The moment Isierd finished speaking, a wave of cheers crashed down from the spectator stands.
Just who was the young lady waiting for the prince at the end of this tournament?
The nobles watched with barely concealed impatience, their expressions hungry for the competition to begin.
Crumple.
Olivia, by contrast, clutched the skirt of her dress so tightly her hands trembled.
…The one meant to receive the flower crown isn’t me? How can this be? Father said I would be the main character of all this.
But no matter how many times she turned it over in her mind, the girl Isierd had been speaking of was not her.
The shock hit her like a wall, and she simply froze.
“I’m… not the one?”
Everyone knew how much she had poured into preparing for this hunting festival. Every detail had been calculated, every effort meticulously made.
And yet…
She had turned out to be nothing more than one face among the audience.
Everyone behind me will be whispering about this…
Olivia couldn’t hide her humiliation. Just then, Anna leaned in close and whispered carefully, urging her to compose herself.
“Olivia, calm down. People are staring. …There are journalists here, you know.”
Nothing was more mortifying than catching a journalist’s eye and ending up splashed across the gossip papers.
But Olivia could not quiet the storm inside her.
I have never lost to anyone in my entire life…!
It was the first time she had ever tasted defeat — this wretched, scalding sense of misery and humiliation — and she ground her teeth against it.
How could it not be me? Then who on earth is Isierd talking about?
At that moment, a figure across the way caught her eye.
Don’t tell me it’s her.
The child who had grated on Olivia’s nerves throughout the entire hunting festival.
Riersha Arachrene.
“When you come of age, Lady Olivia, every noble in this empire will kneel before you.”
“Why do you think so, Nanny?”
“Because Lady Olivia is the most beautiful and most noble creature in all the empire.”
If only that girl hadn’t been here — every seat of honor, every glorious moment, would have belonged to Olivia alone.
And on top of that…
Olivia spotted Yuta sitting beside Riersha, laughing uproariously at something, and her fist clenched tight.
I asked him to clear away every distraction…. And instead he’s over there laughing it up with her?
For the very first time in her life, Olivia felt the cold prickle of something dangerously close to threat, and she flinched.
Not a single thing about this hunting festival had gone the way she wanted.
⁂
The match began.
Riersha held her breath and watched the bout between Isierd and Kyle Tetran unfold.
Whether or not it was true that he had held the top rank at the Academy without interruption, Kyle Tetran was deflecting Isierd’s sword with practiced, effortless precision. Even without making any sweeping movements, it was plain at a glance that his skill surpassed Isierd’s.
“Kyle has had a sword in his hand since he could walk, so he’s had at least eight years of training.”
“…But Isierd has only been learning for about a year, Marya said so. What does it matter if he loses?”
Riersha’s brow furrowed slightly, and Yuta let out a quiet laugh at the sight of her genuinely worrying over the possibility of Isierd’s defeat.
“The fact that Isierd is holding his own this long is impressive in itself. I told you — Kyle has no flexibility.”
“…”
“He’s probably rattled on the inside right now.”
Just as Yuta said, Isierd was not being pushed back easily. He seemed to be straining under the pressure, but he was reading Kyle Tetran’s decisive moves with startling speed — dodging them or blocking them before they could land.
In fact, Kyle Tetran could be seen wearing a faintly surprised expression as he continued pressing forward.
So this is what they mean by a difference in talent.
Yuta smiled bitterly to himself.
To hold Kyle off for this long with barely a year of sword training…
If Isierd had only been given enough time, he might have already been ruling the empire through sheer force of skill alone.
A chill ran over Yuta without warning, and he shuddered.
Riersha glanced sidelong at Yuta, who had gone quiet and was watching the match with a gravity he rarely showed, and her expression turned uncertain.
Just moments ago he had been whistling and fooling around. This uncharacteristically serious demeanor sat strangely on him.
“…Are those two really that remarkable? I can’t quite tell.”
