"That's right! I challenge you to a duel! Come here! Both of you will be defeated by this sword."

"Ea! That's our brother, so vibrant and brave."

"Amazing, la, you've changed so much since we met you three years ago!"

They talked as if they were continuing each other's sentences.

'The 11th prince and the 12th prince.. Apparently they resemble each other more than I thought. Most princes look alike because of their yellow hair and blue eyes, but they look more identical. I heard they just arrived this morning from Oxwadeshire. Princes are great; they don't even get tired after a long journey,' Tobias thought.

"I'll show you that I'm different from the last person you saw!" shouted Francis as he pointed his sword at them.

'I'll show you the results of my training with the knight of rounds!' he thought.

'Prince, you've only been training with me for a few hours," Tobias thought as if he could read Francis' mind.

"?el, ?el... Then I'll gladly accept your challenge," Edmund said.

"?el, ?el... Be careful, don't go overboard, or you'll hurt him... pupupu," Edward teased.

"What a big head you have! You must use all your strength to beat me!" shouted Francis.

"Buahahaha okay-okay. As you wish, I won't hold back. I will give my all," said Edmund as he picked up a wooden sword.

Having just completed their practice, the other people began to assemble around the duel, eager to watch the spectacle it promised. Even the maids and other workers who were merely passing by would stop to watch them.

The news of the duel was spreading like wildfire, and reached Sabine's ears who was still in Prince Francis' room,

"Miss Sabine! Prince Francis is dueling with Prince Edmund!" yelled the maid.

Sabine's face immediately turned pale and worried, and then she immediately stood up and ran there

"Your highness! You can't do that!" she shouted to herself.

The crowd of people cheerfully bombarded the training ground, eager for the captivating duel that was about to take place. It was apparent that the suspense of the event had electrified the atmosphere. Francis stood and readied himself. He appeared to be in a fighter's stance, anxiously awaiting the commencement of the duel.

"Ea! That stance, I remember when I was still using them on the first day of the academy,"

Edmund's words confused Francis; what did he mean?

Edmund also began to show his stance, which surprised Francis and Tobias.

"That is the SwordHorstance! A half-horse stance—did he learn that from the sword master at the academy?!"historical

SwordHorstance, he stood with his left foot in front and his right foot behind. His left hand pointed forward, while his right hand was behind him while holding the sword's hilt in reverse, so the wooden sword was almost pressed against his back.

"What the hell?!" shouted Francis, who suddenly felt inferior as he realized that his brother had learned something else that was cooler. As for him, he was only using the basic sword stance that his mentor had taught him.

"?ā I'm serious, don't overdo it. At least don't attack his face; you'll get scolded by mom!" shouted Edward from outside the field.

"I know, I won't inflict any lasting wounds. After all, the special whitmoon festival for him will start soon."

The anticipation was suffocating—seconds stretched into minutes until Tobias stepped forward, stating the rules of the duel while holding the coin in his hand. The air was filled with expectation as the viewers braced themselves for the exciting spectacle yet to unfold.

Then in

Three

Two

One

-CLING

The coin dropped, and the duel began.

"OK, this time I'm going to make you regret playing with me!" Just as he thought that, Edmund was already in front of him.

"Eh?"

Edmund spun around as if about to somersault, and the wooden sword on his back swung to Francis' waist.

-WHACK

"GHAKH!"

Francis' waist was defenseless, so the attack hit him right in the ribs. As a result of the attack, he was slightly thrown to the side.

'Wh-what is this? Sa-so painful! D-and he's so fast!' Francis thought.

"What! You didn't even have any reaction to that attack. At this rate, what's the point of me using my sword skills? Just a normal attack would have sufficed," Edmund said.

"Acchaa... that kid is venting his stress excessively again. I would have aimed for his left thigh," Edward said.

Francis could not move in pain; he held his ribs which might have been broken. He groaned, holding back his tears.

Not stopping there, Edmund relentlessly approached Francis and hit him all over his body.

"Akh! Ah! AAaakh!"

"Cum lā! Aren't you going to give up? I'll keep attacking you if you haven't surrendered; those are the rules of the duel!"

