Early in the morning, Liliana took out the pendants the Black Cat Masters had given her and looked at them in the study.
There were a total of four pendants, and their shapes were different. The symbolic black cat was the same, but the shape of the weapon it held was different.
Ring blade, twin swords, scimitar, short staff.
They were tokens symbolizing each master.
The pendants allowed communication with the four masters and contained the power to summon them before one’s eyes.
It was a privilege that only the Leader of Black Cat possessed.
“Now it begins.”
Now that she had obtained Black Cat, it was time to establish the plan in earnest.
‘First, I will become engaged to Prince Estevan.’
That was the first goal.
To do that…
‘I should meet the Prince.’
After his confinement was lifted, Prince Estevan hadn’t come out of the Sapphire Palace at all.
‘Right now is probably the time when he is lying low and building his forces.’
Prince Estevan wasn’t merely shut inside the Sapphire Palace. While hiding his claws, he was quietly building his power.
Right now Prince Mikael had the advantage, but someday the moment would come when Prince Estevan would reveal his claws.
Would Prince Mikael truly be able to handle that?
‘Someone raised like a flower in a greenhouse cannot defeat someone who survived by cutting through rough storms.’
And if he were to gain wings like herself, he would be more than capable of standing as Mikael’s rival.
Unlike the past, she would actively help Prince Estevan.
After putting away the pendants, Liliana looked out the window.
In the training grounds, she saw Cedric practicing swordsmanship.
‘He is working hard.’
Cedric, who had turned fifteen this year, wanted to enter the Knight Academy.
‘Come to think of it, the entrance exam is next month…’
The Knight Academy held its entrance examination every spring in March. For Cedric, whose goal was to become a knight, it was a mandatory gateway.
‘But with that level of skill, it looks like it will be difficult for him to get in.’
Even from afar, Cedric’s flaws were clearly visible.
In the past, Cedric wasn’t a genius, but he had talent in swordsmanship. If properly polished, it was a talent worth something.
‘In the end, he failed to enter the Knight Academy and had to go to the Swordsmanship Department of the Imperial Academy.’
Cedric failed the exam that would be held this year. Those who failed went to the Swordsmanship Department of the Imperial Academy.
The Imperial Academy was operated by the Imperial Family and provided education divided into three fields: magic, administration, and swordsmanship.
Unlike the Knight Academy, which trained only knights, the level of education inevitably had to be lower.
While the Knight Academy systematically and professionally taught education aimed at cultivating knights, the Swordsmanship Department of the Imperial Academy, though systematic, had little practical training and, rather than training knights, only provided enough education for nobles to maintain their dignity.
‘The difference in level is too great.’
The difference in level between graduates of the Knight Academy and graduates of the Swordsmanship Department of the Imperial Academy was extreme.
If a student from the Knight Academy, raised with systematic tactics and abundant real combat experience, faced a student from the Swordsmanship Department of the Imperial Academy who had only received superficial education, the Imperial Academy student who lacked real combat experience would lose 100% of the time.
‘Cedric has talent too.’
If properly refined, he was capable of reaching the level required to pass the Knight Academy.
But in the past, that talent ended before it even had the chance to bloom.
After graduating from the Swordsmanship Department of the Imperial Academy, Cedric was fortunate enough to pass the entrance test for the Imperial Knights and was extremely happy.
However, one day before Cedric was to be knighted, the Ducal House was accused of treason and crushed by the Imperial army.
Liliana was accused of assassinating the former Emperor, and because the family had supposedly concealed that fact, they became traitors overnight.
Her father and Cedric, who knew Liliana better than anyone, believed in her innocence.
And in order to help her escape, they confronted the Imperial army and died honorably.
She remembered what Cedric said as he was dying at that time.
“If only I had a little more strength, I could have saved everyone,” he said, blaming himself and calling himself an incompetent heir.
Liliana cried and told him that wasn’t true, but Cedric, who had already closed his eyes, said nothing.
And she had to flee, leaving the two bodies behind, urged on by Anna.
‘I wouldn’t lose everyone like that again.’
The Knight Academy was difficult to enter unless one possessed considerable skill.
‘With Cedric’s current level, it would be difficult.’
Knighthood was also granted far more often to those who came from the Knight Academy.
That was why everyone who wished to become a knight tried to enter the Knight Academy.
‘It looks like I will have to push him a little.’
