There is no distinction between men and women (1)
Rumors spread that the hated First Prince started bringing single-chain knights into the palace.
It was also known that these invited people were members of families who had grudges against the prince.
These sparring partners have been given a perfect excuse to go to the palace and get their revenge.
People predicted that the prince would pay for his wrongdoings against these apprentices and single-chain knights.
Of course, the prince will not be put in a position where his life would be at stake, but they thought that getting hurt would be inevitable.
It is well-known that the prince couldn’t wield the sword.
The people are excited about it and waited for news about the outcome of the matches.
However, no matter how long they have waited, they heard nothing, only rumors.
One rumor was that the youngest son of Baron Tailheim, who was the first sparring partner, arrived at the royal palace.
I will avenge my family’s honor.
However, they didn’t hear anything about the result of the match.
The same thing happened when the eldest son of a rural writer who was embarrassed at the palace was invited.
I will wield my sword on behalf of my father and the nobles of the kingdom.
There was no news as well after an apprentice knight, who was burning with determination, went in.
Fourth, fifth… seventh…
There were rumors of people coming into the palace for sparring, but no news of what happened after that.
People thought that sparring partners had been silenced. The prince would do anything to save his face.
Some people even thought that those who went in were detained.
Some people who couldn’t resist their curiosity anymore went out to search for the youngest son of Baron Tailheim to find out what happened in the sparring match.
The answer he gave was completely different from what people expected.
“He seems to be misunderstood. The First Prince was not as bad as the rumors go,” he said.
Even when the unfortunate history against his family was brought up, the youngest son of Baron Tailheim did not abandon his favorable attitude towards the prince.
“His Highness explained that what happened in the past was a misunderstanding,” he continued to explain, “and father has already accepted it.”
“So, what was the result of the sparring match?” the people wanted to know.
“I did my best… that’s it.”
People began talking about the answers they got from Baron Tailheim’s youngest son.
He must have been threatened to keep his mouth shut.
Or, he could have been bought by gold and silver so that no words were spoken about the sparring outcome.
There was no disagreement – something was definitely suspicious about this.
Even the other sparring partners have not spoken in detail.
“He didn’t threaten me. I just learned the truth about His Highness.”
“His Highness never made any coercion.”
However, no one believed their words.
Sealing their mouths would not have been so difficult.
The royal family must have intervened.
The people concluded that the royal family, who did not want the prince to continue disgracing them, stepped in and found a way to silence the sparring partners.
When the subject of the rumors heard about it, it caused a lot of embarrassment.
* * *
“Silenced them? What are you talking about?”
It was absurd that all the rumors focused on me because the sparring partners were embarrassed about the results of the matches and chose to keep quiet.
The conspiracy theory that he needed to have the royal family step in to prevent rumors was even more outlandish.
“Ha!” Uncle let out a small laugh. “Nobles have nothing to do. They are always interested in other people’s stories. This kingdom is overflowing with people wondering about your every move.”
“Really, they should be doing something productive, like I am.”
“You don’t say.” Uncle looked as if what I said was outrageous.
Only then did I remember whose body I am occupying and immediately shut my mouth. No one else has ever lived more unproductively than the First Prince.
I turned to the sparring partner who was resting in front of me.
“When you go out, tell them everything!” I yelled at him.
“Huh? I will, yes, Your Highness,” he said with a panicked expression.
Only after hearing his answer, I let him go. As always, I sent him off with a few gifts and letters prepared by the maids.
I think I underestimated the reputation of the First Prince.
A hesitant made reported back to me the news outside the kingdom a few hours after my recent sparring partner went out.
“That… the story was that His Highness was afraid and made the result of the sparring…
The rumors outside did not improve.
On the contrary, it got worse. Now, people think that I failed to win and faked the result.
“Ha, really.”
At that point, I opted to stop paying attention to the outside world. Anyway, whatever I do, they hate me.
“I’ll just practice, let’s practice…”
It’s been a month since I started doing sparring matches. The number of opponents I have faced has already reached twelve.
I was committed to practice the Dragon Sword and keep it under my control while dealing with them.
As a result, I was able to have control to some extent, although not perfect yet.
It was a bonus that I realized that the advantage of mana rings versus mana hearts is not absolute.
“The rings get the power to destroy mana hearts when there are multiple of them, not one. Those who have faced you were all single-chain, and have not reached the level to destroy you,” Uncle was quick to rebuke me when I said my opinion out loud.
However, even Uncle who scolded me so much was surprised by my growth in such a short time.
He did not tell me directly.
I heard it from others.
No, I guessed it.
“How many more opponents are coming?”
My maid quickly scanned the list before answering. “Nine people are left.”
