Caville grabbed a small wooden sword and kept looking at Elody nervously. Every time he did, Elody raised her hand and waved with a smile. She read a book about magic drugs in her spare time. The book was brought by the maid from the library in the castle. It was not difficult to make magic drugs. Maybe she just had a knack for it, but Elody easily understood all chemical structures. When she closed her eyes and recalled potions, the list of ingredients she needed came to her easily. The key to making magic drugs was figuring out how much mana to infuse them with. The properties of mana one received at birth were also important, and Elody was born with mana of earth and wind properties. The problem was the ingredients. Various herbs and berries were needed.

Seeds can be made by magic, but they need enough space and an environment to grow. . .

I wish I had a greenhouse. There was a greenhouse in the duke's castle, but it had been out of use for a long time. Repairing and reinforcing the greenhouse required a lot of money. But it would be good to make the greenhouse bigger. I'll have to rob the hidden safe as soon as possible.

It's Caville's money, but. . .

He'll understand if I sell the medicine later and pay it back.

Elody watched Caville's class carefully as she thought about her plans.

Caville was a knight who boasted excellent swordsmanship skills, and he would make a big contribution later in the war. In the novel, it was stated that no one could beat him one-on-one. He had overwhelming power and skill. But the Caville in front of her was a small child. He's growing up just like that. She got teary with emotion.

Huh? By the way, Sir. . .

Isn't the class a little tough? Today was the first class. Therefore, she expected simple basics, such as how to hold a sword. But it's sparring? Brienne’s class seemed to be very practical.

“Wake up, my lord.”

Brienne was cold-hearted. He never reached out to Caville, who fell to the floor often.

Caville raised his body slowly, even with tears in his eyes.

Elody clenched her fist at the sight. It's good to watch the main lead grow, but. . .Sir! My boy is crying! Elody stared at Brienne with the heart of a parent. He continued the class regardless. After falling a few more times, Caville's body was covered with dirt. Caville looked in over at Elody to check if she was still there. It was heartbreaking to see the anxious eyes, but Elody didn't step up and held back.

“You have to hold your sword tight. Now, again!

Brienne aimed an old wooden sword at Caville, who had fallen again. Caville's face slowly began to wrinkle when he saw it head-on.

“Huh. . .”

“No, what are you crying for”

As he watched Caville crying, Brienne murmured, as if he was embarrassed by Caville’s crying. Elody jumped to her feet. I can't see it anymore!

“Hey, Sir Vedos!”

Brienne turned to Elody stomping up to him. Unlike before, when she was gentle and mature, Elody had a face full of anger.

“I told you earlier. Caville is afraid of adults! But you're aiming the wooden sword at him so intimidatingly! Do you know how scary it is for someone so small?”

“. . .I didn't hit him,” Brienne said.

“But just the threat of hitting him is intimidating enough! Please be considerate and friendly until Caville gets used to it! It's his first time!”

“I see.”

He scratched his head. Brienne Vedos felt awkward because he had never taught anyone gently. It was also his first time being nagged at by such a young girl. However, as Elody said, his opponent was a child, and he was afraid of adults. Brienne never remembered being afraid of adults when he was young. No wonder he couldn't relate. But there was nothing wrong with what Elody said. It would have been better to teach with a little more restraint until the boy adapted to the training. He was a difficult student to handle but teaching him was kind of interesting. Caville had eyes full of fear, but once in a while, he gazed at Brienne with a fierce look in his eyes. A gaze instinctively aiming at the opponent's defenses. It felt as if he was looking at a young cub that would grow into a monstrous beast. Every time he saw that stare his spine seemed to tremble.

So, it was interesting and fun. Brienne was excited that the class would continue to be exciting in the future.

“Oh, my boy's knee is all skinned!”

If only it weren’t for that overprotective-parent-like duchess. Elody patted Caville, who was sitting on the floor. Caville unknowingly reached out his arms and wrapped them around Elody's neck. Caville was in her warm arms, and he was about to cry again.

Soon enough, the dark clouds began dropping a few raindrops.

“Sir Vedos, thank you for your hard work. It's raining, so let's call it a day.”

“. . .Yes, Madam.”

“Come on, Get on my back. Caville.”

“Okay”

Elody bravely headed for the castle with Caville on her back. Brienne looked on with a foolish face.

***

Elody headed to the bathroom, where the maid was filling the bathtub up with warm water. Then she helped Caville with his clothes. Caville was still afraid of adults, so Elody washed him. Even though he was fed enough, Caville was still small enough to look about four or five years old.

“Is the water too hot?”

