Chapter 232
Before he knew it, Vivian had taken out a palm-sized notebook, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.
“There’s not much to it. The floor, ceiling, and all the walls have protective magic circles installed to absorb impact…”
Dantère dug through his memories, explaining carefully, then suddenly made her a suggestion.
“If you’re curious, want to go inside and see?”
“Is that allowed?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
Dantère led Vivian into the Swordsmanship building.
Graduates could use private training rooms if they applied in advance, but showing up unannounced and treating it like a tour was definitely not allowed.
But there was one thing that made all of this possible.
“You know who I am, right?”
Regardless of the Academy’s ideals that royalty, nobles, and commoners were all the same as students, the power imbalance that inevitably existed, and…
“Just a little leniency, please..”
… A sufficient amount for a bribe.
With those two things, nothing was impossible.
“Places where people live really are all the same.”
Nodding, Dantère brought Vivian, who was scribbling something in her notebook, into a private training room.
“Wow… it really is nothing special.”
Vivian looked around, tapped the wall lightly as if knocking, and even hopped on the spot.
‘Ah, she’s really cute.’
Watching her, Dantère stepped closer.
“Right? It’s just a sturdy, well built room. If you need training equipment, you have to request and rent it separately.”
He slipped an arm around her waist, and Vivian blinked up at him.
“Dantère, do you know how to wield a sword aura?”
“Hm…?”
The question was so unexpected that Dantère missed the perfect moment to answer.
‘What do I do?’
Sword aura… he could wield it.
He wasn’t as skilled as Halid or Lionel, but considering how most people spent their entire lives practicing swordsmanship without ever grasping it, it wasn’t something to mention lightly.
And to begin with, the only person who knew Dantère could use sword aura was Dantère himself.
People who attended the Academy during his time believed he used private training rooms for nothing but fooling around with women.
…Which was half true.
Whenever he actually attended Swordsmanship classes, he wore a bored expression, did something else, or carelessly swung his sword because he didn’t want to sweat.
His grades were a disaster. The best grade he ever got was a C.
But just sometimes…
When he ran into his nephew, Crown Prince Axion, on campus and received that disdainful, mocking gaze, something twisted inside him and he would get drunk out of his mind and head to the private training rooms.
Just like now, he would bribe the manager and then swing his sword until he was spent.
The coward who once trembled in fear that the talent which killed his first master might also kill him had become someone who could do nothing without relying on alcohol, even in the most solitary of places.
‘Just say you can’t.’
What would Vivian expect from him anyway?
She was probably asking out of courtesy.
Yes, he knew.
He was sure that he knew that perfectly well.
Then why wouldn’t the words leave his mouth?
All he had to do was grin mischievously, wink, and play it off, so why wouldn’t his lips move the way he wanted?
‘I’m so pathetic.’
No one expected anything from him. No one hoped for anything from him.
Everyone left disappointed.
He had fought for that outcome, and somewhere along the way, it had become natural.
Even he no longer hoped or expected anything from himself.
Pretending he couldn’t do something had slowly made it true.
He had become worthless trash.
So what if he could use a sword aura? It wouldn’t change his life, and he would still live as the same debauched piece of garbage he’d always been.
Still…
‘The one thing I can do.’
Didn’t Vivian want to see it?
It was probably simple curiosity.
She was probably just wondering how sturdy the Academy’s private training rooms really were.
“In that case, what is it I can’t do?”
Dantère let out an exaggerated laugh.
“Really? Then could you show me once?”
“If I show you, what are you going to do for me?”
He stroked the waist he held and brushed his lips teasingly against her ear as he asked.
When in truth… it was simply something he wanted to show her.
