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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: The Reason That Villainess Took Up the Sword
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‘What on earth is this?’
He felt another oppressive aura, not the one he had just emitted. He tore his gaze from Ellua and looked at Erin, who stood before him.
She was staring at him with eyes full of contempt.
“To unleash your aura so carelessly on a civilian, how truly impressive.”
At Erin’s words, Loham seemed unable to hold back and moved to draw his sword. This was precisely what Erin wanted. She looked at Loham and said,
“This place is too cramped; follow me outside.”
Having said that, Erin immediately headed out of the dormitory. She could feel Loham huffing as he followed behind her.
He shouted loudly at Erin.
“It seems you wish to be shamed in front of everyone!”
Thinking about who Loham was, a memory surfaced.
‘He was going to lose his knighthood in the future anyway.’
In the future, or rather, in Erin’s past, Ditrion had provoked Ferdin and challenged him to a duel.
As a result, their knights, Amon and Loham, had faced off against each other.
When Amon won the duel, Loham, unable to accept his defeat, stabbed Amon in the shoulder with his sword.
He was the man who had been stripped of his knighthood for that incident. Erin had never seen Loham after that.
He was probably discarded by Ditrion, who had a strong sense of pride.
After all, Ditrion would have treated Loham, who lost to Ferdin’s knight, as a useless man.
As soon as she stepped outside, she felt people’s gazes. And that was exactly what Erin wanted.
When dealing with Ditrion, the more eyes on them, the better. He was a Prince who cared immensely about his reputation.
“Erin Resus!”
Loham roared and tried to draw his sword. But his sword wouldn’t leave its sheath.
Someone had grabbed Loham’s hand.
‘He finally showed up.’
Erin shifted her gaze, looking at the person holding Loham.
It was a man with silver hair that reached his shoulders and blue eyes similar to Ferdin’s. An inexplicable sense of intimidation swirled around him.
At his appearance, Loham obediently bowed his head. It was a completely different demeanor from when he had been shouting at Erin and Ellua.
The First Prince of the Lexia Empire, Ditrion.
He was the leading candidate for the next Emperor and Ferdin’s lifelong rival.
“Erin, it’s been too long, hasn’t it? I apologize for Sir Loham’s rudeness. It was merely a letter to deliver, I didn’t know he would cause such a scene.”
She gave a faint smile at Ditrion’s words. Erin had felt Ditrion’s gaze even before he revealed himself here.
He must have been watching the entire time, having Loham deliver the letter to her.
Ditrion took another step closer to Erin. His hand touched her ear. Ditrion let out a low chuckle.
His elegant features and bright smile suited him perfectly.
“Speaking of which, Erin, I heard you accomplished something remarkable…”
“…”
“You rescued refugees with Ferdin. Though I’m not sure what you, who only just took up the sword, could have done there.”
Ditrion’s words were true.
After Erin defeated the Werewolf Tribe’s chieftain, Amon and Lilia led the captured refugees out of the Werewolf Tribe’s territory.
Seeing their chieftain dead, the Werewolf Tribe dared not challenge them.
Ferdin’s extermination mission had ended very successfully. This was a complete change from the past.
“They say it was possible because the Sword Master who appeared during the monster subjugation reappeared.”
“I was lucky.”
“Yes, excessively lucky. But isn’t it a bit strange? A Sword Master whose identity is unknown keeps appearing. It doesn’t make sense, does it? It’s almost as if…”
Ditrion tightly gripped Erin’s hand as he spoke.
It was a force strong enough that she would have been in pain a few months ago.
“Like the Young Lady of a Marquisate right before my eyes. A seemingly ordinary lady who had never wielded a sword before… now has calluses on her hands and ranks among the top five in the Beginner Class.”
“…”
“Is this also luck, Sir Erin?”
Ditrion Lexia.
Erin had disliked him since her first life. Ditrion was the only outsider who knew she was being abused by the Marquis’s Wife.
Erin recalled the day she first met him when she was a child.
Ditrion visited the Marquisate with the Marquis’s Wife holding his hand.
