“It is said that Viscount Aiden was baptized in water two days in a row.”
Viscount Aiden was an official who was hit by a book thrown by Perdes while talking behind my back.
“That’s also trash that someone threw away.”
“That was unlucky.”
Perdes muttered as if he were very sorry and swung his sword sideways.
I held his shoulders, corrected his disheveled posture, and continued talking.
“It is said that Viscount Brodie was hit on the head by a stone someone threw while he was walking down the street. And several times.”
“So is he seriously hurt?”
"No. Fortunately, the stone wasn’t that big, so it ended up just leaving a bump.”
"I see."
Perdes answered indifferently and swung his sword again in the posture I had corrected.
Looking at his reaction, he seemed like he had nothing to do with this incident... That can't be possible.
Because there is no one else who would do something like that to two officials.
So I had no doubt that Perdes had done it.
I knew why he did what he did, so instead of probing or scolding him further, I spoke.
“Don’t do that next time.”
Huh-
The wooden sword that was cutting through the air stopped.
Perdes glanced at me from the corner of his eye and swung his sword again.
It means he won't listen to me.
Considering his upbringing, I thought he would have low self-esteem and no stubbornness, but that was not the case.
He was so proud and stubborn that I wondered how he had endured all this time.
It must have been thanks to his strong pride and stubbornness that Perdes was able to achieve an above-average level in basic subjects through self-study.
It will also have an impact on keeping up with the tight training schedule and attending training regularly every morning.
The problem is...
“Your posture was wrong again.”
In other things, the more he works hard, the better his skills become, but not in swordsmanship.
Despite his efforts, his skills did not improve at all.
I guess he...
“I guess you don’t have any talent for swordsmanship.”
I sighed and said what I wanted to say.
So that he doesn't get discouraged, I want to tell him that no, he can get better if he works hard.
From my perspective, he didn't have any talent for swordsmanship, so I couldn't say anything.
As I just looked at him in silence, Perdes kicked the ground with his toe.
“What is that reaction? Even if it’s just empty words, you can tell me that if I work harder, I’ll be able to do well.”
“You’re still working hard enough, so how can I tell you to work harder?”
“You’re telling me I’m not good at swordsmanship.”
I didn't mean it that way.
“In the first place, swordsmanship was learned for the purpose of improving basic physical strength, so don’t be too disappointed.”
Perdes muttered as he looked down at the wooden sword he was holding tightly.
“If I increase my practice time more than now, will my skills improve?”
It was a statement that showed his will to somehow become good at swordsmanship.
"Well. You won’t know until you try, but I don’t think so.”
“...The answer is cold.”
“You already have a lot of work to do, so I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to waste your time.”
Perdes pouted as if he didn't like my answer, then turned his head.
I guess I should have set the mood appropriately instead of hitting the nail on the head.
Even though I said it with Perdes in mind, it could have made him feel bad.
To lighten his mood, I brought up a story that he would like.
“How about learning magic instead of swordsmanship?”
"Magic?"
As expected, he responded right away.
"Yes. It’s magic.”
“But I can’t feel mana.”
“You can become a wizard even if you don’t feel mana.”
“You’re talking about a magician who draws magic formulas or magic circles.”
The official name of that job is Maso. I knew this for the first time.
“Do you not like it?”
“There’s no way I wouldn’t like it. Of course, it’s good.”
The deep goal between his eyebrows contradicted the positive answer.
“Are you worried that you’ll get caught acting like an idiot?”
Perdes nodded as if it was the correct answer.
“There’s no way an idiot would be good at something like math.”
“Then you can just give up acting like an idiot.”
"What?"
Perdes asked me in surprise.
"Are you serious?"
As I nodded, Perdes smiled.
“Before, you said what would happen if I was caught being an idiot?”
“I don’t want you to get caught now. What I’m saying is, when the time comes, quit.”
“When is that time?”
“I haven’t decided exactly when, but it will be soon, so prepare your mind.”
Perdes' expression became serious.
It was a natural reaction, as he probably intended to continue acting like an idiot until he found complete freedom.
But in order to properly put the third button in my plan for revenge, he had to take off his idiot mask.
He must.
***
If the 4th Prince, who was thought to be an idiot, showed himself as normal or better overnight, it could surprise people.
It would raise that much doubt, so I had to reveal it slowly as if I didn't know that my collar was getting wet in light rain.
