Chapter 198: Liquidation(1)
Chapter 198: Liquidation(1)
The situation, which was almost too embarrassing to even call a duel, came to an end shortly after. Hiriya, who had been sprawled on the ground, stood up and left immediately.
I wasn't sure if she was fleeing out of shame for being defeated without putting up a fight or if she had some other reason, but her pace seemed hurried. Glaring at me before she disappeared was just the icing on the cake.
In any case, since the duel ended so abruptly, the spectators lost interest and began returning to their own business. A few people approached Adelia to request a duel, but she turned them all down and returned to my side.
"It has been a while, Your Highness. Have you been well?"
"Indeed. It seems your skills have improved in the meantime."
"You flatter me."
Upon her return, she first greeted Leort, who was sitting beside me. Leort accepted her greeting with a welcoming expression.
After bowing politely, Adelia locked eyes with me. At first, she hesitated, then she gave a shy, beaming smile.
"So? Did you see?"
"Yeah. You were amazing."
To be honest, I had been talking to Leort and didn't actually see how Adelia took Hiriya down. There was just a loud thud, and then Hiriya was on the ground.
Unaware of my lie, Adelia simply smiled even more brightly than before. With her hands behind her back and her head slightly tilted, she exuded the pure, innocent charm of a young girl.
Since the duel was over, I decided there was no reason to stay any longer and stood up.
"We'll be heading out now."
"Right. Have a good day."
"Thank you. Come on, Adelia. Let's go."
"Okay."
She hadn't even broken a sweat, so a shower didn't seem necessary. I planned to finish the workout I hadn't completed in the time remaining.
I didn't know what Hiriya might try next, but she likely wouldn't harm Adelia for the time being. And even if she did, I was confident I could pay her back several times over.
"Adelia. If Hiriya ever comes to find you separately and says something, tell me immediately. Got it?"
"Don't worry. Hiriya isn't quite that reckless."
Adelia spoke firmly, as if she knew Hiriya well. It would be ideal if that were the case, but human hearts are unpredictable.
Furthermore, having suffered such a humiliating defeat, there was a high probability she was grinding her teeth in secret.
While worrying slightly about the future, a question suddenly occurred to me, and I glanced at Adelia. It might be a sensitive topic for her, but I felt I should ask.
"Um... Adelia."
"Yes?"
"Was the gap between you and Princess Hiriya always this large?"
"...It was, originally."
Adelia gave a bitter smile at the question. She maintained that wry expression as if reminiscing about the past before speaking quietly.
"She tries to act calm on the outside, but she's actually quite hot-headed. She has a weakness where she loses control of her emotions if provoked even a little. Even without that, there was a gap in our skills, but..."
"Weren't you always the one getting hit by Princess Hiriya?"
"Back then, I thought if I just took it, things would get better. I thought if I went easy on her, we could go back to the days when we were close—that she would follow me around again, calling me 'Sister.' I realized soon enough that it was all a futile hope... but it was hard to let go."
As she spoke, a sense of longing filled Adelia's sky-blue eyes. Hope is called hope because it feels just within reach, yet remains elusive.
Adelia had struggled to grasp that hope, but it had been shattered during the Xenon Exhibition. If I hadn't reached out to her then, she surely would have collapsed beyond recovery.
It was much better for me to become her hope instead. To comfort the melancholy Adelia, I called her name.
"Adel."
"Yes?"
"So, what is it you want to ask of me?"
"...Huh?"
At my question, Adelia blinked her sky-blue eyes and stared at me blankly. At first, she looked like she couldn't quite grasp the situation.
"Did you forget already? I told you I'd grant you a wish if you won."
"Ah... that, that's..."
"It can be anything, so don't feel pressured. Oh, but obviously, nothing suggestive. I'd need Mari's permission for that kind of thing."
"Uuu..."
Adelia's face turned rapidly red, and she let out a small groan. Even though I'd phrased it indirectly, she clearly understood what I meant.
