17. Punishment!
17. Punishment!
SNAP.
I shouldn’t have been able to hear anything, but I absolutely know I did.
Mr. Fisalis is pissed!
You might not realize it because he looks like such a gentle guy, but he’s a veeeeeeery strong active duty knight! He’s taken on five nasty thugs by himself before! Ah ha ha ha ha! I’m not responsible for anything that might happen now!
“—Huh?” A little bit of a delayed response there, Mr. Fisalis. It seemed that he was finally dropping the thin veneer of politeness he’d previously been using. “The hell are you saying?”
Whoa! He swore at a prince! I’m totally cool with that, but...he’s really telling it like it is! Well, that might be understating it a little, actually!
“Me? W-What are you saying?! I’m being serious here!” The crown prince must’ve been shocked by Mr. Fisalis’s change in demeanor, because he actually flinched.
“You want Viola and I to divorce so you can marry her, and I can marry your sister? Quit babbling. I’ve already very clearly refused that—publicly too. Do the two of you not understand words?”
“I refused too!” I chimed in.
“B-But...”
I hadn’t exactly wanted to go along with it either, so I made sure to speak up! Ah, but Mr. Fisalis really monopolized the conversation back then... Well, whatever. That’s not the point. Marrying the Aurantian crown prince was never an option!
“You heard my wife. So you decided to use force after she rejected you? What kind of dumbass are you?”
“Ghh...” The prince bit his lip, realizing that he was at a disadvantage.
“Whatever the case may be, you kidnapped and imprisoned my wife, a duchess of Flür. That’s a crime, even for a prince. I’m gonna throw you in jail, so have fun regretting everything you’ve done.” Mr. Fisalis’s eyes were ice cold. It was truly scary.
But when he heard the word “jail”, the crown prince’s expression changed entirely. “What?! I’m the Crown Prince of Aurantia! That’s worse than treason! It’d be an international incident!” He was making a last ditch effort to object, even as he found himself intimidated by Mr. Fisalis’s dangerous aura.
Are you serious? I was astonished he’d even say something so ridiculous.
Just then...
SNAP SNAP SNAP!
This is bad. I think I just heard Mr. Fisalis snap even more.
“You’re the one causing international incidents, you dumbass!!” he roared.
I felt the air around us tremble. Mr. Fisalis actually raised his voice! I’d never heard him speak so loudly before.
The crown prince took a few steps back in response to Mr. Fisalis’s anger.
“You tried to kidnap another country’s duchess to satisfy your own desires and now you’re throwing around words like ‘treason’ and ‘international incidents? Look who’s talking!”
“Seriously, don’t screw with us. Your ‘treason’ can eat shit!”
Mr. Fisalis was yelling in anger. I was pissed too, so I chimed in a bit at the end there. He slowly approached the prince as he tried to back away.
“I’d never let you be tried for treason, Vi. You were the victim here,” Mr. Fisalis said to me, giving his usual soft smile. Thank goodness.
“Dammit!” Having had all his points refuted and realizing that he had nowhere to run after Mr. Fisalis had practically screamed at him, the crown prince suddenly drew the decorative sword at his hip and squared up.
You’re gonna try to defeat Mr. Fisalis in a sword fight?! That’s a really bad idea... Really.
Seeing that, Mr. Fisalis grinned in amusement. “Oh my. Drawing your sword in another country’s palace? You really are a lost cause,” he sighed, unsheathing his own sword and pointing it at the prince.
When the crown prince backed away, Mr. Fisalis chased him. Before I knew it, they were facing off against each other just a short distance away from me. Their swords gleamed as they reflected the light of the braziers.
The prince looked to be at his wits’ end, while Mr. Fisalis looked calm and collected. They were glaring at each other, neither moving an inch.
“You attacked me after mistaking me for some ruffian. As I was suddenly assaulted out of the darkness, I was forced to kill you in self defense.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“That’ll be my story after I beat you.”
“...Hmm? You’re welcome to try!”
“That brave act won’t last for long!”
Oh no, every word out of the crown prince’s mouth is starting to sound like the grumblings of a loser...
Right after throwing out one last parting remark, the prince attacked—only for Mr. Fisalis to lightly parry with a laugh. The prince barely retained his balance before trying again with a desperate look on his face. He’d attack, and Mr. Fisalis would knock his sword away. The cold ringing of blade against blade echoed through the night gardens. The prince was putting his all into his attacks, but Mr. Fisalis barely moved and blocked easily.
Just looking at his size, you’d think the crown prince would have the upper hand. Had he never been trained in the sword? His hips were pulled back, and he was gripping his sword tightly with both hands. His stance looked absolutely awful.
On the other hand, Mr. Fisalis’s back was straight, and he wielded his sword as though it weighed nothing.
“You done? That was boring,” he mocked the prince, absolutely composed as he egged him on with a dark smile that immediately reminded me of the Le Pied incident.
“What are you saying?! It’s not over yet!”
“Ah, so you can still fight? Guess I’d better get serious then.”
With a smirk, Mr. Fisalis changed his grip and squared up. In an instant, his face stiffened, and he came at the crown prince with a flurry of swings so fast that you couldn’t even see them.
Clang clang clang clang!
His movements were clearly different than before. He was going so much faster! Every time their swords met, you could hear a short, sharp clang.
