Chapter 18: Duel (1)

Vera did not scold Milin for her rudeness.

She only gave her a look, hoping she could calm down.

Because she knew that the title Prince Nolan had blurted out touched the girl’s only real sore spot.

Carefree as she was, Milin usually never cared what others called her, whether it was a compliment or a slur.

But there was one exception: the title that bound her to a father she had never even seen, “Hero’s Daughter.”

“Are you talking about the ‘Hero’s Daughter’? Why, Your Highness, do you want me to take back this title? Your father is the greatest Hero in the world. Seeing how hard you were training just now, I realized that the artistic portrayals of him after the war weren’t exaggerated in the least.”

What’s with this kid? Is it just youthful rivalry at work?

Even Vera, as calm as she was, couldn’t help being startled: seeing Milin angry, not only did this prince not yield an inch, he actually went further and provoked her.

Even more astonishing, he almost precisely stepped on every single one of Milin’s sore spots.

“Your Highness—”

She was about to speak and intervene, but Milin spoke first:

“So, by your logic, I’m as amazing as the person you mentioned?”

The girl’s face darkened to the extreme, yet she smiled. But in her eyes as she glared at the prince, there was not a hint of laughter.

“It seems you want the truth… but if I tell you, won’t it hurt your feelings?”

The prince didn’t back down either. He slightly raised his chin, meeting Milin’s gaze as he replied.

“Just say it.”

“Then, based on the skill you just showed in training, you’re still far from your father.”

“You say that as if you’ve seen him before!”

Milin raised her practice sword and swung at his head. But the prince dodged with a sidestep.

“Eh—so you aren’t just good at talking, after all.”

The practice sword was made of wood.

But with Milin’s strength, she could easily split someone’s head open with it—of course, she wasn’t crazy enough to bash in a royal guest’s skull just to vent, so she only used enough force to make him sleep in bed for a whole day… but she hadn’t meant to let him dodge just now.

She considered herself quite fast—but he dodged it so easily?

A look of excitement instead surfaced in Milin’s eyes. She raised her sword, formally taking a stance.

“Her Highness just asked about my skills, didn’t she?” The prince chuckled softly, stepping forward with composure. “I’m happy to show you. Could you lend me a weapon?”

Before he finished speaking, Milin tossed him her sword.

Then she went to the weapon rack around the training ground and grabbed another sword, standing on the dueling ground. She shouted from there:

“Get over here! Let me teach you a lesson!”

“Your Highness… are you really going to fight?”

Seeing that the prince was about to go, Aoke’s expression grew complicated. He established a mental link between the two and asked him in it.

“Yeah. Since the target is right here, it doesn’t matter what that maid’s true identity is.”

“But the Sword Saint is right there. You should know, the two of us alone can never defeat her.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not foolish enough to do something that’d be suicide.” As the prince made his way to the dueling ground, he continued replying mentally.

“This is just a probe. It’s a great chance to gauge the target’s abilities before the plan is set in motion. I can’t let it slip by.”

…

……

…………

“Why aren’t you stopping them? They’re about to fight!”

Lian grabbed Vera and shouted anxiously. But Vera only looked at her coldly, as if weighing whether this bratty behavior of hers was inherited from the person she was thinking of.

“Why should I stop them? It’s rare to have a chance to test the results of her training.”

“You woman, you really…!”

Lian looked helplessly at the two in the training ground. She’d been a bit absent-minded since earlier—the reason was simple: Milin’s attitude toward her.

She knew her daughter already disliked her… but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad. Milin seemed completely unwilling to admit any connection to her father.

Even being called “Hero’s Daughter,” which was just like saying “daughter of her father,” made her so furious.

“Which side are you worried about? The prince you’re serving now, or Milin?”

Vera, seeing how agitated she was, suddenly asked.

“How could I worry about anyone else! No matter what, I’m still… I’m still a servant of the Duke’s Household, I’ve got no reason to be disloyal!”

“It’s just a spar, why are you so tense?”

“The atmosphere between those two isn’t just about sparring. What if someone gets hurt?”

Judging from her swings at the dummy and her ambush on the prince earlier, Lian already had a rough idea of Milin’s swordsmanship—she was certainly worthy of being Vera’s personally taught disciple.

And that jump from the tower without a scratch also proved she either had astonishing physical strength, or tremendous magic to reinforce her endurance.

Simply put, when Lian was Milin’s age, she wasn’t even half as strong. But that had nothing to do with strength—Lian just couldn’t bear the thought of her getting even a little hurt.

“Milin isn’t stupid. She might be provoked, but she knows her limits. Just watch quietly. And from my point of view, I’m also curious about that youth’s abilities. The fact he dodged just now means he’s no amateur.”

Vera brushed off Lian’s hand and looked toward the dueling ground, intrigued.

By her tone, she actually thought Milin would be the one to hurt the other.

And talking about knowing her limits… did that mean what Milin showed in practice wasn’t even close to her real ability?

Lian couldn’t help feeling a little curious about the outcome herself.

…

……

…………

“All you can do is block?!”

Two wooden swords clashed, ringing with crisp sounds. After another attack aimed at a blind spot was blocked, Milin began to feel a bit impatient.

She was using the Yilansiya Royal Swordsmanship her teacher taught her.

This style was divided into three types, and Milin used the Rapier Style, which focused on high-speed combat, specializing in slashes and thrusts.

Maybe not even half as fast as Vera-sensei, but these moves were still much faster than my sneak attack just now… yet he still blocked every single one?

Milin felt a bit discouraged. But then she noticed the opponent who had defended all along also looked tense. It dawned on her:

“Not ‘dodging’ but ‘blocking’… so you actually can’t dodge, can you? Are you trying to wait until I tire out, then strike? Well, that’s not going to work—”

“Ugh…!”

As she finished speaking, Milin swung a heavy slash. The prince blocked it again, but beads of sweat were already appearing on his forehead.

“Looks like your stamina isn’t great, what a shame. But unlike you, what I’m most proud of is my strength!”

Milin angled her sword, throwing her whole weight onto the clashing blades.

Under this pressure, the prince staggered back, on the verge of falling—

“Hmph…!”

With a snort, Milin suddenly felt a heavy blow to her abdomen. Looking down, she saw the prince’s leg had kicked her stomach.

So he realized he couldn’t regain his balance, and simply gave up defending, taking the hit directly.

Then, using the force as he was pushed back, he leveraged his body up and delivered a kick to Milin’s belly.

With a sharp pain, the girl let go of her sword and fell backward.

“Milin… Young Miss!”

Lian could watch no more, darting forward.

Her figure became a flash of light in the field, crossing over ten steps in the blink of an eye, and she caught Milin before she hit the ground.

Milin rubbed her eyes, trying to see the girl who was holding her—

“You… crazy woman?!”