The first to react to that sound was Duke Chateaubriand.

“What the hell is that sound...!”

After acting like she lost her mind in a match that was already won, she truly began to spill out her sins like a madwoman.

The arena and the stands became unbearably noisy.

“What did you say?!”

There had been rumors. Some even guessed it was Silin’s doing.

But to admit it in a place like this?

As the crowd murmured, the faction nobles of Duke Chateaubriand looked at each other with troubled expressions.

“What is going on?”

“Well... maybe there’s some strategy behind this.”

“Yes, it’s too strange otherwise—”

Those speaking turned to look at Duke Chateaubriand and flinched.

His face was deathly pale.

“What’s with that expression...!”

“Could it be something unauthorized?”

“What in the world is she thinking at a time when she could claim the dragon...”

While Chateaubriand’s faction tried to make sense of the situation, Silin never stopped talking.

“Please. Hm? Please, Countess Erilot Astra...”

For Silin, this was the first time she felt such terror.

She was born noble.

The youngest daughter of Duke Chateaubriand.

Her father had been trusted by the Emperor since his youth, to the point the Emperor himself had given her a birth gift.

She had everything she wanted.

Jewels, mystical beasts, beautiful dresses, people, and...

“Even blessings.”

Because she possessed the Blessing of Replication.

She had never been afraid in front of any monster.

Whether facing ancient monsters as a Wonhwa or when captured by the Crimson Ghoul of ancient monster rank.

“But this... this is...”

Her hands and feet trembled.

Her calves shook so badly she seemed about to collapse.

The shadow monsters were scary, but the most frightening was that man.

That dazzlingly beautiful long-haired man.

As beautiful as Daymond Astra, the continent’s pride, yet instinctively, she felt:

“I can’t face him.”

He was an abyss.

No, he seemed like the embodiment of some overwhelming power.

“Please save me. Tell him not to. H- don’t... don’t do it...!”

“That’s ridiculous... You were the one trying to kill me...”

Erilot groaned and barely managed to stand.

My head spins.

I pressed my temple and forced myself to focus.

“Ah, I thought all my magic was drained.”

It felt like every joint in my body was about to snap, and I even got kicked so hard I thought I’d die.

“Wait, she’s looking at Sylon, right?”

Probably because she had weakly replicated my blessing.

My blessing lets me know all information in this world.

Thanks to my blessing, I could see Sylon.

So she, who copied my blessing, could see everything.

“But why is she so scared?”

Not only looking at Sylon, but she also glanced around nervously, trembling.

“P-please, just leave that man and those shadows alone... please...”

What the hell are those shadows?

At that moment, Sylon’s voice reached me.

[You probably still can’t see them.]

“What?”

[Well. Maybe if you train your strength more, you’ll understand.]

He never explains things properly.

“I get that Sylon is scary.”

Even I, who’ve been through thick and thin, shrank instinctively.

“But to be that scared?”

I knew her mind was unstable from the damage to her blessing...

[The Guardian Star is not merely one who lends blessings. And that child was abandoned by the Guardian Star.]

Ah, I get it.

Because of the blessing damage and lack of protection from the Guardian Star, rational thought was impossible.

“Wait... then this is an opportunity, isn’t it?”

She looked like she was about to collapse, but this was not the time.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Lies! You know! Ah, save me. Father... dad!”

Silin burst into tears looking at her father.

That father, even from afar, looked pale as if he couldn’t or wouldn’t help despite needing to.

“Please, move forward a little.”

Thinking that Sylon’s words could be heard in her mind, Sylon made an incredulous face.

[You must think I’m ridiculous.]

“What’s so hard about just walking?”

[I’m not one who obeys orders. I am the one who gives them.]

Sylon frowned as he said this.

So I...

“Then I’ll just hold on here like this!”

[...]

Until now, since I hadn’t had the blessing , I must have been a ‘special child’ to Sylon.

If I die, that man would be in serious trouble too.

