Raffilia's rival.

Raffilia was in high spirits as she headed toward the training grounds.

She’d been looking forward to playing with Elen again—after such a long time—so her motivation for training was sky-high.

Checking the condition of her favorite training spear, now strapped on with her armor, she heard an unpleasant voice from the side.

Raffilia frowned—her mood, just moments ago so cheerful, ruined.

“Gross, wait—today’s training partner’s supposed to be Raffilia?!”

“……Karl.”

The young man was making a scene, the knight cadet from the academy who’d always given Raffilia trouble.

He’d graduated a year ago and was now a knight trainee. They occasionally ran into each other at the training grounds back on his estate.

They’d met again a year ago—on the very first day Raffilia had gotten permission from her father to use this training ground.

The newly graduated knight trainees, including Karl, had been stunned to see her.

She probably never saw it coming—Raffilia, the noble lady of the duchy, aiming to become a female knight, even if she did drop out of the academy mid-way.

Raffilia secretly finds Karl’s blunt, no-holds-barred attitude a little endearing—like he’s already made up his mind, and doesn’t care who sees it.

A year ago, Raffilia was already skilled enough to fight multiple active female knights one-on-one.

That fact made Karl and the others scream in disbelief—what can you do, really?

Sauvel’s subordinates have long since tossed aside their old assumptions, fallen head over heels for Raffilia’s talent, and now steal glances at Sauvel while giving her top-tier training.

Which means the pool of people who can even *handle* her in combat is shrinking fast—still, she makes time to train with new recruits now and then, treating them all the same.

“Fufu, feeling chipper today. Fighting Karl? Perfect.”

Raffilia twirled the spear in one hand with a grin, and Karl’s face slowly turned paler and paler.

There’s a rumor about how descendants of the Vanklyft Family fight.

They all fight like maniacs—laughing through it all.

No choice now but to brace yourself.

Not just Karl, but everyone around him turned ashen as the training began.

***

The morning meeting ended, and Elen and the others were in the dining hall for lunch when Raffilia burst in, breathless.

“Raffilia!”

She got scolded by Sauvel for being noisy, but clearly she’d rushed in after a long training session.

Elen and Lovell barely ate anyway, so mealtime was short.

“Made it just in time!”

Sitting down on the chair, she couldn’t help but notice her hair still felt damp.

Elen walked over to Raffilia and used magic to gently dry her hair.

“Can’t leave it half-wet, you’ll catch a cold.”

“Hehe… sorry. Thanks, Elen.”

They both smiled warmly at each other, and Sauvel and Lovell, watching from nearby, just shook their heads with a wry smile, like, *what can you do?*

Hume and Liliana weren’t at the lunch table. They were working at the clinic, so they’d picked up a lunch basket from the manor and were eating there instead.

Hume and Liliana had been staying with the Vanklyft Family ever since.

Though Isabella occasionally meddled, after a few twists and turns, Sauvel and Liliana were slowly, carefully, finding their way toward each other.

They’d both had their share of past baggage—no instant marriage, not even close.

Sauvel had gradually moved from treating Raffilia as a confidante to simply a friend—though Liliana hadn’t had any such feelings to begin with, apparently.

Sauvel’s cautious, meticulous approach sometimes made Isabella snap, irritated and frustrated.

Even the servants found it all rather endearing.

Raffilia, who’d been emotionally unstable for a while, had settled down over the past two years. At first she’d been flustered, but now she watched the new man in her father’s life with a wry smile.

And occasionally, she even helped prepare meals with Liliana—seeming to be building something real.

While eating lunch, Elen remembered the conversation she’d had that morning.

A shadow, threatening to ruin this gentle atmosphere, was making her quietly furious.

Two years ago, the person had hated this household—and taken revenge on Raffilia.

Can’t tell if the target’s Lovell or Elen—doesn’t matter, though. As long as we’re part of this household, something’s bound to come knocking, one way or another.

(Annoying how I’m playing right into Black Heart’s little scheme…)

Elen and Lovell seemed to be thinking the same thing, so without even needing to talk it through, they both decided to go see the King.

＊＊＊

After finishing their meal, Raffilia took Elen’s hand and headed toward the garden.

But Lovell stopped them first.

“Elen, you forgot something.”

“Huh?”

Elen tilted her head, puzzled—just going to the garden, after all—when Kai stepped out from behind Lovell, sighing.

“Lady Elen, if you please.”

He extended his hand.

Elen already had one hand held by Raffilia, so she placed her other hand in Kai’s.

He grinned, then squeezed her hand tightly.

Elen glanced at Raffilia, nervous.

As expected, Raffilia was scowling.

"Uncle, it’s just playing in the garden—I’ll be fine."

Raffilia insisted she didn’t need guards, but Lovell just smiled sweetly.

