Cyan wasn't a fool. Of course, he knew that Eugene had been holding a spear and swinging it as a training exercise.
However, this was his first time seeing such an unscientific method of training. Wearing a chainmail vest several sizes too big, tying sandbags onto both arms, and swinging a spear that was also laden with sandbags; could you really call that training?
At least in Cyan's view, such a training method made no sense. It was far too barbaric and extreme. He was just recklessly swinging and stabbing a spear, without any semblance of style or technique, and he had so little control of his body that he was staggering here and there; how could something like that be called training?
'This country bumpkin. He's really working his ass off just for a little attention.'
While the chainmail vest might be large, seeing the state that it was in, it definitely had to have been made from the cheapest scrap iron. This meant that it couldn't be as heavy as it appeared.
As for those sandbags, while they might seem hefty, looking at how they bounced as he moved, you could tell that, despite their thick leather casings, they were mostly empty.
'Even if he's hungry for attention, there should be a limit to his foolishness. Where does he get the nerve, coming here and playing this sort of trick…?'
Actually, he could understand it. This guy was a bumpkin from a place out in the countryside that no one had ever heard of, and even among the collateral lines, Eugene was the lowest of the low. He had probably decided to pull off something like this on the first day after receiving some encouragement from his parents.
Without performing a petty trick like this, there was no way he would be worthy of any attention. Though, the fact that his attempt was so transparently fake made it kind of funny.
However, unfortunately for him, this bumpkin daring to call Cyan an idiot wasn't at all amusing, and in fact, it was enraging. Calming himself with a deep breath, Cyan pointed a finger at Eugene.
"Apologize."
"For what?" asked Eugene.
"You dare pretend ignorance? Apologize for insulting my intelligence!"
"Sorry about that," Eugene replied immediately.
However, Cyan wasn't satisfied with this apology. He narrowed his eyes and raised his chin proudly.
"Lower your head and apologize more respectfully!" Cyan demanded.
"Aren't we the same age?" Eugene asked without moving his head an inch. "You're thirteen. I'm also thirteen. That means we're pals of the same age, so why ask me to lower my head?"
"There's no way that you and I can be friends!"
"We're not friends? Then why have you been speaking to me so casually ever since you arrived?"
Eugene concealed the embarrassment he was feeling inside with a click of his tongue. He felt the urge to ask himself, 'Just what do you think you're doing?'
Adding on the years from his previous life to his current age, he was well over fifty years old. With that much of an age difference, wasn't it just sad that he was getting into a fight with a thirteen-year-old brat, especially when that brat was one of his old rival's descendants?
'Well, so what? My past life is my past life. Right now, I'm also thirteen.'
When Cyan didn't respond, Eugene pressed him, "As I said, what's with the way you've been talking to me? So you aren't just clueless about spears, but etiquette as well?"
"This…." Cyan's eyes widened as words failed him.
As someone who had been constantly indulged ever since he was young, he grew up spoiled and wasn't familiar with this kind of childish quarrel.
"This…. This cheeky…."
The biggest advantage of being a child was that you could act on your emotions without any restraint whenever you wished. So although he wasn't familiar with this type of quarrel, Cyan relied on something that he was accustomed to — venting his emotions onto others. With large strides, he moved forwards until he was standing nose-to-nose with Eugene.
"You really don't know your place…! Just because your last name is Lionheart, do you really think you're one of the same Lionhearts as us?"
"No. I have a pretty good idea of the difference. I'm from a collateral line, and you're from the direct line." Eugene lifted his finger and pointed towards the main family's mansion. "That's your house over there. My house is… which direction was it in again? In any case, it's far away from here."
"Even knowing all that, you still dare to posture in front of me?" Cyan accused.
"I haven't been posturing at all. I just informed you of a few facts that you seem to have missed. First, you asked what I was doing while looking at me, so I answered. Then you told me to apologize, so I did."
"You really are impudent," Cyan spat out as he held his nose. "Also, there's a stench coming from your body. It's the smell of the cow dung from the countryside mixed in with your sweat! It really, really stinks."
"I've never gotten close to cow dung in my entire life, so who are you saying smells of cow dung?" Eugene asked curiously.
"If so, that just means it's the smell of your own shit…! In any case, you just plain stink."
"I'll wash up in a bit."
"No, go wash up now. Once you're done, go and clean the carriage that you rode in as well!"
"The carriage?"
"Because the smell of shit from your body definitely must have rubbed off onto the seat! So I'm telling you to go clean it!"
