Volume 4, Chapter 69 – The Difference in Strength

Faced with Yelido’s scorching gaze, Claire did not appear surprised. Not only did she not avoid it, but she instead walked forward to the sofa where Fia was sitting. Fia shot up from the sofa. She had just reconciled with him and did not want to get into another argument at this time. She quickly explained.

“Claire only looks like a human; she isn’t a real one. She even bears the world’s curse because of this. Can’t you feel it, Father? The curse on her that makes people afraid.”

“Step aside, Dofi. I don’t want to hear your explanation, nor do you need to defend her here,” Yelido did not back down. He stood up, his tone and expression filled with an unquestionable authority. “Since you are older than Dofi, do not stand behind her. For the sake of the help you have given her, I will not pursue the matter of you appearing so brazenly in her palace. But now, you will leave Blossom. Do not let me see you again!”

“…” As if she were observing him, Claire, in her dark-colored dress, was silent for a moment. Then, in a dignified tone that Fia had never heard before, she questioned, “Your Majesty Florenst, I respect your act of apologizing to your daughter, but I will not back down on my own matters because of that respect. Fia is your daughter, not the Veronica of the past—”

“I have already said, it was because I did not watch Veronica closely that she left me. I will not let what happened then happen again, nor will I let you take Dofi away from under my nose!”

“But what you are doing now will only make Fia repeat the tragedy that happened to you! Do you want her to leave you as well?!”

Claire’s words made Yelido’s brow twitch. His expression turned ferocious for a moment, and a flash of light, symbolizing mana, appeared in his hand. Then, a translucent golden spear, as if forged from a branch of the Holy Tree, was in his hand. He did not attack immediately, but raised his chin and looked down at her.

“I only believe in my choices. More words are useless. Will you leave on your own, or shall I show you out?”

“I respect that you are Fia’s father, but I will not give her up for that reason. If you want to solve this with force, I will not be polite either. But I must say this first: I am not the human you think I am. And second, you are not my opponent.”

“Hmph. Big words,” Yelido snorted with contempt.

However, this contempt was only on the surface. Internally, he was not as angry as he appeared. The fact that Claire had not avoided the fight like Clark had already won his appreciation. Not to mention, from the very beginning, he had only wanted to test her and Fia’s determination, not to actually break them up.

Just as Claire had said, Fia was his daughter, not Veronica. This made the matter fundamentally different. Fia would one day marry someone or be married to someone. This was an unchangeable future. When that day came, he, as a father, had only one choice: to test for Fia whether the other party was qualified to be with her. He would not allow Fia to be with a despicable and cowardly human like Clark, who only knew how to hide.

Thus, the current scene. As a result, this girl named Claire far surpassed Clark. Not only did she dare to stand before him, a quasi-Eighth-Rank king, but she also dared to accept a challenge. Even among elves, only one in a hundred could do this.

It was worth mentioning that Yelido had not always been so open-minded. When Fia was first born, his thought had been that he had already lost Veronica once, and he would absolutely not lose his daughter a second time. An elf should be with an elf. It was so for him and Veronica, and it should be so for his daughter. Otherwise, it would be a mockery of himself for having brought Veronica back. If it had been him back then, he would never have allowed this girl named Claire to appear in the Royal Castle.

However, nearly a hundred years had passed since Fia’s birth, and if one were to count from the time he had brought Veronica back, it was over a hundred years. In this long time, he had gradually come to understand a principle from his own experience: a person can only be happy with someone who loves them and whom they love. Love is a two-way street. Because this tragedy had happened to him, he understood it better than anyone. If he were to forcibly arrange a partner for Fia whom she did not like, the result would only be like him and the other consorts, with no feelings between them, neither happy nor joyful. And it was very likely that it would make Fia distance herself from him.

Although he was still unwilling to give up on Veronica—he believed she was just temporarily confused and would one day come to her senses—when it came to Fia, as long as the other person was someone she liked, could pass his approval, and was outstanding in wisdom, character, and strength, then he could reluctantly accept them.

That being said, when the day that his daughter had someone she liked truly arrived, it was still difficult for him to get over the hurdle in his heart. His reason was clear that he should not interfere too much, but his emotions as a father did not want to easily hand her over, to just nod and say, “Alright, you can be together.”

He had painstakingly raised his daughter, preparing everything for her to the highest standard. In the end, although his daughter was still his daughter, she didn’t talk to him much. And just by going on a long trip and happening to be picked up at the point where she had lost her memory, his daughter had, as if a knot in her heart had been untied, gotten together with the other person, and had even spoken so highly of them in front of him, her father, making it seem as if he was not as good as someone she had known for less than a month.

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He was really unwilling to admit that he was not as good as the other party. This feeling, as if he were admitting defeat in front of his daughter, and as if his own treasure had been snatched away, made it difficult for him to nod.

