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“A duel to the death!”
The people nearby could not help crying out when they heard Aurelian’s words.
Even Miles and Mr.
Delacour looked startled.
“Aurelian, no…”
Elaine and Madame Delacour arrived just in time to hear Aurelian challenge Joyce.
Madame Delacour looked alarmed and moved to stop him, but Elaine caught her arm and shook her head.
“Aurelian, why are you doing this?”
Fleur stared at him in astonishment.
She could not understand his decision.
“Fleur, I already said it.
I can tolerate him being rude to me, but I will not tolerate him insulting my fiancee.”
Light flashed through Fleur’s eyes.
She stared at the boy half a head shorter than herself for a while, then suddenly stepped forward and hugged him.
“Aurelian, you will win, right?”
“Yes.”
Only then did Aurelian turn his gaze back to Hall and Joyce Lancelot.
“Well?
Do you accept?”
“I acce…”
Joyce burned under Aurelian’s provoking gaze and nearly agreed on the spot, but Hall stopped him.
The man looked deeply at Aurelian, then turned to Miles.
“Miles, as everyone knows, your son formed a contract with a phoenix when he was young.
No matter how talented my son may be, he is only eight.
If he has to fight a phoenix as well, he has no chance of victory.
Therefore…”
“Are you afraid?”
Miles cut him off with open mockery.
“If you are afraid, just say so.
I promise not to laugh.”
“Mr.
Lancelot,” Mr.
Delacour said, stepping in as well, “Aurelian’s phoenix is part of his own strength.
If he calls on it during a duel, that is hardly unreasonable.”
Hall’s expression turned ugly under their words.
For a moment, he was trapped between retreat and embarrassment.
“I will not summon Phoenix.”
“Aurelian, you…”
Mr.
Delacour wanted to persuade him to reconsider, but Miles quickly held him back.
Miles knew his son.
Aurelian would never choose a fight he had no confidence in winning.
“If that is the case, I have no objection.”
Hall agreed at once, as if afraid Aurelian might take the words back.
“He actually accepted!”
“A duel to the death between the heirs of House Lancelot and House Pendragon.
How many years has it been since anything like this happened?”
The surrounding guests were even more shocked once Hall accepted.
“Knowing full well that Aurelian has shown no accidental magic, he still demands that the boy not summon his own phoenix.
Shameless.
When did House Lancelot fall so low?”
Mrs.
Longbottom walked over and mocked Hall without mercy.
Hall flushed, but he did not answer her.
During the war against Voldemort, House Longbottom had paid a terrible price.
Mrs.
Longbottom’s son and daughter-in-law had been tortured into madness by Voldemort’s followers, and the Longbottom name still carried great prestige in Britain’s wizarding world.
Making an enemy of them without careful thought would be unwise.
Hall chose to pretend he had not heard her.
“Mrs.
Longbottom is right.
House Lancelot handled this badly.”
“Still, Aurelian was too impulsive.
This is a duel to the death.
With House Lancelot’s usual style, even if they do not dare kill him here, they will certainly try to cripple him.”
The other family heads began murmuring after Mrs.
Longbottom spoke.
Hall’s expression hardened further.
He knew that even if Joyce defeated Aurelian, House Lancelot would suffer for tonight.
“Enough.
Since you agreed not to use the phoenix, let us begin.”
Hall’s mood had soured completely.
He drew his wand and sent a white beam of light into the air.
Miles did the same from the other side.
The two white beams met and spread into a half-dome barrier, enclosing Aurelian and Joyce within it.
“Aurelian, I know you will win!”
Before the duel began, Fleur shouted to him from outside the barrier.
Aurelian nodded, then gave Catherine a reassuring look before turning his full attention to Joyce.
“Finished saying goodbye?”
Joyce spoke with unconcealed spite. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
He had been holding in anger since the beginning and could not understand why everyone supported Aurelian.
House Lancelot still held more power in the wizarding world than House Pendragon did.
“If you are done, then you can die.”
With that thought feeding his fury, Joyce drew his wand.
“Die?
Sorry.
I have never planned on doing that.”
Aurelian shrugged, completely unconcerned.
“You cannot use magic, and you refuse to use your phoenix.
What will you fight me with?
A knight’s sword?”
Joyce looked at him with a sneer.
Without Phoenix, he was certain of victory.
“If your ancestor Sir Lancelot heard you talk like that, he might slap you himself.”
Aurelian looked at Joyce as if he were an idiot, then drew the wand he had retrieved only recently.
“And who told you I cannot use magic?”
“Impossible.
No one in history has used magic without first showing accidental magic.
You must be bluffing.
Expelliarmus!”
Joyce still did not believe Aurelian could cast.
He pointed his wand, and a red light shot toward him.
“Protego.”
Aurelian tapped his wand against himself.
A faint, armor-like sheen covered his body and deflected Joyce’s spell.
“He really can use magic.
Does that mean the rumor that the Pendragon heir never showed accidental magic was false?”
The guests were astonished to see Aurelian cast.
“Children suffer accidental magic because they cannot fully control their power,” Aurelian said calmly.
“I am different.
I was born able to control my magic perfectly.
For me, accidental magic was never going to happen.”
Only then did the guests understand why Aurelian could cast despite never showing accidental magic.
That sort of talent was not something just anyone could possess.
Miles had not known the truth either, but seeing Hall’s shocked expression made him immensely happy.
He looked at Hall with open provocation, making no effort to hide his pride.
Hall was furious.
He looked as if he wanted to smack Miles himself.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter.