AESVM Chapter 75
Pure and Lovely
Daphne had dressed up for the first family dinner out in a long time. She wore a cream-colored crinkled shirring satin dress, and her red hair was tied half-up with a matching ribbon.
The underground fighting arena, built from a remodeled cave on the outskirts of the capital, was a bit chilly. But since her dress had sleeves that covered her elbows, she wasn’t cold.
Glancing around the venue, she spotted a few noble young ladies around her age, all dressed up like she was.
‘They’re either the lovers of the contestants or hoping to date the champion.’
Most of the fighters were either aspiring knights or hot-blooded commoners aiming for a Cinderella story.
In fact, one of her peers had married a champion from this very place.
‘Not like we’re short on money anyway.’
Some, like Daphne a few years ago, might have genuinely been looking to hire a personal guard. But such cases were rare.
‘Anyway…’
Thanks to Amber’s insistence, Daphne and Marius sat in the VIP spectator seats, looking utterly miserable.
This match even allowed swords, making a front-row standing view the most thrilling experience.
Every time a favored fighter won, spectators took celebratory shots of strong absinthe provided by the event organizers—an undeniably fun tradition.
At moments like these, the father-daughter duo shared a knowing glance.
‘This is already boring.’
‘No kidding. It’s seriously dull.’
Daphne and Marius sneaked a sidelong glance at Amber. The first match hadn’t even started, yet their mother was already on her second glass of whiskey.
Clearly, she was here more to keep an eye on them than to enjoy the fight.
“Why did Mom even come to a place like this? She’s usually too refined to tolerate anything dirty or vulgar.”
Daphne smirked.
“What’s filthier and more disgraceful is that that man is your child’s father.”
“That man? Don’t tell me you mean Celestian?”
Amber merely shrugged.
‘Mom must not know what he looks like. He actually fits the pure and lovely category.’
A sudden thought crossed Daphne’s mind—she should arrange a dinner where her mother and Celestian could meet.
“The winner of this tournament would be a more suitable father for your child.”
“Don’t make choices for me. You don’t have the right.”
“The right?”
Daphne pursed her lips at her mother’s chilling gaze and turned to face forward. Then she looked again at the young ladies waiting eagerly for the new champion to emerge.
If a woman with a publicized lover were to steal the tournament winner on top of that…
The arena grew noisier. The contestants below were clearly making their final preparations.
Daphne suddenly stood up.
“Mom, stay here. Dad and I are heading down. If we wait any longer, we won’t get a spot by the fence.”
“Daphne, do you know what the winner’s prize is this time?”
“It’s not an object; it was 200 million Leon last time. Maybe they increased it? Why, did you invest in it or something?”
Amber smiled strangely.
“Something like that.”
“I hate it when you smile like that. Look in a mirror sometime. Anyway, this unfilial daughter is leaving now.”
With a playful wave, Daphne beckoned Marius to follow her. Lifting the hem of her dress, she trotted down the stone steps.
Weaving through the already dense crowd, she finally reached the fence and grabbed onto it. Then, belatedly, she removed her earrings.
The long tassels dangled too much, which was annoying. Plus, it was best to avoid any unnecessary accidents.
It was Marius’s job to shield her back from the press of the crowd.
Daphne tilted her head slightly to look up at her father. Marius, in turn, stared at the two amber earrings now resting on her gloved palm.
“Can I trust you with these?”
“Oh dear, unfortunately, my outfit doesn’t have any pockets.”
Indeed, Marius’s attire lacked any visible pockets. Daphne clenched her fist slightly.
“Maybe I should’ve left them with Mom.”
“Keep them with you, Daph. A fighter might ask for one.”
“I wouldn’t give it even if they did.”
Daphne shuddered in disgust.
There was an old custom where a contestant would take an accessory from a spectator and embed it into their sword’s pommel or guard. It was a tradition inspired by the now-abolished “Knight and Lady” practice, modified into more of a performance element.
The sword wouldn’t break even with such an unexpected weak point, proving the contestant’s precision and control.
Dust was rising from the dirt floor of the arena. It wasn’t very large, just enough for two fighters to move freely without constraints.
This game had been recognized as an official sport in the kingdom, inspired by a continental tournament brought in by a famous tycoon.
The main difference? The continental version allowed killing in its survival matches, whereas the kingdom’s version used real swords but forbade killing.
‘Which means only truly skilled fighters can participate.’
Kisha had survived even on the continent at the age of fifteen—a real prodigy.
‘Whoever won all their matches only to forfeit at the very end… I still don’t know who that was.’
