EFMDAH~29

Chapter 29

Joint Sword Dance (2)

Lying blankly on the cold ground with my eyes closed, the words Kallio had said before the sword dance slowly resurfaced.

‘You just need to hold the sword and swing it a few times the way I taught you.’

‘If you manage just that, I’ll give you a very rare gemstone you like.’

‘How rare are we talking…?’

It sounded suspicious that he would give a gemstone just for performing a sword dance, but I had asked him anyway.

Then Kallio answered like this.

‘Would it be enough if it were a gemstone that only exists in the Empire?’

‘Does a gemstone like that even exist?’

‘If you don’t believe me, we can even write a contract.’

It definitely wasn’t because I wanted the gemstone.

Kallio had gone that far, and there was no real reason to avoid participating in an official event, so I reluctantly joined the sword dance practice.

As a result of all that grueling effort swinging a sword, all that remained were my throbbing hands.

Just as I was wondering if I could get away with not getting up like this, Kallio woke me.

“People are watching right now, you know?”

Kallio, who supposedly never listened to his teachers as a child, seemed strict when it came to swords.

He slowly approached me and before I knew it, he was looking down at me.

The jawline I looked up at from below was as firm as a blade, and his golden eyes carried a faintly cold light as they gazed at me.

“There aren’t that many people watching, and this is still just practice.”

“Let’s at least change the formation a bit before I embarrass myself in front of a crowd.”

“Your movements themselves aren’t bad.”

“You seem to have memorized all the steps too.”

“It’s just that you don’t have enough strength in your body, so you keep losing your grip on the sword.”

“That’s exactly why we don’t have to do this right now.”

“We can do it after some time has passed…”

At the time, I’d told myself I was doing the sword dance because of the gemstone—no, because I had to attend an official event as the Empress.

But every time I clashed swords with Kallio, my body flinched, and strength kept draining out of me.

The memory of holding a dagger on our first night overlapped with the present, bringing those fearful emotions back with it.

If we kept practicing the sword dance, I felt like Kallio would notice something was wrong.

So I didn’t want to continue.

But unexpectedly, Kallio pushed his opinion firmly.

“…Why are you so insistent on holding the sword dance ceremony?”

“Because I don’t want another woman standing by my side instead of you.”

“……What?”

“Right now, people are being considerate toward you because of the rumors about me.”

“But as time passes, those rumors will fade.”

The rumors he meant were probably the ones saying that women who married Kallio died without surviving the first night.

I wondered why he was bringing that up now, but his next words made me understand.

“When that happens, the ministers will try to bring in their daughters, even if only as concubines.”

“Your support base isn’t solid.”

That was true.

The Empire needed imperial heirs to continue the Emperor’s line.

If I didn’t bear a child, people would want to see the Emperor’s offspring through another woman.

So His Majesty Kallio wanted to strengthen my reputation as Empress because he didn’t want to take in more concubines, didn’t he?

‘But isn’t that just Kallio’s own desire?’

If I were an ordinary Empress, I probably would have followed Kallio’s reasoning.

The more people supported me, the less likely it would be for concubines—my competitors—to be brought in.

‘But I don’t need to worry about that, do I?’

I was planning to run away soon anyway.

Why should I care about any of that?

From the start, I was cautious about forming a support base.

If my faction grew in the wrong way, it could make it harder to escape the palace.

Meanwhile, Kallio crossed his arms and twitched his eyebrows.

He even frowned slightly, as if my reaction displeased him.

“Is it hard to understand what I’m saying?”

“Simply put, if another woman attaches herself to me, your position could shrink—”

“But why does that matter?”

“……Huh?”

Kallio’s eyebrows furrowed even more deeply.

If another woman clung to Kallio, wouldn’t that actually benefit me?

I could just escape while his attention was divided—.

Thud.

Kallio, who had been speaking calmly until a moment ago, picked up his sword.

“Ugh…!”

