Sword of Dawnbreaker

Gawain, upon seeing the magic fireball burst into a string of letters, had guessed who the creator was. He followed the direction where the fireball rose, along with Amber, and indeed found Rebecca squatting on the ground with Betty blowing leaf whistles. Standing beside them was a bewildered blonde maid clad in a servant’s outfit.

”Your Majesty,” the dazed maid noticed Gawain’s arrival, becoming even more flustered and anxious, ”Princess Veronica, she...”

Before she could finish, Rebecca exclaimed as she jumped up: ”Wow! Ancestor, you’re here!”

Betty, a beat slower, also stood up: ”Master... ah, Your Majesty.”

The girl, who was always slow to react, surprisingly remembered the correct form of address this time—though she got it wrong on her first try.

”It’s alright, just relax today.” Seeing Rebecca dressed in a court gown but untamed by the outfit, Gawain couldn’t help but feel uplifted. He waved his hand, ”Just try not to throw any more fireballs. After nightfall, there will be mages floating around the castle on patrol, and unless they’re in a designated area of magic fireworks, fireballs suddenly thrown like that might knock someone down.”

”Oh, got it...”

Gawain nodded with a smile and turned to the bewildered blonde girl standing nearby: ”You’re the original maid of the Silver Castle, right?”

The blonde girl quickly bowed her head: ”Yes, Your Majesty.”

”Relax, try to adapt. If you’re willing to continue serving the new royal family, you should get used to this less regimented way of life.”

”...Yes, Your Majesty.”

Gawain was about to leave when Rebecca called out to him: ”Oh, oh, ancestor, I’ve heard that the black-haired maid beside Duchess Victoria is actually a Black Dragon, is it true?”

”Who did you hear that from?” Gawain stopped and looked at Rebecca with surprise, ”Though this wasn’t a secret... it wasn’t exactly public either, right?”

”I heard it from Sir Philip, and there were quite a few soldiers talking about it too.”

”...Well, there were a lot of witnesses that day,” Gawain nodded, ”That’s right, her name is Maji, she’s a Black Dragon, but she has no intention of spreading it around. Why are you suddenly interested in this?”

”Ah, I’m just curious, there’s actually a dragon living with humans...” Rebecca blinked her eyes, her face full of curious exploration, ”I’ve heard that Dragonkin magic is very powerful, do you think Maji can use dragon language magic too?”

”It’s hard to say, maybe she can, but she seems a bit weaker than an average dragon,” Gawain said casually, then reminded her, ”It’s not good to talk about these things behind her back. You can ask her directly, but remember to be polite. Her dragon heritage seems to have some ’issues,’ if she’s not willing to talk, don’t be too intrusive.”

Rebecca nodded vigorously, looking very earnest: ”Don’t worry don’t worry, I’m very polite!”

To be honest, Gawain had some doubts about how trustworthy Rebecca’s ”very polite” really was. After all, according to Aunt Heidi, Rebecca’s worst subjects back then were etiquette and history, and nearly a third of her education funds were spent on the medical bills of the teachers of those two subjects. But then he thought about it, Rebecca just didn’t pass etiquette class, her ”politeness” should be fine...

After all, to this day, the ”etiquette” in the eyes of the nobility and the ”politeness” of the general public have, to some extent, become disconnected. Rebecca is the kind of girl who would bow and greet a commoner older than her, yet her ease and humility are considered ”rude and obtuse” in formal etiquette standards...

The severe disconnect between the ”etiquette norms” of the upper class and the living order of the lower class is, to some extent, a sign of structural imbalance in society, a prelude and characteristic of conflicts between social strata. From this perspective, Rebecca failing her ”etiquette” classes is actually a good thing, allowing her to effortlessly accept many of the egalitarian concepts Gawain instilled...

Perhaps Gawain should be thankful, thankful that the Cecil Clan’s financial difficulties in Rebecca’s childhood meant that Viscount Cecil and Aunt Heidi couldn’t afford a perfect etiquette teacher for her. Otherwise, he would have another layer of headache in educating Rebecca now.

With a slight smile, Gawain led Amber through the courtyard’s flower beds, on the path to the open space, he heard a loud whistle coming from beside him.