Successor of the Duchy (2)
Successor of the Duchy (2)
The duel was set for two days later.
He had promised to review my proposal based on the outcome of the duel.
I couldn't quite tell whether he intended to accept it or not.
The Grand Prince didn't seem like the type of person to change his mind over something like the outcome of a duel.
I felt I wouldn't be able to gauge the situation until I knew how strong the Crown Prince of the Duchy was.
When I left the Duchy last year, I'd seen him once, but he had been too far away for me to assess his skills.
Now that I'd been saddled with the awkward task of dueling the Crown Prince, I followed the waiting Chief Steward to the Grand Archduchess's drawing room.
Inside, Balea and the Grand Archduchess were chatting happily.
"It's been a while."
"Welcome."
As I entered, the Grand Archduchess greeted me warmly.
Balea waved at me, too.
"I was worried when you didn't return to the Academy, but you look better than I expected."
"You must have thought I was sick."
Indeed, at first, everyone had worried that she was sick.
But as time passed and the King died, they began to admire her, calling it incredible foresight.
When I nodded, the Grand Archduchess sighed.
"I actually was sick."
Huh? She was sick?
As I looked at her in surprise, the Grand Archduchess shook her head.
"It wasn't a relapse of my previous illness. It turned out to be growing pains."
Growing pains? But she didn't seem to have grown any taller...
"Not my body! My inherited ability has grown to the next level."
Was my surprise that obvious?
She grew serious and clarified.
"But during the growth process, I fainted, just as I do when I overuse my ability..."
They had been keeping an eye on her, afraid her illness might return, but then the Kingdom's situation changed rapidly, and she ended up staying here.
"It was similar to mana depletion, but perhaps because of my past illness, everyone worried far too much."
'From the Duchy's perspective, it was probably for the best.'
If the Grand Archduchess had returned to the Academy only to be unable to come back to the Duchy, the Duchy would have been in a difficult position.
That was probably why they had stopped her so vehemently.
I could guess the general situation, but I didn't voice those underlying concerns.
Because right now, there was something more important.
"Your ability has leveled up?"
"Yes. Now I can repair all the artifacts I couldn't fix before."
At the Grand Archduchess's words, I immediately cast a soundproof barrier that only she and I could hear through.
I was about to caution her, but the Grand Archduchess pointed at Balea instead.
"You can let Balea hear, too."
Though puzzled, I expanded the soundproof barrier as she requested, bringing Balea inside.
Once inside the barrier, Balea looked at me over her teacup.
"I've heard the story from the Grand Archduchess as well."
A smile played on her face.
I didn't think I needed to worry about Balea, but I wasn't sure it was wise to share the secret so openly.
The vast Empire had gone so far as to kidnap the Grand Archduchess for that very ability.
If the number of people who knew about it kept growing like that, it would be dangerous...
No, perhaps it didn't matter, since the Empire and the Organization already knew.
"Father gave me permission. He said I could tell those who absolutely need to know. When I told him about the help I received from you, Young Lord, he was delighted and gave me his permission."
If the Grand Prince had given his permission, I had nothing to say.
Wait, if that was the case, hadn't I found out without the Grand Prince's permission in the first place?
And now the Grand Prince knew about it.
Thinking about it, pulling a cheeky face in the audience chamber hadn't been a big deal at all.
If the Grand Prince hadn't looked upon me favorably, my head might have been chopped off just for knowing the Grand Archduchess's secret.
As the events in the audience chamber came back to me, I couldn't help asking the Grand Archduchess something.
"No, I mean, what on earth did you tell the Grand Prince?"
I had absolutely no idea what she could have said to make him use our deal as an excuse to force me to duel the Crown Prince.
At my question, the Grand Archduchess tilted her head.
"Pardon? I kept quiet about the Seal Grounds and only spoke highly of the things I could share."
The Grand Archduchess counted on her fingers as she listed what she'd said.
"That you won the escort Knight Tournament, that you're the strongest in the Academy, and that you fought the Knight Commander of the Pisen Marquisate for a long time..."
None of it was false, and none of it needed to be kept hidden, but...
"I didn't mention that you fought the Monster King at the Seal Grounds and drove him back, nor did I say you possess many incredible artifacts. Oh, and I didn't mention that you have the Holy Knight's sword, either."
And indeed, she had successfully kept the things that needed to be secret hidden.
I sighed.
The Grand Archduchess had done nothing wrong.
The problem was entirely my fault for having accomplished things that sounded legendary even without the secrets behind them.
Seeing me sigh, Balea asked,
"Why? Did something happen during the audience?"
As she spoke, Balea's eyes sparkled.
They looked like the eyes of a child anticipating something fun.
They were incredibly beautiful eyes, but now they only filled me with dread.
"The Grand Prince ordered me to duel the Crown Prince. What's more, he made a proposal that requires me to win at all costs."
"Really? A duel with Crown Prince Antonio?"
Balea's eyes widened.
Then, as if her expectations had been met, a broad smile spread across her face.
Unlike the excited Balea, the Grand Archduchess lowered her head apologetically.
"Ah, I'm so sorry. I had no idea Father would make such a decision."
The Grand Archduchess understood my awkward predicament well.
I was grateful for her understanding, but the die had already been cast.
First, I had to resolve the immediate problem.
I asked the Grand Archduchess,
"How strong is the Crown Prince?"
I needed to know the Crown Prince's strength so I could match him properly.
