CHAPTER III.
It was already time for the duel to start, and she was seated in one of the honor places alongside her father and the Baron standing behind them as their bodyguard.
Sir Robert applied some analgesic ointment and new bandages on his torso to be as ready as possible to make some of the Heirs he will be tangling with regret their decision to stand before him, even if he will have to surrender to the prince in the end.
She would have liked to give the man a healing potion as well but the man was insistent that it wasn't necessary to waste such assets on him at this time.
"So she got help from outside huh?"
"She should just left quietly,"
"Amazing, how pathetic can she be?!"
"Has she no shame?"
All around her the students looked at her in disgust as they spoke things about her that were no doubt tame due to being in hearing range of her father.
Behind her were her former followers, all of them were quiet and pale, no doubt terrified of her father's wrath after their betrayal, there would be consequences for the lot of them!
Soon the duels started, Sir Robert's first opponent being Brad Fou Field, the magic prodigy of the group foolishly tried attacking head on with his lance but was defeated swiftly by the experienced knight, much to her delight.
There was no way to win this war but she would enjoy seeing her tormentors defeated.
With the public's general discontent Sir Robert awaited for his next opponent.
With a roar of the audience Greg Fou Seberg made his entrance.
This battle was more equally matched as the injured Redgrave representative played it safe during the onslaught from the Seberg Heir, but the end was the same as the previous round with Sir Robert victorious once more.
"Oi, Oi, Oi! how strong is that guy, he defeated Lord Greg?!"
"This must be Illegal, there is no way that guy should be allowed!"
She knew of course this was not illegal, just something frowned upon, however it would still put her in an even worse situation at the end of this farce, but there was no reason to be afraid because in the end, they had stroke of luck named Leon Fou Barfort, he will be her punishment, so she didn't really care for anything this fickle minded fools had to say.
The third bout was when the balance finally inclined to Lafan's side, Sir Robert was still the victor, but his kingth armor now had a severed arm courtesy of Chris Fia Arclight, and the man himself must be getting tired from all this fighting.
"Lord Jilk will finish this for sure!"
"I knew betting on him was the right thing to do!"
"You bastard! I'm losing a lot of Dia here!"
Some fools even gambled on this? she just wished somehow all of them could lose! maybe bribing the bookies to run away with all the money? No it just wasn't worth the trouble and she doesn't have that kind of resources anymore.
Jilk's knight armor looked different from usual, some extra armor and some extra weapons, he was always one to be prepared, she hated him.
This time Sir Robert was finally defeated after the limbs of his knight armor were disabled by precise shots from the heir of the Marmoria House.
Sir Robert got out of his armor trying to look as if nothing happened, but she knew of his condition, and she could see how his slow movements were the result of his injuries getting worse, even in that condition he defeated three promising nobles and only fell to the fourth because of the accumulated damage he suffered in previous rounds. he had no reason to be ashamed.
Prince Julious entered the arena standing tall accompanying Marie Fou Lafan who looked like a child of ten or so years at the side of her lover.
0x0x0
Marie Fou Lafan is an ambitious girl, born in a family of viscounts obsessed to keep appearances, the Lafan had a heavy debt in the name of their various children, her older siblings and even herself, yea she was fifteen and her financial balance was firmly in the red!
However, Marie had an advantage and plan.
You see? This is not the first time she has been alive, she was a reincarnator, she had all the memories of her past life, the good… and the bad.
Especially useful were the memories of a certain otome game she liked, the world of the game was inconsistent to say the least, and the balance was awful.
She couldn't beat the battle parts of the game!
Such battles were unfit for an otome game to begin with, and in frustration she had her big brother pass them for her…
But she could easily complete the reverse Harem Route of the game on her own and secure a life of luxury and opulence.
Why is any of this important? Well you see, the world of that otome game was the same she was reincarnated into, and she was born in a good year to match the start of the game.
When she noticed all of this she dedicated herself to train her Holy Magic to the point where she could supplant the protagonist. Chasing the airhead girl was easy, and capturing all the boys was even easier.
A bunch of virgin boys were easy prey for her.
She even managed to do it in what would be considered a speedrun world record in the any percent category by triggering the duel event with the villainess.
It wasn't as easy as she thought it would be, because the boys were not as strong as they should be when the event was supposed to happen.
They made it up with quantity when their quality wasn't enough, it took four of her champions to defeat the knight the villainess had as her proxy.
The series of duels didn't go anything like the event in the game, first, the villainess was not alone during the duel, second, the fights were extremely different from the game and third when she descended to the arena to accept her defeat the villainess had a young man trailing behind her.
And finally, Julious shouldn't be gloating about their victory like this.
