“Ohhh, this is amazing!”

Lilia, piloting the Ironman test unit, arrived at the warehouse gate. Since the program had already been set, the doors sensed the machine’s approach and opened automatically. A freezing wind swept snowflakes into the warehouse and instantly stole away the last bit of warmth. I raised a hand to shield my face and let the cold wind scatter my gray hair. Through the gap between my sleeves, I saw that Lilia had actually driven the test unit right out of the warehouse.

This is bad. If she falls, she’ll get hurt!

The moment I thought of all the consequences of Lilia getting injured, panic hit me. The worst-case scenario was... the ducal house would throw me out!

Nothing can happen. I absolutely can’t let Lilia get hurt!

With that in mind, I braved the freezing wind and stepped out of the warehouse. What I saw left me stunned. Lilia was happily hopping around in the snow outside while piloting the test unit. Th-That shouldn’t be possible!

The test unit had only just finished skeletal assembly. It hadn’t been tuned yet. Most importantly, the auto-balance system was still lying on my workbench. That precision module, with its three gyroscope sets, hadn’t even been installed!

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand how Lilia was moving so smoothly without the support of the auto-balance system. The pilot controlled the ankle joints through pedals, after all. It was basically like walking on stilts. One wrong move and you’d fall flat.

Thinking back to my previous life, plenty of volunteers had fallen the moment they got on. And that was with a fully tuned auto-balance system. Could it be... Lilia was a genius?

“Victoria, did you make this?”

“Freu... Brother.” I hurriedly bowed. “Good afternoon, Brother.”

“No need for that.” Freud took off his cloak, wrapped me in it, and gathered me into his arms. “I didn’t expect to see the prototype from the proposal this soon. Victoria, you really are a genius.”

His praise made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but that wasn’t the issue right now!

“Brother,” I said urgently, “please get Sister-in-law down from the test unit! The auto-balance system hasn’t been installed yet. She’ll fall!”

“Oh, really?” Freud’s lips curled upward. That smile was pure trouble. “Hey, darling wife!” he shouted. “Don’t just hop around. Try something more difficult!”

“Got it, hubby—!”

I froze on the spot, then started pounding Freud’s chest with my tiny pink fists, trying to make him take it back. But it was already too late.

With the powerful boost of the hydraulic system and mana motors, Lilia leaped into the air and completed a beautiful front flip in the wind and snow. Then she landed steadily. The damping mechanism let out a muffled mechanical noise and perfectly absorbed the impact. Lilia held her arms out straight, looking proud of herself.

Meanwhile, my heart was practically jumping out of my mouth. Thank goodness she didn’t fall!

“Victoria, this thing is awesome!” Lilia waved at me. The Ironman test unit she wore moved in perfect sync with her body, so naturally that it looked like a suit of armor worn on the body. In reality, it could increase the wearer’s strength tenfold and boost jumping ability by three to five times.

“Lilia Onee-sama,” I said, terrified something would go wrong, “please come down...”

But the corners of Freud’s mouth were starting to rise uncontrollably. Oh no. That was the look of bad ideas about to come pouring out. Not now, please not now!

“Wife!” he shouted. “How about performing a sword dance? Victoria will definitely love it!”

“No problem! Hubby, you’re so smart!”

Hey! Your husband is setting you up!

Since she couldn’t find a suitable sword right away, Lilia suddenly spotted the decorative sword in the garden. It was two meters long and lay flat on a marble pedestal, covered in snow. I remembered that it was a replica made after the first duke’s sword. It was basically just a huge, heavy slab of iron. No human should’ve been able to lift it.

And yet Lilia, piloting the test unit, strode right over to it. She curled the five fingers inside the control gauntlet, and the machine’s mechanical hand mirrored her movement perfectly. The iron sword was lifted with ease. Its weight transferred from the mechanical hand to the arm exoskeleton, then through the reinforced mechanical shoulder joints into the alloy spine, and finally distributed across both feet.

This system was basically an exoskeleton mounted outside the human body. It increased strength while also providing support.

After picking up the iron sword, Lilia gave it a few test swings to feel the weight. Then the gorgeous sword performance began.

The Ironman test unit perfectly reproduced every one of Lilia’s movements. The cold blade traced dazzling arcs through the flying snow. Her footwork was smooth and light, almost like a dance. Amid the falling snowflakes, Lilia, piloting the test unit, performed a splendid sword dance on the snow-covered training ground. Her figure looked like a valkyrie from legend.

Her swordsmanship was so beautiful that I couldn’t help but envy her.

As luck would have it, the test unit’s recording function was running. It would capture Lilia’s full set of movements. For me, that was an incredible unexpected gain.

