Chapter 41
“The winner is Arma!”
“The winner is Hatan!”
The cheers grew louder as the consecutive victories continued.
Roselyn sat in her chair, blinking as she heard the unexpected news of Arma winning again and again.
…Was he always this strong?
Roselyn looked once at the Kaluta warriors sprawled across the ground, then raised her head and looked at Arma, who was loosening his body and preparing for the next fight.
The Kaluta people were warriors among warriors, said to be strong enough to take on a hundred men by themselves.
They were almost like monsters in some ways, since they were more comfortable fighting with their bare hands than using swords.
Even though these were not fights to the death, Roselyn could hardly believe that Arma was defeating them one after another with his sword.
…No, if he was this skilled, then why was he killed by assassins?
Roselyn silently watched him continue his winning streak.
Were those assassins really that strong?
She searched through her memories.
They had certainly been strong, and there had been several of them, but they did not possess the monstrous strength of the Kaluta warriors she was seeing now.
“What the hell? When did that bastard overcome his trauma?”
Roselyn turned her head when she heard someone mutter beside her.
Yuldian was glaring at Arma in the middle of the wide training arena, his face twisted into a frown.
“Trauma?”
At Roselyn’s question, Yuldian glanced at her and suddenly froze.
His face turned bright red.
“Y-you! Can’t you dress properly?! How dare you appear in such an indecent state in front of an Imperial Prince…!”
Roselyn looked him up and down with an unimpressed expression, as if wondering why he was saying such a thing.
“You’re sitting on the lap of someone dressed even more revealingly than I am, yet you have plenty to say.”
Roselyn smiled sweetly as she spoke.
Yuldian’s entire body jerked.
His face turned bright red with embarrassment as he struggled to get away from Narayan, who had her arms wrapped around his waist.
Narayan, who was watching the match while holding Yuldian on her lap, lightly smacked his butt.
“Ah! Ahh! It hurts! It hurts!”
“Darling, shh. You shouldn’t be noisy during the match!”
“Who’s your darling…!”
When Narayan pouted her lips, Yuldian immediately shut his mouth.
It seemed Yuldian, who used to insult and harass women by calling them names whenever a maid or young lady made even the smallest mistake, had finally met someone who could handle him.
“How can you be so handsome…”
Narayan tightly hugged Yuldian around the waist and rubbed her face against his back.
“Mother said that if the alliance goes well, we might even have a royal marriage. So let’s do our best, darling.”
“What?! What kind of nonsense are you—!”
“Ah, how can you be so cute even when you get this angry? I think I really fell in love with you at first sight…”
Narayan’s open display of affection made Yuldian recoil in horror.
So Khan is even considering a royal marriage.
But a royal marriage was also one of the best ways to firmly connect two countries.
The Emperor cared about his children in his own way, and the Kaluta people had very strong family bonds.
“Just go away…!”
Yuldian shouted as he pushed Narayan away.
“…Go away? My goodness, you’re the first person who has ever said that to me.”
“Ahhh! This is driving me crazy!”
Yuldian screamed.
Roselyn watched him.
Even though he clearly disliked it, Yuldian did not become violent.
Of course. If he tried to attack her, he’d only hurt himself.
Roselyn looked at Yuldian without even a trace of pity, then turned her attention back to the arena.
“The winner is Hatan!”
The sound announcing the end of the semifinals rang out.
The Second Prince has probably never met a woman stronger than himself.
Although he acted rather carefree, his swordsmanship was quite impressive.
In fact, when the war with Kaluta had taken place, Yuldian and the First Prince had personally taken the front lines and commanded the war.
“Did the Third Prince have trauma…?”
“He did. When he was young, he nearly got killed by an assassin. Ever since then, he would tremble whenever he saw anything sharp.”
Yuldian snorted as he answered Roselyn’s question.
“It’s ridiculous. He was born an Imperial Prince. It’s not like something like that only happened once or twice. After that, he couldn’t even hold a sword and would tremble in fear…”
Yuldian narrowed his eyes as he watched Arma.
But that… Is that really the skill of someone who hasn’t touched a sword in nearly ten years?