The kind smile the Marquis’s Wife wore that day was different from the one she gave Karon.
“Erin, come and greet him. He will be the next Emperor.”
At the Marquis’s Wife’s words, he smiled at Erin just as he had before.
His appearance was like a Prince from a fairy tale, and it made her feel a little fluttery. With his low chuckle, he seemed completely different from her pathetic self.
Watching Ditrion, Erin blushed shyly.
That’s how perfect Ditrion’s appearance seemed on the surface.
A beautiful, sharp-minded Prince. That was the Ditrion known to the world.
Whenever Erin saw Ditrion, she would avoid his gaze and lower her head. Yet, she would steal glances at him, her eyes filled with admiration.
‘His Royal Highness shines so brightly.’
Erin thought Ditrion was a wonderful Prince. Until she was caught by him during one of the Marquis’s Wife’s disciplinary sessions…
Ditrion merely laughed and stood by, watching her cry for help, afraid of the punishment.
Erin never forgot what he said then, not even at the moment of her death.
“Filthy.”
Erin shook off Ditrion’s hand and stepped back.
The arm Ditrion had grabbed felt a chilling sensation, as if an insect were crawling on it.
“My high ranking in the Swordsmanship Department is not luck, Your Royal Highness, it is skill.”
“Skill?”
Erin brushed off her hand.
Ditrion laughed, amused by her gesture, as if something dirty had touched her.
Unlike before, Erin’s defiant attitude actually piqued his interest.
‘Could Erin Resus act like that? The talk about her changing wasn’t a lie, then.’
But that was as far as it went. He was not the type to tolerate anyone going against his will.
“Interesting. Could you… show me that skill? I’m quite fond of those with exceptional talent, you see. Who knows? I might want to bring Sir Erin into our Knight Order.”
“Unfortunately, I have a prior engagement.”
“A prior engagement?”
“Yes, I need to see Sir Ferdin, so that won’t be possible.”
He tilted his head.
“That’s disappointing. I thought I was closer to you than Ferdin.”
“…”
“We’ve known each other since childhood, haven’t we?”
“What do you want?”
“Don’t go meet Ferdin. Do what I tell you. Show me your swordsmanship, Erin Resus.”
“…”
“This isn’t a request. It’s an order.”
Ditrion spoke to Erin in an overbearing tone.
His distorted face resembled how he looked when he called her filthy.
Now, this was more like Ditrion. Erin thought, smiling.
He grabbed her wrist again, squeezing it hard.
* * *
The central hall of the Academy.
All of Ferdin’s prospective knights were gathered in the conference room they frequently used.
Karon looked as if he wanted to burst out of the room at any moment. Derek shook his head, watching him.
Ever since he learned Erin Resus was injured, Karon had been like this.
He seemed unstable, as if Erin would die if he was separated from her.
‘He’s not normal either.’
Derek thought, shaking his head. But he understood Karon’s feelings.
He himself had felt the same way when Ferdin was injured.
Derek and Karon had immediately followed Ferdin into the Werewolf Tribe’s territory.
However, no matter how much they searched, they couldn’t find Ferdin or Erin.
After wandering for a long time, they finally met Amon and Lilia, who were leading the refugees out of the territory.
And a unconscious Erin and Ferdin.
Derek and Karon each screamed and rushed towards them.
Karon hadn’t left Erin’s side since then.
When he personally spoon-fed her, even Ashili Princess, who was next to them, couldn’t maintain her composure.
Derek let out a deep sigh and asked Ferdin,
“Ferdin, this makes no sense. What exactly is your relationship with that Sword Master?”
“…”
“The monster subjugation, and now the Werewolf Tribe extermination… once could be a coincidence, but twice cannot be called a coincidence. The Werewolf Tribe’s chieftain was suddenly dead? Do you think the Emperor will simply believe that report? Don’t you think so too?”
Derek looked at Amon and Lilia, seeking their agreement.
However, Amon and Lilia avoided his gaze instead of agreeing with Derek’s words.
