'His Highness was never a man to bluff.'
Sian, whom Elena remembered, was never a man ahead of words. So she wanted to check with her eyes.
What was wrong with the future she knew, or did she not know the true nature of Sian. Either way, she thought she would have to find a clear answer to solve the problem.
"Come on, come on!"
When the horseman pulled the reins, the wheels of the rolling carriage stopped.
First, Hurelbard got out of the carriage, knocked and opened the door with discipline.
Elena, who slightly lifted the hem of her skirt, got off the carriage with an escort.
She was light enough that she didn't have to wear a uniform during the official sword fighting festival, but they couldn't take their eyes off Elena, who was dressed in a refreshing dress.
If she had looked elegant at the art festival, she let herself be livened up by the lively atmosphere befitting an outdoor sword fighting festival.
"Why is the princess here?"
"It was the an art festival, so she liked the paintings. Did she come to see His Highness?"
"I think so."
"Lady Avella is rumored to have been shot down by His Highness. Look at that gait. I don't want to admit it, but I think she deserves the Crown Prince."
Elena looked at those gathered in twos and threes and listened to what was being said in one ear and dropped it in one ear.
In the past, she would have enjoyed the talk of her and the Crown Prince. But not anymore. She knew it was not a position that was her own.
The stadium, where the semi-finals of the swordsman festival would be held, was lined with circular stands centered on a rectangular duel field. The scale was quite large and magnificent.
Elena was placed in the special seats, which were reserved only for the royal family, high-ranking aristocrats, and descendants of the founding meritorious retainers.
The same was the case with a single dormitory, but the in the academy she was able to enjoy enormous benefits and discrimination just because of being the Grand Duke's daughter. Elena, seated in a special seat in the form of a terrace, overlooked the stadium.
Ren, who advanced to the semi-finals, was fighting for the right to advance to the finals at a glance.
Clang.
Within seconds, Ren's fierce teasing of the sword caused the opponent to lose the wooden sword in his hand. Ren's sword reached his opponent's neck because the wooden sword was on the floor.
"Winner Ren Bastasche. He's going to the finals!
Ren grinned with the wooden sword on his shoulder at the cry of the swordsmanship professor. The opponent closed his eyes and swallowed the resentment of defeat.
"Did you see that, just now?"
Elena asked Hurelbard, who was standing behind and watching the match, to comment.
"Yes, Sir Ren tricked him into pretending to stab, aiming quickly at his neck and breaking his sword. The embarrassed opponent recovered the wooden sword and blocked it, but his balance was already broken. Seizing the opportunity, Sir Ren swung, attacking alternately left and right, and unleashed his sword in a decisive slash"
"Is all of what you said right now what happened in that instant?"
"That's right."
"…"
Elena was speechless. Despite seeing the same moment, Elena only saw that he threw out the wooden sword that the opponent was holding when Ren wielded it once.
"How good is Ren's swordsmanship?"
"He's strong."
"What's the comparison with Sir James, the commander of the 2nd Knights?"
"Ren's swordsmanship would be stronger."
In spite of the difficult questions, Hurelbard told the truth about what he felt. Elena nodded silently. She thought that was why he was chosen as one of the three swords to protect the empire.
Ren's strength had long been recognized.
"What if you were to compete with Sir Ren? You don't have to tell me if it's too difficult to answer."
Elena knew. Nevertheless, the reason for asking the question was because she didn't know what was going to happen. She didn't right now, but she was trying to prepare herself in case she ran into Ren later.
Hurelbard could not speak easily. Beyond the gaze of Ren leaving the stadium, there was an imaginary duel with Ren.
"… I think it's half-and-half."
"Half and half. That's a wonder."
Elena laughed very satisfactorily. The same was true of the original history.
Officially, they had only had one chance to fight against each other, but Ren and Hurelbard had fought for half a day and still hadn't been able to come up with a winner.
If Hurelbard had said he was stronger than Ren because of his pride, she would have waited for him to mature more.
On the contrary, if he said he had a small chance of winning, she would have motivated him because he needed more training. But she didn't have to.
'Stay as you are, Sir Hurelbard.'
Elena allowed Hurelbard to do personal training when she was away from the dormitory. She said that no matter how much he had trained with his sword, it would pile up if he didn't use it, and she wanted to help him in his prime to train and become stronger.
