The Son-In-Law Of A Prestigious Household Wants A Divorce-Chapter 18: Support

CLANG!

The sword and spear collided. Anna’s eyes widened.

Again.

It was the same feeling she had experienced through several of their exchanges. She could brush it off as coincidence the first couple times, but...

After it repeated several times, she had no choice but to accept it.

He’s reading all of my moves.

Isaac was reading the trajectories of her spear at almost the same speed as she was wielding it.

The spearmanship she had learned over the years so that she could accompany her lady was being read by him after just a few exchanges.

At first, she felt unpleasant, and it roused her competitive spirit, but as it continued, she was just struck with awe.

“Haaaa!”

However, contrary to her feelings...

“...!”

Isaac anticipated her spear’s trajectory again and tried to counter her strike, but the faint ripple at the tip of her spear pushed him back. Thanks to that, he ended up falling backward.

Taking up this chance, Anna spun around once, rotated her spear and aimed its blade at Isaac’s neck with a clean movement.

“I lost.”

Seeing him raising his hand, surrendering, Anna slowly withdrew her spear.

“...Can we really call this your loss?”

She asked timidly.

Despite winning, she genuinely thought that she was the loser here.

“You completely read my spear. At some point, your sword was faster than my judgment.”

“...”

“The only reason why I lost is because you lack the basic strength and stamina. That’s it.”

“...”

“With a month of training, you’d easily defeat someone like me, Sir Isaac.”

Having a newcomer catching up with her in terms of skill put her in tremendous pressure.

She even became unsure of herself.

While yes, she was just an ordinary maid who forced herself to learn the spear and become a soldier, she still had some confidence in herself.

And yet...

“You aren’t looking for consolation from someone who had just lost to you, are you?”

Isaac let out an awkward smile.

He had already opened his book.

This book was different from his manual. It was a ‘Sparring Log’ where he wrote his reflections on his spars and noted the areas for improvement.

Seeing this, Anna called out to him shyly.

“You’re amazing, Sir Isaac.”

“Where did that come from?”

Isaac wrote down the reason for his defeat; his inadequacy in handling the last exchange.

He even made a quick sketch of Anna’s posture during her final strike and the response that he dished out.

“You seem confident even in defeat. It’s like you have this certainty that you’ll win in the end.”

“There’s no way I’d have something like that.”

Anna was slightly taken aback by the rare assertiveness in his answer.

“The reason I don’t fear defeat is because I’m grateful that I can even experience defeat.”

He continued, his gaze still locked on the ‘Sparring Log’.

“I know the pain of not even being given a chance. That’s why I don’t mind losing.”

“...”

“Also, I don’t have time to be tied down by losses. I want to keep swinging my sword.”

Seeing Isaac’s gentle smile, Anna’s heart fluttered for a second.

“Is this how you seduced Lady Rianna?”

“Why so suddenly...?”

Isaac made an embarrassed expression.

Seeing Anna’s gaze that demanded for an answer, he scratched his cheek.

“I wasn’t like this when I was seducing her... I was more...aggressive.”

“Wow.”

Since the topic had shifted to romance somehow, Anna took this opportunity.

She brought out Silverna’s name, who was still watching them from a corner.

“What do you think about my lady?”

“Silverna? She’s a good friend. Thanks to her, I got a lot of inspiration in my effort to find the direction for my sword.”

“Is that really all?”

“Sorry?”

“Haaa... as someone who’s been with her since childhood, let me be frank with you, Sir Isaac.”

Anna crouched in front of the squatting Isaac.

In a corner of the spacious training ground, the two faced each other and whispered.

“For my lady, people fall into only two categories. Enemy or comrade.”

“That’s a radical classification.”

“That’s how it is with her. Just these two.”

Anna raised her middle and index fingers.

“But recently, my lady has been acting strange.”

Her ring finger slowly rose.

“It seems like a third category is appearing. And that’s you, Sir Isaac.”

“...”

“Sir Isaac, you are a married man, so you should understand what I’m trying to say up to this point, right? There’s no need for me to elaborate on my lady’s shame, right?”

Anna threw him a sharp glare.

And he just nodded awkwardly.

“I get the gist of it.”

“The gist of it?”

“Fine, yes, I get it. I understand what you’re trying to say. Helmont and Cardias. You’re telling me to maintain an appropriate distance.”

At his roundabout confirmation, Anna let out a bright smile.

“As expected of you, Sir Isaac. They say that handsome men understand women’s hearts well, and you’re proving it true.”

“...”

“Be honest. You’ve had experiences like this before, right? I heard you were a really famous ferryman before.”

“You don’t need to know that.”

Isaac used to be a ferryman of a small boat.

Thanks to his outstanding looks, he used to have many female customers.

“In any case, you’re a married man, Sir Isaac. I trust you to maintain clear boundaries.”

“I understand.”

At that moment.

The sky above them suddenly darkened.

As the two of them—still crouching—peeked up, they saw Silverna looking down at them with her arms crossed.

Did she hear?

That question flashed through both their minds.

“Anna, it’s your duty time.”

But, Silverna just informed them calmly. From the way she acted, she didn’t seem to have heard their conversation.

“Huh? Duty? I still have two hours left, though?”

“Volten said he’s sick and needs to rest today. Since he isn’t well, you, the next person on duty, have to go in.”

“...”

Anna looked up at Silverna, her mouth clamped shut.

The guy who just ate two bowls of lunch? Is sick?

Also, didn’t she talk to him earlier?

I guess this is why she talked to him, huh...?

Anna sighed as she stood up.

“Can’t be helped. I’ll be going then.”

After bowing politely, she left.

