The Human Saint is Bored, so I was Summoned to Another World

The Mahan School of Swordsmanship (Part 1)

In the aftermath of her duel with Roland and his fellow guards, Lily was finally left in peace. Though not in complete peace, because she had to agree in training them with her swordsmanship style. It's better than nothing at all.

But, what surprised Lily the most was the words that she said when she was fighting Roland...

Did she say those?

In all honesty, those weren't her own. It was taught to her by her brother, Arthur Mahan, who stood by her side even as her other family—including their father—was hating on her. He became concerned when some boys were approaching her, trying to woo her because of her background as a royal princess (their grandfather was the current king at the time).

And those lessons influenced Lily most of her life up till now.

A good man respects, gets to know the needs, and fights to protect his woman.

Not only did her brother taught her those, but he also proved that he could do it...that's why he died protecting her.

And since then, no other man in her life could do it. Even though she had been with the military for a long time and interacted with other members of the opposite gender among the nobility for quite a while...

Until that black-haired boy from another world fell from that window back at the Holy Palatial Gardens...

"Kuro...",

Though at first unremarkable, Lily realized he had taken her brother's place in her heart. After all, she could still clearly remember the time when he 'saved' her from that rooftop, mistaking her for someone who's about to jump. He didn't even hesitate to run after her, though it's clear that they both didn't know how to cast the flight spell.

"..."

And he also gained everyone's trust by showing respect to the girls back at the palatial gardens, going as far as putting his life on the line to safeguard Maddie's honor from that perverted duke who sneaked in.

"..."

Not only those, Kuro proved the extent of his concern for Maddie by fighting in the tourney, though he knew he's not trained for battles. And he even dared to punch the Imperial Prince on the face, when even Maddie's father could do nothing but watch.

Kuro deserved Maddie's love and devotion to him.

And she, as Maddie's closest friend, let her feelings got the better of her. To think that she considered banishing him to some place else...

"Maddie..." she blurted out, "What have I done...?"

Aside from being regretful, Lily felt something else emerge from the chaos of mixed feelings in her chest. Slowly, but steadily, the emotion made its presence known to her...

Envy.

She knew she had no right to feel that way towards Maddie and Kuro since she made herself a villain to both of them. But Lily couldn't keep her envy from taking over herself. That's why she suggested banishing Kuro. That's why she did her best to spite Maddie, even though her friend had been extremely exhausted. That's why she said those painful things to them when they confronted her...

Lily could only cover her face in shame, even though no one else was in the bedroom she was currently staying. Her mind kept on repeating the phrase 'What have I done?', and the feelings of guilt and embarrassment piled up in her chest.

But then, somewhere within her mind, another familiar voice came out...

"You know, if you've already done something bad, you won't be able to take it back. However, what's important is that you learned from it, and you turn away from doing it again."