Chapter 62: Possession
by fnovelpia
Had I misheard something?
My heart began racing wildly as I heard words from a man that I’d never heard before—words I should never hear.
The hand holding mine tightened its grip, transmitting the heat of a body warmed by intense exercise.
Faced with this unexpected situation, I could only blush, unable to respond…
“You pervert!! Get away from His Highness!!”
Nana unsheathed the greatsword on her back and swung it at his hand, but as if anticipating this, he hugged me and leapt forward, easily dodging her attack.
“…!!”
Even with her face hidden by her helmet, I could see Nana was shaken, as if missing her attack had been such a shock.
“Tch…!!”
“What the hell?! What did I do to make you swing a sword at me?”
“You dare ask?! Get away from His Highness this instant!!”
“His Highness?”
The man who had been holding me tightly pulled away slightly and looked at my reddened face.
“Now that I look closely, you’re the Fifth Prince? So I just confessed to a man?”
“Th-that’s right!! Now that you know, get away from His Highness!! You lunatic!!”
Despite Nana’s shouts, he didn’t move away. He stared intently at my face and muttered in a very low voice.
“Is this… possible?”
“P-possible?!”
“What nonsense are you spewing about ‘possible’?!”
As Nana charged again upon hearing the word “possible,” he hugged me and leapt into the air, easily avoiding her attack.
“Urgh…!!”
“So violent… Anyone watching would think you’re a barbarian or an orc, not a knight.”
As a tense standoff erupted between the two with me caught in the middle, I slipped out of his arms and said:
“B-both of you!! Stop fighting because of me!! There’s no need to fight over me!!”
First I’d received a confession, and now I was spouting lines straight out of a romance novel…
Less than five minutes had passed since entering this room, but in that short time, my life had taken quite a dramatic turn.
Hearing my words, the man behind me took a step back while Nana sheathed her sword and rushed over to me.
“Your Highness!! Are you alright?!”
“Yes… I’m fine. He was careful not to hurt me.”
When he’d grabbed my shoulders, he must have controlled his strength, as it hadn’t hurt at all.
Hearing this, Nana looked at him with surprise, to which he smirked and said:
“Of course. Who in the world would hurt someone they just confessed to? You’re the one swinging your sword around like a brute…”
“There’s also no one in the world who suddenly confesses to a prince they’ve never met before…”
“Ah, I didn’t know he was a prince! I just thought he was a pretty girl with short hair!!”
“Pretty…”
“Your Highness! Get a hold of yourself! That’s where you’re supposed to get angry!”
“Ah, right…”
As Nana whispered in my ear, I regained my senses and cleared my throat before speaking.
“Ahem…! I have a bit of a complex about this feminine appearance, so I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from calling me pretty or womanly.”
“Hmm… With that look, you must be sick of hearing you’re pretty. I was inconsiderate, sorry about that, Your Highness Euclid.”
“H-here at the academy, you don’t need to call me ‘Your Highness’. Um…”
“I’m Ian. Ian Barthow.”
“Ian? Ah…”
I finally realized why Nana had said earlier that she had an idea who might be here before opening the training room door.
Ian Barthow.
If the rumors about him facing off against Sir Peter were true, it wouldn’t be strange for him to be in S-class.
“But you said you came looking for someone. Who were you looking for?”
“Huh? Oh… Actually, I thought my fiancée Rain might be here, but as you can see, she’s not.”
“Rain? She was here in the training room before me, but when she saw my face, she suddenly clicked her tongue and left. You must have just missed each other.”
“She clicked her tongue and left?”
It was hard for me to imagine that scene, as Rain was always so demure around me.
“A wise decision. Training in the same space as a lunatic like you would be worse than not training at all.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Lunatic? Me?”
“Yes, you. What else would you call someone who proposes to a stranger of the same sex, and a prince at that, if not a lunatic?”
“Anyone could make that mistake!! And how could I not confess when I finally met someone who understands the awesomeness of Baldo?!”
“What gibberish is this nutjob spouting…”
“Baldo?”
I wasn’t well-versed in swordsmanship, but it seemed to refer to that impressive sword technique Ian had shown earlier.
“Ian, even to a mage like me, that sword technique you showed earlier looked incredible. What kind of swordsmanship is this Baldo?”
“Oh, you’re interested in Baldo!! Baldo is the fastest, strongest sword technique that converts the friction generated when drawing the sword into kinetic energy to cut down the enemy!!”
“…Huh? F-friction?”
I thought he might be joking, as it sounded like something a child would say, but Ian’s eyes were indescribably serious.
Wondering if it might be a swordsmanship term I didn’t know, I looked at Nana, but she too was sighing deeply as if dumbfounded.
“Your Highness… He’s just talking nonsense, so you don’t need to pay too much attention to it.”
