“But has Sophia been doing nothing these days?”
Elin’s question popped up during tea time.
Well, she wasn’t exactly doing much. Just yesterday, she walked around the castle and went back to her room to sleep.
Of course, since Kyle will return in two days, I can’t just stay like this forever.
“Yeah.”
“Hmm… Well, I guess you don’t have much to do. Is your schedule empty today as well?”
“Yep.”
My schedule is empty today too. It’s been empty ever since Kyle left. I was practically doing the same thing all day.
Oh, sometimes I considered turning in my resignation and thought about what to gift Mom when I returned home. Dad would be fine with just some magical herb.
But there’s no way they would have moved without telling me, right? If they did, I would be really disappointed. Even if we don’t keep in touch much, they wouldn’t hide moving from me.
“How about we exercise together today?”
“Exercise?”
“Yeah.”
I really should, but honestly, I didn’t want to. Exercise is hard.
“You said you would exercise last time. You have nothing to do, so let’s work out together! I’ll help you a lot.”
“….”
Elin said this with such a bright smile. She could easily pass for a pure-hearted heroine from an anime at first glance.
Of course, to me, she was just a friend.
“Anyway, you don’t have anything else to do today. Let’s just work out, okay?”
“Ugh….”
I didn’t want to, but Elin’s expression was so cheerful that I couldn’t refuse. So eventually….
“…Hey.”
“…Sorry.”
“Okay, let’s start with a lap around the training area, shall we?”
“….”
“You really did me dirty.”
We made our way to the training grounds, dressed in clothes that could absorb sweat. We even dragged Louise along.
“Louise, we share food, right?”
“Gee….”
Even if Louise disliked it, it was too late. As soon as I didn’t reject Elin’s invitation, she got all excited and pulled us along.
“Alright! Let’s go!”
Thus, the workout began. Following Elin’s suggestion, we started with a lap around the indoor training area.
What kind of people are knights to exercise in this hot indoor place?
Wouldn’t it be better to exercise outside where it’s cold?
“Ha… ha… ha….”
“Ha… ha… ha….”
“….”
Louise and I were breathlessly running. And beside us, Elin was effortlessly jogging.
“…”
She was completely silent and running with perfect form.
To us, Elin felt like a little sister. She was younger than us and often had a bright demeanor, probably because of her age.
Her actual personality was very cheerful too. So maybe we were underestimating her as a knight.
“Ha… ha….”
“Sophia… you’re really going to make me regret this… ha….”
The “let’s run one lap” had somehow turned into five laps.
Even though it was called an indoor training ground, it wasn’t small by any means.
“Ha… ha… Elin, can we take a break for just a bit…?”
“Already?”
Elin, who hadn’t even broken a sweat after running five laps, seemed perplexed.
Her breathing was as calm as if she were sipping tea at tea time.
“Ha… ha… Five minutes… or no, three minutes would be enough….”
“Uh….”
Maybe our stamina was way below what we thought. Elin wore an incredulous expression.
Yeah, I got it. I didn’t realize I was this weak.
Wait? Isn’t this actually a pretty decent showing? I hadn’t exercised properly in years, and here I was, managing five laps!
“Then how about we take a five-minute break?”
“Ha!! Finally!”
Louise said this and collapsed on the floor, and I sat down right beside her, utterly worn out.
“Are you… feeling okay…?”
“…”
Elin’s question was genuinely innocent. She was just curious if we were really tired.
She just wanted to know if we were this exhausted.
Both Louise and I couldn’t easily respond.
After all, we had been acting like older sisters to Elin all along.
Though there wasn’t much of an age gap, we had a bit of pride in being older sisters.
We often told Elin that since she was still young, she should date early. After all, it would be fine to wait until later.
“Uh… no?!”
“It’s all good?!”
So, we forced ourselves to say we were okay.
And that choice turned out to be completely wrong.
*
“Ha….”
“Ugh… save me… Sophia….”
An hour later, we were collapsed on the floor, completely exhausted.
It wasn’t just running; she brought some weird exercise equipment and kept making us use it. Even when we complained, she just pushed us on.
As a result, we were unable to move.
“Uh… you both kept up so well that I might have overdone it a bit.”
