He was like a viper. A cruel viper that blocked off all escape routes around its prey, cornered it, and ultimately seized its goal.
Evolaine watched Cardel stretch his body and loosen his stiff muscles.
Weren’t these processes far too familiar for a mage?
He seemed to know how to use his body. Evolaine’s knowledge had its limits in grasping all his actions.
However, Cardel’s movements showed similarities to the preparatory movements Leopold had taught her.
“Are you done warming up, Sir?”
A relaxed appearance. An attitude that seemed almost provocative.
“Yes, I’m finished.”
“Then let’s begin.”
Cardel drew another sword similar in length to Evolaine’s, and the duel began.
‘The direction of his attacks is repetitive.’
Realizing Evolaine had grasped his pattern, Cardel began switching to irregular attack patterns rather than standard ones.
He’d dodge the approaching sword by pulling his body back, then use trees as footholds to gain momentum and charge forward.
His murderously aggressive swordsmanship and the merciless chaos she was experiencing for the first time were enough to shake Evolaine’s concentration.
“Ugh!”
‘The recoil is too strong…!’
The more their swords clashed, fierce vibrations traveled up her wrist and wrapped around her arm.
Evolaine stepped back and repeatedly clenched and unclenched the hand that had been gripping her sword.
Tingling. It meant his strength was tremendous.
“Are you all right?”
“…I can still manage.”
Evolaine straightened her sword with trembling hands.
‘I let my guard down.’
She hadn’t expected to duel with swords since he was a mage.
And she certainly hadn’t expected him to display expert-level swordsmanship.
“Sir, shall we stop?”
“…No.”
That relaxed attitude showing he could consider his opponent’s condition.
Evolaine didn’t like that attitude.
Though she was just a fledgling taking her first steps, she didn’t want to acknowledge her situation of being completely overwhelmed by her opponent.
“I can do this.”
Let’s continue.
At Evolaine’s provocation, Cardel’s eyes changed to something alien once again.
* * *
“…”
Inside the viewing orb, Evolaine’s and Cardel’s swords clashed with sharp roars, leaving no openings.
Was a descendant of Kelic truly different? Evolaine wielded her sword freely despite never receiving formal sword training.
She instinctively took effective defensive stances and quickly found and penetrated openings to attack.
After clashing a few times, she seemed to have grasped Cardel’s sword pattern, even attempting attacks with similar patterns.
‘But Cardel is no pushover either.’
Not because he was her son, but objectively, Cardel was a talent with outstanding swordsmanship.
That was because he was a magic swordsman.
Magic swordsmen who could freely wield magic power and even use it in swordsmanship were such rare experts that people said “there can’t be more than five in an era.”
Yes, that’s all well and good, but…
“…Neither of them seems quite sane.”
The duke, watching through the viewing orb, muttered while shaking his head.
“Seeing Dame Evolaine being pushed back, Cardel’s words weren’t just boasting.”
“Ashili.”
“Oh my, my mistake.”
The duke sighed at his daughter covering her mouth with an open fan.
She’d used her clever mind for mischievous pranks to tease Cardel more than once or twice.
“Sister, if Brother can control Dame Evolaine, does that mean she becomes Brother’s escort knight?”
“Probably, right? Losing Dame Evolaine would be a loss for us too. It’s better to hold on somehow.”
Embracing Lucia’s shoulders, Ashili checked the viewing orb once more.
The process of assessing Evolaine was complete. Cardel gradually tightened his grip on Evolaine and finally succeeded in completely subduing her.
“…”
The two figures appeared in the viewing orb.
Evolaine collapsed on the grass, barely catching her breath, and Cardel sitting on a nearby log, regulating his breathing.
“…It’s over.”
A purple shackle was placed around Evolaine’s neck. It was a type of restraint Cardel had created with magic power.
“Truly remarkable. I didn’t know a magic swordsman’s abilities were at this level.”
The duke kept expressing admiration before leaving the room to bring the two back.
In the end, he’d succeeded in controlling Kelic, so now Evolaine would become Cardel’s escort knight.
With this, the Duchy of Radelica had obtained a secret weapon that even the imperial family couldn’t covet.
“Lucia? Are you all right?”
“Huh? Mm-hmm…”
Lucia, who’d been unable to take her eyes off the viewing orb for a while, answered a beat late.
Her hands fumbled for Ashili while her gaze remained fixed on the viewing orb.
“Did you see something strange?”
“Mm, no. It’s nothing.”
Lucia jumped down from her chair and grabbed Ashili’s hand with a bright smile.
“Let’s go quickly, Sister. Everyone will be waiting.”
“Yes, let’s go.”
‘What was she thinking about?’
It seemed somehow suspicious to say she’d just been watching out of interest.
‘She seemed far from her usual self.’
“Sister?”
“Hmm? What?”
“No, you just had such a serious face…”
Rolling her eyes and reading the situation—that was definitely the usual Lucia. So why did it feel off?
Was Lucia really my sister Lucia?
