Knowing it wouldn’t work, she still cheered for the Emblem knights.
If her mom, infuriated as she was, truly charged towards the Emperor’s throne, it would be a mistake. It could lead to rebellion or, at best, charges of insulting the royal family.
There was a risk that she might not even participate in her first hunting competition, and they family could be ruined.
‘Please, please, please stop her, please!’
Clasping her hands together desperately, she prayed. Miraculously, as if the gods in this world had responded to her plea, her dad arrived like an angel and stood in front of her mom, blocking her way.
“Thank goodness!”
She let out a sigh of relief. The only thing capable of restraining her mom, even in the midst of all the large Emblem knights tearing each other apart.
Against grown individuals, especially the burly Emblem knights, it was amazing that her mom, with her incredible strength, could toss them aside as if they were weightless, even while being torn apart.
She, her dad, and the kids.
Among these three factors, her dad exhibited the most powerful effect.
Her dad stood firm in front of the enraged her mom, hands clasped together, looking at her.
She was far away, but it was not difficult to discern how pathetic yet beautiful her father’s face looked.
“Oh, that was close.”
Her mom, who had been raging, calmly set down a knight she was about to throw.
Only then did a sigh of relief burst out. Perhaps the Emperor, far away, was in a similar state; he was now burying himself in the chair that he had half risen from.
‘My Mom looks terrifying even to the Emperor. Still, considering she’s a bodyguard knight, would she actually harm someone?’
She unnecessarily pursed her lips and shifted her gaze away. Regardless of what the adults were saying or how angry her mom was, she had to deal with the situation in front of her.
“Cherry.”
Enoch, her fellow group member, approached her.
“Yeah, Enoch.”
It was the first time she faced Enoch since that night they secretly met in the Emblem mansion garden.
Despite the time that had passed, it felt as if she had seen him just yesterday.
Since then, they had relentlessly compared they swordsmanship skills, determined not to miss even the slightest detail.
Each day, they checked on each other’s progress, waking up and going to sleep with a sense of accomplishment.
“I heard that you are passionate about learning swordsmanship. Thank you for listening to my request.”
Enoch extended his hand to her. She could sense that it was the message he wanted to convey back at the party when he kept staring at her behind Jade Gray.
“….If someone hears it, they’ll think they’ve only just heard about me. They hear it every day, but they pretend not to.”
Actually, she didn’t grab the sword for Enoch’s pleasure, so she, feeling embarrassed, grumbled and held his hand.
“Wow.”
Then, intermittent applause and small sighs of admiration started to surround them.
Memories of last night’s trauma resurfaced. It was the trauma of being surrounded by adults clapping wildly with faces filled with excitement, talking about the history and competition between Emblem and Gray.
“Oh, please, stop! Turn off your excitement!”
As she snapped in irritation, the applause, which was about to engulf Enoch and her like a wave, abruptly ceased.
“Thanks for this too.”
Enoch quietly sighed, expressing his gratitude, as if the applause had been awkward not only for her but for him as well.
Seeing Enoch calmly thanking her like this, it seemed like he had developed quite a bit of backbone in her absence.
As she nodded to speak words of gratitude to Enoch, he was quicker than her.
“But that doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you in our hunting.”
“…….”
Whoever said it, the attempt to insert something friendly into the conversation worked better than expected.
“I never asked you to go easy on me, to begin with.”
She briskly pulled away the hand she had held.
Anyway, her grandpa was right about those Gray guys being shameless. Even the faint sympathy derived from sharing the trauma of the same applause had been swept away by Enoch’s arrogance, like writing in the sand.
“I will do my best to defeat you. Then you will regret asking me to learn swordsmanship.”
“Sure, I’ll take on any challenge. I have my reasons to break you in this hunting competition.”
“Really? That makes me curious.”
In response to my question, a childlike smile briefly appeared on Enoch’s old-man-like face.
“My grandpa promised that if I won, he would bring my mother to the mansion.”
“Wow, is that true?”
She asked as if she couldn’t believe it. It had been about ten years since Jade Gray, the Duke of Gray, severed ties with Aunt Diana.
So, even before Enoch was born, the relationship between the Gray Duke and his daughter was broken when she announced his friendship with her mother.
Jade Gray, who deprived Aunt Diana of her right to succession, but did not resign from her position as Commander of the Gray Knights, ostensibly restored Aunt Diana’s right of succession to Enoch’s right of succession when Enoch was born.
But he never called Aunt Diana into the mansion to remind her that it was all on the surface.
Aunt Diana didn’t seem inclined to enter, given her stubborn character.
“Is Aunt Diana coming too?”
“Yes. That’s what my mother said in the letter she sent me. She said she would sacrifice her pride just once.”
“Wow, wow, amazing…”
She applauded Enoch, forgetting that he was her rival and nemesis. This was such a huge deal.
Aunt Diana, who entrusted Jade Gray with Enoch’s upbringing for his future, had given up living with her son, and aside from occasional glimpses during Jade Gray’s visits or the secret outings arranged by her husband Edward Gray at the mansion, she rarely had the chance to see Enoch.
Given the fierce conflicts with her father Jade Gray, it was a significant move for Aunt Diana to bow her head and enter first. It could only be explained as Aunt Diana’s love for Enoch.
“That’s really good. It went well…”
Enoch, who grinned at her while she was muttering absentmindedly, asked.
“What’s wrong, Cherry?”
“Huh? What’s what?”
“So, are you going to go easy on me?”
“Huh? Why would I? I’m going to break you.”
While it was heartwarming to witness Aunt Diana and Enoch’s emotional reunion, she had no intention of giving up her victory for that reason.
“That’s settled. It’s a competition, after all.”
Enoch raised one corner of his mouth in response to her firm answer.
“Sure, that’s how you are, Cherry.”
“… But you has been calling me by a nickname since a while ago. I told you to call me by my name, right? I said it made me feel like I was going to throw up. Do you want to watch me throw up again like I did when were a baby?”
“Ugh, no.”
Enoch frowned and pulled the collar over his nose and mouth, treating her like a germ.
Seeing Enoch’s actions of treating her like a germ, she was able to clean up her dazed mind with anger once again because of Aunt Diana.
It was a perfect day to break that brat Enoch.
“Um, I’m Emmett Cortiz, your fellow team member.”
“I’m Osric Balmore.”
At that moment, those who were part of the 4th group of the dead, like Enoch and her, approached them with bright, dead faces and greeted them.
“Cherrya Emblem.”
“Enoch Gray.”
While exchanging greetings with they fellow team members, Enoch and her looked at each other.
Now, it was the real beginning—the showdown with Enoch, which could be both the first and the last.
‘I will definitely win.’
She was determined to pour everything she had done so far into this moment. And she suspected Enoch had similar intentions.
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