Chapter 45

“Tony, I want you to teach the Lady of the manor how to ride a wyvern.”

At the middle-aged keeper’s instruction, Tony let out a groan of protest.

“What?! Me?”

“When it comes to wyverns, you’re the best rider we’ve got.”

“But practicing riding means I’d have to hold the Lady to support her! I don’t want to get murdered by the Lord!”

I wondered who on earth Tony was talking about; Lord Nazel would never commit murder.

“Lord Nazelbert is a man of mild temperament,” the keeper countered.

Exactly! I silently agreed with the keeper in my head.

Torre, the guard following behind me, also supported the keeper with a booming voice.

Tony, however, wouldn’t budge.

“When I sent them those wyverns to welcome them, I thought I was going to be burned to death by his aura alone. I only escaped with my life because the Lady likes wyverns and was in a good mood, you know?”

“That’s your own fault,” the keeper replied.

I nodded silently again, and Torre shouted, “Exactly!” at the top of his lungs. This man has a voice as big as his body.

“It’s famous how much the Lord loves his wife; his devotion is actually incredible. I don’t want to be shot down by his jealousy.”

As their conversation continued, hearing them talk about his devotion made me remember Lord Nazel’s confession, and I found myself fighting to calm my racing heart.

In any case, Tony seemed stubbornly determined not to teach me how to ride. He had been mean to us when we first met, so he probably still dislikes me.

As I stood there listening to them talk, I heard a thundering thud-thud-thud of footsteps from behind.

It wasn’t Torre, since he was standing right here…?

Startled, I looked toward the sound and saw the pink wyvern, Geni, had escaped from the building. He was sprinting straight toward us.

“Geni! You shouldn’t come outside without permission!”

While I was panicking, Geni came to a halt in front of me and happily rubbed his body against mine. H-How cute…!

I reached out and stroked his pink skin.

Then, Geni began to repeatedly smack Tony with the tip of his lemon-yellow tail. Smack, smack, smack!

“Wait, what’s wrong? Why are you pummeling Tony?”

Torre and I flurried about in a panic, but the keeper just stood there with a bright smile.

“Geni is exceptionally smart, even for a wyvern, so he must have understood our conversation. He wants Lady Agnes to ride him, so he’s pestering Tony to get on with it.”

What a good boy…! I’ll have to give him a carrot later!

Wyverns are omnivores and eat both meat and vegetables, but riding beasts are mostly fed a diet of vegetables and beans. Carrots are a particular favorite for them.

Tony, still being relentlessly smacked, finally looked like he had given up. He turned to me and said:

“Fine, fine! I’ll teach you, okay? But I’m only doing the basics. Any training that involves flying together on the same mount has to wait until you get permission from Lord Nazelbert, got it?”

I had no choice but to nod. I really don’t think Lord Nazel is the type to get angry over something like that, though.

“Understood. I look forward to working with you.”

I responded to Tony while giving Geni a good petting.

The keeper and Tony soothed Geni and led him back into the stable, leaving just me and Torre behind.

As I walked to catch up with them, I asked him a question.

“You spoke up quite loudly when they were criticizing Lord Nazel—do you like him, Torre?”

Torre nodded his head vigorously with a look of pure joy.

“During my time in the Knight Order, Lord Nazelbert took great care of me. I hold him in the highest esteem! Many knights actually adore Lord Nazelbert.”

“I see.”

“He is incredibly strong; the way he turns magic into offensive strikes is like fine art, and his handling of riding beasts is magnificent…”

Torre’s large frame trembled with excitement as he went on and on, regaling me with stories of Lord Nazelbert’s genius-level exploits. Truly, that man can do anything.

Later, after returning to the manor, I told Lord Nazel about my day in his office. He readily gave his permission for the basic riding practice.

However, regarding the mid-air training on the same mount…

“I will handle that. Agnes, you must absolutely not practice while riding with any other man.”

He made sure to drive that point home.

Could it be that Tony was right and it really was jealousy? If so, I feel a mix of happiness and embarrassment.

I suppose I would feel complicated too if I saw Lord Nazel flying a wyvern in close contact with another woman. I really love him.

Deciding that now was the time to finally make my confession a success, I opened my mouth.

“Um, Lord Nazelbert… I…”

But just as I started to speak, I was interrupted yet again.

“Lord Nazelbert! How about a sparring session? You were mentioning the other day that you’re worried about your body getting soft!”

The one who swung the door open with such vigor was my guard, Torre.

…But did you have to do that right now?

With Torre making himself right at home in the room, a confession seemed impossible.

Ever since we returned from the Earl’s estate, I’ve tried several times, but someone always bursts in at the worst possible moment and interrupts us. Thanks to that, I haven’t been able to convey my feelings at all.

“Ugh…”

I trudged out of the office, feeling dejected.

I’ve sworn a firm oath to myself that tomorrow will be the day I finally succeed.