Why do happy days pass by so quickly?
The same goes for a sweet nap.
The pleasant dreams that occasionally come do not last long, and one quickly wakes up.
In contrast, the nightmares that come at least once a year torment a person for a very long time.
It was the same now.
"Uuuugh—!!!"
Martial conditioning was a nightmare itself for Julian.
In the first place, there was no way Julian, who had spent his entire life lying down or sitting on velvet cushions, would have any muscle.
His body, filled with softness instead of muscle, was at a level where even a five-year-old child could not be matched.
Nevertheless, Julian tried.
"Hnnngh!!"
Julian, the boy who was furthest from the word 'effort,' finally straightened his trembling arms.
Having succeeded in straightening his arms, Julian collapsed.
"I did it... I did it!"
At the pride of having accomplished it himself, Julian was on the verge of tears.
"What do you mean you did it!"
At that moment, Kaelen, who could no longer bear it, got angry and pulled the collapsed Julian up.
"You did two! Two!!! Huh? Do you understand? You only did two push-ups!"
"It was a truly long and painful journey."
Kaelen was about to go crazy with frustration.
'Is this... really an Astral Vessel?'
He was now on the verge of falling into self-doubt, wondering if he had misjudged Julian's talent.
"Heeung... I'm tired..."
Looking at Julian, who had a face as if he were carrying all the burdens of the world after just two push-ups, made him feel suffocated.
How could he make this lazy bum naturally build up his strength?
As Kaelen was pondering deeply, he spotted Captain Thorne climbing the mountain, carrying food and clothes as usual.
"That knight is having a hard time too... wait... a hard time? A hard time?"
Kaelen felt a flash of light before his eyes.
"That's right! There was such a way!"
Looking down at Julian, who was whining that his arms hurt, Kaelen laughed silently and eerily.
'You brat, now you'll have to move to live, even if you don't want to. Hahaha!'
*****
"Hmm hmm hmm—!"
Sophie, who had been Julian's exclusive maid, was spending leisurely and peaceful days.
"Sophie! Are you playing again!?"
Sophie, who was embroidering while humming, spotted two maids walking somewhere with heavy wooden water buckets on their shoulders.
"Oh my! It's Clara and Mary? Are the water buckets heavy?"
"Do you even have to ask!?"
Even though the maids named Clara and Mary glared at her with fire in their eyes, Sophie didn't even blink.
"Yes! I'm asking."
"You little!?"
As the angry Clara put down her water bucket and stomped over, Sophie giggled and stood up from her seat.
"Oh? The water bucket!"
"What!?"
As Sophie pointed at the water bucket in surprise, the startled Clara hurriedly turned around, but the water bucket on the cobblestones was firmly in its place without even a slight movement.
Only then did Clara, who realized she had been tricked, fume.
"Do you really want to get a scolding!?"
"Who was it that teased me, saying 'serves you right,' when I became the Young Lord's exclusive maid?"
Sophie crossed her arms and raised one corner of her eye.
Then, perhaps because she had a guilty conscience, Clara couldn't say anything, like a mute who had eaten honey.
"Hmph! I have to enjoy my vacation, so hurry up and move the water buckets to the kitchens!"
As Sophie leisurely ate a pastry and crossed her legs, Clara and Mary breathed heavily through their noses and walked down the sun-drenched courtyard with the water buckets on their shoulders.
"Serves you right!"
Sophie, who teased the two maids to the end, closed her eyes and enjoyed the leisure that had come after many years.
But then, a familiar voice was heard.
"Sophie."
"Captain Thorne?"
Thorne had come to see her.
Instinctively feeling a sense of foreboding, Sophie's neck shrank.
"Don't tell me... the Young Lord has come down from the mountain?"
"Not yet."
"Phew...!"
"The Lord is calling for you. Go quickly."
"Wh-Why?"
"You'll know when you get there."
Sophie's fingertips trembled.
She went to see Lord Cedric with heavy steps.
Sophie, who found Cedric and Eleanor enjoying tea under a large silk parasol on the terrace, walked with quick steps.
"Did you... call for me?"
As Sophie carefully approached and asked, Eleanor, instead of Cedric, spoke in a gentle voice.
"It has already been three months since Julian went up the mountain to receive Grandmaster Vaelor's teachings."
"Yes."
"I sent him away with a heavy heart, but I'm worried if Julian is doing well. He probably lived without any hardship, so life in the wilderness won't be easy. So, you should go up and see Julian. And also ask him if he needs anything."