I chuckled inwardly at the sight of her face turning as red as a ripe persimmon. Seeing the usually composed Adelia get so embarrassed was always a fresh experience.
She had a cheerful and easygoing personality to hide her scars, but deep down, she was a gentle woman. Like a flower blooming after being nurtured, she was a woman who grew more beautiful the more love she received.
I'll say it again: Adelia was by no means someone who didn't deserve to be loved. Had she been born into an ordinary family, she would have grown up receiving more love than anyone.
"You don't have to be shy. I'm the one who offered, right?"
"Then, um..."
As I prompted her again, Adelia hesitated, looking like she wanted to say something.
She glanced around, then lowered her head and whispered her request.
"...ug... pat... head..."
"Hmm? What was that?"
Because her head was down and she was mumbling, I couldn't hear her well. I leaned my ear closer and asked again.
Adelia flinched as I brought my face near, then spoke clearly enough for me to hear.
"Hug me... and pat my head..."
"..."
"Is this... okay?"
Adelia slowly raised her head and made her modest request. Her sky-blue eyes, meeting mine directly, were moist and shimmering.
As someone who trained regularly, Adelia was on the taller side, much like Nicole. However, because I had grown so rapidly, she was now in a position where she had to look up at me.
Meeting Adelia's expectant gaze, I was momentarily dazed. How could she be this lovely? Compared to her usual behavior, I almost doubted if she was the same person.
Whether you'd call it a gap moe or her true self, this might be the real Adelia.
Slide—
"Ah..."
When I silently wrapped my arms around her slender frame and hugged her, Adelia let out a soft gasp. There was no one else around anyway, so there was no need to worry about being seen.
Then, I gently stroked her brown hair as if handling a precious work of art. Every time I patted her head, her body trembled slightly.
"How's this? Is it enough?"
"Haa..."
When I whispered in a deliberately low voice, she let out a shaky breath. I'd felt this before, but she really did have a surprisingly cute side.
We stayed like that for a while, with me hugging her and stroking her hair. Eventually, she buried her face in the crook of my neck and spoke in a small voice.
"...Isaac."
"Yeah. Go ahead."
"Thank you. Truly."
Squeeze—
Adelia, who had only been receiving the hug, seemed to find her courage and hugged me back. Unlike before, it was an action that felt like it was starting to cross a line.
Still, it wasn't a complete violation of boundaries, so I stayed still. Realizing I had permitted it, Adelia tightened her grip.
"I don't know if I should say this. But I feel like I have to."
Her characteristically husky yet charming voice drifted into my ear.
"I'm so happy right now. I've never felt this kind of happiness in my entire life."
A settlement with a miserable past.
"I will definitely protect you."
A firm resolve. And...
"I love you, Isaac."
A sincere confession. However, it was a heart I couldn't accept right away.
Instead, as if asking her to wait just a little longer, I gently smoothed her hair and spoke quietly.
"Then that's enough."
If she had broken away from the dark shadows of the past.
"If you feel that way, then it's enough."
All that was left was to paint a bright future.
*
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! To lose to a half-breed like that...!!"
Meanwhile, around the same time, in the female students' dormitory.
Following her humiliating defeat to Adelia, Hiriya was venting her intense rage in her room.
The interior of the once-tidy room was a mess, as if she had been throwing things at random, and clear fist marks were embedded in the walls from her inability to contain her anger.
Damaging the facilities could, in the worst-case scenario, lead to eviction, but her status was that of a princess. This level of damage could be overlooked with some flexibility.
"Huff... huff..."
Hiriya breathed heavily, having seemingly exhausted her pent-up rage. Her once-neat hair was wildly disheveled, and her cool beauty was stained with anger.
Nevertheless, because her beauty was so striking, even her enraged face looked like a painting—though the shattered objects scattered around were a bit of a blemish.
After taking a moment to steady her breathing and calm her racing heart, she slumped onto her bed.
"Just when... did she get that strong..."
She recalled what had happened moments ago. She understood that Adelia had blocked her sword strike.
