Ria lay flat on her bed.
A luxurious amount of room for her size.
A king-sized bed with bedding thick enough to jump on it to relieve stress.
From time to time, she could jump on it to relieve stress.
She stared up at the ceiling.
A lantern hung from the center.
At night, she lit the crystal embedded in the hexagonal glass casing.
Common light crystals that drop from most common monsters.
They store a bit of mana and gradually emit it to light the room.
She got up and walked around.
Her knight had gone to war, leaving her alone at the estate.
Her room was humongous.
If turned into a warehouse, it would store enough grain to last her a lifetime.
The decor was fairly modest.
Finely polished wooden tiles made up the floor and walls.
A custom-made table adjusted to her height, where she spent most of her days.
Reading, studying, and more recently, going through ledgers.
A stack of books and paperwork leaning against the side.
She recoiled at the sight.
She's taking a break now, as she's sick and tired of all the paperwork.
She glanced at her wardrobe that stretched the short length of the room.
Outfits ranged from dresses that accentuated her fair skin and lush red hair to smart business wear with neatly ironed shirts.
She pushed the ones she had already worn this year to the left.
The ones she hadn't touched were on the right.
She plucked a dress and tried it on.
A light green dress. It looked plain; it had slots for various accessories.
But the color clashed so much with her hair that no amount of jewelry and makeup would fix it.
She put it in the recycling pile for the maids to collect later.
She tried on a few more.
A white dress, but it blended in too well with her skin, making her feel even more invisible than she already is.
The pink dress she wore to the ball looked promising, but it failed to hold a man's eyes.
Badum!
Images of Hikari standing in her gorgeous black dress.
Her silver hair. Her ruby-red eyes matching the blood rubies clad in silver, glittering in the lantern light.
The men groveling at her feet for her attention.
"Ah..!"
Ria touched herself.
Thud.
She fell backward onto the ground.
The carpet caught her fall and saved her from back pain.
"This is not working."
She took a deep breath and walked to her bookshelf.
She grabbed a book and hopped back onto her bed.
Random things to help her empty her mind.
She opened the book and held it above her head.
The history of the spire city.
A megastructure extending into the clouds.
She could literally see it from the estate.
The spire city was not a legend but a city that thrives to this day.
Its inhabitants salvaged its ancient technology and used it to produce exotic weaponry and materials.
She deals with the trade that flows from the city through the RazenHeir estate almost every day.
She still grinds through it.
It wasn't long before she enrolled in the Spire Academy, like her elder siblings, who were in their final years there.
Its graduates would become fully fledged knights.
Wielders of powerful abilities.
Guardians of the realm against the horrors that exist beyond the borders of civilization.
But for some reason, the maddeningly boring history of the spire city was a graduation requirement.
She slams the book shut.
"This doesn't do it either."
Her drilling outfit was hanging by her door.
She put it on and grabbed her rapier.
…
The drill hall had two knights. Most of them were away at the front.
As Ria entered, they greeted her.
She nodded to them in response.
She took her position in front of a straw dummy.
A thrust from her rapier pierced the dummy's chest.
Guard, thrust, guard.
Her form had gotten more stable.
For the first time, she felt a teeny bit of muscle in her arms.
It seemed the training with Hikari was starting to pay off.
"Ah!"
Her arm ached as she pulled out her rapier.
Perhaps she was imagining it after all.
The three reps were all she could handle.
A massive improvement from before.
But she had to put down the rapier for today.
It's time for her strength training, or the lack thereof.
She glances at the two knights drilling away.
She would rather not embarrass herself in front of them.
"Somewhere I can have some privacy, perhaps my room?"
She thinks for a bit.
"Oh, how bout Hikari's room?"
…
Hikari's room.
A dizzying amount of space for the tiny lady.
If the RazenHeir drill hall made her feel small, Hikari's room was making her feel like a speck of dust.
Her eyes veered to the left.
Badum!
Her heart pounded.
Hikari's shoes.
Her old pair of boots.
Her soiled running flats.
Her high heels.
"Ah…!"
Ria's knees weakened, causing her to fall onto the ground.
Her legs squeezed against each other.
"look away… look away…"
She forced her neck to turn the other direction.
She saw Hikari's cauldron sitting in her kitchen area.
Deep breaths.
"Focus… focus… You are here to train."
She reached Hikari's exercise area.
It was where they exercised together before she left for the front.
She got onto her hands and knees and crawled around Hikari's exercise mat.
A faint smell lingered, coming from the exercise mat.
"I should get the maids to clean this before she gets back."
Ria crawled in circles.
Badum!
She imagined the giant pillars striding in front of her.
The muscular thighs that would snuff her life out with a gentle squeeze.
The contours of the giantess's calves at the back of her knee socks.
"mm…!"
She falls flat on the ground.
Hikari's shoes across the room.
Her boots.
Her running flats.
Her high heels.
Ria got up and slapped herself.
"Seriously? Is this the only exercise I can do?"
She got into a push-up position.
The same story every time she tries.
Her chest would touch the ground and stay there.
Her arms would push on the ground as hard as they could, but the force they exerted would disappear into the void.
A humiliating feeling came over her.
"Back to crawling, I guess."
She crawled another round.
She sat back and relaxed, staring up at the ceiling of the empty hall.
Boom. Boom.
Sounds in her head.
The feeling of the giantess jumping up and down.
Her massive body causing tremors in the ground.
"Ah…!"
Ria moans.
Slap.
She slaps herself again.
"Focus… Focus… I know her strength and power are amazing. But you're still her lady."
She stands up and drinks from her teacup.
"Time to go back. I still have lots of paperwork to do."
As she left Hikari's chambers, a Razenheir scout rode into the estate on horseback.
"The courier has arrived."
Ria feels the energy in her legs.
She walks briskly towards the scout, who is dismounting from his horse.
She keeps herself from running, as it would be very unladylike.
"My lady, the report from the front."
He pulls out a large envelope from his bag.
Ria hugs the thick stacks of paper against her chest.
She couldn't wait to read its contents.
The scout pulls out another letter.
"This is…?"
The seal of the Windranger.
Ria opens the envelope.
The handwriting was messy beyond the pale.
"Ria… Meow… going… to… front…"
She struggles to read the words.
A portion of a paw print at the bottom right.
— Hikari's footwear —
[Wyvern skin boots] Height: 1.9 meters. The soles are 0.3 meters thick. The tip is 0.5 meters above the ground. Weight: 100 kg each. Hikari wears them whenever she's on campaign.
[Running flats] Length: 0.9 meters. Width: 0.4 meters. They get dirty and deformed from running every day. She has multiple pairs and cycles them through the workshops to patch them.
[High heels] Bore thickness : 0.3 meters. Heel height : 0.6 meters. Weight: 80 kg each. The steel frame needed to support her weight is heavy. She makes a loud, sharp sound whenever she walks.