If Arma had truly stopped using a sword, there was no way he could have developed such skill.
…Then has that bastard been deceiving us all this time?
Yuldian shook his head at the absurd thought he had come up with himself.
No way.
As if he had sensed Yuldian’s gaze, Arma slowly turned his head.
He silently looked at Yuldian.
Then his gaze slowly shifted to Roselyn sitting beside him.
“We will now begin the final match! Khan Hatan’s opponent is the Third Prince of our future allied nation, Arma, who has shown us an incredible level of skill!”
The Kaluta announcer, who was jumping up and down while shouting at the top of his lungs, grinned mischievously.
“All right, the final match will sta—”
He suddenly stopped.
“—begin… after this!”
The two men who had already taken their fighting stances paused.
The spectators, who had been holding their breath in anticipation, immediately began booing.
Even through all the booing, the announcer simply kept smiling.
Khan, who had returned to Roselyn’s side, suddenly burst out laughing.
She looked at Roselyn.
“Hatan isn’t weak, Lyn.”
“That much is obvious.”
Roselyn nodded and readily agreed.
Khan quietly looked into Roselyn’s eyes.
Then she rested her chin on her hand and turned her attention back toward the stage.
“How about each of the two finalists says a few words about their intentions?”
The people who had been booing immediately began cheering again.
Hatan silently looked at the announcer, then shifted his gaze toward Khan.
“As always, I will dedicate my victory to my one and only love. So, if I win, would it be all right if I came to see you tonight?”
For a moment, complete silence fell over the area.
A moment later, the crowd erupted into cheers.
Two moments later, Yuldian finally understood what Hatan meant, and his face turned as red as a tomato.
Roselyn looked at Khan, who was smiling with obvious satisfaction.
“Of course. If you bring me victory, I’ll spoil you all night.”
Roselyn had been doing her best to remain composed, but Khan’s loud answer completely destroyed her composure.
Her head slowly dropped.
She simply could not get used to Kaluta culture.
With her earlobes bright red, she gently rubbed her face with her palms.
“Roselyn.”
His voice was quiet, but unlike usual, there was a deep and serious tone to it.
Roselyn slowly raised her head.
“If I win, could you please reconsider?”
Roselyn frowned at Arma’s abrupt words.
“…Reconsider what?”
“The broken engagement.”
Arma tightened his grip around his sword.
Hatan silently swung the greatsword standing nearby with one hand as though it were nothing.
“…About that.”
“I’ve thought about it carefully.”
Instead of looking at Hatan, Arma turned his entire body toward Roselyn and kept his eyes fixed on her.
“I still don’t want it.”
“…”
“If you dislike me because I’m weak, Roselyn, then I’ll change.”
“No…”
“So, if I win here, please reconsider breaking off our engagement.”
Roselyn was too confused and bewildered to respond.
Her lips moved slightly, but eventually she fell silent.
“Please allow me to like you, Roselyn.”
“…What?”
What kind of sudden statement was that?
Roselyn’s ears slowly turned red.
“I like you, Roselyn.”
“…”
“I really do.”
Roselyn could not say anything.
She felt a little embarrassed.
…How is he going to deal with this later?
Roselyn looked at Arma with a slightly sympathetic gaze.
“Wooooah! That’s awesome!!”
Whistles rang out, followed by loud cheers.
“I’m rooting for the outsider! Win!”
“Khan! Please go easy on him!!”
“Ahh! I feel like I just drank a whole cup of sugar!”
“I want to marry an outsider too!!”
With voices coming from every direction, Roselyn buried her face in her hands.
This is driving me crazy.
Roselyn sighed.
If she shook her head here, the atmosphere would become awkward.
…I don’t know why he suddenly started acting like this.
After thinking for a moment, Roselyn reluctantly nodded once.
Hatan let out a low laugh.
Arma had almost no chance of defeating Hatan.
Because Hatan was…
“All right, the match—START!”
BOOOOM—!
…a warrior known as a monster even among the Kaluta people, who could punch holes through cliffs with their bare hands.
Roselyn stood on the ground as it shook like an earthquake.
Her eyes widened as she looked at Arma.
In the silence that followed, the match was decided.
