episode_0025

After a rather eventful lunchtime, the afternoon classes resumed. I sat alone on the bench as usual, quietly observing the sparring of other students.

“···.”

“Honorable Princess.”

“Why are you calling me that, Lian Trice?”

“Aren’t we having a sparring session today?”

Beside me, Labilaa, who would usually be more enthusiastic about sparring than anyone else, was sitting with a sullen expression.

“What concern is it of yours whether I spar with others or not?”

“···.”

“You, who left me behind to talk with your fiancée during lunch.”

Labilaa spoke with an air of profound discontent, as if to say, “What does it matter?” Is she upset about something? Perhaps because I disappeared with Elena during lunch. Regardless of whether the princess is genuinely upset, in truth, her words were not entirely incorrect. It’s not my place to meddle in Labilaa’s class time.

“······Then why are you sitting next to me?”

“···.”

“As I mentioned this morning, just by sitting next to the princess, I’m drawing a lot of attention.”

However, the discomforting gazes from other students naturally accompanied Labilaa’s actions. It was a different kind of unease, distinct from the disdainful looks I had felt until now. How should I describe this? They were gazing at us with a sense of wonder, but it seemed to be a gaze contrary to goodwill. Anyway, it was an uncomfortable gaze that felt like it could pierce right through my face if I kept still.

Upon hearing my words, Labilaa confidently responded as if to say, “So what?”

“It’s inevitable when one is always attracting everyone’s attention.”

“···.”

“So you should just get used to it.”

No. I never said I wanted to sit next to you. If I let my guard down even slightly, the sentence that was about to come out of my mouth would have been enough to land me in prison for insulting the royal family. Well, that’s not a particularly pleasant thought.

This has been a proposition I’ve imagined several times.

How could there have never been a time when things were good until now?

As I absentmindedly pondered this, Labilaa, who had been silently observing me, spoke up again.

“Of course, it was just a joke. But seeing your sour expression makes it hard to pass it off as one.”

“…Was it that bad?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen such a sour expression in my life.”

Your expression right now is truly sour.

Labilaa was someone who expressed such sentiments bluntly.

“But, ultimately, I threw the joke at you first, so it can’t be helped.”

“…”

“So, I’ll forgive you this time. Pay more attention to your expression from now on.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

A response devoid of any sincerity, as if not a single ounce of soul had been put into it.

Fortunately(?), it seemed that Labilaa didn’t particularly care about that.

“Anyway, you asked why I’m sitting here, right?”

“Yes, that was my first question.”

“I’ll answer that question. The reason I’m sitting here right now is because there’s no one around who can match me in combat.”

Hm.

What a statement akin to “I have no thoughts. Because I have no thoughts.”

Still looking at Labilaa with an expression of incomprehension, Labilaa let out a sigh and clarified his answer.

“Let me clarify. There’s no one here with enough skill to truly spar with me.”

“…”

“If I were to sincerely spar, it wouldn’t last more than a minute, and if I didn’t give it my all, it wouldn’t be respecting my sparring partner.”

“…So that’s what you meant.”

Now I understood.

As someone who always gives their best, Labilaa couldn’t tolerate either scenario.

– I understand that you’ve grown stronger than before. However, it seems you still haven’t reached a level where you can compete with me.

– If you become stronger and adopt a genuine attitude, then I will sincerely face you at that time.

This was what Labilaa had said to Damian at the beginning of the original work.

After becoming stronger following the midterms, when Damian proposed a duel to Labilaa, she slightly smiled and refused. It was a very Labilaa-like thing to say.

Knowing Labilaa’s personality better than anyone, I could only nod in agreement.

“······Well, if it’s just Elise Arkstra and Elena Brilliant, then it should be fine.”

“···.”

“However, one of them is already engaged in a duel, and the other won’t be attending this afternoon’s class. So, at the moment, it means I have no one to duel with.”

It was true. In the first place, the duel I had been watching was Elise’s.

Until Labilaa sat next to me, I had been focused on watching Elise’s duel.

“What’s with that disgruntled expression? Surely it’s not because you were watching attentively and then stopped because of me.”

“······No, it’s not.”

“Hmm, still suspicious.”

Labilaa glared sharply at me, her eyes shining like sapphire jewels. Almost as if she were from the royal palace. Her intuition in situations like this was beyond imagination.

“It’s still suspicious, but let’s overlook it this time. I, too, have burdened you with the weight of people’s gazes.”