Of course, he won't give up, not when so many people were watching. But he didn't realize that the people who thought he was the weakest prince now thought even worse. They looked at Francis with sad, disappointed, and pitying eyes. Francis was not the son of a noble queen but a concubine raised by a commoner.

"Poor thing, he's just a commoner born amongst princely geniuses," was what people thought when they saw him.

Edmund hit Francis with a smile, venting all of his fatigue from the academy to Francis.

Tobias was silent, not breaking it up or bothering them. To him, it was normal. They had a duel, and it should not be interrupted. If he interfered, he was tarnishing the honor of Prince Francis. Plus, Tobias didn't feel that Francis looked disgraceful at all. In fact, to him, Francis looked great for not giving up until the end.

But only Tobias thought so—not the old woman who had raised that child,

"Your highness! That's enough! Stop it!"

Sabine came to interrupt their duel. Her face was pale and she was sweating; how could she not? Her old age and aching back forced her to run as fast as she could to the training ground, quite a distance from her room.

"Eala, la. Old Sabine is here," said a visibly annoyed Edward.

"Da! Leave the duel alone, Sabine!" shouted Edmund.

Sabine immediately approached the helpless Prince Francis and checked his body.

Sabine immediately covered her mouth in shock at how badly Francis was in front of her. Francis was wearing a fairly thick, tight black training suit but it had been ripped to shreds, even though Edmund only used a wooden stick. His body was covered in wounds, with blood oozing out from there and traces of wood shards stuck in the wounds.

"Sa-bi-ne... Don't bother..." muttered Francis when he saw Sabine's face in front of him. But just then, Francis began to close his eyes.

"Look your highness! Prince Francis has fainted; you win!" Sabine shouted at Edmund with tears in her eyes.

"Damn, I haven't had enough of this."

Tobias then stood up and declared Prince Edmund's victory.

"Uhum... Hereby, this unconditional duel is won by Prince Edmund!"

At first, there was nothing but an eerie silence in the room. Nobody clapped or cheered; there was nothing to celebrate. Not like a determination duel, this was bullying. All witnessed Prince Francis' suffering, so no one dared to make a sound.

Suddenly, Prince Edward broke the ice. He slowly hit his palms together and started clapping alone. Everyone was left bewildered, and then slowly.. they all joined him in clapping. It was as if they were forced to clap and be part of the moment.

The atmosphere was electric with that single clap from Prince Edward. Finally, everyone felt forced to cheer in support of Prince Edmund because he won in the end.

"You're a great prince."

"As expected of a prince of this kingdom!"

"Your skills are amazing!"

The stretcher came, and the soldiers carried Francis along with Sabine. At that moment, Francis, who had not fully passed out, could hear them. He then thought:

"A-are they cheering for me? Are they clapping for me? Does that mean that my hard work and unyielding spirit can reach their hearts even if I lose?"

Little did he know that the cheers were not for him.

Edmund smiled proudly, quite satisfied with his actions; he threw his sword to the ground and walked over to his twin brother.

Then

-CLAP

A thunderous clap was heard in the middle of the field. That made everyone stop clapping and cheering.

They looked towards the person who did it; it was Tobias. He lowered his hand and said,

"This duel, indeed, ended with Prince Edmund winning. His skills are extraordinary; his speed and movements are probably on par with the hellstone-ranked explorer."

Edmund smiled proudly again, having been praised by one of the knights of the rounds. Edward punched Edmund on the shoulder, jealous that he didn't go down to fight Francis.

Then Tobias continued

"But Prince Francis did not lose."

His words took everyone by surprise, as well as Edward and Edmund.

"Da! What do you mean? It's obvious he lost miserably!" shouted Edmund.

"Do say what you're thinking," Edward said.

"Prince Francis had practiced dancing with Sabine from morning until noon, then he continued sparring with me from noon until afternoon; no wonder he was so exhausted and couldn't react to Prince Edmund's attack."

Everyone became silent, realizing they hadn't thought about that when they mocked Francis in their minds.

But a loss is still a loss, no matter the circumstances.

Then Tobias continued

"True, losing is losing. But that only happens if Prince Francis gives up! Even though Prince Francis was tired and overwhelmed, he still didn't give up until the end! This means we wouldn't know the duel's outcome if he was in his prime!"