‘Riding a donkey? Chasing boys?’
This statement was more hurtful than even the most vicious curse.
For a Princess like Daphne Macary, who valued her public image as much as life itself, the idea of being forced to ride a dull, gray, drooling donkey to pursue a man was a notion that—just by imagining it—was enough to make her ancestors spin 360 degrees in their coffins before dying again in peaceful indignation.
Daphne was stunned on the spot.
Her face, covered in expensive cosmetics, turned pale and green by turns, unable to speak a single word.
Pfft—
In the cafeteria, someone finally couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
That sound was like the fuse on a gunpowder barrel.
Boom—
The entire cafeteria erupted into deafening laughter.
“Right! She should ride a donkey! Absolutely right!”
“Forget it, hahaha! Don’t call her a Princess anymore; call her the Donkey-Riding Princess!”
A male student from the Magic Division laughed so hard he nearly spat out the cake on his plate.
“Donkey-Riding Princess? That’s a pretty good name!”
His companion laughed, clapping his hands.
“Noble, elegant—it perfectly suits Her Highness of Macary’s temperament!”
“Yes, yes! I can already see it: Her Highness riding a donkey, followed by a group of men crying and begging for her to pursue them! What a beautiful sight!”
Mockeries and laughter converged into a sea of joy, completely drowning Daphne.
In truth, the feats of Astreia and Wendy at Sunset Fortress had long been confirmed by the Magic Association and the Church through special channels.
But for some reason, both powers had a tacit understanding not to publicize it widely, letting it circulate only among their highest internal circles.
This resulted in a massive information gap.
Except for a very small number of true high-rankers and the people of the Kingdom of Valoran, most people from other kingdoms believed it was just a lie blown out of proportion by the Valoran Royal Family to bolster the Eldest Princess’s reputation.
After all, which royal heir didn’t use such methods of inflating military merit to build their resume?
In their eyes, Astreia had at most repelled a small group of Orc scouts and then dared to claim she had driven back an army of 190,000.
But the Guardian Paladin beside Daphne was different.
She wasn’t an ordinary knight; she was a bodyguard of the Macary Kingdom’s Prime Minister, which meant she was a personal guard for a certain Cardinal.
She knew very well that the intelligence from Sunset Fortress had passed the Church’s most rigorous verification and was accurate.
The seemingly harmless Princess of Valoran before her was a true battle-hardened Lioness, forged in a sea of blood and mountains of corpses.
Therefore, she had maintained high alertness from beginning to end, not daring to make any move.
But her mistress, Daphne Macary, was clearly not in that category.
She had only heard that Wendy invented two seemingly useful things called cement and gunpowder.
Today, she had come here determined to get her hands on this Prince who was both a beauty and a “talent.”
As an “old rival” who had “exchanged pointers” with Astreia many times on the border, Daphne believed she knew Astreia’s strength inside and out.
In her view, Astreia might be a little stronger than her, but only by a limited margin.
Today, with a Guardian Knight arranged by the Prime Minister backing her up, and wearing armor inscribed with powerful magic, she felt the advantage was entirely hers.
‘How could she lose?’
But listening to the unrestrained laughter around her, Daphne Macary’s face turned the color of pig liver, her anger turning into shame.
She realized she had utterly lost the verbal sparring match, so she stopped wasting words and pointed her spear directly at the source of her envy.
“Astreia!”
Daphne Macary pointed at Astreia and shrieked, “You brute who only knows how to use brute force! Do you dare face me on the Duel Platform?”
“We’ll use this man as the stakes!”
She pointed contemptuously at Wendy.
“Whoever wins gets him! Do you dare?”
‘The Duel Platform?’
Wendy was stunned.
‘Did this academy really have such a retro facility?’
Laxana leaned close to his ear and quickly explained, “The Duel Platform is where the Academy resolves irreconcilable conflicts. It’s specifically for students or teachers to let their strength do the talking. Before stepping onto it, you have to sign a Life and Death Contract.”
She finished, and seeing that Astreia actually looked tempted, she quickly grabbed her friend’s arm and advised, “Astreia, don’t be impulsive! Although I believe in your strength, we have no idea what kind of nonsense is inscribed on that turtle shell of hers. Be careful not to stumble in a ditch; don’t fall for her provocation!”
Astreia only looked back and gave Wendy a confident smile.
There wasn’t a trace of tension in that smile, only absolute calm and control.
“Don’t worry, I will win.”
***
The dueling arena was located on the Academy’s back mountain.
The entire site was sunken, resembling a miniature version of a Roman coliseum.
The gray-white stone stands were covered in weathered marks, and on the ground below, many shocking scars could be seen.
There were spiderweb-like cracks smashed by great force, deep gouges left by sharp blades, and even an area of the ground that appeared charred black from acid corrosion.
However, the duel did not start immediately as everyone expected.
Because it was lunchtime, the mages responsible for activating the dueling arena’s protective barrier, as well as the instructors serving as referees, had all gone to eat at their leisure.
Only two listless guards were watching the gates.
But this didn’t stop the high-spirited “spectators” from the Magic Division at all.
In less than 10 minutes, they had somehow “invited” all the responsible teachers and staff over.
Someone had even quickly set up a small table in a corner of the stands, hung up a sign, and opened a betting pool on the spot.
“Her Highness Astreia versus the Donkey-Riding Princess Daphne! Place your bets, no credit allowed—”
“These people are truly bored to death!”
Laxana pulled Wendy to a spot with an excellent view at the highest point of the stands.
Looking at the lively scene below, she grumbled unhappily, “When this is over, I’ll have my mother set a new regulation for the Academy! From now on, anyone setting up private betting pools in the Academy must hand over half the profits as tax! Let’s see who dares to act so recklessly then!”
Wendy didn’t pay attention to Miss Klein’s business proposal.
He pointed at the dried, dark-red mottled stains on the dueling arena floor and asked curiously, “Is that blood?”
Laxana nodded, her tone flat.
“Yeah. At least 100 students come here every semester to determine who is superior and decide between life and death. At first, the staff were responsible for cleaning the floor, but later they found it impossible to get clean, so they just gave up.”
“They’re certainly full of life…”
Wendy lamented sincerely.
Just then, a figure hurried up the stands and came straight to them.
It was the same Guardian Paladin who had been following Daphne in silence.
She removed her helmet, revealing a face that was strikingly heroic but currently filled with anxiety.
The female knight ignored everyone else and stared intently at Wendy.
Then, she did something that caught everyone off guard.
She dropped to one knee before Wendy and spoke urgently, her tone almost pleading:
“Please stop this duel! Prince Wendy! I beg you, no matter what, you must stop this—”