Chapter 11
Hakuna Matata
At the door, just as she was about to leave—
Jenny froze.
Standing there, walking in—
Was Princess Nora, just finished with her own training.
"Your Highness!"
Jenny Vardy snapped into a bow immediately. Everyone in the training hall turned toward Nora.
But Nora paid them no mind. She was only here to return a training sword.
“Your Highness, you’ve finished your session?” Jenny asked respectfully.
Nora nodded.
The training sword was chipped, with frost clinging to its surface...
“Where do I put this?”
“You don’t have to worry, Your Highness,” said Chiesa.
“Just leave it. We’ll take care of it.”
“‘We,’ meaning… Mr.Dan, right?”
Nora looked directly at the two upperclassmen.
“…Yes, it’s his responsibility,” Chiesa admitted.
Nora glanced at the pile of three or four swords stacked nearby, along with boxing gloves, sandbags, and dirty cloths...
“I thought the Knight Department only trained and then left.”
“Cleaning the equipment is part of our duties as well,” Chiesa replied.
“With that much stuff left out from just four people, how late do you think Mr.Dan will be staying here?”
She walked past them… and began picking up scattered gear from the floor.
“Princess Nora…? What are you doing?” Chiesa asked.
“Helping Mr.Dan,” she said plainly.
!!!!
“You don’t have to do this, Miss Nora…”
“It’s fine, Mr.Dan.”
She rested her hand on his shoulder.
“This is too much work for one person. Let me help carry some of that burden.”
And it was at that moment…
Fury finally understood why Nora insisted on tagging along today. The sword training was just an excuse.
She came here for this—for him. She came to draw a line.
Even though she had said she didn’t care that much… at the very least, she needed to build a fence around him, draw a boundary.
This was her way of declaring, without saying it outright, that she was Dan’s friend. That if anyone wanted to mess with him, they’d better think twice.
From the word “Zentinel” that slipped earlier… it was clear that bigotry and nationalism still lingered heavily in this land.
“This isn’t appropriate, Your Highness,” Chiesa tried to intervene. But Nora, now holding two swords, ignored him.
She spoke only to Dan.
“I’ll take care of these. You handle the floor.”
“…Alright, if you say so.”
She gave a light nod.
“Princess!”
Nora walked right past Jenny… without a word.
Encountering this kind of move...
The upperclassmen knights must be feeling uneasy, flustered, uncomfortable.
"Princess Nora, wait a moment. You don't need to--"
And like this..?
Could the others just stand by and do nothing?
Chiesa had other work to do.
Jenny herself had abandoned all her work. If she went back to help Dan now, she'd definitely lose face, because don't forget... for the people of Luminus... "face" is very important.
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“Let’s go,” said Rafinya.
“Rafinya?”
She gave a small nod and spoke to them all.
“I’ll stay.”
Screeech—scrape—shhhk—
The sound of steel grinding against steel echoed in the background.
Nora stood at the polishing bench, calmly scrubbing the pile of battered training swords.
Dan approached just then.
She turned toward him.
Dan shook his head, a faint smile forming on his lips.
“I knew something felt off. Never seen you step foot in the sparring hall before.”
Nora said nothing, continuing to polish until one blade was finished.
“Mr.Fury… do you know that these swords are only supposed to be polished once every two weeks?”
“…What?”
The demon prince paused.
“Is that true?”
“For metal equipment like these, it’s enough just to keep them dry. They don’t wear down nearly as fast as they make you think. You see where I’m going with this?”
!
Fury stood in silence.
“So what about the training hall itself?”
“Once a month is fine. At most, you wipe down the gear every evening.”
“…So I’ve been getting tricked this whole time?”
“Not surprising. Diablo doesn’t have swords or training halls, right?”
Nora glanced at the sword in her hand, now pressed against the whetstone.
“I had to draw a line they’d notice. You’re still unaware of the kind of games people play here because Diablo never had to deal with them. You’re vulnerable to being exploited.”
She spoke, serious.
“You may say you can endure it, but I can’t stand by and let it happen to you. Not here. Not to someone from Snowhaven.”
Second sword, done.
Fury was stunned…
Nora…
“…Thanks for helping me, Nora. You've done a lot. You don’t have to go this far—it might make people look down on you…”
“No, Mr.Fury.”
She shook her head.
“This doesn’t even count as ‘repayment’ in the Snowhaven dictionary.”
The people of Snowhaven were cold and stoic—expressionless compared to those from warmer lands. Their skin was pale as ghosts… but once you earned their loyalty, they’d stand by you until death. They would love you more fiercely than any other race on earth.
To repay a debt meant meeting it with equal or greater value, in their eyes.
Fury had slain a monstrous beast for them—freed Nora from the grip of the empress.
If she was to repay him truly, it had to be with something greater. Only then would it count.
Dan exhaled deeply, full of gratitude.
“Sometimes I think I’m just damn lucky to have you watching my back… honest.”
