Side Story 5: His Master From Another World (II)

He dropped his master off by the water near the cliff and waited for her order, but that was when she threw herself off. An unfamiliar presence approached. Even before he pulled out his sword, she jumped into the water.

It was a mistake. Anakin bit his lips. This was because his master was still in the water. He jumped into the water in a hurry and swam near his master.

It was not until he lifted his master that Anakin remembered that the person he sensed was the noble he saw at the master’s Coming-of-Age ceremony. He was angry at his master. His expression hardened as he pulled his master in to protect her from the man.

“How can you touch the lady’s body carelessly?”

“Does the knight who could not protect the lady he serves have anything to say?”

It was an obvious mistake that he felt relieved without thinking that someone faster than him could approach her. But that wasn’t the reason why he should have treated his master carelessly.

But it wasn’t time to argue.

It was still cold; if his master stayed in the water like this, she could catch a cold.

“The water is cold. I’m going to bring Master up.”

As soon as she came ashore, she put on her pre-warmed coat. By the time she got back, she was quite a distance from the accommodation, it was obvious that she was going to cool off on the way back in her wet clothes.

First of all, she wanted to dry her clothes, so as soon as she asked if he would light a fire, the man pushed Anakin and took his seat to light the fire. Anakin’s forehead was wrinkled, but his master was also holding it in.

Let’s endure it. He couldn’t ruin it when she was holding back. A swore word rose from the inside. Anakin despised the behaviour of noble men.

They were born and raised as strong men, so they had no hesitation when making remarks and taking action.

However, when Kazar went beyond being rude and flirted with his master, he couldn’t stand it anymore and tried to pull out his sword.

His master swung a glass of milk that he had left with the pie earlier. Perhaps she was quite powerful as the milk that hit Kazar’s face flowed down with a slapping sound.

Anakin clenched his fist once and slowly drained his strength from his hand holding the sword. However, his anger did not fade easily.

His master had no reason to hear this insult. Would it have been different if he had been a little bit stronger?

It was a presumptuous idea. Even if Anakin was the strongest and most noble person in the country, his master would not have wanted to be protected. Still, Anakin wanted to be strong.

So that one day when his master would order him to cut down rude people, he would cut them without delay.

It was annoying to return to the inn with Kazar, and he had to leave Kazar and his owner together to go pack. He didn’t like that.

As he went up the stairs, he made eye contact with Kazar who was smiling with a face like he had won. However, his master’s order came first over his mood.

As he entered the room and packed, Anakin couldn’t stop his sagging feeling. Why was this happening? Was it simply because he didn’t like the man, or because his master was with a man he didn’t like…….

Not knowing the answer, Anakin just made his hands move faster. If he finished organising the luggage in a hurry, he would be able to return to his master as soon as possible.

However, when he hurriedly finished organising and came down, his master had already disappeared. The innkeeper, who was arranging a bowl, looked at Anakin and said,

“Oh, my. She went out a while ago!”

“Where did she go?”

“I don’t know. She went out with the guy who came with her.”

The words distorted Anakin’s face. Kazar, who treated his owner so carelessly. How clueless are you that you two are together. The innkeeper, who saw his expression, patted Anakin’s shoulder and said,

“Don’t be so jealous. The lady also hated it, but it seemed that the man chased her. Seeing that she wasn’t even wearing a coat, she probably didn’t go far, so if you wait, she’ll come.”

Jealousy? Anakin hardened himself to unfamiliar words. It was not unfamiliar, but inappropriate. How dare he be jealous, he was just an escort. It was ridiculous.

Anakin sat in a chair and lightly swept his hair back.

His heart was stuffy…… He didn’t know the reason. As the innkeeper said, was he really jealous of him? Even if that was right, it was rude to have personal feelings towards his master.

The reason she treated Anakin so well was simply because he did what he did with integrity. 

He should never be mistaken. Nothing betrayed a favour as much as misunderstanding a pure favour.

However, even if he pulled himself together like that, a sand castle couldn’t stop a tsunami.

His master opened the door too easily and told him to kneel. When Anakin knelt down, with a friendly touch, she put on a short leather strap that was similar to a pet’s. In the middle, a purple jewel hung.

After tightening it around his neck and touching him a few times, his master grabbed his hand. Anakin realised his mistake and shrank.