“Huh? I feel like I’m about to die right now, if I hold on any longer I might really die.”

I said it like a threat, and Sylon frowned as if stunned.

“Am I really holding on?”

Sylon muttered, “That sly one...” and gritted his teeth.

But he began stepping closer to Silin.

I laughed softly.

“This works.”

Then I thought I could get help from him more often.

But no sooner had I thought that than Sylon’s face twisted.

“To think such a thing was born to be a vessel to hold me back...”

“But I’m precious, aren’t I?”

“Damn.”

The closer Sylon came, the paler Silin became.

She stepped back trembling and muttered as if squeezing the words out.

“D-don’t come... don’t come! Dad! Dad, help me!”

Now Chateaubriand’s faction nobles realized the seriousness of the situation.

They shouted.

“The match must be stopped!”

“The Central Wonhwa is in an abnormal state. It’s practically a surrender!”

“Your Majesty!”

“What are the direct troops doing? Check the participant’s condition!”

They were really ridiculous.

When they thought Silin had copied the Blessing of Monster Taming, they insisted the match continue even when I was in a bad state.

Now Silin sat down, clutching her head, screaming.

“Kyaaa─!! Don’t come!! Dad, save me! Help...! What are you doing, dad─!!”

The pale Chateaubriand faction stomped their feet.

“She’s no longer fit to continue the match! Hurry and end it─”

I shouted.

“The Central Wonhwa can move─!!”

“......!”

“......!”

My condition was already poor and my skull felt like it might break.

I frowned and looked up at the stands.

“The match is not over. No one may intervene on the Emperor’s guard.”

“How spiteful...! Is there no mercy for the Western Wonhwa?”

“Is there mercy in war?”

“Th-that’s...”

“Is mercy important compared to His Majesty’s safety?”

“.......”

“We are the Emperor’s guards. Also, the mothers who protect °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° His Majesty’s safety. How could a weak parent command their child to be strong?”

“.......”

“The Wonhwa are the model soldiers and the guiding lights. We show those who watch our backs how to rise again after falling.”

“.......”

“This is the teaching of Chronos Astra, and loyalty to His Majesty, Duke!”

[Smooth talk, anyway.]

Sylon snickered.

“I’ve survived that tearful life with just words.”

The crowd fell silent.

In the end, the Emperor makes the final call.

The Emperor stared at me. Then the corner of his mouth rose.

“Continue the match.”

“Your Majesty─!”

Duke Chateaubriand shouted at the Emperor with a face as if about to faint.

Regardless, I looked at Silin.

“I told you. You said you’d kill me. You came to the match ready to kill.”

“Ah... ugh... sob...”

“Astra doesn’t lie.”

“Why are you doing this to me─!”

Silin cried out.

“I-it’s not like I deserved this just because I went a little too far.”

“Too far? What do you mean?”

“You—you have filthy blood. And you took all the things I should have had.”

“What things?”

“Envy, attention, admiration... all of it!”

“.......”

“You’re the one who did wrong! I was just trying to scare you. To make you know your place and back off... to let you know this imperial land doesn’t welcome you!”

“...So you brought intruders into the Outer Palace on the eve of the annual festival?”

“You kept ignoring me. That’s your fault...!”

“It was the Outer Palace. Where His Majesty and the imperial family reside.”

“How much His Majesty cares for me. How much he dotes on me! You’re no match for me... kyaaa!”

Silin screamed again, looking around.

People laughed bitterly.

“Damage to the blessing, huh?”

“Yes, it seems the Western Wonhwa’s blessing level was higher than the Central Wonhwa’s.”

“So she went crazy from the damage and started babbling nonsense... unbelievable.”

“She’s just a child.”

“Would a child really try to kill someone so easily?”

“...That was also a thoughtless act.”

“I now understand that His Majesty treated that child wrongly.”

“Yes, she was intoxicated by His Majesty’s kind gaze and lost judgment.”

