Chapter 56: Contact

After seeing Lady Albright off, I reunited with Richard and returned safely to the inn.
Surprisingly, none of the notable figures came charging at us.
I wish I could say I was overthinking things, but somehow, the way they had behaved at the tournament still didn’t inspire trust.

The next day.
News of the swordsmanship tournament spread throughout the capital in various forms, creating quite a stir.
I ate breakfast while reading one of the reports that had made the front page.
Among them, the one drawing the most attention was, of course, the masked knight, “Robin.”

Just as he had said, there seemed to have been a “previous” one as well, and among those in the know, word was spreading that “that Robin” had appeared again.
Apparently, that alone was enough to get certain circles buzzing.

“I don’t know this history at all…”

It was said that his “father” had also once worn a mask and fought in that way.
What exactly are the royals of this country doing, really?

As for Richard, the reaction was decent, though he had clearly had much of the spotlight stolen by “Robin.”
However, perhaps because both of them had made public declarations of love, something strange was happening.

“So now people think I’m also the one Robin is in love with…?”

Why would it turn out that way?
Well, unlike Richard, he hadn’t named his partner directly.
And since I was the only one involved with the tournament whose name was widely known, and Richard had named me outright, perhaps it was inevitable that such rumors would spread.

“We’ll have to keep Robin’s true identity secret until his chosen partner is revealed.”

If things went wrong, I might end up labeled as “the Crown Prince’s beloved,” which would be completely untrue.
It could serve as camouflage to hide his true intended partner, but was that really his aim?
It was troublesome either way.

Judging by how gleefully His Highness was playing the role of the masked knight, he probably hadn’t thought that deeply about it.

“Other than the Robin issue, everything is more or less going as expected.
It seems to be spreading nicely.”

Temporary stalls had been set up around the venue, and an economic boost was expected.
Public interest was more than sufficient.
People really do love festivals.

On the first day, the audience seats had been mostly filled with tournament officials and high-ranking nobles.
From today onward, however, tickets for the general public would be available.
That did raise some safety concerns, so attendance by high-ranking nobles would likely decrease.

Knights from the Duke of Pharmason’s house were participating, but what about the ducal couple themselves?
Were they focused on their own knight?
Or would the duke come just to see Lady Livia?
I doubted the duchess would allow that, though they had been present yesterday.

Thinking about such things, I finished my morning preparations and headed for the venue.

Today was lively as well, which was good to see.
I offered words of encouragement to Richard and then went to the operations waiting room.

“Richard, I hope you aren’t injured.”

“Thank you, Ellen.
Of course not.”

“Um… have there been any issues on the knights’ side?
With that person, for example.”

“For now, he’s being quiet.
I do feel his gaze, though.
He’s probably still confused.”

“Confused?”

When I tilted my head, Richard energetically swung his right arm to show me.

“By the fact that my right arm is moving so freely.”

“Oh!”

That made sense.
To Sir Godwin, Richard’s right arm was something that should never have moved again.
He must have felt safe because of that.
And yet here it was, clearly functioning without issue.
Richard was fully displaying the knightly skill that had once provoked jealousy and fear.

At first, his mind must have been filled with one question.
“Why?”

As he watched the matches, he would gradually understand that Richard had completely recovered.
And now, perhaps he was thinking, “What do I do?
What should I do about this?”

“…Do you think he’s afraid of retaliation?”

“He seems aware of us, but we’re not paying him any special attention.
Basically, it’s best not to engage.”

Not engaging.
That reminded me of what Lady Albright had said yesterday.
Yes.
They were people who had taken something from us.
But now, we felt that having our own happiness was enough.

In the end, it all depended on what they chose to do.

“Well, it’s a bit ironic, considering we invited them here to show everything off.”

“Hehe, that’s true.
I’d be lying if I said we weren’t conscious of them at all.”

We spent the time exchanging updates, continuing the conversation from yesterday.
I had already shared with Richard the fact that I had met and spoken with Lady Albright.

We even joked about how Lady Livia and the others hadn’t come charging at us after all.

It was frustrating that I couldn’t simply dismiss it as overthinking.
We were keeping an eye on them, and it was clear they were still watching us.

With caution maintained, the second day of the swordsmanship tournament began.

With the audience now more focused on the general public, and with matches between knights who had advanced past the first round, the excitement was even greater than yesterday.

“Robin-samaaa!”

…It seemed that “Robin” already had a group of dedicated supporters.
Because he put on a good performance, his popularity had skyrocketed.
Most of them were young women, though he had a fair number of male supporters as well.

No one knew who he planned to confess to, but the cheers were full of “Do your best, young man!” kind of energy.

It felt like he had somewhat stolen the tournament’s initial goals, but from an entertainment perspective, it was an overwhelming success.
I could feel that Richard was also drawing attention, so our original objective had been achieved.

“The Masked Knight” Robin.
“The Holy Knight” Richard Claudius.
“The Hero” Harried Carlson.

Despite everything, Harried also seemed quite popular.
He appeared to have more male fans than the other two, though that might just be because Richard and Robin had so many female fans.

Compared to those three standout knights, Sir Greg Godwin, captain of the Duke of Pharmason’s knight order, could only be described as “plain.”
Given his title, he should have been more dazzling, but somehow he lacked presence.

