101st Confession - Side Story Episode 1

Side Story Episode 1: Girl’s First Love (1)

“Miss, where are you?”

“You’ll only get us in trouble, Miss!”

The maids and servants looked everywhere, searching for her.

Ares came out of his room and grabbed a passing servant.

“Has she disappeared again?”

“Yes, my lady said she was going to take a liberal arts class today, but…

Ares clicked his tongue at the sight of their pale faces.

“Tsk, I thought she’d be a little more civilized at 14.”

July 5, 733 Imperial.

Coming to the duchy for his first summer vacation since entering the academy, Ares shook his head as he thought of his sister, wherever she might be.

No matter how much he thought about it, she should have been born a man, not a woman.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so crazy about swords, and she wouldn’t be taking the classes that a noble child should be taking.

“I’ll look for her with you.”

“We would be very grateful if you would, Master!”

The servants’ eyes lit up as if they had seen a ray of light, and they joined Ares in searching for Arista.

Arista!

Miss!

Calls for Arista echoed through the garden. Until the chatter died down, a man with a rounded head emerged.

He had a pure white face, sharp features, violet eyes, and short hair that didn’t even reach the nape of his neck.

He looked like a man.

“Phew, look who’s getting caught.”

The handsome man turned out to be Arista.

From the age of five, while her peers were playing with teddy bears, Arista was obsessed with swords and carried them with her everywhere, even when she ate and slept.

At first, the Dukes of Lydia thought Arista was a swordsmanship prodigy, but they soon realized that she was only interested in swords and refused to learn the basics of noble training.

They had belatedly tried to make her more like a normal noblewoman, but she had cut her hair short, worn only pants, and made the Duke and Duchess of Lydia cringe.

“I suppose there’s no one here now?”

Seeing no one around, Arista hurried deeper into the maze of flowerbeds.

The small clearing in the center of the maze was the perfect place to practice her swordsmanship away from prying eyes.

Callused palms, a steady stream of sweat, and the sound of the wind.

Everything was perfect.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha…….”

Arista exhaled sharply, but she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.

After two hours of mindless swordplay, she was getting tired. Grabbing a water bottle for a break, she sensed something and quickly grabbed her sword.

Rustle.

Someone must have come this far. 

Not wanting anyone to discover her secret space, Arista quickly grabbed her wooden sword and set up an ambush nearby.

‘If I can, I’ll hit him in the nape of the neck…………!’

Stun him and he won’t know what happened.

As the footsteps grew closer, Arista tightened her grip on the sword.

Just like that, someone was close.

Yikes!

Arista swung her wooden sword around and found the man on the ground, stunned.

“What, what?”

“?”

The unfamiliar face made Arista stop her attack.

It was a man about Ares’ age. Brown hair was disheveled from a fall, blue walls that reminded her of the sky, and a compliant appearance.

The man stood up, wary of Arista.

“If you suddenly attack, what do you expect? It could have been a big problem.”

“..I thought you were someone I knew.”

“Even if it’s someone you know, you shouldn’t swing a sword recklessly. No matter how blunt the blade is, you can get seriously hurt.”

The man scolded Arista sharply as he took the sword from her hand. 

At that moment, Arista glared at him with a pouty expression.

“Did Ares have a brother?”

The man muttered and glanced at Arista. He must be Ares’ brother, judging by that face.

“Give me mine.”

With no hesitation, the man gave Arista a playful tap on the head. Arista, who had never been hit by anyone before, covered her head.

“Why did you hit me!”

“Why would I hit you, you’re only half a year younger than me, and this is confiscation.”

“Who are you to take what’s mine, give it back!”

Arista scrambled to retrieve her sword, but the man wasn’t about to let up.

After ten minutes of tussling, Arista looked exasperated, and the man spoke up.

“If you suddenly attacked a person, what should you do?”

Arista gave him a confused look, and he sighed heavily.

“You apologize.”

“I ……hate it.”

“Then you’ll never get this sword back.”

The man turned away resolutely, and Arista was stumped.

She had never apologized before in her life. All she had to do was say sorry, but the words wouldn’t come easily.

As the man walked away, Arista clenched her fists.

“I’m sorry……!”

“Sure?”

“Yes.”

The man returned with a smirk. He then patted her head and handed her the sword.

“Next time, don’t swing a sword recklessly at people. Got it?”

“Yeah. Oh, no. Yes.”

“Good, you’re a good kid.”

Feeling ticklish from the teasing, Arista brushed off the back of her head.

“But, you know.”

“Yeah?”

“How do I get out of here?”

Arista’s eyes narrowed at him as he scratched his cheek.

“You can go that way.”

“Thanks! I couldn’t find my way around.”

He had wandered in out of curiosity and couldn’t find the exit.

Watching him walk away from her, Arista realized in hindsight that she hadn’t asked him his name. “Who is he?”

She doesn’t think he’s a servant, judging by the quality of his clothes, but is he a noble? She didn’t hear anyone coming today,

“Aah! Lady!”

Eek.

Arista slowly turned around. The maid was glaring at her, looking disheveled.

“You came?”

“Where the hell have you been, I’ve been looking for you for ages, and you’re double-wielding again!”

Without realizing it, she had brought the wooden sword this far. The maid snatched the wooden sword from her hand.

“This is confiscation. Your parents ordered that all of your wooden swords be burned.”

“Oh, no!”

“Then you should have listened to them. Now, come on, it’s late, but you should at least have a little class.”

Despite her protests, Arista was forced to sit through an hour of tedious lessons.

Huffing and puffing.

A snort came from somewhere. It was Arista who was sobbing under her breath.

In front of her lay a wooden sword with two halves. Arista stared at it with reddened eyes, then hugged her knees and buried her face between them.

“Huh? Another one?”

Just then, an unfamiliar voice called out. Arista didn’t look up, not wanting to see anyone.

She kept still, hoping it would go away on its own, but no matter how much time passed, it didn’t. Finally, Arista had enough and raised her head.

“This is my seat, go!”

The man shuddered as he studied Arista’s wooden sword. Arista, looking even uglier in the transparent walls than the sky, turned her head away.

“Go away, I don’t want to see anyone.”

“Who broke it?”

“I can’t use it anymore.”

Then there was the sound of tearing. Unable to resist her curiosity, Arista glanced over.

The man was wrapping her wooden sword in a white cloth.

He had torn his own clothes.

“There, there.”

“What is this.”

It was back in the form of a wooden sword, but it was only held together with a cloth, so it looked like it would snap back into two after a few swings.

Still, somehow looking at it made her feel more at ease.

“It’s precious to you, isn’t it?”

“…Yeah.”

“What kind of mean person would do this to it? Just tell me and I’ll punish him!”

“Phew, you’re going to punish my father?”

“Hmm.”

Arista laughed as the man stuttered in embarrassment. The man smirked at her brightened demeanor.

“Thank you.”

“You can’t thank me when you’re crying pitifully.”

“I wasn’t crying pitifully.”

He chuckled and moved to sit next to her, glad to see she was back to her normal self.