He shouldn't be stronger than me unless he knew the full extent of my power.
As long as the Crown Prince wasn't overwhelmingly strong, I could win by a hair while holding back my true strength.
At my question, the Grand Archduchess squared her shoulders and beamed.
"I haven't seen Brother's skills in person because I was sick, but I heard he's the strongest in the Duchy."
Wait, what? The strongest in the Duchy? He was clearly just an ordinary young man in his twenties, wasn't he?
Besides, how could she say something like that with such a bright smile?
Sure, it was natural to be happy that her family—her brother—was strong, but the person who had to fight that very brother was standing right in front of her. How could she smile so brightly?
The Grand Archduchess's smile made me feel needlessly annoyed.
But her smile quickly faded.
"It's also because of Brother's ability that Father has grown greedy for the Kingdom again."
"Father believes that Brother, who possesses a stronger 'Mana Resonance' than the two princes, should inherit the Carlos Kingdom."
It was because the Mana Resonance, which had typically been inherited by only one person per generation, had manifested in too many people this time around.
The two princes, the Princess, and the Grand Prince himself, though weak, plus his successor—making a total of five.
No, make that six, including me.
Thinking of the two princes, I could almost understand why the Grand Prince was acting this way.
If it weren't for the Princess, I might have sided with the Grand Prince myself.
Perhaps it would have been much better if the Grand Prince had seized the Carlos Kingdom long ago instead of settling in the Duchy.
In that case, the two princes wouldn't be waging a civil war now, and the Crown Prince of the Duchy would have ascended the throne peacefully.
It was a pointless thought, since it was already in the past, but looking at the ruined Kingdom, such thoughts naturally crossed my mind.
In any case, now that I knew the Crown Prince was stronger than I'd expected, I had to rethink my plans for the duel.
The Grand Archduchess had only heard about his strength and hadn't seen it herself.
His true strength was still impossible to gauge accurately.
Even so, I had to prepare for the duel on the assumption that he was exceptionally powerful.
I couldn't afford to hold back while fighting the strongest warrior in the Duchy.
It would be disastrous if I grew complacent and ended up losing.
No.
Surely, I wouldn't lose, right?
I shook my head to clear away the useless thoughts.
Then I reached inside my coat.
I reached deep into my artifact pouch and grasped a large orb.
I pulled out the black orb and placed it on the table.
Seeing the black orb, Balea asked,
"What is this?"
"It's an artifact I happened to obtain."
At first, I'd considered asking Balea to leave before taking out the orb.
But now, I felt there was no need.
Since I possessed the Divine Sword, I could enforce a secret contract, and I was now strong enough to protect an artifact of this level on my own.
Besides, from what I'd observed so far, Balea seemed reasonably trustworthy.
And there was no reason to keep the orb a secret from Balea when the Grand Archduchess, who was repairing it, already knew all about it.
"Do you think you can repair it now?"
The moment I heard that the Grand Archduchess's ability had grown, this orb was the first thing that came to mind.
In fact, I'd been helping her develop her ability all this time so she could restore this very orb.
"Whew... Just a moment."
The Grand Archduchess took a deep breath as she looked at the orb.
She placed her hand on it.
Hum.
Mana flowed through her hand and into the orb.
After a moment, she lifted her hand from the orb.
"Barely... but I think it's possible."
What a relief. It was an artifact whose life could have flickered out at any moment.
On top of that, with the Duchy's future allegiance uncertain, we could end up as enemies at any time.
This might be my only chance.
But once it was repaired, there was a high probability that the Grand Archduchess would realize what the orb was.
In addition to repairing artifacts, she possessed the ability to appraise them.
Because the orb was broken, she hadn't recognized what kind of artifact it was before, but if she fully repaired it this time, she would inevitably find out.
But it couldn't be helped.
With so little time left, I couldn't risk ruining the artifact just to keep it secret.
The Grand Archduchess was about to place her hand on the orb again when she suddenly flinched and stopped.
She remained still for a moment, then looked up at me.
Her eyes held a slightly different light than before.
"Is it absolutely necessary to repair this orb?"
I'd felt relieved when she said it was possible, but it seemed the task was more difficult than I'd thought.
"If it's not possible right now, then there's nothing we can do."
I pursed my lips in disappointment and reached out to retrieve the orb.
But the Grand Archduchess sighed and placed her hand back on the orb.
"No, it's not that..."
She lowered her head.
After a brief hesitation, she spoke again.
"Will you still come to visit me even after this orb is repaired?"
Even if the civil war ended, returning to the Academy was out of the question.
During the civil war, the Duchy could become our enemy, or the Grand Archduchess might get married.
Even if none of that happened, the Duchy was far from both the capital and the Gracia Territory.
Just as she said, once this orb was fixed, there would be no reason for me to seek her out.
Various thoughts crossed my mind at her words, but for now, I decided to assume she was simply sad about our impending parting.
Thinking of it that way made it easier to reply.
"There are still other things left to repair, and I haven't fully paid you yet. Besides, we need to investigate the golems found at the Seal Grounds. You are the only one who can repair those broken golems, Your Grace."
"Ah... Right. The ruins! There were golems!"
As she lifted her head, her face lit up.
What on earth had she been thinking about to completely forget the golems?
She really wasn't acting like her usual self right now.
She quickly snapped out of it and placed her hand on the orb.
I watched the orb and her hand resting upon it.
Mana began to seep into the orb.
From beside me, I heard someone sigh in disappointment.