Bright yellow light spread across the Versailles estate as the morning sun slowly climbed above the horizon, bathing the stone walls and sprawling gardens in warm gold. For most people, the sight symbolized the beginning of another ordinary day—another chance to start fresh, to work, to struggle, and to continue living.

  For me, however, today carried a slightly different meaning.

  Because today was the day I had been waiting for.

  “Swordsmanship training at last,” I muttered under my breath, unable to hide the anticipation creeping into my voice. “I’ve been waiting for this moment.”

  If I wanted to truly gain influence among these soldiers, I needed more than a single victory in a duel. Trust was not given so easily among warriors, especially in a world where someone like me—a noblewoman—had no place standing among them.

  But once they trusted me, once they believed in my ability…

  Then I could begin teaching them what I knew.

  And frankly speaking, they needed it.

  These soldiers were hopeless.

  Their footwork was sloppy, their stamina mediocre, and the strength they relied on came mostly from brute muscle rather than efficient movement. Everything about their training felt theoretical—like techniques memorized from manuals rather than forged through real combat.

  They were passionate, I would give them that much. Every man stationed at the estate clearly wanted to protect the people here.

  But passion alone did not keep soldiers alive.

  Skill, experience and discipline did.

  When I first learned that the guards stationed here were palace soldiers, I had imagined something far more impressive. In my mind, they were supposed to represent the standard of this kingdom’s military strength.

  Instead, most of them spent their days strolling between watch posts and resting in the barracks.

  The realization made me sigh.

  “I need to earn their trust quickly,” I murmured to myself while stretching my arms. “Otherwise, none of them will listen when I start training these motherfuckers properly.”

  A grin slowly crept across my face.

  “Just you wait. When I’m done with you, you’ll be crying back to your mothers.”

  From the corner of the room, Alice watched the entire display with growing concern.

  There she goes again.

  Whenever Lady Amethyst began plotting something, she developed that strange laugh—the kind that sounded like an evil sorcerer about to conquer the kingdom.

  Alice folded her arms nervously.

  What a nutcase she has become.

  Well… it was probably just a side effect.

  Yes.Let’s go with that explanation.

  “My Lady,” Alice said carefully, “are you training today as well?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve already informed the Head Maid to purchase additional men’s clothing for your training sessions. That way you won’t have to keep wearing the same outfit.”

  I raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised.

  “Oh? Alice, you actually have good sense.”

  “T-thank you, My Lady.”

  Her cheeks flushed red as she smiled shyly, clearly pleased by the praise.

  I tilted my head slightly.

  I didn’t know Alice could make that face.

  How adorable.

  Meanwhile, several hundred meters away at the soldiers’ training grounds, a group of newly arrived recruits gathered near the practice field. The young men spoke quietly among themselves, their voices filled with curiosity and disbelief.

  “Will Lady Amethyst really be joining our training today?”

  “That’s what I heard.”

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  “But women aren’t even allowed to join the unit.”

  “I asked around,” another recruit said while leaning closer. “Apparently she defeated Tanker in a duel.”

  “Wait, seriously?”

  “It’s true.”

  The group fell silent for a moment before someone scoffed.

  “But Tanker is one of the strongest soldiers in the estate. Only Head Soldier Greaves, Damian, and Einku are stronger than him.”

  “That reminds me—Einku is Damian’s little sister, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I completely forgot we had a woman in this unit.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That’s not a woman.”

  Laughter erupted among them.

  “I mean, where in this world do you see a girl defeat a fully grown soldier in arm wrestling when she was ten?”

  “And didn’t she kill a grizzly bear with her bare hands once?”

  “That’s not a woman,” one recruit said while wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. “That’s a monster!”

  “Hahaha!”

  Unfortunately for them, the person they were gossiping about happened to be sitting only a few meters away.

  Einku continued polishing her spear with slow, deliberate movements while Damian stood beside her with his arms crossed.

  “Tsk,” she muttered under her breath.

  “Those idiots…”

  Damian chuckled softly.

  “Calm down. You might cripple them before training even begins.”

  “But brother,” Einku protested while glaring at the recruits, “they called me a monster.”

  Damian shrugged casually.

  “I don’t blame them.”

  Einku turned to stare at him.

  “Let’s be honest,” he continued with a small grin. “It’s not every day people see a woman stronger than most soldiers.”

  After a brief pause, he gently tapped her shoulder.

  “Let it go. I’ll buy you something later.”

  Einku narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

  “…Whiskey?”

  Damian burst out laughing.

  “Yes. Whiskey.”

  She nodded immediately.

  “Deal.”

  When I arrived at the training grounds a short while later, Damian was already gathering the recruits in the parade square.

  Then he began speaking.

  And speaking.

  And speaking.

  By the time an hour had passed, I was beginning to question whether this was a speech or a punishment.

  Another thirty minutes went by before he finally showed signs of stopping.

  Should I even call this a pep talk?

  This was torture.

  Damian clearly had a lot to say. Judging by the serious expression on his face, he probably believed every word was important.

  Watching him now, I couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of familiarity.

  I probably sounded exactly like this during briefings back on Earth.

  For a brief moment, I felt genuinely sorry for my former teammates.

  Eventually Damian cleared his throat and concluded his speech.

  “Now that’s done,” he said. “Soldiers, take a short break. In a few minutes you will receive number tags which must be worn around your necks throughout the training period. These will serve as your identification.”

  “Dismissed.”

  The soldiers dispersed immediately.

