The Betrothal Tournament (4)

Could she be a demon?

But Uld had no horns. No ashen smoke curled from her lips, and I sensed none of the sinister energy known as demonic qi.

Her black hair was the only physical trait she shared with the demons. But you couldn't condemn someone as a demon merely for having dark hair or wielding a familiar style of swordsmanship.

Tsssssss——

Sword qi erupted from Elisa's blade. Thanks to her Awoken Ability, its form remained invisible; one could only read its presence from the vibrations of her mana.

The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magnitude of those vibrations was Master-tier.

Reaching the rank of Master before one's twenties meant talent rivaling Thalia's — the greatest prodigy the Steel Guard had ever produced.

"Haaah!"

With a battle cry, Elisa charged at Uld. In the blink of an eye, her blade had reached the very tip of Uld's nose.

And then something astonishing happened. Uld, without retreating a single step, met Elisa's invisible sword head-on.

"…Remarkable."

Lucian murmured in admiration. This was the first time anyone had ever stopped Elisa's sword in a tournament.

"You dare!"

Eyes blazing, Elisa rained down thrusts like lightning. Uld parried each one with the barest minimum of movement.

Every time their blades collided, their mana sparked and flared. Each flare drew clenched fists and roars from the crowd.

"I had no idea Uld was this strong. I honestly can't tell who's going ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to win."

No — I could see the winner clearly.

The Crimson Blade was a school of swordsmanship skewed to the extreme toward offense. Of its dozens of forms, only two were defensive.

For a practitioner of the Crimson Blade to take a defensive stance was, in itself, a declaration that they considered their opponent a full step beneath them.

And Uld was cycling through those two defensive forms over and over, deflecting every single attack. Her improvisation with those forms was creative enough to make me click my tongue.

"…How?"

Elisa asked. It was less a question than a lament.

"How are you stopping my sword?"

Uld said nothing, quietly studying Elisa with eyes empty of emotion.

Sword prodigies, both of them. If Elisa's talent was the pinnacle of humanity, then Uld's talent belonged to a discussion of the heavens. Elisa, facing her directly, could hardly fail to feel it.

Uld raised her greatsword horizontally, bracing the flat against her left wrist.

The moment her stance shifted from pure defense to offense, an explosive aura erupted from every inch of Uld's body. Elisa stumbled backward, terror written across her face.

"Enough."

That was when Thalia, who had been refereeing, intervened in the duel. She stepped onto the arena floor and planted herself in front of Elisa as if shielding her.

"The match is decided. Lower your sword."

Uld's gaze shifted to Thalia. A tension thick enough to burst flowed between the two of them. I decided this was as good a moment as any to step in.

"We have our winner."

Uld turned to look at me. Only then did her raised sword finally come down.

"A magnificent bout. I offer my respects to you both."

As I began to applaud, thunderous cheers poured down across the entire arena.

"You're bringing a wild beast into your own household, I see."

Lucian, watching from the sidelines, offered his two cents.

"Shut it, Lucian. My head is genuinely about to split open."

I said ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it quietly, just loud enough for him alone. My thoughts had grown tangled ever since I'd seen Uld's swordsmanship. The Crimson Blade alone was enough to give me a headache — and now she had to go and lock horns with Thalia at the very end.

"This is exactly why I never married. Even when every condition lines up perfectly, differences in temperament tear couples apart more often than not."

"I said shut it."

"There's still a chance, though. She could choose a prize instead of marrying you, couldn't she?"

"Does that look like the eyes of someone eyeing a prize to you?"

Uld stood at the center of the arena, staring at me and me alone. Lucian glanced her over and let out a wry laugh.

"She's absolutely gunning for something. And if you happen to be the prize, my lord, then so be it."

At length, the applause died down. I gathered my voice and addressed Uld.

"I ask the victor of this tournament: will you claim the right to marry me, or will you accept a barony along with arms forged by the Master Blacksmith, Ruka Rain?"

"I will marry you, my lord."

Uld answered with perfect clarity. The crowd leapt and cheered. The band struck up a merry tune, and fireworks burst one after another.

"Just pretend this never happened."

Lucian said.

"Offer some vague excuse, then blame the objections of your vassals for forcing your hand. Throw in a title and some land, and they'll swallow it."

"I swore it publicly, Lucian. In my own name."

"You are the most important person in this duchy, my lord. No one wants you marrying a commoner of unknown origin."

"Hmm. Isn't a duke wedding a commoner exactly what the people want, though?"

Before me stood a crowd of more than ten thousand, rejoicing as if it were their own affair. If Elisa, daughter of a margrave, had won, the reaction would never have reached this pitch.

"Romance across the social divide rests on the assumption that such burning passion comes with it — but you don't love that woman, do you, my lord?"

