The group moved to a spot more befitting the swordsmanship duel.

Valeria and Emil stood on the two opposite sides, preparing for the fight, while Lin Xuelan, Kyra, Paula and Oriana picked a place a safe distance away.

— I must warn you, Commander. I won the Adleran Swordsmanship Tournament, but I will go easy on you. — Emil gave his opponent a smug smile.

He was quite certain of his abilities with a sword. He had the best teacher in the Kingdom after all, and he even ranked first in his swordsmanship class.

As long as he kept his cool and didn’t go overboard with how much he hurt the Commander, it was a perfect way for him to not only humiliate her, but also prove how incompetent she was.

Valeria, on the other hand, was hoping that this whole ordeal would end quickly and without any accidents.

She was aware of the advantage she had over a human with her reflexes, but she also had enough common sense to not underestimate her opponent. In a fight, anything could happen.

Done with preparations, they faced each other around the middle of the makeshift arena.

They bowed, as customs required, unsheathed their weapons, and the battle began.

The Prince immediately rushed to attack.

He swung his saber at the Commander, who blocked it effortlessly.

Another swing. Another block.

Swing and block.

Swing and block.

Swing and block.

The exchange went on for a couple of long minutes, until the Prince’s forehead was covered with beads of sweat.

Seeing Valeria standing in front of him unperturbed, the fury within him grew wilder.

Catching a few deep breaths, he rushed with another cascade of attacks.

 

Watching everything from the sides, Oriana could barely stay calm.

For a person who grew up among nobility, where knighthood and combat proficiency were sometimes valued higher than scholarship, Oriana hated seeing people fight.

She never understood the appeal of the Tournaments, where a bunch of people would risk their health, or even their lives, for so-called glory. She understood those who enjoyed watching others getting hurt even less.

Oriana couldn’t bear to watch Valeria and Emil anymore. She looked away, praying for the duel to end already.

 

Valeria had just deflected another attack coming from the Prince.

They had been sparring for quite some time at that point, and yet, there was not even a trace of fatigue in her, which couldn’t be said about the Prince, who was panting heavily, droplets of sweat falling into his eyes.

The entire time they were at it, the Commander had only one burning question in her mind.

How is he even still alive?

The reason why she was in such a good condition, while Emil was struggling to even catch a breath, wasn’t because of her abilities.

It wasn’t even because of her many years of training or practice on the battlefield.

The truth was, Emil was the worst swordsman she had ever seen in her life.

A complete lack of technique, almost non existent control over his own body, it was a miracle that he hadn’t injured himself so far. Not to even mention being able to win a whole Tournament with skills like this.

Valeria even considered that maybe he was making fun of her.

Nevertheless, the Prince wouldn’t stop attacking her. No matter how many times she deflected and blocked his wide, over-telegraphed swings, he would soon shower her with more.

By that point, she was simply waiting for him to get tired enough to give up.

Between one sluggish swing and another, she took a quick look at the people watching them.

While Kyra and Lin Xuelan seemed mostly in awe of Emil’s complete lack of skill, Paula gave the impression of someone who was ready to take the blade from her and duel the Prince herself.

The only person who appeared to be disturbed by their fight was Oriana. She was squeezing Kyra’s hand while looking away, and jumping at every clang resonating through the air.

Seeing the Princess like that reminded her of the time when the King asked her to participate in the annual Tournament in Eleutherius.

Valeria had to use a rare type of poison to slow down her regenerative abilities to uphold the illusion of being a human. When calculating the dose, she didn’t account for other combatants using dirty tactics, and ended up in a much worse state than she anticipated.

Oriana came to her during a break in the last fight.

“I will hate you forever if you go to that arena again!”, the Princess’ trembling voice ringed in her memory.

Alright. Time to end this.

She deflected another clumsy swing, and in the same fluid motion, she put her blade back in its sheath.

Then she grabbed Emil’s weapon wielding hand by the wrist, and used her leg to topple him.

The whole action took no more than a couple of seconds.

 

Grateful for ending the misery that was having to watch Emil’s pitiful attempt at melee combat, Lin Xuelan, Kyra and Paula instantly showered her with applause.

Even Oriana looked like a great weight was taken from her shoulders.

In accordance to the spirit of basic decency, Valeria approached the Prince, and leaned over to him with an outstretched hand, offering to help him get up from the ground.

She noticed the incoming blade a split second too late.

Her head darted backwards, but the tip of the saber still managed to cut the button off of her collar and grazed her cheek.

She took a few steps back, gripping the handle of her weapon, ready to fight back.

— STOP! THAT’S ENOUGH! — Oriana ran between them — That’s en… You’re bleeding! — seeing the gash stretching from Valeria’s jaw through her cheek, her heart almost stopped. She approached her, unsure of what to do.

— My apologies, Commander. I guess I was still in the combat mindset. My bad. — said Emil while getting up on his feet. Neither on his face nor in his voice was there even a droplet of genuine regret.

Valeria looked at him with a mix of distrust and disdain, before turning her much softer gaze to Oriana anxiously tugging her sleeve.

— It’s just a scratch. It will heal in no time. — she said while taking the Princess’ shaking hand, and squeezing it gently.

This was only a half-lie.

The cut on her cheek was indeed quite deep, but being fey, her natural ability to heal was much higher than humans. By the time morning came, there would be no signs of an injury.

Oriana had no way of knowing that.

Valeria’s calm and collected words that aimed to give her comfort ended up making her feel even more guilty.

At the end of the day, she had a chance to stop this nonsensical duel before it even started. The Commander even turned to her for help, and she ignored it.

All because she couldn’t stop thinking about the “kiss” between Lin Xuelan and her.

Thinking about the Dragon Princess, she started feeling angry.

She keeps following you around everywhere, always glued to your arm, even… kisses you. But then, when you get injured, she can’t be even bothered to come and check on you. She doesn’t deserve you…

 

It was true that Lin Xuelan was the only one to stay back, while Oriana, Kyra, and even Paula rushed to Valeria.

She was deep in her thoughts, her eyes fixated on the pendant hanging around the Commander’s neck. Usually tucked under her uniform, it had fallen out when the Prince sliced off the button.

A moonstone with the image of a wolf and a fox. Just like her father told her.

It appeared that her search for the proof that Valeria was indeed the lost Princess of Faolán, was over.