Chapter 09
Soma was so anxious that he could barely sit still. He had resolved not to worry, but his mouth refused to cooperate with his intentions.
As he wrapped a protective guard around Eroica’s wrist, a sudden concern surfaced in his mind. Every time he looked
at her wrist, he wondered how someone with such slender wrists could even hold a sword.
“It’s only natural that I’m at a disadvantage when it comes to strength. He may even be far superior to me in technique. But you know, Soma. You know how I got this far. If all I have to do is buy some time, then I think I can manage.”
Eroica thought back to the days when she had forced herself through grueling training. Even against Tiller, a man who possessed the strength of a bull, she had stubbornly gotten back to her feet time and time again. And when it came to technique, Soma himself was surely counted among the greatest swordsmen.
She had crossed swords with them all through those days, relying on nothing but sheer determination.
Kyleve would be no different.
Eroica briskly brushed herself off and rose to her feet. The red-haired boy who had protected her when they were young had grown into a fine young man—and a proper knight.
“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely win.”
The firmness in her voice reassured Soma somewhat.
Believing that the difficult years she had endured would not betray her now, Eroica headed toward the arena.
Her slender figure looked far too fragile to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.
“Waaaaah!”
Eroica was the first to appear in the arena.
The moment she entered, a roar erupted from the crowd.
The sight of her preparing to cross swords with the Fourteenth Prince had sparked enormous curiosity among the spectators.
Eroica slowly swept her gaze across the stands. All these people would serve as witnesses to her existence. She gave a faint smile toward those cheering for her.
“Ha…… She’s actually smiling like that?”
Watching her, Ethan let out a quiet laugh at her relaxed attitude.
She really is an incredible woman.
There was no doubt that Eroica was the protagonist of this stage. Her confident expression said it all.
The rules of the match were simple.
Both would use wooden swords, but Eroica would additionally carry a shield, while Kyleve would be permitted to use only his left hand.
If, during the ten-minute match, Eroica dropped her sword or became unable to continue fighting, she would lose.
In other words, if she could endure for ten minutes, she would be declared the winner.
The roar of the crowd reached its peak when a tall man appeared from the far side of the arena, opposite Eroica.
She had noticed it before, but he was even taller than Tiller. His build, however, was somewhat leaner.
As he approached, Eroica had to tilt her head back quite a bit just to look at him.
Kyleve’s dueling uniform, designed for ease of movement, emphasized the muscles he had honed through training. The difference in their physiques alone was overwhelming.
His broad, straight shoulders and prominent tendons were intimidating even to look at.
“I greet Your Highness, the Fourteenth Prince.”
Eroica formally bowed to the prince.
She was still pretending to remember nothing.
Kyleve must have been at least somewhat confused by the fact that she had returned alive yet lost her memories. Did he feel even the slightest bit guilty?
Curious about his expression, Eroica raised her head and looked up at Kyleve.
His unwavering golden eyes looked down at her without a trace of emotion.
Their gazes met in midair.
His eyes were fierce, almost like those of a wild animal.
“Is she really going to be okay? They look like a predator stalking its prey and a helpless little animal.”
The spectators were worried about Eroica. Looking at the two of them, it seemed impossible for her to last even a minute against the prince—perhaps not even thirty seconds.
“I commend you for making it this far. People will have already thought highly enough of your courage. So I think it would be better if you withdrew now.”
Kyleve’s words were not meant to provoke her.
At that moment, he genuinely wanted Eroica to concede.
Her eyes were still so resolute that he wondered whether perhaps her confidence was not merely bravado after all. But beneath the dueling uniform that emphasized his own physique, she looked even more delicate than he had expected.
“I suppose Your Highness doesn’t want to leave behind the humiliation of having struggled against a woman?”
The look in Eroica’s eyes as she gazed up at Kyleve held a calmness that made his sincerity seem almost pointless.
“Just what are you……?”
Kyleve was so dumbfounded that an incredulous laugh escaped him.
“Where does that pointless confidence of yours come from? I’m sorry, but all I see is reckless bravado.”
“Then would you like to play along with this bravado of mine?”
“I sincerely hope it isn’t just an act.”
The moment Kyleve finished speaking, Eroica lunged forward.
