Chapter 193 - THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM (1)

Terms used in this chapter:

Cost-performance ratio?– an equation used to balance the cost of an item against its effectiveness.

Law of conservation of mass?– scientific law which means that even if something changed its form, its mass/weight would still remain the same.

Core exercises?– exercise that trains the muscles in the pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen, like push-ups, sit-ups, and abdominal crunches.

5 am.

Jude hadn’t set an alarm clock, but he opened his eyes at that time.

His sleeping hours weren’t that long in the first place, and after his metamorphosis, he only needed 3 hours of sleep in order to fully regain his strength, so he usually slept for around 2-4 hours every day.

‘3 hours and 30 minutes.’

His sleeping time for today.

After he checked the time, Jude slowly raised himself and headed to the corner of a back room where a large barrel tub he had brought for bathing was placed.

‘Taking a shower in the morning is a must.’

Jude took off his clothes as he walked, and he stood in the middle of the barrel tub and tore a scroll.

<Waterfall>.

The lukewarm water pouring down like a waterfall woke him up, and the drowsiness he felt dissipated.

“Hoo.”

This feeling was the reason why he made this scroll.

<Waterfall> magic was also the best way to make water that poured down.

‘However, I should still research on making something similar to a shower.’

The water falling down from the shower should be less than the <Waterfall> magic used in combat, and its power should also be weak, so I should use cheap paper to make the scroll, though it wouldn’t have a very good cost-performance ratio if I have to use it every time I shower.

In short, it’s a luxury.

‘It’s a bit inconvenient.’

He had to use it once when he began his shower, and then use it again to rinse himself.

And in between those two times, he also had to recycle and wash himself with the water from the first <Waterfall> spell.

‘Well, to begin with, this is the level of technology here.’

They said that the biggest reason why perfume was developed in the western world was because people did not frequently take baths, and it was true to some extent, but was also not the full reason for it.

‘Because they didn’t have things like hot water gushing down when they turned the faucet.’

Up until the Middle Ages – no, up until the modern times, bathing was considered a luxury by most people.

It was difficult to get enough clean water to wash one’s body, and one had to boil it hot too.

‘You can’t just ignore the price of the fuel.’

And the effort involved.

They had to boil water, transfer it to a bathtub, and boil water again for rinsing… It was a luxury that consumed a lot of time, money, and manpower.

In that sense, using <Waterfall> magic for a morning shower had a good cost-performance ratio.

‘Anyway… it was really difficult in persuading Maja.’

Maja was the one who suffered the most when Jude’s wake-up time became earlier.

She was his exclusive maid, so she was not supposed to get up later than her master.

In addition, Maja had to do a lot of various tasks in the morning, which included helping him with washing his face, so she had to be up almost two hours earlier.

‘Just sleep. It’s okay. I’ll do it myself.’

‘But young master!’

It took him almost a month to persuade her.

‘No, it was more of an order than a persuasion.’

He was psychologically reluctant to force Maja in doing that, since she was like his real older sister, but he couldn’t help it.

Because the dark circles around Maja’s eyes had noticeably increased.

‘Anyway.’

After using the shampoo and conditioner, Jude once again used the <Waterfall> spell before he left the room carrying the large barrel tub full of water.

‘Throw out the water… and then begin my exercise.’

Once he was back in his room, Jude relaxed for a short time before he started his morning workout.

He had been exercising in the morning everyday since he became Landius’ disciple, and he had now become uncomfortable for the whole day if he skipped doing it for a day.

‘Let’s do it lightly for 1 hour and 30 minutes.’

It was the time Jude had invested every day for his morning workout.

After he woke up, he’d take a shower and dry himself for 15 minutes. He would then exercise for an hour and a half before taking a shower and drying himself for 15 minutes again.

‘Good, I’ve gained some weight.’

Jude currently weighed in the 75-80 kg range.

He had suddenly grown taller because of his metamorphosis, but even if it was some fantasy metamorphosis, the law of conservation of mass still applied.

