Chapter 108: Mock Battle
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 108: Mock Battle
Originally, the jousting tournament was merely a prelude to the mock battle. An appetizer, if you will, meant to whet the audience's appetite before the main dish.
Recently, however, jousting had become the main dish, and the mock battle was fading into the annals of history.
This was partly because mock battles were expensive to stage, and partly because lords had realized how dangerous it was to allow other lords to legally operate their troops in their own front yards.
Depending on one's intentions, the forces in a mock battle could become a powerful enemy army at any moment.
Mock battles are conducted in two ways.
The first is a team-versus-team format, where the competitors fight according to conditions set by the tournament host.
These conditions, from the number and quality of troops to the types of soldiers, must be meticulously detailed. After all, the participants were the sort of men who would start swinging swords and axes, crying about their honor, if they felt they were at a disadvantage.
The second is an individual, no-holds-barred tournament. All participants are thrown into a single arena to fight until a final victor emerges.
The mock battle proposed by Bronx II was the first type, designed to test one's command abilities.
“Even for you, this is going to be quite difficult, don’t you think?”
The moment the audience chamber doors closed, Eleanor smiled smugly. My steady gaze only made her smile widen.
“The conditions are far too disadvantageous for you, aren’t they? If you use your martial strength in a test meant to prove your leadership, it will all be for nothing. That means your most powerful weapon is sealed. And that’s not all, is it? The quality of the troops you’ll be fighting with is also lacking. The other participants will all bring their knights, but you have, what, three? Four at most?”
She seemed to be genuinely enjoying my misfortune. There was an unusually cheerful bounce in her step.
Led by her intertwined hand, I headed deeper into the palace. Along the way, we encountered court nobles and servants.
They stared at us, walking down the hall with our hands clasped, with either curiosity or frowns. It was only natural, given that we were completely ignoring the strict court etiquette.
Eleanor didn't care. As the saying goes, even a dog is bold in its own yard.
The woman who had been so terrified, wringing her hands in fear that the side effects of her ability might activate, was now brimming with confidence the moment she stepped into the palace without incident.
Then, we entered a quiet corridor in the outer part of the court. I pulled on our clasped hands, pinning her chattering self against the wall.
I stretched out my other arm, planting my hand on the wall to block her escape, and closed the distance until we could feel each other's breath.
Eleanor gasped.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Do you want me to fail?”
Quickly regaining her composure, Eleanor looked up at me with a provocative gaze.
“Of course, I do. I helped you because it was beneficial to me and Aenya. But the mock battle is different. What does it matter to me if you fail and burn your bridges with Dresden? In fact, the more disadvantaged you become, the more Aenya will have to rely on me. So, it’s actually a good thing for me.”
“And it’s not because you don’t want me to marry Adeleade?”
I asked, looking straight down into her clear, lake-blue eyes. She flinched. Her reply came a beat too late.
“Wh-what nonsense is that? Why would I? If you marry that woman, Aenya will become even more mine.”
“If what you say is true, Princess, then the result is the same whether I succeed or fail—Aenya grows distant from me. So I’m asking why you want me to fail.”
“Th-that’s because… it’s more enjoyable to see you fail than succeed?”
Eleanor answered her own inner thoughts with a question. Her voice lacked confidence, and her provocative gaze had already fallen to the floor.
“You’re lying.”
I continued, looking down at the flinching Eleanor.
“Why do you think His Majesty offered the annulment of the marriage as a prize?”
“How should I know…!”
“His Majesty knew that we have an inseparable bond. Since I am the sole exception to your ability, he must have demanded the annulment to pair us together. You must have known that as well, Princess. That’s why you were in such a good mood.”
I gently caressed Eleanor’s cheek before taking her chin and lifting it. Then, I naturally moved to steal a kiss.
She didn't submit so easily. She quickly pushed my face away with her palm and slipped out from under my arm.
Putting some distance between us, she pointed a finger at me, her face flushed as she tried to catch her breath.
“There’s a limit to being delusional! How can you imagine something so absurd? Know your place! I am the king’s only sister, a princess, and you are nothing more than a knight!”
“Let’s set aside social status for a moment. I’m curious about what’s in your heart, Princess.”
“All I need is Aenya!”
Eleanor snorted and strode forward. Then she stopped abruptly, fidgeting, before turning back and snatching my hand.