She bought it for him, but he was making it obvious that it was uncomfortable…….

But even before he apologised, his master asked Anakin.

“Is it uncomfortable?”

“…..Yes.”

“It’s good to be honest. I made it that way to make it uncomfortable.”

Anakin stopped breathing a little. Whenever she confirmed that Anakin belonged to her, he kept wanting to mistake her intention.

Although his existence was very small to his master, it might have been meaningful. So, he hoped that she would feel his absence at least once even after he would be abandoned …. he dared to have a thoughtless mind.

Of course, that was not going to happen.  As always, memories and remorse would be the ones left to the abandoned.

But it was okay. Even if one day he would die because of her, it was good.

Giving him a name, and calling him by that name; it allowed him to think of a future other than being a knight.

If the day came when he was left alone, he thought about wandering around the world, reflecting on the only traces she had left for him. Anakin looked at his master, staring at the scenery outside the carriage.

However, even if he reached the end of the world, no one would call him like his current master. A brilliant harmony of straight eyes and a low voice.

Anakin liked the sound of his master pronouncing his name at the tip of her tongue.

The person whom Kynthia had been struggling to save was the nanny of the deceased crown prince. When he asked her how she found it, she said that a child in the back alley she knew told her ‘by chance’.

“Did you say that the grandmother who lives near your house once sang a lullaby to the most precious person in the country? So I poked it just in case.”

In fact, he patted Cynthia’s head, smiling proudly, saying it was more difficult to persuade than to find out.

What a strange coincidence. He couldn’t believe such a person lived in such a dirty and old neighbourhood.

He thought that maybe the causal effect told to him by his master might be like that.

His master’s class began on the day the nanny was brought into the mansion. The nanny taught the owner all kinds of manners and rules, starting with table manners.

Listening to the overly detailed and complex rules, Anakin thought his master was great.

This was because even though she took classes for five to six hours every day, she stayed in the study after the nanny returned and studied writing while reading books, even if it reduced her sleep. It was really late and when he came to inform her, she rubbed her eyes as if she was sleepy, but smiled saying that she would read a little more.

“It’s less confusing if you learn it properly the first time you learn it. Maybe someone can teach Helena again later, but I don’t want to make mistakes or everything to be in vain because of me. It’s better to learn something than to live while having nothing to do.”

Anakin, who barely learned the letters, couldn’t understand her feelings about studying, but he sympathised with the saying that once you learn it, you have to learn it properly.

It was the same when holding a sword, so if one didn’t get in a proper posture for the first time, their body suffered later. It was cumbersome and difficult to correct the wrong posture.

Rather, the most difficult thing for his master was dance. In order to teach Helena, she had to learn the male choreography, but it was hard because the female choreography kept coming out unconsciously.

Whenever his master grabbed Anakin several times and practised the choreography to dance perfectly, Anakin just liked the time spent dancing with his master.

Then suddenly, he realised that he had to attend the debutante ball as his master’s partner and was terrified.

His master tried so hard, so he couldn’t insult his master because he acted clumsily. It wasn’t like he had learned how to dance just by looking at it, but at least he had to know how to do it as much as the others.

He practised secretly whenever he had time, but he was not able to do it alone without a partner.

He was thinking that he should ask Kynthia to help him if he had time. It was the same as that child couldn’t dance, but still, it was better than waving around in the air alone.

He was waiting for his master while thinking about this and that, when she called Anakin. 

As soon as he arrived, two men surrounded his master with a tired face. Anakin went straight to her.

“Did you call me?”

“Hold me in your arms, Anakin. I’ll go back first because you don’t want to see me, Your Highness.”

As he hugged his master and walked in the direction of the carriage as ordered, everyone passing by focused on them.

Anakin knew the meaning of the gaze. When he was an apprentice, he had seen faces of contempt and anger every day.

So he was fine. Anakin himself was a dull and vulgar person.

But his master wasn’t. She shouldn’t have been treated like this. She was…

When he opened his mouth, he became cautious that any description would be a modifier to evaluate her. The person he had been watching was a person who always tried. She was also a strong and dazzling person.

“If you think you’re going to hate me, tell me as soon as you feel that way. Try to understand at least.”

Even though she deserved to be treated well, why was the world so…….

Anakin folded all these words finely and swallowed them inside. He wanted to give a promise that he could keep rather than arrogant consolation.