“······Is that enough to resolve and move on from this?”

“It’s one-on-one. I think that’s sufficient.”

“···.”

I felt swindled in some way. Swindled to the extent that I thought, ‘Perhaps this was not part of Labilaa’s plan.’

“······Understood.”

But even so, there was nothing I could do. What could I do? Even if that was the truth, what could I do? It was a mistake that had already been overlooked. It was a mistake to have been drawn in by Labilaa’s smooth-talking, like a clear stream.

‘······But how can I not overlook it?’

Of course, there was never a way I wouldn’t be swayed by the words of the future emperor. I was making a foolish expression while pondering over this deep crimson truth.

“······Looks like that over there is also finished.”

“···.”

Before long, Alice and the other student were entering the final stages of their sparring match.

Slightly disheveled but still maintaining a composed stance, her opponent. Alice’s posture had become so disheveled that anyone could easily say she looked exhausted. However, what was visible was just a brief moment in time.

For anyone who had experienced even one sparring match, it would have been easy to predict who the victor of this match was. It seemed as if I was proving my point.

Labilaa quietly opened her mouth with a soothing voice.

“Alice Arkstera. It seems it’s still tough for you.”

“···.”

“Perhaps it’s only natural. The time units of effort accumulated until now are different after all.”

The difference in accumulated effort. This was what Labilaa was pointing out.

“Of course, this doesn’t mean that Alice Arkstera’s efforts are lacking. On the contrary, she puts in an excessive amount of effort compared to ordinary people.”

“···.”

“It can be said that it’s on a different level from those incompetent individuals who don’t even make an effort.”

Perhaps even Princess Labilaa knew. Alice’s efforts, unknown even in dreams.

The duties of her family and the improvement of her own abilities. Practicing both simultaneously was by no means an easy task.

“But ultimately, effort is meaningless if it cannot be proven by results.”

“······I see.”

However, there was simply no one in this vast world to acknowledge Alice’s efforts. It was even more difficult because there was no one to truly recognize her efforts.

“···.”

It was a natural and obvious fact. It was a fact that I knew better than anyone else.

Proof of effort. A simple yet more difficult word than anything else.

It was natural. Because the standard of proof varies from person to person. Especially when the standard of proof is significantly higher than that of ordinary people, as in Alice’s case, it becomes a much more difficult word.

Clang-!

“······I lost.”

“You did well too.”

No matter how hard you try, if you ultimately fail to satisfy your own standards, it becomes a heavy statement, almost losing yourself.

“Amazing.”

“That’s right. Both of you were amazing.”

“Simply because Erica isn’t Edgar Tristan’s girlfriend.”

Faint voices of onlookers could be heard.

Normally, it would have been dismissible as the usual chatter of academy students, but…

“…That name sounds familiar somehow.”

The name.

The name “Erica” mentioned in the sentence admiring the abilities of the two somehow felt familiar.

As if seen somewhere before.

A feeling of having read something similar in the original work.

Then, a sudden recollection of the original content emerged.

– The image of Elise Arcstra.

– In fact, she wasn’t that bad even now, but after that duel, some unfavorable rumors started circulating about her.

The scene where Labilaa explains to Damien why Elise always wanders alone at the academy, as seen in the original work.

Clearly, the name mentioned by Labilaa at that time seemed to match the person the onlookers were talking about now.

With this thought in mind, as I looked at the two again,

Parts that had not been visible just a moment ago became apparent.

The student Erica, whose voice was barely audible from a distance, only visible moving her lips.

And Elise’s dead crimson eye, so distinct despite the distance making voices hard to hear.

…It was definitely a scene that seemed familiar.

And perhaps because of this.

“Lian Trice? Why are you suddenly getting up…”

Ignoring Labilaa’s bewildered words directly, the one who rose from their seat was…

“…Who are you?”

“…Why are you suddenly here.”

As I approached, the startled voices of the two reached me.

At the same time, Elise’s white hand, which had been about to retrieve something from within her bosom, froze in place.

In this moment where everyone silently observed the situation,

I continued to look straight at the woman reaching out to Elise and spoke.

“Erica Peralyno. May I challenge you to a duel?”

“…”

“Oh, of course, you can refuse. If you don’t want your boyfriend to seek revenge.”

A statement that anyone would regard as utterly insane.

However, the sentence was uttered by none other than “Lian Trice,” lending credibility to the statement.