He then stabbed the sword into the ground near my feet.

At the threatening gesture, my whole body trembled.

“W-what are you doing?!”

“It matters to me.”

“……”

“I don’t like the idea of bringing another woman into my palace besides you.”

“You’ll be my only wife.”

Kallio pulled the sword back out of the ground.

The sunlight reflected off the blade and briefly illuminated his golden eyes.

Those eyes, shining like a ferocious beast’s, were chilling beyond words.

“If you don’t want to die, it’d be better for you to put in a little effort too.”

This wasn’t for pleasure, either.

Murmuring softly, he tightened his grip on the sword with a smile.

“No, you don’t even need to try that hard.”

“You did well on the first night, didn’t you?”

“Struggling desperately to survive.”

“What are you—”

I had been afraid just moments ago, but now Kallio had stepped on a landmine.

My body, which had been so tense I could barely move, rose on its own as heat surged through me.

But Kallio, skilled with the sword, pointed his blade at my chin first.

“Back at the grave, didn’t you mutter something like a spell?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“If I kill someone for pleasure or interest, the curse of that death will turn back on me… right?”

Step, step.

Shing.

The blade nearly brushed my cheek, but in the end, it didn’t touch me.

“So I was wondering.”

“If I don’t kill someone, but only push them to the brink of death, does the curse still apply?”

“Y-you…!”

My hand gripping the sword trembled violently.

No matter how I tried to cling to hope, one thing was certain.

With my current sword skills, even if Kallio let his guard down, I wouldn’t be able to reach even the tip of his chin.

‘At least on the first night, he didn’t know me well, so I could counterattack.’

As I ground my teeth, Kallio’s smile curved even more sharply.

“Ah.”

“I like that expression, Radi.”

“……”

“It feels like you’ve finally made up your mind.”

The more I looked at his bright, sunlike smile, the more infuriated I became.

“So let’s practice.”

“No matter how many days it takes, I’ll make sure you at least look the part for the sword dance.”

Facing Kallio, I clenched the sword hilt tightly.

Even if it took days, my desire to see this bastard flustered overcame my fear.

***

For several days, aside from eating and sleeping, I spent nearly all my time practicing the sword dance with this man, Kallio.

On the first day, I barely managed to swing the sword within the given time.

On the second day, I could at least mimic slashing motions.

From the third day onward, maybe because I kept repeating similar movements, I could see where he would strike from.

Rather than processing it consciously, it felt like my body was slowly getting used to moving.

‘But before possessing this body, I’d never even held a sword.’

If that was the case, then perhaps…

Whoosh!

Clang!

It happened again just now.

The moment Kallio planted his foot and kicked off the ground, I could “see” his sword slow down ever so slightly.

It was truly exceptional dynamic vision.

I had used my eyes a lot while training with Kallio, but the growth was far too rapid to be explained by effort alone.

This was likely not my original ability, but the physical capability of the body I had possessed.

I didn’t know whether it came from the original body’s father or mother, but I felt like thanking those parents whose faces I’d never seen.

Clang—!

In an instant, the trajectory of the sword bent sharply and rushed toward me.

Sparks flew from the collision of our blades, briefly obscuring my vision.

“You should be focusing on me.”

As the sparks cleared, Kallio’s eyes came into view.

His gleaming golden eyes curved like a crescent moon.

Before I could continue my thoughts about the original body, Kallio pressed the attack again.

Focus on me during this sparring session.

Though he didn’t say it out loud, it felt as though that was exactly what he meant.

Whoosh—!

‘…It’s working!’

Kallio slashed sharply, cutting through the wind.

The light spilling from the blue-tinged metal rushed toward me as if it would devour me whole.

Like a beast opening its jaws and roughly swallowing its prey.

But even within that fierce movement, there was an opening.

For example, his left side, the arm that didn’t hold the sword.

‘There!’

Aiming for that gap, I thrust my sword forward.