"Erilot."

Hearing the duke’s words, Erilot lightly bowed her head.

The duke nodded with a “Hmm,” then took his seat on the stage.

The direct and collateral descendants blinked wide-eyed, looking back and forth between the duke and Erilot.

“What the—If a stranger saw this, they’d think the duke came because of Erilot-nim...”

A collateral descendant muttered.

Ereka glared at Erilot, who showed no reaction.

‘How sly.’

Trying to pretend the duke’s arrival was because of her?

It was such a ridiculous act it was laughable.

‘Does she really think she can steal this honor that way?’

Everyone knew.

That Viscount Gilard had personally spoken to Duke Astra.

Moreover, Erilot must have fought countless matches against other direct descendants.

The duke, who hadn’t even shown his face before, had come personally this time to watch the match.

‘So it’s because of me.’

Ereka chuckled, covering her mouth.

Then, lowering her eyebrows as if pitying Erilot, she looked at her.

“How embarrassing...”

“...?”

“Today, the duke took time to come to ‘my match.’”

She emphasized that it was her match.

Making sure there was no misunderstanding.

That the duke came because of her, not because of Erilot Astra.

But then—

‘...What?’

Why such a calm expression?

Erilot looked at Ereka without changing her expression.

“All right, all right. I get it, so let’s start.”

She looked annoyed.

Ereka bit her lip tightly.

‘Trying to hide how jealous she is.’

In any case, she’s bitter inside.

“No need to be so jealous—”

“I said I get it.”

“...”

“Let’s begin the match.”

At Erilot’s words, the referee professor stepped into the arena.

Since it was a match between direct and collateral descendants, they entrusted a third party as referee.

The referee standing between Erilot and Ereka spoke.

“Then, I will explain the rules.”

After hearing the referee’s explanation, I nodded.

The rules were simple.

Ereka and I could each wear three belts on our bodies.

The side that cut off all three belts first would win.

I received blue belts, Ereka white belts.

‘Belts can be tied anywhere, so... hmm... the upper body, which is easier to defend, seems best.’

I tied one on each arm and one on my head, so I could move quickly even under attack.

Ereka tied hers on both arms and her right wrist.

Just as the match was about to start,

the adults began entering the arena one by one.

‘Those are people from the imperial palace?’

Count Boviltong, the representative of the palace, laughed heartily and took a seat beside my grandfather.

“The famous Erilot Astra’s match. Expectations are high.”

“I heard her opponent also has the blessing? To have not just one, but two children with such incredible blessings. Truly the Astra family.”

Though he outwardly praised kindly, his eyes were sharp.

‘They want to verify my skills properly.’

At the palace, they could confirm my abilities firsthand, and Astra could boast its prestige.

Watching the match was beneficial for both.

“Ah, mother...!”

“Father!”

My cousins all showed delighted expressions.

‘The second generation came too.’

Of course, if things went wrong, the collateral descendants might overwhelm us, so they must be tense.

Since yesterday’s order to find ‘favorites’ among the third generation, uncles and aunts haven’t been able to breathe.

‘That’s why they quietly endure the collateral descendants’ insolence toward their own children.’

Usually, they would have exploded in rage and overturned the collaterals.

Especially hot-tempered Uncle Balderic, Uncle Sylvain, and Aunt Bastina were frozen.

‘How many ties have they built in the empire despite grandfather’s orders not to marry outside the family?’

They must be scared to death of being labeled favorites wrongly.

Moreover, while the direct descendants are targeted, rumors spread that Viscount Gilard is grandfather’s illegitimate child.

They must be going crazy with fear of losing their place.

I shook my head watching the second generation.

“You brought quite a few on your side. ...Were you that scared of facing me?”

Ereka snorted and burst out laughing.

“Well, then, do your best—”

Before she even finished her words,

Kwa kwa gwa gwa gwa gwak—!!!

An explosive magical tool was thrown.

Almost immediately, Ereka screamed, “Kyaaah—!”

Startled by the explosion, she fell down hard, screaming in pain.

“What is this?! A magical tool?! Fighting with abilities should be the rule...! This is cheating!”

I looked down calmly at the yelling Ereka.

Repeatedly throwing and catching the remaining identical magical tools with one hand.

“You better stop showing how foolish you are.”

“Wha?!”

“This is a real combat training, right? Have you ever seen magical tools not used in real fights?”

“That’s...!”

“If your head’s slow, at least have the decency to check the rules beforehand.”

