Having updated the greatest black history of my life.
I trembled for a while, my deeply bowed face turning bright red with shame so intense it made me want to clutch my head.
Lady Verloren's hand patting my shoulder as if she understood everything only added to my embarrassment.
To the point where I felt a person really could die of shame.
"Um... I apologize for my rudeness. I'll be going back now."
"Yes. Go and rest. There's still about an hour left until lunch."
...Anyway, I couldn't stay like that forever, so I gave Lady Verloren a polite greeting and fled from her bedroom.
* * *
The time when Lady Verloren and I woke up was around 11 AM in modern terms.
Since it was an awkward time to conduct morning training, today's training was postponed until after lunch, and thanks to that, Friede and I were able to get about an hour of free time.
You might say that for Friede, it wasn't just an hour but rather about 7 hours of rest from the morning?
Strictly speaking, that's true, but...
"Hnyaah..."
When I actually returned to my bedroom, Friede was sound asleep, oblivious to the world.
Perhaps because there was no one to wake her up? Usually, Lady Verloren would wake me up early in the morning, and I would wake up Friede.
With those two people completely drunk and fast asleep, it's only natural that Friede couldn't escape from dreamland.
Well, it's a good thing. To be honest, I was a bit worried about what to do after entering the room on my way back.
It was awkward to think of how to excuse the fact that I had slept elsewhere - that is, in Lady Verloren's bedroom - leaving my own bedroom empty.
If Lady Verloren and I were truly close like mother and daughter, I could simply say I slept with my mother without needing an excuse, but honestly, we weren't that close of a relationship.
At least not until I made a drunken scene last night.
"..."
Ah, thinking about it makes me embarrassed again. Why on earth did I do that, really.
Feeling so mortified I wanted to crawl into a hole, I had to spend quite a while fanning my reddened face to cool it down before waking Friede.
"Friede, it's time to wake up."
"Mmmmm... five more minutes, moooom..."
Friede mumbled in her sleep with a drowsy face, tossing and turning while wrapped tightly in the blanket.
"..."
I was speechless for a moment. Now I'm even being called mom. It was so absurd and ridiculous that I almost laughed out loud.
"Even if you're tired, you need to get up now. It's almost lunchtime, how long are you planning to sleep?"
I gently pinched Friede's cheek to wake her up again, and this time Friede seemed to come to her senses a bit, slowly blinking her large eyes while yawning deeply.
"Yaaawn... oh, Hilde...?"
Friede looked up at me with a drowsy face, and upon recognizing my face, she smiled brightly. As if seeing my face alone triggered an automatic smile.
"Yes. Did you sleep well?"
I smiled back at her and gently stroked her forehead.
"You must have been very tired. Our Friede has become quite the sleepyhead."
"Um... what time is it...?"
"Let's see? Probably a little over half an hour left until noon?"
"Gasp...!"
Friede sat up abruptly in shock. She looked like a new employee who had woken up about 6 hours later than their work start time.
"No way, that late...! What about training, what about training?!"
"We decided to just rest this morning. Though by morning, there was barely an hour left anyway."
"Ah..... Thank goodness, at least I didn't miss it..."
Friede, who had been anxious that she might have missed training due to oversleeping, slumped back down with a sigh of relief.
Was she thinking Lady Verloren would punish her if she skipped training?
"What's this, did you like morning training that much? For someone who complained about dying every day."
I chuckled and made a quip. In a tone that suggested it wasn't such a big deal to skip training for one day. It was meant as a joke.
"It's not that I like it... it's just, well, it's necessary."
However, instead of laughing off the joke, Friede responded with a rather serious answer, wearing a determined expression.
"Necessary? Hmm... well, that's true. It's a bit tough, but we do need to get stronger to be recognized as heroes again."
"That's not enough. I need to become even stronger. Stronger than anyone else in the world."
Friede shook her head and said. That she needed to become strong enough to win against anyone who might become an enemy, beyond just being recognized as a hero.
"Oh... is that so?"
Had she suddenly awakened to her sense of duty as a hero? The passionate and determined look in her eyes was unfamiliar yet impressive.
