55 – 55. The Sword Rite (2)

The next morning.

Isaac was listlessly eating in the servants’ dining hall.

The Sword Rite wasn’t until evening, so he needed a good meal.

The way he was chewing on his bread, looking a bit deflated, could even be described as disheartened.

“You look low-spirited.”

Milly, a cook his age and also of common birth, cautiously approached.

She also looked unwell, drawn out, likely from the recent busyness due to the Sword Rite.

“Ah, well… yeah.”

He could only sigh.

He’d come prepared for the Sword Rite.

He’d been training non-stop with Jonathan and Sharen, even with Rianna, trying to break down the Helment swordsmanship.

But in the end, he’d been drawn against Sylverna.

He’d wondered if the draw had been rigged, but that wasn’t the case.

Arendel Helment wasn’t the sort to pull something like that, anyway.

‘Well, I’ll just have to do my best.’

But it seemed Sylverna hadn’t arrived yet.

Would she even come before the day was out?

‘The Sword Rite feels like it’s been nothing but complications.’

He needed to find the Helment who was in league with the Transcendents, right now.

He also wanted to test himself in the Sword Rite.

“Hey, Milly, has anything odd happened while I’ve been gone?”

“Huh?”

Milly looked startled.

Isaac was the one thrown, seeing her more alarmed than he expected.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, there’s something odd.”

Millie slides the other dishes on the table closer to Isaac.

“It’s that you’re not eating, Isaac-nim. Don’t be picky, eat plenty. You need your strength today, right?”

“……”

“Is it not to your liking?”

“No, it’s good. The best.”

A warm table.

Though he can’t be at the table for the honored guests, and eats at the rough table for the cooks.

Even so, for Isaac, this time was the most comfortable in the entire Helmont mansion.

“Millie, keep a close watch on the sword test today.”

“Yes?”

“I’ll show you how much I’ve changed.”

Perhaps because of this, Isaac, uncharacteristically, boasted to Millie a bit like a child.

Millie, on the other hand, manages a bitter smile as she pours water into a glass.

“Don’t push yourself too hard. You know not getting hurt is the most important thing, right?”

“I’m not the Isaac you remember. I’ll show you how much I’ve grown up north.”

Now, you don’t need to worry anymore.

When you think of me, after I left the mansion, it won’t be with that shadowed face full of concern.

But that you can smile warmly like the sun.

Isaac wanted to show her his belief.

‘I’m sorry, Silbena.’

Today, he absolutely cannot lose.

* * *

[By Default: Isaac Helmont]

“……”

The sun has set into the evening.

Isaac blinks at the bracket results, starkly displayed.

“This fool…”

Isaac clenches his fist.

Due to Silbena being late, for some inexplicable reason, Isaac was unable to even draw his sword and moved on by default.

The aftermath was a mess, everyone around claiming Caldias had disrespected Helmunt.

Even Arundel Helmunt himself looked sour, need I say more?

It was as if they’d spat on the Helmuntian swordsmanship festival.

“Congrats on the bye!”

Sharen, bouncing beside him, full of congratulations.

Oblivious, she kept buzzing, so he casually tugged at her cheek.

“Why! It’s good!”

“Haa, yeah. Good.”

He’d told Millie with such bravado. But now, advancing by default? What would she think.

A bit embarrassing, that.

“But you’ll get knocked out tomorrow.”

Sharen, disappointed, points to the bracket.

Isaac just shrugged, a dry chuckle escaping.

Honestly, he hadn’t expected to face him so soon.

[Isaac Helmunt vs. Loengrin Helmunt]

“Isaac, just remember one thing. Don’t go acting up, or you’ll get a beating!”

“Why, are you aiming to get beat up by acting up?”

Immediately, Isaac grabbed Sharen’s head again, shaking it this way and that, making her scream.

Even as she did, she sounded excited, like it was fun.

When he stopped, still dizzy, Sharen became serious, worried.

“Isaac, you know, Loengrin absolutely won’t hold back. The knight he fought before got out in a bloody mess.”

“Especially since Isaac already has a record of getting beaten a couple times. Loengrin won’t even feel any remorse, right?”

“You know? The day he lost to Rianna-unni, he was soo! mad at you, and beat you up.”

Listening to her, a question popped into Isaac’s head.

“But Rianna’s ‘unni’ and Loengrin is ‘him’?”

“Huh? What, am I supposed to call them ‘brother’? I don’t acknowledge them as my older brothers.”

“…….”

Sharen had always been like this.

“Anyway, I hope Isaac doesn’t get hurt! Especially by those idiots!”

“Heh.”

Helmut’s manor.

A feeling settled, like one more place, alongside Millie, where I could let my guard down a bit.

Maybe that’s why.

“Let’s go, Sharen. Millie said she’s making a fancy dinner for me tonight, since I’m gonna have a hard day.”

Another banquet, today.

Millie said she’d be looking out for Isaac alone, so it’d be good to get there ahead of time.

It’s precious time, but.

I felt like, with Sharen now, it would be okay to spend it together.

“Oh!”

Sharen, following behind, laughed and asked,

“But what did you do today that was so hard, Isaac?”

“…….”

* * *

Rianna, gazing at the flowers in a vase.

One rose looked like it would wilt any moment, yet Rianna showed no intention of replacing it.

Even though it’s the Sword Oath period, she hasn’t been showing herself.

It wasn’t usually great for the eldest daughter to not even make an appearance at such events, but.

It meant that Arundel was furious with Rianna, to the point of not allowing her to show her face to the outside world.

*Bang!*

Then, the door flew open roughly.

Rianna’s gaze slowly drifted there to find a fuming Loengrin glaring at her.

“I won’t waste words. I will become the head of the family, Rianna.”

Something must have happened.

Loengrin looked feverish, as if he were burning up.

