Tamed A Blackened Slave Man

The owner of the golden chair also must have been surprised to see us, as his mouth was also slightly agape.

“Lady Serkia? Earl Zigen?”

“…Your Imperial Majesty.”

When Father and I bowed to him in greeting, the Emperor laughed as if he found this situation interesting.

“What brings you here? It is my first time seeing the two of you here.”

Not to mention, the tickets for these seats were only reserved for royalty. Adding that statement, the Emperor trailed off.

Damian was surely not to be underestimated. He intentionally brought me here to make the Emperor suspicious of me.

So I judged that it would be better to tell him the truth rather than have the Emperor doubt me.

“Damian His Grace, has gotten these tickets for us.”

The Emperor’s eyes narrowed after hearing my answer.

“Why would the Grand Duke give Milady those tickets?”

“I am not sure either, Your Majesty. I’ve just followed his request to come to the festival and somehow found myself here.”

“…Hah, I see.”

The Emperor’s eyebrows furrowed. I could see a clear dislike for Damian in his crumpled expression.

Seeing as how the man tried to sue the imperial house as a mere halfling definitely seemed like a reason for the Emperor to dislike Damian.

“Why don’t you sit for now? It’s nice for me to have the company of familiar faces as well.”

To the Emperor’s offer, Father and I bowed again and sat down on the seats that the Emperor provided to us. And I could feel the Emperor’s gaze next to me.

‘Why is he staring at me like that?’

“I’ve heard that Leon has been bothering Milady these days.”

“…Of course not, Your Majesty. His Highness is not a bother.”

“Though he is my one and only son, I must say that he is superbly immature. So I ask you not to pay much attention to what he says.”

Like I expected, all that talk about me becoming the Crown Princess was complete nonsense. Well, there was no reason for the Emperor to want such things in the first place. Why bother making me the Crown Princess when he was able to use my healing abilities freely at his will?

I felt one of the unsolved balls of mystery within me disappear.

“I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”

Seeming to be content with my answer, the Emperor nodded his head with satisfaction.

“Is it your first time at this fighting competition? Both Milady and the Earl?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Yes. Your Majesty.”

Then, the Emperor kindly explained the rules of the competition to the father and daughter who attended the event for the first time.

“The reason why so many people attend this event is because this competition is that much more fascinating. Not only are the contestants allowed to use any kind of weapon, but they are not punished for murder even after killing someone. In this competition, commoners and slaves can become nobles as well.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes, it is indeed.”

I knew that this massive circular arena located at the capital’s square only opened once a year at the Founding Day festival, but I didn’t know these details. Because I hadn’t been interested in this fighting competition even in my past life.

“Taking into consideration that they overcame both social status and physical limitations, those who win this annual event can obtain whatever they wish for. If it’s to be knighted, then they will become knighted. If it is land they need, they will get land. If it is money, then they will receive enough money to live off for the rest of their lives.”

Hearing his explanation, the event was definitely fascinating. There was obviously a valid reason why so many people came to watch.

“It seems the matches will start soon.”

Turning my head towards the arena at the Emperor’s comment, I found the host already rattling on with the explanations.

“Under the watch of His Majesty the Emperor, the 34^th Annual Fighting Competition will now commence.”

“Woooaah! Your Majesty!”

When the Emperor rose from his seat and waved his hand, all of the people simultaneously bowed their heads.

“The winner of today’s event will be given whatever they wish for aside from the crown. May God be with you all.”

At the same time that the Emperor finished speaking, the large iron doors diagonal to the host creaked open loudly, and the contestants of today’s competition started to appear one by one.

Just as I was nonchalantly scanning through the contestants, I was suddenly left at a loss for words after seeing the last two people walk out.

Because both of them were people I knew.

One of the two was the black-haired, green-eyed Damian, and the other was…

‘Cassadin, why are you there?!’

Somehow, his original silvery hair had disappeared and was instead dyed pitch black, with a black robe to hide his appearance, but I could still recognize him instantly at a glance.

“Why is the Grand Duke down there?”

The Emperor, who had been sitting next to me, must have also been quite surprised. He then waved at one of the imperial knights to come closer and ordered him.

“Go find out why the Grand Duke has ended up there.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

As soon as the knight disappeared from our sights, the Emperor turned his head towards me and asked,

“Was Lady Serkia also aware of this? That the Grand Duke was participating in this event.”

