[To think that you would chase after me……you really are a helpless little sister. But I am grateful that you saved me.]

It"s been a few days since I stepped foot in the territory after making elder brother say such words while making a wry smile.

At last, the notice that father had arrived came.

And at the same time, I was called out by father.

……though I had resolved myself, scary things were scary.

While feeling relatively frightened, I headed towards father"s study.

"You fool!!"

As expected, the first thing that came out of his mouth was a thunderous roar.

"Just how many people do you think you made worry!? That"s enough selfishness from you!"

"I have no excuses for my selfish behaviour that has caused much worry. I am extremely sorry, father……"

When I obediently apologized and lowered my head, father hugged me.

"It is truly great that you are safe……! And, you did well in protecting Parx……!"

Father"s voice as he said that was trembling.

The moment I heard that……something warm welled up from within my chest as well, and tears began to overflow from my eyes involuntarily.

"I really am extremely sorry…!"

……as that scene occurred, elder brother also safely finished his affairs, and we all returned to the Capital together.

"……Melly. Calm down a bit."

Inside the carriage as we returned to the Capital, elder brother called out to me as I fidgeted restlessly.

"But, elder brother. It"s been a while since I last wore a dress, so I can"t seem to calm down……and, can"t we do something about me having no sword at hand……"

Having decided to head to the Capital as "Mellice", my appearance was, verbatim, that of a n.o.ble daughter"s, clad in a dress as the carriage jolted me.

No matter what I did, my heart felt unsettled at the unfamiliar clothing and environment.

Elder brother made a wry smile at my state.

"Father is also with us……so you don"t need to worry so much, everything should be fine. Just relax and look at the scenery outside. You didn"t have that much time to do so when coming here, right?"

"……yes."

Though I gave an affirmative reply, I couldn"t immediately get used to this situation……in the end, because of that, I ended up returning while feeling more tired compared to when I was coming to the territory.

After eating breakfast when dawn broke, I immediately changed into Mel"s clothes.

When I changed into the clothing that I usually wore, I finally felt at peace.

From here on out, like what I did previously in the territory, I would be living a double life as Mel and Mellice.

When I was training I would be Mel, and in times other than that I would be Mellice.

I thought that Father would show disapproval at me continuing my training, but unexpectedly, he readily gave his consent.

Feeling relieved at that point, I headed towards the training grounds.

"……Mel."

A voice called me to a stop, and when I turned, standing there was Granny.

"I was worried, you know……..truly. If something were to happen to you, just what should I do? I would not be able to face Ojou-sama or the Lord."

"……I am sorry for worrying you. However, as you can see, I am fine."

"…….good grief, even though it would be better if you were a bit more relaxed. You only just returned today, right?"

"Yes. However, since I went to the Anderson Marquis House, I was able to rest quite a bit. In order for my body to not grow dull, I wanted to partic.i.p.ate as much as I could in today"s training."

"Is that so…….there probably is no need to worry since it is you, but please be careful. I will come by to check on Ojou-sama"s condition later."

Granny was one of the few servants that knew Mel was Mellice, and an accomplice in the matter.

If she weren"t around, then I probably wouldn"t have been able to live this double life.

Even now, in this room without anyone else in it, she was pretending as if she were staying together with Mellice.

"Thank you. Well then, please give Ojou-sama my regards."

Saying that, I exited to go train.

It has been a while since I was last able to move my body around.

In the Anderson territory, as a punishment for doing things as I pleased, on top of being forbidden from partic.i.p.ating in training, I was only allowed to stay inside the carriage being jolted around on the journey back.

Having been able to work up a sweat, my feelings of frustration cleared up.

"……Mel, it"s been a while."

"Kuroitsu-san! Thank you for the other day."

I thanked Kuroitsu-san, but he didn"t give any reaction at all.

Finding that strange, I tilted my head, but Kuroitsu-san suddenly burst into laughter.

"No, I was just thinking that it"s the usual you."

"What do you mean?"

"No, it"s nothing."

Though he said that while stifling his laughter, I still wasn"t able to understand his meaning and thus could only continue tilting my head.

"Ahh, Mel-chan!"

"Long time no see. How was it after that? Were you just praised by the General as expected?"

As I was talking to Kuroitsu-san, other members of the Army drew near.

"It has been a long time, everyone. Thank you for the other day. About that, I was reprimanded for acting on my own, and was scolded quite a bit……I was put under house arrest for a while afterwards. Since that ended, I returned to the Capital on horseback alone and just got back today."

"Ahh, then you went separately from the General and his family."

"Yes. Although, as a guard I cannot be too far from Ojou-sama……so I returned quickly."

"So it was like that? Now that you mention it, have you seen Ojou-sama?"

"Ohh, I did, I did. Though I only caught a small glance."

"That"s right~. Since it was from afar I couldn"t see her that well, but as expected, she really resembled Mel-chan."

"Indeed~"

Their conversation made my heart jump with a start.

Rather than being similar, it"s the person herself……though I couldn"t say that even if my mouth were torn apart.

"If the body double didn"t look like the person, then they would not be able to perform their duty after all."

At my words, they nodded, appearing convinced.

"Well, that"s true. But, it"s pretty interesting that even though their appearances are similar, their personalities are completely."

"Certainly. On one hand is a Marquis House"s n.o.ble daughter with a weak const.i.tution, and on the other is the General"s prized child, a heroine that can beat down large adults! ……they"re complete polar opposites."

Even though it was about myself, it certainly was rather convincing.

Well, the weak const.i.tution and such was just an established setting though.

"Ha, hahaha……"

Matching the surroundings, I laughed.

It probably couldn"t be helped that it was quite a dry laugh.

"……ah, incidentally Mel-chan. Are you free after training? Could you join us in a spar?"

"Yes, gladly."

As expected, I was more suited for this side.

It can"t be helped, since I"ve been living like this for a long time.

And in the future, it would be fine to continue spending my days like this……is what I thought.

After that I partic.i.p.ated in training, and as promised, accompanied several people interested in sparring.

Like I thought, sweating felt good.

The fatigue that had built up in my heart up until now felt like it was blown away.

"……Mel, as expected you"re amazing."

"What is it, so suddenly?"

At the words of Kuroitsu-san who was similarly wiping away his sweat, I tilted my head.

"No, I just been thinking about it ever since we guarded Parx-sama. You"re a completely different person when you hold a sword. Even though you"re normally like a young girl that you could find anywhere."

"……is that so? I am not so aware of it myself, so I don"t really know."

Though I certainly am aware that my speech becomes ruder when at the site of a battle.

However, that was only in situations with life-or-death on the line, so I don"t think I normally get like that during training.

"Well, I guess so…… Now that I think of it, what was your new goal?"

Not understanding the meaning of his question, I once again tilted my head.

"You know, you were saying it before right? You lost your target of revenge, but now you have a new goal. For that goal, you said you were polishing your sword."

At Kuroitsu-san"s words following afterwards, I muttered, "Ahh……"

"It"s like everyone."

"…….huh?"

"Like everyone, I want to become a person that can protect someone. Like everyone, I want to continue the path that the General is walking. And then, if someone could follow after me……if the circle of someone protecting someone else were to continue spreading out, eventually even such a large place like a country will become a place where there aren"t any more people who will have to experience the sorrow of losing someone like how I did, is what I thought. For that sake, I was thinking that I wanted to enter the Army."

"…….you……"

At my words, Kuroitsu-san seemed like he wanted to say something, but stopped.

"I see……"

I was curious about what he wanted to say, but before I could ask, Kuroitsu-san made a complicated smile while murmuring in understanding manner. Thus, I wasn"t able to ask any further than that.