Chapter 365 Small Feelings
"How does it feel to be trapped by the one you served your whole life?"
As those words left the mouth of the young man holding the sword, the audience held their breaths.
"This?"
"What?"
Gasps and exclamations filled the air as the spectators watched in awe, unable to believe the mesmerizing spectacle unfolding before them.
The duel had taken an unexpected turn, with Callius not only evading Lucius's attacks but flawlessly replicating the [Sword of Montgomery] and countering it smoothly.
"Wasn't that Montgomery Family's sword just now?"
"How can he use it?"
The astonished voices of the crowd added to the buzz of excitement in the background. It seemed everyone had been caught off guard by the young mage's exceptional skills.
However, not everyone was like that. Especially three girls are watching the scene unfolding.
"Sigh…..He is really causing a scene…." Aliya mumbled to herself as she watched the duel from afar. Even though she wanted to go there and see his sword from close, she also didn't want to deal with those trying to drag her.
"But, he really did as he told." With a small smile, she turned back, walking to the place where she needed to.
And from a distance, a girl with her expression dull followed her without making any noise.
Though, even then, her gaze was on the commotion.
And, lastly, the girl with fiery red hair had her gaze locked on the scene.
No, specifically on the sword that was on the neck of the senior.
"I thought he wouldn't use any other sword…." Emma mumbled to herself, looking at the grey-colored blade.
Memories flashed for a second as she remembered the time when her father gave that black blade to him.
"Father, I want that sword; why must you give it to him?"
"You want that sword? Why?"
"It is beautiful."
"Ah….But, Emma, do you know what the sword is for?"
"…..To look cool?"
"No. The sword is not a tool to look cool; it is a tool to kill."
"….."
"So, you mustn't choose your sword based on how beautiful it is. You must choose it according to the feeling in your hand. If you want to look cool, you can use a lot of different things, but you mustn't use the sword for such purposes."
"But, I want that sword, father. I want it…I am certain I can do a lot better than him with that sword. Please give me a chance."
"You want a chance?"
"Yes. I want it to; why can't I take it?"
"I see…..Then, let's settle this fair and square. Is a spar okay?"
"Spar? Okay!"
That memory is one of the rare moments when she had talked with his father alone without anyone else.
'I really wanted to use that sword back then.'
She remembered how his gaze changed when he held the sword and how he looked at the sword with intense eyes.
Even though she wanted 'Nihil,' it wasn't to an intense extent. The reason why she pushed it this hard was to see the expression he would make when she would take the thing he wanted this badly.
'But, I couldn't beat him.'
She sighed regrettably as she remembered the spar of that time.
"Callius, you will spar with Emma. She also wants that sword."
"She wants Nihil?"
"Yes. So, you must prove that you are someone worthy of your sword."
"….I must prove that I am someone worthy of my sword…."
"Will you do it?"
"I will."
Even at that time, Callius was not someone that talked much. It was even hard to see his expression change.
And that was one of those rare times.
The moment Emma stood before him at that time, his crimson eyes contained a weird feeling.
Emma couldn't understand it back then, what emotion it was….How a gloomy boy like him could make such an expression?
But in the end, the spar resulted in her loss.
Callius was weak. He was always weaker than her. However, he was always talented with swords, especially rapiers.
She couldn't even land one hit on him despite her overwhelming physical power.
And that loss was the reason why she was always this adamant about using a sword.
"How dare you lose to him?"
SLAP
The slap her mother gave her at that time, she could still feel the small pain on her cheek.
It was the first time her mother was this angry, and she was scared.
She was not sad for her daughter, and neither was she supportive of her loss. No, rather than that, she looked at her with disgust.
Emma could remember the gaze Adelyn gave to Callius at that time, the gaze that contained pure hatred.
She didn't want to be subjected to that gaze, and she swore at that time.
'I will never lose once again.'
So, she trained this hard and got obsessed with swords. No, in reality, she was not obsessed with swords but with him.
Precisely, his 'talent'.
So, she always dragged him to the training area to fight with him, to spar with him. To show that she was better than him.
That was even before they got their blessings.
She still couldn't beat him, no matter how hard she tried. The infuriating thing was not that she couldn't beat him, but the fact that he never even changed his expression once.
It was like he didn't even want to do this in the first place, as if it was pointless. And that made her feel angrier.
However, the turning point was when they got their blessings. The moment she got her blessing from Goddess Celeste, and she learned that he wasn't blessed, inside, she felt happy.
She felt that the world finally became fair, as someone with such a talent was now weak as well.
After that moment, she thoroughly enjoyed being better than someone and how one could utilize their strength.
She enjoyed sparring with him, beating him, even though she knew she had an unfair advantage.
"You are doing well."
But whenever she did it, she could feel the smile on her mother's face, and that was something she always sought.
So she kept doing it.
"Sigh…."
As those memories came to the surface, Emma released a sigh, looking at the scene.
"Emma? What is the matter?" Celia said, looking at Emma's scene.
They both watched Callius and his swordplay, but since Celia didn't know much about Callius and she was the one who interacted with him least amongst the trio, her negative feelings mostly stemmed from what she heard.
"Nothing….I just remembered something." Emma brushed her off as she waved her hand.
"I see…." Celia decided to not pursue this matter anymore, as she also turned her attention to the scene.
With the tension in the air growing palpable, Callius maintained his calm demeanor.
With his sword poised at Lucius's neck, he continued, "Next time, don't ever forget this feeling, Senior Lucius. How it feels to know that the path you pursued for your whole life fails you…."
The crowd held its breath, waiting to see how the senior noble swordsman would react.
Lucius, for his part, was stunned into silence.
He didn't know what to think, what to feel.
For his whole life, he trained with his sword, and now he faced the cruel truth. He remembered the things he did in his hometown.
The daughters of the knights he beat, the sisters of those commoners he forced himself….
He remembered the expression on the faces of those villagers when they learned that the Marquisate of Montgomery was actually stealing their taxes….
His face turned several shades redder, a mix of humiliation and frustration.
"You are just a dog, Lucius Montgomery. The dog of Baskerville."
In front of those crimson eyes, he felt himself going smaller.
"Now, go to your owner and call him here…..Maybe you can even lick his feet?"
SILENCE
A hushed silence fell over the onlookers, each of them reflecting on the unexpected lesson in humility they had just witnessed.
"Sigh…..To think that you would come here as well….."
Until a dignified voice came from the sides….
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