About three months have passed since the day Ethan touched my chest.

The season, which was spring during the time of the masquerade ball, has already changed twice, and autumn has begun with leaves starting to turn red. 

As the fruit on the trees ripened in the sunset, many changes also occurred for Ethan and I.

First of all, I have finally escaped from the status of a commoner maid and received the noble status of a viscount’s daughter. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

My family name remains Rosewood, as it was originally. 

The names of my fake parents to prove my status were decided as Louis Rosewood and Marianne Rosewood.

Of course, both of them are non-existent people and are just ghost nobles who exist only in formality.

As the only real person, I was also a commoner who wasn’t a real noble, so it was virtually the same as being a fake noble.

Nevertheless, since it was a status that Princess Seraphine had a hand in, there was no particular problem in actually pretending to be a noble. In the first place, there was no reason for anyone else to do a background check on me since I was a viscount without even an allocated territory.

If I truly use it only for the single purpose of attending the academy without using it for any other mischief, there will probably be no significant issues.

By the way, my name has also changed to a slightly more noble-sounding name with a middle name added. 

Lilith Blackwood Rosewood. 

The method I used was to put the family name of the main family, the Blackwoods, as my middle name. It is most common to create middle names in this way, so I did so without thinking too deeply.

Ethan seemed a bit surprised when he first heard the middle name I decided on.

 

“Lilith Blackwood… Lilith Blackwood… Lilith Blackwood…”

 

It seemed like he kept calling only my first name and middle name as if he was possessed, so at first, I thought it meant I shouldn’t use it.

…But when I tried to change it again, he said it was fine to use it as it is, so I’m using it as is.

It may be a bit awkward for the maid’s master’s surname to be used as a middle name, but since it’s a status of a branch family anyway, it’s not a part that would be too problematic.

Rather, this middle name itself would clearly prove the relationship between Ethan and me.

The number of fools who would easily try to mess with me, thinking of me as just a lowly viscount’s daughter and maid, would definitely decrease.

And as for Ethan…

In Ethan’s case, there haven’t been any significant changes in the past three months.

He just kept repeating his swordsmanship training and studies every day, as he had been doing, and continued to spend time with me as he had been doing.

Even his height remained the same, but he gained slightly more muscle. He is just a tiny bit taller than me. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

It seems like his growth spurt has ended, so I don’t think he’ll grow any taller from now on.

The abnormal behavior Ethan showed for three days since the day he touched my chest has also noticeably decreased after I set a new condition.

At least there are no more incidents where he gets distracted during sword training with Harold because he’s only thinking about my chest.

 

“…Maid.”

“Yes, young master.”

“Today is Saturday, so I have a duel with Father today…”

“Yes, I know.”

“…You’ll come watch, right?”

“You’re asking the obvious.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I don’t mean it in a weird way; I was just curious.”

 

There are occasional cases where he explicitly appeals his desires like this.

Expressing his desires to this extent was fine. At least, as long as he doesn’t go around telling everyone that ‘something happened.’

It seemed that the condition I set that if he landed a solid hit on Harold, in exchange, I’d let him touch my chest, was working.

 

‘If he’s managing to keep himself together with just this, Ethan is indeed a man like any other man.’

 

If I were a woman, I might have felt disgusted by the change in attitude just for the sake of touching breasts a bit, but for me, who had memories of being a man, Ethan’s attitude just seemed cute.

It was just the right level compared to the typical sexual desire of men at that age.

Rather, in terms of not trying to forcibly touch me using strength or power, his mindset itself was quite commendable.

If I were in Ethan’s position, it would have been difficult to resist easily.

I think setting the condition for letting him touch my chest as ‘one solid hit on Harold’ was quite an appropriate condition. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

At first, I also considered setting the condition to ‘victory in a match against Harold,’ but no matter how I thought about it, it seemed like I was blatantly teasing him if I did that.

I thought that if I set a goal that he could barely reach but failed to achieve, Ethan would be able to have some sense of purpose and diligently focus on sword training, and my strategy worked well.

Of course, since I set it so narrowly, there was a possibility that Ethan’s hand might touch my chest again if he somehow achieved it…

 

‘…Well, even if he achieves it once in a while, how many times can he achieve it?’

 

It’s September now, so the remaining time left until enrollment in the academy is, at most, half a year.

Even if you add up all of Ethan and Harold’s remaining matches that take place at most twice a week, there are only about 50 left in the future.

Seeing that Ethan’s sword still can’t touch Harold’s body even after three months have passed, his landing an effective hit will still be something that could only happen in the distant future.

Moreover, once we enter the academy, he won’t have any more duels with Harold, so he won’t have a chance to touch my chest anymore.

 

“Maid.”

“Yes?”

“You must come watch the duel this afternoon.”

“…Is there perhaps some special event scheduled?”

“…Today, I feel like I can land a hit on Father.”

 

…What nonsense is he spouting this early in the morning?

For some reason, Ethan was making a declaration of victory to me with an unusually confident expression today, and my mind was filled with questions.

Along with that, a subtle sense of unease also began to sprout in my heart, albeit very slightly.

 

‘…That won’t happen, right?’

 

The title of Sword Master isn’t just some dog’s name.

