The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

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The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Episode 252: I Got Scolded

“Eh… ugh!?”

With how naturally I moved, did I look like I vanished? Sharueina let out a confused sound, but the moment she spotted my thrust coming straight at her, the sound turned into one of agony.

Then, I continued my assault, using a horizontal slash, an upward cut, and even adding foot sweeps and punches with my left hand without mercy.

In response, Sharueina managed to deflect my moves with her sword and evade my techniques with skillful footwork, but it seemed like she wasn’t completely keeping up with my movements, leading to her taking wounds one after another.

“Take this!!”

“Whoa!”

In the midst of all this, Sharueina deliberately swung her sword wide to create distance, then she sheathed her sword again, lowered her stance, and kicked off the ground with vigor.

“Ice sword…?”

“Haha, do you think I’d let you use the same technique twice?”

Strengthening my body to enhance my reflexes, I focused on her movements this time and chose to close the distance with purpose, thrusting with my ice sword.

“Ha?!”

“How’s that? You can’t pull it out, can you?”

My thrust perfectly caught the hilt of Sharueina’s sword, pinning it in place with the tip of my ice sword while she attempted to draw it.

“See, there’s no time to be surprised.”

“Ugh!!”

Sharueina looked shocked by this unexpected development, but I didn’t miss the chance to land a kick to her defenseless side, which she barely blocked with her arm before taking a tumble.

“To think you’d suppress my technique like that…”

“Just like during the martial arts tournament, your iai is fast and sharp, but it has clear weaknesses. So, how did you overcome that, Your Highness? Or are you still struggling with it?”

“Haha. Alright then, let me show you my full power.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Then I closed the distance, just like back in the martial arts tournament when I battled the third-year students alongside Sharueina, continuously attacking while defending against her strikes with both swordplay and martial arts.

In retaliation, Sharueina began weaving body techniques into her sword skills as if she was learning from me, slowly but surely managing to parry my attacks.

(Haha, this is interesting. This must have been how Rogurando felt.)

I hadn’t intended this to be a training session, but watching Sharueina grow in response to my attacks reminded me of my battle with Rogurando, and I felt I could grasp just a bit of the sentiment behind Rogurando deliberately fostering her growth.

During yet another exchange, Sharueina dodged my upward slash by pulling back her right foot, then she positioned her empty left hand at her right hip and swung it upward with force.

“Ha!!”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, a sword that shouldn’t have been there a moment ago was aiming for my face, forcing me to turn away just in time to dodge it.

“Ha! You managed to avoid it. I thought I had you perfectly ambushed.”

“An ice sword, huh?”

“Yep! I finally managed to conjure one up. You know how they say magic is all about imagery? Since I’ve used swords often, I learned from Lord Edward and was able to do it.”

“I see.”

Hearing my father’s name made me glance over; he was watching with a beaming smile as if delighted by the trick he just managed to pull off.

“Now, shall we continue?”

“Of course.”

After that, rather than using iai, Sharueina started attacking with a twin-sword style, and the increase in her attacks began to corner me slowly.

(This is amusing.)

However, it wasn’t that I was being pressured because I couldn’t handle it; rather, I found myself interested in her movements, observing them closely.

(The movements themselves still have unnecessary elements because she isn’t used to the twin-sword style, and there are points where her motions are awkward or incomplete. But the speed is commendable.)

Since she mentioned recently being able to create ice swords, I understood that she was still getting accustomed to the twin sword style and even noticed her right and left hands occasionally mirroring each other. It’s clear she has plenty of room for improvement.

However, in terms of speed and power, she was doing great, and her speed rivaled even that of an iai sword strike without magical enhancement.

“Interesting. By applying extreme ice magic to her swords, she’s freezing the air as well, reducing air resistance, right?”

“Hmm. Looks like I can’t fool your eyes.”

“Well, personally, I consider myself more of a magic specialist. I can pick up on things like that.”

The reason her attacks were so swift, despite not being iai, was simple: by covering her sword with ice magic, she was freezing the surrounding air to lessen air resistance.

In other words, she was reproducing the effect of an iai, which usually requires the sheath to be used to increase drawing speed, by freezing the air, allowing her to achieve iai-like speeds even with her sword drawn.

