ALL NOVEL Chapter 6:Tournament
I was sitting on my mother's lap in the upper section of a long, open arena. The celebrations for my birth were still ongoing, and now a tournament was being held. Hundreds of people had participated in this tournament, hoping to showcase their skills and secure employment from the nobles present. All the fighters in this tournament had already competed in a previous tournament, and only those who had succeeded there were eligible to compete today. This meant that all the fighters who would take the arena today had already proven their strength.
The white sand quickly became stained with blood, but because of its quick absorption, the ground was swiftly cleaned. As I looked down, I saw truly skilled fighters, but one in particular caught my attention. She was a very beautiful woman with slender arms and a narrow waist, likely around 12-13 years old, wielding a sword that resembled a long needle. She had already killed many fighters. At that moment, she was fighting a man with large muscles and a long beard.
"That girl is finished. The person she fought is called Tahmeud and he was the winner of the second arena's elimination tournament." the well-dressed boy in the back said in a low voice.
This boy was probably the son of one of my father's concubines. Over the past few days, I had noticed that the children of concubines bore the same silver eagle symbol, which they wore as necklaces, bracelets, or on their clothes. In front of them stood eight beautiful women, likely my father's concubines. I only assumed this because they didn’t bear any symbol or emblem, but their proximity to the king made it a reasonable guess. My mother and Isabella, and another blonde woman were standing right next to the king. Behind them stood the eight women.
When the crowd began to cheer wildly, I turned back to the arena and looked in shock. The muscular man was lying on the ground, covered in blood, at the feet of the girl with the slender sword. Shortly after, she quickly set her eyes on another opponent and brought him down within seconds. When the fight ended in just an hour, the last person standing was this beautiful girl with the slender sword.
The entire arena was still staring at the girl in amazement. She calmly approached our area and knelt down. My father stood up and leaned his hand on the railing of the high balcony we were on for support.
"Introduce yourself, champion." he said in a loud voice.
"I am Emilia von Bleytian. I humbly bow before our great king and wish for him to grant my humble request" the girl said.
From the furrowing of my father's brows, I could tell he knew this girl or her family. I then strained my ears to listen to the murmurs behind me.
"Which family is this?"
"Isn't it the fallen family?"
"Shush, be quiet," one concubine hushed them.
"What do you want?" Said my father
"It is the humble wish of someone as insignificant as me to serve the great kingdom of Asina and the great King Richard" said the girl.
After looking at her for a while, my father spoke. "If you have any motivation to avenge your family, you'd better forget it now. " When he said this, I saw the girl flinch slightly. My father then looked at her for a few more seconds before continuing.
"I officially appoint you as a royal guard, and your duty is to protect my newborn son with your life. Do you accept these terms?"
"It is an honor for me, Your Majesty" she said and she looked at me out of the corner of his eye
"Come up here" he said, and she ran upstairs with the guards.
When she reached my father, she knelt down and bowed her head again. My father approached her and began to speak. "With the divine authority bestowed upon me by my ancestors, I hereby declare this girl in front of me, through her bravery and success, as a royal guard of the great kingdom of Asina. You may rise."
With these words, Emilia stood up and looked at my father without taking her eyes off him, but since she was still young, she couldn't look the king in the eye. Immediately, a servant brought a wooden stool and placed it in front of Emilia. Emilia climbed onto the stool, hiding her embarrassment, but she still only came up to the king's chest. Undoubtedly, my father was a tall and built man by the this world's standards. Smiling at this situation, my father took a brooch from the well-dressed man beside him, who appeared to be a servant or aide, and pinned it to Emilia's chest. He then struck the brooch firmly, and fortunately, Emilia didn't fall off the stool despite the difficulty.
It was clear that this was a known tradition of becoming a royal guard. Emilia stepped down from the stool, bowed her head again, came over to me, and stood behind my mother. When I turned my head slightly to look at her, I saw her smiling. When she realized I was looking at her, she blushed with embarrassment and quickly stopped smiling. I turned back to the arena, quite pleased with the situation.
I had just acquired an incredibly talented girl despite her young age, and it was certain she had great potential. Unfortunately, I was still a baby and couldn't help her development, but even if I wanted to, I couldn't do it right now. Compared to this world and its abnormal powers, I was no different from a bug. I had to change that. It was evident from the eyes of my siblings looking at me that they didn't like me much. Apart from the children of the principal wives, most of the concubines' children didn't like me either. Clearly, the battle for the throne had already begun, and I was too young for it.
Despite being a baby, I could form complex thoughts and logical plans. The only thing I could do right now was to make as many plans and backup plans as possible. But first and foremost, I needed to know who was an enemy and who was an ally, and since I had plenty of time, I needed to figure this out over time. For now, the best plan was to make more plans.
I snapped out of my thoughts when another team entered the arena and looked at the arena. It seemed the previous match was just the beginning. But since I was still a baby and had been awake for a long time, my eyes closed. I needed sleep to grow healthy, so I didn't resist.
When I woke up, it was already dark, and I realized I had woken up because my mother had taken me in her arms. Emilia was standing right next to us, accompanying us. After my mother closed the door, she opened her chest, and understanding her intention, I started drinking my daily sweet milk. Since Emilia was a woman, there was no problem, and she stood by the door to ensure no one entered. Seeing me greedily drinking her milk, my mother let me hear her sweet giggle.
Half an hour later, we entered a room as large as the throne room while I was in my mother's arms and saw many people eating at tables. Except for Emilia and another female guard, the guards accompanying us waited outside. We approached a large window with beautiful embroidery at the back. The king, his two wives, and my siblings were sitting at a long table. The feast soon began, but when I felt a strange sensation on my back, I looked back over my mother's shoulder. A girl with green eyes was gazing at me. Interestingly, this little thing had been watching me since the day of the fate water ceremony. At first, I thought she was a foolish child, but... I think I still consider her a foolish child.