The Young Lady With the Most Powerful Specs Was Just Too Cute, so I Started Teasing Her—But Then She Tried to Trap Me With a Chain, so I Kept Running Away With All My Might

The First Visit as an Exclusive

After midday training finished, I put away my wooden sword and glanced toward the inner part of the mansion.

The Captain ordered me to visit the young lady at least once a day.

Honestly, I’m pretty happy about it. That game of tag yesterday was a blast.

Lately, I’ve gotten used to dodging the senior knights’ swords during training. As long as it isn’t a restricted fight in a tiny space, I can dodge them without any trouble.

Just as I was starting to get bored, the young lady chasing me with those chains yesterday provided some serious excitement.

More than anything, I’m glad that I’m actually allowed to see that beautiful, doll-like girl.

And besides, I saw that face of hers yesterday.

When she glares at me all frustrated and says, “Next time, I will catch you,” well, of course I’d want to see her again today.

The second I walk into the room…

“So you’ve come, Nil.”

I can see her waiting for me with a daring smirk, like she’s greeting her lifelong arch-nemesis.

“Of course, Milady. I won’t be caught today either.”

“…Then, I shall catch you!”

She’d say that and summon her chains.

“Whoa, too fast!”

I find myself hoping for something like that—for the second round of tag to begin.

“Exclusive trainee knight” has a nice ring to it, and it would make me feel a little special if she was actually waiting for me.

Thinking about stuff like that, I walked toward the back of the mansion.

When I reached the same door as yesterday, the maid gave me a small bow.

“Nil, we’ve been waiting for you.”

“Hey there, Horn. Is the young lady inside?”

Lady Oldie’s personal maid, Horn, is older than me. Since we’re both “exclusives” now, I figured we’d be talking a lot from here on out.

The Captain introduced me to her through the Head Butler.

“Yes, but…”

Horn hesitated, her voice trailing off. I tilted my head.

“But?”

“No… please, go ahead.”

Something about the way she said that made me curious, like she was hiding something.

But the door was open, so I went right in.

“Excuse me. Nil Metasura, your new exclusive trainee knight, reporting in.”

I raised a hand slightly as I entered.

Yesterday, this alone might have made the maids gasp in shock.

But today, nobody stopped me. It looks like they figured out what kind of person I am after yesterday’s stunt.

The young lady was sitting in a chair by the window at the back of the room.

She’s beautiful today, too.

“…Hello.”

The girl sitting there was the same expressionless doll from yesterday.

“Hello, Lady Oldie.”

Those eyes were different from the ones that looked at me so passionately during our game of tag.

What gives? Is it just me, or was that a bit of a letdown? Maybe I was expecting too much.

I took a few steps closer and suddenly realized she wasn’t quite the same “doll” as yesterday.

“Is something wrong?”

“Not particularly.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Yesterday, she was completely void of emotion. She had no expression. There was no light in her eyes; they were just pitch black.

But today, while the light in her eyes is faint, they are definitely reflecting me.

Her voice sounds weak. Her posture is stiff and awkward, like she can’t get comfortable.

Her back is straight, as is proper for a noble daughter, but there’s no strength behind it.

Even though she’s just sitting there, she’s occasionally out of breath. Actually, it looks like she’s gritting her teeth to endure something.

“I heard you were made an exclusive.”

Surprisingly, she was the one to start the conversation.

“Yes. Starting today, I’ll be coming to see you every day.”

“I see.”

I thought she’d be happier, but she’s surprisingly cold about it.

“You don’t look very happy.”

“…That isn’t true.”

“Yes, it is.”

“It isn’t.”

There was a tiny pause before she finished that sentence.

Hmm, she’s being evasive. There’s definitely something going on.

If a guy showed up as your exclusive the day after you lost to him, you’d expect her to say something like, “How dare you show your face,” or “I’ll catch you for sure today.”

But she isn’t doing that.

I guess you could say this is normal for her, but having seen her yesterday, it feels off.

“Milady.”

“What is it?”

“By any chance, are you not feeling very well today?”

“…Not particularly.”

The way she said “not particularly” was a little raspier than before.

I moved even closer. The maids looked like they weren’t sure whether to stop me, but they didn’t move.

“Excuse me.”

I leaned in to look closely at Lady Oldie’s face.

She was pale, all the color drained from her skin. I touched her forehead, but she didn’t have a fever.

“You look terrible.”

“I do not! And what do you think you are doing!?”

She let out a surprised cry. Her face remained expressionless, but her eyes wavered.

“Hmm, you look just like my senior when he gets worked over by the Captain and cries because he can’t move the next day.”

“…What kind of comparison is that?”

Her surprise turned into confusion. But she gave a little flinch.

“Also, you look like you don’t want to move at all.”

“…”

“And you’re probably in a bad mood, too.”

“That is your fault. It is rude to touch me!”

“Rude? My apologies.”

The emotionless young lady calling someone rude? Hmmm. It really does seem like her feelings are coming back.

At my casual remark, her eyebrows knitted together just a tiny bit.

But she definitely didn’t have the same energy as yesterday.

“Milady, do you want to pick up where we left off yesterday?”

“I do not.”

“Why not?”

“It should be obvious!”

“Why is that?”

“…Are you… perfectly fine?”

She rejected my offer of tag and then asked if I was “fine”? I don’t get it.

“About what?”

“Running like that yesterday.”

“Oh, I train all the time, and I’m great at running away.”

“I see.”

Wait. She sounded a bit miffed just now.

Hmm, hold on.

The young lady ran just as much as I did yesterday. In fact, since she’s been cooped up for a year and a half, the toll on her body has to be way worse.

Plus, she summoned all those chains and even broke the walls. That’s magic. She must have used a ton of mana.

Running, using magic with everything she had… and now she’s sitting here looking miserable.

“…Oh.”

“What?”

“Milady, do you have muscle aches?”

“Huh?”

For the first time, she just stared at me blankly.

When a expressionless beauty makes a dumb face like that, it’s actually kind of cute.

“We ran all over the place yesterday, remember?”

“…”

“And you were whipping those chains around like crazy.”

“…”