“Your Majesty, I’m afraid to say that I was also unaware of this fact.”

“…Is that so?”

The Emperor looked down at the arena with a troubled expression. From the worry that was coming from his face, I could tell that he hoped Damian would not win this competition.

“Why would the Grand Duke bother to participate in this competition when he already has so much…?”

He muttered to himself, a sigh escaping his mouth. I also looked down at the arena with the same troubled expression.

Damian was one thing, but why was Cassadin also out there in the arena with even his hair dyed black?

‘Was this the entertainment that Damian said he would show me? Who knew Cassadin was going to participate in the fighting competition.’

I was worried that he was going to get hurt. But, recalling the Cassadin from my past life, that anxiety slowly started to fade away.

‘Cassadin has not lost in a single battle that he participated in.’

He had even risen to the position of Commander of the Imperial Knights.

‘When everything is resolved, I will most definitely come back.’

I will believe the promise you have made to me. So there would be no reason for me to worry.

If it were Cassadin, he would have already thought everything through before participating in this event.

So I decided I would trust him and watch the competition.

When all of the participants made their appearance, the host started to loudly explain information about this year’s fighting competition.

“There are especially many contestants this year. We had ten thousand competitors just in the preliminary rounds. The fifty people standing here are contestants who have been selected from those preliminary rounds. Yes. That means they are all quite skilled.”

The crowd cheered and shouted at the host’s commentary. And some of the people in the audience must have recognized Damian, as they started to yell out his name.

“Woahhhhh! It’s the Grand Duke!”

“Grand Duke Damian!”

“The best swordsman in the empire has participated in the competition!”

“Oh my goodness!”

It was a relief that Cassadin had dyed his hair, because not many people seemed to recognize him. Everyone focusing their attention on Damian also seemed to help.

Not even Father seemed to have recognized Cassadin with his dyed hair.

But not even that must have been enough to hide his extravagant looks, as the people continued to steal glimpses at the robed man.

‘If only he were moderately handsome.’

“Lady Serkia, what is the matter?”

Surprised by the Emperor’s sudden call, I tore my gaze off of Cassadin. When I looked back at the Emperor, he had his head tilted while staring at me with a puzzled expression.

“You’ve been looking at that man with quite a serious expression. Do you happen to know that man?”

Then, the Emperor pointed at Cassadin in his dark robe. How should I answer that?

It would be strange to say that I knew him, but saying yes that that man used to be my younger brother was even stranger.

Because whatever answer I provided him with would be strange, I made my decision after much thought.

“I thought he looked similar to someone I knew, but it seems I was mistaken.”

It was true since Cassadin dyed his hair after all. I returned a vague answer to the Emperor. Eyes narrowed, the Emperor returned his gaze to the arena as he spoke.

“Putting aside personal relationships, today’s match will be quite entertaining.”

Forcing my lips into a smile, I glanced at the arena.

Standing in front of the competitors, the host was still explaining the competition to the audience.

“The match…”

“Grand Duke Damian!”

“Your Grace! Your Grace! Please look over here!”

But because of the crowd’s loud shouting, I couldn’t hear the host’s voice properly. The host also seemed to be aware of this, as he stopped in the middle of speaking as if waiting for the crowd to quiet down.

When they finally did quiet down, the host started his explanation all over again.

“The competition will be arranged in a 1:1 tournament pattern. All weapons are allowed to be used, and contestants who shout surrender or leave the arena’s perimeters will be immediately eliminated.”

The arena itself was so large that it didn’t seem like people would be eliminated from leaving its perimeters. Listening to the host, I slowly scanned the arena.

Including the audience seats, the arena was built in a large circle, and there was a box containing various weapons next to each participant.

“You are allowed to use the weapons inside that box, or the ones you’ve brought.”

‘A circular arena, and all types of weapons are permitted.’

“Also, you will not be charged with murder for any casualties caused during the event. May God be with you all. So, the first participant to start the competition will be…!”

The host purposefully stopped and slowly turned to look around at the audience. Out of frustration, the audience started to boo the man, at which point the host smiled and then shouted.

“There shouldn’t be anyone who doesn’t know this man in the Seville Empire! The greatest swordsman, Grand Duke Damain! And Kane, a wandering mercenary.”