Chapter 15 · The Ars Confelo (1)

“The Ars Confelo? Won’t watching knights fight be too stimulating for you?”

“It’s fine. Asha watched a wot when I went to the twaining gwounds. It’s weally fun!”

“Ha, where on earth did you find it fun?”

“Um… when I watch, my bwood boiws.”

“Your b-blood boils? Where did you learn an expression like that?”

When I just smiled quietly without answering, the king laughed heartily too.

“Hahaha! I thought you were a docile little genius, but you already know the joy of watching knights compete. Indeed, to rule a nation, one must not fear battle.”

Hearing that, Aquila choked on her wine and spat it out, staining her pale yellow dress. Oh, how satisfying.

‘I can’t miss Ark and Rizen’s matches. And… Paeon will be there too.’

Thinking of him made my blood boil again, so I stabbed my meat roughly with my fork.

‘Just how much has he been avoiding me, that we live in the same temple and haven’t run into each other once in a month?’

◇ ◆ ◇

The day of the Ars Confelo.

The arena, surrounded by knights in white and black, was filled with blazing heat even before the opening.

It was an event that put the pride of the Holy Knight Order and the First Royal Knight Order on the line. Since Veritas, commanded by Paeon, had shown overwhelming performance in this war, pressure was spreading through Dinitas that they had to prove themselves here at least.

I sat in the spectator seats prepared at the arena and scanned for Rizen and Ark. Before long, my eyes met Rizen’s, and he grinned and gave a polite bow. But Ark sprang to his feet and shouted, “Princess!” which drew everyone’s eyes to him. Ugh, you idiot… He really is a puppy through and through.

“His Majesty the King arrives!”

As the attendant’s booming cry rang out, everyone in the arena rose and paid their respects.

“Light and glory to the sky of Santra!”

“Light and glory!”

Cheers rose. The king was entering, escorted on either side by the commander of the Holy Knight Order and the commander of the First Royal Knight Order. Behind them, knights who looked like the elite of the elite followed in orderly ranks.

Paeon, in a splendid white ceremonial uniform with epaulettes, commanded the knight order to the sound of the military band’s trumpets and drums. The sight of him drawing his sword to announce the opening and saluting with crisp precision was honestly magnificent enough to send a shiver down my spine.

‘So Paeon really is remarkable. And still so young.’

Both the commander of Dinitas, who looked seasoned, and the vice-commander, Ark’s father—all the elite knights looked older than Paeon. In Santra’s knight orders, where rank is determined by skill, he must have been beaten down and built back up again and again to reach that position.

‘Oh no, I was admiring him without realizing it. This isn’t the time for that!’

I snapped to my senses and shook my head. It had been so long since I’d seen him that I’d nearly been taken in by his fine exterior.

That man is a cold-blooded, unfilial wretch with the heart of a minnow who abandoned the child he secretly fathered! No matter how capable he is, his character is rotten!

In an instant, admiration turned to fury, and I glared at him throughout the king’s lengthy speech wishing the competitors good fortune.

◇ ◆ ◇

“Hahaha, Anastasia! How composed you are! An ordinary child would have burst into tears long ago.”

The Ars Confelo was broadly divided into mounted jousting and swordsmanship duels.

Honestly, I didn’t enjoy bloody battles at all. Having been through hell and back, I wasn’t exactly faint of heart, but seeing wounds made me feel as if I were the one hurting.

But since I had already shamelessly lied about it, I had to watch the matches while trying not to scream. The king seemed moved by this and kept boasting about me to Paeon, who sat at the judges’ table beside him.

“Sir Parsiel, what do you think? Don’t you see a knight’s qualities in my granddaughter?”

“At the princess’s age, watching the Confelo does not seem very educational.”

When Paeon responded coldly to the king’s doting, the king, taken aback, chided him.

“Ha, really. To criticize my educational methods so. Anyone would think Sir Parsiel were her father.”

“…”

When I covered my mouth and laughed, both men looked at me at the same time. It was the first time in weeks that Paeon had turned his eyes on me.

“Why do you laugh?”

“Papa being my weal papa—even as a joke, that’s too absuwd.”

“Hahaha, indeed. I’ve made quite a blasphemous joke.”

As I watched the flustered Paeon with satisfaction, Aquila cut in.

“Commander of Dinitas, what do you think? About the princess watching the Confelo at such a young age.”

The commander of Dinitas, who had been sitting silently beside Paeon, raised his head. With neat black hair swept back, blue eyes, thick eyebrows, and a long scar along his jaw, he was a man who gave off a dangerous air. He smiled thinly and opened his mouth.

“Sir Parsiel is too rigid. They say the princess can already use magic—I don’t think ordinary standards apply to her.”

“Yes, my granddaughter is no ordinary prodigy!”

“I regret that I was away on external missions for a time and couldn’t see the princess’s exploits. Would you show me your magic someday as well?”

“Sounds good. But not fow fwee.”

The commander of Dinitas burst out laughing at my words.