Right after his first metamorphosis, he was very thin and still in the 60-70 kg range. But Jude had now gained a weight that matched his height as a result of his hard work.

‘My weight is in the late 70-80 kg range, and my height is in the 180-190 cm range.’

Jude looked all over his body before he slowly nodded his head.

‘Good, let’s keep it at this range for a while.’

In the third episode of?Legend of Heroes, Jude had grown into the 180-190 cm range even when he didn’t meet Landius.

His body had growth potential in the first place, but it became possible for him to grow a bit taller due to his metamorphosis.

‘I would like it to be around 185-190 cm.’

But height wasn’t something that he’d get just because he wanted it, so he left it to the heavens.

‘Good. Moving on, today will be abdominal exercises.’

He mostly did exercises for his entire body, but he always ended it with exercises that tightened his abs.

And he had to do one more set than usual now.

Because he didn’t know when Cordelia might change her mind.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Jude unknowingly cleared his throat before he began to focus on his workout routine again.

And after an hour and 20 minutes.

Before he knew it, the sun had risen outside his window, and he could hear the sound of the chirping birds from afar.

And one more.

“Jude. Kyaa?!”

Cordelia had appeared with Dahlia when she had quickly opened his bedroom door, and she screamed and covered her face with both hands afterwards.

It was because of the sweaty and hot naked body of Jude, though to be exact, it was only his upper body that was naked, but anyway, it was because he was in front of her.

[A-are you crazy? Why are you naked?]

[Because I’m exercising?]

Jude immediately responded to her hastily sent <Message> magic, and Cordelia looked in front of her again as she peered in between her fingers that covered her face.

She could see that Jude was clearly wearing pants properly.

In terms of exposure, it was much less than when they went to the outdoor hot spring.

Cordelia unconsciously stared at Jude’s abs before she raised her head and sent a <Message> magic again.

[Why did you take off your clothes?]

[Because I’ll be sweating?]

It was uncomfortable if he sweated while wearing clothes.

Cordelia was forced to nod at Jude’s argument that was rational and logical like always.

[Anyway, quickly put on your clothes. You do know that there’s a tea party this morning, right?]

[I know. But let me just finish one more set of this.]

[What?]

[Only one more set.]

Jude answered briefly, and he lied down on his back and began his abdominal exercises, or to be exact, the so-called core exercises.

His body that was as beautiful as a sculpture moved smoothly and precisely, and Dahlia admired it as she slightly blushed.

“Miss, Mr. Bayer’s body is amazing.”

Dahlia said in a whisper, and Cordelia replied as the corners of her mouth slightly raised up.

“Is that so? Jude has a fit body, huh?”

“Yes, it’s incredible.”

“Hmph, he’s my Jude, so this much is normal.”

Cordelia shrugged her shoulders and then looked back at Jude, while Maja tried to hold back her laughter.

Because Cordelia looked very cute when she hmphed and bragged about Jude.

Anyway, around 30 minutes passed after that.

Jude and Cordelia then had breakfast served by the employees led by Maja, and they left their accommodation after dressing up.

“Recently, we’ve gone to tea parties every day.”

“Because this is the peak right before the founding anniversary.”

Since it was the 300th?founding anniversary of the country, all the local nobles who usually didn’t attend the anniversary celebration had now gathered in the royal capital.

So it was only natural for tea parties to be held every day because there were many things they had to do, such as exchanging information and building friendships with one another.

“Do men go to hunting competitions or something like that?”

“It would have something like that if it were in the other parts of the country, but this is the royal capital. So instead of hunting, we have something like a chess meeting or a simple drinking party.”

“Drinking? You’re going there too?”

“No, it’s for my father and your father.”

It wasn’t just Jude and Cordelia who were busy these days.

Count Bayer and Count Chase also had to go on several meetings in a day.

“But in the first place, it’s not normal to have a tea party in the morning.”

“You’re right, because it’s usually held in the afternoon.”

It was common to have a light tea party in between meals, so for tea parties that had as many as 10 participants, it was always held between lunch and dinner – in other words, it was a kind of unspoken rule to hold tea parties in the afternoon.

