"Winner, Arma!"
"Winner, Hatan!"
The cheers grew louder with the continuing string of victories.
Roselyn blinked her eyes while sitting in her chair as she heard the unexpected news of Arma's victory.
'...Was it that strong?'
Roselyn looked once at the Kaluta tribesmen rolling on the floor, then raised her head again to look at Arma, who was stretching.
The Kaluta tribe were truly warriors among warriors, capable of fighting at least one man against a hundred.
Those who are more comfortable fighting barehanded than with a sword—those who could be called monsters in a sense.
Even if it wasn't a life-or-death duel, she simply couldn't believe that Arma was fighting it with a sword and defeating it one by one.
'.....No. He has that level of skill, so why was he killed by assassins?'
Roselyn watched in silence as he racked up consecutive wins.
'Was the assassin that strong?'
Roselyn replayed her memories.
They were certainly strong, and there were many of them, but they did not possess the monstrous power of the Kaluta tribe now.
"What the hell, when did that bastard get over his trauma?"
Roselyn turned her head at the sound of someone muttering softly beside her.
Yuldian was glaring at Arma in the wide training arena with a frown.
“Trauma?”
At Roselyn's question, Yuldian glanced at her and paused.
Yuldian's face must be bright red.
"You! You! Aren't you dressed properly?! How dare you act so shamelessly in front of the Imperial Prince!"
Roselyn scanned Yuldian from top to bottom with a sour expression, as if asking what kind of nonsense he was talking about.
"You speak quite well while sitting on the lap of someone dressed even more lavishly than me?"
As Roselyn smiled and spoke, Yuldian flinched.
With his face flushed bright red as if humiliated, he struggled to break free from Naryan, who was wrapped around his waist.
Naryan, who was watching the match with him sitting on her lap, slapped Yuldian's butt repeatedly.
"Ow! Ow! It hurts! It hurts!"
"Honey, shh, you shouldn't be loud during the game!"
"Who's your honey...!"
As Naryan pouted, Yuldian closed his mouth tightly.
It seemed that Yuldian, who used to harass women by denouncing them as sycophants whenever a maid or young lady made even the slightest mistake, had met his match.
"How can you be so handsome...?"
Naryan hugged Yuldian tightly around the waist, rubbing her face against his back as she spoke.
"Mother said that if the alliance goes well, a royal marriage might be possible, so let's do our best, darling."
"What?! What kind of bullshit is that...!"
"Look. Ha, how can someone be so cute even when they're angry so fiercely? Did I really fall in love at first sight...?"
Yuldian was startled by Naryan's unrestrained display of affection.
'So, Khan is even considering a royal marriage.'
However, a royal marriage was also one of the good ways to firmly bind countries together.
The Emperor cherished his children in his own way, and the Kaluta tribe had very deep family affection.
"Get lost...!"
Yuldian pushed Naryan away and shouted.
"...Get lost? Good heavens, you're the first person to ever say that to me."
"...Argh! This is driving me crazy, seriously!"
Yuldian screamed like a shriek.
Roselyn looked at Yuldian, who showed signs of dislike but did not act violently.
'I guess attacking would only hurt himself.'
Roselyn looked at Yuldian with a gaze devoid of even the slightest hint of pity, then turned her head back toward the stadium.
"Winner, Hatan!"
The sound of the semi-final match ending was heard.
'The Second Prince probably hasn't met a woman stronger than himself yet.'
Even though he acted all cocky, his swordsmanship skills were quite excellent.
In fact, when the war with Kaluta broke out, Yuldian and the First Prince stepped forward to lead the war.
"Did His Highness the Third Prince have trauma...?"
"You know, ever since he almost got killed by an assassin when he was little, he trembles at the sight of anything sharp."
Yuldian scoffed at Roselyn's question and said.
"It's ridiculous. It's not like something like that happened just once or twice since he was born a Prince. After that, he couldn't even hold a sword and was trembling in fear..."
Yuldian looked at Arma with narrowed eyes.
'But... is that really the skill of someone who hasn't used a sword for nearly 10 years?'