…Was that why he had been jealous of Richard?
Standing next to him must have filled him with an inferiority complex.

Every time cheers erupted for the others, his expression grew increasingly ugly.

If Sir Godwin were to “act,” what would he do?
He must know that he couldn’t beat Richard in a straightforward contest of skill.
Still, based on the brackets, if both advanced smoothly, they would face each other tomorrow.

Would he accept the match calmly?
Or would he refuse to lose to Richard in front of such a crowd?

Judging by his behavior, I couldn’t help but think it would be the latter.

Meanwhile, my ex-husband and Lady Livia continued to glance my way.
They seemed to be searching for an opening to speak to me, yet they never crossed the line.

After the disaster at their wedding, their lives had apparently become rather strained.
Perhaps they had mellowed somewhat compared to before.
At least compared to how they were in my dreams.

The matches proceeded smoothly.
The three standouts and Sir Godwin all advanced.
And so it was decided that tomorrow, Richard and Sir Godwin would face each other.

As the second day ended and the knights began to disperse, I felt uneasy and went to Richard.

“Richard!”

Just as I suspected, Sir Godwin was speaking to him.

“…Sir Godwin.
It’s been a while.”

“Yes, it has.
But why didn’t you come to greet me before now?”

“Greet you?”

“Have you forgotten courtesy toward your former knight order?
You’re still a man unworthy of being called a knight.”

Wow.
So this is the kind of thing Sir Godwin says.
Or was he deliberately provoking him?

From what I had observed over the past two days, it didn’t seem like he truly looked down on Richard.

“I’ve already greeted the knights of House Pharmason.”

“…What?”

“I simply never found the right timing to greet you personally, Captain.
I’ve already left the Pharmason knight order, and I have no intention of returning.
I thought it would be more discourteous to force you to make time for me.
More than that, I’m surprised that you still concern yourself with me.”

Richard was unusually talkative.

“You—”

“And what business do you have with me, Captain?
I don’t believe we have anything to discuss.
Or perhaps you’ve come to apologize?”

He spoke over Sir Godwin, cutting him off.
Sir Godwin looked irritated.
He really did seem proud.

“Apologize?
For what?
Are you planning to blame me for your lack of ability?”

“Ability?
Ah, are you referring to that past match?
If so, as you can see, a skilled healer restored me completely.
It’s all in the past now.
So please don’t concern yourself with it.
It’s nothing that matters anymore.
In fact, perhaps I should thank you.
That injury led me to a wonderful encounter.
Thank you, Captain.”

Calling it meaningless, and even thanking him.
What sharp irony.
So Richard could fight back like this when he chose to.

Sir Godwin stood stunned, then burned with rage.
Jealousy and inferiority were there, but I also sensed obsession.

The wound he believed he had carved into Richard was gone, treated as nothing.
That must have crushed his pride.

Perhaps he had clung to a twisted sense of self-worth.
“I was the one who crippled Richard’s right arm.”

Which meant, in another way, that he acknowledged Richard’s strength more than anyone.

“Enjoy yourself while you can, Richard.”

Unable to process his emotions here, Sir Godwin spat those words and turned away.
He couldn’t even muster a proper retort.
Richard had shut him down completely.

As Sir Godwin left, he noticed me nearby and glared.
His mouth opened, as if to say something.

But I had something to say to him.
So before he could speak, I did.

“It was me who healed Richard’s right arm, Sir Godwin.”

“…What?”

Caught off guard, he just opened and closed his mouth.

“Healed perfectly, didn’t I?
You thought it might never heal.
Haven’t you heard the rumors of the ‘Goddess of the Battlefield’?
Thanks to my healing magic, Richard has recovered enough to fully display his strength as a knight.
If any knight is seriously injured in this tournament, I will heal them without fail.
Yes, as long as I am here, he will never lose that arm again.”

The one who had destroyed his so-called achievement.
While Sir Godwin struggled to process that realization, I quickly went to Richard.

I took his hand and smiled.

“Richard, if you win tomorrow’s match, it’ll finally be a showdown with the ‘Hero,’ won’t it?
It’s just another stepping stone, so please win quickly!”

At my words, Richard blinked in surprise.
He looked adorable.

“…Of course.
I’ll dedicate tomorrow’s victory to you, Ellen.”

Deliberately, we displayed our closeness.
After that, we behaved as though Sir Godwin didn’t exist at all.
Ignoring him and going out for dinner sounded just fine.

Sir Godwin stood there for a moment, seething, but ultimately left in silence.
I could see his mouth moving, so he probably wanted to say something.
But with the two of us wrapped up in our own world, anything he said would only sound like sour grapes.

“…Did we go a bit too far?”

“No.
I was enjoying it a little myself.
It was fine.”

Clearly, he had been the one to start the confrontation.
Given our past, I didn’t regret driving him off.

And then, the next day.

As I was heading toward the operations room, several knights approached me.

“Is something the matter?”

“Lady Vent, there’s someone who wishes to see you.”

They were knights of House Pharmason.
Yet they had deliberately removed the armbands indicating their affiliation.

They weren’t even trying to hide that something was amiss.

I couldn’t help but sigh.