“Now then, let’s do our best today. It seems that the effect of our promotion is good.”

“Are you talking about the shampoo and conditioner? Are there many people who want to buy it?”

“Yes. Yesterday, three merchants from the royal capital had visited.”

“Wooow.”

Five days after they met with Princess Daphne and the other royal family members.

Jude and Cordelia had participated in seven tea parties in the past five days, and they actively promoted the shampoo and conditioner.

“It’s all thanks to our advertising model.”

Jude smiled and lightly touched Cordelia’s hair, and Cordelia hmphed before she touched her hair too.

Her flowing hair that was soft, smooth, and shiny.

“Okay, I’ll have to do my best again today.”

“I’ll trust in my princess.”

“Yes, I’ll make it completely sell out.”

Shampoo and conditioner had been made into the specialty products of the frontier city of Bailon.

As a result, it developed the city’s commerce and increased their tax revenues, making Count Bayer and Count Chase wealthier.

Jude and Cordelia smiled at the same time, while Maja and Dahlia who were watching the two from the opposite side also smiled.

‘They’re cute.’

‘They’re very sweet again today.’

And around a dozen minutes later.

Upon arriving at their destination, Jude and Cordelia straightened their clothes and got out of the carriage.

The tea party was hosted by Count Morrigan, one of the 7 southern families.

Jude faced the entrance of the splendidly decorated mansion, holding out his hand to Cordelia before saying.

“Now then, let’s do our best today.”

“Yes!”

Cordelia energetically responded, and she took Jude’s hand before the two entered together.

***

Tea party.

A gathering where you could enjoy drinking tea and eating snacks.

In other words, it was basically a gathering where they sit together to chat.

After they greeted each other and the tea and sweets were served around, these large-scale tea parties would usually split into small groups which began their own meetings.

‘Hmm…there are some people whom I’ve only seen for the first time.’

Cordelia sipped her tea as she gazed at the young ladies sitting at the same table.

Three faces she knew, and two faces she didn’t know.

The faces she knew were Sylvia and Viola from the 12 northern families. There was also Rachel from the Banquet of Swords.

The faces she didn’t know were Count Gerard’s Lady Titania, and Viscount Baraen’s Lady Annie, who were both nobles from the royal capital.

The host, Lady Medb, was walking around the place.

Hmm, this is good.

First of all, I know 3 out of 5 here, so I feel comfortable.

‘And Sylvia liked the shampoo and conditioner.’

She was a noble lady who had said that the Count Crossbell family were willing to invest in it, so she would also be a good help in promoting it.

‘Good, good. Today will also be an exciting promotion time.’

And it did happen.

Both Titania and Anne were greatly interested in the shampoo and conditioner.

But even then, it was impossible to just talk about the shampoo and conditioner, so their conversation had eventually shifted to another topic.

“So… in the end, how far did you go?”

“Excuse me?”

At Titania’s question, Cordelia asked in surprise, and Titania replied with a giggle.

“You know…”

“How many times have you run away from home?”

Annie also asked and giggled, and one could tell that their eyes were filled with lewd thoughts.

“Ahem, ahem. I don’t think we should talk about this in a place like this.”

Sylvia cut in their conversation, but Titania and Annie did not easily give up, perhaps because of the cultural differences between the royal capital and the northern region.

“Don’t say that.”

“Please tell us just one story.”

Although the two looked cute when they asked her, Cordelia had nothing to say. She didn’t have anything to talk about.

She couldn’t just talk about their traveling here and there because she had always been on Jude’s back at that time.

But it was then.

“Ehem, ehem… Lady Cordelia. Can I tell what happened at the Banquet of Swords?”

Cordelia blinked her eyes and slightly bit her lips at Rachel’s suggestion.

Because she remembered what she did at the Banquet of Swords.

‘W-will that be okay though?’

They saw me kissing his cheek.

Yes, yes, that’s not a big deal.

We’re engaged, so something like that is fine.

At that time, Cordelia was in a situation where she couldn’t think of anything else because of her red face, so she had soon forgot much of what had happened that day.

