Even a Scoundrel Gets Tired

181 – Bruising a Young Heart…

“Alright, I believe everyone

understands the rules properly now.”

“”Yes.””

“If anyone has any further

questions, raise your hand now.”

Despite the implicit promise

that no reprimand would follow,

every student, including

myself, kept our hands down.

That was partly because Professor

Oliver had explained everything quite thoroughly,

but also because most

explanations regarding duels

were all pretty much the same anyway.

To approach the duel with

respect and the appropriate demeanor.

And that this,

after all, was merely a duel,

so to show restraint in one’s strikes.

If one adhered to just

these two points, it was safe

to say that one would rarely

be rebuked during a duel.

Of course, he did mention he

would not hesitate to sanction those

who resorted to excessively cowardly actions

or showered their opponents

with all manner of vile language,

but really, how much

opportunity did one even have

to exchange words with an opponent during a duel?

Besides, it was necessary to

experience such unscrupulous actions once in a while.

It truly gave one a taste

of how fearsome real combat could be…

Not being able to impress upon

my juniors the importance of experience,

that was a rather regrettable thing for me,

but the Academy’s dueling rules were even more

restrictive than I’d imagined,

so unavoidably, I had to

revise my plan a bit.

If I were to press on with my

original scheme as things stood,

I could certainly crush the pride of those juniors still grinning like fools,

but there was a considerable chance

I’d be summoned by the Professor before the duels were even over.

And what’s more, I wasn’t even

supposed to take them all on by myself right now.

Well, if ordered to do so, it wasn’t as if I *couldn’t*,

but it seemed the Professor wished

to grant the juniors a variety of experiences.

He’d announced he would assign

one junior each to Silvia, Isabella, and myself,

so I reckoned he judged it better

for them to fall to different

seniors, even if defeated,

and gain some experience that way,

rather than being completely overwhelmed by a single individual.

Well, admittedly, it was a bit disappointing, but

I didn’t feel *that*

attached to the idea.

No matter how poorly I might

think of them deep down,

beating up kids so much younger

than myself at this age,

even with the nominal shield

of ‘education,’

was always something I balked at.

“Alright then, from this moment on, we will…”

“I shall designate your opponent.”

Thus, under the guidance of Professor Oliver,

she and I, each of us,

were assigned suitable juniors to spar with.

And the one I was assigned,

the one I was to face, was none other than

the young woman who had appeared so suddenly,

radiating an aura

akin to a villainess incarnate,

the lady the Professor had just

called Erdena Valentine.

‘Valentine, eh…’

I tilted my head, the family name sounding

vaguely familiar.

Behind me, Isabella’s

expression shifted drastically,

as if she’d overheard something forbidden.

“…The Valentine Marchioness?”

“Is it a well-known family?”

“…Rather, is there anyone in the Empire

who *doesn’t* know the family?”

Isabella stared at me, clearly incredulous,

but alas, I truly knew nothing.

After all, to hear of the happenings and rumors

among the aristocracy, one would have to

continuously attend social gatherings,

or at least similar

venues for such meetings.

And I had neglected such things almost entirely.

Of course, for someone like me, who had long

ignored the social circles themselves,

it was impossible to block every single

scandal that swirled within.

So my reputation, until recently,

had been scraping the bottom of the barrel.

But it didn’t seem like things could get

much worse by sinking even lower,

so there was a part of me that

deliberately turned a blind eye.

Besides, I harbored a slight

antipathy toward the aristocrats’ characteristic

indirection…

I was, in truth, growing weary of it all.

Anyway, after enduring Isabella’s rather thorough

explanation of the Valentine family,

the assessment:

“The most notorious rakehells in the Empire, by reputation,”

became firmly lodged in my mind.

Honestly, even if polygamy *was* permitted,

fifteen wives for the current head of the family?

Really?

Other people, when they’re burdened with

a mere *two* wives, are already

sweating buckets trying to

resolve the discord between them…

No matter that the Valentine family was a

venerable Marquisate,

I found their behavior

difficult to comprehend, to say the least.

And even more outlandish was the fact that

none of his wives seemed to be

at odds with one another.

