Taming Her Highness the Princess

30 – Prejudice (2)

…… There were only a few days left before the meeting, so Jeniel taught Irea while cutting down on her sleeping time.

Irea also did not want to disappoint her teacher, Jenial Earl, so she carried out all of her courses without major complaints.

After that time passed, and when the day of the ceremony came, Jeniel and Irea entered the competition arena of the main palace.

Since it was a sparring arena in the main palace, it was wider than a reasonable lake, so Jenial and Irea had to go through a couple of middle gates even beyond the huge gate.

“Her Highness the Princess is entering!”

The gatekeeper shouts loudly and opens the last door. Irea’s breathing becomes unstable as her middle gate begins to slowly open with the sound of her pulleys turning.

Because this imperial sparring ground was to come every year, in other words, she was also the place where Irea was scolded by the grand duke and the emperor every year.

Who can look with kindness on the princess who has no beauty compared to the prince who has excellent skills? Therefore, in her presidency, the prince was always praised, and her princess was always criticized.

The past was holding back Ireah. The fear that the same thing might happen this time is left in my heart.

“Your Highness.”

Jeniel, unable to see that, comforted Irea in a soft tone.

“Don’t worry. Didn’t you try hard?”

Irea looks back at Jenial. Her trembling eyes remained the same, but she calmly nodded her head as if her heart had calmed down a bit.

In the meantime, her middle door was fully retracted, letting out a dull noise. Jeniel, naturally looking through the middle gate, could see the prince standing across the huge podium.

Prince, Perez von Reistel.

She had pink hair like Ireah, but the atmosphere was different for her siblings. It was because Irea couldn’t find those ferocious eyes as if they were tired of authority.

However, looking at the back of the prince, it was more than understandable why the prince could stare at this side so arrogantly and arrogantly.

There were three teachers behind the prince, five escort knights behind the master, and over twenty superior knights following the escort knight.

Including the number of scholars and handmaids, the number is well over two hundred. With all of that in mind, I couldn’t help but feel confident.

On the other hand, Irea ended up with one escort knight and one teacher. The number of ladies-in-waiting who followed her was overwhelmingly smaller than that of the prince.

It is a situation where there is no choice but to lose from momentum. However, Irea did not show her signs and she moved her steps with dignity.

As Ireah takes her people and stands in front of her podium, she hears the long sound of her horn from somewhere. It was a signal to announce that the preliminary hearing was about to begin.

“Please, Your Majesty the Emperor!”

Now that the prince and princess had gathered, it was the emperor’s turn to enter. Immediately after the gatekeeper shouted, the middle door in the center opened, and the knights of the SS rushed in with the emperor.

As soon as the guards secured the road first, the emperor moved comfortably. Behind him, several high-ranking officials followed.

All of them were giants that you would have heard of at least once if you lived in the imperial palace. As Giraseong-like figures passed by, the maids naturally knelt down and the knights bowed their heads deeply.

However, the emperor passed the podium and climbed the stairs as if he had no interest in such things. The steps in front of the podium were so high that they were far too high, but it wasn’t without reason.

As you go up the stairs, you will see a kind of stairs on both sides that can seat a hundred people, and the stairs were made with a clear intention.

For example, low-ranking officials sit on the first floor, officials in charge of important posts on the second floor, and high officials sit on the third floor to watch and evaluate the match between the princess and the prince.

Of course, the emperor sits in the seat of honor at the end of the stairs. Next to the dogma where the emperor would sit, four more dogma were prepared, and these were the seats for the emperor’s meritorious officials, such as Jung Seo-ryeong.

“Get started.”

As the emperor sitting in the seat of honor spoke solemnly, the sound of the horn sounded again. Then, Jenial steps up and climbs onto the podium.

Because it was a place to face the Emperor, the bandages on his shoulders and hands were undone. As Jeniel moves, a professor from the other side climbs onto the podium.

He was a long-haired, narrow-eyed man with a sad face. The moment he faced the man, Jeniel was overcome with a strong sense of incongruity.

‘Erethe Tarnes.’

He was an executive in Jeokwolseong. It is clear in his memory that he was so good at intriguing tricks that he was called the head of the enemy Wolseong, and showed unpleasant performances in all sorts of places.

But why did Erete make her stand out in her imperial court already? Originally, Erete was a low-level official in the imperial family, but it was normal to show up when the empire started to deteriorate.

‘It looks like the instructions sent from inside the Red Moon Castle have changed.’

In fact, after Mandel was caught, Jeokwolseong must have had great difficulty in taking control of the imperial family. That’s why, out of a sense of urgency, he must have put Erete up there so quickly.

