“Begin!”
As the signal to start the match echoed, both of them launched forward. Their golden and white swords clashed with a loud bang.
Rebecca, pushing her sword against his, shouted sharply. “Ignis!”
Screeeech! At her call, a white hawk with flaming feathers appeared in the sky, letting out a long cry.
Kayden was quite surprised. Rebecca usually avoided summoning her spirit due to her relatively limited natural magic power. But he quickly realized why Rebecca, who normally wouldn’t, had decided to take such an action. Her earrings, the decorations on her armor—each small piece was made of opera diamond.
She’s got a lot of support. It was clear that Viscount Sudsfield had supplied her with them, and Kayden clicked his tongue inwardly.
Even a small piece of opera diamond was incredibly expensive for a reason. Opera diamond helped with the utilization and recovery of magic. The combined amount Rebecca had on her was likely the size of an adult’s fist.
Despite that, Kayden wasn’t intimidated. He possessed an overwhelming amount of natural mana that could cause seizures even without such aids.
Matching her, he summoned his spirit with a low voice.
“Elfand.”
Roar! A white leopard appeared with a fierce roar.
Kayden and Rebecca swung their swords again. He dodged Rebecca’s swing and kicked her ankle. Unable to block him in time, Rebecca gritted her teeth and swung her sword. Several strands of Kayden’s hair were cut off by the sharp blade. While Ignis, Rebecca’s spirit, tried to claw at Kayden as he was engaged with her sword, Elfand lunged at Ignis, causing the hawk to soar upward quickly.
Clang! Their swords clashed again. Kayden spoke with a blank expression. “Your sword is trembling.”
“…!”
“It seems that even with the opera diamond, summoning Ignis is still too much for you.”
“Shut up.” Rebecca gritted her teeth and pushed Kayden away.
Rebecca, like Kayden, primarily used a sword, making comparisons with him unavoidable. Both in terms of swordsmanship and summoning magic. People often said Kayden was overwhelmingly superior in terms of strength, which hurt her pride.
Rebecca aimed her sword at his vital points. But it was clear that her magic and stamina were rapidly depleting from summoning Ignis.
Kayden rolled on the ground to avoid her attack, simultaneously dropping his sword. Rebecca hesitated for a moment, shocked. During that instant, the sword he dropped extended and transformed into a staff.
Transforming a weapon required a significant amount of magic, but he did not hesitate. Grabbing the staff, Kayden swung it swiftly.
“Ugh!”
Rebecca staggered as the staff caught her ankle, and Ignis quickly flew to support her. However, Elfand leaped and bit into Ignis’s wing. Screeeee… Ignis let out a long scream and dissipated.
Rebecca, having rarely summoned Ignis, felt the backlash of an unsummoning for the first time. The backlash could not be mitigated by opera diamonds or magic. Normally, she would have prepared for an unsummoning, but she likely hadn’t considered it due to relying on the opera diamonds.
Kayden had deliberately drawn Ignis’s attention to his side. While Ignis was distracted by Rebecca, he had Elfand deal with Ignis. He then dealt with the bewildered Rebecca.
Kayden, transforming his staff back into a sword, charged at Rebecca. Rebecca hastily raised her sword to block his attack, but the backlash from the unsummoning caused her white sword to waver dangerously. Clang—! In the end, Rebecca’s sword shattered with a sharp, piercing sound. At that moment, she reflexively closed her eyes.
“Stop!”
A loud voice resonated, causing Kayden to halt.
“The winner is His Highness Kayden Seirik Bluebell. This concludes the individual match!” The announcer declared the outcome.
Applause erupted from the stands where the first prince and his wife, Diana, other imperial family members, and knights participating in the mock battle sat.
Rebecca snapped back to reality at the sound. Angry at herself for losing composure even for a moment, she shoved Kayden and turned away.
It was only because it was the first time she was dealing with the unsummoning backlash today. Normally, even a mid-level elementalist wouldn’t show such a weakness. This method won’t work next time.
Kayden thought to himself. He stroked the head of the white leopard that had approached him. “You did well, Elfand.”
<Take care. You never know when another seizure might occur.>
“I know.” Kayden smiled faintly and unsummoned Elfand. Only after unsummoning Elfand did Kayden fully realize he had won again this year and let out a long breath. His gaze naturally sought out Diana.
Diana, clapping in the stands, smiled when their eyes met. Returning her smile, Kayden walked over to the edge of the stands and suddenly jumped.
“Gasp…!”
The people gasped in surprise. But Kayden grabbed the railing with one hand and pulled himself over it effortlessly. A face that always comforted him was right in front of him.
“Diana.” Kayden smiled naturally as he descended from the railing into the stands.
Diana, wide-eyed at his acrobatics, quickly grabbed his sleeve. “You should have used the stairs…! What if you got hurt?”
“The stairs were too far.”
“Why don’t you remove all the doors in Your Highness’s palace and just use windows then?”
“I wanted to see you.”
“…”
Diana’s scolding ceased abruptly at his unexpected words. She froze momentarily, then came to her senses at the subtle whistling from around them.
Ah, people are watching. Diana thought Kayden said that for show and quickly composed herself.
Before she could respond, Kayden leaned in. He whispered with a playful tone near her ear. “I meant it.”
“…Pardon?”
“Shall we move now? Will you join us for lunch, Older Brother?”
Diana, momentarily flustered, asked again. But Kayden, unfazed, stepped down from the railing and addressed Elliott.
Realizing his words belatedly, Diana blushed slightly. Good grief… It was troublesome how his excessive kindness kept leading to misunderstandings.
Diana shook her head, standing up. If Kayden knew her reaction, he would have been distraught.
* * *
While everyone was having lunch in preparation for the capture battle, Rebecca was alone, swinging a wooden sword in the private training ground. Thwack, thwack! Each time the wooden sword struck the practice dummy, sweat dripped down her forehead, but she paid no mind.
Rebecca only stopped swinging the sword after completing a hundred flawless strikes. Oddly, moving her body seemed to ease some of her anger and killing intent towards Kayden.
I mustn’t lose my composure. Rebecca took deep breaths, trying to regain her calm.
Emotions should never override reason. That way, one could not become a ruler. It was a mantra her mother, the first concubine, had drilled into her from a young age.
Rebecca’s breathing gradually steadied. Wiping her sweaty face with a towel, she pondered. But… how much should I trust that girl’s words?
Rebecca frowned slightly. She recalled Carlotta’s words, who had abandoned Ferand and followed her before the individual match started.
“The third princess consort’s eyes… seemed to turn purple for a moment.”
“What?”
Rebecca had thought it was nonsense at the time and frowned.
It was during the chaos caused by the monsters. To say she saw the third princess consort’s eyes change color from a distance seemed a clear mistake of Carlotta.
Rebecca dismissed Carlotta’s claim as nonsense meant to please her and waved her hand dismissively.
“You must have seen it wrong. If that’s all you have to say—”
“No, I really mean it! It was chilling when our eyes met…!”
But Carlotta looked genuinely aggrieved. She quickly continued as Rebecca paused.
“Besides, the mutant monsters were about to attack the first and third princess consort, and neither of them is an elementalist.”
“…”
“And then suddenly, the monsters were torn apart in mid-air. Isn’t that strange?”
Only then did Rebecca begin to seriously consider Carlotta’s words. Could the third princess consort be an elementalist…?
Nooo…i dont want to rebecca findout about her…