Second Arc (His Art of War) - 148. Rematch I
He stepped through the corridor to the training ground followed by the guards. Unlike usual, Frost wasn't with him this time since he gave him another assignment.
'I wonder if she's going to make another move tonight.' Angel noticed Ivetta looked annoyed throughout their conversation, even though she tried to cover it up. It was quite entertaining for him since he knew Ivetta was getting impatient. This was a bit beyond his predictions since judging from the conversation between Ivetta and Duke Bartlet yesterday, he thought Duke Bartlet would take action first. But apparently, his guess was wrong.
As he took his steps, the scenery around him turned into an open corridor that eventually led him to a large courtyard at the back of the castle. It was the castle training ground. This training ground was commonly used by the royal family and the generals.
- Bam! - Bam! - Bam!
The hitting sounds coming from the other side of the place turned his gaze to the origin of the sound. Artheur who only used his trousers punched a huge training pole in front of him repeatedly and the pole vibrated every time his fist landed there, indicating how strong his punch was. His sweat was dripping and soaking his body, showing his strong muscles clearly, indicating that he had practiced here long enough as he waited for Angel's arrival. His anger was still visible on his face and the bandages were still wrapped around his neck. Several large poles tied with thick ropes with deep cuts were next to it. Meanwhile, several boards containing various types of weapons were on the other side of the place. Since all of them were sparring weapons, it wasn't sharp enough to kill people.
King Esteve and Queen Thea sat not far from Artheur, a table with two cups of tea and some sweets arranged neatly on a cake tier stand in the middle of them. Several servants who were standing by their side held Artheur's blazer and a teapot.
Noticing Angel's presence, King Esteve and Queen Thea nodded their heads slightly to greet him. To which he replied with another nod. Even though King Esteve didn't like this, he had no other choice but to fulfil his son's request. King Esteve clearly memorized his son's persistent attitude. Although their yesterday's duel was a fair one, King Esteve could tell, Artheur could not accept his defeat yet. And since King Esteve wasn't sure Artheur would listen, he let him communicate with Angel just as the Draconis' fighters should. Through the fight. After all, since they were on the training ground, Angel should have understood this was just sparring. But King Esteve remained there to separate them if one of them went overboard.
After Artheur found out that Angel had arrived, Artheur turned to him and gave him a challenging look. His index finger pointed at Angel and moved to him repeatedly, showing his challenge clearly.
Angel smirked since he already predicted this. But since he was calmer now, he decided to take easy on Artheur. He handed his sword to one of the guards before removing his blazer and handing it over to another guard. Then he stepped towards the centre of the courtyard as his hands folded his sleeves alternately to his elbows, exposing some scars there. Seeing Angel approaching him, Artheur did the same.
"You should give me a proper greeting not a challenge, Prince Artheur," said Angel in a casual tone.
Artheur smirked.
"This is my proper greeting, Your Majesty."
Their steps stopped as their eyes stared intently at each other who was one meter ahead of them.
"I just found out Draconis proper greeting is a duel. I thought it was just to cancel an engagement," said Angel in the same casual tone.
The smirk on Artheur's lips faded and his face turned sour.
"It's a proper greeting for our enemy, Your Majesty."
"Do you still think I am your enemy? I thought we already have a deal for that," Angel reminded him.
"Of course I remember. But I'm a little bored because I spent too much time in my room, so I thought I need a sparring partner for my stiff muscles. I hope His Majesty doesn't mind accompanying me for a round."
Angel noticed some bruise that was still clearly visible on Artheur's body. From there, he estimated how Artheur's current condition was.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure of it, Your Majesty," replied Artheur without hesitation. Even though he wasn't sure he could win, at least he wanted to know what made Angel so special in everyone's eyes. They had similar backgrounds and based on the information he had heard about Angel's past and his betrayal, Artheur was quite sure that his fate should be much luckier and his reputation much cleaner than Angel's. But strangely, after this war, why did everyone take a side with Angel. Rose, King Eudon and even his own father. That's why for someone who was always being compared to Angel, he decided to find out what their differences were and why everyone changed their minds.
"Fine. But I'll change the rules a bit. The loser is the one who falls to the ground first." Angel didn't want to take the risk of landing his punch on Artheur since it could have killed him. So he decided to make Artheur lose without touching him.
"Deal."