If she pushed him just a little, he would probably reach the level needed to pass.
Liliana smiled faintly, stood up from her seat, changed into light training clothes, and headed to the training grounds where Cedric was.
“Sister?”
When Liliana stepped onto the training grounds holding a wooden sword, Cedric looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Cedric, I will help you a little.”
“With what?”
“Your training.”
“You? No thanks.”
Liliana had always been interested in magic and didn’t like swordsmanship. So Cedric assumed her swordsmanship skills were terrible.
And yet she said she would help him, which made no sense to him.
“Stop talking and try attacking.”
Liliana provoked him as she flicked the wooden sword.
Cedric snorted.
“Don’t start crying after you get hit.”
“You should worry about yourself.”
With a confident expression, Cedric raised his wooden sword and charged at Liliana.
Thwack!
But before he knew when she had moved, Liliana’s wooden sword struck his leg.
Grabbing his aching leg, Cedric glared at Liliana.
“What was that just now?”
“What do you mean? I knocked your sword aside and attacked.”
“No way.”
“If you can’t believe it, try attacking again.”
Cedric charged again with a face filled with rage. Watching him, Liliana clicked her tongue.
“You are too excited. Don’t you know that reveals openings?”
Because he was agitated, his movements became exaggerated and his attack didn’t land properly.
Liliana avoided Cedric’s wooden sword with just a twist of her upper body, then kicked him in the backside as his balance collapsed.
“Ah!”
As Cedric fell, his nose hit the training ground floor and turned red. He rubbed it while glaring at Liliana.
“Damn it, again!”
“Fine.”
“Hyaa!”
Shouting as he gathered his spirit, he attacked her with a precise thrust.
She lightly knocked his wooden sword aside and cleverly thrust hers into the opening that appeared.
Startled, Cedric hurriedly retreated, but Liliana’s wooden sword persistently drove toward his chest.
Cedric’s heel touched the edge of the training grounds.
Liliana lightly pushed his chest with her wooden sword, and he lost his balance and fell off the training platform.
Cedric, who had landed hard on his backside, glared at Liliana while panting.
“Sister, since when did you get this good at swordsmanship? Wasn’t your specialty magic?”
“Magic is my specialty, but I am good at swordsmanship too. You just didn’t know.”
“That’s unfair.”
“If it’s unfair, then work yourself to death. Even if you work yourself to death right now, you might still barely make it.”
“Tch, do you have to make people so mad?”
“If you are that mad, then polish your skills and try to hit me at least once.”
Jumping to his feet, Cedric shouted as if making a vow.
“Just watch. I will definitely beat you someday.”
“Go ahead.”
After that, whenever she had the chance, Liliana sparred with Cedric.
Every time, he would get thoroughly beaten by her and vow that someday he would definitely land a hit on her.
However, Cedric didn’t realize that while getting beaten by Liliana, his skills were steadily improving.
She cleverly targeted only his vital points with her attacks, and Cedric, while trying various methods to block her strikes and counterattack, gradually developed his own attack patterns.
Seeing that, Liliana smiled with satisfaction.
‘He has improved somewhat, though he still has a long way to go.’
Liliana’s amethyst-colored eyes gleamed sharply. Then her wooden sword drove in, aiming for Cedric’s opening.
He barely managed to raise his wooden sword to block it and forced strength into his trembling legs to regain his balance.
“Not bad. Then how about this?”
“Huh?”
Liliana’s sword vanished from before his eyes in an instant.
Caught off guard, Cedric couldn’t move at all.
Swoosh.
Her wooden sword touched Cedric’s neck.
“What are you doing getting so flustered? If this were a real battle, you would be dead.”
Cedric broke into a cold sweat and tightened his grip on the wooden sword.
“Again.”
“Alright.”
She kept him company until the sun set.
Exhausted, Cedric lay flat on the training ground floor and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Liliana.
“Monster…”
“What?”
“How do you not get tired?”
Liliana slung the wooden sword over her shoulder and grinned.
“Managing your stamina is important too. In that regard, you are still far off.”
Cedric looked at her with a dazed expression. The sunset glowed behind her back.
Once again, he began to see Liliana differently. At the same time, a fighting spirit surged up inside him.
‘Someday I too…’
Cedric began to want the same composure Liliana possessed.
And so, another desire rose within Cedric’s chest.
