“I’ll just make up a random background and get back to you later. I don’t expect any of the candidates to be from the favelas this time, but just make sure you have some background knowledge in case things get personal. Can we pretend that you know how to use the sword? You beat up all my men, so it’s impractical to hide that you’re experienced.”

“Yeah, I got used to it…”

“Uh-huh, you think? That’s helpful.”

Theodore’s chest heaved as he took out a document from the drawer.

As expected of him, he only sent her maidservant, Elise, to spy on Rishe.

“I’m warning you, don’t let Brother find out until it’s over. Else it won’t be fun. You won’t see Brother in the training grounds used by the cadets, but you still have to be careful. I’ll make arrangements, so Sister-in-law can go now.”

“Okay! Thank you, Your Highness Theodore.”

She bowed to Theodore and was about to leave the room.

“…Ah, there’s one thing I forgot to mention.”

When she turned around, Theodore, who was searching for his papers, said without looking up.

“From now on, I’ll be leading the charge on policies to help the favelas… It’s something that Brother has been working on behind the scenes.”

Rishe’s eyes rounded in astonishment.

“Does that mean the two of you will be working together in your official duties?”

“…!”

This has been inconceivable for the two of them not long ago.

At any rate, Arnold kept his brother at a distance, and Theodore, for his brother’s sake, made it a rule not to perform any official duties overtly.

She was naturally delighted that the two brothers became involved through public service.

“That’s all I wanted to tell you. Bye.”

On closer inspection, Theodore’s office was neat and tidy. According to the rumors among the maidservants, it had been covered in dust until now.

“And don’t get injured in training. You are Brother’s fiancée.”

“…Sure. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness.”

Rishe smiled and bowed. Then she left the room, and continued…

—To this day.

“Hah…”

After training, Rishe sat in an empty drinking water fountain.

Earlier, there were a lot of cadets, but they all regained their energy after the break and went back to change their clothes.

In the midst of all this, only Rishe, who had been trained as ‘Lucius’, was still stuck.

This is the basic training of Garkhain…

The first training session was running. The kind of running that Rishe knew of was completing a set distance in as little or as fast a time as possible.

But the training that they did was different from that.

They were ordered to continue running for an hour and a half regardless of the distance.

It was limited to running only a little faster than walking, and no faster than that.

At first she thought the training was fairly easy, but it was very painful.

Not only Riese, but the other trainees around her seemed to be in the same boat. However, being real men, they did it better than Rishe.

The same was true for the upper body strength training they did afterwards.

They repeated the step-by-step content that they found painful, with a break every few minutes. The first few times were fine, but she gradually became fatigued and felt a dull, heavy sensation all over her upper body.

After that, she ran again and did another strength training session, ending today’s training.

When they were done, they were told to take a light meal and given a sandwich with chicken stuffing.

It wasn’t much of a meal, but they were told that their bodies wouldn’t be built without it, so they managed to tuck it in.

Cadets were only trained in the morning every day.

If she didn’t return to her room soon, the maidservants and knights whom she ordered not to wake her up since she’d sleep in until noon, would get suspicious.

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked out… No, it’s a first for this body. It’s supposed to be gentler than the beginner’s training of a knight, but I’m feeling the load firmly, as painful as it sounds…She felt a dull ache to her arm. If not, muscle pain probably has already set in.

Rishe exhaled, imagining the pain that was about to hit her.

But somehow, my body feels warm.

She was meditating and enjoying the comfort of the wind against her cheeks when a presence approached her from behind.

“Hey, Lucius! Haven’t you changed yet?”

“Oh.”

She turned around and saw a young man standing there with a pleasant smile on his face.

He has short, cut chestnut hair and almond eyes. He looked about 17 years old, and was a trainee just like Rishe.

He’s the one who cared enough to run with me earlier when I almost fell behind during the run.

Rishe smiled and thanked the young man again.

“Thank you for your help earlier. I believe you’re Fritz-san, right?”

“Haha! We’re all fellow trainees, so that was the least I could do, right? And please don’t call me Fritz-‘san’. I don’t need to call me -san or talk to me in such a polite way.”

“Then, Fritz, thanks again for your help earlier.”

“Hmm! I won’t be polite either, so pardon me, would you?”

Smiling contentedly, Fritz sat down next to Rishe.

“I was going back to the inn, but I was wondering about you. I don’t think you’re dressed yet, can you move?

“I’d like to say I’m fine, but I think I’d like to rest here a bit longer.”

The language she had used in her knightly life came out more easily than she thought.

It’s been a long time since she’s spoken, but it was probably because Fritz was so easy to talk to.