“Ha… eek….”
“Save me….”
After Elin’s remark, we couldn’t even respond properly.
We could only lay there, staring at the ceiling, lamenting our fate.
That was all we could do.
Anyway, that was how Day One with Elin’s workout ended.
If I had known it would be like this, I would have worked out earlier when Kyle suggested it.
If I had done that, I wouldn’t be struggling to this extent now, right?
Yeah, I thought so.
Elin helped both of us into the bathhouse to relieve our stress.
And I returned to my room.
“Wow… I really feel like I’m about to die….”
This was nothing compared to when I exercised a little with Kyle before.
How hard do knights train, anyway?
And how fit must Kyle be to handle Elin’s lessons?
That was truly impressive.
Even when I worked as an adventurer, I don’t think I ever trained this hard.
It’s crazy to think someone can work out for an hour without breaking a sweat.
“Ha….”
After a vigorous workout, a refreshing shower, and lying on my bed, I felt great.
By the way, was I too focused on today’s workout? I didn’t feel the usual nagging discomfort I’d felt all the last few days since Kyle left.
I didn’t know why, but I had been feeling uneasy and uncomfortable.
The feeling was so familiar, it seemed like my normal everyday life had turned into a kind of surreal experience.
But today, I didn’t even have time to feel that way.
Maybe it was a better day than the last few days.
I thought, why not just work out every day until I get used to not feeling that way? But then I dismissed that idea.
After all, that would be a horrible idea and would likely result in me being utterly worn out.
“Let’s just sleep.”
Kyle would be back tomorrow.
I should just prepare for him to return after the succession ceremony.
That’s what I was in charge of.
“I need to make sure to prepare his favorite food.”
I couldn’t imagine he had decent meals up in the snow.
I’ve had experiences eating wild in the wilderness as an adventurer.
He probably only ate terrible meat during his journey.
The best food he could have eaten would probably just be berries.
“Alright, I’ll start with a warm soup…. A meat stew with some spices, and what else would he like?”
Since steak was always prepared, I didn’t really need to order anything special.
Preparing Kyle’s favorite food along with a drink to celebrate his success should be enough.
Also, I would gather people to celebrate his return.
I didn’t plan to go all out like during the coming-of-age ceremony.
Just a small party with close friends.
“Adela, Louise, Elin, and me.”
I didn’t know about the Duke.
I would’ve had to talk to him to know that.
Anyway, so the four of us decided to throw a party for Kyle.
I’m sure he will appreciate it.
With that plan in mind, I snuggled under the blankets and fell asleep.
*
“Where should I take Sophia on our date?”
I was pondering where to go on a date with Sophia in the fierce wind blowing in the snowy mountains.
I clearly remembered promising Sophia that we’d go on a date when he returned.
I definitely wanted to avoid those risky places like last time.
If we went to a dangerous location again, and something happened…
“Let’s not think about it.”
As long as I don’t take her there, it will be fine.
I needed to think of a place where we could have fun together.
Both indoors and outdoors, safe yet enjoyable for Sophia.
“How about the river…? No, that’s too dangerous too.”
If she fell into the river, it would be really dangerous.
The river was riskier than the mountain.
It had to be somewhere completely safe, without any chance of injury.
“Ugh….”
But that made finding a spot even harder.
Where can I find a place with a good atmosphere, beautiful scenery, and safety that would be suitable for a date?
I knew of some nice places, but they were in the snowy mountains, by the river, or on the snowy plains.
I couldn’t bring someone who had already gotten hurt on a mountain back to one again.
Of course, I was the one who took her there…
And the river…?
If she fell in, it could be life-threatening, worse than any mountain accident.
“Ugh….”
The only remaining option with a good view was the snowy plains.
“…?”
While staring at the night sky, a thought suddenly popped up.
Did we really have to enjoy the scenery during the day?
I was born and raised in the North.
Although the timing isn’t great, something beautiful appears in the nighttime sky.
“The Aurora….”
Ah, I could actually see the aurora from the castle.
How did I forget about this?
Was I so focused on Sophia that I overlooked common sense?
“Ugh.”
Seriously, is there only one brain cell in my head?
I felt like my mind was getting slower by the day.
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