  Moments later, each recruit received a small wooden tag engraved with a number.

  Mine read 35.

  Once everyone had returned to formation, Damian stepped forward again.

  “Our first exercise will be formation drills.”

  The soldiers quickly arranged themselves into rows while I quietly observed from the side.

  The more I watched, the more my disappointment grew.

  Their stance was wrong.

  Their balance was even worse.

  Their breathing lacked rhythm and control.

  Watching them swing their training swords was like watching farmers harvest wheat—wide, inefficient arcs that wasted energy and left their bodies exposed.

  Sloppy.

  Wasteful.

  Dangerous.

  Not just for their enemies, but for themselves.

  Apparently I had been staring long enough for someone to notice.

  “Lady Amethyst.”

  Damian’s voice cut through the field, drawing everyone’s attention toward me.

  “Do you have something to say?”

  The recruits immediately stiffened.

  A woman criticizing soldiers?

  That was bold.

  I shrugged casually.

  “Their stance wastes strength.”

  Silence spread across the training ground.

  Several recruits scowled.

  One of them muttered under his breath.

  “Arrogant.”

  Damian studied me for a moment before suddenly tossing a wooden sword in my direction.

  “Show us.”

  I caught the weapon easily.

  Ah.

  Now we were getting somewhere.

  A large recruit stepped forward, clearly confident in his abilities.

  Without hesitation he swung his blade toward me.

  The attack was wide and clumsy.

  I stepped aside, tapped the back of his knee, and watched him stumble forward.

  Laughter erupted.

  The recruit flushed red and charged again.

  This time I sidestepped, twisted my body, and lightly tapped his ribs with the wooden blade.

  Point.

  “Next.”

  Another recruit stepped forward.

  Then another.

  And another.

  Each duel ended the same way.

  Not because I was stronger.

  But because their movements were painfully predictable.

  After several defeats, whispers began spreading through the soldiers.

  Then someone new stepped into the circle.

  Einku.

  She rested her spear on her shoulder while grinning mischievously.

  “Let me try.”

  Damian crossed his arms.

  “Wooden spear only.”

  The duel began immediately.

  Unlike the others, Einku moved fast.

  Her attacks carried real force behind them.

  Interesting.

  Our weapons clashed repeatedly as she pressed forward with surprising aggression.

  Finally I pivoted to the side and hooked her ankle with my foot.

  She stumbled outside the circle.

  For a moment the field fell silent.

  Then cheering erupted.

  Einku blinked before laughing loudly.

  “Not bad.”

  Behind her, Tanker stepped forward with a scowl.

  “I demand a rematch.”

  “You already lost.”

  “That was luck.”

  “Skill.”

  “Rematch!”

  Damian sighed.

  “Fine.”

  Tanker charged immediately, swinging his sword with raw strength.

  Predictable.

  I slipped inside his guard and tapped his ribs once more.

  Point.

  The soldiers burst into laughter while Tanker groaned dramatically.

  “I hate you.”

  “Skill,” I replied calmly.

  Even Damian allowed himself a small smile.

  But the rest of training quickly reminded me of reality.

  Running drills.

  Endurance exercises.

  Sword repetitions.

  Soon my arms began trembling from exhaustion.

  My breathing grew heavier with every passing minute.

  Three months of training had improved Amethyst’s body significantly, but it still wasn’t comparable to seasoned soldiers.

  From the edge of the field, Philip raised a fist.

  “Yes—!”

  Then when I stumbled a moment later—

  “Nooo!”

  Several nearby guards turned to stare at him.

  Philip immediately straightened his posture.

  “Just observing.”

  Despite the humor, Damian’s expression grew more thoughtful as the day progressed.

  During combat I moved like a veteran.

  During endurance drills I struggled like a recruit.

  Two completely different performances from the same person.

  Later that afternoon, the unit marched toward the nearby forest to exterminate monsters emerging from the caves.

  The mission was routine.

  Goblin stragglers.

  Wild wolves.

  Nothing serious.

  The soldiers joked casually while walking through the trees.

  Tanker stretched his shoulders.

  “Next duel,” he muttered.

  “You’ll lose again,” I replied.

  “We’ll see.”

  Then the forest suddenly fell silent.

  Birds stopped singing.

  The wind stopped moving.

  Every instinct inside me screamed.

  Something was wrong.

  I turned toward Tanker.

  “Tanker—”

  Too late.

  The ground exploded as a massive creature burst through the trees.

  A grizzly bear.

  But something about it was horribly wrong.

  Cracks of glowing blue light pulsed beneath its fur like veins of crystal spreading across its body.

  Aetherglass corruption.

  “MOVE!” Damian shouted.

  The bear roared.

  Tanker froze for half a second.

  That was enough.

  The monster charged.

  Claws raised.

  Without thinking, I lunged forward and tackled Tanker out of the way.

  The bear’s claws slammed into the ground where he had stood, shattering stone beneath the impact.

  “Aetherglass beast!” someone shouted in panic.

  Tanker stared at me in shock.

  “You—”

  “Run!” I snapped.

  The mutated bear roared again as the blue light across its body pulsed violently.

  Damian drew his sword.

  “Formation!”

  But the creature was already charging again.

  And this time—

  It was heading straight toward me.

  My dagger slid into my hand as my heart pounded against my ribs.

  My body was exhausted.

  My stamina nearly spent.

  But the soldier inside me couldn’t help smiling.

  Finally.

  A real fight.

  The bear lunged.

  And the battlefield erupted into chaos.