Caville shook his head without a word. Elody saw deep cuts while washing his skinny and small back with a soft sponge. When she first washed Caville, Elody was so shocked to see the wound. The director of the orphanage often locked up the children and beat them.

Someday I’ll get payback.

Elody gnashed her teeth with determination. But a similar wound was also present in Elody's body. Elody's father, Count McClaire, once used to hit his wife and children when he was in a bad mood. The burn marks on her thigh were the evidence.

“Caville, does your knee hurt a lot?”

“Yes”

Caville began to whimper as he recalled the earlier class. But he didn't blubber. He doesn't really cry. It was praiseworthy to see him try to be strong. Then suddenly, an idea crossed her mind.

“Caville, did the adults scold you if you cried in the orphanage?”

Caville nodded calmly. She felt sorry for him. She felt ashamed for thinking that trying to stop his tears was commendable. Children, even people, have to cry when they want to cry.

That's normal. If you put up with everything, you get sick.

“Caville, you don't have to hold back when you want to cry.”

“Huh?”

“You can just cry. There's no one here to tell you off.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I may scold you sometimes, but I won't be upset if you’re sad.”

“Yes! I'll listen to you, wife.”

“Yes, Make sure to keep your promise.”

Elody continued to scrub Caville’s body with care and wrapped him up in his towel and let him out of the bathroom. And then she washed herself thoroughly. It would have been fine to get help from the maids, but she felt comfortable washing alone. In fact, she hated showing others the small burn mark on her thigh. Elody got out of the wash, put on a set of clean clothes, and woke up Caville who was dozing, sitting with a blanket in front of the fireplace.

She then put some lotion on his face and dressed him. Caville woke up, looking at Elody with his limpid eyes.

“Caville, sit here.”

“Huh?”

Elody called Caville while eating some vegetable soup that the maid had brought.

“Caville, when your teacher pointed a sword at you. Were you scared?”

“Yes, I was scared.”

“Have you ever been scolded and hit with a club before?”

“Yes, it hurt a lot,” Caville replied with a nod. Elody held Caville's hand and said, “The teacher won't hit you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, never. He never hit you.”

“But it's scary.”

“He'll never hit you. I'll keep watching from the side.”

Don't you dare hit this kid. If you do, I'll run and punch you in the balls! Elody clenched her fist, knowing that she would. And she looked at Caville with a scared face and said, “Caville, you know what. You know the ones that bothered you?”

“Yes.”

“The adults, the adults who hurt you, they’re nothing.” Caville didn’t respond.

“They're nothing to you.”

“But I'm scared.”

“You don't have to be scared. I'll beat them for you! You don't have to be afraid anymore.”

“But. . .what if you get in trouble, too?”

Caville bit his lips, as if he hated the thought of it. Still, he looked so adorable.

Elody pretended to be strong and laughed sardonically.

“Oh, my God. Caville, don't you know how strong I am?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I'll punch them all later. Like this, look.”

Elody punched her innocent little handkerchief, which was next to her. Caville grinned, as if it were funny. Elody was sincere. One day she was going to punish those who hurt Caville with her big fists. Elody brought paper and a pen from her desk, a thought rushing to her mind.

“Caville, do you remember their faces? The ones that hurt you? Say whatever comes to your mind.”

At the words, Caville pondered for a moment and started to stammer, with hesitation at first

He felt a little frightened while speaking but was relieved by Elody's playful expression.

Elody began to draw pictures on paper, listening to Caville’s explanations. The drawing wasn’t the best, but by the end she had a roughy drawn sketch. The ones who dared to bully my little one. . .I'm gonna kill them all!

After finishing her soup, the two fell asleep while talking in front of the fireplace. They could’ve gone to bed, but the warmth of the fireplace was too comfortable to move away from. Outside, rain poured down the window, and it sounded like a lullaby. A long time later, the maid, who came in to get the plate, smiled at the two children sleeping in front of the fireplace.

“Oh my, how lovely” The maid bent down carefully to move Elody and Caville to the bed.

“Huh? What's this?”

The maid looked at the paper next to Elody. It was a piece of paper with several sloppy human faces.

“Did they draw this? Oh, my God, How cute!”

The maid smiled lovingly, placing the picture Elody had drawn on the desk.

When the maid left the room, she told the other maids about the lovely picture she’d seen.

“Oh, playing with paintings? How cute!”

“Who did they draw? Is it the butler? I should ask them to draw me, too,” the maids said amongst themselves. Contrary to the fairy tale-like ideas of maids, the picture showed those Elody wished to rid the world of.