But the movements that followed, flowing like water, were more than enough to shock Hiriya.
She had anticipated the next attack and managed to block the kick to her leg, but she never expected Adelia to exploit that opening to strike her solar plexus.
She knew she had been swayed by Adelia's provocation(?) at the time and had lost control of her emotions. She had always tried to maintain her composure to hide her hot-headed nature, but it wasn't easy.
Furthermore, she had never expected Adelia—whom she had once dominated so easily that 'beating her to a pulp' would be an appropriate description—to have grown this much.
In reality, Adelia had lost on purpose back then to try and mend their relationship, but Hiriya had no way of knowing that.
'Just when did she start growing?'
Hiriya ground her teeth as she tried to guess the catalyst for Adelia's growth. The most likely possibility was that she had unexpectedly awakened her talent at the Academy.
Otherwise, there was no way the gap in their skills could have widened this much. But putting all that aside, there was one thing that bothered her most.
'You're saying you're the happiest you've ever been?'
Adelia had stood tall, pointing her sword at the fallen Hiriya. She had said she was happier now than in the past. And then she had asked if Hiriya was happy.
Hiriya had become a knight to avoid becoming a 'commodity,' and she had achieved the skills to match. But she couldn't easily answer the question of whether she was actually happy.
The very reason she became a knight was to surpass Adelia. At first, she had followed her around calling her 'Sister,' but at some point, she began to hate Adelia for possessing superior talent despite being a mere illegitimate child.
So, she had strived to defeat Adelia and make her feel the difference between a true royal and a half-blood. Thanks to the support of the Royal Family, she had been able to easily suppress her during their childhood.
But now? She had been effortlessly subdued before she could even do anything. It meant the gap in their skills had become astronomical.
More than that, the question of whether she was happy had turned her stomach. It was as if her entire life was being negated.
'Come to think of it...'
Before her anger could completely consume her mind, Hiriya thought of Isaac, the object of Adelia's affection.
A unique combination of long red hair and golden eyes. His looks were also outstanding, the kind of face that could easily charm many women.
In fact, according to rumors circulating in the Martial Studies department, he was already dating the daughter of the Duke of Rekilis. Even so, he had managed to charm Adelia as well, so one could guess how great his charm must be.
'Every time she looked at that redhead, Adelia's eyes changed.'
That meant the source of her happiness was Isaac. As those thoughts occurred to her, the corners of Hiriya's mouth curled up.
If the source of her happiness were to disappear, wouldn't Adelia crumble again? Hiriya knew all too well the depth of despair a woman falls into when she loses her love.
Of course, she didn't mean she would eliminate Isaac. Doing so would not only cause extreme diplomatic damage but, since he was the son-in-law of the Rekilis family, it might even trigger a war.
The best way was to somehow bring Isaac into the Ters Royal Family. In other words, a political marriage.
Novels are filled with beautiful stories, but reality is always ugly. Even if Isaac was dating the Rekilis lady, the story would change if the Kingdom of Ters officially pursued a marriage.
The son-in-law of the Ters Royal Family versus the son-in-law of the Duke of Rekilis. It was already decided which way the scales would tip.
Even if the Minerva Empire and the Kingdom of Ters were at each other's throats, they wouldn't interfere in a marriage.
'The Maishal family is a Baronial house, so there shouldn't be a problem if we bring him in as a consort. He's handsome, too.'
As she went through the points one by one, it wasn't a bad option. Hiriya herself could maintain her position as a knight, and since Isaac was attractive, she could live just looking at his face.
Most importantly, she could steal the man Adelia loved. She looked forward to seeing how much despair Adelia would feel once the marriage was decided.
'First... I'll have to find out exactly who he is. This should be fun.'
Around the time Hiriya was forming her sinister plans.
"Achoo!"
Isaac let out a massive sneeze, stopping his writing as an unknown chill washed over him.
"Sniff. Dammit."
The ink had smudged because of the spray.