Not to mention that this story was almost a carbon copy of Veronica’s. She had met Clark when she had been visiting the Alfrieg Kingdom. The feeling of not wanting to let go and the past resentment overlapped, making his heart extremely complicated. Fortunately, Claire was a woman. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for him to resist the urge to grab the other person by the clothes and throw them directly out the window.

What kind of thing dares to come and snatch Dofi away? Although this thought was very childish, any father who saw his daughter as a treasure would probably not be able to help but think this way after learning that she had someone she liked.

Yelido pointed his long spear heavily at the ground. He still maintained his surface anger and said.

“You say I’m not your opponent? To the training grounds. I want to see how much strength you really have!”

Normally, it would have been enough to get to the point where Claire had accepted his challenge. He was a quasi-Eighth-Rank practitioner. Even in all of Silvar, he had almost no rival. But on the one hand, he wanted to use this to teach Fia a lesson and not let her be too presumptuous. She was his daughter; she couldn’t just do whatever she wanted. And then to test how much strength Claire really had. If she was too weak and was unwilling to accept harsh training to become stronger, then even if Fia protected her, he would have to, from a father’s standpoint, ask her to leave.

On the other hand, it was for Claire’s own sake. The upper nobility of the kingdom was not like the common folk; they did not approve of same-sex marriage. To make an analogy, it was like the male nobles among humans who were fond of men. Although they could practice their preference, it could never be brought out into the open. Even if Fia became queen, the noble families would surely say that Claire was not worthy to be the queen consort. But if she really had the courage to duel him one-on-one, then that would be enough to shut many people’s mouths.

Only one in a hundred would dare to look up and stand before the king. And to dare to stand on the stage and duel him, a quasi-Eighth-Rank, was one in ten thousand. Even in defeat, it was a praiseworthy failure.

However, what surprised Yelido was that he found that when he had proposed to go to the training grounds, the atmosphere in the room had suddenly become strange. The tension from before was gone, and the atmosphere had eased a lot. Especially the girl named Claire before him, her clear, jade-green eyes already had a hint of surprise and pleasure.

Pleasure? Isn’t that a bit too arrogant?

“If you have the guts, then follow me.”

“Wait. You haven’t said what will happen if I win.”

“If you win, I will allow you to be with Dofi,” Yelido paused, then added in a low tone, “But if you lose, you will leave this place immediately.”

If Claire performed well, even if she lost, he would not really drive her away. The reason he had said it so seriously was just to appear magnanimous when he “pardoned” her later.

Without another word, he opened the door and walked straight out. Liti, who had been eavesdropping at the door, quickly pretended to be just passing by and hurried away.

Soon, only the three of them were left in the open-doored room.

“Claire…”

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Not knowing what to say, Fia took a step forward to catch up with her, her expression full of apology. It should have been her confronting her father, yet Claire had stood up and finished speaking for her. She hadn’t been able to help at all.

“It’s nothing.”

The silver-haired Claire turned around, the previous dignity all gone, replaced by a reassuring, wry smile. She stroked Fia’s head, her tone a little amused.

“You don’t need to look so indebted. This is what I should do. If I have to hide behind you at a time like this, then I have no right to be with you. In terms of results, isn’t this quite good? To be able to solve the problem just by accepting a challenge is much simpler and more direct than slow communication.”

At this, Claire lightly pinched Fia’s worried-looking face, her wry smile turning into a charming one.

“Or does little Fia think I can’t win against your father?”

Still calling him ‘your father’ at a time like this. Fia did not express her inner thoughts. She held Claire’s hand in return.

“I’m not worried that you can’t win…”

“Then there’s no problem. Alright, let’s go over first. You’re coming too, right, Anastasia?”

“Yes…”

With a look of wanting to say something but not being able to, Anastasia finally closed her mouth and nodded, following along.

◇

Under the gazes of the many nobles, Imperial Guard, and servants, King Yelido led Fia, Claire, and the others to the training grounds. As he was not heading for the audience chamber where the morning meeting was held, the nobles who saw him on the way were all full of curiosity and followed from a distance, wanting to know what had happened to the angry-looking king.

Yelido did not say much about this. He soon, just as Fia had when she had faced Greyan, stood with Claire in the center of the open-air training grounds. As for Fia and Anastasia, they were ordered by him to go to the spectator seats.

Dofi probably didn’t interfere because she knows this is a duel between men (if Claire is considered a son-in-law). For this girl not to continue to use her as a shield is praiseworthy.

With a sense of appreciation, Yelido observed Claire a few steps away under the gloomy sky. He had to admit, Fia had found a rather beautiful partner. Although he and Claire had had almost no amicable conversation, he could tell from her gentle features and the soft lines of her body that she was a gentle woman and would not cause Fia any trouble.

To make such a gentle woman stand up and duel me, I’m really losing face.