“Yes, it’s fine.”

“Ahem, ahem, then…”

Sylvia and Viola were also greatly interested when Rachel talked about the match between Jude and Lucian at the Banquet of Swords, and what had happened between Jude and Cordelia.

Cordelia also felt very strange when she heard the story of herself and Jude from the eyes of a third party.

‘I did that?’

Cordelia had looked at Jude with affectionate eyes, and Jude had hugged her waist as he passionately gazed at her.

“I will definitely win for you.”

“Don’t get hurt, my beloved.”

Rachel acted like the two and even changed her voice and touched her lips on the back of her hand, and the other young ladies, who understood what that meant, clapped their hands as they squealed.

“That’s so sweet.”

“It’s like a love story.”

As Titania and Anne spoke, Viola looked at Cordelia with dreamy eyes.

And Sylvia.

“Our Cordelia has grown up.”

She looked at her with well pleased eyes.

‘N-no. That’s not how it went.’

The story has twisted a bit.

I only did it on the cheek, and not more than that.

But she could not say that given the mood. It seemed like the misunderstanding would grow bigger if she said something wrong.

“So Mr. Jude Bayer always went with Lady Cordelia?”

“Does he always do that? Does he always escort you?”

“Ah, that’s right. He often escorted her during the Banquet of Swords, so everyone was envious. They really stood out.”

Titania, Annie, and Rachel spoke in turn.

Viola stared at Cordelia with sparkling eyes, while Sylvia quietly smiled and sent her glance to do it in moderation.

‘W-why? Is it that strange?’

Is a fiancé escorting his fiancée strange?

Isn’t that something natural?

When Cordelia asked Sylvia in a small voice, Sylvia bitterly smiled as if she found it preposterous, and she said.

“Of course not. You don’t do that when you enter a place. Are you thinking that it’s common for couples to hold hands like that, or your escort to always go wherever you go?”

“We don’t do that in the royal capital.”

“Look at the other couples going around later. You’ll immediately see the difference.”

This time, Sylvia, Titania, and Rachel spoke in turn.

“I-is that so?”

“It is.”

At Cordelia’s question, Titania, Annie, and Rachel firmly replied.

“If that’s the case, do you always hold hands like that?”

“Eh?”

“I mean, how you hold hands. Lovers do it more like this…”

Titania’s words trailed off as she clasped her right and left hands together.

“It looks a bit different from how you hold hands normally, right?”

Her fingers were literally interlocked with each other completely.

Cordelia nodded without realizing it, and Titania giggled and spoke.

“Try it later. It will feel different, okay?”

Clasping hands.

As Cordelia stared at Titania’s interlocked fingers, she slowly nodded.

***

‘Clasping hands.’

Clasping hands.

It’s not a big deal.

We’re just holding each other’s hands.

‘Still…’

Clasping hands.

No, it’s not like I really want to clasp my hands with Jude.

It’s just… because others might think it’s weird.

You’re engaged, but you haven’t even clasped your hands?

Are you really engaged?

‘T-that’s right. It might expose our acting!’

So this is necessary.

Yes, yes, we’re pretending to be a fantasy couple who are head over heels with each other, so we have to do it.

‘Clasping hands, clasping hands.’

I have a lot of chances to do that.

Jude will escort me when I leave.

Then easily.

Yes, I’ll do it easily.

‘Clasping hands, clasping hands.’

Cordelia made up her mind and touched her pounding heart as she waited for the time when they would leave, and the time when she faced Jude again finally came.

“Did you have fun?”

“Yes, the young ladies I newly met today were nice.”

Cordelia calmly answered as she glanced at Jude’s hand, and Jude stretched out his hand to her like always.

And Cordelia realized it at that moment.

How one held hands with their escort.

When a woman lightly raises her hand, a man would gently lift it as if he was supporting the woman’s hand.

So in other words…

‘I can’t clasp his hands if he escorts me this way!’

What is this? What is this?

I was looking forward to it!

No, I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I just wanted to try it, okay? Just a little bit…anyway!

