The Duel (Part 1)
Every choice carries responsibility. Even if I had committed an act without considering the consequences, the time had come to become a little more cautious.
It was during the academy's opening day, while I was selecting appropriate lectures and attending the orientation.
‘Is there anything that would actually help?’
I sat at the very end of the window seat in the lecture hall, gazing up at the clear blue sky.
Lectures at the academy were, after all, meant to be tailored to student level.
It wasn't something I would say with my own mouth, but I was the only 8th Circle archmage on this continent after Douglas's death.
I didn't dislike the feeling of looking back at the basics of magic I had learned five years ago, but it wasn't clear whether it would truly aid my level-up.
The magic professor currently demonstrating at the podium was right at the start of the 7th Circle.
Given that, it might be more practical to seek advice from Tiamat instead.
For now, in name alone she was a professor at this academy… and as the queen of magic, she would be thoroughly familiar with almost every domain.
With the thought of asking for simple instruction sometime, I turned my head.
“…Hmm.”
By then it felt newly strange. Even in this spacious lecture hall, students avoided sitting around me specifically.
It wasn't a particularly insightful realization, but if I had known things would turn out this way, I should have been a little more lenient on my first day at the academy.
Avoiding attention was one thing, but being someone others feared wasn't something to be envied.
Just from the accidental eye contact alone, one girl turned her head in sudden alarm.
“Huu.”
With a small sigh, I fixed my gaze back out the window. It would have been better to simply ignore me than to watch my eyes.
I spent a while leisurely flipping through the textbooks and going through the material, and by the time the orientation was nearing its end.
“…Is it all right if I sit next to you?”
The voice I had heard a few times before came from behind. Since I had already sensed the approaching presence, I nodded without any reaction.
With her blonde hair swaying, she approached my side cautiously.
Adelaide Teyran. The youngest daughter of the Sword Saint and the one responsible for my infamous engagement.
Her nameplate now carried a blue hue, symbolizing that the engagement had been officially broken.
‘Second-year, right.’
I knew she had entered the academy earlier than I had. That was why I had expected we might meet eventually.
When I glanced sideways with indifferent eyes, her body stiffened noticeably.
She was looking at me quite a bit.
Whether she liked it or not, I had little interest, but one thing did pique my curiosity. My two eyes briefly turned to the light blue mana of the sea.
Six blue rings swirled around the beating heart at the center of my body.
Compared to last time, one ring had formed.
“I've crossed the wall.”
“…Huh?”
I muttered shortly, and Adelaide raised her head in surprise.
“Wh-what does that mean all of a sudden…?”
“6th Circle.”
“Ah.”
She immediately trembled as I added the details. She carefully touched her chest, as if sensing my gaze.
She seemed about to speak but hesitated, then let out a sigh.
“…You are truly amazing. I didn't think the great archmage would be hiding anything from you, but I never expected you to see through it in one glance.”
“I could play ignorant if you'd like.”
“No, no. As I said, there was no need to hide, and originally… the reason I came looking for you has nothing to do with that.”
Adelaide clenched her hands and glanced at me. In her jewel-like bright eyes, the emotions were a mix of resolve and fear.
It seemed the previous warning had taken effect. Her current deference was clear in her manner.
“…Isaac, I…”
She immediately strengthened her resolve and looked straight at me. Her heavy, dark eyes were full of tension, yet they did not waver.
Even as she looked on the verge of collapsing, she forced out her words.
“…I came here today to apologize to you.”
“….”
It was the first line I had expected to be hard to say. I looked at Adelaide with an emotionless expression.
Her body stiffened again at my gaze.
“Excuses… I won't say them. No matter the reasons, in the end, not stopping the Emperor's army was my own decision.”
Even with her complexion paling as if about to faint, she continued without pause.
“In the end, there were no major casualties. If she hadn't been the princess, the Emperor would undoubtedly have occupied the duchy, and you would have faced no small problems.”
“Isaac, you may be angry with me. I understand. I won't refuse if you look at me with disgust.”
“Even though our bond was almost non-existent, I was, in name, your fiancée. Even if I'm blamed for lacking basic decency, there probably isn't anything I can say.”
Adelaide breathed a heavy sigh with a pained expression and paused.
Did she realize the surrounding gazes were gathering? I didn't care, but drawing attention to her wouldn't do her any good.
I silently watched her, and she gave a weary smile as if accepting it.
“Back then, Lady Havertz asked for a breakup. Isaac, I imagine her thoughts were similar to yours.”
“….”
“……I'll send a letter to your father. Once you become a duke, breaking the engagement should be simple if your will is firm.”
Before I could respond, Adelaide rose from her seat and bowed politely toward me.
“I apologize again, Isaac… no, Duke Havertz. I'll also apologize to Lady Havertz separately, but I promise not to show my face to either of you again.”
Her eyes, filled with a sense of powerlessness, looked emptier than before. My expression naturally darkened as a result.
I knew those eyes.
No matter what they represented, they belonged to people who had given up something important in life.
Or those trapped in situations where giving up was the only option.
At that moment, I noticed her weariness wasn't only related to me or Lottie.
“Finally, one last thing. I know you won't believe it, but I have to say it.”
Before I could grasp the true nature of the unease, she spoke softly.
“…The Duke of Teyran. That is, be on your guard against my father, Duke Havertz.”
“….”
I hesitated and met her eyes. The beautiful blue irises now held deep emptiness.