Even after becoming Daphne’s live-in bodyguard, Kisha participated in the kingdom’s tournament every year, winning as if to prove a point. She steadily paid off her debts with the prize money, which was always in the hundreds of millions.
—I can’t compete this time. Some ash got in my eye, and it keeps stinging.
Daphne had chuckled at the message at first. But then she remembered Kisha’s face, swollen completely on one side, and her smile vanished.
‘Amber Green, I’m going to sue you.’
Daphne cast a quick glance toward her mother’s direction and wrinkled her nose.
‘…Celestian would probably do well too.’
As she turned forward, Daphne recalled the man who had easily subdued the thugs at the café last time. She had completely forgotten that she had been shot that day, but now, as if remembering it triggered the pain, a dull ache pulsed at her side.
She placed her left hand on the area beside her right chest.
Back then, everything had been too chaotic, and afterward, she had been caught up in the whirlwind of a wedding and other busy affairs, leaving her no time to investigate. She had simply forgotten until now.
Someone had tried to kill Celestian. And now, the thought was starting to bother her.
“Does it hurt?”
Seeing her frown, Marius looked down at his daughter with concern.
She was holding her side. Daphne almost snapped back, asking if he thought she was clutching her stomach instead, but then she remembered—Marius had no idea she had been shot.
“No, just a little ache in my side.”
She waved her hand dismissively as if to show she was fine. Just then, Adam, the event host she had seen since the first tournament she attended, appeared in the middle of the fighting arena, instantly drawing the crowd’s attention.
He greeted the audience cheerfully, remarking how happy he was to see them again for yet another match. Then, as usual, he briefly went over the well-known rules.
‘Come on, hurry up and start already~’
Resting her hands on the railing, Daphne knocked her knuckles against it, trying to build up excitement.
“This time, in addition to the prize money, the tournament champion will also receive a special reward!”
A reward?
‘This event was never this grand before. It keeps getting bigger every year.’
Daphne leaned her head against her father’s chest.
The host, after glancing upward, suddenly looked somewhat flustered and scanned the audience.
‘Why is he looking at me?’
Then, as if relieved, Adam pointed directly at Daphne with a confident gesture.
“The reward is none other than the Red Rose of Secradion, Lady Daphne Beaucater!”
In an instant, every eye in the audience turned toward her.
“…Me?”
With a blank expression, Daphne pointed at herself. When she looked up at Marius, he simply shrugged, as if he had already known all along, and gave her an amused, resigned smile.
“The reward… is me? Your daughter?”
“To be precise, it’s a date day with you,” Marius clarified. “Looks like Adam cut off the details. Don’t worry—I’ll take care of the aftermath.”
He spoke with a voice full of laughter.
Daphne seriously debated whether she should ‘accidentally’ elbow him in the stomach.
“I can handle it myself.”
She suddenly became very aware of the noble ladies whose gazes had met hers earlier. On the way down, she had even spotted a few of her old academy peers.
She already had a reputation for being greedy, so a little more criticism wouldn’t make much of a difference.
But still…
‘Wow. My dignity. This damn family. I think I finally understand why Dad married Mom. They’re exactly the same kind of people.’
Suppressing the tremor in her hands, Daphne forced a smile at the watching audience.
At this point, her only hope was that the champion would either be married or already in a committed relationship. She clasped her hands together and sent a small, half-serious prayer to a god she didn’t believe in.
“And now, for our first contestant in the winning streak challenge! The champion of the 10th and 14th tournaments…!”
Adam spent a whole minute reciting the fighter’s accolades as he entered the arena. Even as the man stepped onto the ground, the host continued hyping him up.
Then, the cheers swelled, signaling the real start of the match.
“Our next contestant…”
Adam’s expression suddenly turned noticeably reluctant.
“…The Ghost Grand Duke.”
‘That’s a suspiciously short introduction. So biased—wait. Hold on.’
The Ghost Grand Duke?
Daphne furrowed her brows. Her instincts told her she had misheard.
There was only one man in this kingdom who held the title of Grand Duke.
And among the people she knew, there was only one person who would ever be called Phantom.
‘No way. There’s no reason he would be here right now…’
Her face twisted in disbelief. She desperately tried to convince herself that it was just someone else with a similar nickname.
But then, as if reality itself had chosen to crush her denial, a man stepped up from the sunken area onto the stage.
And there was no mistaking it.
That dazzling golden hair.
“Celestian Theriosa!”
The moment his name rang out, Daphne’s jaw dropped.
