Although Cynthia had never seen this person before, and could tell just from his name that his background was not particularly good, out of trust in Carlo, she still agreed to the proposal.
Carlo stood up and said, “I need Lilica to write a letter to Kelly with me.”
Lilica stood up with a head full of question marks, her peculiar attire giving everyone present quite a shock.
She likewise could not figure out what Carlo was up to, but compared to Cynthia’s total trust, her own thoughts were much simpler. She said to Antcana beside her, “If Carlo dares to pull any tricks, I will finish him off.”
Antcana looked at Lilica’s face, which needed lead powder to conceal her lack of color, and thought to herself: You, a sickly person, are going to finish off Carlo with what?
Thus, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Carlo left the arena with Lilica.
Mita was extremely proud of himself for having stopped Carlo from entering the match. He walked over to Betty and said to Cynthia, “I advise you that admitting defeat directly would be much faster.”
“Please show some respect to us candidates for the evaluation, Your Highness,” Cynthia replied ungraciously. “You have already gone much too far in this matter.”
“Far? Who could possibly be more outrageous than you?” Mita said, gritting his teeth. “You found me such a massive trouble; the Marquis of Sernan is practically living in the royal palace now, talking about discussing marriage arrangements with my father every single day. Where on earth is there any marriage between me and Fiona?!”
“Then you truly are lacking in responsibility,” Cynthia smiled fakely. “Fiona is clearly carrying your child.”
The spectators instantly exploded into an uproar. The social climate of Gogolos was not particularly open. For unmarried men and women to socialize with each other by their own choice would already invite a few taunts, let alone the fact that His Highness Mita was already engaged to Cynthia!
The wind mages within the arena could no longer care about factions or allegiances; they spontaneously gathered together and jointly cast a large amplification spell to ensure that the voices from the center of the stage could clearly spread across the entire training ground.
“You! What on earth are you talking about?!” Mita felt the surrounding gazes of condemnation pricking at his skin, and he said through gritted teeth, “Those are all nonsense spoken by the Marquis of Sernan! How could Fiona possibly be pregnant? There is nothing at all between her and me!”
“Don’t joke around,” Cynthia sneered. “If you were truly innocent and kept yourself strictly self-disciplined, I suppose no one could accuse you like this. This time it’s Fiona’s family refusing to let it go, and who will it be next? That young lady from the Department of Mechanics? I remember you were even attacked by her admirers just to see her.”
Mita was so angered he couldn’t speak, and could only threaten, “Cynthia Cotton! I want to break off our engagement with you!”
“And go marry Fiona afterward?” Cynthia didn’t give an inch. “If His Majesty the King decides so, I am naturally loyal to every decision of the royal family.”
Watching the two of them argue to the point where Mita was about to draw his sword to make a move prematurely, Betty hurriedly and weakly spoke up, “Please don’t argue anymore. It’s all my fault for causing a rift between you.”
“Silly girl, what are you saying?” Mita fell for this act; he quickly grasped Betty’s hand. “You have no fault at all. It’s just that between Cynthia and me, these issues haven’t built up over a day or two. Perhaps our engagement was a mistake to begin with.”
“Stop playing the good guy, Your Highness,” Cynthia scoffed. “All of Gauss knows that it was you who insisted on being engaged to me back then, rather than me chasing relentlessly after you. Now you portray yourself as the victim, don’t you feel your face burning?”
Betty desperately pressed down on Mita’s scabbard, pleading, “Cynthia, please stop talking. This is clearly all a misunderstanding; please don’t hurt each other anymore.”
“Good girl, let go,” Mita said to Betty, suppressing his temper. “There is no misunderstanding between her and me; it’s simply that she is an unqualified fiancée.”
“What do you mean by unqualified?” Cynthia sneered. “I used to care about your schedule at all times, personally preparing various pastries for you, hoping just to see you for a moment. But what about you? You never cared about me, lingering day in and day out among crowds of women at balls. To the extent that I heard your professor had to write a separate set of exam questions for you just so your scores wouldn’t look too atrocious. Your Highness, please think about it, which of us is truly unqualified?”
“Cynthia Norton!”
“You don’t need to shout so loudly,” Cynthia applauded him, “even though your voice is indeed one of your few redeeming qualities.”
Fortunately, before Mita was truly angered to the point of losing his sanity, Carlo returned. Not only did he come back by himself, but he also brought along a middle-aged, slender young man of medium height.
Just like Lilica, this young man had brown hair and a pair of lovely brown eyes, and his facial features were very similar to Lilica’s. But unlike that perpetually frail-looking girl, the young man had a rosy complexion, bright and alert eyes, walked with his chest puffed out, and took large strides.
He wore the long shirts and breeches that were very popular among warriors, with thick-soled, spurred boots on his feet.