"And why should I do that?"
"Because you're the one who got your smell all over the carriage!" Cyan raised his voice and shouted shrilly.
Because of the close distance between the two, Cyan would send spit flying at Eugene with each shout. Eugene frowned and took a step back. Although Eugene had only withdrawn because he didn't want to get spit on, Cyan still looked down on him with a smile of superiority for forcing Eugene to back off.
"Furthermore, you need to bow your head and apologize to me. I still haven't accepted your apologies for calling me an idiot, saying that I didn't know any etiquette, and for daring to place yourself at my level despite just being a collateral descendant. These all need—"
Without waiting for Cyan to finish, Eugene turned to Nina and said, "Nina."
"Y-yes."
"You're my personal attendant, right?"
"Yes… Although I am undeserving of this role, I have temporarily been assigned as Master Eugene's personal attendant."
"If that's the case, then instead of standing there, melting in the sunlight, go and clean the carriage that I rode in on."
"...Yes?"
Nina had already decided that if Cyan and Ciel were to get bored and leave, then she would of course go ahead and clean the carriage herself. So she didn't think that Eugene was giving her an unreasonable order, as it was only a matter of doing the task now rather than later.
However, Nina couldn't understand why Eugene would give her such an order under the current circumstances. Didn't he realize that one of the devilish twins was standing right in front of him? Eugene's behavior showed an open disregard to Cyan's orders.
"What do you think you're doing?" Cyan burst out.
"I'm just getting the carriage cleaned," Eugene explained.
"I told you to do it yourself!"
"Why should I when there's someone who'll do it for me?"
"I was ordering you to clean the carriage!"
"And who are you to give me orders?"
"I… I am Cyan Lionheart."
"Okay, and I'm Eugene Lionheart. Nice to meet you," with a bored look on his face, Eugene waved his hand.
Reacting to this, Ciel's hands rose to cover a broad grin as she giggled in amusement even as Cyan's jaw dropped open foolishly.
"And I'm Ciel Lionheart," Ciel introduced herself, still giggling.
After glancing briefly at his cheeky little sister, Cyan took a deep breath.
"You… there is no way that I can get along with you."
"That's quite the disappointment," Eugene commented with a disinterested look.
Ignoring Eugene, Cyan continued, "Because you keep ignoring my orders."
"That's because I'm not in a position that requires me to listen to your orders."
"And furthermore… you have also insulted me for the last time," Cyan finally finished.
"Wowzers," was Eugene's latest witty reply.
With each word out of Eugene's mouth, a rage was stoked in Cyan's chest.
Why was he standing here talking to this bastard? This wasn't why they had come out here and approached this country bumpkin.
As the young master of the main family, once he gave an order, the other person was supposed to follow his command without a protest. Cyan's head was about to burst from offended stubbornness and pride.
'So, brother, are you just going to let that slide?' Ciel leaned against him and fluttered her eyelashes in anticipation.
"A duel," Cyan answered her unvoiced question.
This wasn't an attempt to live up to his sister's expectations for him, but because Cyan couldn't bear to be looked down on any longer. Having received such disrespect from this country bumpkin, if he didn't do anything in return, he just knew that he was in for several days of teasing at his sister's hands.
"You have looked down on me and insulted me. As such, we must duel," Cyan declared.
"What amazing logic," Eugene said as he laughed at how ridiculous Cyan's thought processes were.
He had never thought that something like a duel challenge would come from the mouth of this thirteen-year-old kid.
"Hey pal, something like a challenge to a duel isn't something you should do so casually," Eugene advised him.
"Who's your pal?" Cyan retorted angrily.
"If you don't want to be friends, then fine. In any case, don't say anything that you'll regret and just go. Stop bothering me already."
"You're scared, right?" Cyan said, proudly raising his chin at Eugene as if he had known that Eugene would react like that.
Although it was an obvious provocation, Eugene glared at Cyan through squinted eyes as he repeated, "Scared?"
"That's right. It's obvious that you're scared. If you're too afraid to duel me, then just quickly apologize."
"And what should I do if I'm not afraid, but I don't want to fight, and I don't want to apologize?"
"Don't you even know what honor is?"
"I do know that it isn't a word that you should utter so lightly."
"You… You're insulting me again?"
For some reason, Cyan felt deeply insulted every time Eugene spoke. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Cyan lifted a hand to a pocket on his chest.
"Don't," Eugene said with a frown. "A duel isn't something you recklessly jump into."
