42 - I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke
I Got Engaged to a Blind Duke Chapter 42
On her first day learning swordsmanship, Sebas the butler brought her a light iron sword so she could get a feel for a real sword.
Marin swung it around enthusiastically, and she was bedridden with muscle pain for two days.
Three days later, she went out to the training grounds, looking pale.
Sebas the butler, looking apologetic, gave her a wooden practice sword this time. It was actually what young children used when they first learned to sword fight.
Marin swung it even harder than the first day. She wanted to show him that she could do it.
And she couldn't get up for another two days.
With a dejected look, she headed to a secluded clearing behind the main building, hidden by bushes. It was the training ground where she was learning to sword fight.
She saw Sebas the butler standing in the center of the training ground with his back to her. Marin couldn't bring herself to call out to him and dropped her gaze to the ground.
She tapped the dirt floor with her low-heeled black shoes, and a cloud of dust rose.
"Marin, you're here."
Sebas the butler, sensing her presence, turned around and greeted her kindly.
"Hello, Master."
Since she had decided to learn swordsmanship, she had been calling him Master within the training grounds.
When Marin didn't look up even after greeting him, the butler called her again.
"Marin?"
"Are you regretting... teaching me?"
Marin asked hesitantly, her gaze fixed on the ground.
She didn't want Sebas the butler to regret it, but she felt bad that she seemed to have made him regret it in just a week.
"Hahahahahaha."
The butler burst into hearty laughter.
Marin, taken aback by his unexpected reaction, peeked up at him.
"Yes, I regret it."
Sebas the butler said in a voice trying hard to suppress his laughter.
Ugh, a reality check.
Marin dropped her head again with a gloomy look.
"I regret that the teaching method was wrong from the start. I didn't know Marin's physical strength well enough."
Sebas the butler said, looking at her as if she were cute.
"You don't regret teaching me?"
Marin asked cautiously, and he shook his head with a benevolent face.
"Of course not. I'm the one who asked you. Do you regret it, Marin?"
"No. I just feel pathetic about my poor physical strength."
"Then would you like to continue?"
"Yes! Please take good care of me."
Marin replied energetically with a refreshed face.
She couldn't give up when her master wasn't giving up first.
"Marin, let's use this today."
Sebas the butler held out a wooden sword that looked like a switch. Judging by the rough shape of the wood, it seemed like he had carved it himself.
"Did you make this yourself?"
"Yes. I thought it would be hard for Marin to lift something heavy yet."
"I'm sorry."
Marin apologized hastily with a sorry expression.
"No, Marin. This is my fault as a teacher. I was too eager."
"......"
Marin couldn't say anything and gave an awkward smile. She was surprised by her own physical strength, so how surprised must he have been?
Daily physical activity and exercise were different, and exercise and swordsmanship seemed to be another matter.
"So, I've changed the plan starting today. We'll increase the number of laps around this training ground by one each day, starting with one lap today, two laps the next day, and three laps the day after that."
"Will that increase my physical strength?"
"It will. Trust me."
Sebas the butler smiled and exuded the aura of a veteran.
"Yes!"
Marin looked at Sebas the butler with sparkling, admiring eyes.
"Today, do one lap and swing this new sword from top to bottom 100 times."
"Yes. But can I ask you something?"
Marin brought up a question she had been wondering about since she started sword lessons.
"Yes."
"Why aren't you teaching me dagger techniques? Daggers are easy to hide, and they're not as heavy as longswords, so I thought they would be easier for me to learn."
Sebas the butler smiled and took a big step towards her.
As the tall Sebas the butler stood within easy reach, she felt overwhelmed.
"This is the distance for daggers. You have to stand close to wield a dagger. A longsword is twice that distance. Naturally, the mental space is different."
As Sebas the butler stepped back, her vision cleared, and she could see her surroundings better.
"Wow! You're right."
Experiencing it firsthand made her realize it more clearly.
"Someone like Duke Zero doesn't care about distance, but even ordinary knights consider distance important. It's even more essential for someone who isn't familiar with swords."
"Yes."
Marin answered obediently like a good student.
"Just because I'm teaching you swordsmanship doesn't mean you'll be able to wield a sword like real knights. But if you can buy time when you encounter an enemy, which shouldn't happen, it would be very useful when the Duke's Castle knights rush to help you."
"Yes."
Marin nodded her head vigorously and fell into thought.
Buy time. She had a very important goal.
Of course, if she left the Duke's family, the Duke's Castle knights would not come to help her.
She had to solve it on her own.
If she met a robber, buying time to escape from the robber.
That alone would be a great achievement.
"Shall we start then?"
"Yes!"
\ \ \
Marin, holding the switch-like wooden sword with both hands, took a stance and swung it up and down accurately.
Her face, clenching her pink lips and practicing, was covered in sweat.
Where did she get the shabby navy dress that maids would wear?
Although her clothes looked worn out from the dirt and sweat, she looked radiant as she worked hard.
She followed the previous training well without saying a word about being tired, so he didn't notice until she was bedridden the next day.
Still, this time, the sword was as light as a feather by his standards, so it seemed like it would be better than last time. However, he was worried that she might be enduring it again out of stubbornness.
"Marin, shall we take a break?"
"There are still thirty more swings left."
Marin only turned her head, still holding the sword.
"Are you really okay? It's better to be a little tired than to overdo it and be bedridden like last time."
"Um... Then I'll do ten more. I think I can do it."
"Alright."
"Butler! Butler!"
At that moment, a young knight came running towards him from afar.
"What's wrong?"
"D, Duke Zero will be arriving soon."
"What?"
Sebas the butler asked back in surprise.
Marin also stopped swinging her sword and stood still.
The Duke is already coming? What about the funeral? What about the aftermath?
How did he arrive so early from that far away?
Did he leave as soon as he arrived in the South?
Marin listened to their conversation, thinking of many questions.
"He's crossing the bridge now..."
Sebas the butler interrupted the young knight.
"I'll go see. Ah, Marin."
He turned his body and looked back at her.
"Go ahead and go. I'll follow you."
"Yes."
Sebas the butler started running with the young knight. The butler was clearly an old man with white hair, but he was faster than the young knight running with him.
The two disappeared in an instant.
Marin left the wooden sword that the butler had given her in the bushes behind the training ground and ran. Before Duke Zero arrived, all the servants had to go out and greet him together.
"Huff. Huff. Huff. I'm going to die."
She must have run out of energy from running around the clearing and swinging the sword. Her legs wouldn't move as she wanted, as if they had weights attached to them.
Her mind was far away, but in reality, she was as slow as a turtle.
A maid walking next to her with quick steps glanced at her and went ahead.
At that sight, Marin accepted reality and trudged along.
When she finally reached the front gate of the Duke's Castle, the Duke's carriage had already arrived.