No matter what, as long as I know the identity of the opponent, I won’t let it become a threat. Genial bowed lightly to Erete, who smiled at him, then turned to face the emperor.

“To His Majesty the Great Emperor the Glory of the Empire-“

“It has been done. Get rid of the ostentatiousness and talk about the main topic.”

The emperor cut off Jeniel’s words and openly frowned. Since the person who put my daughter in danger was Jeniel, it is natural that he would not be happy with it.

If Jenny Earl hadn’t been the son of the lieutenant colonel and hadn’t had his daughter begged for forgiveness, he wouldn’t have been able to stand there right now.

Jenny Earl also omitted the existing custom by bowing his head deeply because he was not unaware of the Emperor’s feelings. After a brief silence, Jenny Earl raised her head and opened her mouth.

“Her Highness learned the process of deepening her mana management in the Lotus Palace, and trained her mind and body through sparring with her escort knights. She also read books related to royal studies, and devoted herself to building knowledge to govern the people in the future.”

Jenny Earl did a good job of wrapping it up, but to sum it up, he sounded like ‘playing and eating at the lotus palace’. The emperor also turned his gaze to Erete, who was next to him, apparently not expecting much.

Erette bowed her head deeply, as Jennie Earl did, then lifted it slowly. There was a lot of confidence on her cheeky face.

“His Highness the Prince personally led the knights to the army and wiped out the goblin colony located near the Countess of Mehabar all at once. In the process, he became a model for many knights by cutting down the leader of the colony with a single sword.”

It was not a vague achievement like Irea, but an objective achievement that could be confirmed. Naturally, the high officials and the emperor had no choice but to give more generous marks to the achievements of the prince.

The high officials rank the papers they each brought and gossip among themselves. The emperor, who had been looking at the scene reluctantly, raised his hand.

Boo woo woo ─

Then the horn rang again. Jenial and Erete bowed politely to the emperor once more and then came down from the podium.

Now that the report is over, the only thing left is sparring. Ireah, who was handed her sword by her maid, took a deep breath and went up to her podium.

Belatedly, Prince Peres comes up to the podium. Peres, who had a boring face throughout, burst into laughter as soon as he saw Irea.

“Brother. I must have said it last year. If you don’t want to be humiliated, don’t show your face in front of the court.”

A tone that despises the opponent makes one lose one’s spirits. However, this place is in the middle of the day. Because there were many eyes to see, Irea mustered up the courage to face Peres.

“There is no reason for me to listen to my older brother.”

“Really? Well, it doesn’t matter. Breaking down your pride is one of my little pleasures.”

Peres, who smiled as if he was having fun, kicked the ground in an instant. She was approaching at a formidable speed, but Irea was not taken aback.

‘Slower than Ruinel!’

Irea has been hit hundreds of times by Ruinel. Therefore, he was able to sufficiently avoid Peres’ attack, which was inferior to Ruinel.

Ireah, who calmly followed Peres’ movements, gently twisted her body. In that short gap, Peres’s sword passed gently through her, Irea’s chest.

‘What?’

Irea dodged her sword? Peres was startled involuntarily, but soon regained his senses and swung his sword. Whoo! But this time, too, it only cut through the black air.

Ireah, who should have been in her place, disappeared leaving a blue afterimage of her. Is she space travel? Perez, who hastily turned around, was embarrassed.

‘Is it gone?’

Irea is nowhere to be seen. Perez, who was wary of all directions as she swung her head, came to a low realization.

‘It’s an invisibility magic.’

You’re doing tricks with your little magical knowledge. Peres, biting his teeth, narrowed his eyes and scattered mana under his feet.

The mana that was spreading across the podium soon detected Irea using the invisibility magic. But something was wrong with her. This is because there was not one Irea detected.

As many as five Ireas were holding swords surrounding Peres. Irea was aiming for this from the beginning and avoided Peres’ attack.

“Your residual talent has improved a lot.”

Perez laughed at Irea but did not let her guard down. It was because I didn’t know where Irea would attack.

However, Irea never attacked first. The five Ireas stood still and did not move.

I don’t think I have enough skill to move my clone. Peres, who judged that, let go of his guard and kicked the ground.

Pain!

Pérez broke the floor of the podium and jumped out, and began to cut his alter ego one after another. He stood still and couldn’t react to anything, so there was nothing dangerous.

“With skills like this!”

Bego.

“Me!”

Bego.

“Do you think you can win!”

Cut again.

Hooung!

Peres, who cut off the last alter ego, twisted his ankle and ran towards Irea, the last one left. Peres, convinced that it was the main body, swung his sword wide.