Then, from behind her departing back, Silverna’s low, faint voice could be heard.

“What a shame~ Anna had to leave, hm? Even though she was in the middle of helping you”

“A shame indeed.”

“If you really need help, I-I can help you. I-I mean, I have some time left. A lot of time left, actually.”

“...Alright.”

After pondering for a moment, Isaac relented and accepted Silverna’s help.

“Great! Let’s go right away!”

In that instant, Silverna’s voice became excited, and she quickly grabbed her spear.

Anna, who had been trudging away, slapped her forehead with her hand and then slumped her shoulders.

Young lady, you idiot...!

You said you two are just friends, and yet you’re acting like THIS??

She now became sure that her lady, though could skillfully handle spears and hunt the Demonic Beasts of the North, was severely lacking in romantic skills.

Right now, she hasn’t realized her own feelings yet, but it’s just a matter of time...!

Hopefully, Sir Isaac will be able to handle it...

Since he was a married man, Anna trusted him to maintain the appropriate boundaries.

If Silverna tried to cross the line, he’d surely push her back.

This experience would turn into a beautiful, but cold memory, like snowflakes, but what else could be done?

He’s already taken.

It would be one thing, if he was single, but he wasn’t.

In that case, Anna would have done her best to help her mistress instead.

She headed towards the wall for the duty she was suddenly assigned to.

[The reason I don’t fear defeat is because I’m grateful that I can even experience defeat.]

[I don’t have time to be tied down by losses. I want to keep swinging my sword.]

As she walked, Isaac’s words from earlier suddenly came to mind.

No time to be tied down by losses.

It’s a textbook-like saying, but seeing someone actually practicing it made that phrase resonate even harder.

Feeling motivated in many ways, Anna gripped her spear tighter and started walking a bit faster.

*   *   *The atmosphere in Helmont was unusually bustling.

All because of one person.

“Kuheuup!”

Inside Rianna’s room.

Alois, with tears welling up in his eyes, felt a pain as if his chest was being torn apart.

For ten whole days.

He hadn’t seen Rianna for ten whole days.

This coincided exactly with the day Sharen left for the Malidean Wall.

Naturally, Rianna, who had ignored the family’s head orders, would face severe punishment when she got back.

Arandel wouldn’t show any mercy to those who defied his words, even if it was his own daughter.

That was why...

Alois had been forcibly suppressing his desire to follow her out of fear, and instead, longing for her in her room.

“Sister!”

Lying on Rianna’s bed, he buried his face in the pillow, soaking it with his tears.

*   *   *On a well-maintained carriage road.

The long line of Helmont carriages came to a stop in front of the Malidean Wall.

They arrived a bit later than other nobles, and there was a simple reason for this.

“We need to maintain our pride.”

Because if they came too early, they’d end up waiting for the other nobles.

Also, because it was Cardias who had called them, they didn’t want others to think that they were rushing over.

“Haaa! I have to go through all this trouble because of that Isaac...!”

Sharen grumbled as she popped a snack into her mouth.

In truth, she wasn’t actually too displeased.

She came for Isaac, that was for sure, but that wasn’t all. The tomboy just wanted to go on an adventure.

The carriage was stopped for inspection.

Kelsey, Sharen’s maid, quietly stepped out of the carriage.

She slightly bowed her head to the Helmont’s knights who had already come out, and entered the luggage carriage that arrived a little later.

Once inside, Kelsey called out in a small voice.

“Lady Rianna?”

At that call, a white cloth wriggled, and Rianna, who had been hiding underneath, peeked her head out.

“We’ve arrived at the Malidean Wall. I predict that the inspection will take about 2 hours since we brought many carriages.”

“...I see.”

Rianna nodded, taking out the clothes she had prepared in advance from under the white cloth.

A maid’s uniform.

Since Sharen Helmont was the only one who was supposed to come, if it became known that Rianna had also come, Cardias would definitely make a fuss about it.

Hence she planned to hide her identity the best she could.

But, even after seeing this, Kelsey still couldn’t hide her worry.

“I don’t know why you’ve come all this way, my lady, but I’m sure you have a reason for going to such lengths.”

“...”

“If there’s anything I can do to help, I’ll do my best.”

Kelsey handed a hair net and mask for her.

She then went outside to wait. A moment later, Rianna came out wearing the maid’s uniform.

Her hair was all tied up and tucked into the hair net, so her forehead was clearly visible—which was a bit embarrassing.

She also wore a headband on top to cover her red hair as much as possible, and a mask to hide her face.

“This should be sufficient, my lady.”

Kelsey gave a thumbs up with a bright smile.

Rianna nodded with satisfaction and slowly looked up at the Malidean Wall.

On top of it, a conspicuous woman was boldly looking down at Helmont’s carriages and knights.

Silverna Cardias.

Rianna remembered her.

A spear wielder with outstanding skills for her age.

A woman more than capable of shouldering Cardias’ future.

She remembered having a duel with her once.

She’s grown stronger.

She could tell just by looking.

Silverna had become stronger than when she fought with her back then.

It was a good duel. We weren’t focused on winning or losing, but learning from each other—

At that moment.

A black-haired man appeared behind Silverna.

Rianna’s eyes widened.

On one hand, she was relieved to see him—Isaac—unharmed, despite him being on the frontlines for so long.

On the other hand, when she saw him and Silverna talking about something...

When she saw them casually sharing snacks Isaac had brought.

‘...’

Before she realized it, she had clenched her fist tightly.

Confused, she lowered her head and muttered.

“I’m sure I won the duel back then.”

But then, why...?

New novel 𝓬hapters are published on ƒreewebɳovel.com.

Why do I feel like I’m the one who has lost...?