The most eye-catching thing, however, was the two-handed greatsword strapped to his back. The blade of that sword was close to thirty centimeters wide, looking exceptionally heavy at a single glance, yet he was able to move around completely unhindered while carrying such a heavy weapon.
The two walked straight to the center of the arena, and Carlo introduced, “This is the person I mentioned: Kelly Doyle, Lilica’s cousin.”
Cynthia looked behind them, but the girl who always wore heavy clothes was nowhere to be seen. “Where is Lilica?”
“She went back first.” Kelly spoke up, his voice clear and bright with a strangely pleasant tone. “Our relationship isn’t very good, so she doesn’t really want to see me.”
In her heart, Cynthia immediately concluded that it must be this Kelly’s fault, seeing as Lilica was such a good girl. However, since Kelly was only here temporarily to help and wasn’t someone she could chat with in depth, Cynthia merely said, “Sorry to trouble you for your help today. I’m really sorry for involving you in such a sudden situation and causing you trouble.”
“Not at all, not at all! I’m very glad to help!” Kelly waved his hands hurriedly and said, “I’m happy to be able to help you out, and besides, I happened to be near the academy anyway.”
Carlo explained, “I recommended Kelly to the swordsmanship professor as a teaching assistant, though the professor hasn’t fully confirmed it yet.”
After exchanging greetings, Cynthia and Kelly confirmed each other’s habits during combat.
Cynthia noticed that Kelly seemed to be a very shy person; he spoke in a very soft and quiet voice and constantly avoided meeting her eyes. He looked very much like Lilica, but while Lilica was a flower that could be ravaged by the wind at any moment, he was an upright, sturdy tree.
To all of Cynthia’s various requests, Kelly agreed readily without hesitation. Only when something was truly impossible to accommodate would he softly say a word or two.
Compared to the practically overbearing Mita, Kelly was simply as gentle as an angel.
When Mita’s urging reached the third time, this newly formed pair finally signaled to Professor Andre that they were ready.
Cynthia extended her palm toward her partner: “Happy cooperation, Kelly.”
Kelly looked at Cynthia’s hand, looking somewhat embarrassed, before raising his hand to give a light slap against her palm: “I will protect you, Cynthia.”
Cynthia was stunned for a moment, then burst into a smile.
Carlo really did find an interesting person.
The duel officially began, and both sides occupied opposite sides of the training ground amidst the cheers of their supporters.
Mita was still wearing his handsome formal attire, which nonetheless restricted his flexibility. Holding a rapier in his right hand, he shielded Betty behind him: “Lady Saintess, leave all the attacking to me. You just need to support me as much as possible on the premise of protecting yourself.”
Betty hesitated for a moment, then asked, “I know a little bit of attack magic too; perhaps I can help attack Cynthia.”
“Unnecessary,” Mita said with utter confidence. “I will defeat them both by myself, and you only need to enjoy the victory.”
On the other side, Cynthia and Kelly had likewise adopted a stance of one person in front and one behind, though the content of their conversation was entirely different.
“Splendid, Mita seems prepared to shoulder the responsibility of attacking all by himself,” Kelly said with a hint of excitement. “If he doesn’t use any magical items, I can block him all by myself. But if he uses magical items to interfere with me, Cynthia, I’ll need your cooperation.”
“No problem,” Cynthia nodded. “Mind your safety.”
At Professor Andre’s command to begin, Kelly and Mita rushed toward each other, while Cynthia and Betty raised their staves and began chanting.
The rapier Mita used was a one-handed sword, which preserved flexibility to the maximum extent and also reduced the physical burden on the holder.
This allowed him to attack at a faster speed and seize the initiative.
Unfortunately, his opponent was a warrior wielding a two-handed greatsword. The wide blade made defense much easier for Kelly; with just a slight tilt, he could easily deflect that slender sword.
Mita thrust his sword several times in succession, all of which were easily parried by Kelly, making him somewhat annoyed.
Just at that moment, Betty’s first spell finished casting. A warm light descended from the heavens, placing a protective blessing on both Mita and Betty.
Mita’s fighting style had originally been to abandon defense and focus exclusively on offense; now his momentum opened up even more, and his rapier rained down like raindrops.
Kelly, however, was in no rush to counterattack. He knew that Mita’s style of attack consumed an extreme amount of stamina and could not be sustained.
Supporting Mita in using this kind of attack style was Betty, who stood behind him concentrating on support; she could use blessing magic to restore the stamina Mita had already expended.
However, Cynthia’s magic was also completed. Several scorching hot fireballs appeared one after another, shooting toward Betty on the opposite side at an attack speed even faster than a magic cannon.
The blessing magic on Betty’s body instantly became fragile beyond compare. Having no heart to spare for Mita ahead of her, she could only continuously repair the protective shields on her body.
Kelly raised the heavy sword in his hand, then reversed direction with unbelievable agility. Turning defense into offense, he said to Mita, “You underestimate Sister Cynthia far too much.”