Chapter 32

“Your opponent, Lady Roana, is me.”

This single sentence had a huge impact.

Everyone watching was aghast. The knights quickly regained their composure and stepped forward to restrain me.

“Madam, you mustn’t!”

“You’re going to face Lady Roana yourself?!”

They sounded desperate, as if I were a moth plunging into a flame.

Of course, anyone would think that. Even if the current Roana has devolved into a rowdy hooligan, her skill with a sword couldn’t have vanished.

However, unlike the others, one person accepted my words immediately.

“You must think little of me.”

My provocation struck Roana immediately. Her face, already flushed from alcohol, deepened with rage, and a vein pulsed on her forehead.

I could sense her forbearance in her clenched jaw.

“Hah. I’m no longer a knight, just Roana Eclipse. Very well—I accept your challenge. Don’t regret this.”

“Let’s set the duel for one month from now.”

Roana told me to do as I pleased, stepped firmly on the glove I had thrown to the floor, and disappeared.

Vivi, fidgeting nervously, quickly trotted after her.

As Roana left the hall, the servants who had been guarding the perimeter rushed toward me.

“Oh my, Lady Chacha!”

“Cancel the duel right now!”

“What if you get hurt!”

Everyone was worried about Roana’s skills and my safety. Having personally witnessed Roana’s animosity toward me, their fear of the duel itself was understandable.

They tried to dissuade me, mentioning everything from the fact that I was pregnant to whether I even knew how heavy a sword was.

Grateful for their concern, I listened quietly until I finally raised a hand to interrupt them.

“Thank you for your worry, but it’s a decision that’s already been made, so please put your concerns aside and return to your posts.”

Casting nervous glances, the servants gradually backed away. Watching them retreat, I promptly left the hall.

‘The rumor will spread quickly.’

It seemed I wouldn’t be able to escape those worried looks until the duel was over this time.

But I was relaxed.

Everything was proceeding according to plan.

‘Surely I wouldn’t challenge someone to a duel without any chance of winning.’

***

Two days earlier.

Annie hurried behind me as I walked quickly back to the office.

As soon as I entered the office, I sat down and immediately took out a pen and paper to start planning.

‘How can I use the Northern style of opinion mediation I just heard about for Roana’s rehabilitation program?’

A duel would be publicly acknowledged by everyone, and with a clear winner and loser, I could unilaterally impose my demands on Roana if I only won.

Even calculating carefully, this seemed like the best possible card for me right now.

But I couldn’t bet on a fight without a plan.

‘People without martial power would appoint a proxy, they said.’

I carefully thought about a suitable person to be my proxy.

Naturally, the first person who came to mind was **Wilhelm Kahn**, the escort knight of the Blueberry Family.

My master, who had helped gather evidence for the love potion incident after receiving my letter.

‘That won’t work.’

Setting aside the point that I would have to use someone from the Blueberry Family, fielding a current knight against Roana, a former knight whose skill was rusty due to the loss of an arm, would simply be unfair.

While I thought a provocation would be enough to make her accept, winning such an uneven duel wouldn’t fully achieve what I wanted.

I wanted to put forward an opponent that would make her underestimate me and let her guard down. I wanted her to willingly participate.

The next person who came to mind was Comen Blueberry.

He was a collateral cousin of the Blueberry Family and an apprentice escort knight for the family’s major trading company, ‘Ortrancia.’

“Hmm…”

As soon as I thought of him, I decisively crossed him off the list.

“I don’t think he’d help.”

Comen was certainly a good card, but he wasn’t entirely *my* card.

While our relationship wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good either.

In the past, Comen had wanted to become Wilhelm’s apprentice, but I had taken that spot.

I pondered over it for a bit longer, groaning inwardly, but finally concluded to abandon the proxy list.

It wasn’t as if there were no other options just because there was no proxy. I hadn’t expected it to come to this, but…

“Perhaps I have to do my own work myself?”

