I killed a man when I was thirteen in the amphitheater. My opponent was a slave gladiator, and he was very “lucky” to have the opportunity to set himself free if he defeated the best swordsman in the Royal School rather than a lion. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No, he would have thought so. He must have accepted that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and that if he defeated a 13-year-old girl and not a lion, he would become a free man.
But everyone who knew me understood. That the lion is more likely to set him free than me.
“What are you doing here?”
When I looked back at the unexpected voice, Eden was standing there. A lake in the middle of the night. And I was dumbfounded. Isn’t he the person who came out on the lakeside in the middle of the night, was kidnapped, wandered around for years, treated like a slave, and lost even his hometown? But again, he’s at the lakeside in the middle of the night.
It seems that I was frowned upon without realizing it. Eden shrugged his shoulders.
“I saw you come out.”
“… … .”
“I have a question for you.”
I didn’t feel like putting down the tobacco I was holding. I know Eden is the Crown Prince, but honestly, I wasn’t in the mood to treat him like a Crown Prince right now. I hope he disappears. I looked down at him, thinking I couldn’t bear to say anything. But, seeing my narrowed eyes, he proudly raised the tip of his chin without shrugging his shoulder once.
He was born to be a king.
He felt a little regretful when he remembered the king of the present day, once called Grand Duke Lofnell. Eden thinks he’s much closer to a king’s timber than him. Of course, I am not a subject to say who is worthy of a king and who is not, but not flinching while receiving my cold gaze means that he has an innate spirit.
That’s too bad.
He was born with everything but his luck.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a woman burn tobacco.”
I laughed at Eden’s words. A woman who is born, for me, was just a symbol of jeopardy. There is nothing good about being born as a woman. It was just the culprit that made it difficult for me to have everything I would have been comfortable with if I had been born as a man.
“Is it good?”
“Would you like to burn it?”
When I offered the stick, Eden looked at it for a moment and shook his head. Eleven years old is still too young to put a cigar in his mouth. It’s a waste of luxury for a child. However, when the current king was still Archduke Lofnell, he held tobacco in his mouth like water. He was my royal school senior.
Come to think of it, this person will eventually go to the Royal School.
Not all nobles go to the Royal School, but heirs to titles are obligated to attend. It was not a legal obligation, but in a way, it was an intangible law that was more firmly established. There were rare cases where the right to succession to the title was taken because he did not attend the Royal School.
Well, by the time this guy goes to the Royal School, he and I will end up as ‘one time acquaintances.’
Even while I was thinking this long, Eden didn’t say a word. Instead, he raised his eyebrows slightly, wondering if the question he was about to ask was a bit gritty.
“Didn’t you say you have something to ask?”
“I heard it’s a holy knight examination.”
“Alas.”
“Isn’t that very difficult?”
If I had to answer it.
“Kind of, probably.” Because a holy knight test is not an effort.
“So I have to be born with it?”
“That is the first condition.”
That’s the beginning. There are several conditions to become a holy knight examiner. To be born, to be trained, and to be satisfied with the environment.
“I want to be a holy knight too.”
At Eden’s words, I looked at him once. He was gorgeous. I’ve never seen a fairy in person, but I wondered if a fairy would be as pretty as this child. The sword in the hand of this beautiful child was somehow pathetic and incongruous, so I didn’t want to see it. Whether it was a divine sword, a magic sword, or a knight’s sword, all of them were drenched in blood, and the bloody smell was not in harmony with this child.
I know your young life was hard. But I also don’t think it fits.
“It’s too much.”
“Why?”
Eden’s face was distorted as if he had wanted to become a holy knight for quite some time.
“Because you weren’t born with it.”
“I also have magic. However, the magic teacher said that my magic is of rare nature and powerful!”
“Yes.”
When I first saw him, he didn’t feel this strong, but it was probably because his physical condition wasn’t in a good state due to long-term abuse. When food, clothing, and shelter were resolved, his magical powers revealed themselves as if a few layers of skin had been peeled off. It was a powerful and precise force. However,
“Holy knights refer to those who possess both divine and magical powers. You can’t be a swordsman if you only have the power. If you only have magic power, you cannot use divine power. To be born in a body that possesses these two powers at the same time is the first condition for becoming a saint tester.”