…Even if he is Ethan, I still think that’s a difficult feat.

The time for the afternoon duel arrived.

As always, Harold and Ethan faced each other, and their sword match began.

The spectators were, as always, me, Dittmeyer, and one of the Blackwoods’ healing priests.

Harold coldly stares at his son with icy eyes and takes a stance, and Ethan focuses his gaze on his father with passionate eyes.

In the scene where tension was oddly felt today, Ethan’s body was the first to leap forward towards Harold.

 

Thud!

 

Ethan quickly narrowed the distance with Harold with his fast footwork and swung his sword in a large trajectory from the front.

It was a blatant and obvious strike that anyone could see coming, but it was also a heavy strike.

Of course, Harold easily blocked a simple, reckless downward strike with his sword.

 

Clang!

 

With the sound of two wooden swords colliding, the two men pulled away for a moment.

Since it was Harold who observed Ethan’s movements until the last moment before moving, it took a little more time for him to regain his posture. Unfortunately, Ethan’s skill level was still lacking to take advantage of that gap. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

Instead, Ethan swung his sword at Harold again while regaining his posture in a straightforward manner.

Compared to earlier, the trajectory of the sword changed, but in the end, the fundamental problem of it being a simple strike hasn’t.

 

Clang!

 

Harold easily parried Ethan’s second strike this time as well.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed.

 

‘…Judging from just this, I have no idea what has changed.’

 

I was getting tense thinking that he might be able to land an effective hit today since he made a meaningful remark, but what I’m actually seeing is a sword match that was more disappointing than I thought.

The matches where he would swing recklessly with all his might were more entertaining to watch.

The match Ethan is having now is not demonstrative of a combat style suitable for facing a Sword Master.

It’s a battle where they clash swords and consume similar amounts of energy and stamina.

If they have a match where strength simply clashes against strength like this, the one to get tired first will obviously be Ethan. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

…Anyway, I got tense for nothing. Since he said that he might somehow win today, I thought I really had to visit Ethan’s room at night.

I was watching the dispiriting, slow-paced sword match with such thoughts.

But the moment Ethan began to react differently was when the swords intertwined for the fifth time.

 

Whoosh!

 

A single dull strike flew from the front as before, and Harold took a stance to parry it.

I was watching the match, predicting that if they clashed swords like this about two or three more times, the match would be decided.

But at that moment, what unfolded before my eyes was Ethan’s unexpected movements.

 

Roll!

 

‘…He dodged it?’

 

Unlike my expectation that he would clash swords and have a slow-paced match this time as well, Ethan suddenly rolled on the ground and dodged Harold’s strike.

Then, he swiftly changed his posture, from pretending to swing a heavy strike to now swinging his sword towards Harold’s body, gripping it short.

Don’t tell me that everything up until now, where he pretended to have slow-paced attacks, was to induce carelessness for this one strike?

Thinking that way, everything finally fell into place.

That’s why he continued a combat style disadvantageous to himself, and it also explains his confident attitude earlier saying that he might somehow land a solid hit today.

This had to work.

No matter how much Sword Master Harold is a master of the sword, he has no choice but to allow a strike this one time, a brilliant thrust.

The moment Ethan’s wooden sword was about to touch Harold’s side…

 

Clang!

“…?!”

 

Ethan’s final attack was blocked all too well by Harold’s wooden sword, which was already waiting for Ethan’s attack as if he had been expecting it.

Ethan’s sword, which he was swinging hastily to land the final strike, was deflected into the sky by the Sword Master’s sword.

 

‘How…?’

 

…No, does this make sense? Is being able to block that strike within reason?

No matter how fast his reaction speed is, he shouldn’t have noticed until right before Ethan’s movements changed, right?

Also, if he did sense that something was off the moment Ethan’s movement changed, it should have been too late for him to react. [GalaxyTL/Axiomatic]

For a moment, I had thought of whether Harold could also see the future, like Seraphine, to the point of showing such a way of responding to the attack.

But thanks to Harold’s explanation, the mystery was, unexpectedly, easily solved.

 

“In that final strike, your gaze was looking elsewhere, Ethan.”

“…Ah!”

“If you were planning to induce the opponent’s carelessness and launch a surprise attack, you should have maintained eye contact until right before turning your body.”

“…I see.”

“Still, the attempt itself was excellent. Even I couldn’t grasp your intentions until the middle of your swing. …If you had tried a similar tactic about a month ago, I might have fallen for it.”

“…Huh?”

“…Let’s end today’s match here. Clean up the training ground and return. You can stay and do more individual training if you want.”

“…Yes, Father!”

 

Although Ethan unfortunately failed to land a strike, it was a rare sight to see Harold comforting him along with praise.

Ethan also seemed to have his mood lifted to some extent by Harold’s praise.

 

‘…Phew. For a moment, I thought he really would succeed.’

 

Well, if it were up to my feelings, I’d like to at least give him something like an award for effort, but a promise is a promise.

It really was an excellent choice to set the condition of landing a solid hit on Harold.

Seeing Harold’s capability, shown today, it seems there will be no occasion to allow Ethan to touch my chest, at least until we enter the academy.

…Still, that strike just now was such a waste, though. (T/N: So you wanted him to succeed???)