"This isn't romance. It's a political marriage."

I said it flatly.

"We share a border with the demons. Rather than courting some powerful family far away, one strong Awoken fighter who can stand beside me is worth more to this duchy."

"A proper sovereign indeed."

Lucian smiled.

"At that rate, you'd deserve a ducal title yourself."

"Not yet."

"Shouldn't you also conclude that this half-finished arrangement of a 'Steward' does the duchy no good?"

Lucian seemed determined to make a duke of me.

"A steward and a lord are not the same thing. If something happens to a lord, the power passes to the lord's spouse. But if something happens to a steward, the power passes to the steward's siblings."

He cast a casual glance beyond the balcony.

"Someone of your choosing ruling the duchy — or someone you personally threw into prison ruling the duchy. Which would you choose, my lord?"

After the tournament ended, I met Uld privately.

I'd shouted the words "political marriage" loud and clear, but I couldn't deny that the whole thing felt strange.

I had never lived past the age of twenty. So when it came to building a household or the union of man and woman, all I had were the most abstract of concepts.

On the other hand, I held one unwavering wish: that the people close to me should not die before I did.

In my past life, I lost my master far too soon. In this life, my mother died the moment I was born, and the father who first taught me the warmth of family collapsed before my eyes.

Not to mention the assassination attempts that kept rolling in every time I turned around. What else was I supposed to look for in a woman? Property I couldn't spend in a lifetime? Or Awoken Abilities?

On the practical front, Uld passed with flying colors. The rest, I would simply have to learn as we went.

A knock sounded at the door.

"It's Uld."

"Come in."

Uld entered. Her bobbed hair, which she'd tied up for the duel, hung loose around her face. If I was like a white snowflake, she was like a garden camellia — like ink brushed onto a blank page, the contrast between her porcelain skin and black hair so vivid it stung the eyes.

We stood there awkwardly, facing each other.

"…Have a seat."

"Thank you."

"Do you like sparkling-berry drinks, by any chance?"

"I've never had one."

"Anything else you do like?"

"No."

"Then consider this your chance to find out."

A maid brought the drinks. Uld took a sip of the sparkling berry, but showed no particular sign of enjoying it.

Hmm…

Political marriage or not, this was not the conversation I'd imagined having with a fiancée. Tell me this was an interview with a new knight, and I'd believe you.

Worse, Uld kept her eyes pinned to the floor, refusing even to meet my gaze.

So the gap in our stations was weighing on her, was it. In moments like these, the sensible thing was to start with some light small talk to break the ice.

"What do your parents do?"

"Neither of them is with us anymore."

"…What happened?"

"My father was murdered by demons. My mother left my side."

"That must have been hard on you."

"It wasn't. It all happened when I was very young."

My icebreaker was sliding straight into a bottomless ravine. I needed to salvage the mood somehow.

"Who taught you the sword?"

"A demon."

"Would that demon's name happen to be Caroi?"

Uld shook her head.

"No. Someone else."

Someone other than Caroi had taught the Crimson Blade? I found that hard to swallow. As far as I knew, the Crimson Blade was Caroi's art alone.

But demons lived far longer than humans, so it was possible someone very close to Caroi had inherited the art from him.

For now, I set aside my suspicion that she might be a demon. I had strained every sense at close range, and not a trace of demonic qi remained.

"If there's anything you're curious about regarding me, ask whatever you like."

With me firing questions one-sidedly, the whole thing felt less like a meeting and more like an interrogation.

Uld's lips fluttered, and in the end, she asked nothing.

"Nothing for now."

"You have no questions at all for the person who's going to be your husband?"

"It's just…"

Uld made a troubled face. She was a different person from the one who had stood on the arena floor. Back then she'd carried the kind of presence that could have flattened even Thalia.

"Then let me ask. Why did you enter the tournament? Why did you decide you wanted to marry me?"

"Two years ago, I first laid eyes on you at Andrassy Castle, my lord."

"Right… you were there too."

"The situation at the northern wall was dire. Most of those who fought alongside me had fallen, and I was holding my position alone."

I could picture it. She'd earned a third-class medal of honor, after all — the situation she'd been in must have been anything but easy.

"And then, in the middle of it all, you appeared out of nowhere, my lord. The demon commanders fell, and the monsters turned tail and started to flee."

I see. It must have been a dramatic moment, certainly.

"And looking at you in that moment, I thought something."

She and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had grown up under strikingly similar circumstances — differing only in station. Losing precious people young. Being forced to watch those around her slip away.

So perhaps she had reached the same conclusion I had. Find someone strong first, then figure the rest out together, slowly.

"What kind of thought?"

"That you were really, really handsome."

…Huh?

Stunned, I lost the words to respond. Uld lifted her head. Her face was flushed apple-red.