It was the third day since I stood beside His Highness, and nothing like that night had occurred. That was because he didn’t sleep at all during the nights. His Highness would lightly drink alcohol late at night while handling work.
Not only did he examine official documents, but several strategists would come and go from the room as if he was planning something big. I couldn’t know what conversations they were having due to magic, but it seemed his political enemies hadn’t completely disappeared yet.
‘No matter how good his stamina is, he shouldn’t be doing this.’
Whenever His Highness stopped his hands and stared blankly at the corpse on the bed, guilt swirled within me. Each time, a strong impulse to immediately get rid of that corpse arose, but I wasn’t confident that was the right judgment.
Time flowed on like that without anything being resolved. While everyone except me was moving forward, I felt like I was being dragged along without knowing what to do.
“Tomorrow, the Imperial Palace Swordsmanship Tournament for Academy graduates will be held for three days.”
“Ah, I’ve heard about it and know of it.”
“Have you ever participated?”
Academy students attended competitions related to their field before graduation. Especially swordsmen and offensive magic users had the qualification to hold their tournament at the Imperial Palace once eight people remained, and if they placed in the top three, they could work within the Imperial Palace. Moreover, even if they didn’t place in the top three, if their skills were decent they would often be employed by high-ranking nobles, so everyone would grit their teeth and work hard. Commoners especially participated enthusiastically.
‘I also placed second in that tournament.’
But I didn’t know about Aila. For now, he was definitely at a level that could never pass the preliminaries, but there was a low probability he might not have attended the tournament at all.
‘With this guy, it’s quite possible.’
Wondering how to answer, I chose the side with the higher probability.
“I did participate in the tournament. Of course, I was eliminated in the preliminaries, so Sir Ken probably doesn’t know about it.”
“You’re not at a level to be eliminated in the preliminaries though. Your swordsmanship is excellent at defense and finding weaknesses. Even if it can’t be called exceptionally outstanding, you have sufficient growth potential.”
It was unexpected since I knew he wasn’t the type to say this kind of empty flattery. It seemed practicing swordsmanship in Aila’s body hadn’t been completely useless after all.
“Thank you for the praise. I’ve been practicing hard recently.”
“I see. There are often cases where one’s true skill manifests belatedly. Try to build up your stamina and muscle strength a bit more.”
Sir Ken was immediately convinced. He was also a typical knight, so it was comfortable that he didn’t search for hidden meanings within words.
“Thank you for the advice.”
“To return to the swordsmanship tournament talk, you will stay attached to my side. That way, even if you make a mistake, I can block it for you.”
Even though he gave me plenty of praise, in the eyes of a skilled knight, I clearly didn’t have the ability to provide close protection. I was also worried whether I might just be a hindrance, so what difference could there be in others’ eyes?
“When there are events like this, more security is attached, and we’ve already narrowed down candidates who might attack and dealt with them in advance, so there’s no need to make such a worried face.”
“Yes. I will do my best.”
Perhaps my lack of confidence showed, as Sir Ken added a word and patted my shoulder.
* * *
“From now on, there will be a match between Sir Senton and Sir Fiage.”
The two knights came forward and politely greeted Her Majesty Empress Bellona and His Highness the Crown Prince, then greeted the audience once more. Since His Majesty the Emperor could not attend due to health reasons, Empress Bellona was the highest-ranking person at this venue.
I tried hard not to turn my eyes in that direction.
‘She won’t cause any trouble today, will she?’
Empress Bellona was originally an imperial consort, but she was someone who rose to that position after Her Majesty Empress Aina, His Highness’s birth mother, passed away. I didn’t know when I had just become a knight, but they said she, along with the Second Prince, always aimed for His Highness’s life.
Her backing, the Arsein Family, was also powerful among the noble faction, so they didn’t collapse easily. Seeing how they cleverly pulled out their feet and survived this time too, they were certainly tenacious.
‘It was fortunate that His Majesty at least supported His Highness.’
Though there was also the reason that the Second Prince was violent and not particularly bright.
“Sir Aila, is the match boring?”
His Highness spoke to me, perhaps noticing that I was focusing my attention on the area around Her Majesty the Empress rather than the arena. His eyes were still looking ahead, but I had no idea how he noticed.
‘Though he was always like this originally.’
He was someone who would discover things alone that other knights didn’t notice, so it wasn’t surprising that he noticed the presence of just one person like me.
“I apologize. I was keeping my guard up about the surroundings.”
“I told you, you have nothing to do. Just watch the match with me. Who do you think will win, Sir Aila?”
When I slowly turned my eyes to the arena, two knights were engaged in a fierce battle. The one wearing a white bracelet on his wrist was Sir Senton, and the one wearing a black bracelet was Sir Fiage. Both had decent skills for Academy students, but they weren’t so exceptionally outstanding.
I pondered what the correct answer would be. Many parts had gone awry from the plan, but for now I tried to maintain the pretense of imitating Aila as I had been doing.
‘Since I haven’t decided what to do. Let’s just maintain the status quo.’
I knew it wasn’t a very wise method, but I couldn’t think of another move right away.
“Both are so excellent I can’t be certain, but um… I hope Sir Senton wins.”
“Not ‘I think he’ll win’ but ‘I hope he wins’? Do you know him personally?”
“No.”
“Then I’m curious why you’re cheering for that side. Because he’s a commoner?”
It took considerable courage to voice the words I had thought up in front of His Highness.
“W-well, Sir Senton is closer to my taste.”
It was more Aila’s taste than my taste though. After forcing out the words with difficulty, regret passed through me, wondering if even Aila, as much of a troublemaker as he was, would have done this in front of His Highness.
“What?”
Rarely, a disbelieving question flowed from His Highness’s mouth. I just bowed my head deeply.
“Yes, I heard about your taste that doesn’t discriminate against anything… but I didn’t know you’d have such thoughts even while watching a swordsmanship tournament.”
“I deeply apologize.”
His Highness’s voice lowered by a tone. As I thought, this remark was too much, and I was reflecting when the questions I thought were over continued.
“I’m curious what about Sir Senton is to your taste. Do you like tall people? Or do you like those who look a bit stupid?”
It was somewhat harsh criticism since Sir Senton couldn’t possibly look stupid while in combat. But it would be even stranger to point out to His Highness that those words were wrong.
“A moderate amount of muscle looks good. And, he seems tall too.”
It seemed Aila wouldn’t be too picky about body type as long as it wasn’t brutish, but since his opponent Sir Fiage happened to be exactly that type, I had just said something random.
“I see. I understand Sir Aila’s taste well.”
A brief silence flowed. Feeling like I was sinking deeper into a quagmire the more I spoke, I quickly shut my mouth. The worst part was that Sir Senton truly won.
“It seems to be thanks to your support. I’m very curious who you’ll cheer for in the next match.”
If only I could go back one minute, I wanted to grab myself by the collar and shake myself.
