 'love talk.' Which of the two women walking in the corridor do you like, Your Highness?"

"Wh-What? I don't like or dislike them! It's not that kind of talk!"

As usual, the table was set with warm soup that was overcooked, not-so-fluffy bread, and a salad with torn vegetables. Cain tore a piece of bread and looked inside. Today, it had chopped apples. He put the apple bread in his mouth and washed it down with soup. Two maids stood by the wall but did not comment on their poor manners; they just stood there.

"But you were trying to get their attention, weren't you? You've been raising your voice every time those two pass by, even yesterday and the day before."

"Shh! Shh! Cain, shh!"

Alundirano tried to cover Cain's mouth with his small hands. Despite their small size, they were a bit rough from sword training. One of the maids standing by the wall looked up at Cain with a troubled expression.

"It's a secret. The one in the light green dress is named Dedini."

"The one in the light green dress, huh."

Cain repeated "Dedini" three times in his mind. It was his ritual from his past life to remember people's names. If Alundirano's first love was before Diana, he could just connect them. That way, even if the scenario followed the prince's route, the second wife of the old nobleman would be Dedini instead of Diana. Although it was unfair to Dedini, Cain didn't care about what happened to unknown people as long as Diana didn't end up unhappy. Dedini might even end up being a "withered specialist."

However, she looked like a maid or a female official working in the royal city. She seemed to be in her mid-twenties, an age when nobles would already be married or engaged. Moreover, there was almost a twenty-year age difference between her and the four-year-old Alundirano.

"What do you like about Dedini?"

"Well, last month when I fell, she praised me..."

They were sitting side by side at the dining table. When Cain pressed for more details, Alundirano explained that last month, when he fell in the corridor, Dedini saw him get up without crying and praised him, saying, "Your Highness, you are so brave for someone so young."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cain thought. "Is that it?" But he didn't say it out loud.

As they leaned in and whispered to each other, Cain felt the maids standing by the wall getting closer. He cleared his throat, straightened his back, and moved away from Alundirano.

"Prince Al, if you'd like, you can come to my house next time. I have a servant my age. If you like him, you can call him 'big brother.'"

Alundirano smiled happily and said, "I'll ask Father and Mother!"

At the Duke's residence, Ilvareno sneezed loudly and was scolded by the butler.

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