Chapter 61 (1/2)

“Don’t you answer me? Are you balking at your senior’s instruction now? ”

“…Got it.”

“Good. Practice it one hundred times. ”

Although he must be very busy with preparing for his knighthood next month, Carsein was burning with the desire to make me a regular-status knight as soon as possible. I had no idea how he found out my schedule. Whenever he could find free time, he suddenly appeared and pulled me to the training field for intense practice, so I couldn’t think of taking any break.

Thanks to his one-on-one coaching, I made tangible progress in my skills. But I really had a hard time because of his rigorous training for the past week.

After swinging my sword one hundred times and catching my breath, he patted my shoulder as I did a good job. I glanced at him like that. I’d appreciate his help normally, but as I was exhausted right now, I felt upset about him.

“Hey, why are you staring at me like that? Are you going to get in trouble? ”

“Huh!”

“Huh?” He quickly approached me and put his fist on my forehead lightly.

“Ouch! Why are you bothering me, Carsein? ”

“How can you say ‘Huh’ without appreciating my coaching? I think you need to swing your sword another one hundred times.”

Although I was upset about him, it was true that his rigorous training paid off well.

So, I stopped staring at him and took the sword again with a sigh. I needed to do my utmost to get out of my determined fate during this short period of grace.

After barely finishing my training sessions, I returned to my room and took a shower. I logged in the timesheet and headed to the wagon checkroom with Carsein when I saw a man with light green hair walking from a distance. Dressed in a civilian uniform showing the pattern of the Ministry of the Interior, Allendis greeted me with a smile.

“Hi, Aristia. Hello, Carsein! ”

“Hi, Allendis. I heard you got a job at the government. Congratulations! ”

Only a month after my seventeenth birthday, Allendis was appointed as a ranking official in the Ministry of the Interior, even though he was still a minor. Like Carsein, he was the youngest senior official in the history of the empire. Their factions were delighted with the amazing achievements of the two promising talents, and there were rumors that some noble families were trying to curry favor with them.

“Well, I heard about some news about you. Well, congratulations anyway. ”

“Thank you, Carsein. Oh, let me give you this.”

With a smile Allendis pulled out light green envelopes and handed it to Carsein and me respectively.

“What is this, Allendis?”

“Oh, my mother is having a garden party in three days. Just think of it as an afternoon tea time. ”

“Garden party? In this season? ”

“Yes, I guess invitations were sent out to some prominent families. I came here to give you the invitation personally.”

“Got it. Thank you.”

Carsein, staring at the invitation, asked with a puzzled look, “I can understand you giving it to her. But why me? Any reason?”

“You will know when you come to the tea party.”

Carsein frowned, but nodded as if he appreciated his invitation.

I smiled at Allendis, who was begging me to attend, then went out of the palace with Carsein and headed to my house.

Three days later, I headed to Duke Verita’s mansion in time for the tea party. As I got permission from my father, I had no problem attending it.