“Hey—!!”

“One more time. Avoid it if you can. Losing early is no fun.”

Then, thwack!

When I threw the magical tool again, another loud explosion erupted.

Ereka was already off-balance and probably couldn’t dodge.

But that didn’t mean she just took it.

Through the smoke of the explosion, Ereka’s silhouette appeared blocked by something.

‘She defended with .’

Ereka shouted,

“You thought you could beat me with just a magical tool—!”

“The magical tool was obviously a bait.”

Ereka flinched and turned her head.

It was natural.

I had moved backward from directly in front of her.

It was the power of the containing the Richmond blessing.

“...!”

Startled, Ereka stepped back, but since her posture was already broken, perfect defense was impossible.

The defended the front.

Her back was completely exposed.

Snap!

In an instant, I sliced off one of Ereka’s belts on her arm.

“One down.”

“Ah...!”

When I picked up the belt I cut, sparks flew from Ereka’s eyes.

The direct descendants in the stands widened their eyes.

Right after the match started, I threw the magical tool to break her stance, then caused a second explosion.

“What, what?! What’s going on?! The smoke’s blocking visibility!”

“Before the second explosion, Ereka Gilard defended with !”

Soon the smoke was blown away by the wind, revealing the silhouettes of the two fighters.

“Huh?”

One collateral descendant jumped up.

Others were equally surprised.

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

Erilot had moved behind Ereka.

Moreover—

“One down.”

She lightly picked up the belt she had cut from Ereka.

Ereka’s face was burning red, and Erilot was very composed.

“My goodness... She hasn’t even summoned the monsters yet.”

The collateral girl muttered, and others swallowed dryly.

The twelfth tower nickname for Erilot Astra that had been echoing in their minds surfaced.

‘Right. Before being called the girl with the dragon, her nickname was...’

The youngest advanced training room promotee.

The youngest ever ranked first.

At the mere age of three, already in the rankings, Astra’s genius.

...The strongest third generation!!

‘Why did I forget?’

“Erilot-nim was called the ‘strongest third generation’ even before manifesting the blessing...!”

That’s why she was admired.

That girl who made the rankings without innate blessings.

Liantin smirked.

“Erilot always placed first in real combat training even before learning .”

Since then, she rarely uses weapons.

Now Ayla is said to be the best with weapons, but before that, no one could catch Erilot.

“She’s the number one in handling magical tools and weapons among the third generation!”

Liantin’s words darkened the faces of the collateral descendants.

Behind the duke, Viscount Debussy chuckled.

“The truly terrifying thing about Miss Erilot is her vision.”

Her vision is terrifyingly broad.

Thinking several moves ahead, even the direct descendants with much stronger blessings couldn’t move.

“Since she wasn’t born with a strong blessing from the start, the other side opened up instead.”

“Do you think it just opened by itself?”

When the duke spoke, everyone’s gaze immediately turned to him.

“No, she developed it herself.”

Erilot realized early on that her power was insufficient.

When she was three or four, while others cared only about playing and sleeping.

So she desperately developed it.

Until she was seven, she was always holed up in the magical tool warehouse.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m not here to do bad things!”

“I know. Just asking.”

“...Erilot, reading a book. Wondering how to move.”

“...”

“Erilot’s weak. Clumsy...”

While in the castle, she never slept easily even for a day.

As if chased by something, she lived desperately every day.

She tried and tried again...

And no matter if she lost, she never gave up.

So they watched.

That kid born smaller than others, who worked tens of times harder.

Effort that made her almost endearing to the eyes.

Ereka touched the ground. Suddenly, the earth trembled and huge plant stems shot out.

“You’re only lucky to get the belts─!”

Erilot quickly stepped back.

But wherever she retreated, plant stems sprouted.

Eventually, the trees blocked her.

The transformed trees tightly embraced Erilot, twisting Ereka’s lips.

“Come out.”

A swamp fairy jumped out ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) from Ereka’s sleeve.

Then the crowd shouted.

“There’s not one, but two!”

“Oh no! This is dangerous!”

At that moment, Joffrey narrowed his eyes.

Joffrey, closest to the field, sniffed and muttered.

“What’s that smell?”

“Smell? That’s just the gunpowder from the earlier explosion.”

“Gunpowder? No, this is...”

Joffrey’s blessing transformed his lower face into a beast’s.

He boasted senses unlike normal humans.

Including his sense of smell.

Joffrey’s nose and mouth took on a dog’s form.

