Bab 95: The Cheating Prince
With every fight, Kazuya has always remained calm. What is there to fear? He has not met anybody who could match his strength yet. But for the first time in his life, he felt distressed. Just now when he tried to land a blow on Ereland, the man easily evaded him and Kazuya felt the sweat falling from his face. He suddenly felt exhausted.
"So, this is the extent of your strength? Such sluggish movements," Ereland said mockingly.
Sluggish? Kazuya turned to the man, a mocking smile, and dark eyes. Before Kazuya could say anything, his body felt heavy - the weapon in his hands too seemed to increase weight. Just walking was incredibly tricky. Kazuya was usually not the type of person who got worked up but seeing Ereland's expression irritated him. That mocking look, it reminded him of the very same people who made his life miserable before — the very same people who derived him of his emotions and freedoms.
Kazuya charged towards the Prince again, but the Prince dodged and this time landed a blow on his back and shoulders.
"Nice try," Ereland said, "But futile against my golden blade." Kazuya would have laughed then if his head and entire body didn't feel like hell.
Kazuya blinked, his eyelids suddenly felt incredibly heavy. 'Something's wrong,' Kazuya thought. But exactly what is it? He's never experienced this feeling before. No matter how exhausted he got, he's never felt this sluggish and awful. It felt like something paralyzed him. However that's impossible, nobody struck him. Out of the eighty or so people he fought in the life and death matches, nobody got close.
Got close, Kazuya recalled the wound he sustained just now. A blow to the back of his head, he searched the ground and saw something on the ground, an empty needle, a needle which a few moments ago was most likely filled with something deadly.
"You," Kazuya growled out to Ereland who stood there with a smug look on his face, "...did something to me, didn't you?" The Prince, however, remained ignorant, but Kazuya already saw the look from earlier, "What was inside the needle?"
His head felt painful, and it didn't take long before he dropped his spear. The world was spinning around him. Kazuya struggled to stand up.
"Nothing life-threatening," Prince Ereland replied, "Just a little bit of poison."
A little bit of poison isn't life-threatening to this man? But then again, this probably isn't the first time for him. "You che—" Kazuya started, but Ereland brought down his hilt and slammed it against his head. Kazuya crumpled to the ground, in pain as he laid on the arena ground.
He tried to move a muscle, to do something. But exhaustion filled his body; he felt tired. It's an instinct for him whenever he is in pain to just close his eyes. This time was no exception; his eyes slid into the darkness, and Kazuya tried to stay awake. Lyn, His Lyn. He has to stay awake. He has to win the match for her. Kazuya didn't care much for the ambassador title; he had no attachments to it. But, if he didn't have that title, then he would have to return home.
His thoughts broke off when he felt the sound of a light pair of footsteps. Even with his blurred vision and this pounding headache, "Lyn?" he said doubtfully.
He felt Lyn's gaze on him. While his vision was too blurred for him to identify what was properly going on, he could hear the sound of her dainty footsteps pulling away from Prince Ereland who approached her the second she got down.
"The Mist and the Snow Kingdom," Lyn said, her voice sharp, "..does not need a man like yourself to rule it."
At that comment, his eyes widened, and Kazuya understood what she meant. Prince Ereland must have settled in the Snow Kingdom because he wished to attract the attention of the Snow Kingdom royal family. If that did no good, he would switch over to the Mist. Prince Ereland seemed stunned by her words; the man had turned bright red.
"Princess Lyn, what nonsense are you speaking about? Indeed, this match was mainly for me to win your hand. But, I could not stand the fact that the men surrounding you are incompetent," Ereland spoke, "Especially your boyfriend, his low social standing means he is not fit to be your partner."
In the process of blabbering this nonsense, Prince Ereland tried to reach out for Lyn again. But Lyn didn't let him and swiftly moved aside, Lyn raised her voice, "Somebody got caught cheating, can one of the judges please examine Prince Ereland's blade."
Lyn's rejection of the man was already bad enough, let alone the words she just said. This action of hers caused Prince Ereland's humiliation amongst the townsfolk. So, when the man's head Knight charged towards Lyn, it wasn't surprising.
Lyn could easily have moved, but she remained still. Using what little strength he had in his body despite the effects of the drug taking place. Kazuya suppressed it all and got on his feet. He lunged forward and trusted his spear towards the man, "With all due respect, you already lost to Rhys the last round. What makes you think you can re-enter the ring again?"
"The Prince pride," the man muttered.
Kazuya laughed, "Pride? What sort of pride does that guy have left after cheating, and then his head Knight attacking the Princess?"
"How can you still move?" Ereland cursed.
His lips curve to a smile, "You know, a man in my position is used to being poisoned," he's seen it all before. Many people, even long before he became the ambassador here hold a deep grudge against him. Their grudges, however, are mainly based on their personal feelings. He's never done anything to harm them. It's human nature to feel envious of the strong, while he may not have a good social background. People envied his strength.
But even for somebody like him who is used to poison. It still took some time for his body to adjust. People overheard the exchange and started whispering. An elderly man stepped out of the judging panel and made his way over.
"Prince Ereland, may we please examine your blade?"
"How dare you," Ereland exclaimed, "Do you know exactly how much this sword is worth? The sword is worth more than the lives of everybody here. Somebody like you cannot touch--," Ereland's arrogant words fell short when Rhys appeared and easily removed the blade from the man's hands.
"So heavy," Rhys said annoyed, "How can anybody use this in battle? It's a weapon that can only be used in display," he trailed off, "Don't tell me you found a way to cheat here too, how ridiculous."
If Prince Ereland wasn't embarrassed before then, he was now. The man seemed to be trembling, and he stood frozen on the spot. Rhys walked over to the elderly man and placed the weapon down on the ground. It didn't take long for the man to examine the blade.
"Indeed, there is poison here,"
The crowd gasped - and a menacing aura seemed to wrap around them.
"It's one thing for him to make us suffer."
"And now he's even harming the guests?"
"This man has no bottom line."
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