“…I was just thinking about something. Sorry, were you scared?”
“A little?”
“Oh, you little cutie! What will we do with you being so timid!”
“Ack! Don’t!”
When her hair got messed up, Lucia pushed away Ashili’s hands like a wary cat, struggling.
Finding that adorable, Ashili unconsciously planted a kiss on her cheek, only to meet the misfortune of having her lips swell up from the cheek’s owner.
“Ow ow…”
“I told you not to!”
“Okay, I’m sorry…”
At her sister drooping like a puppy, Lucia flinched, then whirled around and ran off.
“Lucia! Wait for me!”
‘Right, it must be my imagination.’
Seeing the response to this kind of teasing, it was definitely Lucia.
Even if that sense of unease was real, it wouldn’t make Lucia not Lucia, so it was fine.
‘I can ask about it later.’
Ashili chased after Lucia with quick steps.
So her beloved sister wouldn’t run far away.
* * *
“Well done, well done!”
Along with hearty laughter, Cardel’s shoulders flinched greatly.
It was because the duke had been patting his shoulders repeatedly as encouragement until just moments ago, using too much force and making them ache.
“Boy, you can’t even endure this much pain? You really have no affection, no affection…!”
“Affection is affection and pain is pain! It hurts like h*ll, so why are you hitting me more!”
“When a father wants to show affection to his son, the son coldly rejects him first… I’m hurt, truly hurt…”
Evolaine, seeing the loosened duke rather than the rigid one for the first time, stood far away from the two, unable to contain her shock.
A father who loved his son too much… A son who found his father burdensome yet expressed affection in his own way…
Wasn’t this the ideal relationship you’d only see in novels!
“…Dame, don’t think strange thoughts.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s all over your face.”
Gasp. Evolaine immediately fanned herself with both hands.
Feeling the hot heat, her face had clearly turned red.
“Dame! Congratulations!”
“Y-Your Highness?”
“You remember me? I saved you back then.”
“…You’re not memory-manipulating the fact that Dame got caught up in an accident you caused?”
“I’m not! Dame was in danger, so I saved you like a princess on a white horse!”
“Of course you did.”
“Hey!!”
What’s with ‘princess on a white horse’?
Behind the grumbling Cardel, Lucia climbed on and pulled his sideburns.
Cardel screamed and tried to pry Lucia off, but unfortunately, his sister had no intention of letting go of her brother.
Ashili, who’d been quietly beside Evolaine as she watched the two in dismay, approached.
“They’re quite noisy, aren’t they?”
“No… I like how lively it is.”
Evolaine envied Cardel and Lucia. Though they fought, it stemmed from playfulness, and those actions came from their closeness, didn’t they?
“I was always alone. So maybe that’s why I prefer noisy over silent.”
“…”
‘She said she came from an orphanage.’
She probably didn’t have a good life there.
What would it feel like to have no family? Or even if you had one, what if they never came to see you?
Ashili couldn’t reach a conclusion. Since she’d never experienced it, it wasn’t something she could dare speculate about.
“You won’t be alone from now on. From the moment Dame became affiliated with the Duchy of Radelica, you gained countless comrades.”
“…Does it really work that way?”
Even if she gained comrades in the knight order, wouldn’t other people be different? Evolaine tilted her head, but Ashili spoke with a confident voice.
“There’s never been anyone alone in Radelica. And this will continue to be true.”
Ashili was certain. Evolaine would surely gradually increase her influence.
“I hope Dame comes to like Radelica.”
So she hoped Radelica would remain in a corner of her heart. Preferably as a good memory.
“…”
At Ashili speaking with a faint smile, Evolaine closed her mouth tightly and fell into thought.
It ached. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly where, but somewhere near her heart.
For Evolaine, Radelica wasn’t something she could decide whether she liked or not.
To make an analogy, this place was a sanctuary.
There was the Duke of Radelica who’d saved her from the brink of death again, and Leopold who’d helped her enter the knight order.
There was the head maid who’d given her clothes and spoken warm words.
A place with kind people where danger didn’t lurk, where she could build strength for revenge.
So how could it not be a sanctuary?
Yet saying it would be nice if she liked Radelica. Those were words she could never understand.
“Evolaine, follow me for a moment. Cardel, you too.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
The duke took Evolaine and Cardel to his office.
“These are contracts. The first document is what you’d write when entering the knight order, but you need to write one more.”
“…I apologize, but I don’t know how to read.”
The squiggly letters were densely written, but Evolaine couldn’t recognize any of them.
How could she contract when she couldn’t read?
“I was too thoughtless. Before contracting, I’ll have you learn reading and basic common sense first. As an escort knight, you’ll see countless such documents from now on.”
Teaching her… to read?
Translator
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bluemoon238
You can’t get true loyalty that way. This is literally forced submission of someone desperately trying to survive. I hope our protagonist won’t just give loyalty that easily after what she went through. Make them earn it. Wonder what kind of contract she will be pushed into after learning to read and write