The atmosphere between us grew heavy. A foreign, static air.
The surrounding students made enough noise, but all sound seemed erased between me and Adelaide.
I still didn't see her kindly. I remembered the time she had come to me brazenly, receiving the Emperor's orders.
But somehow, standing there now with that empty expression as if she were a doll without free will, my heart felt peculiar.
Hatred faded, replaced by an inexplicable anger rising.
*Thud!*
The front door of the lecture hall opened with a rough sound. Both me and Adelaide jolted at the same time.
The noisy atmosphere around us instantly quieted, and dozens of pairs of eyes shifted toward the door with tension.
“….”
“….”
The soft, sky-blue hair that had been swaying settled calmly.
At the moment those silky locks were ruthlessly pushed up, bloodshot eyes flared like those of a wild beast.
The pupils that swept across the entire lecture hall didn't stray far and settled on one side.
Exactly the position facing me and Adelaide. The farthest corner of the lecture hall.
Adelaide took a hasty step back from the piercing gaze, but soon swallowed hard as if steeling herself.
For a brief moment, she glanced at me, then stepped toward Lottie as if intending to approach, and I caught her without hesitation.
“Eep, cough…!?”
I grabbed her nape and pulled her forward. Adelaide, who had been about to move ahead, immediately hung limply from my hand.
She let out the distinctive gasping cough. Her two blue eyes looked at me cautiously.
“Duke…?”
“As I did to you, that expression of apologizing to Lottie is acceptable, Adelaide.”
The timing wasn't right now.
With a small voice, I added. Adelaide furrowed her brows in confusion, and I continued calmly.
“Taking responsibility for one's own choice is admirable. Even after being so scared back then, coming to apologize to me is a high bar.”
“Ye-yes?”
“But if you approach Lottie now, it will be your last day.”
Adelaide stared at me with an expression as if she didn't understand a word.
I realized Lottie's gaze was precisely fixed on my hand holding her.
“…Hmm.”
I let out a quiet sigh. The consideration was short, and the decision was swift. I tossed Adelaide to the side without hesitation.
“Eek!?”
She had only fallen onto the seat I had been sitting on moments before.
Ignoring her dumbfounded reaction, I added one last piece of advice.
“Remember this, Adelaide. You must take responsibility for your own choices.”
“Wh-what…?”
“…And now it's my turn to take responsibility.”
With that said, I turned my head. The sky-blue girl had already crossed the lecture hall and stood with only a few steps remaining.
The most precious person in this world to me.
The woman I loved more than anyone else in this world.
Charlotte Havertz. She opened her mouth with a voice bubbling like boiling water.
“…I wandered around the dorm for a long time since you weren't there, Onii-san. I found you at last.”
“….”
“There are many things I want to say, but first, I'll give you a special opportunity. Really special.”
Even though she was clearly angry, her tone was as if she would explain first with special priority.
Direct or indirect… her attitude toward me was one of looking down.
It was obvious that she was offering mercy by saying so.
I loved her, without doubt, but I had thought adjustments were needed in this area.
I briefly looked behind her, and there stood Elena in her maid uniform, trembling with a distressed expression.
She mouthed toward me.
-I couldn't stop her. I'm sorry, Master.
“….”
I looked back at Lottie again, and she took a deep breath while suppressing her anger, placing her hand on her chest.
I could guess what she would say, but I couldn't know until I heard it.
So I patiently waited for her to speak.
Soon Lottie whispered coldly.
“Answer me honestly without lies, Brother.”
“….”
“What did you do last night? In the dorm.”
Since I had already thought it through, there was no hesitation.
I immediately answered.
“Using your words, it would be infidelity.”
“….”
Lottie's lips closed tightly, and Elena stared at me with wide eyes.
It was a gaze as if trying to prevent someone from making a poor choice.
But it was a decision I had made after much deliberation. Facing the lifeless eyes of Lottie, I calmly gathered mana.
“Shall we have a duel? Sister. Of course, I'll bet.”
“…What?”
“Thinking about it, we haven't had a sibling fight in our whole lives, haven't we?”
The bloodline aura rose from her entire body in response to my mana, and nearby Elena and Adelaide turned pale and stepped back.
“I don't know what you're talking about, Brother… right now, the first thing you should say isn't that, is it?”
Despite Lottie's harsh warning, I remained calm. I simply continued with the words I had thought.
“If I win, from now on, you will look at me as the ‘real’ superior and respect me. Accept whatever my older brother does, whom you respect.”
“Are you really kidding me, Brother? Suddenly what—.”
“But if I win.”
Cutting her words short, I boldly offered the bait that Charlotte would probably least want.
“I will marry you immediately, and until the day I die, I will be an older brother and husband who loves only you.”
“….”
“Of course, I won't sleep with any other woman again.”
As you wish.
At the moment I added that, I clearly saw a thick, sticky desire flickering in Lottie's eyes.
The sound of her heartbeat, roughened enough to be called dangerous, reached me as well.
The fluctuating emotions were truly diverse.
Jealousy, obsession, affection, possessiveness, exclusivity, envy, delusion, joy, hope, lust, dominance.
‘Hmm.’
I nodded quietly. As always felt, but.
My sister was a good one for being honest with desire.
---
【Infidelity Detected】
Charlotte's bloodline has awakened its possessive curse.
Effect: Increased jealousy and dominance toward Isaac. Heart rate synchronization with Charlotte increases by 40%.