Kang!

However, Irea was attacked and pushed away. Then, a soft moan flowed through Irea’s teeth.

Because of the huge difference in strength, they probably won’t be able to withstand a series of attacks. Irea, who finished her judgment, squeezed out the remaining mana and hurriedly developed space movement.

Irea, who left behind a blue afterimage this time, runs away to the edge of the podium. Pérez, who found it funny, looked back at him with a sneer.

“Brother. Even if you try to play a trick, it’s just a trick. You will be helplessly defeated by me anyway, so why are you using the dragon?”

Peres said these words with confidence in victory, but Irea’s expression was calm even in the midst of hardship. One eyebrow of Peres, who wondered about that, frowned.

“You don’t seem to understand the current situation-“

“The one who doesn’t understand is my brother!”

What? Just as Peres was in doubt, a firefinch bird hurriedly flew in. Pérez was taken aback, but reflexively cut down the bellbird.

It wasn’t until after he cut down the finches that he realized it was a mistake.

“…… !”

The bellbird that was cut off flickers for an instant.

Quang!

The bellbird explodes and scatters light graphite. Terrified at the sudden surprise, Perez raised his head and was stunned.

“This crazy…… !”

It was because a flock of chinks, numbering in the dozens, was flying towards him.

Kwagwagwagwagwang─!

The bellbird explodes in succession, creating black smoke. In the smoke, a fire caused by the bellbird’s explosion was engulfing Peres.

Thanks to this, not only high-ranking officials, but even the emperor exclaimed. It was because Irea’s magical skills were not bad to look at.

Using space movement, alter ego, and invisibility appropriately, he binds his brother’s feet, then creates a bell bird with the property of an explosion in the blind spot and strikes it.

Since Irea managed a very difficult magic link, the evaluation was bound to be good. However, the hearing was not over yet.

Woe!

Peres, who swung his sword and cut the smoke, gnashed his teeth and threw himself. Peres, who was advancing while wearing graphite, shouted and brandished his sword.

Kaang!

Ireah reflexively blocked Peres’s sword, but her eyes returned and Peres lifted his foot and kicked Irea in the stomach.

f*ck! With a dull noise, Ireah let go of her sword and rolled on her floor. When her sister comes out, Perez, seeing that she is missing, drops to his knees.

“Huh, huh… ….”

I am short of breath and my vision is dizzy. Her silk garments were scorched and her sword-hands struggled.

“Keah!”

It even came up to the point of vomiting accompanied by blood. In order to stop Irea from attacking her bellbird, she consumed all the mana in her body and opened her protective shield, and the recoil was coming.

“This…… Damn year…… !”

That’s what Pérez didn’t like. Her own younger brother, Irea, was always like a servant under her.

If there was a good thing, Perez always took it, and Irea kept what was left after Perez. Perez thought it was natural.

Because he himself would rule the empire after his father, the future Emperor His Majesty. So it was only natural that her goofy sister lived her life in a role that adorned her.

“Where did you learn to be a dog…… !”

However, Irea, who had always been trampled on by her like a worm, counterattacked. And even in front of her dignitaries and the emperor.

I couldn’t hear the words properly, but seeing the high officials looking back at each other and talking, Irea should have been given a higher score.

Then again, he needed to turn everyone’s attention to himself by stepping on her Irea. Using her sword as a staff, Peres stood up and looked down at Irea.

“But now it is useless. Even if I keep going, you can’t beat me anyway. So just admit defeat!”

Peres yelled at her, but Irea just shook her head as she lay on her stomach. Her flowing hair runs down her shoulders and touches her floor. Irea, who had barely escaped her stomach pain, hit the floor.

“…… I have lived with my older brother all my life.”

Her hands were shaking as Ireah had used up all her mana. However, Irea held on to her fainting spirit and continued.

“I thought that was natural. Because nobody wants me to win anyway. I misunderstood that it was natural for the older brother who is loved by everyone to win.”

But now I know. He said that there are people who support him, and that there are people who want him to win more than anyone else.

“So… ….”

Ireah took a deep breath and stood up by strengthening her legs. The wind flowing through her arena makes Ireah’s hair flutter once.

Ireah, who was breathing hard, bit her teeth and glared fiercely at her Peres. Her body, accumulated from her fatigue, was trembling slightly, but her spirit was not damaged.

“Peres. I will never lose to you.”

Irea’s determination was very embarrassing to Peres.

‘Who are you… …. Who the hell made Irea like this?’

More than embarrassed, she felt a certain kind of fear seep into her skin.