May Every Wound Be Fatal - Chapter 29.2
With a dull crack, the sound of metal breaking echoed through the arena.
The cheers of the crowd were instantly swallowed by suffocating silence.
‘Ah.’
Elizer did not understand why he had made such a choice. Perhaps it had been impulsive, perhaps fated.
The horses of the two riders slowed, stamping their hooves in the dust as they came to a stop.
Elizer removed his helmet. As the dust settled, his platinum hair shone brilliantly, while Prince Tiberian’s rider gradually toppled forward.
The king’s illegitimate son had defeated Prince Tiberian’s rider.
“…Wow!”
The first cry of triumph was like a scream of pure ecstasy from a single person.
The fervor of victory spread like wildfire. Some sprang to their feet, stamping their feet and tossing gold coins and goblets into the air.
“What has happened, Leonard?”
From the moment Reyna handed Elizer the handkerchief, Prince Tiberian had been visibly agitated. He finally leapt to his feet and glared at Leonard.
“How dare you betray me?”
Hot-tempered and suspicious, he seemed convinced that a new deal had been struck between Leonard and Prince Cassian.
“Tiberian.”
The queen, flustered, tried to admonish her son while forcing a smile at the surrounding nobles, but she could not contain Tiberian’s anger.
“You will regret this day.”
Prince Tiberian glared at Leonard and Prince Cassian with bloodshot eyes, then left the arena.
The crowd began to murmur at the apparent conflict between Prince Tiberian and the duke.
Leonard merely furrowed his brow slightly and returned his head upright without another word.
“……”
For a while, he stared at the railing where his daughter rejoiced, and at the king’s illegitimate son who gazed at her in astonishment.
When his son, Diegor, rushed forward to drag Reyna away, the duke dismounted, clearly flustered. Prince Cassian’s knights seemed to run to him, shouting something.
Tap, tap.
The duke’s hand, tapping the railing as if lost in thought, suddenly froze.
***
The fact that the duke’s daughter had handed a handkerchief to the king’s illegitimate son created a new tension throughout the palace.
Nobles gathered in Elmaril to celebrate the king’s birthday whispered that the duke had betrayed Prince Tiberian and formed a new alliance with Prince Cassian.
Prince Tiberian raged, showing his displeasure openly.
Yet the duke, for reasons unknown, remained silent, making no effort to calm him.
Rumors spread uncontrollably that Prince Cassian was the next heir to the throne.
Prince Tiberian, confident in his own victory, suddenly felt a growing unease. The fragile peace maintained after Prince Cassian had been exiled to the southern islands seemed on the verge of collapse.
Cassian felt troubled.
Even if there had been a secret alliance with the duke, he had no strength to openly compete with Prince Tiberian for the throne. If Tiberian moved soldiers suddenly, it would be impossible to stop him.
To avoid a direct clash, Cassian prepared to return quickly to Ibella. Though it looked like fleeing, he had no time to care.
Elizer, having defied orders and defeated Prince Tiberian’s rider, would face consequences.
“Until then, Elizer will surrender his sword and remain in seclusion.”
Returning his sword was a humiliating punishment for a knight. Marius Percy, ever quick to anger, immediately protested.
“But Sir Briere, it was Prince Tiberian’s rider who broke protocol first. Elizer was only defending himself from his attack…”
Yet Noel, as always, remained firm.
Elizer returned his sword and removed his armor without protest. He felt no injustice. His only frustration was the thought that Cassian would be forced to leave Elmaril, almost exiled because of him.
And, unbelievably, even in that state, he could not stop thinking about Reyna.
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