If he had let go of the sword, such skill could not have been displayed.
'...So, did that guy deceive us all this time?'
Yuldian shook his head at the absurd thought he had come up with.
'That can't be true.'
Arma slowly turned his head as if sensing Yuldian's gaze.
He looked at Yuldian in silence, then slowly looked at Roselyn sitting next to him.
"Let the final match begin! Khan, Hatan's opponent is Arma, the 3rd Prince of our reserve ally, who has shown incredible potential!"
The Kaluta man, who was hosting the event with a loud voice while jumping on the trampoline, grinned mischievously.
"Alright, before the final match begins...!"
The two men who had been standing in position paused. The tense spectators booed in unison.
Even amidst the jeers, the host was just grinning.
Khan, who had returned to Roselyn's side before anyone realized it, also burst into loud laughter. Khan looked at Roselyn and laughed.
"Hatan isn't weak, Lyn."
“It seems so.”
Roselyn nodded and readily agreed.
Khan, who had been quietly gazing into Roselyn's eyes, rested her chin on her hand and silently looked back at the stage.
"To the two of you who have advanced to the finals, what would you each like to say about your aspirations?"
It was an instant for them to start shouting again when booed.
Hatan looked at the host in silence, then shifted his gaze to Khan.
"As always, I will dedicate my victory to my one and only life. So, if I win, may I visit you tonight?"
Suddenly, silence enveloped everything around.
A shout burst out a beat late, and Yuldian, who understood the meaning of the words two beats late, turned bright red like a tomato.
Roselyn looked at Khan, who was smiling contentedly, with a slightly bewildered expression.
"Fine. If you bring me victory, I'll dote on you all night."
Roselyn, who had maintained a certain level of composure, crumbled at Khan's loud reply.
Roselyn's head finally dropped low. It was because she simply could not adapt to Kaluta's culture.
With her earlobes flushed bright red, she lightly rubbed her face with her palm.
“Roselyne.”
She slowly raised her head at the low but unusually subdued voice.
"If I win, could you reconsider?"
Roselyn frowned at Arma's words, which were cut short.
“...What?”
“The engagement is broken.”
Arma tightened his grip on the sword he was holding.
Hatan was silently swinging a greatsword set up to one side with one hand.
"...That."
"I have been thinking about this carefully."
Instead of looking at Hatan, Arma turned his body to Roselyn and fixed his gaze on her.
“I don’t like it either.”
"..."
"If Roselyn says she dislikes me because I am weak, I will change."
"No..."
"So, if I win here, please reconsider breaking off the engagement."
Roselyn, speechless with a mixture of embarrassment and bewilderment, merely gaped, her lips parting before finally falling silent.
"Please allow me to like Roselyn."
"... What?"
What kind of nonsense is this?
Roselyn's flustered earlobes began to turn red.
"I like you, Roselyn."
"..."
“I like you.”
Roselyn couldn't say a word.
She was a little embarrassed.
'...How are you going to handle it later?'
Roselyn looked at Arma with a pitiful gaze.
"Wooooh! That's awesome!!"
Whoosh, a whistling sound was heard, and a cheer erupted.
"I'm rooting for the outsider! Go win!"
"Khan! Please go easy on him!!"
"Ack! It feels like I drank a whole lot of sugar!"
"I want to marry an outsider too!!"
Roselyn buried her face in her palms at the voices coming from all directions.
'This is driving me crazy.'
Roselyn let out a sigh.
If she shook her head here, the atmosphere would become awkward.
'...I don’t know why he’s suddenly acting like that.'
After contemplating for a moment in her dilemma, she nodded once.
Hatan laughed softly at that.
There was almost no chance that Arma would defeat Hatan.
Because Hatan is...
“Okay. The game begins!”
Kwaaang-!
This is because he was a powerful figure referred to as a 'monster' even among the Kaluta tribe, who drill holes in cliffs with their bare hands.
Roselyn stood on the ground, shaking as if there had been an earthquake, and saw Arma with wide eyes.
The decisive battle took place in silence.
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