Kyleve easily blocked the sword that came at him with tremendous force, but Eroica immediately lowered her body.
She vanished from his field of vision in an instant, then struck again from behind.
“That’s it.”
Ethan, who had been watching Eroica anxiously from the stands, immediately remembered the smile she had given him earlier.
Eroica’s sword was fast.
Her slender body was perfectly suited to evading her opponent’s attacks. Her signature style was to avoid every incoming strike before swiftly delivering one of her own.
Ethan’s Shadow.
That was the nickname the knights of Palestian had given Eroica because her attacks were impossible to see.
She had already earned recognition throughout the kingdom. He had been worried for a moment because of her opponent’s formidable reputation, but perhaps this match really did have a chance of ending in her favor.
It did not take Ethan long to realize that his worries had been unnecessary.
The speed of the swords clashing between the two fighters gradually increased, and the stands fell silent.
The woman everyone had expected to drop her sword immediately was fighting the prince on equal footing.
Three minutes had already passed since the match began, and Eroica’s movements grew faster as she began to read the flow of the battle.
Kyleve’s footwork gradually changed.
Until then, he had done nothing but block Eroica’s attacks.
So it wasn’t bravado after all.
He could not read her movements at all. If he continued merely blocking, he would eventually leave himself open to an unexpected strike.
Deciding to change tactics, Kyleve twisted his sword away from its defensive position and thrust it toward Eroica.
At some point, the positions had reversed.
Eroica, who had been attacking, was now blocking Kyleve’s sword.
“Have you become a little desperate?”
Eroica dodged Kyleve’s attacks one after another, almost as if teasing him.
She was far stronger at defense than offense.
Something about this is strangely irritating. Whenever I follow her movements, she slips away as though she had been waiting for me to do exactly that.
Kyleve’s expression darkened slightly, and the spectators could no longer predict the outcome.
Her sword could not be read.
Kyleve was unaccustomed to relying solely on instinct, and his movements gradually began to slow.
“H-How is this happening?”
Sweat gathered in Bosarva’s palms as he watched the match.
There’s no way that woman is actually going to win, is there?
Kyleve was said to be capable of reading every sword path.
And yet, right now, he was unable to keep up with this woman’s movements.
The sand in the hourglass that had been turned over at the beginning of the match was steadily running out.
Seven minutes had already passed.
The spectators watched Eroica’s swordsmanship in stunned silence.
Her movements were almost like a dance.
But unlike the elegant, refined dance she had shown with the prince at the banquet, this was a dazzling dance filled with sharp, vivid energy.
Kyleve turned his head slightly to check the time.
There was not much left.
His gaze grew heavier.
Sweat had gathered on his forehead, and his breathing had become labored. It was proof that, despite intending to take the match lightly, he had ended up facing his opponent seriously.
When he put strength into the sword he had been holding loosely, Eroica’s steps were forced backward.
“……!”
Even that slight increase in force made her legs stagger.
The momentum had shifted toward Kyleve.
Faced with overwhelming strength that seemed to have no end, Eroica’s eyes wavered.
If I can’t read her movements, then I’ll stop her with technique that surpasses them.
That was the method Kyleve chose amid the confusion.
Overwhelming her with brute force had never been what he wanted.
He had wanted to applaud her for drawing out his true abilities.
“Your little performance ends here.”
Eroica, who had been pushed into a disadvantageous position, finally had her wrist caught in Kyleve’s grasp.
A moment later, the sound of her wooden sword hitting the ground rang through the arena.
Kyleve had seized her wrist in an instant.
He had not missed the opening created when she faltered under the force of his advance.
“……The winner is His Highness Prince Kyleve!”
“Waaaaah!”
Their movements had been too fast for the naked eye to follow.
The audience had fallen briefly silent as they tried to understand what had just happened, but soon a tremendous cheer erupted.
It had been more thrilling than any other match.
The spectators could not tear their eyes away from the seamless movements the two had created together.
Eroica had endured for nearly nine minutes.
There was no doubt that she had lost.
Bosarva, who had been biting his nails habitually throughout the entire match, finally let out a sigh of relief.
He had almost witnessed his own younger brother lose.
Though, of course, even Kyleve would not have found it easy to win.
When the Emperor rose from his seat, applauding, the spectators who had been cheering in heated excitement fell silent.
