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What was that?
As I scratched my head, unable to understand the crown prince’s words, I heard a bell in the distance ring.
Deng-deng-deng.
“Ugh.”
What time is it already?
I jumped up at the sound of the bell signaling the end of break.
It was time to take the final exam.
“I guess I should get going.”
“I see.”
The crown prince rose from his seat after me and flicked the leaf with his finger, which caused it to float in midair and fall to the ground with a thud.
“Thank you for taking care of my lunch.”
I roughly brushed the dirt off my face and bowed to the crown prince.
Somehow, ever since I’d met him, I felt like I was being taken care of, in some way.
“Good luck with your afternoon tests.”
“Don’t worry I will offer my Cavalier a victory wreath.”
His golden eyes narrowed at my words.
And then, as I approached, they collapsed into a slit and disappeared.
A joyful voice gently left in between his perfectly curved lips,
“I look forward to it.”
✤
“Your afternoon test will be a duel with one of the imperial knights, as you were instructed in the morning.”
The proctor pushed up his glasses to explain.
At his gesture, the servants standing behind him moved in unison.
To prevent injury, the weapon of choice will be a wooden sword.
“Like before, you can choose a wooden sword that suits you, and then I will introduce the imperial knight who will be dueling with you.”
The proctor finished.
Ten imperial knights then stood side by side.
Each knight wore the full regalia of the Imperial Knights.
They looked as relaxed as ever.
Among them was Edwina.
“Sir Wooden Sophner, Edwina Axion, Sir Scrooge, Sir Raine…”
The proctor said in a dry voice, while introducing the imperial knights one by one.
“We will now begin the afternoon examination.”
With the proctor’s declaration, the duel with the Imperial Knights began.
Although it was somewhat expected, the duel was overwhelmingly in favor of the Imperial Knights.
They were truly strong.
“… Sir Edwina Axion, victorious!”
Among the knights, Edwina stood out.
Watching her duel with the others made me see why she was so confident.
“Sir Wooden Sophner, victorious!”
“Damn it!”
The unfortunate applicants spat out expletive curses in impatience.
More than twenty battles have already passed, but none of the applicants had ever defeated an imperial knight.
So far, only five people had lasted for more than ten minutes.
The expression of the applicants, who were full of optimism at the beginning of the tests, gradually turned grim with each defeat.
“Young Viscountess Sabrina!”
“Yes!”
Finally, my turn came.
As I stood in the center of the arena, the proctor called out the name of my opponent.
“Your opponent is Sir Edwina Axion!”
“Hah.”
A sigh burst out in between my lips.
As soon as I heard Edwina’s name, my heart skipped a beat.
I had secretly hoped for this, but I never thought I would actually have the chance to cross swords with Edwina.
“So, we meet again.”
Edwina walked up to me with an eager smile.
She didn’t show any signs of fatigue, even though she had already fought several duels in succession.
“I guess we’re meant to be.”
I smiled back at her and tightened my grip on the wooden sword.
“It is an honor to see your swordsmanship.”
“I still can’t let you off the hook.”
“I hope not.”
We bowed to each other and
and slowly pointed our swords.
The crowd around us made a lot of noise, but we didn’t care.
From the moment we pointed our swords at each other, the fight had already begun.
Regardless of the commotion around us, Edwina and I focused solely on each other.
“Ha!”
It was Edwina who attacked first.
She lunged fiercely Forward, accompanied by a powerful thumping sound.
In an instant, the space between us closed in.
Too late to dodge, I made a quick assessment, and quickly deflected my wooden sword at an angle.
It then parried Edwina’s attack.
This is the power of an imperial knight?
I simply blocked it, but my wrist was crushed.
Snap, Tap , Snap!
Edwina quickly attacked again, as if she didn’t want to give me time to think.
Normally, in the early stages, we should have mixed our swords to gauge each other’s strength, but there was no time for that.
I was focused on blocking Edwina’s attack.
“Are you running away?”
Edwina frowned as I closed the gap between us.
“No way.”
I pulled the corners of my mouth into a grin at Edwina and bounced on my toes.
I kept getting hit, so now it was my turn to attack.
“You’re fast!”
Edwina dodged a wooden sword that was aimed squarely at her chest.
I followed suit, spinning around at the waist and swinging my wooden sword.