“Excuse me?”

Annie tilted her head, placing tea in front of me.

It was a fact known only to a very few people in the family, but I had actually learned the sword.

It was my secret weapon, prepared ever since I decided to faithfully follow the original story.

My reasoning was that after the original story ended, I couldn’t remain a perpetually fragile extra, as I wouldn’t know what might happen. Given that monsters also existed in this world, I felt I needed some means to protect myself.

So, I had steadily learned the sword from the age of seven until I entered the academy at fifteen.

However, even after learning, I hadn’t revealed to anyone that I had done so.

A secret weapon must be kept secret. Thanks to this, even now, only a very small number of people know that I learned the sword.

‘Though I couldn’t consistently practice because I had to keep it a secret.’

At the academy, there was no space where I could practice without being discovered, so I couldn’t hold a sword.

My body might be stiff from the lack of movement, but the same would be true for Roana.

No, she would surely be more damaged than me due to her alcohol consumption and dissolute lifestyle. Furthermore, since she reportedly didn’t touch a sword after losing her arm due to despair, she must have lost her touch long ago.

‘And there’s absolutely no way she’d start training again now in preparation for a duel with me.’

In short, I had a chance to win.

“Annie, you’ve never mentioned to anyone that I learned the sword, right?”

“Oh, of course not. How could I, knowing you’re deliberately keeping it a secret?”

“Hehe. Thank you.”

Annie would keep the secret, as always, and since only a few in the Blueberry Family know this fact, and none of them would casually blab about it, there was no chance of a rumor spreading.

‘Perfect.’

My plan was simple.

The next time Roana caused trouble, I would invoke the Northern style of opinion mediation.

Then, I would make Roana underestimate me when she found out her opponent was me, and seize the opportunity to win.

Since it was a method passed down through Northern tradition, Roana would have no choice but to abide by my demands this time.

***

The morning after the challenge.

As soon as I woke up, to prevent anyone from interfering, I immediately decided on the location and judge to be used for the duel, personally approved the necessary accounting documents, and promptly announced the duel to the main Eclipse castle.

Van, who first learned of the duel through my announcement, rushed to find me.

“Lady Chacha.”

“It’s fine.”

I cut him off before he could even state his main point.

I could sense what he wanted to say from his voice, even without looking at his expression.

“I won’t cancel the duel.”

“But Lady Roana was—”

“A talented knight.”

“…That is correct.”

Even though I knew what he was going to say, I answered without changing my expression, and Van seemed to instinctively realize that I wouldn’t change my mind.

I looked at Van, who seemed slightly deflated, and asked, “You’ve seen Lady Roana already, haven’t you?”

“Yes… Lady Roana also refused to withdraw.”

I could guess Van’s feelings.

Van, remembering Roana’s past as a powerful knight, worried about me. Also, having witnessed Adel’s change and acknowledging me, he didn’t want me to lose the duel and have to leave.

I wasn’t entirely opposed to being honest with Van about everything.

‘But I can’t.’

While I wanted to ease his worry and concern, no matter how trustworthy he was, he was not my person.

In the end, I couldn’t tell him even a part of the plan or that I had a chance to win, and I had to dismiss him.

“I will try my best to ensure that what Van worries about doesn’t happen, so it would be best for you to return now.”

“Yes. I shall withdraw.”

True to his excellent butler nature, Van quickly composed his expression and left my office.

‘Sorry, Van. I’ll tell you everything once it’s over.’

It truly didn’t feel good to deceive someone who genuinely worried about me.

I sighed softly just as Annie entered the office. She approached me with a radiant smile, as if she had good news.

“I sent it through the Ortrancia company, and the reply came quickly.”

What Annie handed me was a letter.

Flipping the envelope over, I saw the name written on the end and smiled mischievously.

Wilhelm Kahn.

It was a letter from my sword master and an unofficial Sword Master whose skill had not been recognized due to the limitations of his minority race background.