The tea table was splendidly set.
Ena, as a maid working in the royal palace, mastered perfectly the art of preparing tea leaves. Thus, she brewed black tea with the finest ingredients and filled the cups to just the right level.
The accompanying sweets matched perfectly.
And Yekaterina was sitting quietly in front of the tea table, looking at the garden.
It was a beautiful scene.
“…”
Yuri, who had been observing her for a moment, sat down across from her.
“You came?”
“Yes. To what do I owe your visit?”
Yuri suspected that Yekaterina might have returned in time.
In the past, a knight named Enox Seia had come to tell him about her warning.
If he took into account her habit of drinking Helgrey Milk Tea without stirring it, but rather by swirling the cup, and the message about the necklace, the possibility existed.
In addition, Yekaterina was speaking to him informally.
It was very suspicious.
“Can I only come if I have some business?”
“I don’t think we’re the type of people who meet without a reason.”
“I just came because I wanted to see you.”
Yuri, somewhat taken aback, saw her laugh.
“Why? Am I not allowed?”
Yekaterina looked at him intently with her emerald eyes and a smile on her lips, and Yuri couldn’t speak for a moment.
The way she treated him reminded him far too much of the Yekaterina from his previous life.
She asked again.
“How was the war?”
“Difficult.”
“They say you were suddenly transported from the Empire to here — does that mean such a formidable enemy appeared?”
“Yes.”
“What a problem. Will it be hard to win?”
“Maybe…”
“Maybe?”
Yekaterina took a sip of tea while looking at Yuri.
A drop of tea shone for a moment on her lower lip before being erased by the contact with the upper one.
It was an image Yuri had seen countless times in his previous life.
With his gaze lowered, stroking the cup, Yuri replied after a silence.
“It will be difficult.”
“Hmm…”
Yekaterina smiled faintly.
“The topic is too heavy. Shall we talk about something else?”
“I think that would be better.”
She changed the subject.
For a while, they maintained a light conversation, speaking naturally like old friends.
Little by little, the topic shifted toward the past, recalling the royal palace ball where they first met and the tournament held in the imperial capital.
“I told Georg not to do that.”
“For saying that, you seemed to enjoy it.”
“Well, that’s also true.”
“Weren’t you the one who egged him on?”
“No. I tried to dissuade him, but my brother insisted that he wanted to test your worth and took it all the way.”
“And when I won, how did he react?”
“He seemed interested. And in the tournament, since you didn’t participate, he was very disappointed.”
“It was Laurent who participated in my place.”
“I would have preferred it to be you.”
“That would never have happened.”
“And what were you going to do with the medal?”
“I don’t know.”
Yuri smiled ironically.
“Then, Your Highness, what did you talk about with my knight?”
“Your knight?”
“Before the tournament, didn’t you meet alone with Laurent?”
“Ah…”
Yekaterina set down the teacup and leaned forward.
“Are you… jealous?”
“No.”
“Then why do you care?”
“I just remembered and asked.”
“Didn’t Laurent tell you anything?”
“Laurent is not someone who talks for the sake of talking.”
“Oh, no?”
She smiled and brought a sweet to her mouth, chewing it calmly.
“Neither am I.”
“Pardon?”
“That I’m also not one to talk for the sake of talking.”
“Ah, well…”
Yuri shrugged.
“As you say.”
He didn’t mention anything about returning in time, just like with his previous life. He treated her as if it were the first time they met, and she did the same.
Even so, the conversation kept flowing.
Without realizing it, both of their teas had finished.
Ena, who had been waiting in the distance, approached.
“Shall I serve more tea?”
“No, that’s fine.”
Yekaterina shook her head.
“This is enough.”
“I understand.”
At her words, Yuri felt a slight pang of disappointment, but quickly set it aside.
Yekaterina stood up.
“Then, I’ll take my leave.”
“Yes.”
Yuri also stood.
“Allow me to accompany you.”
“You’re even going to escort me?”
“You came alone. And it’s already starting to get dark.”
Joshua surely would have assigned her an escort, but it seemed she preferred to move alone. In his previous life, she also felt uncomfortable with people following her.
Yekaterina nodded.
“All right.”
Walking beside her through the royal palace of Briol was a new experience.
“The royal palace of Briol is beautiful.”
“It doesn’t compare to the imperial palace.”
“I prefer this one.”
“Is that so?”
Although they had walked together incognito through the streets of the imperial capital, it was the first time they spent time together in what could be considered each other’s residence.
From time to time, some palace servants recognized them and greeted them.
“Even the atmosphere is better than that of the imperial palace.”
“Really?”
“It’s too dark over there. Surely because of the black magic…”
Finally, the two arrived at the palace where Yekaterina was staying, the same one where Yuri had stayed before.
“I’ll be here for a while. Thanks for lending it to me.”
“No problem.”
“Or do you want us to live here together?”
“No.”
Yekaterina smiled.
“Then, see you.”
Yuri stood still, watching her walk away.
He could have asked her if she retained the memories of her past life, but he didn’t.
“Well…”
Just before Yekaterina fully entered the palace, she waved her hand toward him, making Yuri smile.
“Fuu…”
He sighed and turned around, only to find a familiar face watching him.
“What’s this?”
Jared asked.
“What is it?”
“What do you mean, what is it?”
“What’s going on between the two of you?”
“What do you mean?”
“When did you get so close?”
“I just walked her to the palace.”
“It didn’t look like that at all. Right, Gaiden?”
Jared turned to the gardener who was tending to the royal plants. The man, who was holding large shears, nodded.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“See?”
