The Puppet Villainess’s Splendid Rebellion - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 15

The next day.

As soon as I arrived at the training ground, Demian suddenly blurted out these words.

“From today, we’ll begin training in earnest.”

…What?

“…In earnest?”

I had no choice but to ask back.

In earnest.

That meant everything up until now hadn’t been real training.

Running half a lap and gasping for breath, failing to do a single push-up and face-planting on the ground, repeating the same position dozens of times and falling asleep like I’d fainted.

I asked in bewilderment.

“Then what was everything up until now?”

“Warm-up exercises.”

Demian answered nonchalantly. Without batting an eye.

“I had to confirm whether Loreia had the will to receive training.”

This bastard right now.

Is he seriously saying that?

I glared at Demian like I wanted to kill him. I felt like fire might actually shoot from my eyes.

But Demian, who received my burning gaze head-on, was busy smirking.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I can’t teach real techniques to someone who might give up halfway.”

“If this were the Imperial Palace, I would have had you beaten immediately.”

“The Dukedom has extraterritorial rights.”

“…Ha.”

I really had nothing to say.

No, I had mountains to say. That torture-like training was just a test? A confirmation of my will? Then why didn’t you tell me beforehand!

But arguing seemed pointless. This bastard would obviously wriggle out of anything I said with that smirk.

“…Fine.”

I gritted my teeth. I had to pour all my strength into swallowing my anger.

Bear with it, Lorea.

You’re the one who has to endure.

“So what am I learning today?”

“Self-defense.”

Demian took a step closer.

“It’s a technique to disrupt the opponent’s center of gravity when they grab you. Try throwing me once.”

He demonstrated as he spoke.

Grabbing my wrist, twisting his body while shifting weight toward the opponent. That would make the grabber lose balance and fall.

At first glance, it looked easy.

When Demian did it, it seemed like nothing special.

I grabbed Demian’s arm as I’d learned. I twisted my body. I shifted my weight.

And then.

Thud.

I fell down.

“…”

“…How truly pathetic.”

“It was a mistake.”

I jumped up and grabbed his arm again, twisting it.

Thud.

I fell again.

“The angle is wrong.”

Of course it’s wrong. Without basic muscle strength, there’s no way it could work properly.

And most importantly, Demian was too big compared to my body. Despite being only three years older than me, his height was like a beanpole, making it impossible for someone of my weight class to take him on.

Isn’t a head and a half difference too much?

Aren’t girls supposed to develop faster? Even if I am small.

‘I can’t believe he’ll grow even more when he becomes an adult.’

Thinking of how he’d look in seven years made me feel dizzy.

Anyway, because of this, when I should have been twisting my body, I staggered first, and when I should have been shifting weight, I lacked arm strength and just ended up hanging there.

Ten times.

Twenty times.

Thirty times.

I fell, got up, and fell again. My knees got scraped. My palms stung. My whole body ached.

Still, I kept jumping back up. I had no intention of giving up.

Demian looked at me. It was a different look from yesterday’s mockery, something more like puzzlement.

What now.

After putting me through all that yesterday, is he annoyed that I’m working hard again?

I ignored it and got back into position.

“…Wait.”

But this time, Demian grabbed my shoulder first and gently pushed me away.

“Let’s do this after lunch.”

Only then did I look up to see the sun had passed well beyond its zenith.

Lunchtime had already passed?

After glaring at the sky for a moment, I shifted my gaze to Demian.

“Yesterday you made me skip lunch too.”

“Anyone who hears this would think I dared to make Your Highness skip a meal.”

Oh my.

Right, he didn’t outright tell me not to eat. He just didn’t let me go even though lunchtime had long passed.

I felt like I’d rather die than argue, so I didn’t respond further.

“Anyway, let me just try this once more. I think I’m almost getting it.”

“…What exactly do you think you’re getting?”

“The throw. I’m getting a better feel for it than before.”

It wasn’t a lie. I definitely had a better sense of something compared to the beginning. The angle should be about this much, the timing should be around here. My body just wasn’t keeping up yet, but I understood it mentally.

