#54. The Duel Began
I narrowed my eyes and focused on Claudia’s lips.
‘Deo… Deok… Degl? Douglas… why didn’t you call him?’
Claudia frowned and glanced around.
When she couldn’t spot Douglas anywhere, she stared daggers at me again.
‘You should’ve called Douglas.’
Why would she be looking for Douglas right before the duel?
I racked my brain, then slapped my knee.
‘Does she want to show him the moment of victory? As if to say, “I’ll win for sure”?’
Claudia’s confidence and her unrequited devotion to Douglas made my chest ache.
No one knew — except me, the original reader.
I knew Claudia had a secret crush on Douglas.
I knew she had suffered for a long time because she never once admitted her feelings.
‘I hope those two end up happy…’
At first I had tried to place stepping-stones of love between them.
But I quickly realized something.
That would be deception and an insult.
Their feelings belonged only to them.
I couldn’t barge in and tell them how to feel or what to do.
Claudia had already realized I wasn’t the Elisabeth of the past.
She might not believe it yet, but she would understand I wouldn’t torment Douglas.
‘I hope I’m not Claudia’s enemy. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be friends…’
A hope I never dared to dream swelled up inside me.
“Claudia seems calm. Simon looks terribly nervous.” Nikolai said with interest.
I jeered at Simon, armored head to toe in leather and protective gear.
A red cord identical to Claudia’s was tied around his neck, too.
“You can’t use lethal attacks, yet he’s packed to the brim — gauntlets, shin guards… that sword is huge.”
“Simon is a master of the bastard sword with exceptional strength.”
“Can he even catch up to Claudia?”
“That probably means he’s confident in his speed. If Claudia gets hit squarely by that blade, her smaller frame would suffer a fatal wound.”
“That’s against the rules, isn’t it? Isn’t victory determined by forcing a surrender or cutting the opponent’s red cord?”
I turned to Nikolai, startled.
Nikolai remained unmoved.
“You can always claim it was unintentional. Fatal accidents happen even in friendly matches.”
“That’s insane…”
“A duel is like that by nature. If you’re scared, you shouldn’t pick up a sword. They’ve probably forgotten the purpose of the duel already.”
“Do they only think of winning? They could get hurt or even die.”
I hadn’t considered the possibility someone might die.
If I had, I wouldn’t have let any of this happen.
‘I thought Nikolai training with knights or Franz hitting straw dummies were just games. Just play…!’
The bright, razor-sharp blades made my skin crawl.
What had I caused?
I couldn’t even fight directly.
Guilt and anxiety made my vision go dark.
That was when Nikolai grabbed my hand.
“Do not regret it, Elisabeth. The duel has already begun.”
“I didn’t know it would be so dangerous.”
“The knights accepted it. Your duty is to watch their fight to the end.”
A hush fell around Claudia.
Even the breeze and the passage of time seemed to avoid her.
There was no flash of determination to crush her opponent, no overweening pride to force a victory.
In absolute silence, her blue eyes shone like the morning star.
“In the Emperor’s name, I command it. Begin the duel!”
Franz couldn’t concentrate on class and kept peeking out the window.
The knights’ duel seemed more interesting than literature class.
Douglas closed his thick book.
“Would you like a short break?” Franz asked, sticking out his lip as if he’d been waiting for that.
“What good would a break do? We can’t run to the arena.”
“Then shall we continue the lesson?”
“You’re really inflexible!”
“My apologies.”
Douglas smiled gently.
A servant brought tea and cookies.
Franz munched on a cookie and asked, “You’re close with Lord Roseloyce, right? Why didn’t you ask to be invited?”
“I don’t want to see a friend bleeding while fighting.”
“Then you must resent Elisabeth, right?”
“Of course not.”
“But you were the one who proposed the duel and named Lord Roseloyce as proxy for Rose Royce, weren’t you, Elisabeth?”
“There must be reasons for that.”
“Such magnanimity.”
Franz sighed as if the air had gone out of him and gulped down his milk.
White milk left a moustache on his lip.
Remembering Susan’s childhood, Douglas wiped Franz’s mouth with a handkerchief.
“In life you sometimes make choices you regret. Women who lead hard lives like Elisabeth’s would especially understand that.”
“Isn’t Elisabeth always out gallivanting beyond the palace? She has lots of money, too.”
“Wealth and a luxurious life don’t guarantee happiness. Your Highness knows that, too.”
Because of his noble title as Crown Prince, Franz lived under constant threat.
The culprit who had poisoned him hadn’t been caught yet.
With no empress mother and no maternal relatives, few nobles believed the Crown Prince would inherit the throne.
Except for a handful of servants, Franz had almost no one around him.