“Truly a person brimming with wit! However… I heard a rather strange rumor.”

His eyes glinted ominously.

“That you were banned from the training grounds for some reason.”

Paeon and I both stiffened at the same time. The king tilted his head and asked.

“Banned from the training grounds? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

‘Ugh. Could it be that Aquila’s side heard about that incident? Is he dangling bait to report it to the king now?’

Beep!

Just then, Paeon hurriedly sounded the horn announcing the next match. The conversation was cut off in an instant.

“The competitors seem to be waiting too long.”

He said with an indifferent face.

‘Did he help me…? Well, that’s unusual.’

As I let out a sigh of relief, Ark, whose turn it was, was stepping out to the center of the arena. His opponent looked about four years older than him.

“So, which side do you think will win this time?”

At the king’s question, I smiled and answered.

“Dinitas will win, Your Majesty.”

“Oh? But seeing how much bigger the opposing knight is, you can’t be so sure… How about a bet with this grandfather?”

“What will you give me if Asha wins?”

“Then I’ll grant you whatever you want. But if you lose, how about giving me a hundred kisses? Hahaha!”

“At that rate, the princess’s cute lips will wear out, Your Majesty.”

At the king’s doting, several attendants and nobles nearby fawned over him.

Good grief… Those who pretended I didn’t exist in my past lives have flipped their attitudes like the back of a hand just because the king favors me a little! But the moment I’m branded a heretic or a child of calamity, they’ll disown me in an instant.

While I shuddered with disillusionment, Ark’s fight began. Despite this being his Confelo debut, Ark overwhelmed the arena with dazzling magic swordsmanship. He fired off aura in rapid succession, and while his opponent used divine power to deflect them, he moved swiftly to exploit the openings.

But his opponent was no pushover either; he skillfully deflected Ark’s attacks, slipped back, and created a shield of intense light. It was a shield that even Ark’s aura couldn’t easily pierce, and at this rate, the match would drag on, putting Ark—who had relatively less stamina due to his age—at a disadvantage.

Then Ark, still gripping his sword, quickly pressed his hand to the ground and recited an activation word, and in that instant the sand on the ground scattered violently. He had used the vibration magic I had taught him. The opponent staggered greatly, and in that moment Ark slashed diagonally across the opponent’s left flank, which he hadn’t covered with his shield.

‘Well done, Ark!’

“Kh…!”

The opponent, clutching his side and staggering, dropped to his knees and cried out his surrender. He had exhausted all his prana during the fight and could no longer heal his wounds.

A tremendous roar erupted from the spectator seats. Ark responded to the cheers as if embarrassed, then walked out of the arena. Since it was soon time for the intermission, I rose from my seat to offer him my congratulations.

Then I saw Dinitas’s vice-commander grab Ark by the wrist and drag him away roughly. Ark vanished behind the arena in an instant.

‘Ark is injured too… Where is he taking a child who hasn’t even been healed by a priest?’

Suddenly, I remembered how Ark had shown such intense fear of his father.

‘He won the match, so why is he acting like that? Surely not…’

◇ ◆ ◇

I secretly followed the direction they had disappeared and was horrified.

Smack!

His father was striking him across the face.

“How dare you deceive me?”

“…”

“I told you clearly. Until you master the Flamma Gladius, don’t let your attention wander elsewhere.”

So in the end, that father of his is the root cause! Far from praising his son for a splendid victory in the match, he drags him off and beats him!

“Who is it? What kind of vermin taught you such a cheap trick?”

“It’s not a cheap trick.”

I was about to step forward and say ‘It was me,’ but Ark’s voice made me hesitate.

“It’s a useful skill. I… I’m going to learn anything I think I need.”

Ark’s voice was trembling, but his expression was resolute.

“So you’re going to convert to a royal mage, is that it?”

His father’s neck veins bulged.

“The eldest son of Count Ellenoa, the eldest son of a family that has served in the First Dinitas Knight Order for ten generations! You, who have the duty to pass the Flamma Gladius on to future generations! You’re going to sink to the level of a mere worthless mage?!”

And just as he raised his hand again to strike Ark’s other cheek,

“Don’t hit him!”

I ran out in front of Ark. The count stopped his hand in midair and looked down at me, who barely reached Ark’s waist.

“Don’t hit Awk. If you hit him again, Asha won’t stand fow it.”

“…So you are ‘that’ princess.”

He looked at me with an unpleasant gaze.

“I don’t believe the princess has the authority to interfere in a father disciplining his son.”

“Asha taught Awk the magic!”

“P-Princess…!”

“The magic Awk used isn’t a cheap trick, and it isn’t wowthless. There’s no such thing as wowthless magic. The one who’s wowthless is a man wike you, who uses magic as a tool fow his famiwy’s honow!”

He stared at me with startled eyes for a moment, then began to laugh like a madman.

“Hahaha! Hahahaha…”

What’s wrong with him? Has he lost his mind?

“Indeed, like mother, like daughter. Both mother and daughter saying the exact same thing.”