At this thought, the dissatisfaction in his heart lessened a little. He looked at the empty-handed Claire opposite him.

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“Do you have no weapon, or are you actually incapable of fighting? If you have no fighting ability, it’s not too late to regret it now. I can allow you to be Dofi’s concubine.”

“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty, but I am not without fighting ability. Before we begin, I have a few words to say.”

As she spoke, two colors, one red and one black, gathered in her naturally hanging hands. Yelido could vaguely see that they were two single-handed swords.

She wasn’t taking a weapon out of a storage item, but condensing it from mana? But this was clearly not [Enchanted Blade]. He was certain that in his long life, he had never seen such magic.

As the weapons gradually took shape, the aura around Claire also grew rapidly. If the Claire of a moment ago had been like an ordinary person with no mana, then the feeling she gave him now was like a great demon, preparing to fight with all its might.

She continued, unhurriedly.

“We will prohibit the use of magic that injures oneself. Fia would not want us to be hurt. Your Majesty is a reasonable person; you should agree, right?”

“…Mhm.”

Without answering with words, Yelido just nodded, a low sound coming from his throat. At this moment, she could already make him feel pressure. He understood that he had underestimated her.

She’s got some skill.

By the time the two swords, one black and one red, had completely condensed in her hands, he was already certain that she was no weaker than him, with at least the strength of a Seventh Rank.

He no longer took her lightly. He gripped his long spear with both hands and slightly bent his knees to lower his center of gravity.

“Can we begin?”

“We can start at any time.”

“Then let’s see how much strength you have!”

Almost at the same time as his words, Yelido rushed straight for her. The force of his feet on the ground was so great that it even made the earth crack and explode.

In the blink of an eye, the sharp long spear in his hand had reached her. Even without using magic, this probing strike was enough to pierce through a city wall. But just as he had guessed, her strength was no less than his. She met his thrust with only the blood-red longsword in her left hand. Then he felt a huge force from the spear, like the full-force swipe of a dragon’s claw. The body of the spear was forcibly thrown up by her.

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What followed was the pursuit of the weapon in her right hand.

To be able to send his thrust flying with a single hand, she was by no means human.

Yelido instantly realized this. He immediately put force into the spear, using the reaction force of the weapon to dodge her attack aimed at his chest. However, before he could get away from her, he felt a tightness in his left thigh, as if something had tripped him. Not only that, but he felt the blood-red longsword that was in contact with his own was like a vortex that devoured mana, and it began to crazily absorb his.

The [Crisis Perception] blessing from the Holy Tree sounded an alarm. A sense of unease invaded his heart. He did not hesitate to chant in a low voice.

“—[Spatial Shockwave].”

Like throwing a huge stone into a deep pool, the space around him rippled like the surface of water. But this not only did not lessen the [Crisis Perception] in his heart, but on the contrary, it became even more obvious, to the point where his heart skipped a beat. This level of [Crisis Perception] was already equivalent to being injured.

It was surely too late.

In that split second, he had no time to check what was happening. His battle instincts made him grit his teeth and stop evading, choosing to meet attack with attack.

“—[Triple Deceitful Thunder]!”

The sound of rapidly expanding electric arcs and the smell of ozone quickly filled his senses. At the same time, three black thunder orbs, the size of an Earth Dragon, unstably expanded around him. He hurriedly applied a defensive spell to himself to avoid being caught in it. The next second, three huge explosions rang out in the arena.

However, before the smoke and dust could dissipate, he felt a wave of dizziness. The pulling sensation from his left leg became more obvious, even pulling his entire body straight down to the ground. He wanted to use magic to reverse the situation, but just as he was about to draw upon the mana in his body, another sense of crisis, so huge that it seemed to threaten his life, surged in his heart. It seemed that in this instant, if he used magic, he would meet his end.

[Crisis Perception] had saved his life countless times. He would not disbelieve the premonition it gave him. He gave up on using magic and instead stabbed his long spear into the ground, trying to stabilize his body. But at almost the same time, another huge force slammed into his back. This force made him lose his balance, so much so that his entire body flew sideways for a distance.

How many people are fighting me?!

Yelido’s heart trembled. At the same time, with a loud thump, the earth shook violently.

He smashed onto the ground, his chest facing down. Of course, this did not mean the battle was over. He subconsciously tried to get up from the black smoke, but what greeted him was a cold sword hilt pressed against his neck and a large knight’s spear on his spine. If he made the slightest move, the attacks from both front and back would fall on him.

“It’s over, Your Majesty. You are a quasi-Eighth Rank, and my power is above the Eighth Rank. You lost because you were too contemptuous of your enemy.”

As the black smoke gradually dissipated, Claire, with black horns and a tail like a demon, appeared proudly before him. Unlike the stunned Yelido, her charming face was smiling.