Chapter 66
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Taming the Nightmare
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"......What is this?"
Charlotte blinked slowly before finally realizing she was standing on the wide stone bridge that Isaac had led her to.
And what the illusion Isaac had mentioned was.
And why he had brought her here.
If she had been standing on a narrow stone bridge, she would have easily slipped and plummeted off.
'Really...... This Nightmare beast is horrifying. Just like Isaac said, not something I'd want to face....... But what about Isaac?'
After bringing her to this bridge, had Isaac moved somewhere else?
Charlotte quickly shifted her gaze, searching for him.
"......Wasn't it because of you that Father died?"
Isaac's voice rang out from right nearby.
"......Father?"
Charlotte's eyes widened round.
Isaac stood on another bridge, two spans away from the one she was on, glaring into empty space. His face was etched with a deeply refined fury—the kind only someone who had honed it over long years could wear.
For some reason, she felt a chill crawl over her skin and hugged her arms tight.
'......After Isaac became House Lord, he practically sent every member of the Setia House to the battlefield...... So there was a reason for that.'
Charlotte held her breath, straining to eavesdrop on his voice.
Isaac stood tall and proud, glaring at someone only he could see.
She could see his bloodshot eyes glowing red.
"Just because someone has talent, is it right to drive them ceaselessly onto the battlefield? Do you really think so? Then what about the untalented ones like us? You must have rested nice and easy in Father's shadow."
Charlotte unconsciously clapped a hand over her mouth.
She couldn't make out the full story, but the illusion Isaac was facing seemed to be his late father.
Charlotte impulsively reached out to wake him, but hesitated, unsure if she should, and pulled back.
'......Isaac never wanted to see this illusion from the start. He already knew what one he'd get.'
Yet if he had dreaded it so much, the vision might be too overwhelming for him to break free from on his own.
Charlotte clicked her tongue.
She couldn't agree more with Isaac's words about how cruel the organizers were.
'Even if we signed up for the tournament, is it okay to put people through this? Really...... This is too much.'
Someone like Prince Ricardo might handle mental attacks like this with ease, perhaps because he lacked any deeply traumatic past to exploit.
"......From now on, I'll live only for revenge. I will, Father."
Isaac's quiet mutter to himself, and the long teardrop tracing down from his closed eyes.
Feeling as though she had glimpsed something she shouldn't have, Charlotte quietly slipped away.
'Ending this tournament quickly is the only thing I can do for Isaac.'
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The spectators, who had craned their necks trying to peer into the thick fog now shrouding all the participants, suddenly caught sight of a single figure leaping through the mist.
With her long pink hair whipping behind her, she kicked off the ground smoothly as if gravity had no hold on her, soaring impossibly high. She shone like the sun.
Like a goddess of the battlefield.
Ooooh—.
And soon enough, the spectators also spotted a pitch-black silhouette trailing in her wake, like a shadow come to life.
"Joseph!"
Charlotte, passing the midpoint of the stone tower, turned with a bright smile to greet Joseph, who had caught up behind her.
"How'd it go?"
Joseph looked up at her nonchalantly and replied.
"I won."
Charlotte grinned so wide it felt like her mouth reached her ears.
Even knowing he couldn't reach it, she playfully extended a fist into the air, and Joseph calmly mirrored the gesture.
"But now what?"
"What?"
"One of us has to drop out."
Joseph nodded as if it were no big deal.
"Yeah, guess so."
Charlotte found his reaction all too relatable.
Honestly, at this point, she didn't care who won.
She turned her head to glare at the top of the stone tower and said.
"Yeah. But no matter who, I just want to wrap this round up fast. How about first one to arrive claims that crazy horse?"
"The Nightmare, you mean?"
"Yeah."
The two resumed climbing the tower.
From a certain point onward, it was a section that demanded pure arm strength. Long ropes dangled down, with no footholds whatsoever.
Without a word of complaint, Charlotte and Joseph each claimed a rope and scaled the final stretch of the stone tower.
She managed it easily enough herself, and Joseph—being so light on his feet—climbed without apparent difficulty too.
Charlotte was curious what illusion Joseph had faced, but seeing his impassive expression as he kept pace close behind her, she decided against asking.
It probably hadn't been a pleasant one anyway.
And hers wasn't the sort of story she felt like sharing with him either.
Still, there was one thing she wanted to say.
"Joseph."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
She half-expected him to ask for what?
But Joseph merely glanced at her and nodded.
"Yeah."
'Does he even realize how, in moments like this when he just accepts it on his own terms, it warms the heart so much?'
In times like these, she felt an inexplicable closeness to him.
Charlotte let out a soft chuckle and reached out.
There was no more rope left to grip, and her hand touched the protruding stone at the tower's summit.
Gripping the stone firmly with both hands, Charlotte wrapped qi around her feet and kicked hard against the surface.
The recoil sent her body spinning through the air once before she landed lightly atop the tower's peak.
Joseph planted both feet on the summit almost simultaneously.
Charlotte glanced at him once, then shifted her gaze to the massive horse standing loftily between them.
The hazy figure of the horse was tethered to a large post.
It was close enough that a few more steps would let her touch it, yet it appeared strangely blurry.
It wasn't truly transparent.
But even staring straight at it with wide-open eyes, she couldn't precisely distinguish where its form existed from where it didn't—like something dreamlike and misty.
'......It resembles darkness itself.'
Moreover, it was enormous.
Nearly twice the size of Aslan, the imperial steed.
And with gigantic wings spanning at least twice its body on either side, its presence was overwhelming.
Unthinkingly, Charlotte reached out a hand as she would to any other horse, but the black steed merely eyed her and snorted, showing no sign of submission.
Its gaze brimmed with intense wariness.
"Charlotte, this isn't a normal horse. It's never been tamed like that or properly trained."
Joseph warned her, his voice thick with concern.
"Yeah. Get too close, and it'll rear up and kick."
"It's just a beast. Don't go any nearer. We'll have to subdue it by force."
Charlotte nodded slowly, but for some reason, she felt no urge to draw her sword.
How could a magical beast driven purely by instinct be limited to carrying just one participant?
'It doesn't look like it's been trained for that.'
Charlotte took one careful step, then another, toward the Nightmare. The beast, radiating fierce wariness, lifted a front hoof to threaten her.
She first confirmed that the tether holding it to the post could be easily severed with her sword, but she didn't cut it.
'Probably, if I untie it and mount up, I'd be declared the winner on the spot. But that's not what I want.'
And in a flash, she vaulted onto the saddle atop the Nightmare.
Ooooh—.
As gasps erupted from the spectator stands, the Nightmare began bucking wildly in place to throw off its rider.
Charlotte gripped the reins tight, clinging to the beast's beautiful black mane and hunching low to weather the frenzy. It reared up on its hind legs several times, trying desperately to unseat her, but Charlotte held fast like a seasoned rider.
Remaining calmly astride no matter how fiercely it bucked was the first step in breaking a horse.
Whether because this was the first time it had been treated like an ordinary mount, the Nightmare stamped the ground in baffled agitation, snorting roughly—but surprisingly, it didn't take long for the rampage to subside, leaving only heavy breaths heaving from its nostrils.