The Protagonist of the Founding Festival (3)
Clang.
Lloyd’s sword came flying in with vicious force once again.
Edwin barely managed to deflect it before spinning in a full circle.
“Big broooother! You can’t loooose!”
Emilia’s voice rang out from a distance.
Emilia, the role your brother accepted is the one who loses.
He wanted to answer his little sister, but there was no time for that.
Edwin dropped to one knee as though collapsing, preparing for the next movement.
In that instant, his gaze met a pair of beautiful green eyes.
Bridget.
Today, of all days, Bridget looked exceptionally lovely.
She stood with her hands clasped tightly, watching him with worried eyes.
“…Oh.”
“What?”
Lloyd stared at Edwin, who had suddenly begun muttering to himself, with a strange look.
Then he adjusted his grip on the sword, preparing to deliver the final blow.
After all, the original sword dance was meant to conclude in another two exchanges or so. Ending it a little early wouldn’t strike anyone as odd. They would simply assume a few moves had been skipped.
“Time to finish this…”
“Nooo!”
At that moment, Edwin’s eyes flew wide open and he charged straight at Lloyd.
“Wh-what the—!”
Startled, Lloyd thrust his sword forward in a panic.
The instant their blades collided, Lloyd was shoved backward.
Edwin had pushed him back with nothing but raw power.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!”
Lloyd shouted, his face twisted in confusion.
“Are you trying to ruin the perfor—”
“I just thought this would be much more entertaining, Brother.”
Indeed, he hadn’t wanted to lose so easily.
He had accepted the role of the loser, but he wanted to fulfill that duty properly—at least go down after giving his all.
Not be forced into defeat by some ridiculous scheme.
“This isn’t fun at all.”
Edwin flashed a bright smile, revealing his white teeth.
His face glistened with sweat.
“If the evil dragon falls too easily…”
The evil dragon had been the final trial the founding emperor had to overcome to establish the empire.
Therefore, it was only right for the ‘evil dragon’ to block the emperor’s path with every ounce of its strength.
“Don’t worry, Brother.”
Edwin’s eyes sparkled as he gave an innocent, sunny smile.
“I’ll do my absolute best to lose in a truly spectacular fashion.”
And so the evil dragon spread its wings.
Edwin abandoned his purely defensive stance and unleashed a fierce offensive.
His swordplay revealed the basic forms used by the Third Legion knights—yet executed with far greater precision and speed.
“Y-you—!”
Lloyd was half-dazed by the barrage of attacks.
Simply keeping his sword from flying out of his grip took all his concentration.
In the meantime, Edwin’s strikes grew sharper and sharper.
“Haaah!”
“Ugh!”
But Lloyd had been born with genuine talent for the blade.
Though his expression was strained, he somehow managed to block every single one of his half-brother’s attacks.
The movements have grown monotonous.
While the evil dragon’s original sword dance had been flamboyant, Edwin’s version was far more straightforward.
It couldn’t be helped; the forms were designed not to look beautiful, but solely to attack the opponent.
Besides, Edwin had only recently begun learning proper swordsmanship. With so few techniques at his disposal, his movements were inevitably simple.
“You fool!”
Lloyd smiled triumphantly as he watched Edwin charge in.
He mercilessly struck aside the blade slicing upward from waist to shoulder.
“Ah!”
Edwin staggered, momentarily losing his balance.
Lloyd wasn’t about to miss the opening.
“Die!”
With a brutally vicious shout, Lloyd swung his blunted sword toward Edwin’s neck.
But the second prince’s blade bounced off something with a sharp clang.
The metallic ring echoed as Lloyd was driven back two full steps.
“Wh-what?”
He looked around in bewilderment.
Edwin, who had tumbled after losing his footing, wore an equally confused expression.
“Why have they stopped?”
“Is something wrong?”
“It looks like the sword dance is already over.”
The audience whispered among themselves as they watched the suddenly motionless princes.
It seemed no one else in the grand hall had noticed the anomaly on stage.
Except for one person—the third prince’s nanny, standing at the very edge of the crowd.
Good grief.
I had prided myself on being hard to surprise.
Yet I stared in utter shock at the man seated across from me.
