Living as the Villain’s Stepmother - Chapter 147

Chapter 147 – Less Time, More Training (2)

“You’ve improved a lot, Hir,” said Lacias simply, brushing away the awkwardness.

“Th-thank you … ?”

Lacias stopped in front of the mannequin and stared Hir in the eye. “Could you show me what you were doing a moment ago?”

Hir couldn’t help but feel confused. “A- Again?!”

Lacias nodded his head in response, without further elaboration.

Without further questioning, Hir gripped his wooden sword tightly and swiped the wooden sword back and forth, trying to replicate his previous movements. However, with the increase in pressure, his hands kept slipping and the result was less impressive.

Lacias angled his mouth a little, to show his disappointment. So Hizette tried to justify his student. “You were doing well until now.”

Despite the words, Hir’s mind was blank, he couldn’t remember a single one of his stances. How did I hold my sword? In which direction did I swing?

As Hir stood still, remaining dazed, Lacias stretched out his hand.

“Holding the sword like this.” Commented Lacias, fixing his position. “You were doing good.”

Hir’s eyes widened, he could feel his perfect posture even though he only roughly adjusted the angle.

“Wo- Wow …. That’s amazing.”

Lacias’s smile almost turned into a smirk. “I’ve been training my entire life, so it’s normal.”

“But still, it’s amazing!”

The awkward atmosphere was gone. Hir’s eyes were filled with respect towards Lacias.

“I wish I could be as good as you, father!”

“…”

Father?

Lacias’ ears flinched at the unfamiliar word. Hir was so excited, he didn’t even realize that he said the word for the first time. He just continued to adjust Hir’s wrists without showing his surprise.

“If you hit an object in this direction from here, you can inflict more damage to the opponent. Here, try it.”

Pu-k! Just by following instructions, Hir could feel the power of the hit. It was excellent that even he, who didn’t know much yet, knew that his previous hit was almost perfect.

“You have to master the basics to get good hits.”

“Yes… ! Hizette taught me!”

“Great. Hizette seems to be teaching you well.”

Hizette shook his head in disagreement. “That’s flattering, master.” Following Lila, he thought that the praises that were given to him were too much.

With the boy continuing his hits, Lacias turned to a more serious matter with Hizette. “When will Hir’s training end?”

“It’s about to end.”

“Okay. When you’re done, tell Lugar and Roxana to meet up. They probably already know what’s going on. I’ll be at the drawing-room, so come after you pass on my words.”

“Yes master, I will.”

“Oh, and you’ll join too.” He added.

Hizettes eyes raised for a split second. “…Yes.”

He had been excluded from important missions for a while for a mistake he made a while back, but it seemed Lacias regained his trust in him again. He now knew to never let him down again.

*

“Aw, I wanted to practice for longer.” Complained Hir as Lacias bent his knees to adjust their height differences.

“If you want to practice for longer, I could help with that.”

“Re- really?!”

“Of course. Do you think I can’t?”

“No!”

The awe still hadn’t faded from Hir’s dazzling eyes. After reading the look on his face, Lacias replied with a chuckle.

“If you really want to train for longer, there can’t be any snack time or tea time with Lila, and no more reading books at night, okay?”

“…?!” No more tea time with mother?!

Lacias laughed at the distressed look on Hir’s face. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Lila will understand that you’re busy, I’ll be sure to forward this to her.”

At this Hir’s gears finally shifted. “…Wait! That can never happen!”

Lacias stood up and turned to Hizette, acting like he didn’t hear the little boy. “Should we go now?”

“No! Noo! I want to take my words back” Hir hurried after the duo trying to match their pace with his little legs. He had a hard time.

*

“There were certainly several suspicious things with Baron Blake.”

Roxana continued her analysis as Lacias tapped the desk made of thick wood. She opened the parchment that had been rolled up in front of him. Inside it was a picture of the abandoned building built within the estate. It was the same building that Lila saw the baron go into.

“As ordered, we’ve released our troops to search the building. However, the inside was clean and empty. It looked abandoned at first sight, but there should have been a layer of dust covering the area. It seemed obvious that whatever was there was recently cleared.”

Lacias clicked his tongue loudly. He should have investigated it straight away, because now he lost the evidence thanks to his slow acting.

“But we haven’t returned empty-handed,” said Roxana, saving the good news for last.

From her arms, she pulled out an object the size of a woman’s palm and placed it on the parchment. The room went silent.