“…….”

Rianna didn’t bother to open her mouth.

She had already resolved to become the head of the family, but there was no need to tell that to Loengrin.

But Rianna couldn’t speak.

“Tomorrow, that Isaac b*stard will duel me.”

“……!”

Rihanna’s eyes flickered for a heartbeat.

Loengreen, catching it, corners his mouth in a smirk and asks again.

“No matter what you say. I plan to make that b*stard a cripple.”

“Loengreen!”

Rihanna finally rises.

A prickling, like a slow fire, seems to simmer and pulse from her feet.

But Loengreen doesn’t yield even a little.

“Tomorrow is a lesson, Rihanna. If father names you, and you become head of the family—”

Loengreen grinds his teeth, stepping even closer to her, and growls.

“Tomorrow won’t be the end of it. If you become head of the family, I wonder if you can keep him by your side for your whole life.”

Loengreen, having shoved her back, walks straight out.

Her mind echoes with two voices, layered and confused.

[Become head of the family, Rihanna.]

[That’s the only way to save Isaac.]

Her mother had spoken softly, with a gentle smile.

[The moment you become head of the family.]

[Know that your husband will be a man of this world no more.]

Loengreen had warned, openly baring his teeth.

Both sides want different things, but the threat is the same.

For Rihanna, it felt like a knife to her throat, but.

Now there was a need to step up with force.

‘Yes.’

Rihanna steels herself.

Tonight.

She would kill Loengreen—

Knock, knock, knock.

Without waiting for a response, a woman, after a simple knock, just yanks the door open.

At this point, one might wonder if this really is seclusion, but.

The woman who came inside held a level of influence that allowed her to ignore it completely.

“Ahem, hello?”

A woman, smiling faintly, waves a hand in greeting, and Rianna hastily drops to one knee.

“Princess Clarice.”

“I heard you were confined, but you don’t look particularly well.”

A subtle smile plays on Clarice’s lips as she places a hand on Rianna’s shoulder.

“Shall we have a little talk?”

* * *

‘Where did the Princess go?’

The evening banquet hall.

Isaac scanned the room for Princess Clarice, but she was nowhere to be seen.

She’d been talking about investigating the traitor again today; he wondered if she’d found anything out.

“Wow, there’s really no one near Isaac,”

Sharen, having changed into a dress, circled Isaac, murmuring to herself.

The Sword Oath Tournament participants were each surrounded by a throng of nobles, deep in conversation.

But Isaac, the only one to have a bye today, received no such attention.

Since he was a commoner son-in-law to begin with.

If Rianna were here, the scene might have been different.

“Isaac, sir.”

Milli approached cautiously then.

Her cooking uniform was much cleaner than usual, a detail that showed the resolve she put into this meal.

“This way.”

“Ah, alright.”

Perhaps due to this.

He was able to quietly savour the stew that Milli had prepared separately.

“I want some too.”

Sharen trailing after them.

Milli’s expression darkened for a moment, but she didn’t say anything else.

A table set apart.

The stew on the tablecloth might have looked rather humble to other eyes, but a satisfied smile spread across Isaac’s face.

As he sat down, a savory aroma filled the air.

Just the sort of food Isaac liked best.

He favored elevating the common fare of the people with fine ingredients.

Especially if it meant more meat chunks, that was perfection.

“This is it? You said it was lavish.”

“I apologize, Miss.”

“Huh? No, it’s not like you need to apologize. If anything, isn’t it Isaac’s low-brow taste?!”

“No, truly, I apologize.”

Sharen, who had been pouting at the excessive apology, was now feeling rather awkward.

Maybe she’d change her mind once she tasted the stew.

“The consistency is perfect. And so much meat. Milli really knows my taste in food.”

Isaac praised with a smile, and Milli bowed her head as she placed the other dishes on the table.

They looked simple but each was meticulously crafted, a clear sign that they were meant for Isaac.

Looking at them made Isaac feel a little guilty.

“I didn’t really show you anything today.”

“I’m doing this to give you strength for tomorrow.”

Milli gave a faint smile.

“Ha, Milli. Really, you don’t want to be my personal chef? I’ll somehow find the money.”

At Isaac’s proposal, Milli simply maintained the same smile she had before.

Just as he was about to take a spoonful.

“Master Isaac.”

“Yeah?”

“You seem to have changed a lot. Even having meals together with Miss Sharen like this.”

Isaac glanced at Sharen.

She was shoveling down the stew, saying how good it was, and didn’t seem to be listening to their conversation.

“Well, yeah. I’ve really changed a lot. Especially I want to show you.”

Tomorrow, the showdown with Loengreen.

Isaac wanted Milli to come and see it.

“If it’s possible, I will definitely come.”

“…Milli, is something the matter?”

Isaac, putting down his spoon, asked calmly. He felt a strange unease at her appearance, so different from her usual self.

“Eat quickly, the stew will get cold.”

“……”

Slowly, Isaac ladled the stew.

The warmth cupped in the spoon touched his tongue, then slid down his throat.

“Woah—”

Truly.

Isaac was truly impressed.

He hadn’t expected it to be this good.

“Milly, this is really—!”

Isaac’s words couldn’t finish.

Because Milly had just fallen, right there.

“…Milly?”

For a moment, Isaac didn’t understand what had just happened.

The instant he saw the blood gushing from Milly’s lips, a searing headache pulsed through his head, as if his reason had been paralyzed.

“Milly!”

He rushed to his feet to tend to Milly.

“Urrgggggh!”

A scream, and then uproar, erupted from elsewhere.

Sharen, who had been startled by Milly’s collapse, was now running in the opposite direction.

“Mooommy!”

Galenia Helmont.

In the midst of her meal, she was clutching at her throat with both hands, her eyes bloodshot with agony.