“Iai indeed requires the sheath, but what’s even more important is the speed of your hips. As long as you understand that, you can increase your speed through ingenuity even without a sheath.”

“You’re quite insightful.”

Even while we were having this conversation, Sharueina’s swordsmanship speed continued to rise, and her movements became gradually more refined.

(I do wish to take a bit more time, but continuing in this state might lead to her developing bad habits.)

Sharueina’s movements were indeed refining, but there were still many unnecessary motions, and if this went on for much longer, she probably would pick up bad habits.

Feeling that this was a bit of a missed opportunity, I gripped an ice sword in my left hand just like her and began a twin-sword defense against her attacks.

“Wh-?! Ugh…”

Sharueina showed a brief moment of surprise at my twin-sword stance but quickly regained her composure, parrying my attacks with her two swords.

The twin-sword style increased the number of strikes, creating a sense of speed during combat due to the two blades.

However, on the downside, wielding two swords made it harder to put power behind each strike, resulting in each blow being lighter. If she lost her balance just once, it would create a significant opening.

Hence, when in a twin-sword stance, having solid foot placement and effective wrist and arm movements becomes drastically more important, and you should never choose to face a foe’s strikes head-on.

Every attack from the opponent must be deflected to divert their path, and worst-case scenarios should avoid fatal blows while acknowledging potential minor injuries.

“Your Highness, I apologize, but please bear with me. I’ll heal you afterward.”

I preemptively spoke my apology to Sharueina, focusing my body enhancement on both arms, gripping the swords tightly before launching an upward slash.

“Ugh!?”

Unable to withstand the sheer impact, Sharueina raised both arms defensively, putting herself in a vulnerable state. I then swung down the sword aimed directly at her arms.

“Ahhh!!”

With both arms cleanly severed, Sharueina dropped to her knees, filled with pain, and I placed my sword against her neck.

“Your Highness, please surrender. It’s clearly impossible to continue like this.”

“Ugh… yeah, I guess so. I’ll surrender.”

Perhaps due to the intensity of the pain, Sharueina mopped her forehead in sweat before admitting her defeat.

Almost immediately, I dispelled the magic, evaporating the ice sword, and huddled down to heal her severed arms with recovery magic.

“I’m sorry. I’ll fix this right up.”

“Thank you.”

After I used recovery magic to heal her arms, I retrieved her swords from the ground and burned the severed limbs, returning the sword to her.

“Did you really burn my arms?”

“Were you hoping to keep them?”

“Of course not. I have no such hobby. Honestly, it’s better you burned them since there’s no point in storing them.”

“Right?”

“More importantly, your twin swords at the end were impressive! Unlike me, your movements were so fluid, and your arms were moving like they were separate beings!”

“That was just practice. It might be difficult at first, but if you start writing different characters with your left and right hands at the same time, you’ll gradually master it.”

“Do you think I can do that?”

“Oh, definitely. It might take some time, but from what I’ve seen, Your Highness has potential, and with training, you should be able to do it. However, since you weren’t used to it this time, I thought you might pick up some bad habits, so I wrapped this up early while demonstrating.”

“I see.”

If I had more time, we could have corrected her movements as we worked, but since this was a combat match, I figured Sharueina wouldn’t prefer that kind of training, so I forced a conclusion even if it was rough.

“In the future, I’ll also observe your movements when I have time, little by little… oww.”

Just as I was about to suggest easing into the twin-sword style gradually, I suddenly got tapped on the head, turning around to find my mother standing there with an exceptionally angry expression, tightly gripping her fan.

(Oh no…)

I had entirely forgotten that there were others watching us, aside from the two of us. Earlier, we’d been warned not to injure each other, and yet here we were.

Of course, while I had my reasons, Sharueina had gone as far as to lose both her arms, meaning predicting the outcome of this episode would be as easy as flipping to the last page of a novel.

“Stupid Lewis! I told you that Shar-chan’s a girl, so you mustn’t let her get hurt! And yet you severed her arms!”

“Yeah, but… those were the rules…”

“Even if it was the rules, surely there was a smarter way for you to handle this? You just got carried away and forgot about it, didn’t you!!”

Obviously, in hindsight, she was right; I could have used ice magic to freeze her arms or perform a martial arts move to pin her instead of cutting them off.

