Ch.79Amelia Windsor (4)

Ruide had a dream.

“My sister hit me!”

Someone was crying in a hazy fog. It was Amelia as a child.

“…Is this a memory of ‘Lazy Ruide’?”

It seemed so.

He saw Victoria’s face, looking younger than the version he knew.

“Amelia.”

“Scold her. Scold her.”

Amelia at this age seemed quite different from her current personality, probably because she was so young.

“Stop crying.”

Victoria said with an expressionless face. Amelia, who had been crying, hiccupped in fear of Victoria’s expression.

But soon, loud crying was heard again.

“I asked sister to play with me, *sob*, but she hit me and said not to bother her. It hurts, Mama.”

Young Amelia was incredibly cute. She had chubby cheeks that made her mumble when she spoke.

While he was watching fondly, it happened.

Slap!

Victoria struck Amelia’s cheek.

“Amelia Windsor.”

Amelia’s pupils dilated as she clutched her cheek.

Victoria’s words fell heavily.

“You are not a child, but a Windsor.”

The Victoria that Ruide knew was a person of few words but warm.

However, in this memory, she wasn’t.

“A Windsor must handle their own affairs.”

She was cold to a terrible degree. Amelia seemed deeply hurt.

She silently looked at the floor, swallowing her tears, then turned and ran away. That’s where the memory ended. Ruide opened his eyes.

“…”

It was a quiet dawn. He could feel the chilly air. It was that ambiguous time between light and darkness.

Ruide rubbed his eyes.

“When did I fall asleep?”

In the carriage coming to the mansion? He wasn’t sure when, but he must have fallen asleep on the way. He had no memory after that. Amelia must have brought him here.

“That memory though…”

It was an unpleasant memory. Ruide got up clumsily. His staff rolled onto the floor.

The staff Amelia had made by hastily breaking off any tree branch. It naturally reminded him of yesterday’s events.

Just thinking about it was irritating. Ruide pressed his cheeks firmly with his fingers.

“Don’t get angry, don’t get angry.”

He had been too excited yesterday. So excited that no magic came to mind. The only thing he could use immediately was elemental magic, but he was too angry to control his power.

If Damon hadn’t stopped him, the entire institution might have been blown away in a single morning. Ruide didn’t want to become a mass murderer.

“…So that’s why they’re called the strongest knights.”

The Teuton Knights.

They didn’t appear often in the original story. Because they were outside the Academy. But in the final scene, when Justin buys time in a crisis until all the Teuton Knights arrive.

That’s where you could glimpse the Teuton Knights’ power. If Ruide remembered correctly, they were described as “knights of light who don’t retreat even in darkness that seems to devour everything.”

In fact, their mere presence completely turned around an unfavorable battle situation.

Meeting them in person, they were even more formidable opponents. Although yesterday he couldn’t control himself properly because he was angry, they gave him quite a challenge despite his overwhelming specs. Of course, if it had gone all the way, he would have won.

“…What would ‘Lazy Ruide’ have done?”

Probably, he wouldn’t have even gotten into such a situation in the first place.

The Ruide in the original story really didn’t do anything. But if we assume he fought?

He would have killed them without hesitation. He wouldn’t have cared if the institution was blown away or if thousands or millions died. To easily subdue Shearer, if not Karon, he would have had to use that much power.

Ruide didn’t want to do that. Killing people out of anger isn’t normal. Even if he struggled a bit, he would win eventually with time, so there was no need for such extreme methods.

But still.

“…I should have prepared some magic spells in advance. Then I could have reduced Karon to a pulp before Shearer stepped in.”

There were shortcomings.

“Ugh.”

Ruide got up, throwing off the blanket. From now on, he decided to be a good child who keeps at least one attack spell ready in advance.

Swish!

“?”

He heard the sound of something artificially cutting through the air. Ruide went to the window. He stepped on a wooden box and peeked his head out the window.

Amelia was swinging her sword in the air.

“…”

When had she started?

Amelia was drenched in sweat.

She looked completely exhausted, but still didn’t let go of her sword.

The reason she was training so hard was clear.

Ruide’s face hardened as he recalled the fact he had been trying to avoid.

Karon’s treatment.

“Unforgivable.”

No matter how much Ruide thought about it, he couldn’t stand Karon’s insolence. He didn’t need the Emperor’s help, nor the house’s. He wanted to punish him personally.

Since Karon had disrespected Amelia with his skills, he wanted to thoroughly crush his pride with skills in return.

“But the best way is…”

“A Windsor must handle their own affairs.”

For Amelia to handle it.

It was Amelia who had been disrespected for her skills.

So there was no better revenge than for Amelia to defeat Karon with her skills.

After all, nothing is more satisfying than defeating someone who disrespected you with your own skills.

“Is it possible?”

Ruide closed his eyes.

Karon’s movements were vivid in his mind. He ran a simulation with Amelia.

…The conclusion came quickly. If they fought ten times, Karon would win all ten.