“I’ve never talked nonsense.”
“The moment you don’t realize you’re being stupid is the moment you become stupid.”
“Shut up!! I’m not stupid!! This uncivilized world without even a distinction between liberal arts and sciences just hasn’t caught up to me!!”
“Haha… Let’s not fight again…”
It was refreshing to see Nana, who usually let most things slide, react like this, but I couldn’t just stand by and watch them argue.
“Anyway, if you were looking for Rain, should I tell her tomorrow that you were looking for her?”
“No, it’s not urgent, so you don’t need to go that far.”
Though I felt sorry for Rain, it wasn’t that urgent, and as Nana had said earlier, sending a letter later would suffice.
With neither Ian nor I having any more business in the training room, we left almost simultaneously.
And as we turned to go our separate ways, Ian looked back and said to me:
“If you’re interested in Baldo, come to the training room anytime! I’ll show you as many times as you want!”
“Stupid fool. Do you think His Highness has time to watch your idiotic swordsmanship?”
As Ian put his hand on his sword hilt at Nana’s cold words, I stepped forward to stop them both.
“Ian! I’ll definitely come to see Baldo! So please calm down! You too, Nana!”
Ian then removed his hand from the sword hilt and coldly said to Nana:
“Hmph… He just saved your life, meathead.”
“…It’s your life that was saved.”
After Ian left, with only Nana and me remaining in the corridor, Nana asked me:
“Your Highness, are you really going to watch that foolish swordsmanship?”
“Yes… Somehow, watching that impressive form makes me feel at ease. Why do you ask?”
“…No, it’s fine if that’s all, but I was worried you might have been moved by what that man said…”
“Ah, I understand what you’re saying…”
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t moved at all when a dream I could never reach suddenly appeared before my eyes.
But it wasn’t a dream worth betraying my mother and those who had devoted themselves to me.
“It’s natural for you to worry, Nana, but nothing like that will happen, so don’t worry.”
“Yes… I’m truly sorry for saying such things despite knowing Your Highness’s heart.”
“No, if I were in your position, I would have said the same thing.”
I knew all too well that this path I was walking—or rather, drifting along—wasn’t the right one.
But every time I resolved to betray everyone and try to set things right, I kept remembering Mother’s cold gaze from that day, and I couldn’t do anything.
“…Your Highness.”
“What is it? Are you still worried about something?”
“No, I just have something I’d like you to remember.”
“Something you want me to remember?”
“Yes, since the day I pledged my sword to you, I’ve always thought this body belongs to Your Highness. So if you ever want to throw everything away, please tell me. At that time, I too will discard everything and go with you.”
“…Alright, it probably won’t happen, but I’ll remember that.”
‘I wonder if this is enough…’
Having left the academy grounds in preparation for any contingency, I stroked Wolffang while checking for any suspicious presences in the surroundings.
“Wolffang.”
[Woof woof!!]
After confirming there were no suspicious presences, I called Wolffang’s name, and it barked energetically, rubbing its hilt against my hand as if it had been holding back until now.
“Yes, you did well holding back…”
[Woof woof!! Woof!!]
A little while ago, when I’d happened to make contact with that wise prince who understood the coolness of Baldo, it happened.
Along with a vibration so slight that only I, wearing Wolffang, could feel it, Wolffang’s intention was transmitted to me.
[I sense dangerous demonic energy.]
I could sense the demonic energy itself, but I didn’t feel anything like that from the prince.
In other words, the amount of demonic energy was so small that only Wolffang, a demonic sword, could sense it, but it was enough to frighten Wolffang.
‘What kind of demon’s energy could it be?’
Considering that the material used to make Wolffang was Lobo’s claw, it must be at least a high-ranking demon, maybe even higher.
The fact that no one had noticed such dangerous demonic energy on his body until now meant the royal family must be in on it, or it was a demon skilled at hiding its power.
Even I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t wearing Wolffang.
‘There must be something behind this. But for now, I can only watch…’
It wasn’t just an ordinary nobleman, but a demon possessing a royal prince.
I didn’t know if the contract with the demon was voluntary or forced, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to defeat a powerful demon and spread the power of Baldo.
‘I’ve laid the bait, so he’ll come back soon…’
The words I’d said to Euclid about coming to watch Baldo if he wanted.
That was the bait I’d laid.
No man would miss the chance to watch a skilled Baldo practitioner draw his sword up close.
And the look in Euclid’s eyes when he’d said my Baldo was impressive wasn’t a lie.
Surely, being possessed by a demon must be the result of falling into the plot of the wicked group that mocked Baldo.
I knew well that forces mocking Baldo were widespread, but to think they had hidden themselves even in the royal family…
‘Euclid…! I will definitely save you from this Baldo-mocking conspiracy!!’
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