But I didn’t want to end things in such a rough manner, and most importantly, since Sharueina had said she wouldn’t surrender until both her arms were severed, she must have been prepared to some extent.

“Elize-sama. Please don’t blame Lewis too much. Besides, I set the rules, and Lewis merely adhered to my desires. He isn’t at fault. If anything, I could say the blame lies with me.”

“Of course!”

“Huh?”

It seemed Sharueina’s attempt to protect me by saying it was her fault backfired as she looked startled when my mother replied so dismissively.

“While Lewis who severed your arms certainly holds some blame, Sharueina, as the one who set those rules, is equally guilty!”

“N-no… um…”

Clearly not expecting to be scolded as well, Sharueina faltered and seemed puzzled as she stammered.

“Your Highness is a girl, so please take better care of your body.”

“But…”

“No ‘buts’! Ever since the day Your Highness first came to our home, though it hasn’t been long, we’ve spent time together, and I genuinely think of you as my own daughter. You might find this sudden sentiment troublesome, but we worry when you put yourself in harm’s way. Please take your time to grow at your own pace.”

“Y-yes. Thank you…”

Sharueina smiled brightly, perhaps overjoyed by my mother’s unexpected words.

“But you, Lewis, are a different story.”

“Y-yes?”

Thinking the situation would just wrap up nicely with the cheerful atmosphere, my mother narrowed her eyes at me as she touched the injury on my neck with her fan.

“I told you not to get hurt, didn’t I?”

“Well, that’s a bit…”

“No excuses. Fiera mentioned you were careless. So that wound of yours is a fruit of your complacency, meaning you could have avoided that attack if you hadn’t gotten cocky, right?”

(Tch. Fiera, why bring that up…)

Of course, I understood that Fiera hadn’t meant any harm, but the timing of her comment was terrible, and it led to the worst person hearing it.

“Lewis. Don’t blame Fiera for this. And you can expect to get another scolding from me later. Also, while I’ll allow treatment like disinfection, you’re prohibited from using magic to heal that wound until you reflect on your actions. If you rely on recovery magic, you’re bound to grow reckless and get injured. Keep in mind that you must remember to avoid being complacent in the future.”

“Understood.”

“And, Your Highness…”

“Yes?”

“That arm must hurt, right? Even if Lewis treated it, the pain won’t just disappear. If you ever want him to take responsibility, feel free to say so. I’ll cooperate to ensure he pays for what he did.”

“Mother, what are you talking about…?”

“Shush. I told you once already, right? If you inflict a wound, you must take responsibility. You don’t have the right to refuse.”

Faced with her intense pressure, I could only fall silent, but my mother wouldn’t take her eyes off Sharueina.

“Haha. Thank you. But Lewis already has a fiancée in Iris, doesn’t he?”

“Yes. I consider Iris just as adorable as Your Highness. Moreover, she accompanies me and studies hard to become a future duchess. So, I’m sorry, Your Highness, but it would be difficult for you to become the official wife in that case.”

“Understood.”

“Of course, the final decision lies with those involved, so I won’t interfere with who becomes the official wife, but just understand that this is the current situation. There’s always the possibility that someone other than Iris might end up in that role, or even that no one might be chosen at all.”

“I understand. I’m not particularly attached to the idea of being an official wife, and to be honest, I don’t think I’d do a better job managing the estate than Iris. Plus, right now, I don’t want to force Lewis to take responsibility.”

“I see. Then, if you ever feel like it, please let me know. As a mother, I want to treat everyone fairly, but that doesn’t mean I won’t help if needed.”

“Understood. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Surely this was an important conversation for me, yet somehow it progressed without my involvement, and it managed to wrap up nicely.

“Alright then. Let’s put the serious talk on hold here. Shar-chan must be tired too. How about everyone takes a break while enjoying some tea? And Lewis, go ahead and get some treatment done first. Don’t show me that wound any longer. It makes my heart ache.”

“Yes, understood.”

I felt strangely more exhausted than during the fight, but not wanting to worry my mother any further, I parted ways with her and walked alone toward the infirmary.

Meanwhile, my father remained silent until the very end, unable to muster a comment against my mother’s overwhelming presence, merely watching me alongside Fiera and the others.

As I observed my father’s state, I thought to myself—so this is what it’s like to be under your wife’s thumb.