The Cowardly Young Lady and the Escort Knight

Chapter 13: First Day Getting to Know Each Other (6)

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

In the room where the sound of the pendulum clock seemed unusually loud, Patrick stood facing the entrance, fidgeting with one hand.

‘What should I do.’

He inherently preferred listening rather than speaking.

He was somewhat confident when it came to discerning right and wrong, but he had absolutely no talent for initiating topics to get closer to someone, unlike Jenny.

Even in the barracks, he had only spoken when someone addressed him first, so he hadn't had many people close enough to converse with.

How could such a person possibly initiate conversation with a woman, let alone a girl younger than him?

Just as Patrick began to grow restless in the seemingly increasingly awkward atmosphere,

“Um……”

Cecilia, who was sitting on the sofa, cautiously spoke up.

“Th-… I’m sorry…….”

“Yes? Why do you say that?”

“I heard from the Tutor…. That I slapped your cheek and stepped on your foot…. I’m sorry. It wasn’t, on purpose…….”

“………”

Just as expected, it seemed the Tutor had told her everything.

Patrick sighed deeply inwardly, then answered, relaxing his voice as much as possible.

“It’s alright. It’s all in the past, so please don’t dwell on it. I don’t mind at all.”

“Still… your foot, it was hurt badly, wasn’t it…? Enough to need treatment…. It must still hurt……”

“Not at all, Lady Cecilia. Thanks to the Mage’s excellent skill, it’s perfectly fine now.”

“……It actually hurts, doesn’t it? You’re saying it doesn’t hurt even though it does, right?”

Cecilia hugged a cushion from the sofa and continued as if murmuring.

“The Tutor said so…. That subordinates sometimes lie to look good to their superiors. Jenny and the Knight serve me, right? So you’d lie even more, wouldn't you? To not cause worry. To not offend.”

“………”

It seemed the Tutor had really filled her head with various things in that short time.

Though they were necessary words, there surely was no need to tell her right now.

Patrick swallowed the sigh that threatened to escape and began to speak.

“That is certainly not the case. The pain vanished the moment the Mage applied medicine to my foot, so it really is fine. Besides, I am inherently poor at lying.”

“……You seemed good at it. When I asked why your foot was hurt earlier, you just said it was a mistake.”

“Yes, an undeniable mistake. Committed by you, Lady Cecilia.”

“………”

Cecilia stuck out her lips slightly.

Somehow, her cheeks seemed slightly puffed out too.

Seeing her pout like a six-year-old child, Patrick felt the corners of his mouth loosening somehow.

“As you just saw, I am not good at making empty remarks either. There might be times I conceal the truth so as not to worry you, Lady Cecilia. However, I will at least never tell you falsehoods.”

“……I see.”

“Also, I am not a knight.”

Hearing this, Cecilia turned to him and tilted her head.

“You’re not? Escort Knight…… The word ‘knight’ is in there, isn’t it?”

“I haven’t received ordination, so it’s only ‘knight’ in name. Aside from being solely assigned to you, Lady Cecilia, until dismissed, I am the same as a regular guard.”

Therefore, people of high status like the Dressmaker, or those envious of fellow soldiers who suddenly rose in rank, refer to Escort Knights simply as ‘Escorts’.

It was likely mockery, pointing out that they weren't knights yet had ‘Knight’ in their job title.

‘Or perhaps they were simply shortening it.’

In any case, what was required of them was escorting, not the role of a knight.

So, there was probably no need to think of it negatively.

“So… you’ll protect only me…? You won’t go off to protect someone else……”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Then… you are a knight after all. Someone who always takes my side, protects me by my side…… ……My very own knight.”

Cecilia murmured, pressing her face close to the cushion.

Her voice seemed tinged with a little happiness, shyly.

Seeing this, Patrick felt a strange tickling sensation inside.

Still, feeling he should say something, he unconsciously touched his neck and replied in a slightly husky voice.

“……I just finished explaining that an Escort Knight is not a knight, though.”

“But you seemed like a knight. You kissed the back of my hand at first, too.”

“For which I received a slap to the cheek, however.”

Not only did it strike the exact center of the cheek, but the sharp ‘slap’ sound had resonated clearly enough to reach the end of the front yard.

Surely, even if one searched the entire kingdom, a more ideal ‘cheek slap’ could not be found.

That attack, which made me wonder if she could actually see, had been fierce enough to temporarily incapacitate me!

“I suspect it will remain in my memory for quite some time.”

“W-was it that painful?”

“It was more that my spirit was considerably shaken, rather than the pain.”

Compared to the physical pain he had to endure during combat training, it was child’s play.

However, the psychological burden of being slapped on the cheek, and by a woman no less, was truly significant.

Being hit just for offering a greeting was baffling and absurd.

The fact that it happened in front of many people was extremely embarrassing.

Above all, he felt incredibly wronged and sorrowful.

The sensation of his energy draining away in real-time as the thought ‘Why do I have to endure this?’ occupied his mind was something he likely wouldn’t forget even after a month.

Patrick spoke, looking at the entrance door with eyes that seemed to gaze somewhere far away.

“A lady’s cheek slap…… Truly an incomparably powerful blow.”

“I-I’m sorry! It wasn’t on purpose!”

“As I’ve already said, there’s no need for you to worry about it at all. I am fine.”

“But you just said it will likely remain in your memory for a while! That means you’re not fine at all!”

“Not at all, Lady Cecilia. I am truly fine.”

He turned his gaze back again and continued seriously, looking at Cecilia who was fidgeting, tightly gripping both edges of the cushion.