Kaiden Ram, King of Adamant, wore a pleasant smile as he chatted amiably with the envoy from another nation beside him.
This is absurd.
I had seen it clearly.
Kaiden had thrown the small fork from his hand, knocking Lloyd’s blade aside.
He had hurled it so fast it was nearly invisible to the naked eye, with enough force to send Lloyd staggering backward while still gripping his sword.
So I wasn’t the only one who noticed…
I had thought no one else had caught it, but there was one other.
I glanced at Jerome standing beside the emperor.
He kept stealing glances at Kaiden with the same incredulous look I wore.
That fork probably flew straight out of the stage area.
It was likely lodged somewhere beneath the envoys’ table by now. The maids cleaning the hall later would simply assume someone had dropped it.
Strange.
I frowned, studying Kaiden intently.
There’s no way I wouldn’t know about a man like him.
They said the King of Adamant had only just passed twenty.
If our paths had crossed before my death, he would have been no older than his late teens.
A monster like that never revealed his presence even once until now?
Kaiden Ram.
With both his appearance and his skill, he would have drawn attention anywhere he went.
In that case, information about him should have filtered into Angel’s Breath bit by bit.
I really don’t understand.
To know nothing about someone who clearly knew me—it was downright embarrassing for a former guild master.
But what confuses me even more is…
I narrowed my eyes.
Why did he help Edwin?
If Kaiden hadn’t thrown that fork, Lloyd’s sword would have struck Edwin’s neck cleanly.
Even a practice blade has a sharp edge.
It might not have been life-threatening, but it could easily have left a scar he would carry for the rest of his life.
The mere thought of a prince bearing a large scar on his neck made my skin crawl at how viciously people would gossip about it.
“Both of you performed admirably.”
The emperor finally spoke, as if to bring the situation under control.
“From the middle onward, the tension was so high I almost wondered if it was the sword dance I remembered.”
He shot a piercing look at Lloyd, who stood awkwardly in place.
Lloyd flinched and averted his gaze, clearly afraid his mistake had been noticed.
“I am truly proud that our princes exerted themselves so for today’s entertainment. Especially…”
The emperor’s gaze shifted to Edwin, still seated on the floor.
“The movements the third prince displayed near the end were so fierce and dynamic that I truly felt as though I were watching a real evil dragon.”
At the words “a real evil dragon,” quiet laughter rippled through the envoy seats.
Though a small, pretty boy like Edwin seemed an odd match for the title, everyone appeared to acknowledge that he had perfectly captured the evil dragon’s desperation and venom.
“Having enjoyed the entertainment prepared by the princes, I now hope you will all savor the performance I have prepared.”
At the emperor’s gesture, servants ascended the stage and escorted both Edwin and Lloyd down.
At the same time, a host of dancers flowed onto the stage, performing graceful, flowing movements.
“Ahem. Now this is how a banquet should feel.”
“Bring more wine!”
It seemed the envoys found the dancers far more to their taste than the princes’ performance.
Cheers erupted from every corner, and calls for more alcohol rang out.
Thus, the night of the Founding Festival banquet blossomed into full bloom.
“Still, Prince Edwin’s movements earlier were extraordinary. Do you suppose he’s been receiving separate sword training…?”
“He even seemed better than Prince Lloyd…”
That day, a new topic began circulating among the empire’s nobles.
“Even His Majesty praised him personally.”
The third prince’s transformation—from a nobody to the evil dragon.
In the days that followed, certain nobles whispered in secret.
That perhaps a seismic shift was coming in the struggle for the imperial throne.
“Well now.”
Kaiden leaned against the doorframe, wearing that familiar languid smile.
“I didn’t expect you to visit again.”
“The other maids have their hands full tonight.”
I looked up at him and answered calmly.
“So you’ll have to make do with me this evening.”
“Our dear nanny has a way of saying things that could cause quite the misunderstanding.”
How amusing.
If he truly feared being misunderstood, he never would have summoned maids to his chambers night after night in the first place.
“I thought you were the type who didn’t mind such misunderstandings.”
“That’s not entirely wrong.”
Kaiden stepped aside as though my attitude pleased him.
“Well then, come in.”
He stood with his arms crossed, smiling softly.
“You are always welcome, after all.”