After feeling the superhuman strength in Alessia’s grip, I can imagine just how fearsome she’d be wielding a sword, and it spells disaster for me. I can put up a fight, but in the end, she is simply superior to me in strength and intellect, exactly as the rumors said.
Imperial humans are such a pain in my ass. At least this one will be, anyway.
“Ah, well. They say the average married couple are a pain to each other, so we fit right in,” I grumble to myself.
I’ve been hanging around in the secret garden while I wait for the time to pass, trying to figure out where best to hang up a hammock between the ancient trees. Alessia may say she’s going to order me around like a palace servant, but I guarantee there will be times where she has nothing for me to do, and I plan to relax like it’s my last day on Earth when those moments come. This garden is extraordinary, so it’ll be my preferred hangout spot, Alessia or no Alessia.
I have to admit, I think I prefer hanging out here with Alessia, though.
Even though she acts like she hates me, the woman wears her heart on her sleeve. I caught the blush on her face. Her eyes shimmered a very different shade of blue each time she looked at me, and I can tell without a doubt that she’s at least curious about me. I am, after all, a very non-traditional aristocrat, preferring the quiet countryside life to the bustling formal city administrator’s life. Laying in the meadow while I read my favorite adventure book was my pastime all my life until I came to this palace. I’m not about to stop doing it just because I live here; this garden will serve as the perfect safe haven for my bibliophilic tendencies.
Alessia is clearly another book lover, too. She’s nothing like the king and the royal advisors; although she puts on a formal act in front of the people, she’s been snappy, full of attitude, and raring for a fight with me. She’s more tomboyish than anyone can guess, and just now, she was willing to lie down in the dirt with me, too. No worry about getting dirty crossing her mind. She’s not the type to take orders or advice from anyone; she needs to experience things firsthand, or she won’t wrap her head around it properly.
“So similar, and yet, so angry about it,” I sigh. “She’s a mystery.”
I had a feeling she wanted me around just to use me, and now those suspicions are confirmed. As much as it pains me to admit it, I really should attend to any royal duties thrown my way. It’s not like it’s hard work; it’s just an annoyance in my day. The bigger annoyance will be listening to Alessia as she doles out tasks for me every morning.
There’s nothing I can do to stop her. She’s the matriarch of this nation, and now I’m about to lose a challenge to her ancient magic, sharp wit, and inhuman physique.
What can I say? There’s no better way to be defeated than to lose to a strong, angry woman.
I check the position of the sun, then start the journey back to my room. The training match is drawing close.
As I get dressed, I think back to my training days with the other aristocratic families’ children. I recall Kharu, my lifelong best friend, and Emilia, my rival. As many times as Kharu and I fought, I fought that many times with Emilia, and every time, I’d lose to both of them in a close match. Kharu was taller than me with broader shoulders and a bulkier stature, so he knocked me around with brute strength until I couldn’t take it; Emilia simply outwitted me with incredible sword skills, ending every match with me disarmed and the point of her sword at my throat. I’ve defeated many opponents in my twenty years of knight training, but I know what it’s like to meet my limits and be crushed by forces of nature.
I wonder how much worse Alessia, an imperial human who has been tutored in martial arts and swordplay all her life, is going to crush me.
“Just don’t break my bones,” I grumble, sheathing my sword.
I take a look at myself in the mirror before I go. I don’t necessarily like or dislike the typical training attire, but wearing no shirt, a pair of cropped, close-fitting pants, and sandals feels strange compared to my usual long sleeve, cargo pants, and travel boots. Some people mistake me for an adventurer when I walk down the street because of my lackadaisical attitude and worn garb, but I never care. It’s comfortable.
I'm not sure how to feel about Alessia seeing this much of me now that my entire upper body is exposed. She’s kind of attractive herself, so it’s awkward.
I head downstairs and into the courtyard just beyond the cherry blossom courtyard. Alessia, her personal servant, and her trainers are already down there. She’s a bit far away, and she’s moving as she’s talking animatedly with her servant, so it’s a little hard to take a good look at her. By the time I can make out her outfit, I nearly trip over my own feet.
“Oh, hell no,” I groan.
This is already bad enough that I’m going to lose epically to an unfairly strong imperial human, but now, I’m going to be completely distracted by her outfit, too. She’s wearing a flexible battle skirt that barely reaches a third of the way down her legs and a tight, cropped red shirt that exposes her wicked six-pack of abs. Oblique lines alone would have been distracting, but I’m pretty sure just looking at her abs is going to kill me now.
Her arms and legs seem more defined than they were yesterday, or maybe that’s because I didn’t really look at her until just now; either way, she appears as our goddess of war, Atena, just far livelier. Light on her feet, but muscles tense, she swings her sword at a practice dummy, and she nearly cleaves it in two.
I’m so totally done for.
Still, I have to put up some sort of fight. I’m not a wimp. I’m a man of his word, and against a non-imperial human, I’d have a good chance of winning. An imperial human is just a step above. I’ll make her work for this challenge if she’s planning to put me to work for the rest of my life.
I run down the stairs and pop through the exit at the courtyard level. Alessia turns to look at me the moment I appear in the doorway, her gaze locking onto me. She searches me intently, her eyes becoming icy as they land on my sword, my shield, and finally, my exposed upper body. She stares for the longest time. My gut churns with unexpected anxiety the longer she stares.
Then, her face turns bright red, her eyes fly wide, and she whips around to talk with her personal servant again.
Is she…embarrassed? I feel my own face heat up. Right. Muscles are attractive on men, too.
Sometimes, I forget I embody the beauty standard for men, and it catches me off guard when women flirt with me or get embarrassed talking to me. I long to exist without being stared at due to my pecs; I do have some good features other than my muscles. I, for one, think my eye color is very pretty.
But it’s no use. I can’t control the way other people feel, just as they can’t control the way I feel. I have to deal with this until Alessia gets used to training with me, I guess.
I approach Alessia in the open, sandy clearing of the courtyard. Only a few bushes and short trees line the walls, and this is where the trainers and Alessia’s servant stand back, watching us from afar. Alessia grabs her sword and approaches me, tying her hair back into a ponytail as she does. Just the simple motion of sweeping back that long, beautiful, wavy black hair has my heart palpitating.
Maybe this won’t suck as bad as I thought it would. I’ll take getting clobbered by my beautiful wife over a head shot from Kharu any day.