“We also see how much Duke Chateaubriand interfered with the Emperor’s guards. That’s why the Southern Wonhwa were so scared and swayed by the Central Wonhwa.”

People’s gazes turned cold, and Duke Chateaubriand swallowed dryly, paling.

I approached Silin, pushed out to the edge of the arena.

Silin trembled and asked.

“Y-you’ll spare me, right?”

“Yes.”

“Ah...!”

Silin’s face brightened.

Then I kicked her hard out of the arena.

“I’ve heard enough.”

—Saying that,

I looked back at the referee.

“What are you doing?”

“Huh? Ah, no, what do you mean?”

“Out of bounds. The match is over, isn’t it?”

“...Ah.”

Referee Wolfgang looked bewildered, then at Silin and me.

Then he shouted.

“Match over! Victory to the Western troops!”

Thus, I won again following the annual festival.

The first Western Wonhwa to claim victory in the open battle training.

After the match ended, the Western participants greeted me.

Behind them were Dad and Grandpa.

Dad was almost running.

The Western participants shouted excitedly.

“Victory! Wonhwa, victory!”

“Were you briefly unable to move during the match? Was someone restraining you?”

“A Western Wonhwa victory. This will be talked about for generations.”

Everyone was ecstatic, but Dad pushed the participants aside and approached me.

“Erilot.”

“Dad.”

“Are you alright? You don’t look well...”

“...Dad.”

“Yeah. You should get examined by a doctor and healer first—”

“I said I’d tell you after the annual festival... now... now...”

My voice stretched like a broken tape.

Then my knees buckled and my vision narrowed.

“Erilot!”

“Wonhwa─!”

“Doctor...! No, healer! Someone, hurry!”

The last thing I heard was the shouts of men.

That evening.

Silin opened her eyes in bed.

The bed was hard and the blanket stiff. Frowning at the unpleasant feeling, she looked around.

The smell of disinfectant.

Dim lighting.

A small bed.

‘A ward...?'

She must have fainted right after I kicked her out of the arena.

She remembered fainting but couldn’t quite recall what happened before.

‘What happened to the match...?’

She tried to replicate Erilot Astra’s blessing but...

“Stop rustling. I can’t sleep.”

An unpleasant voice sounded nearby.

Silin flinched and glanced sideways.

A thin silhouette was visible behind a thin curtain.

A delicate, slender body.

Wavy curly hair.

And that unpleasant voice...

“Erilot Astra? Why are you...”

“Why? Because you tried to copy me and drained all my magic, fainting as a result.”

“What?”

“Still, how could they put you and me in the same ward?”

“What are you talking about...?”

Muttering, Silin suddenly raised her head.

Her memories started to return.

The approaching shadows.

The dazzlingly beautiful long-haired man.

A choking fear.

And...

“What... what am I saying... really.”

The curtain was abruptly drawn.

Erilot, holding a book, looked at Silin.

“So? Who were those intruders you brought in?”

“W-what are you talking about... what are you saying?”

“You confessed. You were the one who brought the intruders into the Outer Palace.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! I was tricked by your schemes then... ah, right. What tricks did you pull?!”

“No tricks. You just failed copying and took damage, didn’t you?”

“No, you did some magic or something. That’s why I said those ridiculous things...!”

Silin suddenly stood up.

Pale, she glared at Erilot.

“I don’t want to share a room with you. I’m going back to the mansion.”

“That’s fine, but tell me before you go. Who were those intruders?”

“I have nothing to say to you!”

Silin shouted as she ran out of the ward.

Erilot’s voice followed behind her.

“You should’ve talked to me. Well, fine.”

It was truly an unpleasant voice.

Silin walked down the corridor.

‘I have to hurry, hurry back to the mansion and discuss this with Dad...’

But it was strange.

Every palace servant she passed whispered.

“How shameless.”

“His Majesty... is very angry with Duke Chateaubriand.”

It was the first time she had received such disdainful looks.