“I need more…”
It seemed like yesterday when I started and felt overwhelmed by victory, but now, I am tired of these sparring matches.
To be precise, it was getting boring.
“These apprentices are not getting me excited at all,” I giggled. Carls Juli advised me not to be careless.
“The last one is someone who has quite a lot of skills, unlike those you have faced.”
“All those that came before is below average and were just depending on their mana ring,” he continued, “but the last one learned the proper swordsmanship.”
He continued speaking as he looked at the list.
“This is not someone who simply waves around the family’s sword, but a talented person who trained properly for knighthood. Arwen Kirgayenne, an apprentice, belonging to the Templar Knights.”
“Templar Knights?”
“In terms of its fame and skill, Templar Knights are at par with the top-level knights in the kingdom. Arwen Kirgayenne is one of those carefully selected talents and a prospect that is almost certain to be a full-fledged member in the future. Rumor has it that in sparring matches without using mana, even full-pledged knights cannot deal with her easily.”
I turned to the maid. “Why did she want to come to fight with me?”
The maid looked embarrassed. “Your Highness may not remember, but there was a slight misunderstanding between Your Highness and Arwen Kirgayenne…”
“What misunderstanding? It must have been a one-sided fight.”
I felt amazed at the First Prince’s behavior in the past. The ability to build grudges with so many people is, in some way, a talent.
Of course, it was a talent that isn’t to my benefit now.
The maid was hesitant to answer and simply looked down.
“What? Tell me, what did I do?” I asked her.
“That… Your Highness made fun of Arwen Kirgayenne…”
“Be more specific. Did I insult her?”
Carls Juli interrupted. “Your Highness, Arwen Kirgayenne is not a man, but a woman…”
The moment I heard it, a dark suspicion immediately loomed over my head. Carls continued.
“…Your Highness petted her body.”
“What? That’s completely crazy!” I screamed in disgust, followed by a stream of abusive language. “What a horny pig!”
Carls and the maid approached to calm me down.
“Your Highness, please be calm…”
“Your Highness was still young at that time…”
“Young?! How old was I?” I yelled.
“The age of Your Highness at that time…” the maid answered, “was fifteen.”
What an idiot! Molesting a woman?! Fifteen is old enough!
I felt like my body was full of dirt. I thought I could live with the karma committed by the First Prince, but this was not the case.
Molesting a woman was too much.
“And…” the maid trailed off.
“What? There’s more?!”
The maid hesitated for a long time before continuing.
“Your Highness said after he did it, ‘The ugly thing is too dirty, so I cleaned it with my hands.’”
It was too much.
“I am speechless. There is no answer,” I said, shaking my head in shame and anger.
After all, I knew that the First Prince was a mess. But I didn’t know he was this big a mess. A real mess that didn’t respect both men and women.
* * *
“I look forward to the day I see you again, Your Highness.”
“I don’t need that, just tell the people outside the palace what happened when you go out.”
As I watched my 20th sparring partner leave, I thought about the progress I’ve made so far.
The size of my mana heart has grown. It looked like the right size for a Sword Runner, and it was quite satisfactory given the short time I had building it.
I have more control when dealing with the Dragon Sword. It was no longer necessary for Uncle to step in.
In fact, the last time he had to intervene was on my match with the 13th sparring partner.
I lost a lot of weight.
My chubby body still resembled that of a wealthy merchant rather than a knight.
However, it was a great development from what it originally was when I first awakened on this body.
At least, I’m like a human being now.
I told Uncle as much.
Of course, the stingy, outspoken man didn’t admit that. “I don’t want to say that you look like a chunk of bacon, but…”
The day was bright.
It was the day I meet my last sparring partner.
I headed to the training hall feeling like I am being dragged to a slaughterhouse.
Please, slow down, I whispered to my frantic heart, but with the even more nervous Carls walking with me, the anxiety got even worse.
“The beauty of her swordsmanship is only magnificent if it won’t appear on Your Highness’s body…”
“Oh, just stop! I will cut off your tongue!”
“I was just trying to tell you that you should be very careful…”
“Okay! I know! Just stop!” I screamed at him.
Eventually, we reached the training hall.
Arwen Kirgayenne was waiting inside.
She stood up and approached me, then bowed her head.
The greeting was over.
After that, she stared at me with her piercing eyes. Just like the others, she wasn’t hiding her feelings at all.
Staring back at her, I can’t help but think…
This looks like this is going to be a huge mistake.
[Your ugly body is too dirty, so I cleaned it with my hands.]
It was really stupid to say that.
It was evil to molest and insult any woman, but even worse when the insult is not true.
Arwen Kirgayenne is not an ‘ugly thing’.
She was a beautiful woman, standing in front of me, bright eyes screaming for blood.
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