“What do you mean it didn’t look like that?”
“Gaiden, explain it to him.”
“They were walking very close, shoulder to shoulder, talking cheerfully and with very happy expressions.”
When Yuri frowned, the gardener quickly hid behind a tree and continued his work. The cut branches fell to the ground in a cascade.
Jared burst out laughing.
“Anyway, tell me, since when are you like that? It’s lucky Lady Maryrose isn’t in the palace right now.”
“What does Maryrose have to do with this?”
“Are you going to play dumb?”
“Just shut up.”
Yuri sighed.
“The god from another world is about to descend and ruin everything. Do we have time to waste on gossip?”
“Well, so what? Time will pass anyway.”
Jared smiled mischievously.
“In a month, even if you don’t want to, you’ll have to fight. Until then, you should rest.”
Yuri looked at him.
The fact that he spoke as if he were going to fight Cedric seemed admirable.
“I wish people from other countries were like you.”
“They surely will be.”
King Joshua, after the return of Yuri’s group, had immediately contacted other countries.
They still didn’t know what decision they would make.
Even if they all refused, Yuri intended to fight alone.
“Shall we spar a bit?”
“It’s not that…”
“Come on.”
“We just returned to Briol today.”
“And?”
“The sun is already setting…”
“We can turn on the lights.”
“No, I…”
“All right, we’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
***
The next morning, Yuri dragged Jared to the training grounds.
The place was empty.
“Jared.”
“Yes.”
“Give it your all.”
He didn’t know if Cedric had given him a month just so he would relax and lose his fighting spirit, but Yuri had no intention of doing that.
He would improve as much as possible and kill Cedric.
“Yes.”
Jared also gripped his sword with a serious expression.
Their swords clashed.
Of course, Jared couldn’t match Yuri. Again and again he ended up on the ground, and Yuri waited for him to get up before attacking again.
It was tougher than usual.
But, surprisingly, Jared didn’t complain.
He gritted his teeth and kept up.
“Tired already?”
“No.”
Jared smiled defiantly.
“Is this all you’ve got?”
Yuri understood he was serious. Jared truly intended to go with him to fight Cedric.
“Good.”
Yuri smiled sideways.
“Then I’ll get serious.”
The aura of the Cut of the soul and the heart flowed into Guilty. The sword vibrated strongly. Jared spun his own in the air, moving in circles around Yuri.
They clashed again.
Yuri’s energy swept across Jared’s body.
It wasn’t a deep wound, but enough to draw a little blood.
Jared widened his eyes, trying to follow the attack.
But he couldn’t block them all.
“Tch!”
He tried to counterattack in a moment of opening, but Yuri kicked him in the abdomen and sent him rolling across the ground.
“Fuu…”
The gap was still enormous.
The third prince, who used to be weaker than him, had now turned into a monster.
Jared gritted his teeth and stood up.
Then—
“Huh?”
Although at first it had only been the two of them in the field, suddenly there were more people.
“You two have such a big difference in level that you’re not helping each other much.”
Moyongchan, arms crossed, stood in front of Yuri.
“You, train with him.”
Laurent looked at Jared and nodded.
Besides them, several knights of the Order of Vengeance were already gathered around.
It seemed they had come directly to the palace after being summoned.
“We’ll participate as well.”
“Please train us.”
Yuri looked at them and smiled.
“If you wanted to come, you should’ve done so yesterday. You’re a day late.”
“Forgive us for that.”
“And the others?”
“They’re probably on their way.”
The Order of Vengeance was made up of knights selected from all the fiefs of Briol. Those living in the capital had arrived immediately, but those from distant areas would take longer.
“All right, I hope so.”
Yuri looked over everyone.
“I’m going back to the Empire to finish this. Any objections?”
“None!”
“Perfect. Let’s train!”
The knights paired off and began sparring. Yuri stood in front of Moyongchan.
“Master.”
“What do you want?”
“I’ll go all out.”
“That’s fine.”
Moyongchan smiled.
“Try it.”
They stepped back a bit.
Both released their energy.
Their clothes billowed from the pressure.
“In Eastern terms, how strong are you, Master?”
“I don’t know…”
Moyongchan raised his sword.
“Right now, I’d probably be among the Five Great Masters.”
“Is Dan Socheon among them?”
“The Heavenly Demon is always included.”
“I see.”
Yuri smiled.
“Then if I beat you, nothing bad will happen.”
“Arrogant…”
They lunged at each other.
Their swords were so fast that even the most experienced knights couldn’t follow them. The sound of metal rang out repeatedly, mixed with explosions that made the air vibrate.
When Yuri and Moyongchan began fighting, everyone’s eyes focused on them.
Even those who were training stopped their matches.
It wasn’t common to witness a duel between experts of Ten Greats level.
Watching it was a lesson in itself.
Of course, if the viewer’s level wasn’t high enough, they wouldn’t understand anything.
“Hmm…”
And for an ordinary person, they wouldn’t even know what they were seeing.
Such was the case with Yekaterina.
Sitting under a parasol, she watched the fight from a distance.
Some knights recognized her and greeted her; she returned the gesture.
“I don’t understand anything.”
Ena, who was with her, was serving tea.
“But I do know it’s impressive.”
“Same here. Ena, do you want to have tea with me?”
“How could I, with you, Your Highness…?”
“It’s fine. Sit.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
While they drank tea, Moyongchan was slammed into the ground once, and Yuri was sent flying, falling and spitting a little blood.
“They look good, don’t they?”
“Yes. It’s always good to see someone working hard.”
____
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