The Gloomy and Timid Princess Heads to the Academy

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Anastasia had been thinking of joining the Swordsmanship Club, not just because of them. It was to be expected, as she had been close to swords since childhood, second only to her parents.

However, she couldn’t quite understand why she felt the need to hide from Dokan and Ho-yeon, whom she encountered on the way. Just looking at them made her feel like she was committing a crime.

It was something that happened because Anastasia, having seen her enter his room that night, had already concluded that there was a child between them.

Even after arriving at Gymnasium No. 1, her heart wouldn’t settle easily.

After a routine greeting from someone who appeared to be the club representative, she was finally able to calm down.

“This year, we have a lot of newcomers! Um, I’m Jessica, the vice-captain of the Swordsmanship Club. Normally, the captain would hold the welcome ceremony for the newbies, but lately, they’ve been busy with various things. So they handed this welcome ceremony over to me…”

As she spoke, jokingly laughing, Jessica gestured toward a certain direction. Members who appeared to be club members came forward, carrying large bundles, and began to pull out items from inside.

Wooden puppets engraved with numerous sword marks. Even while the members quietly set them up, most couldn’t discern their purpose.

But Anastasia had a faint idea of what was about to happen. Her swordsmanship master had given her something similar the first time they met.

“So this time, I planned to do it my way. First, let’s see your skills!”

Feeling justified in her assumption, Anastasia fiddled with her sword. What followed was of little importance to her. She was preoccupied with when she would take her turn.

First? No, that would stand out too much. Second? Third? Which turn could she take without drawing the gaze of others?

But what Anastasia overlooked was that as the Northern Grand Duchess, any turn would draw everyone’s attention.

As she pondered this, a student questioned Jessica with a hint of skepticism in their voice.

“…Is that really all? How can you determine our skills just by hitting those wooden dolls?”

“Good question, whoever you are! I’m not trying to perfectly gauge everything; I’m just looking for a rough idea. Things like posture, target, or even the strength behind your swings… I have a bit of expertise in sword skills myself, so I can tell a general level just by watching. Not as good as the captain, though.”

“The reason for gauging levels is—”

“Well, you can’t give a beginner expert-level lessons, can you?”

When the student who had raised the objection seemed to concede, Jessica began to look around for someone to call on.

As she scanned the area, her eyes landed on someone. A person with black hair mixed among white, and beast ears that distinguished her from others.

An uninvited guest from the East, who was rumored among the highborn. Jessica knew Ho-yeon had come to the academy, but she didn’t expect her to join the swordsmanship club.

This was purely driven by curiosity; even though she was stationed in the countryside, the tale of how she captured the entire knight army and demanded payment was already well-known among nobles.

What level of skills did she possess, being guarded by such powerful figures?

Jessica was more concerned about Ho-yeon than the silver-haired student fiddling with her sword not far away.

“How about the tiger beast girl over there? Want to step forward?”

Why me? I couldn’t help but resent Jessica for picking me out of all those people. Why not just let the one next to me, who wanted to step up, go first?

The thought of standing in front of everyone made my stomach churn. My father had always said I had no talent in swordsmanship, and now I would have to publicly prove it.

I had been the last in physical education class, but this was the very first.

My tail whipped around nervously in tension.

I thought public humiliation only came with a bunch of people surrounding and making fun of you, but this method was utterly unexpected.

I couldn’t easily move, but with everyone staring at me, I had no choice but to step forward.

“Are you nervous because you’re the first?”

Of course I’m nervous. Do you think I’ll be grinning ear to ear?

“If not, that’d be a lie.”

“It’s fine! No one is going to scold you if you can’t do it! Just swing it around a bit, take it easy!”

That only made me more anxious. Encouragement like that is truly a pressure cooker.

“…Hah.”

“Ah, don’t be that way—just give it a try!”

After a long moment to gather myself, I suddenly remembered that I didn’t have a sword.

How would others view me? Someone who said they wanted to join the swordsmanship club but didn’t even bring a sword?

Maybe this was my chance to escape. How could they expect me to do swordsmanship without a sword?

“I don’t have a sword right now.”

But my hopes were shattered.

“Huh? Really? Then I’ll lend you mine! It’s different from the one you usually use, so your skills might not show through. Just try swinging it and let me know if it’s uncomfortable! If it feels too different, I can switch it out.”

I was mortified. The fact that someone wanted me to swing a sword so badly and that I had tried to escape from such a person.

It reminded me of that time in middle school when I forgot my recorder for music class and the teacher had to ask someone in the class to lend it to me.

That kid’s expression was unforgettable. They clearly didn’t want to lend it, and I felt so bad just taking it.

I even messed up several times and ruined my performance. Ever since then, borrowing anything had become a dreaded task for me.

So it felt like the sword I held was unusually heavy. It might genuinely be heavy; maybe Jessica had made it so heavy for the sake of magic breathing methods.

I wasn’t feeling good about anything. It had been over five years since I held a sword, and I had never even swung a real one in my life.

Now that I had received a sword, there was no escaping telling them I didn’t want to do this.

…Wasn’t it said that when a man draws a sword, he should at least slice something?

Thinking about that steadied my resolve to face this properly instead of running away.

My father had shown me swordsmanship and cut through wood with a real sword, so even if I lacked talent, as his daughter, I should at least leave a mark.

Looking at those wooden dolls riddled with sword marks, it didn’t seem like they had any special treatment.

Swinging the sword Jessica lent me felt heavy but not uncomfortable. In fact, I could consider it a good first real sword.

As I readjusted my grip and stance, an exhilarating, baseless confidence surged within me.

Surely, no matter how badly I swing it, there’s no way I can’t make a mark on wood, right? Thinking that made me feel at ease.

Imagining myself swinging like my father had shown me, I remembered his sword’s trajectory. I could mimic that much!

“Hah!”

I hit my target.

Should I call this fortunate or unfortunate? The wooden doll only bore a shallow sword mark.

My father wasn’t this weak. My father wasn’t this slow. If it had been him in this spot, the wooden doll would have been in pieces in an instant.

From the very first swing, something felt off; in every respect, I was lacking.

I felt a drastic drop in my self-esteem just by not losing the sword in such a humiliating manner.

Up until a moment ago, Jessica had looked at me with a friendly gaze, but now she was staring at me as if she had witnessed “something.”

“…Have you ever trained in swordsmanship somewhere?”

Her words felt laced with an undercurrent that suggested I was horrifically bad at swinging a sword.

“Just a bit from my father, that’s all.”

It felt pathetic to use my father’s name like this, but all I wanted now was to slam my head down and go back to my seat.

Could I seriously think they would say, “You learned from your father, and what terrible training he gave you”?

“Is that so… okay. Next person! Um, how about the silver-haired girl fiddling with her sword over there? Come on up!”

What I had feared didn’t happen. If it had, I might have really broken down in tears from embarrassment and shame.

Even as I trudged back to my place exhausted, I could feel the eyes on me. They stared as if I was some strange object, poking at me like a nail.

Why the heck does it turn out like this, both on the first day and today? Dokan, beside me, awkwardly tried to comfort me.

“That was impressive! The trajectory was graceful, and your rapid strikes are hard to find among the students!”

“It was terrible. Both speed and technique were awful. Enough of the compliments.”

Dokan seemed a bit uneasy, but all I wanted was to sit back and watch how others swung their swords.

Just then, Anastasia, whose turn it was next, began to take her stance to swing her sword, and I was keen to see how she would handle it.