Our hands were intertwined once more. Without looking at my face, she began to lead me again.
“Ah, honestly… hurry up!”
The corners of my mouth twitched into a smile. For a brief moment, I thought it wouldn't be so bad to lose the mock battle and marry Eleanor.
Of course, that couldn't happen. There was an order to everything. Eleanor was destined to be mine, but not now.
In any case, I was the only one permitted to be by her side. First, I had to deal with Dresden, who was right in front of me. She would come after that.
‘For now, I’ll only think about winning the mock battle.’
I had to prove that my martial prowess wasn't my only asset, and I had to win the king's favor to ensure the safety of my people while I was away.
It would be even better if I could make some money in the process.
One thing the jousting tournament and the mock battle had in common was the ability to collect ransoms from captured opponents.
The difference was that, since the mock battle was a team event, there were far more opponents to collect ransoms from than in a joust.
In other words, for me, who was in dire financial straits, the mock battle was an opportunity to make a great deal of money. I hadn't proposed it for no reason.
Everything was going according to my will. Even what Eleanor called disadvantageous conditions were already part of my plan.
“This is the detached palace where I used to live.”
Eleanor stood with her back to a mansion with a blue roof, her arms spread wide. In front of it was a small garden that separated the main palace from this one.
She sat on the edge of a circular fountain in the center of the garden and dipped her hand into the water. The water was so clear her hand was perfectly visible.
“I remember getting scolded by my mother when I was little. I got into the fountain and splashed around, giving her a good soaking.”
She chased the traces of her past with a wistful look in her eyes. I followed behind her without a word.
The closer one was to her, the more they were affected by her ability. This meant her mother, who had been with her since birth, could not have escaped the side effects.
Whether she knew it or not, she herself was the one who had killed her mother. Of course, if she didn't know, it was a truth she didn't need to learn.
“Hehe. It looks like they still haven’t noticed the broken pinky toe.”
A statue decorating the area near the entrance was posed with its knees slightly bent, and the tip of its rear foot's pinky toe was broken off. Eleanor pointed at it and giggled mischievously.
Her search for her traces continued. She showed me the back of a tablecloth with a stain, as if something had been spilled, and a crack in the corner of a stained-glass window decorating a wall.
She was as excited as a child visiting an amusement park for the first time. It was understandable, having returned after so long to the home she had been forced to leave. But it didn't last long.
“Things… have changed a lot…”
The deeper we went, the more she noticed things that were different from her memories. She frowned, especially when she saw the intense purple silk curtains decorating the bed.
“Mother liked flowing, beige-colored curtains…”
According to a servant managing the palace, they were to the divorced queen's taste. The bed wasn't the only thing that had changed from her memories, and she grew increasingly dispirited.
“Memories are bound to be romanticized.”
Sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to me, Eleanor fiddled with the blanket and pillow. Her touch was full of affection.
Taking advantage of her distraction, I quietly untied the bed curtains. Even when I had drawn them on all but one side, she didn't realize what I was doing.
“I shouldn’t have come.”
Conversely, memories confronted with reality are bound to fade. Eleanor was trying desperately to hold on to her fading memories.
I drew the last remaining curtain. Instantly, the space around the bed was bathed in a purple hue, creating a strange atmosphere. As I thought, it was a device with a sexual purpose.
Only then did Eleanor turn to look at me, her eyes trembling slightly.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Since we’re here, how about we make some new memories?”
As I took another step closer, Eleanor leaned her upper body far back to avoid me. When I climbed onto the bed, she lay down completely.
I placed my hands on either side of her shoulders, supporting my weight as I looked down at her.
Her face, dyed in purple and cast in deep shadows, was captivating. The slight tremble at the corners of her eyes told me she was nervous.
“I-I’m going to scream!?”
“Have you forgotten? We sent everyone away except for a few essential servants.”
Even those who remained had been stationed as far away as possible. It was a habit born from her past, when a memory-drenched Eleanor would instinctively keep people at a distance, unable to handle the side effects of her ability.
Her face turned deathly pale as she belatedly realized this.
“N-no—!”
Trapped between my arms, she could only tremble.
Her pitiful appearance stimulated a sadistic streak hidden within me. As I lowered my head, she squeezed her eyes shut. I placed a light kiss on her pale forehead and then pushed myself up.