“It’s me who’s lucky… God threw you into my life, Mr.Fury.”
“…You’re really good at sword-polishing, though.”
“I trained with a sword as a child.”
She smiled softly.
“Of course I know how.”
One does not know about the other princesses—but in Snowhaven? A princess was a warrior. She'd cleaned, sharpened, and even strung her own bow.
Sword three, done. Gleaming.
“Maybe you should be teaching me swordplay.”
“Want to start now, Mr.Fury?”
“Whoa, hold up—kidding!”
“I’d be happy to. Just say the word.”
“You’ve already helped me so much with magic lessons…”
“I’d do more if I could, Mr.Fury.”
“Okay right, stop all these maybe? I’m getting nervous.”
“Except for that.”
“You’re all ridiculously stubborn, you know that?”
Nora chuckled softly.
“What’s going on in here, Nora?”
Dan and Nora turned toward the entrance to the storage room...
Rafinya Saint-Pauli walked in.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping Mr.Dan,” Nora replied coolly.
“But that’s his job. Not yours.”
“I don’t see a problem. The sooner we finish, the better.”
“Why?”
Rafinya walked up to the grindstone, grabbing the end of the sword Nora was cleaning—halting her.
“Why do you keep helping someone weak like him? Why are you still protecting him?”
Blunt. Direct. No sugarcoating.
Nora didn’t owe her the truth. Only a single phrase—
“It’s my business.”
“…What?”
“Miss Rafinya—”
Grab.
He tried to interject—but Nora caught him by the shoulder.
Let me handle this, Mr.Fury.
No, Nora—this is just going to—
Trust me… this is the least I can do. Let me protect you from people like this… please…
……
Dan saw the resolve in her face. He looked down for a moment—
Then gave a quiet nod and walked out to resume mopping the floor.
Click.
The door to the storage room shut. Just the two of them now.
“I don’t care how things are done in the Knight Department… but Dan is my friend. And the people of Snowhaven do not stand by while their friends are being bullied.”
“Bullied? Are you blind, Nora? That guy’s treating a prestigious scholarship like a joke.”
“People grow in different ways. But turning someone into the cleaning maid of the training hall isn’t growth—it’s exploitation.”
“What would a princess like you know, Nora?”
“I know plenty. More than you think.”
The training sword, held at both ends, started to tremble as the tension between them spiked. Neither one yielding.
“I’ve trained in both magic and swordplay… more than any scholarship student here combined. Ever walked up a mountain on foot to slay a saber-tooth tiger, Rafinya?”
“Savage methods for savage nations, Princess Nora.”
“Exactly. A pampered girl raised in warm sunshine like you will never survive in Snowhaven. Not even a second.”
If anyone else had said that, Rafinya would’ve snapped already—
But this was Nora… who had just survived an assassination attempt at the start of the semester… and killed the legendary dragon Iskaryx.
“Slaying a half-dead dragon really swelled your head, huh… Princess?”
“I’ve got more on my plate than fencers athlete like you.”
“Take that back… Nora.”
They stood so close they were nearly nose-to-nose. Rafinya’s crimson red eyes burning into her.
“The sacred sword arts of Luminus aren’t just a game. I respect you—but you need to take that back.”
Nora had crossed the line. And if she didn’t retreat, Rafinya wouldn’t hesitate to do what needed to be done—to defend Luminus’s honor.
The air was so tense it could crush someone.
Dan, listening at the door, started to fidget.
You sure you’ve got this, Nora?!
The two locked eyes as the pressure built to its peak… then—
“Fine.”
Nora released the sword. The vibration stopped.
“I take it back. I apologize for insulting the sword arts of Luminus.”
She finished polishing the last blade.
“I know it wasn’t you who leaked the fight. And I know you weren’t pulling the strings either.”
In truth, Rafinya didn’t care.
And honestly? The reason she told Dan about the free days (Thursday and Friday) was because she didn’t agree with Jenny’s desire to torment him.
Rafinya might’ve been cold to Dan—but even she thought Jenny had gone too far.
“Tell whoever’s involved—”
Nora added.
“Keeping Dan late every night messes with our assignments for Professor McClaff. I don’t want to turn in anything late.”
“…That’s the reason?”
Rafinya didn’t buy it at all.
She knew Nora could solo tough assignments blindfolded.
“Then trade partners. He’s no good at magic. Just dead weight.”
“Whether I trade or not… that’s my decision, Rafinya.”
Nora walked to the door. Just as she reached it, Rafinya called out—
“I don’t know what kind of relationship you’ve got with that weakling…”
Cut to the image of the theater ticket Rafinya once saw.
“But if you want to go far… you need to cut the dead weight. All of it. Nora.”
The princess glanced back at her from the corner of her eye,
Then opened the door and walked out.
Leaving behind the image of Rafinya standing alone, staring as the iron door swayed open and closed…
