Imperial Princess

{Imperial Princess}

The eyes of the Minst Academy’s Swordsmanship Department students watching the duel that ended with Theodore’s victory were filled with shock.

“Professor Benjamin lost?”

“That’s impossible.”

“This… this was him going easy, right?”

“No, remember what Lady Yuria said.”

When Theodore actually showed himself winning in a sword fight against Professor Benjamin, just as Yuria had stated that he was the strongest swordsman of Jeiha Academy, the shock the students felt was tremendous.

And in this situation, Theodore spoke to Professor Benjamin as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Thank you for your effort, Professor. I’ll now return to my seat.”

“…Yes.”

Theodore returned to his seat, leaving behind Professor Benjamin with his complex thoughts. And when he returned to his seat, Yuria stood up and offered her congratulations.

“Congratulations, Lord Theodore.”

Theodore seemed to understand what she was congratulating him for.

Others would think she was congratulating him on his victory, but Theodore already knew that Yuria had made an almost certain guess.

She was congratulating him on the success of the first step of his plan to plant doubt about his identity.

“Yes, thank you, Lady Yuria.”

Theodore expressed his gratitude for the small help she had provided by casually dropping those words. Yuria replied with a slightly reddened face.

“I’ve… received so much help from Lord Theodore lately… I wanted to help you with something, anything.”

At Yuria’s words, Theodore quietly nodded. She could be seen taking her seat despite her embarrassment, having said what she wanted to say.

And Theodore also took his seat.

Having sown the seeds, now all he had to do was watch the results.

---

Yuria, looking at Theodore sitting beside her, sensed that he was in the mood of waiting for the harvest.

He wouldn’t verbally convey that he was the real Chosen One, but he had thrown bait for the Britannia Empire and Minst Academy to gradually guess… and notice.

‘Lord Theodore…’

Yuria tried to predict Theodore’s actions when all the truth would be revealed.

The Theodore Skyroad she knew maintained a genuinely happy relationship with the family of House Skyroad.

They were a real family.

‘He doesn’t treat me badly these days… but even when he treated me badly, he always showed genuine affection to his younger sister.’

Of course, she had mixed feelings about how Theodore’s attitude had changed recently, as if his words about giving her affection weren’t false.

‘Let’s think about that later.’

Having decided to think about that part later, Yuria noticed people around her glancing alternately between her and Owen.

They still seemed to find it hard to believe that Owen Lawrence, the top student of the second year at Minst Academy, had been defeated by her.

‘They lack spirit.’

Yuria felt that they lacked not only the spirit as martial artists but even the will to have such spirit.

There seemed to be a few exceptions, but most showed no enthusiasm to become stronger and surpass their opponents.

It was pathetic that the majority showed not even a grain of fighting spirit towards her, let alone the thought of becoming stronger to avenge Owen’s defeat.

‘Not even the will to mix swords and learn something, not just win.’

It seemed like they were attending the Swordsmanship Department just for show.

Yuria was genuinely displeased that the path of the swordsman she aspired to was being treated this way.

‘It’s annoying.’

Thinking this, Yuria began to concentrate on listening to Professor Benjamin speaking from the platform.

“Unexpectedly, the exchange students from Jeiha Academy were strong. Everyone, I’m embarrassed to say this, but our Minst Academy has been defeated.”

Professor Benjamin mentioned Jeiha Academy’s name, subtly emphasizing the competitive relationship with Minst Academy, and acknowledged their defeat.

His purpose seemed to be to hope that the students of the Swordsmanship Department, having lost in this competition between academies, would be stimulated and develop a competitive spirit to become stronger.

But only a very small number, including Owen, felt their pride wounded and thus resolved to become stronger, while the majority of the Swordsmanship Department students had already given up from the start.

No, beyond giving up, they seemed to think there was no hope at all.

“They lack spirit, don’t they?”

At Theodore’s words, Yuria turned to look at him and nodded slightly.

“Yes, they do.”

Theodore continued speaking in a low voice to Yuria, who was also speaking softly.

Those who wanted to hear would hear anyway, but that wasn’t their concern.

“That might be better for us. It means that the level of the Swordsmanship Department students at Minst Academy, which is supposedly the most prestigious academy in the Britannia Empire, is inferior to our Jeiha Academy’s Swordsmanship Department students.”

“I suppose so.”

As a swordswoman, Yuria didn’t like the sight of them, but she was at least clearly aware of her identity as a person of the Arcan Empire.

As the eldest daughter of House Arsein of the Arcan Empire, she had no reason to help students from another country, especially the Britannia Empire, which had been a competitive nation for many years, to grow.