“Every kid our age who’s trained with a sword is probably floored right now. I came to this hunting festival without any particular expectations, but this is far beyond what I thought I’d see.”
Yuta hadn’t bothered to mention it to Riersha, but he held the second-rank position at the Academy.
Perennial runner-up.
That was his nickname.
He had originally planned to enter the Imperial Knights together with Kyle immediately upon graduating, but…
There was a chance he might never see Kyle in the Imperial Knights.
Because joining the Imperial Knights required an enormous sum of money.
That was most likely why Kyle had entered this tournament.
It’s about money.
But if Kyle won the final championship here, his situation would improve considerably — the Imperial household would cover the full cost of his admission, no questions asked.
Even so, winning this tournament meant making an enemy of the Imperial household in the same breath…
Any number of reasons could be invented to deny Kyle’s application after the fact.
In short, Kyle was cornered from every direction.
Yuta, who had been silently watching the match throughout, let out a soft “Ah,” wincing slightly each time Kyle Tetran gave even a fraction of ground.
Riersha, who had been keeping her eyes on Isierd, caught the small sound and glanced over at Yuta.
He claimed to dislike Kyle Tetran, and yet he’s watching him more closely than anyone.
She had known people like that.
Those who insisted they couldn’t stand each other, yet looked out for the other more than anyone else would.
Perhaps that was exactly what lay between these two.
Riersha turned the thought over carefully in her mind.
“…Does it matter? If Isierd wins here, does that put Kyle Tetran in a difficult position?”
“It’s not quite that simple — it just means he might not be able to enter the Imperial Knights.”
“Why?”
“Because the minimum condition for joining the Imperial Knights is maintaining one’s dignity. You absolutely cannot do anything to tarnish your honor.”
And yet even the armor issued upon entry had to be purchased for hundreds of thousands of gold pieces out of one’s own pocket. That armor had to be replaced regularly, and one’s everyday attire could never appear shabby. There were even clauses stipulating that the sword granted by the Imperial household must always be maintained in peak condition…
Riersha understood immediately what Yuta was getting at.
In short — Kyle Tetran currently lacked the money, and that was why he could not join the Imperial Knights.
But if he won the final championship here, every last expense would be borne by the Imperial household…
So Kyle Tetran really did enter this tournament with the sole intention of winning.
While every other noble was simply enjoying the hunting festival, he alone had come with grim determination.
Riersha watched the two competitors in silence, her expression turning thoughtful.
Learning the truth of Kyle Tetran’s situation left her with a complicated feeling she couldn’t quite name.
And with Yuta, his close friend, sitting right there beside her…
She found it just a little harder to cheer for Isierd as freely as she would have liked.
Yuta noticed the shift in her mood and let out a small laugh.
It was because he found Riersha — so unlike Olivia, so genuinely attuned to the feelings of those around her — both remarkable and strangely endearing.
He reached over and ruffled her hair the way one might with a younger sibling.
“That said, there’s no reason to feel uncomfortable about it. You’re allowed to cheer for the person you care about.”
“Care about?”
“Yeah.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“Care about who?”
Riersha blinked up at him with wide, innocent eyes, as though the whole notion were entirely foreign to her.
Yuta stared at her for a long moment with an expression of pure bewilderment.
“…So you don’t? You’re not fond of Prince Isierd? You were flustered just now when he was speaking. I saw it.”
“…”
“…Was I wrong?”
Yuta blinked repeatedly, unable to conceal his bafflement.
Riersha opened her mouth to protest that he was talking nonsense — and then it happened.
BOOM—!!
A thunderous explosion battered her eardrums. Riersha instantly covered her ears and curled inward. Yuta moved quickly, wrapping himself around her as he scanned the surroundings.
“That came from the direction where the other nobles are hunting, didn’t it?”
At the urgency in Yuta’s voice, Riersha snapped her head up and looked toward the Knoum Forest.
Centered on the Knoum Forest, a towering column of dust and earth was rising high into the sky.