At that time.
Ren, who was continuing his rain of laughter toward his blatantly defeated opponent, found Elena sitting in the special seat.
Despite the fact that the distance was quite long, it was not difficult to distinguish her with her unique blonde hair and the impression of the knight accompanying her.
"You wouldn't have come to see me, would you have come to see His Highness?"
Ren's mouth wriggled. Rather than the joy of winning the semi-finals, he became happier with the thought of how to challenge Veronica, not Lucia.
"Ren, go down."
Even though his opponent had already left the playing field, the professor who was refereeing rushed him when Ren didn't leave.
"I forgot because I was distracted by something more exciting than the competition."
"What?"
He was going to have to do something about Ren's blatant comments. His opponent, who had gone down the field first, was furious and stared at him like he was going to kill him.
But Ren laughed at him and whistled out of the stadium.
"Who is this? Your Highness is in it?"
He faced Sian walking to play in the second semi-final match up ahead.
Stroke.
Sian walked past Ren, treating him as an invisible man. Despite being ignored, Ren laughed, let alone hurt his feelings.
"You must win, Your Highness. You're going to lose, don't you think losing to me is a good picture?"
Sian ignored Ren's sarcasm and left for the match.
Ren, who had been looking at his back, turned around and came out of the hall.
As it was a place where only the participants and their acquaintances could enter, there were few people, and Ren leaned against the wall on the other side.
"Mel."
Over the wall, Ren called lowly, and Mel answered.
"I've been waiting."
Despite the fact that his voice was not loud, it was clearly heard in Ren's ears. It was a colloquial method that only comes down to Majesti, an organization specialized in assassination and tracking.
"Did you find out?"
"It wasn't totally fruitless."
"Let's talk."
Mel reported, feeling the power of short but submissive.
"While I was monitoring the safe house, I found out that a doctor who was treating Princess Veronica in the past came out of the garden."
"Is he still there?"
Ren's eyes quietly sank. His sharp mind, which he didn't usually use, quickly put together a sculpture based on the information Mel had brought.
"Yes. The strange thing is that the medicinal herbs used to detoxify the poison are still in the safe house. And the quantity has almost doubled from before."
"What?"
At that moment, Ren's eyes were full.
Soon the surprise spread to unbearable joy.
"What, is that right?"
Mel reported only two pieces of information, but that was enough.
This was because it was a confirmation that could instill confidence in the doubts that Ren had all along.
Mel asked, feeling curious about Ren's subtle way of speaking.
"Do you have any idea?"
"No, snap. I don't."
Ren smiled low as if he could not hold back his laughter.
"It's meaningless to keep an eye on the safe house any longer, so pull them out."
"Okay."
He thought he noticed something, but he didn't ask. He believed there was a good reason if Ren didn't tell him.
"Anything more to say?"
"It's late, but congratulations on your advance to the finals."
"There's no such thing as insulting congratulations. I've only won a kid's game."
"Sir may think so, but the patriarch is very pleased. He said he'd come to the final in person."
"Father?"
Mel nodded.
"He really wants to see you win."
"Say yes."
Mel's appearance first disappeared before Ren's dry answer faded.
Recognizing that he had left, Ren clenched his fist tightly and expressed joy with his whole body.
He even grabbed the wall and laughed like a madman.
"Really… what is this? You're an imposter and you tricked me? Like a fool?"
Ren's smile didn't leave his lips.
From the first meeting of the anniversary of the birth, to Lucia, who was staring at the studio, passed by like a lantern.
Every moment, he couldn't stop laughing when he remembered it.
Like a fool. Ren was amazed by himself.
It never occurred to him that Elena would take advantage of the fact that she was a fake Veronica and hurt the Grand Duke. It was just good.
That Lucia is not Veronica. Veronica is a fake. So… they're no longer cousins.
"Oh, I'm going crazy. She's fake, she's more Veronica-like than Veronica."
What did she believe that she was so confident in front of Ren? His lips twitched as he thought of his hatred of her for saying another word back to him without losing a word.
"You're a fake Lucia, and you're pretending to be his daughter without a care in the world?"
Ren chuckled as he thought of Emilio, the head of the Castol Chamber of Commerce, and Elena, who was playing the role of a kind father and daughter.