"Ah, I understand. I'll be back quickly."
Fearing that she might be told to stay by Julian's side and assist him, Sophie quickly left the terrace.
"Can we trust her?"
As Eleanor asked, looking at the receding Sophie with worried eyes, Cedric smiled broadly.
"Sophie is a child who has attended to Julian without any complaints until now. She knows Julian as well as Lillian, so don't worry too much, my love."
"Yes, we'll have to trust Sophie."
*****
"What should I do?"
Sophie, who had unexpectedly received the expectations of the Lord and Lady, had to climb the mountain with heavy steps.
How long had she walked?
Sophie listened to the sound of splashing water coming from somewhere.
"What's that sound?"
Her curiosity piqued, Sophie walked in the direction of the sound as if possessed by something.
Arriving at the stream, Sophie was startled and shouted.
"Y-Young Lord!?"
Sophie found Julian squatting by the stream and scrubbing clothes against the rocks.
"...Sophie?"
Tears welled up in the eyes of Julian, who was doing laundry with a haggard appearance.
"Sophie!"
"Yes! It is I, Sophie, the loyal maid of the Young Lord. But what on earth is going on? Why is the Young Lord doing laundry...?"
At that moment, Sophie realized that there had been no laundry sent down from Julian for the past two months.
Thanks to that, she had been able to spend her time leisurely, and the reason was that Julian had been doing his own laundry!
At that moment, Julian, who had spotted Sophie, threw down the wooden washing bat he was holding and ran over urgently.
"Sophie! Listen carefully to what I'm about to say."
"...Yes?"
Julian grabbed Sophie's shoulders with his swollen and chapped hands.
"Hurry back to Father and deliver my message!"
"S-Speak!"
"It seems... Father has been scammed. The old man named Kaelen is a child abuser. L-Look at this! That old man is making me do laundry and hunt every day! Your one and only Young Lord is being exploited for labor with these tender hands!"
"Labor exploitation!?"
Sophie, a maid of a noble house, reacted sensitively to the words 'labor exploitation.'
She nodded with a face full of resolute will.
"Don't worry, Young Lord! I will definitely deliver the truth!"
"Yes... I finally understand how hard it must have been for you... You've suffered a lot, Sophie."
"Then... will you forgive my rudeness and mistakes so far?"
"No."
"..."
"Hurry down and report the situation here without leaving anything out. If necessary, the estate guards... yes! Send Captain Thorne too! Got it!?"
"Yes! Just trust this Sophie!"
"I'm counting on you!"
Sophie clenched her two fists and forced a tearful farewell, leaving Julian at the riverside.
"Labor exploitation! To think that a renowned grandmaster of the Empire would be doing such an inhuman thing!"
"It's been a while."
"Kyaak!"
Sophie, who was fuming and going down the slope, almost misstepped and rolled down at the voice coming from somewhere.
"G-Grandmaster."
Sophie, who belatedly spotted Kaelen, stammered.
In the meantime, Kaelen approached.
One step, two steps.
Kaelen, who came right up to the terrified Sophie's nose, said with a benevolent face.
"You are a cute child. Full of loyalty, and full of love for the Young Lord you serve. But think about it. Why do you think the child named Julian has become lazy?"
"That's because... it's the Young Lord's nature..."
At the answer that flowed from between Sophie's mumbling lips, Kaelen shook his head.
Kaelen's fingertip pointed at Sophie.
"It's because of you."
"M-Me?"
No way!?
'Is this old man going to work me to the bone this time!?'
As the startled Sophie's eyes widened and she swallowed dryly, Kaelen's head nodded up and down.
"Yes! With a reliable and excellent maid who does whatever is asked of her, isn't it only natural that Julian would become lazy?"
"You're right."
Sophie quickly agreed.
"Julian is currently training both his body and mind through valuable labor. This is because a healthy mind resides in a healthy body. My sincere intentions... you would understand, right?"
"Of course!"
"If you are worried about the suffering Julian, then go back to Lord Cedric right now and tell him everything you have seen and heard without adding or subtracting anything. Of course, if you do that, Julian will be able to return to the estate as early as tomorrow."
Kaelen turned his back with his hands behind him, leaving a lingering impression.
"The choice is yours."
With these words, Kaelen disappeared as suddenly as he had come.
"The choice is mine..."
Sophie looked up at the mountain and thought of Julian, who was probably still doing laundry at the stream.
"Yes! I've decided!"