“It was simply the first time in my life experiencing such a thing, and I felt an unexpected mental burden. It’s merely comparable to tripping and falling while walking down a crowded corridor. The memory is vivid due to the shock, not because of any other lingering feelings. So please pay it no mind.”

“You mean I shouldn’t worry about it…? But it’s strange…. I worry about it more and more……”

“I believe it is because your nature is gentle, Lady Cecilia.”

Patrick genuinely thought that she kept worrying about it because she was kind.

And right after, he spoke to Cecilia, who was frowning as if filled with suspicion.

“However, I did want to ask. Why you slapped me.”

“See, you are holding it inside, aren't you?!”

“I swear I am not. I am asking out of pure curiosity. You were with the Head Maid, so you must have received some prior notice. Yet, the reason for your surprise…… I was curious about the reason.”

“……”

Cecilia slightly pouted, her face full of suspicion.

However, she soon relaxed her expression and answered, murmuring as she hugged the cushion tightly again.

“……I think I heard something or other, but it didn’t really register in my head. I was suddenly grabbed and moved while sleeping, then there was shaking and clip-clopping sounds… I screamed because I was scared, so they gave me something like water to drink… then I suddenly felt sleepy… and when I woke up next, I was told we had arrived at the castle……”

Because of this, she thought she had been kidnapped and sold to the castle, and was consequently so terrified that she couldn’t understand a single word the Head Maid told her.

Confused about why she was receiving a ‘welcome’ greeting, something rough suddenly enveloped her hand, and then a slightly soft, lukewarm sensation touched the back of her hand.

“So… I thought something strange had bitten me… I suddenly felt chills and got incredibly scared, so that’s why I did it…. I’m sorry……”

“I repeat again, it is really alright, so you don’t need to apologize anymore. Hmm…… It seems your arrival was even more abrupt than I thought.”

What she drank midway must surely have been a sleeping draught.

Perhaps honey or something else was mixed in, doubling as a nutritional supplement.

Thanks to that, she, who had apparently only had simple meals recently and had starved all day yesterday, was likely able to deliver such a powerful blow.

“After that, they dragged me away, stripped my clothes, poured water on me, rubbed me with something, put something over me, tightened my waist, and my feet hurt tightly…. The Tutor and the Knight argued…. The Knight’s voice was stiff…. I was scared……”

“……Is it stiff, indeed?”

“Yes.”

“………”

An answer without a hint of hesitation.

Patrick somehow felt as though a thorn had lodged itself in his heart with a soft ‘thud’.

“But after eating… I wasn’t scared.”

Cecilia continued, fiddling with her hands while hugging the cushion.

Hearing her say she wasn’t scared, Patrick felt as if the thorn lodged in his heart slid out smoothly.

“I felt like crying when she said I had to be alone with the Tutor… but thanks to the Knight, I was able to say no. Just like the Tutor said, I also realized the Knight is on my side.”

“The Tutor said such a thing?”

“Yes. She said Jenny and the Knight are my people.”

They might lie sometimes to curry favor, but fundamentally they would act, think, and speak for Cecilia’s sake.

Therefore, whether she wanted to throw a tantrum or vent her frustration, she should treat them as she pleased.

After relaying what the Tutor had said, Cecilia smiled shyly.

“And you also caught me when I was about to fall again. Hehe, thank you, Knight.”

“I was merely doing my duty. Also…… um, I apologize, but I would appreciate it if you used a different title besides ‘Knight’. Since I am not a knight, hearing it is a bit……”

“But I like ‘Knight’……”

Her shoulders slumped dejectedly for a moment, then Cecilia rested her chin on the cushion and slowly swayed side to side.

“Then by name… hmm… Pa… what was it…? Pa… Pa… Perry! It’s Perry, right?”

“It’s Patrick.”

“Ugh. Sorry…. Hmm… Calling you Patrick-oppa…… that wouldn’t be right either, would it? Jenny also said I shouldn’t call her Unnie.”

“Yes. It is not appropriate to address non-family members in such a way.”

“……Okay.”

Cecilia’s shoulders slumped again as she nodded.

It seemed she was quite disappointed that she couldn't call him or Jenny ‘Oppa’ and ‘Unnie’ respectively.

‘Why?’

Patrick tilted his head.

“Is there a particular reason you wish to call us that?”

“Just, since you’re both older than me… if I call you that… somehow it feels like we might become closer……”

Cecilia spoke, fiddling with her hands.

Patrick watched her silently for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“……I am not certain, but a nickname might be acceptable.”

“A nickname……?”

“Yes. My peers and seniors in the barracks called me ‘Pat’. If you are amenable, you may call me that.”

At that, Cecilia slowly lifted her head and looked back at him.

“Is that alright……?”

“It is fine with me. The Tutor might feel differently, however.”

“It’s okay! Even if the Tutor says no, I’ll insist on doing it! Hehet!”

Clearly overjoyed at being allowed to use a nickname, Cecilia hugged the cushion tightly and beamed.

After a moment of that, she soon lowered her head slightly as if embarrassed and continued.

“Um, Pat. You know, at home, I was called Sil. I guess it was the ‘Sil’ from Cecilia.”

“You didn’t know?”

“No. I didn’t know. Not my real name, nor that I was a noble……. So being called Cecilia feels unfamiliar. So……”

Fiddling with her fingers again, Cecilia hesitantly began to speak.

“Um… could you perhaps call me ‘Sil’……?”

Cecilia stared intently at the cushion, her mouth moving slightly.

It was obvious she had brought it up with difficulty and hoped he would grant her request.

However, Patrick blinked at her,

“You may not.”

cutting her off decisively!

“……I may not?”

“You may not.”

“………Not even if I beg while crying?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Hing.”

Cecilia’s shoulders slumped once more.