Chapter 38: Female Might
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translations Editor: EndlessFantasy Translations
Jojo may have loved Seth but she also hated him. Nevertheless, Jojo was not a recklessly possessive person. Although she did not believe Rody’s words, it would not be appropriate for her to continue to speak. After all, even if she loved Seth, she knew that her beloved would need to be responsible for the family and she also wanted her beloved to have a good future.
Being mindful, Jojo let out a light 'hmph'. Although she was still angry, her expression became much gentler. She did not care that Nicole was still around and boldly pulled Rody’s hand. “You see, your hand is already so big! Was swordplay really so difficult? I still want to listen to you play the zither!”
Rody thought to himself.
Play the zither? I can’t even sing and I am completely tone deaf. If I tried to play the zither, I would definitely get caught. I must definitely not play the zither.
Jojo felt sorry for him and her heart became soft. She then said, “Today, I risked everything to come and find you! You can no longer deceive me! I will not pursue the matter of you treating me coldly the past few days but you must accompany me tomorrow!”
Rody was about to refuse but stopped when he saw Jojo’s glare. He was thinking of promising her first and then going into hiding. Since the Tulip Family’s house was so big, it may be difficult for her to search for him.
The moment Rody tried to speak, Nicole spoke out coldly, “He cannot go tomorrow.”
“Why?” Jojo frowned.
“Tomorrow, he is going to practice his swordsmanship!”
“What about the day after tomorrow?”
“No can do.”
“The following day?”
Nicole looked at her coldly, “No.”
“Why are you so strict with him?” Jojo glared. “Why are you preventing him from being with me?”
Nicole did not lose her temper but coldly replied, “No particular reason. Until he has passed the assessment, I will not let him be distracted.”
Jojo became very angry and almost turned hostile. Her elder sister was the Empress and a noble. She was always pampered in the Imperial Capital. How could she control her temper? To add, it was natural for a maiden in love to feel extreme hatred towards the people who prevented her and her beloved from being together.
However, she knew that Nicole was Seth’s sister. It would not be good if she turned hostile. She furiously stomped her foot and glared at Nicole. After that, she suddenly leaned and kissed Rody before glancing at Nicole once again.
Before Rody could react, he felt her lips on his cheek.
While Rody was still in a daze, Jojo looked at him with a flushed face and whispered, “I will secretly come to find you.”
The seductress then turned and ran away. The look on Nicole’s face could be compared to turbulent winds which forebode a coming storm. After a long time, Nicole finally glared fiercely at Rody. She then walked out without uttering a single word.
The drama was finally over. Although Rody was determined to stop Nicole as he had a lot of things to talk about, he was unable to do so. He just held his cheek which Jojo kissed in a daze.
The next day, Nicole changed her attitude towards Rody again. She became even sterner compared to previous days when she did not hit or scold him. Overnight, she changed from a gentle sister to a devil-like instructor.
Rody’s swordsmanship instructor was also replaced.
Now, Rody's swordsmanship instructor was the bearded Instructor Carter. Rody was trained every day by him until he felt miserable. As Carter was an officer in the army, he trained Rody using his own method which he used to train elites of the army. Although Rody had a strong constitution, after becoming the Young Master for so many days, he had gotten too comfortable. As a result, he became lazy. Instructor Carter did not speak much but made him carry a 30kg sword and wear 20kg of armor. He then needed to run around the field for 70 or 80 laps. It was enough to make him tired to the point of collapsing. However, Carter did not have mercy on him and would whip him if he slowed down. After several days, Rody lost count of a number of whippings he received.
Every day, Nicole would observe him but she was not distressed by his torturous training. Instead, she would support Carter. Sometimes, Rody could not help but think that this was a jealous woman’s form of vengeance.
Shit! Jojo only kissed me once! If you want to be jealous then just kiss me as well!
Naturally, these weren’t words that Rody was brave enough to utter.
Fortunately, Instructor Carter’s swordsmanship was good. After running every day, Carter would teach Rody some swordsmanship and also pass on some advice on what to do when encountering an enemy. This was because Rody’s strength at that moment was already not much weaker compared to Carter’s. However, Rody’s did not have much experience fighting an enemy. Rody barely had the chance to fight.
Those few days, Rody felt so tired that he fell asleep the moment he touched the pillow every night. He would even drool while he was asleep. Angel, who woke him up every morning, had to call him for a long time. Angel's felt distressed. Without a doubt, within those few days, Rody's body became more muscular because of his strenuous training.
On the other hand, the academic teachers no longer had anything to teach Rody. In fact, the scholars received a headache the moment they saw Rody. In their eyes, their student was someone who rebelled against the typical way. He often said outrageous things the moment he opened his mouth. If he was not from an influential family but from a commoner’s family, he would have already been hanged.
An example was when a teacher once talked about the relationship between theology and the emperor’s power of monarchy. According to the tradition of the Empire, the emperor’s power needed to be recognized by the pope. Otherwise, the emperor’s position would not be justified. In other words, the pope’s status and dignity were higher than that of the emperor’s. In the entire continent, they all believed in the Almighty God. The ones that did not believe in God were all considered pagans. The more serious cases would result in hanging.
The teacher then spoke about the church’s armed forces, the Flame Knights. The pope also had his own territory. Although these armed forces normally belonged to the Empire, these soldiers could not be mobilized by anyone other than the church. This included the emperor himself! The church got a share of the taxes collected by the Empire. The church even collected atonement tax directly from each subject. The Empire could not intervene in this matter.
For most scholars, these were very normal and natural things. However, Rody could not help but express his views.
Rody believed that this was weakening the monarchy's power by weakening the governing rights and authority of the Empire. For a long time, the hearts of the Empire's subjects subconsciously yielded to this concept that the church's authority was stronger than the governing power of the Empire! The church had their own taxes and armed forces. This already represented a kind of power division within the Empire. The strength of an empire depended on a strong central power base. It would be extremely dangerous if it was not clear as to who had the highest authority. If the church and the emperor clashed, would the subjects support the church or the emperor?
The moment these words came out, the scholars immediately turned pale. They covered their mouths and stared at Rody with a terrified expression.
Since then, Rody stopped asking the teachers questions. The teachers just taught from the books and did not dare to say anything else.
Other than learning swordsmanship and whatever the scholars taught him, Rody also hid in his room to read. However, the more he read, the more questions arose. The ideas appearing in his mind also became more frightening.
He occasionally thought of asking the skeleton, Andy and the old groom, Mark. He believed that since they were the creation and disciple of the Great Sage Dandong, they would have a lot of wisdom and would be able to answer his questions. However, the skeleton, Andy never got in touch with him. Although Rody had the mask, he did not know how to use the mask to open the space to find the skeleton. Besides, every time he went into the small building, Andy continued to stay a lifeless and voiceless skeleton.
As for Old Mark, he no longer met with Rody alone while he acted like a servant outside.
Many days later, the colossal Randt’s injuries recovered and he was officially sent to Rody’s side to act as a personal bodyguard. Randt was also given another important task by Nicole.
The task was to teach Rody how to ride a horse.