Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter: Volume 2 (eBook)

Riku Nanano (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2022
250 Seiten
J-Novel Club (Verlag)
978-1-7183-8600-6 (ISBN)

Infos

With Tina and Ellie safely enrolled in the Royal Academy, Allen's troubles seem to be behind him. But his tutoring duties are far from over, and his return to the royal capital brings him face-to-face with old friends and enemies alike. Allen's former classmate and self-proclaimed mistress Lydia Leinster, esteemed as 'the Lady of the Sword,' is far from happy that Allen won't be joining her in the prestigious ranks of the court sorcerers; Lydia's younger sister Lynne is upset that he has been tutoring her newfound rival Tina; and their mother, the powerful Duchess Leinster, hopes to recruit him into a mysterious new scheme. Allen's own sister isn't thrilled to find him keeping secrets from her either. Meanwhile, the jealous Prince Gerard is still nursing a grudge, and his factions of conservative nobles are less than pleased that a commoner like Allen is educating members of the kingdom's most prestigious families.

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With Tina and Ellie safely enrolled in the Royal Academy, Allen's troubles seem to be behind him. But his tutoring duties are far from over, and his return to the royal capital brings him face-to-face with old friends and enemies alike. Allen's former classmate and self-proclaimed mistress Lydia Leinster, esteemed as "e;the Lady of the Sword,"e; is far from happy that Allen won't be joining her in the prestigious ranks of the court sorcerers; Lydia's younger sister Lynne is upset that he has been tutoring her newfound rival Tina; and their mother, the powerful Duchess Leinster, hopes to recruit him into a mysterious new scheme. Allen's own sister isn't thrilled to find him keeping secrets from her either. Meanwhile, the jealous Prince Gerard is still nursing a grudge, and his factions of conservative nobles are less than pleased that a commoner like Allen is educating members of the kingdom's most prestigious families.

Textauszug

Chapter 2

“I’m so sorry. I know you were at the Royal Academy entrance ceremony today.”

When I arrived at the entrance of the royal guard’s maneuvering ground, escorted by a palace guard, I found Lydia and Lynne’s older brother, the future Duke Leinster, waiting for me. His Highness, Lord Richard Leinster was the very image of a knight—tall and handsome, with a head of curly red hair. He was also decked out in his magnificent knight’s uniform; he must have been participating in the ceremony. I couldn’t help being impressed by his looks the moment I laid eyes on him.

Oh no. I feel as though he just beat me at something.

After all, he was also the enemy of any man who was unlucky in love. He had once casually told me, “I’m quite a hit with the ladies in the guard, you know? Still, I’m engaged, and I can’t exactly date my subordinates. It’s not easy having to turn them down and send them away in tears every time.”

All right, I’ll admit it: I had no luck in love at the Royal Academy, or at the university either!

What a depressing admission. Of course, because a certain someone had dragged me along when she’d skipped years of school, I didn’t have many friends my own age, and my plate had been more than full with a string of difficult problems over the past four years. The few female friends I had managed to make had all become distant at some point or another, and while I was confident that my underclassmen at the university didn’t dislike me, they were always smirking at me. But I digress.

Lord Richard was one of the two vice commanders of the knights of the royal guard and was ranked second in the organization. His glorious accomplishments over the past few years included subduing massive bandit gangs and monsters. The able nobleman was twenty-five years old and, like myself, a victim—we both tended to get drawn into danger and wind up holding the short end of the stick.

Victims of whom, you ask? I imagine you can deduce that for yourself.

“It’s been far too long, Your Highness.” I greeted Richard deferentially, mindful of the other knights nearby.

“Give it a rest, Allen,” he told me. “We know each other too well to stand on ceremony, and they’re all veterans I can trust. You can relax.”

“Thank you, Richard. I’d love to catch up with you, but it doesn’t look as though we have time for that.”

“You’ve got that right,” he admitted after a rueful pause. I couldn’t tell if the look in his eyes was resignation or enlightenment—at any rate, he was exhausted. He seemed to comprehend the cruel destiny that lay in store for him.

I had been catching glimpses of what was going on behind him for some time, and I could hear the clash of swords and the roar of spells activating. I mustered the courage needed to take a proper look, turned my eyes to what was happening in the maneuvering ground...and groaned.

What does she think this is, an execution ground? Doesn’t she realize we’re in the middle of the royal capital?

I promptly looked away again. I’m convinced that, sometimes, escapism is the best thing for a person.

“It appears we’re running out of time,” I said. “She’s furious. What’s the plan?”

“We don’t have much longer before they’re all wiped out. And once they are, I’m next,” Richard explained. “I assume my mother knows about this too, and that means my life hangs by a thread! Oh, how I curse my ill fortune. Allen, I want your sympathy and comfort. Please get me out of this!”

“I sympathize with your position, and I can offer you some comfort,” I said. “But Richard...”

“Yes?”

“I wish you’d stop using me as a human shield.”