Sniffing several times, he shouted,

“Oil...! It’s oil!”

Erilot, bound by trees and bowing her head, smiled faintly.

When the swamp fairy came close,

something fell softly from Erilot’s hand.

In an instant, a flame flared up!

“What... what is this...”

Count Boviltong, chief of the palace delegation, was shocked.

‘Pretending to flee while pouring oil.’

Now that I think about it, the smoke was still on the floor, so no one noticed, but Erilot’s pant legs were damp.

‘The explosion was meant to target even this.’

Trying to hide the fact she was pouring oil with the smell of gunpowder.

“Wait, then isn’t Erilot also in danger? She could catch fire!”

Liantin, pale, grabbed her skirt tightly.

But suddenly Erilot disappeared from sight.

Where the trees had bound her was a dark cloud of smoke.

Selene, quietly watching, chuckled.

“Ombreya.”

“Oh, Ombre?”

“Yes. Erilot’s shadow monster. The stronger the fire, the thicker the surrounding darkness.”

And the shadow monster grows stronger as the darkness thickens.

She strengthened Ombre with the fire, hiding inside it to defend.

Meanwhile, swamp fairies and fire are natural enemies.

Ereka’s swamp fairies fluttered helplessly into the sky.

“These things! They can’t come back?!”

Ereka screamed, but no matter the power of training, fear of death takes precedence.

The swamp fairies had no thought to return through the fire sea and only fluttered about above.

Ereka was completely engulfed by the flames.

The plants she stretched out to catch Erilot had become the fuse.

“E, Ereka─!!”

Her father, Viscount Gilard, was restless.

“Duke, you must stop the match! My daughter will die like this!”

Gilard shouted with a pale face.

Bastina, Selene’s mother, snorted.

“Unless someone admits defeat, the match cannot be stopped. That is Astra’s rule.”

“But...!”

“Did you dare challenge a direct descendant without knowing that?”

“H-hey, but if a life is at stake, can’t the duke cancel the match?”

“If your daughter cries and begs for her life, then maybe we’ll talk.”

The saying ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ was true.

Bastina, who always couldn’t leave Erilot alone, defended the match.

As she did, the collateral retainers’ faces changed.

‘What the... Is this an alliance of the direct descendants?’

The collaterals, who had been happy for their children’s rise, now felt crisis.

‘An alliance? That’s impossible given their personalities!’

If that happened, the danger would be for the collaterals!

Selene, watching the adults’ reactions, chuckled.

Loreina, sitting cross-legged and watching the match, glanced sideways at Selene.

“What’s so funny in a situation where the collaterals are running wild?”

“I wondered why Erilot accepted the match so willingly. It’s really just a bother. If Ereka Gilard were really grandfather’s biological granddaughter, it would be troublesome.”

Loreina snorted and turned her head.

“The direct descendants must be trying to open the way for an alliance.”

“Did you know?”

“The ranked cousins.”

Erilot was originally indifferent to others’ affairs.

A cousin who once tried to run away to become a maid and housekeeper got beaten by his father.

‘While everyone else stared with wide eyes, I just read my book diligently.’

For some reason, that person provoked Ereka.

“Anyway, that head of hers is annoyingly good.”

Tsk, Loreina clicked her tongue.

The match ended more easily than expected.

Ereka couldn’t do anything, trapped in flames, screaming.

“Stop! She’ll die like this!”

Crying, her father Viscount Gilard clung tearfully to grandfather.

Those with the Blessing of Water extinguished the flames in the arena.

Afterward, Ereka and I stood with the referee between us.

The referee said,

“Then, Ereka Gilard, please admit defeat.”

Ereka glared at me fiercely.

“This is cheating. We should fight with blessings, but you used all sorts of magical tools to corner me.”

“...”

“I had no choice but to stop the match. If this continued, the duke would have inhaled this terrible smoke!”

‘Pathetic.’

The girl who just trembled thinking she’d die was now—

“Stop making excuses about grandfather and just admit it.”

At my words, Ereka’s eyes widened.

“To think you would call the duke’s tearful decision for his health an excuse!”

“Why are you so desperate to cling to grandfather’s excuse? Will that change anything?”

“It’s not an excuse. It’s loyalty and affection!”

“Affection... Hm, I wondered about that.”

I tilted my head and looked at Ereka.

Then shifted my gaze to grandfather.

“Grandfather, is it true the rumor that this child is your biological granddaughter?”