I Became an Outcast in the Academy

2. Duel (3)

From a very young age, I roamed the battlefield as a mercenary and ultimately survived.

That is not to say that I was able to survive until the end because I was the strongest on the battlefield.

Back then, I was so young that there were countless people stronger than me on the battlefield, and more importantly, in the chaotic warzone, one’s strength wasn’t a crucial factor unless they were a master-level fighter.

There were only two important factors for surviving in a war: never being off guard and never sympathizing with the enemy.

Although these factors seem very simple at first glance, I had witnessed countless people losing their lives in vain because they failed to uphold these two rules.

That is why, when I fight someone, I never let my guard down and face my enemy with all of my strength.

And that was no exception in this duel.

Bang!

“Cough!”

Bang!

“You, you damned bastard! I clearly warned you to stop-“

Bang!

I grabbed Ricardo by the back of his head and silently

“What? I can’t hear you well.”

He didn’t say the word ‘surrender’ clearly. So, it’s not a surrender.

In other words, there’s no reason for me to stop hitting his head.

Just as I raised my arm to hit him again and knock him down to the ground-

“That’s enough. Stop now.”

The fencing instructor, who had approached me without me noticing, was holding my arm.

“…Professor?”

“Ricardo, the student, is already in a combat-disabled state. No more attacks are needed.”

Hearing that, I looked at Ricardo’s face, and his pupils were already out of focus.

As I gasped for breath and stared at Ricardo, the fencing instructor calmly announced the result of the duel.

“As a result of the duel, Ricardo, the representative of Eli, can no longer continue the fight. Therefore, the result of this duel is…”

“Eli’s defeat, and Sian’s victory.”

****

“Ahahahaha! Well done! Very well done, Sian!”

After the victory in the duel with Ricardo, Cartesia was showing the happiest expression I had ever seen.

“I thought you would never let anyone, even our brother, get away with anything, but I really couldn’t imagine you’d grind that stupid face into the ground, huh?”

Even while saying this, Cartesia couldn’t stop laughing, seemingly enjoying the whole situation.

“…Um, did I do something wrong? Even though he’s the crown prince, was it a bit too much to hit his head like that?”

From my perspective, I chose to resolve the issue as gently as possible rather than resorting to violence, but looking back now, my actions might not have been very aesthetically pleasing.

Besides, Ricardo was a strong opponent. Although he couldn’t use his abilities properly against me and was defeated so easily, he wasn’t originally an opponent I could easily beat.

I thought that underestimating or going easy on such a strong person and having a duel would disgrace the opponent.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. Duels are like that, aren’t they? Even if it’s at the expense of getting oneself hurt, they’re about trying to hurt others. Your duel with Ricardo was justified, and even the observers acknowledged it. Complaining about the duel’s contents now is impossible according to the imperial customs and laws. Even if it’s His Majesty, he won’t be able to say anything to you.”

“…Even the emperor can’t say anything about the results of a duel? As long as it’s a fair duel?”

“That’s right. Who in the world would want to have a duel if they could just reverse the results with their own power? The only regrettable thing is that I wish you had destroyed our arrogant brother’s head a bit more… But, it’s all in the past now.”

Cartesia said that and opened her mouth with a carefree attitude that seemed to have no worries.

“So, let’s relax and wait to see what the conference will babble about the result of this duel. They’re probably panicking with the news of your victory by now, right?”

However, since there was something bothering me, I couldn’t just celebrate my victory as innocently as Cartesia.

There was something I had to see and confirm with my own eyes.

“…Um, sorry, but I’m going to visit the recovery room.”

“The recovery room? Why? Did you get hurt during the duel just now?”

I look at Cartesia, who is looking at me with a surprised and worried expression, and force a bitter smile.

“I’m not hurt. I just thought I’d check on Riccardo.”

“Riccardo? Why bother with that guy?”

“Still, he got injured because of me, so I just want to see how he’s doing.”

“After squeezing him like that earlier, now you’re trying to act kind.”

Cartesia snickers and pushes me on the back. It’s a kind of signal to quickly go and then play with her.

It seems that my beating Riccardo like a dog has made Cartesia very generous.

After obtaining Cartesia’s permission, I quickly made my way towards the recovery room.

And my face was chillingly cold, unlike when I was in front of Cartesia.

‘Something’s off.’

This duel, from beginning to end, is full of things I don’t understand.

First, the fact that Eli didn’t participate in the duel and Riccardo acted as Eli’s representative is one thing.

Of course, judging from Riccardo’s hint to me before the duel, it’s clear that he has held a grudge against me for a very long time.

In that case, it’s not entirely unlikely that he asked Eli to attend this duel as his representative to take care of me.

But wasn’t the reason this duel was set up in the first place part of the plan to drive me out of Lutra?

Yet, is it possible that the plan devised by the smartest person I know, Leticia or Robelia, is so shoddy? Just because I defeated Riccardo in the duel, does it mean all their plans are over?

‘Can it be true?’

Ultimately, I saw it clearly.

Just a moment ago, when Riccardo was thoroughly defeated by my hand, Leticia and Robelia’s faces, rather than being flustered, were looking at me with a composed expression.

Their faces were not those of the defeated, no matter how much I think about it.

If it was the face of a winner enjoying that all plans were going as they wanted, maybe.

That’s why at this moment, my intuition was instinctively telling me.

Where should I go to face those kids and find out what the truth is?

Sigh.

Lost in thought, I found myself standing in front of the recovery room before I knew it.

And the door of the recovery room… It was slightly ajar.

If it stayed like this, I could easily eavesdrop on whatever conversation was happening inside the recovery room.

“…..”

Quietly concealing my presence, I tilted my ear to catch what conversation was going on inside the recovery room.

Eventually, though faint, the sound of Leticia and Robelia talking to each other started to reach my ears.

“…Tsk, idiot. I couldn’t believe it, but it’s really them. I had a hunch it would turn out like this ever since they acted all high and mighty.”

“Yeah, what did I say? Our Prince Hwang is just a lucky fool who used up all his luck being born into royalty. Well, I guess on the flip side, that’s the only thing remotely charming about him.”

“Even if that’s the case, publicly, they are in a romantic relationship. Isn’t it a bit too harsh? At times like this, shouldn’t you be whispering words of love to the man who willingly dueled for you and collapsed, losing his consciousness?”

“True, watching it like this, it’s kind of endearing. Somehow, he’s so unique, moving just as we imagined. He’s a man like no other.”

“In that sense, I guess if our older brother looked even half like this man, we’d have no wishes left. We wouldn’t need to fuss over giving the sword to our older brother and all that.”

In an instant, my heart thudded loudly. I felt like I was going to be sick.

I didn’t want to hear any more. I wanted to move my legs and get away from this place right now.

I prayed fervently. Please, just don’t say those words. You can curse me, you can blame me for not raising you in a rich environment all this time, but please, not those words.

“Now, the final piece is in place. With this, I can finally be sure to kick our older brother out of the academy. This is the last piece that can make it possible.”

But in the end, the cruel truth I had been trying to ignore finally spilled out of Leticia’s lips.

“Finally, our older brother won’t be part of the family anymore. And I won’t have to pretend to be a good little sister anymore.”

“Aah, if I had known it would turn out like this, I wish Si An hadn’t been my brother from the beginning.”

Now, I had to admit it.

I was wrong.

I had been thinking wrongly all this time.

My younger sisters, from a long time ago, had never thought of me as family.

The only person who thought of them and me as a family was… only me.

The world I believed in, the family, had finally collapsed.