His face darkened.
Douglas thought he’d said the wrong thing.
But Franz shrugged it off shortly after.
“Elisabeth told me to study well, eat well, and enjoy myself.”
“Elisabeth is a fine teacher.”
“Whoever becomes my tutor should count themselves lucky.”
“Really?”
“She nags and is blunt, but she’s a good woman.”
“A good woman?”
Douglas blinked at the unexpected phrase.
Franz lifted his chin as if to say, ‘don’t you know?’
“She’s bold, smart, and not toadying. She may not be my mother, but women as beautiful as Elisabeth are rare.”
“She is indeed uniquely beautiful.”
“Any man who prefers fragile, obedient women is a fool. If you want to do great things, you should marry someone like Elisabeth.”
“So Elisabeth is your ideal type?”
“Nonsense!” Franz stammered, face flushed bright red.
“I was speaking in general. Take it as advice, Marquis!”
“I’d like to marry a woman like Elisabeth too.”
“It’ll be hard, but try. Elisabeth is the emperor’s lover, after all.”
“Really?”
“Isn’t the literature professor supposed to know gossip? They’re an item — I saw them with my own eyes.”
What had he seen to be so certain?
A fleeting curiosity struck me.
Then I shook my head.
It was better not to know.
‘The rumor was my and Owen’s handiwork. It was made because Elisabeth wanted it.’
Douglas himself had polished the story.
He’d painted Elisabeth not as a villainess but as a pitiable woman.
He’d turned Nikolai from a rake into a hopeless romantic.
But Elisabeth wasn’t a lucky girl spoiled by the emperor’s love.
Nikolai was not a fairy-tale prince who loved only Elisabeth.
Douglas thought of the book lying in the drawer.
‘The latter half of the book was torn out. I only know the beginning. A woman reborn after living as a villainess pines for a tyrant. The tyrant keeps pushing her away, and she suffers greatly.’
Too many details matched to be mere coincidence.
The protagonist refuses the empress’ fate and becomes a confidant of the Crown Prince.
The man who loves her hands down a family heirloom sacred relic.
So far, this matched reality.
Would it continue to match?
According to the book, the heroine obtains three sacred relics.
Each relic hides an unimaginable power.
They could change the fate of this country.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Franz raised his eyebrow.
Douglas smiled faintly.
“I’m glad you look healthy.”
“Very healthy. Thanks to Elisabeth.”
“I know that well.”
The Nettleton family relic that came into Elisabeth’s possession — an old copper monocle.
Could that relic really see through disease?
‘If so, that explains Elisabeth saving Your Highness. Even without medical knowledge, possessing the relic could…’
Whatever the truth, the vow would not change.
If keeping the book secret could erase the constant fear rising in me, I planned to hide the book to the end.
But what if the events written in the book were to unfold?
Douglas’s head snapped up.
Storm clouds were gathering on the distant sky.
—Clang! Clang!
The sharp ring of metal striking metal echoed.
Sparks sprayed from the blades and stabbed at my chest.
Claudia was fast, strong, and beautiful.
Her movements were so quick it was hard to follow with the eye.
But I could not look away.
She pushed off the ground and leapt into the air.
Her light-footed motion, as if defying gravity, made my breath catch.
She moved with the grace and allure of a priestess’ divinely inspired dance.
It wasn’t beauty alone.
The power held in her blade could split the sky and shatter the earth.
Simon, whom everyone had expected to surrender quickly, was blocking Claudia’s every attack.
He panted and rolled on the dirt, but held his ground.
“Was Simon always that strong?”
“Not just anyone becomes the Crown Prince’s swordsmanship instructor.”
“His evasions are incredible.”
“He could be trying to drain Claudia’s strength.”
“Claudia will win! She’s the Empire’s strongest knight!”
“Weren’t they afraid of her?”
Nikolai asked.
Instead of answering, we cheered at the top of our lungs.
“Crush him, Claudia! Split him in two!”
“You only worry about people getting hurt when it suits you?”
“What does it matter what happens to Simon? As long as Claudia is safe!”
“…I wouldn’t want to be your enemy.”
“Go for it, Claudia! Sweep him away, silver wings!”
The heads of the four great houses watched the duel with tense faces.
Marquis Brenden shouted hoarsely.
“Get a grip, Simon! Our entire family rides on your shoulders — if you lose, I’ll see you dead by my hand!”
Where was that proud father now, spitting when bragging about his son? A trash show, really.
Perhaps Brenden’s threats worked, for Simon tried to counterattack.
He raised his massive bastard sword high.
He intended to land and strike at the moment of impact, aiming for a gap in Claudia’s guard.
“No!”