Although Amelia had the advantage in strength and mana, Karon overwhelmingly surpassed her in technique, speed, and especially experience.

Ruide opened his eyes.

He could see Amelia.

Even though her arms were trembling, she was gritting her teeth and continuing to train.

“…Let’s trust my sister.”

But what if the simulation results were still unfavorable the day before the duel?

Karon was strong. Strong enough to break through his barrier.

Amelia was still lacking. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t break through his barrier.

Would such a gap be easily bridged? Ruide couldn’t tell. Because he didn’t know swordsmanship.

“…Let’s trust her.”

Ruide decided to trust.

If she wasn’t favorable in his simulation, he would incapacitate Karon before the duel.

That was Ruide’s conclusion.

**

Irene hummed a tune as she entered the armory. Her destination was the place where the swords of the Windsor lineage were gathered.

Windsor swords are special. Whenever a child is born, a master craftsman who has continued the tradition for generations makes one specifically for them.

This was true for Irene, and for Amelia as well. But not for Ruide.

Ruide was bestowed Winter, the Sword of Winter, the most powerful sword among all Windsor swords.

Winter has many names because of its rich history. “Sword of Winter” is just the most commonly used title.

It’s also called differently. “The Sword of Blessing.” Like the sword’s alternate name, Ruide was the blessed child of the Windsor family. Irene still remembers the moment when Ruide was born when she was 10 years old.

She was a small child herself, but Ruide was much smaller. His hands and feet were so tiny that even now Amelia would look at her palm and recall Ruide from that time.

Their first meeting was in Victoria’s room. Priests and doctors were fighting a difficult battle around Victoria.

Victoria, having finished giving birth, held Ruide and wore a happy expression. Then she said to Irene:

“You protect him.”

Even if Victoria hadn’t said that, Irene had already thought the same. The birth of her own blood was such a shock to young Irene.

That small child grew up steadily and became 12 years old. Ruide was a slow child in everything. Although he had a natural talent for magic, in Irene’s eyes, he was just a young child.

Even now, he needed a handkerchief when eating, and he would mess up his room and never clean it, causing trouble for Irene.

She would scold him each time, but Ruide hated being scolded so much that he would always run away.

So it became Irene’s routine to find Ruide hiding somewhere in the northern snow mountains. It felt good to walk through the snow with that small child tucked at her side.

But after Ruide entered the Academy – one of Irene’s important daily routines disappeared.

Irene was bored and missed Ruide. So since Ruide went to the Academy, she had been personally taking care of Winter. Originally there was a separate blacksmith in charge, but when she tended to Winter, it felt like Ruide was beside her, which made her feel good.

Thus, tending to Winter became an important part of Irene’s daily routine. After finishing all her duties, she would always come to the armory to tend to Winter and end her day. So it would be ready to use anytime.

But.

“…Huh?”

Irene noticed that Winter’s position was slightly off. And she found some stains on it.

Overall, there were traces of it having been used.

Naturally, only Ruide could handle Winter. This meant that Ruide had used Winter.

“When will I use this? I’m a magician.”

“No magic will be stronger than Winter. If you ever feel you might be in danger, use it anytime.”

They had such a conversation before. The fact that he used it meant that, in Ruide’s judgment, the opponent was dangerous.

“Did a black mage appear?”

“But remember. That doesn’t mean you should use it on just anyone. Winter is the symbol of Windsor. Even if it’s you, Ruide, I’ll spank you if you use the Windsor symbol on someone unworthy.”

“Should I spank him? Or if not that…”

Irene tilted her head eerily.

“Could it be the Teuton?”

In the Empire of Peace, knights are mere scarecrows. Rather than honing their swords, they seek power; rather than protecting honor, they seek profit. Knights have been corrupted. Ruide wouldn’t have drawn Winter against such corrupted knights.

But a few are different. There was a knightly order that prepared to break this era of peace at any time. The Imperial Knights.

And among the Imperial Knights, only the Teuton could match Ruide even slightly. If not for the Teuton, there would be no reason to use Winter. A single gesture would be enough to bring anyone else to the brink of death.

Anti-Magic Special Unit. That was the Teuton’s only rule on the battlefield. They target mages, the flowers of the battlefield who pose the greatest threat.

Did His Majesty order some training? Did they provoke him? Did Ruide do something?

“Hmm.”

Actually, it didn’t matter. Irene silently wiped Winter with a white cloth.

“I’ll have to kill them. Everyone involved-“

Irene’s blue eyes flashed with killing intent. A mysterious smile hung on her lips.

Whatever the purpose, whatever the circumstances, it wasn’t important to Irene. Using Winter meant it was a real combat situation, and regardless of the context, the fact that someone had touched Ruide remained unchanged.

“Ah, this is why… I told Mother we need to restore discipline in the Empire once.”

Irene finished tending to Winter and stood up. Still with that mysterious smile, she slowly walked away. Her destination was the edge of the snow field.

She planned to catch a griffin roaming there and head to the institution.