Whenever they appeared

in society, they

always seemed friendly,

their sisterhood profound.

“…Don’t they feel any jealousy?”

It… it just doesn’t make sense.

No matter what, if the person

you love keeps adding women,

wouldn’t a strange feeling arise?

You’d wonder if you weren’t attractive enough…

It’d feel like they weren’t

satisfied with just you.

But from Isabella’s distant observation,

nothing of the sort seemed

to be apparent…

“…I’m at a loss for words.”

“I think so too.”

Truly, I thought, they were remarkable people, in so many ways.

Even with so many women

claimed as his own,

the current head of the Valentine clan

continues to summon yet

another woman.

And the women, as if pleased by it,

continue to whisper

their affections to him.

“….”

‘…Did she hear?’

And perhaps my thoughts

had somehow sprung forth,

because her gaze, which just moments ago

was mingling with other juniors,

soon locked onto me.

Her face, for some reason,

seemed even more

flushed than before.

Surely, it was because the rumors

surrounding her family were quite

shameful, that had to be it.

…Indeed, no matter if it’s the family

one was born and raised in,

the label of a philandering clan

must be a bit embarrassing.

Especially for someone who seems

as proud as she does.

Well, she must be aware.

That her father’s

history with women being so

lavish is certainly wrong.

But even if detestable, it is still

her family,

her father.

No one would quietly listen to their family being disparaged.

Besides, having one’s family

derided as libertines by the mouths of others,

there’s no way that would be pleasant, right?

More likely, it would only lead to a

sudden drop in mood, or so I’d guess.

…No matter where one looks, this is

It seemed I had erred.

Of course, even if

the world knew it openly, as a matter of course,

I ought to have at least

shown the courtesy of speaking

where she couldn’t hear.

It felt different to hear

curses directly than for gossip to

reach her ears later.

So, as a kind of apology,

I stealthily, without anyone seeing,

lowered my head to her and

“..Ugh!!”

Seeing my head bow, she

became even more enraged and

moved away from me.

“…?”

≪Just now, the user has wounded a young maiden’s heart…≫

“What is he saying, crazy b*stard.”

“Pardon? What did you just say…”

“Ah, it was nothing.”

*

‘Ugh… really…!!’

She felt ashamed.

Enough to mistake it for a burning face.

Of course, that others

said things about her family,

she herself already

knew it well,

and had already

prepared herself long ago.

It wasn’t the first time she’d experienced this.

‘Sheesh…’

Still, even so,

just because it wasn’t the first time

didn’t mean she grew

accustomed to people’s reactions.

Even just the incident a moment ago

was more than enough

to rip open the wound

in her heart.

The eldest daughter of the Lenuiel family,

Isabella, my senior.

She, whose very age

is not even the same as mine,

was more widely known than the scions of the other four great houses because,

though one couldn’t deny the effect of her striking beauty,

her unchanging expression was also one of the causes.

It was said that her face

almost never betrayed any emotion, and so,

all the male students who favored

cold, haughty beauties

carried tales of her on their tongues.

Erdena herself,

when she first saw her,

was strongly impressed by

a beauty sculpted from ice,

so there was really no further

need to explain her expression.

And that very same she,

upon hearing talk of my family,

froze, ever so slightly,

her expression hardening.

A crack had appeared in the mask of that lofty ice princess.

Because of none other

than my own father.

Erdena, afflicted by an unspeakable shame,

immediately felt the urge

to seek out a mouse hole to disappear into,

“…Impressive.”

“…?”

Such a voice echoed,

clear as a bell, in her ear,

belonging unmistakably to

one of the seniors who’d appeared

alongside the ice princess just a moment before.

Impressive, did he say?

As if mocking her…

It would have been better

if he’d just openly said something, like everyone else.

Why the barb in her tone?

Of course, the one who spoke the words

held no such intention, but

alas, she lacked the experience

to notice the subtle nuance,

having so rarely conversed with others.

Typically, they fled

upon hearing her family name

before the conversation could even conclude.

‘I will pulverize you

in the sparring match, without fail…!!’

Another day, another misunderstanding deepened.