[Cordelia? Is there a problem?]

At that very moment, Jude sent her a <Message> magic, and Cordelia groaned for a while before turning her head away.

Because she couldn’t say that she wanted to clasp his hands no matter how much she wanted to do so.

‘That’s right. He’ll figure it out if he sees my eyes.’

So I should just turn my head away.

[It’s nothing. Let’s hurry.]

[Cordelia?]

But Cordelia no longer replied, and Jude was confused.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

Did I make a mistake?

I just did it like usual. I didn’t do anything particularly strange.

[Aren’t we going?]

[Ah, yes, let’s go. Let’s get going.]

At her slightly blunt message, Jude quickly responded and moved forward.

And around 30 minutes later.

Jude had been worrying about Cordelia who was still sulking a bit, and they faced a new development as soon as they arrived at their accommodation.

“You’re here.”

Ga?l and Adelia.

Ga?l didn’t look much different than usual, but Adelia looked very tired as there were some dark circles in her eyes.

‘As I thought, they’ve become busy.’

Because of Cordelia’s actions, the Black Moon’s plan was known throughout the royal capital.

The Royal Guards, who had been on alert for the upcoming founding anniversary celebration, began to investigate the Black Moon, and the situation had been getting busier day by day because of the new evidences they found in the process.

‘Because the Royal Guard Magic Corps solely exists for the security of the royal capital.’

Naturally, the wizards under the Royal Guard Magic Corps became busy, and since Adelia was one of their commanders, she was forced to work overtime.

“It’s hard, it’s hard… it’s been a few days since I’ve been up all night.”

Adelia muttered, resting her head on Ga?l’s shoulder, and Cordelia glanced at their hands instead of the heads and shoulders of the two.

Because she wanted to see if they were clasping each other’s hands.

‘Clasped hands.’

Their fingers were tightly interlocked with each other.

[Cordelia.]

Clasping hands.

[Cordelia.]

I’m not saying that I really want to do it.

I-it’s just for our acting.

[Cordelia?]

“Yes?!”

Cordelia came to her senses at his third call, exclaiming in surprise, and Jude quickly sent a <Message> magic again.

[Are you okay? What exactly happened at the tea party?]

[No, nothing happened. So, what were you saying?]

[There’s something I want to talk about. You could say that there’s something I want to ask of you.]

[Huh?]

Ask?

What do you want to ask?

Jude took Cordelia to his room first, and once inside, they sat down face to face and used <Message> magic again.

[As you may have felt it over the past five days, things have changed a lot from the original.]

Due to their early deterrence of the barbarians’ plan to invade the northern region of the country, a large number of nobles who would not have originally participated in the founding celebration had now come to the royal capital.

Count Bayer and Count Chase.

Two powerhouses of the north.

[A lot of things have changed because of the Rogue Master’s activities.]

The Lord Protector’s influence had decreased a little, and many of the nobles who would become his hands and feet had to withdraw from the founding celebration.

Added to that was the Black Moon’s problem.

The Black Moon wouldn’t collapse or be destroyed just because of this problem, but it was at least impossible for them to continue their original terror plan.

[We twisted history a lot. So we have to take that risk too.]

The situation had changed.

It had now become a much different situation from the original that Jude and Cordelia knew.

Therefore, the response of the enemies would also be different.

[I’ve made some predictions. But… there are times when calculations alone are not enough.]

He needed her intuition in this case.

Something that couldn’t be explained by logic alone.

[Cordelia, what do you think they will do?]

I mean, where and how do you think the enemies will attack?

Cordelia’s genius combat sense was triggered during combat.

She had the ability to see the flow of the battlefield by gathering clues yet not conscious of all the variables, such as the atmosphere, breathing, their gazes, and so on.

So it was highly likely that she could not fully demonstrate that ability now since the battle had yet to begin.

But even so.

Cordelia’s instincts were like that of a beast.

“I…”

Cordelia slowly opened her mouth and spoke, and Jude nodded his head.

He combined his own calculations with Cordelia’s intuition in order to make a clearer plan.