"Then will you play with Kai too?"

"Count me in."

They both grinned, and that was that—no room for argument.

Raffilia knew it was pointless, sighed, and gave in with a quiet, *Oh well, what can you do?*

It all started about half a year ago.

When Elen and Raffilia went to town for fun, Kai and Van were on guard duty—though back then, they weren’t holding hands.

Lost in conversation, Elen didn’t even notice until she was already swept up.

One second I was blinking, the next I was in the arms of some guy sprinting away with me.

Elen’s light as a spirit. Kai and the others, lagging a beat behind, scrambled after him in panic.

I was stunned—then snapped to it, noticing Van’s enraged, beast-like snarl right in front of me. I panicked and teleported away.

Once Van and Kai realized I’d escaped, they didn’t hold back. They nearly killed the guy.

We got off easy that time—but ever since, Raffilia and Kai have been impossible to calm unless they’re holding Elen’s hand.

Lately, they’ve even started arguing over who’s closer to her.

I just don’t know what to do about it. I was making a face like I’d swallowed a sour plum.

“Come on, Elen!”

“Uh… yeah.”

Walking between Raffilia and Kai was nice, but Elen kept stumbling forward because her compass was off.

Having both hands held by taller people made her feel like some old-fashioned alien abduction scene—awkward, to say the least.

Noticing Elen’s hurried pace, the two slowed down their steps.

Even with all their complaining, they were kind. I’d really like everyone to get along, I thought, as we headed toward the garden.

＊＊＊

They spread a cloth on the grass and sat down, Elen and Raffilia, chatting away like flowers blooming.

Elen couldn’t stop wondering about this “Carl” character Raffilia kept mentioning.

From the way Raffilia talked, he sounded like a rival—yet the way she spoke about him, she seemed genuinely happy.

But Kai’s there too. Elen was caught between a rock and a hard place—couldn’t ask him anything directly in front of Kai—when suddenly, the conversation had pivoted back to what they’d just been discussing.

"Why does a guard even show up in the garden? I just want to talk to Elen…."

Raffilia still held a grudge.

Now that Raffilia herself could fight, it made sense she’d be annoyed about things like this.

"Even if you’re talented, my physical strength’s better. I’m not giving up Elen-sama’s guard position—not ever."

Kai said it flatly.

Elen tilted her head. "Guard position?" When had Raffilia ever said she wanted to be Elen’s guard? She was trying to figure it out.

Maybe it was just implied by those words earlier—“no need to go to the garden”—like she was telling Kai that she wasn’t necessary because Elen was already there.

"No, it’s not that! It’s just… I don’t like men listening in on girl-to-girl talks!"

"Then why not just come inside instead of staying outside?"

"Because if I’m in the room, I’ll just get caught by Grandma again..."

Right, now it’s going to be a battle between Isabella and Elen over me. Raffilia seemed really determined to claim Elen all to herself.

Elen realized this and nearly burst into tears of joy. "Raffilia!" she blurted out, lunging forward without thinking, and Raffilia blinked in surprise—then immediately grinned like a cat that just found a can of cream.

"I’ll ask Uncle next time to let me stay overnight. Then we can talk all day long, right?"

"Really!? Yay!"

They giggled together, shoulder to shoulder, when suddenly—“Let me join too!”—Van appeared, still half-beast, still grinning.

"Mmmf~!"

Elen flinched and instinctively jumped at Van, who just smirked wider.

"Princess-sama is my favorite!!"

He was wagging his tail like he was saying, “What do you think?”—slamming it down onto the ground. Apparently, he’d been listening in on the whole conversation from the shadows. Van was clearly asserting he was number one.

Elen didn’t notice any of it, already clinging to Van and rubbing her cheek against his fur. Ever since childhood, she’d loved Van’s coat, and Raffilia and Kai always ended up with sour faces knowing they’d never win that battle.

Yet Raffilia and Kai exchanged a glance—and grinned.

“W-what are you doing!?”

Suddenly, Raffilia and Kai started petting Van too.

Their faces lit up with mischief. Van paled.

“Don’t think you can monopolize Elen all the time.”

Raffilia grinned, teasing Van’s neck—Van groaned in protest, “Gnurgh…!”

“W-why are you… touching my weak spot…!?”

His throat rumbled involuntarily.

"Miss Elen, please let us join in too."

Yeah, sure!

I ended up saying it without thinking. Van immediately shouted in panic.

"H-hiya-sama... p-please stop them...!"

Van’s quite the charmer, huh~!

Van went pale at Elen’s completely off-the-mark reply.

Come on, come on! Prepare yourself!!

"Right, you're thinking it through, huh?"

"GYAAAAA!!"

"Fluffy!"

One person seemed utterly unaware of the situation, yet she still played along with everyone else, laughing and having fun.