'That son of a bitch. Who does he think he is to keep telling me what to do?' Cyan thought as he scowled at Eugene and pulled out his handkerchief.
"If you're afraid, then just admit it! Don't try to run away from our duel by spouting all these denials! Haven't your parents taught you what honor means?!"
"Oh," Eugene said, tilting his head in response to these accusatory words.
While Eugene looked at him like he was stupid, Cyan rejoiced at the thought that Eugene had finally fallen for his provocation. So he held out the handkerchief and spread it wide open, inviting Eugene to take a close look.
"This is really the last time I'll say this. Beg me for forgiveness, and then—"
"Throw it," Eugene said as he untied the sandbags hanging off his body. "You wanted to duel, so just throw it already."
"...huh?" Cyan responded dumbly.
"I said, throw it."
Bang!
First, the sandbags on his left arm fell to the ground. Cyan's expression froze and then stiffened as the impact sent a shockwave of dust rising into the air.
"...You…"
"The handkerchief, are you going to throw it or not?" Eugene prompted.
Bang!
Then the sandbags on his right arm also fell. Lastly, Eugene pulled off his chainmail vest and threw it behind him. The vest flew quite a ways before falling to the ground with a heavy racket. Cyan's jaw dropped open at this scene.
"Uwah," Ciel had been enjoying the show as if she was just a bystander, but now, she also let out an exclamation at this sight.
Eugene bent down and started taking off the sandbags tied to his legs.
"...You… You must have trained your mana…!" Cyan who, until this point, had been frozen with his mouth hanging yelped in outrage.
Children of the collateral lines weren't allowed to train their mana until the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony. This was a long-standing Lionheart family tradition. Only the children of the main house could train their mana and wield real weapons from an early age.
This tradition was now being trampled right in front of his eyes. This was no longer something that he could respond to with simple irritation and a tantrum.
"I haven't trained it though?" Eugene replied with a confused expression.
He wasn't lying. He could have started training his mana once he reached the crawling stage of infancy, but he hadn't.
It was because he didn't want to land his father, Gerhard, in trouble for no reason; and also, since he had been reincarnated as a descendant of Vermouth, he wanted to use Vermouth's own training method.
"That's obviously a lie…! Without training your mana, how could you possibly be able to handle such weight?!
"It's the result of the training I've done since I turned seven."
"Don't lie to me!"
"It's not like you've tried it out for yourself, so why keep accusing me of lying. If you're still suspicious of me, you can check it during our duel."
Eugene sat down and began untying the sandbags from the spear. Cyan was watching this happen with wide eyes when he felt his sister's eager gaze rest on him. He also felt a terrified gaze coming from Nina, who didn't seem to know what to do. The annex's other servants were also showing interest in the commotion from the gymnasium and had gathered around the windows into the room.
Cyan was the first to bring up the duel. He was also the one who pulled out a handkerchief, pestered Eugene despite his protests, and finally questioned Eugene's honor. Considering all this, he couldn't back down after coming this far. On top of that, he needed to confirm the sin of a collateral descendant training their mana before the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony.
If it was confirmed that Eugene had trained his mana, then he was in for punishment. But if Cyan were to keep his mouth shut and back down at this point, then it was clear that his sister would make fun of him not just for a few days but for eternity. So before doing anything else, Cyan picked up a wooden sword that had fallen nearby. It was the wooden sword that Eugene had been swinging earlier.
"...I challenge you to a duel!" Cyan cried out as he threw the handkerchief at Eugene.
The fluttering handkerchief fell onto Eugene's shoulder. This happened just as Eugene was untying the last sandbag hanging from the spear.
"I accept," Eugene said, with a nod, as he rose to his feet.
Cyan felt thrilled going into the first duel of his life. The moment he had thrown out his handkerchief, Cyan's heart had begun pounding with excitement. This arrogant fool was a sinner who had ignored family tradition. How should Cyan go about punishing him? In what manner should he teach this fool a lesson so that his younger sister could also admire his magnificence?
His thoughts came to a screeching halt right at this point.
Just as Eugene got to his feet, he thrust out his spear.
Conscious of the fact that he was only holding a wooden sword in his right hand, Cyan had taken a few steps back to get some distance, but he still wasn't able to properly react to the movement of the spear.
Bam!
The tip of the spear slammed into Cyan's stomach.
"Kuargh!"
Along with this scream, Cyan was sent rolling across the ground.