When the expected didn't happen after a long wait, Eleanor slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze met mine as I looked down at her with a pathetic expression.
I chuckled at her tilted head.
“What were you imagining?”
Belatedly realizing it was a prank, she glared up at me.
“Y-you were going to pounce on me!”
“I suggested we make new memories. I never said I was going to ravish you.”
“R-ravish— Please, can’t you stop using such vulgar words?”
Eleanor quickly got up and scrambled off the bed. Then, she stood by the door, ready to flee at any moment, and pointed a finger at me.
I put on an aggrieved expression.
“Didn’t you enjoy it, Princess?”
“When did I ever!”
“You did when we spent the night together in Quaran.”
Her face instantly turned beet red. It seemed she recalled that incredibly stimulating, frenzied night.
“I-I never did such a thing…!”
“Hmm. If you insist, I will believe you.”
“Jeez, I really didn't!”
“Very well. If you grant my request, I will forget it completely.”
Trembling, Eleanor asked with a sullen face.
“What is it? Your request.”
“Could you teach me how to dance?”
Just before ending the audience, Bronx II had made a request. He asked me to attend the banquet before the mock battle with Eleanor.
He intended to use the occasion to dispel the rumors that Eleanor was a witch.
Thanks to that, I had to practice dancing, something I'd never done in my life. After all, I would be the only one who could be her partner at the banquet. Eleanor looked at me with a face full of suspicion.
“Hmph, you think I’d believe that? You’re clearly up to something. Does it make any sense that a world-class womanizer doesn’t know how to dance?”
“A womanizer? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to deny it? It wasn’t enough to lay your hands on me and Aenya, but you’re also planning to marry Baroness Adeleade. And when I said you were coming to the capital with me, Piole was desperate to tag along. You’ve had your way with her too, haven’t you? Haven’t you?”
Eleanor pressed me as if she had caught me in a weakness. A triumphant smile played on her lips. I just chuckled.
“Are you jealous again?”
“Ah, seriously!!!”
Unable to take it anymore, Eleanor shrieked. It looked like she would really start cursing if I pushed her any further.
Only then did I calmly explain my circumstances—that I never had the chance to receive a proper education because of my wicked stepmother.
She had no choice but to believe me. She had already seen Aenya, who was in the same situation. Her sharp demeanor faltered for a moment, then subsided.
“No games during the lesson. And… d-don’t even think about pouncing on me!”
“I may not look it, but I’m a man who gets things done when he needs to.”
“Hmph. You won’t be able to even if you want to. My lessons are strict!”
Eleanor smirked mischievously. It was obvious she planned to use the lesson as an excuse to give me a hard time. But her smile didn't last long.
“Agh—! You stepped on my foot again!? You! You did that on purpose, didn’t you!?”
It was because I was relentlessly stepping on her feet. I put on an innocent expression.
“I told you. I wasn’t properly educated.”
“Still! You’re a knight, aren’t you? An unparalleled one at that! Does it make any sense that you can’t follow a simple dance?”
“I could just have two left feet.”
“A knight who can take down a troll by himself?”
As if finding her own words absurd, Eleanor clutched her stomach and burst out laughing.
I shrugged.
“Well, what can I do? It’s the truth.”
“Ha, honestly…”
Eleanor laughed so hard that tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
The gloom that had settled over her after facing her subtly changed brother and her tarnished memories was gone.
I took her hand again and asked.
“Anyway, are you feeling a little better now?”
“…Honestly, such a womanizer. You’re still far from good enough, so follow me.”
Eleanor intended to make the most of my compliance. She dragged me out of the palace for a trip into the city, something she hadn't been able to do for a long time.
The capital was a metropolis on a different level from any city I had experienced before. It was overflowing with things to see and do.
Eleanor quickly recovered her spirits and was once again as excited as a child at an amusement park. Then, the sky began to blush with the colors of sunset.
“Hey, you…!?”
Eleanor pointed a finger toward a corner of an alley. There stood a hunched old woman, her entire body bundled in a hooded robe.
The old woman turned her head toward me, and a glint of light flashed from the shadows beneath her hood. I, too, stared back at her in silence.
‘The Witch of the Stars.’
An annoying guest had appeared.