Banished Villainess

46 : Dai Nable - Seeking Knighthood

 My name is Dai, General Orlen Nable’s son, and aims to be the sword of the first prince, his highness Leddorio, when he ascends to the throne in the future. My father has always been my pride since childhood, and becoming a man as strong and reliable as him was my goal. I’ve spent countless days and nights swinging my own sword in the training halls to achieve that.

I was in such a hurry to reach adulthood to be able to stand on my foot, but then my father had told me; No matter how many times you swing that sword, that cannot be called strength. Educate yourself first.

 Yet, I hated studying so much. The main duty of knights is to protect the wellbeing of their lords, what’s the use of improving my head for that?

I wondered just why my own father won’t acknowledge my efforts.

In my attempt to rebel against him, I often skipped my classes and put more and more time to my swordsmanship.

One day, while I was training as usual, I saw the soldiers gathering and heard them whispering amongst themselves.

“That guy, getting ahead of himself just because he was the son of the general.”

“Directly invited by the knighthood, he says? With that such influential parents, the captain couldn’t have possibly refused.”

“He was certainly skilled for sure, but his head on the other hand..”
 

It was shocking. Whether it be the assumption that I used my connection, or how I was ridiculed for my foolishness, I never thought that being the son of the general, something I had been proud of my entire life, would ever shackle me down.

I beat them all down during our practice matches to prove otherwise. Be it how I used my connections or my dumbness, it would be better to prove them wrong using my strength.  If anyone has any more complaints, try beating me then.

 　Before long, I became known for being unparalleled within the entire kingdom, and soon became the close associate of his highness Leddorio, expected to be his knight in the future. Likely due to the closeness of our age, I was instructed to attend the royal academy with him which was troublesome, but I was told that I could compensate for my low grades by excelling at something else.

Much of the students ridicule me for being a muscle head but in reality, each and every single one of them are the fools. They just got big heads above their shoulders.

Sei, who was the foster brother of his highness, said that those who have been blessed with great looks are just that envied upon by others. He talks as if we’re the same thing but he’s just a creepy lady killer. Although he was far better of than others.

Before long, I had a fated meeting within the academy.

At that time I skipped the classes and was taking a nap on the school lawn when I heard a scream coming from the school building followed by scraps of something falling to my face. When I picked them up and put them close, they smelled savory.

“Cookies?”

“Kyaa! I’m sorry, were you hurt, sir?”

I heard a voice as pleasant as the sound of the wind chimes. When I raised my head to look where it came from, I saw a lady who unbelievable jumped from the third floor towards a tree slowly climbing down. She had fluffy peach-colored hair and lovely candy-like pair of eyes. I was taken aback.

At that moment, one of her hands slipped and she fell from the tree. Though it was rather close to the ground, I figured it was still within dangerous height to I hurriedly caught her to save her from the fall.

(So light! Also, she smells great…)

As I kept staring at her, she seemed to have mistaken it for anger and immensely bowed her head in apology.

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry sir! I ended up causing even more trouble…, are you alright, sir?”

“That’s my line. You’re quite the tomboy aren’t you?”

As I laughed after saying it, the lady’s cheek blushed in embarrassment. Suddenly my heart began to throb, resounding with so much noise.

“This cookie. Did you make it?”

“Yes… but my classmate said I was being impertinent and threw it out of the window…  I am a commoner after all.”

“The hell is that!?”

When I turned my glare towards the window she came from, I saw several female students seemingly assessing the situation hiding out of the window in panic. Their mischievous acts made my body flare up in anger.

“Hey, can I eat this cookie?”

“Huh? But it fell to the ground, sir…”

“Yeah, I knew it would taste good. Not even our chef can make cookies this delicious.”

As a nobility like me scavenge a food that already fell on the ground, the lady stared with her eyes open wide and started giggling afterward. Her voice and the sound of her laugh melted my heart, together with the dirt-ridden cookies.

“If you’re fine with that, I could bake you some any time.”

“Are you serious!? Then, take them to the training hall. I’m always there practicing my sword.”

That was the fated meeting between Momo and I.