Not expecting another attack, Edwina frowned and blocked my sword.
“You’re better at dueling than I thought.”
Edwina commented, sounding impressed.
It was thanks to Duke Bright that I had gotten used to crossing swords with someone.
‘You are strong. But you still lack experience.’
‘When you say experience, you mean actual combat, right?”
‘Swordsmanship is not an art.’
‘Ah.’
‘You can’t just do it for the sake of it.’
‘It was meant to beat and subdue someone.’
The Duke, who was known as the shield of the Empire for a long time, saw right through my problem.
‘There is a difference between those who have been to a war and those who have not. A soldier who has rolled on the battlefield for months is far stronger than a nobleman who had only spent years honing his sword skills.’
‘After all, they have been closer to death than anyone else in the splatter of flesh and blood,’
He told me about the difference between dueling and actual combat.
‘Unlike on the battlefield,’ He said, ‘No one puts their life on the line. So it’s easier to take it lightly.’
‘I see what you mean.’
‘If you want to improve, think of it as if you’re in a battlefield. If you ever fight someone, you’ll need to be even more desperate and determined than you are now.’
If I hadn’t been taught by Duke Bright over the past ten days, I might have lost to Edwina as soon as we started dueling, so my time with him has been extremely invaluable.
I am a completely different person now than I was ten days ago.
“Here we go!”
I was clearly below Edwina in terms of objective skill, but I wasn’t about to give up.
‘How much time had passed since the duel began?’
I kept my distance from Edwina in a defensive stance, my shoulder was tingling a little where her wooden sword had grazed it.
“What are you thinking?”
Edwina asked in a relaxed voice, while she lunged at me.
I countered with an outstretched arm, dodging her strike.
“Thinking about how to beat you, ha..”
Edwina jerked back, her eyes narrowing as she straightened her defenses.
“You’re just supposed to have to withstand my attacks for the rest of the time.”
“I don’t think I want to win that way.”
Edwina was right.
I only need to hold out for a certain amount of time to pass this test.
But I didn’t want to.
“I have a big ego.”
I smirked at Edwina.
My body was sore and tired, but I felt strangely good to be doing this.
I enjoyed clashing swords this way.
It was exhilarating.
Our wooden swords clashed again.
Edwina didn’t draw her sword.
She seemed to be trying to push me away with her strength.
“Are you asking me to fight you now?”
I took a deep breath, not dodging Edwina’s blows.
She gritted her teeth and took a step.
“You…?”
Edwina’s eyes widened as she was pushed back. She seemed to realize that something was wrong.
“You can’t show a gap!”
I moved in, not letting go of Edwina as she stumbled backward, I hastily gripped my wooden sword.
“Ouch!”
Edwina hastily disposed of the sword that was digging in as if to stab her in the neck, and her body lost its balance for a moment.
I didn’t miss Edwina’s staggering back, and slashed my sword from top to bottom.
“Ugh!”
My wooden sword struck Edwina’s hand squarely on the wrist.
She groaned in pain, but didn’t let go of the sword.
Instead, she countered me by twisting her wrist to the side.
Edwina’s wooden sword sliced through the wind, narrowly missing my cheek.
I ducked, but my right cheek stung as if it had been cut.
I spun once, twisting at the waist in a vicious circle before losing my balance and falling, and once again aimed for Edwina’s wrist.
Bam!
I failed to hit her wrist, but I succeeded in knocking the wooden sword out of her hand.
Thump.
“Oh my God.”
A gasp erupted among those who had been watching our duel with bated breath.
Edwina stared at the wooden sword, which had fallen wordlessly to the floor.
The words of defeat slipped from her lips, which were pressed so tightly together that they were almost bleeding.
“…I lost.”
‘I won!’
The moment Edwina declared her defeat, the strength left my legs.
I slumped back into the ground immediately.
“Wow!”
“That’s awesome!”
“Amazing!”
Cheers erupted from all around us.
The entire training hall was full of excitement.
The people who had been defeated by the imperial knights each shouted or clapped as if my victory was their own.
“Quiet!”
Eventually, the proctor stepped in.
After calming the crowd, he looked at me with a grim expression.
Edwina’s colleagues, the Imperial Knights, were all grimacing in unison.
It must’ve hurt their pride a lot.