“… That’s, that is how you have to be born, I can’t even try… .”
I laughed as Eden spoke in an angry voice. Someone will complain every day for wanting to have the magical power that Eden has. Some people would have been coveting every moment of his legitimacy. This is the current king. To decompose a person with neither legitimacy nor strong magical powers because they lacked a single divine power.
“Yes.”
He looked at me in anger at my simple reply. But I had nothing more to say. When I said nothing, he lowered his eyes. As I watched the graceful curls of his rich lashes, I was once again admired by the beauty he had. His mother, Queen Anne, had many admirors due to her beauty, but I had never seen her face properly because she was a queen. Now that I am looking at the son’s face, one can imagine how admirable her beauty must have been.
“Then… what…I?” Eden asked in a shallow voice, which I did not understand at first.
“Yes?”
“Then what should I do?”
With his head bowed, he raised his head. Tears welled up in his blue eyes. Although he did not shed any tears because of his genuine pride, he seemed to have no choice but to be angry and sad. I asked back, feeling embarrassed, not knowing why his emotions were fluctuating.
“What, the word… ?”
“What must I do to protect myself?”
When I pleaded, the woman looked down at me and had a complicated expression on her face. I know she’s not in a position to answer my question. She is the daughter of the man who imprisoned me, and we’re only in a contractual relationship, and we can betray each other at any time. I know. But I couldn’t bear not to ask someone, and all I could think of was this woman to ask.
I also wanted to become a holy knight. No, I wanted to be this woman. I tried to smile like this woman. This woman who always smiled, laughed at difficult moments, laughed at embarrassing moments, and probably laughed at angry moments. A woman who feels like a cool breeze is winding up somewhere. But her hair is fiery red. Her eyes were blazing gold. Her skin is pale white, and her height is just that of an average woman. Nevertheless, she dragged people who were much larger and more physically built than she was. Everyone in the castle treated her with respect and fear.
“You don’t know Cecilia Sarian? I wonder where you came from.”
Whenever I asked about her, people looked puzzled and soon became proud and told me about her. Cecilia Sarrian, a.k.a Cili. Twenty-six years old this year. She is one of only three divine swordsmen on the continent, and at the age of 20, she became the head of the Hastred Knights, the only heir to the Sarrian family. When she became leader of the Knights Templar, she received many disturbing opinions, but she ended them all.
She is different from me. A person who lost everything because he was swayed by his uncle even though he was a prince.
I couldn’t stand the envy. And I felt my stomach churning when I thought how immature and lacking I was. But on the other hand, I was convinced that she didn’t see me in that way. She was that kind of person. She dispels the worries that a person might despise. And she’s an opponent who instills confidence. Maybe she pities me, perhaps she sympathizes with me, but I’m not scornful. It’s not that she hated me, but he thought he should stab her back if necessary, yet he couldn’t bear it for fear of being hated by her. I couldn’t sleep every night. It was difficult for me to bear with myself because I was filthy by thinking like this.
I thought I might be able to stand on my own without relying on her and stabbing her in the back, and I might be able to do that when it comes to saint tests.
“It is a bloody road. Do not walk on it.”
Saying so, she awkwardly patted my shoulder. It was a gesture as if she was a little worried about whether this could be done. But she seemed to want to comfort me, and she didn’t seem to have found any other way to comfort me. Eventually, she patted my shoulder a couple of times and withdrew her hand.
“My mother and father are both dead.”
I laughed when she told me not to walk on the bloody road. Bloody? What a laugh.
“You can’t childishly block the road.”
She shut her mouth and smiled vaguely. I had something to say, but I didn’t know if I would quit or if I thought it was a childish voice. The reason why my tears have subsided is because of her eyes. Her worried eyes were always on me. Those eyes were sweet as if whispering something, and they had the effect of calming my nervousness.
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