svetikya #235 - The King's Selection begins, and Felt the examinee
#235 - The King's Selection begins, and Felt the examinee
— It's morning.
Warm sunlight streamed onto Felt's face. She wiped the blurry tears from the corners of her eyes and stretched languidly.
Next would be ZunZun and Reinhard barging in without a word, waking her up with a round of teasing and jokes, and then starting the day's activities.
Without realizing it, she had gotten into the habit of waking up at this time every day.
“This is quite pleasant.”
Although being a thief was particularly free, she had to hustle outside every day and sometimes even went hungry. It was nothing like now, living a life where someone served her every day, and she had no worries about food or clothing.
Felt felt as if she had turned from an unwanted stray cat into a docile house cat, her sharp claws gradually losing their edge.
This was just an illusion Reinhard created to keep her here.
She knew this deeply, but under the subtle influence of Grandpa, Grandma, the twin maids, Rom, Reinhard, and ZunZun, she gradually accepted them, and even didn't want to think about how to escape anymore.
She was becoming as decadent as a noble.
“…It's not good to interrupt when you're feeling emotional, but it's almost time, Felt-sama. You should get up now.”
“How disgusting! You sighed so quietly, how could you hear it outside the door!?”
Felt glared at the door.
“Because Reinhard is an unreasonably overpowered cheat.”
The door to the room was opened somewhat roughly, and a handsome young man with red hair and black eyes strode in, a beautiful smile on his lips.
“Good morning! Sword Saint Family Television, today's broadcast is also brought to you by me! Your neighbor, ZunZun! What a refreshing morning! Starting the day with this song is the most appropriate! Please listen! Ah… Ah!”
Just as ZunZun was about to burst into song, a girlish pillow landed on his face.
Felt shouted unhappily.
“Why are you singing right away? Has your brain broken!?”
“Don't throw pillows, are you a child?”
“Are you saying I have a child's body!? Are you picking a fight? Okay, let's fight!”
The girl rolled up her sleeves and grappled with ZunZun.
It was unknown who she had learned it from, but she would explode when provoked and become a pure martial arts type.
Seeing the two rolling around on the bed, Reinhard didn't stop the unseemly鬧, but instead smiled and said, “It's great that Felt-sama is so energetic so early in the morning. It seems I don't have to worry about your condition today.”
“…Reinhard, has your brain broken too?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you always jump out to stop it at times like this, saying something about it not conforming to the etiquette of a young lady… Or are you planning to let me leave!?”
Felt's eyes lit up.
A caged canary couldn't help but yearn for the sky, but at the same time, she felt a slight regret in her heart, thinking that she probably wouldn't see Grandpa, Grandma, and the twin maids again.
“Felt-sama has misunderstood. I'm really just glad you're in good spirits today.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“No other meaning?”
“None.”
Felt looked at him suspiciously, but Reinhard still had a spring breeze-like smile that didn't reveal a trace of a flaw, making it impossible for her to figure out his true intentions.
“Forget it.”
She chose not to think about it, and instead said to the two, “How long do you plan to stand here? I need to get dressed! I have to get up at this time, right?”
“It's really touching that Felt-sama remembers this. But today is not just that…”
Reinhard smiled with relief, then changed the subject and said to the door, “You two, you can come in now.”
Then a pair of maids walked in from outside the door.
She had seen their faces many times, so she was very familiar with them, but the gorgeous dress they were holding up made Felt feel surprised.
The bright yellow evening gown, even if there were no luxurious ornaments on it, and she hadn't personally touched it, she knew it must be a high-end product just by looking at it.
Reinhard bowed slightly, saying quite seriously and formally, “Please put on this dress, Felt-sama.”
“What is this?”
Felt felt a little uneasy.
“New clothes.” ZunZun said with a grin, “I chose this for you because it's too difficult to find a suitable dress for Felt's child-like figure. After all, you can't prop up the chest like that big sister… Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Stop biting, stop biting, let go!”
Before he could finish speaking, someone transformed into a little wildcat, baring their fangs and biting.
“Felt-sama, please pay attention to your image.”
“Hmph!”
Under Reinhard's persuasion, Felt reluctantly let go.
ZunZun rubbed his arm, which had a tooth mark on it, and said angrily, “It's a new dress for you. You haven't had any new clothes since you came here, except for the outfit you had when you first arrived, so I chose this one for you. Hurry up and change. We agreed to take you out to play today, have you forgotten?”
“…Really?”
“Really, you have to believe me.”
He looked sincere.
Felt felt that something was wrong, but in this situation, she could either put on this ridiculously gorgeous dress, or run around the Sword Saint family's residence in her underwear.
If it were the carefree her of the past, she definitely wouldn't have cared. But now, the slum girl who had received lessons in propriety was like Eve after eating the fruit of wisdom, utterly incapable of doing such things. So, she reluctantly allowed the twin maids to dress her in the gown.