The crown prince was entirely on the defensive against Mr. Fisalis’s speedy assault.
“Ughh...!”
“Too slow!”
Every time the prince tried to dodge one blow, the next was already coming for him. The number of shallow cuts on his hands and face was steadily growing.
Mr. Fisalis was doing this intentionally—he probably wasn’t planning on delivering a fatal blow. Despite looking as if he was doing an elegant sword dance with no wasted motion, he was mercilessly cornering the prince. Way to go, Mr. Fisalis!
On the other hand, the crown prince’s clothes were ripped here and there from the sword, and the grazes on his cheeks and hands were bleeding. He was a wreck.
“You’re awful. Have you ever even practiced at all?” Mr. Fisalis taunted without even missing a beat.
“I... I can still...!” And, of course, the simple-minded prince took the bait.
“Oh? Come at me, then!”
“Raaaagh! Whoa?!” The total dumbass ran at Mr. Fisalis with a roar, and then proceeded to trip on a tree root—the same one that tripped me—and took himself down.
“Pfft...!”
It was so stupid that both Mr. Fisalis and I nearly started laughing. Stop trying to make us laugh when we’re in such a tense situation! Wait...he wasn’t trying to make us laugh?
“Don’t mock me!” the crown prince cried, standing up and glaring at us, his face red with rage.
Oops, I shouldn’t have laughed at someone else’s misfortune! I quickly covered my mouth. But wait, now’s not the time for that.
“You still wanna go?” Mr. Fisalis said with a chuckle, waving the tip of his sword a little in invitation.
The prince went for him again, having seemingly not learned his lesson, and was easily knocked away. Then once his stance was broken, Mr. Fisalis got in another blow... And that sequence of events just kept repeating itself. Little by little, Mr. Fisalis drove the crown prince backwards into the hedge, leaves rustling as he collided with it.
“Grgh...” the crown prince let out a low groan as he glared at Mr. Fisalis for cutting off his escape routes.
“Your back’s to a wall. Checkmate,” Mr. Fisalis declared, touching the prince’s nose with the tip of his sword.
“Dammit!”
While the crown prince’s shoulders were heaving with every breath, Mr. Fisalis was absolutely fine. Their difference in skill was plain to see.
“Guess I should let the fun stop here,” Mr. Fisalis murmured, changing his movements from somewhat playful to seriously whacking the prince’s wrist with the hilt of his sword. He must’ve hit just the right spot, because the foreign royal groaned and fell to his knees, dropping his sword. Mr. Fisalis quickly kicked it away from him.
SHING!
I heard the sound of a blade cutting through leaves, and looked over to see a sword stuck into the hedge. Mr. Fisalis had stabbed his sword straight into it—right beside the crown prince’s face! It was enough that even this guy’s legs gave out and he slid down to the ground.
“Seriously, I was holding off on striking the final blow because I wanted everything to finish quickly, but you just didn’t take the hint. Want me to raze your country to the ground and salt the earth this time?” Mr. Fisalis grabbed him by the collar, threatening him.
“...Eeek!”
Just then, I heard more voices...
“I’m all for that!”
“Let’s do it!”
“I’ll give it my all this time around!”
Corydalis and Mr. Fisalis’s other subordinates chattered in agreement as they popped out from the other side of the hedge, dressed in their Royal Guard uniforms!
“When did you get here?!” the crown prince’s face stiffened at the knights’ sudden arrival.
“Ahh~ this is kinda our thing. Sorry, but we’ve heard your entire conversation,” Corydalis answered with a smile.
“Every single word of it!” the rest of the knights chimed in, all with sinister smiles on their faces.
“Sucks for you, huh, Your Highness?” Mr. Fisalis said while the others were busy tying the crown prince up. “You really got the wrong idea, thinking Viola was sweet and innocent. That was all just her being polite.”
He said it so coldly. When did he notice?!
...Wait, that’s not the point right now!
“Yeah! I was only polite because you’re an important diplomat!” I shouted, backing my husband up. The crown prince of Aurantia was a state guest. If he hadn’t been, there was no way I’d have put up with his terrible dancing or awful conversations! Ah, let my real feelings slip out there.
“Really?” The prince slumped in disappointment. So this guy really didn’t understand the concept of “just paying lip service.” I didn’t even know anyone like that existed.
Mr. Fisalis grabbed the disappointed crown prince by the collar, and threaten—no, reminded him with a very creepy smile, “That’s right. And instead, you ended up trying to kidnap Viola like this. Don’t waste my time. I’m a busy man, so listen reeeeeeal well. Vi is the only person I love, so I’ll never forgive anyone who hurts her—no matter who they are, and even if His Majesty forgives you. Remember that.” Then, he pushed the prince towards the waiting arms of Corydalis and the other knights, who caught and restrained the trembling foreign royal prince.
“And just so you know, the duchess here is the belle of Flüran high society. You try anything with her, you’ll be the enemy of most of our nobility,” Corydalis said, roughly dragging the crown prince to his feet.
“And she’s the belle of our chivalric order, too! Anyone who tries anything on her is our enemy!” the rest of the knights yelled in unison, pointing their swords straight at him.
Okay, that’s saying way too much! And watch your swords! That’s dangerous!