She would simply defeat them fair and square head-on if they challenged her, and while she wouldn’t prevent them from gaining insights from that, there was no need to actively do something for them.

‘I need to become stronger.’

Although she had defeated Owen this time, Yuria knew that those who walked the path of the swordsman as sincerely as he did would not give up and would try to become stronger.

Even if the majority of students here were unremarkable, there could always be exceptions like Owen.

And Professor Benjamin’s lecture continued.

“Though the match we just lost was humiliating, there is quite a lot to learn from it. First, let’s review the duel between student Owen and student Yuria.”

The rest of Professor Benjamin’s class proceeded smoothly, and after class ended, Theodore was the first to stand from his seat. Following him, Yuria also rose and asked him.

“Lord Theodore, there’s an hour until the next class, do you have any plans?”

“I didn’t have any specific plans.”

Theodore said this while watching Professor Benjamin who was hurriedly leaving as soon as the class ended.

“But something might come up soon.”

“Is that so?”

Yuria followed Theodore’s gaze to the door through which Professor Benjamin had left.

“I thought Lord Theodore would continue dueling.”

“Well, I will do that too. But I’ll just face those who come to challenge me. There are already few spirited ones like that in the Swordsmanship Department. The same goes for the Magic Department.”

Because of the example set with Jade, those in the Magic Department would fear him and wouldn’t dare to request a duel.

In Jade’s case, since she openly showed her desire for him with her eyes, he had to be a bit excessive as a fiancé to prove she wasn’t a coward.

But Yuria instinctively felt that Theodore hadn’t done that just for that reason.

It seemed like he was genuinely angry, not simply acting out of obligation.

Thump

As she thought about this, Yuria’s heart started pounding again, and she suddenly felt it became somewhat difficult to look at Theodore’s face.

She also felt her face getting a bit hot.

“Let’s go.”

At Theodore’s words, Yuria quickly composed herself and nodded.

“Yes.”

Yuria followed him, feeling embarrassed at the thought that he might have noticed her state.

And even as she left, the gazes on her remained, but she was used to it, knowing that the attention drawn to her well-curved figure was an unavoidable instinctive response.

As long as no one crossed the line with their words, whatever they thought inside couldn’t be helped if it remained their own imagination.

“To beat Owen with such a delicate body…”

“Didn’t you see Owen get knocked down by one kick?”

“How could such terrifying power be in those slender legs?”

And hearing them express curiosity about the curious aspect of the power of her kick, Yuria felt a bit dumbfounded but didn’t respond to their words as she went outside.

“Hey.”

Once outside, Theodore asked Yuria.

“You fought intensely, aren’t you thirsty?”

“Ah, I do feel a bit thirsty.”

“I see.”

Theodore opened his spatial storage and immediately handed Yuria a bottle filled with cool water.

‘He’s even considerate like this.’

Someone who previously wouldn’t have cared and would have told her to handle it herself was now taking such good care of her; it made her heart feel strange.

“Thank you.”

Thinking this, Yuria thanked him while opening the lid of the water bottle and slowly taking sips of water.

Theodore quietly watched her drinking water, and when she had drunk a fair amount, he asked.

“What are you planning to do now?”

“Well, now I should compete with the top students of other years. And also with the top students of other departments.”

Hearing Yuria’s resolve, Theodore nodded.

“Yes, I’ll help you gain various experiences in training, so make sure to show me victories.”

“Yes! I will certainly not disappoint myself or Lord Theodore.”

Not long after she answered like that, someone could be seen approaching Theodore’s side.

It was a pretty female student with long, flowing platinum blonde hair.

Looking at her appearance, which seemed quite dignified, Yuria guessed who she was.

‘Second-year Magic Department top student, Imperial Princess Louise.’

As she wondered what purpose brought her here, Louise addressed Theodore with a gentle, flower-like beautiful smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Skyroad. I am Louise, the Imperial Princess of the Britannia Empire and a second-year student in the Magic Department.”

As she said this, she gave a greeting by lightly holding the hem of her skirt with her fingertips as if it were a dress, despite her school uniform.

Because the school uniform skirt was short, she didn’t lift the hem, but her formal approach suggested she had some business.

“I am Theodore of House Skyroad.”

As the other party was the Imperial Princess of another country, Theodore also responded with proper etiquette, politely introducing himself.

And as soon as Theodore finished his introduction, Louise, still with her pretty smiling face, asked him.

“Lord Skyroad, I apologize for the intrusion, but could you possibly spare some time for just the two of us?”

The moment she heard those words, Yuria realized that she had unknowingly clenched her fist.