However, all of this was just the beginning...
The Sword Saint's mansion was as it always was, the scenery unchanged, but she felt like something was off, making her very uneasy.
Perhaps it was because she was wearing such a gorgeous dress.
When she walked out of the room and saw Old Man Rom standing in the courtyard, his massive form a familiar sight, her face lit up with joy. She hurried over, wanting to confide in him about her confusion.
"Old Man Rom, what are you doing here?"
"Felt, slow down! You'll fall... cough cough, anyway, slow down!"
As if afraid she would fall, Old Man Rom hurried forward to meet her.
This wasn't the Old Man Rom she knew!
Although they were as close as family, Old Man Rom rarely said such caring things!
"Old Man Rom, is your JJ soft?"
"You're the one who's soft!"
Seeing Old Man Rom's dark face turn red with anger, Felt nodded in relief. Yes, this was the usual Old Man Rom.
After greeting him, the two walked towards the dining room.
"Good morning, Lady Felt."
"Good morning, Grandma!"
Seeing the smiling old woman, Felt happily went forward. The usually taciturn Grandpa also smiled and nodded to her.
This was the ordinary daily life she knew!
Those strange feelings must have been her imagination. Just like the teacher had said before, wearing clothes that didn't suit her made her feel restless, which was why she was overthinking things.
Once she had Grandma's delicious breakfast and dessert, everything would go back to normal!
That's right!
Delicious breakfast and dessert...?
Felt sat down in her chair, but what was placed before her wasn't the usual lavish and delicious food. Instead, there was only a long, stick-shaped object and two eggs, looking so meager and pathetic that it made her question her very soul.
"...Did the Reinhart family go bankrupt?"
She couldn't think of any other reason.
The Reinhart family, without exaggeration, was treated like ancestors by the entire kingdom. If they said they were short on cash, nobles would be fighting to send them money. Even if their daily meals weren't as extravagant as those of the nobility, it shouldn't be this bad.
She looked at Grandma with questioning eyes.
"Lady Felt, this breakfast was made for you by Zunzun."
"Zunzun, you're doing this on purpose!"
"That's not true, you idiot---"
Glared at, Zunzun instinctively became angry, raising her hand as if to slap her, but she forced herself to stop.
Taking a deep breath.
"It's not like that, Felt. This is a custom from my hometown."
"A custom?"
"That's right. Whenever it's a day to decide your fate, the elders in the family will prepare this kind of food, representing their earnest expectations for their younger generation."
"Isn't that just superstition?"
"Did you hear me say 'earnest expectations'?"
Zunzun rolled her eyes, annoyed.
Besides, this was a different world with swords and magic, and even blessings and authorities. How could she call it superstition?
Felt looked troubled.
"But I don't want to eat it."
"What, did these past few days of good living spoil your palate, Felt? It's truly easy to go from simple to extravagant, but hard to go from extravagant to simple."
"That's not it! It's just that I don't dare eat anything you make. I always feel like you have ulterior motives!"
She shouted at the sarcastic Zunzun.
But now it seemed like she had no choice but to eat it. Not only Zunzun, but even Grandpa, Grandma, and even Old Man Rom were looking at her expectantly.
"Fine, fine, I'll eat it. It won't kill me anyway."
She was only complaining.
Despite how Felt seemed, she was actually quite stubborn. If she didn't want something, no amount of pleading would work.
She picked up an egg.
"Wait."
"What?"
"Eat this first."
"You really have a lot of requests."
Felt glared at Zunzun unhappily, then took the fried dough stick that the other woman offered, complaining, "I'm sure it won't taste good anyway. I'll just eat it quickly... It's delicious!!!"
She bit down with the resolve of someone facing death, then her eyes widened.
"It's delicious! What is this? It's so delicious! Zunzun, how did you make it? Why is it so delicious? It's just ordinary fried dough, why is it so delicious!?"
"Yeah, why is that? It's just a mere youtiao..."
The person being praised instead looked up at the sky with a melancholy expression, as if pondering some world-class problem, unable to find an answer.
Although Felt didn't want to admit it, she had to say that the youtiao and eggs made by Zunzun were really delicious.
It was just too little.
Usually, when Felt asked for more, Grandma would happily agree, but Zunzun refused, saying that it wouldn't be effective if she ate more, leaving her feeling unsatisfied.
After breakfast.
With Grandpa and Grandma seeing them off, Felt, Reinhardt, Old Man Rom, Zunzun, and the twin maids driving the carriage boarded the dragon carriage.
She was very happy.
This was the second time she had gone out to play since moving into the Sword Saint's mansion, so much so that she forgot to ask where they were going. And when she realized and asked, the carriage had already arrived at their destination.
Getting out of the carriage.
The scenery that greeted her made Felt's eyes widen involuntarily.
"...Isn't this the royal capital!?"