There was no doubt that Lilia was strong. She might be a little airheaded, but that didn’t stop her from being a first-rate swordswoman. And yet, not long from now, she would lose her life in a monster subjugation campaign and die on the battlefield.

I suddenly realized something. If I could finish the Ironman prototype in time, then maybe Lilia wouldn’t die.

She was the test pilot of my dreams, someone who could fully bring out the Ironman’s performance. I wouldn’t let her die so easily. I would have her prove through military merit that the Arcane Golem was a powerful weapon of war!

Lilia was very good to me, yes. But that wasn’t a reason for me to help her.

I was a villainess. I had cast away all innocence and kindness on the execution stake.

I was only using her. Using her to gather combat data and complete the Arcane Golem as quickly as possible.

That’s right.

I was only using Lilia.

That was all!

The sword dance ended, and applause rang out.

I looked toward Freud and saw that he was grinning from ear to ear. But one of his arms was holding me, so there was no way he could be clapping. Then... who was?

I turned toward the sound and saw a silver-white lion of a man clapping his heavy hands with a smile on his face.

Wasn’t that the Duke of Northberg? Why was he here too?

“Lilia, don’t forget to put the sword back.”

“Yes, Father~~”

Lilia returned the iron sword to its original place, though I think she put it back the wrong way around. The duke didn’t seem to notice, so let’s just pretend that never happened.

With heavy steps, Lilia came over to us. Wearing the test unit had boosted her height to 230 centimeters, but without the outer armor installed, the machine still looked a bit crude. All kinds of equipment and arcane circuits were exposed.

“Ohhh, this thing’s pretty good.” The duke tapped it with a finger. “Victoria, why didn’t you put armor on it? These exposed frames are ugly, and they lower its defense too.”

As expected of the Empire’s hero, the battle-hardened Silver Sword Specter. The duke saw the flaw in the test unit at a glance. He understood my design concept perfectly.

“D-Du... Father,” I replied, “actually... this isn’t finished yet. I hadn’t had time to install the outer armor before Sister-in-law drove it away...”

“I see. So it’s not complete yet.”

“Yes.” I nodded. “This test unit is only for collecting data. The real Ironman is three times larger, around seven meters tall.”

“Three times larger?” The duke thought for a moment. “Can’t you use this test unit as a base and research a smaller model instead? I think four meters would be about right. Don’t make it too big.”

“A smaller model?”

I really hadn’t considered that. But the duke’s thinking pointed me toward another research direction. If it was miniaturization... then yes, it could be done.

“Exactly,” the duke said. “A large machine needs a lot of materials, and the cost will be high. Better to develop a smaller unit around four meters tall. As long as you give it armor and protect the joints properly, crushing infantry and ordinary monsters won’t be a problem.”

“And there’s another advantage to making it smaller. It’s easier to maintain. On the battlefield, all kinds of weapons and equipment get damaged easily. If they can’t be repaired and maintained in battlefield conditions, then even the best equipment won’t perform.”

“Ah, yes... I understand.”

Like a proper engineer, I accepted the duke’s advice. He was right. Building a large machine wasn’t suitable right now. Even the ducal house couldn’t expand military production without limit. A smaller mech with better maintainability, greater mobility, and easier manufacturing fit current needs far better.

The duke was right. At this stage, being able to crush infantry was enough. There was no need to build some giant seven- or eight-meter monster in one go.

“Father, I’ll revise the design as soon as possible.”

“No need to rush, Victoria.” The duke patted my head. “Haven’t you already produced results? At least for now, I’m very satisfied with your work. You only need to present an improved plan before spring. You’ve got half a winter to take it slow.”

Was this... him giving me time?

Or did he just not have confidence in my abilities?

Considering that my apparent age was only six, a demand like that from the duke was hardly unreasonable. I just needed to focus on finishing the exoskeleton. It seemed the Ironman development plan would have to be pushed back for now.

“Yes, Your Grace. I will not fail my missi—ah-choo!”

I suddenly sneezed. That startled both Freud and the duke. The duke shot his son a look, and Freud immediately took off toward the castle with me in his arms. He carried me all the way to the ducal family’s private doctor in one breath.

Meanwhile, Lilia waved with a bright smile as she watched helpless little me get carried away by Freud. I just hoped she wouldn’t break my test unit while I was gone!

The doctor set me on the bed, checked my temperature a little, then shook his head.

“Young Duke, the young lady needs rest. Her body is weak to begin with. It can’t handle this kind of strain. If your whole family keeps tossing her around like this, I’m afraid she won’t live to see next spring’s flowers.”

The doctor’s words were blunt, which showed how much the ducal house trusted him. Freud nodded. As a result, for the next half month, Martha watched me every single day while I lay in bed recuperating.

My development schedule is going to fall behind!