"Come to think of it, before... I mean, when we first met, didn't you say you wanted to become a hero who protects everyone in the world? Is that determination from back then resurfacing? That's admirable. Very reliable."
I smiled while stroking Friede's hair. Her cute face clenching her fist with firm resolve looked somehow very admirable.
"...That was then."
Friede looked straight at me with a slightly flushed face. Her sparkling golden eyes trembled faintly, filled with an emotion I couldn't quite understand.
"What I want to protect now... isn't everyone. Now it's just one person."
The gentle smile on my lips and my hand stroking Friede's hair froze like stone.
There was no way I couldn't know who that one person was referring to.
"I'll protect you, Hilde. I want to protect you. From everyone in the world who threatens you. If I need to become stronger than anyone else to do that, I'll do it no matter what."
Friede told me.
Her true feelings. Her loving inner thoughts that she wanted to protect me, not the world, that protecting me alone was enough.
"I swear. I won't be a hero for the world, or something like the hero of Rhine, but a hero solely for you."
Friede took my right hand that had been stroking her hair in both of her hands, pressed it against her chest, and whispered her oath to me.
That she would become a hero for me, protecting me, a hero only for me.
Brunhilde's hero.
"...Thank you."
I felt intense self-loathing.
Because I wasn't the person who should be receiving that oath. Yet I was once again speaking lies instead of revealing the truth.
For my cunning and despicable action of hiding my face by tightly embracing Friede to conceal my expression clouded by guilt.
Nevertheless, I still couldn't reveal the truth to her.
I was afraid. I was too worried to open my mouth.
Of the blame that would be poured upon me when I confessed that I had been lying all along, and the hardships I would face alone after being abandoned by Friede.
And.
The immense psychological shock Friede would receive upon realizing that the Brunhilde she knew no longer existed anywhere.
My possession of this body was a tragedy.
For me, and for Friede. Perhaps even for Brunhilde herself.
And I was the author who created that tragedy.
A tragedy written using the ink of lies piled up one after another, too late to explain.
There was no way to turn back, and only one way to take responsibility.
Yes, I had to be Brunhilde.
I had to live as Friede's Brunhilde.
I had to live deceiving her for a lifetime, acting as Brunhilde for her sake for a lifetime.
Even if I would writhe in increasingly intense guilt like now whenever she showed me her pure affection.
Was the effect of alcohol still lingering? Feeling heat rise to my eyes, I squeezed them shut and hugged Friede even tighter.
While telling Friede, who was awkwardly embracing my back, words of gratitude and asking for her continued support, all while hiding my true feelings.
* * *
After finishing lunch, which I couldn't taste at all, the afternoon training began.
Perhaps because some time had passed, my mind had calmed down somewhat, so unlike earlier, I was able to face the two of them with a more composed expression.
That's a good thing. If I had kept looking gloomy, Lady Verloren or Friede would have worriedly asked if something was wrong.
For me, who had nothing to answer, that would have been more troublesome.
"From today... instead of our usual training, let's move on to a more advanced course. This is important content, so focus."
Unlike usual when we would start with physical training right away, Lady Verloren, who had come out to the training ground, began an unexpected theoretical lecture while leaning on a practice longsword.
"A warrior's martial prowess can be broadly divided into a combination of three elements. Do you know what each of these elements is?"
The three elements of a warrior. It was a truly unexpected question, but I did know the answer. It was content that had been explained in the original novel.
"Um... capacity, skill, and... karma, isn't it?"
Capacity, meaning pure physical ability.
Skill, a combination of weapon techniques like swordsmanship and combat experience.
And the last one.
The intangible force that transforms humans into superhumans.
Karma.
"You know well. The capacity and skill of you two have reached a level that can be considered almost complete through the training so far. At least, you've definitely surpassed the level that can be improved through training."
"Um... does that mean..."
"Yes. So what I'm going to teach you today is the last thing. The especially important power among those three elements. It's about karma."
Lady Verloren was saying she would teach us how to handle the power of karma.
She said that although we might not be able to reach that level with our current state, even understanding the theory would be of great help.
It was an eye-opening statement.
Saying she would teach us how to handle the power of karma was no different from saying she would pass down the foundation of being a high-ranking knight.