“Let the knights praise Perdes.”
The first target was the Duke's knights.
I asked Sir Aldor for that, and he asked me back.
“In what way?”
“I’ve been teaching Perdes these days under my orders, and he’s smarter than I thought. It didn't seem like he was an idiot. You can just praise something like this.”
“Then some people will doubt that he is an idiot.”
“That’s what I ask for, so please do it.”
Sir Aldor's expression became mysterious. He looks like he doesn't know what I'm thinking.
“I can’t tell you right now why I’m like this, but... I will tell you everything someday, so do as I say, Sir Aldor.”
I spoke first before Sir Aldor could ask anything.
"All right."
Still, he would have asked again, but Sir Aldor did not.
Although I liked his loyal personality, it felt heavy on my shoulders.
Because it meant that he trusted me and followed me.
Besides, there would soon be a new knight ordination ceremony, and it was painful to think that Sir Aldor would swear loyalty to me at that time.
Since he hasn't said anything about the pledge, it seems like he hasn't changed his mind yet.
I wanted to ask him how he was feeling, but I didn't want to say anything because I felt like I was touching him for no reason.
After sending Sir Aldor away, I was looking at the documents when Perdes came in.
“Did you call me?”
"Yes. Would you like to sit down first?”
Perdes asked me as soon as he laid his butt on the sofa.
“What’s going on?”
“Is there something urgent?”
“No, I don’t have any. Why?"
“I want you to urgently ask the main question first.”
Perdes wrinkled his nose.
“That’s not it. Whenever the Lady called me, something always happened, so I asked because I was curious.”
Was it like that? I couldn't remember very well.
“So what’s going on?”
“There’s nothing special going on.”
I held out the invitation I had left out before to him.
“I sang this to tell you to prepare your mind in advance because you have to go here in a month.”
“Seeing as they’ve already sent out an invitation to a party to be held in a month, it’s not a small party.”
"Yes."
When holding a large party, invitations were sent out at least a month in advance in the hope that many people would attend.
That way, people can schedule things in advance.
Perdes took out the invitation and checked it.
“Is the daughter of the Marquis de Lanchot making her debutante?”
“The Marquis de Lanchot belongs to an aristocratic family, and the Marchioness is quite famous in social circles. So, it’s a good idea to go there to get your face stamped.”
“Is this part of your plan too?”
"Sure."
When I answered as if asking something so obvious, Perdes waved the invitation toward me and asked.
“You’re not asking me to go with you just to get a face stamp, right?”
As expected, he is quick-witted.
“On this day, I will show the nobles gathered here that Perdes was not, in fact, an idiot.”
Seeing as he wasn't that surprised, it seemed like he had already expected it.
I really liked this side of him. Because you don’t have to elaborate on the story to make them understand.
"I can not understand."
“What?”
"All of it."
It was an abstract answer. When I looked at him to ask him to elaborate, Perdes continued.
“I understand that the Emperor dragged me in because he wanted to marry Young Lady to a strange man.”
“...”
“I think giving me that kind of education is also to fool other people.”
That wasn't the only reason, but it was too long to explain in detail, so I stayed quiet for now.
“But why are you making me do this? What does my taking off my idiot mask have to do with the Lady’s revenge?”
Perdes put down the invitation so hard that it made a clicking sound.
“Wouldn’t it be better to act like an idiot instead? If the Emperor knew that I wasn’t an idiot, I don’t think he would stay quiet like he is now.”
All of these questions were still difficult to answer, so I remained silent.
“Young lady.”
Then Perdes called my name as if urging me to answer.
“I can’t tell you right now.”
Even if he urged me, this was all I could say right now.
“But I’ll tell you everything soon, so just wait a moment.”
Perdes twisted his lips.
“You always ask me to wait.”
“That’s all I can say right now.”
“Are you not telling me because you don’t trust me?”
“That’s not it, the fewer people who know a secret, the better, so I’m sparing a word about it.”
“I don’t believe it.”
Perdes sat crookedly and crossed his arms.
“It seems to me that you keep hiding things from me because you don’t trust me.”
If he asks me if I trust him, I'm not at the stage where I can definitely answer yes yet.
"I believe you."
I felt that if I told the truth, Perdes would only get hurt, so I lied a little.
“I believe you, I only told this to Perdes and asked you to help me. Would I have done that if I didn’t believe you?”
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