"... you are such a horrid woman, and you even dared to call Marie a harlot!" The crown prince of the kingdom looked like he wanted to humiliate his former fiancee at all costs.
"As we agreed to, his majesty, I will no longer interfere in your relationship with that woman" the calm and collected voice of the villainess wasn't according to the script of the game either! she was supposed to be a crying mess!
"Do you think that's enough? You harpy! you should prostrate and beg Marie for forgiveness after the hell you put her through" the prince's words were inciting the rest of the students and they were actively insulting the daughter of the Duke, the second most powerful man in the kingdom, and the man in question was in the arena too!
"I have nothing to apologize for," the villainess said as she turned around daring to show her back to Julius alongside her minion, to the Crown Prince!
Julius was furious, she could see his face and the posture of his body. Right now the Prince's very existence screamed that he was not done, it was making Marie nervous, this was the first time these NPCs were behaving any differently than the game she once played, this could get out of control!
"You dare…!" Julious said in a whisper that oozes with anger as his hand clenched in a fist.
The villainess stopped and without turning said "I will keep my part of the terms, your highness" her tone was taunting! What happened, she should be on her knees begging Julius to take her back! This was unsettling.
The prince put a foot forward probably intending to catch up to the Duke's daughter and force her to apologize, Marie was scared of him for the first time ever, he always seemed like a puppy to her, eager to have her pat his head, but right now this was bringing some very bad memories from her past life!
As the Prince took another step forward the minion that walked behind the villainess turned around and faced the prince with a calm face and put himself between the blonde and the prince.
Enraged, Julius punched the man with a full swing of his right hand full on the face, the man's head moved a few centimeters before he stood straight again as if nothing had happened, the villainess just kept walking away without even turning around after her bodyguard was striked.
Neither of them moved after that, it looked like the anger the prince felt was replaced by confusion, and she took the chance to wrap her arms around the prince's hand. She wanted to stop this, this was not in the script! This was not in the script!
That stupid mob took this as his chance to follow its master with an eerie calm.
"Let's go back Marie, I have a letter to write" the prince said in a somber tone.
She could only nod once, what was wrong with this world, these events were all not like in the game, and it scared her, she will have to revise a few things to ensure the rest of the events do not deviate so much from the script, she had to make sure everything go back to normal if she wanted an easy life in the palace away from her despicable second family.
0x0
"Are you okay?" she asked, she had not anticipated the prince's violence.
There were unshed tears trying to escape her eyes, she truly knew nothing about the Prince, she never thought he would be capable of such hypocrisy, after all he said, Julius tried to use his status as the Crown Prince to punish her himself.
They were in one of the arena corridors that would take them to her father, walking at a slow pace that wouldn't inconvenience her companion and now that she was sure there was no one around she looked to the Baron in concern, the sound of the hit he took made her cringe, and Leon was leaning on the wall for support now that he didn't need to keep up with the tough act.
"I heard the Prince was most likely the strongest student in the academy," he said, straightening again but his legs were still shaking and somehow, he was smiling cruelly.
"You didn't have to do that, it would have been to our advantage if you let the Prince get to me!" She was willing to take the hit if that would give her father some ammo in the court.
"That would have looked like House Redgrave had no reliable vassals left" Leon said, shaking his head, his face starting to swell worryingly fast.
He was right of course, but the witnesses were worthless as far as she was concerned… The same flaw was present on her hastily put together plan though.
"Thank you" she said, at least he protected her, unlike the prince who actually swore to protect her the day they were engaged.
They resumed their path to reunite with her father, Leon walking supporting his weight in the wall.
From one of the corners a student appeared looking lost and desperate, she was a little shorter than herself, blonde hair, a cute face and big breasts, she knew of her: the scholarship student.
While trying to find the right path the scholarship student spotted them, eyes wide she ran to them and the first thing she said was "You're hurt!" much to both their surprises a white light started emanating from her hands turning back the Baron's face to normal.
Leon grabbed the scholarship hand in wonder and looked towards her as if asking her if she saw it too, Holy Magic, the rarest of magics… and a commoner was born with it.
Fate had such strange ways.
The third son of a Baron born with a talent that surpassed that of all High Lords Children of this generation.
A commoner born with the most sought out Magic in the kingdom.
And herself: the daughter of a Duke abandoned for the child of a ruined viscount.
She grabbed the commoner's other hand and then dragged her along the way, this girl was far too valuable and she couldn't believe how lucky she was no one had noticed before.
A/N: TAAADAAA!
Olivia is here!
Well Angelica and Leon found her, next chapter will feature more of her.
And I know many wanted Leon putting the five idiots in their place but it is too soon for that to happen.
See you in sunday!