When The Count’s Illegitimate Daughter Gets Married

Chapter 8

What is a swordmaster?

About 1500 years ago, the first swordmaster appeared on the continent.

It was more than 900 years ago when the Iassa Empire emerged after the continent was unified.

The first swordmaster was Eliot von Hood.

He was a representative of the kingdom, which is now the Barthang of the Iassa Empire.

The investigation found out that he was a distant ancestor of the Duke of Reinhardt.

Even before Eliot von Hood, there was someone who showed the characteristics of a swordmaster.

However, it was he who had all the characteristics of the current swordmaster.

First, he had the ability to sense mana.

If he sensed that a sword had mana, he could replace it visually.

It was a basic ability.

Nobody could tell who would win the fight between the two swordmasters.

For they were already skilled in swordsmanship.

The second qualification of the swordmaster was the ability to ‘move the body’s energy’.

Energy was the beauty of mana.

While there were people who could feel the magic of the sword and handle the body’s airway by itself, there were others who had to train more.

Ian’s case was the former.

Being able to move the body’s energy meant that they could have control over it.

This physical ability helped in improving the five senses and in healing wounds faster.

If a sword was made of a dragon’s bones, teeth, and nails, the swordmaster who owned it was a blessed child.

That would mean…

Ian was also……

***

“What food shall we try today?”

A week after Ian collapsed.

In the kitchen of the villa.

Laritte kept on thinking about whether the food ingredients she had stored had any discrepancies.

Ian’s fever has decreased for some time now.

It is now clear that he was beginning to recover.

She decided to make soft food as Ian isn’t fully recovered yet.

“Well, I will make some vegetable soup.”

She decided to cook and move on.

Returning through the snow-covered path, her hands contained a range of vegetables, including potatoes, onions, carrots, and kidney beans.

Everything that was needed to make vegetable soup.

It was just a touch for the soup.

First, she chopped the washed onions and carrots into small pieces.

A hand, that was not clumsy but neither as skillful as a cook, moved the knife.

“I wish there were radishes here….”

As always, Laritte felt sorry for her habit of speaking out her thoughts.

It was winter now.

She would not be able to go to the nearby village during the winter, so she had to fill the warehouse.

Even when Laritte carried the ingredients in advance, she could not get the vegetables that she wanted to acquire.

It was because she could not stop by the village since Ian came and stayed with her. She could not leave the patient alone.

‘The snow hasn’t piled up yet. I shall go there later…..’

She put the chopped onions and carrots in a sack. Instead of radishes, more whole pepper and laurel leaves were added.

She put the sack in a pre-loaded pot.

Then she had to boil it for half an hour and roll up the foam.

When the vegetable broth was made, another vegetable was needed to float on it.

She sliced some more vegetables into bigger sizes than before.

Then, she stir-fried various vegetables in oil and added the cooking wine, broth, and spices for the seasoning.

“Can he eat one serving this time….?”

Laritte muttered, recalling Ian lying in the room, while she poured the soup into the bowl.

Ian’s voice rang in the kitchen.

“I will try.”

Startled, Laritte looked at where Ian was.

Ian was leaning against the wall in the blue daylight.

He collapsed as soon as he arrived at the villa. This was the first time he acted like himself.

Laritte asked, with her eyes wide open.

“……How are you up on your own feet?”

“That was not a very happy response.”

Even so, Ian was quite satisfied with the change in her facial expression.

It was because he wanted to surprise her.

“I woke up and found myself feeling better.”

One of them had to make a fuss because he was the one fighting a life-threatening battle because of a fever.

But Laritte never made a fuss about joy. Even now, Ian’s condition was more important than her own safety.

Ian’s condition had improved so far.

A third person would say, ‘Even the wealth made by the contract will not be like this.’

In fact, it was nothing special to recall her quiet response when Ian reached the villa, his body covered in blood.

“…..What is this smell?”

Ian closed his eyes and focused on his sense of smell.

‘Judging from all the meals I’ve eaten so far, I don’t think it’s meat again, but it smells good.’

It was because she stir-fried the vegetables and added strong spices.

“It’s vegetable soup. There will not be any problem with your digestion.”

“Is there anything I can help you with?”

Until now, he had only received Laritte’s kindness because he wasn’t feeling well.

Ian approached Laritte to pick up the bowl.

Laritte meant to refuse his action of doing so.

There was a difference between walking on four feet and standing up, between humans and animals. Just knowing how to walk was not everything.

Laritte poked his abdomen with her finger without any expression.

It was part of a penetrating wound.

“Argh.”

Even if he was fine, the wound did not go away.

He painfully sighed and grabbed his abdomen.

“You want to help someone out in that condition?”

“That is the case unless you poke me here…”

She took the bowl away from his hand, which made Ian stare at her blankly.

He was in agony.

‘What did I just see?’

He could have thought for it to be an illusion, but his eyesight was perfect.

“Did you just laugh?”

He asked, hurriedly following after Laritte.

In Ian’s eyes, Laritte’s face was expressionless most of the time.

That is why he appeared behind Laritte when she was busy working.

Because he wanted to see a different expression.

He also wanted to get rid of the bed as soon as possible.

‘But why did she laugh at this time?’

“Yes. I laughed.”

He thought she would deny it, but she did not.

She put the meal on the table.

It was a normal response in the first place….

“….Why? Isn’t it obvious that people can laugh?”

Ian flinched when Laritte asked back without thinking.

….It is. If you think about it.

Ian felt pain all over again when he started walking quickly. Instinctively, he caught the wall.

Why did he move too much when he was about to answer back?

The wound at his abdomen started to bother him.

***

Ian was actually ‘very hungry’.

No matter how many times ‘swordmasters could control the mana of their bodies’, everyone had to eat something.

In addition, swordmasters needed a lot of energy to deal with the flow of their mana to increase their resilience.

In other words, they needed meals.

Basically, swordmasters had to eat twice as much as others.

Ian was very hungry to the point where he was almost starving. There was nothing he could have when he recovered other than a backache.

He tried to remove it with the mana he had, but it was too much.

Ian sat face to face with Laritte and stared at the soup.

Compared to its delicious smell, the soup looked plain.

Frankly, it did not look very delicious because there were a few types of vegetables only.

Even more so because Laritte had to lessen the concentration for him.

Anyway, Ian was in no position to disapprove.

In fact, he was grateful for every meal he had.

He took the first bite of the soup, which was still hot.

As expected, there were fewer kinds of dried vegetables, so there was less rich flavor than the usual vegetable soup he used to have….

As soon as he was about to think more, the spice that touched his tongue hit the empty spot with exquisite.

Ian moved his hand a few more times.

Another bite, another bite, and another…..

No matter how hungry he was, he was a sick person.

So when Laritte said, “Can he eat one serving this time?” He replied, “I will try.”

It was because he was not confident.

Obviously, it was not a dish with fancy ingredients and excellent taste.

But, it tasted good and was going to be finished quickly as it was made according to Ian’s situation.

However, this vegetable soup had one more special ingredient in it.

It was made with a warm and caring heart.

Laritte said, looking up at Ian.

“I am done.”

‘It has been a long time since he ate this much.’

Laritte’s blue eyes glowed with a remark of satisfaction as she watched Ian eat.