“Just one more time.”

Demian looked at me. For a long while. Then he let out a deep sigh.

“That’s enough.”

Then he grabbed my wrist and hoisted me up like a piece of luggage.

What is he doing right now?

“We’re going to eat lunch.”

“Wait, I’m not done yet…!”

Before I could protest, my body was lifted and the world turned upside down. Hanging from his shoulder, I flailed my short legs frantically, but it was useless. It didn’t even count as a struggle.

“Put me down. I haven’t done it yet.”

“If you don’t eat, you’ll collapse.”

“I won’t collapse.”

“You collapsed yesterday… no, you almost collapsed, didn’t you?”

This guy knows about that.

Thinking my silence meant surrender, Demian chuckled and only set me down on a chair after entering the dining room.

This man carries people around with one hand like what?

“You need to put on some weight. That’s why you have no strength in your body.”

“I’ll take care of it myself.”

“It didn’t seem like you were taking care of it.”

He won’t let me win a single argument.

I glared at him with dissatisfaction, then took a bite of the sandwich Mia had brought.

At that moment, muscle pain surged through my entire body.

I hadn’t noticed it while frantically training earlier, but sitting still made my whole body scream. Shoulders, arms, legs, back. There wasn’t a part that didn’t hurt.

“Ugh…”

Demian sat across from me and looked at me sideways.

“That kind of technique doesn’t work just because you do it recklessly.”

‘How ridiculous. Who was the one training me recklessly?’

I cursed inwardly but didn’t say it out loud. Instead, I chewed the sandwich steadily. I was hungry anyway.

“…Surprising.”

Demian suddenly spoke.

“What is?”

“I thought you’d give up, but you didn’t.”

Give up?

Me?

‘I’ve been hit by stones, dragged to the Underground Dungeon, and stabbed to death with a sword, so what’s this supposed to be?’

I chuckled inwardly. Having lived through twenty years of life and experienced even that kind of thing, would I give up just because training is a bit hard?

“I have something I need to do.”

I answered that way instead.

“I absolutely have to go to the West.”

The Mage’s Land. I had to go there and meet ‘that man’. Only then could both Carlos and I escape from the Imperial Family. For now, that was the only way.

Demian looked at me. He seemed like he wanted to ask more, but ultimately didn’t open his mouth.

“Take your time eating. We’ll start afternoon training when you’re done.”

Leaving those words, he got up from his seat first.

I stared blankly at his retreating figure.

“…Strange man.”

It seemed like he was about to ask something but stopped. What was he curious about?

I couldn’t tell.

I didn’t want to know either.

* * *

Several more days passed.

Every day I fell down, got up, and fell down again. My knees were covered in layers of bruises, and the blisters on my palms burst, hardened, and burst again repeatedly.

Still, I didn’t give up.

And on the eighth day of training.

“Hyaaah!”

Along with my battle cry, Demian’s body, which hadn’t budged before, tilted.

Soon, with a thud, he fell over beside me.

For the first time, I had thrown him.

“…Huh?”

I stared blankly at Demian rolling around on the ground, unable to believe it.

My heart was pounding.

“Did you just see that?! I made it over!”

Demian got up from the ground and dusted himself off.

“Yes, I saw.”

It was an indifferent answer, but I didn’t have time to care about that.

I was happy. So happy that I jumped up and down in place.

“I did it! Finally!”

After falling over and over for days, I finally succeeded. My body remembered. The timing and angle came together perfectly.

“I made it over, I made it! I told you I could do it, that I would succeed…!”

I bounced around in joy.

Then, wobble.

My legs gave out. My body, overworked for days, couldn’t handle the sudden jumping around.

With a swaying sensation, my vision tilted sideways.

…Oh no.

“Loreia!”

I saw Demian reach out toward me with a startled face.

But the ground was too close. I was already falling, and my body would surely be thrown to the ground. Everything flowed in slow motion.

In that moment, an arm wrapped around my back.

The world flipped upside down.

Thud.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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