Richard was cowering out of sight behind me; he knew that Lydia had good eyes. I wished he would just face her himself.

“Allen, I’m merely a knight of the guard,” he said. “You can’t expect me to face her head-on when she’s angry. I don’t have the kind of deviant kink it would take to willingly charge into purgatory!”

“But you don’t mind sending me?” I asked.

“I’m sure you’ll be all right,” he said. “You may lose a little blood, but some sacrifices have to be made.”

“You could have phrased that in a less unsettling manner.”

The number of people standing in the maneuvering ground was decreasing ever faster as we spoke; they truly wouldn’t last much longer.

I guess I’ve got no choice, I thought as I shoved Richard ahead of me as a shield. Don’t bother resisting; it’s my belief that hardships should be shared. Now stop struggling and let’s go die—ahem, try to sort this out.

“S-Stop it, Allen! Th-Think of my lovely, lovely fiancée!” Richard begged.

“I know,” I said. “It’s strange, but that makes me want to bring you with me even more. Death is just what a knight with women falling all over him deserves! But don’t worry—you’ll get off with moderate burns. Probably. I hope. You’ll live, in any case; she knows how to hold back, albeit not by much.”

“Y-You call that ‘holding back’?! Th-The only people who can laugh off her attacks are you and my mother!”

“Lisa is so far beyond me that there’s no comparison. Anyway, she’s like a playful cat; she could never seriously hurt someone she cares about.”

Richard took a moment to process my words. “I can’t believe you really mean that,” he grumbled, slumping exhaustedly. “O God, why must you give me such trials? Please, save them all for Allen—I’m sure my sister would like that.”

I’m sorry to say that she won’t hesitate to slice up any run-of-the-mill god.

We were approaching the maneuvering ground one step at a time. A reek of blood filled the air, accompanied by screams and faint cries of pain.

I can’t let the girls see this, I thought. They might stain their dresses, for one thing. Hm, what’s this? What are you sobbing like that for, Richard? Keep your feet moving. One, two. One, two. There; that’s the spirit.

“She’s a nice girl, deep down. You know that as well as I do,” I said, keeping my voice gentle, as though I were soothing a small child. “Can’t you have some faith in your sister?”

“Now I know just what my sisters are talking about when they call you mean,” Richard answered listlessly.

How rude. I’m kind to everyone, no matter the time or place—I just make an exception for knights with women falling all over them.

I pushed my cowering shield ahead of me, and my field of view suddenly expanded.

Beheld from a bird’s-eye view, the royal guard’s maneuvering ground was a circle surrounded by a stone wall that came up to about my shoulders. Now that I was looking at it again, it bore a striking resemblance to the training ground at the Howards’ mansion; they might originally have been built to the same plan.

The maneuvering ground was equipped with magnificent spectator seating unbefitting a military facility because it also played host to the kingdom’s annual martial arts competition. Tickets were popular and hard to come by, or so I heard—I’d never had to obtain them myself since on both occasions I’d attended, it had been as a “plus one.” Still, the competition was a special occasion. The facility was primarily for the knights’ use, so it was even more solidly built than the Royal Academy and nearly impervious to damage—or at least it should have been.

A gruesome scene spread out before me. The walls were covered in sword cuts, some of which extended to the highest row of spectator seats—others threatened to reach all the way to the royal palace itself. That was odd; no spell should have been able to inflict that kind of damage.

Lydia’s opponents were knights—apparently young members of the royal guard. The ones in white gold-embroidered robes, desperately weaving spells with their long staves, must have been court sorcerers. It appeared that some of them were fresh appointees; their equipment was brand new.

More than ten of them were already slumped, motionless, against the walls. A number of broken swords and staves lay abandoned or stuck in the ground, which was also scattered with fragments of rent shields, helmets, and breastplates. Even the court sorcerers’ robes, which were woven with powerful magical barriers, were torn and stained with red. Blood pooled in several places.

The only ones left standing were— Oh, she laid low the last four in one fell swoop. One after another, they crashed into the structure with renewed screams and cries of pain and then fell still. If this had been one of the popular board games currently making the rounds in the royal capital, it would have been a total victory.

“Is that all? After all your bragging, that’s all you can do? And you call yourselves knights of the guard and court sorcerers? You’d need to train for another ten thousand years to get good enough to look down your noses at him.” Lydia coldly judged them, turning slowly as she spoke. “What kind of training have you been doing to end up—”

The next instant, a Firebird took flight. Richard shrieked.

Oh, honestly... I thought as I vaulted over the wall and...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 10.3.2022
• Reihe/Serie: Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter
• Reihe/Serie: Private Tutor to the Duke's Daughter
• Reihe/Serie: Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter
• Illustrationen: Cura
• Übersetzer: William Varteresian
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Schlagworte: Academy • action • aristocrats • Comedy • Fantasy • Harem • Light Novel • Magic
• ISBN-10: 1-7183-8600-1 / 1718386001
• ISBN-13: 978-1-7183-8600-6 / 9781718386006