Chapter 21

Inside the Valencia Duchy Mansion’s Training Hall.

As expected of the training hall of a ducal family, it was filled with all sorts of equipment and weapons to aid in training.

When I saw the clean sand that rustled and stimulated the soles of my feet, I could tell how well-maintained it was without even checking.

This was a space usually used by the knights of the ducal family.

“Let’s end the training here for today.”

“Understood!”

Even now, it was a space used by the knights.

“···Isn’t that Princess Rebecca?”

“And next to her… Prince Albert, I think.”

Today, two very special guests, well-known to the knights, had come to the training hall.

*

Honestly, I thought it was a joke.

When Rebecca first told me to come to the training hall immediately, I thought it was just something she blurted out in frustration because I was teasing her. She often made faces like she wanted to punch me, after all.

I just thought it was more intense than usual.

– Please step out for a moment. I need to change clothes.

But when the princess told me to leave the room so she could change, I slowly began to feel that something was wrong.

“What are you doing? Just standing there blankly.”

When Rebecca came out of the room a short while later, fully dressed in activewear, I had to painfully realize that her words about sparring were no joke.

Dragged along by Rebecca, I soon found myself in the Valencia Duchy Mansion’s Training Hall.

“···Hello, Hans.”

I found myself greeting Hans, one of the knights of the ducal family.

Having visited the ducal family frequently over the past three years, I had memorized the names of the knights I often saw, and the knights of the ducal family also knew me as the fiancé of their young lady, who always visited to see her.

In fact, I had even asked them about swordsmanship a few times.

“Prince Albert, isn’t it? What brings you here…”

Hans, who seemed to have just finished a grueling training session, was sweating profusely and taking a break, but he warmly welcomed me as I trudged into the training hall.

In a way, I was an uninvited guest here, but I was very grateful for Hans’s warm welcome.

“···.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the mood to answer that question with a smile.

“No, why do you look like that?”

So instead of answering, I pointed somewhere with my finger.

“···Ah. You don’t need to say it. I understand.”

Hans seemed to immediately understand what was going on when he saw Rebecca warming up where I was pointing.

“Finally sparring with the princess, are you?”

Judging by the excited tone in his voice.

“···Sigh.”

I sighed.

Was this how Rebecca felt when I teased her?

“That’s why I advised you not to tease the young lady so much.”

Yeah. I should have teased her in moderation.

I never thought she’d suddenly declare a sparring match.

“Honestly, I was kind of looking forward to it. Seeing you tease the young lady made me angry too.”

“···.”

Seeing my expression grow even more miserable, Hans finally offered some words of encouragement.

“Don’t worry too much. Who would have thought you’d win?”

“···Really?”

“Of course. I’m on your side, Prince Albert. And there are probably many knights secretly rooting for you.”

“···What if we bet money?”

“I’d bet on the young lady.”

Of course, the moment I realized that his encouragement was actually a high-level roast, my expression crumpled even more.

“I hope you fail someday, Hans.”

“I hope you get beaten up by the young lady, Prince Albert.”

“I hope the bank where you saved your money goes bankrupt.”

“I hope you get beaten up by the young lady and break a bone.”

After exchanging some “pleasantries” with Hans for a moment, Rebecca, who seemed to have finished stretching, slowly approached.

Rebecca, perhaps thinking that her usual twin-tailed red hair might get in the way during the spar, had tied it up in a ponytail.

She had stretched so vigorously that she was already sweating a drop or two before the spar even began.

And.

‘···Why does she look so pretty?’

For some reason, my heart raced even as I looked at Rebecca like this.

Clearly, she wasn’t my lovely fiancée but a grim reaper about to beat me up.

“Young lady seems to have made up her mind today… You’re not thinking she looks beautiful in that state, are you?”

“···.”

“···You’re really something, Prince Albert.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but Hans was right. My heart racing in this situation—how serious was I?

Anyway, the princess approached me step by step, like a goddess or a grim reaper.

“Take this.”

“···.”

She held a wooden training sword in each hand.

I felt that if I took it, there would be no turning back. The moment I took it, it would be decided that I would spar with Rebecca.

“···Do you really have to do this?”

Thinking this was my last chance, I tried to express my reluctance with the most pitiful and sorrowful expression I could muster.

“Yes. You said you trained so hard that you didn’t come to see me. I need to test that.”

“···.”

No chance.

The expression “no chance” must have been created for moments like this.

Literally, no chance.

And so, the spar between Rebecca and me began reluctantly.

“···Princess Rebecca seems really angry.”

“Is Prince Albert going to die today?”

“No way, even if she’s angry, she wouldn’t kill her fiancé.”

As the knights’ whispers suggested, this wasn’t a spar but a one-sided beating—or assault.

Of course, naturally, I was the one getting beaten.

***

Thud! Whack!

It hurt.

Every time Rebecca’s wooden sword hit me, the pain made me doubt whether the sword I was holding was even made of wood.

“You said you trained hard for a week and a day. Is this all you’ve got?”

“···.”

Even worse, the princess’s taunts were hitting me like direct hits. I fully understood what it meant to be mentally overwhelmed.

Thud!

“Prince Albert! Hang in there!”

Feeling sorry for me, who was just getting beaten, the ducal knights cheered me on.

Hearing their voices, I tried to find an opportunity to counterattack.

“Too slow.”

Rebecca laughed scornfully and easily dodged my counterattack, then struck my head with her wooden sword.

Thud!

“You’re so slow. You can’t even call yourself a swordsman.”

“···.”

“You should have just stayed home.”

The pain in my skull and Rebecca’s taunts made me burn with a desire to win, but…

Some things in the world are just impossible.

It’s not like I wanted to get beaten up.

Of course, I wanted to defend against Rebecca’s attacks and counterattack like in a fantasy novel.

I wanted to fight coolly like a novel character, saying things like “Flowers don’t last ten days red,” or “This is the end.”

‘···What can I do if it’s impossible?’

But the place I had transmigrated into was just a fantasy novel. I wasn’t a character from a fantasy novel.

Helplessly, I just kept getting hit by Rebecca’s wooden sword.

“···Young lady, I have a good idea.”

Unable to bear the sight of this brutal violence, one of the ducal knights spoke up to Rebecca, who was mercilessly beating me.

“The difference in skill between you and the young master is too great for a spar to be meaningful. How about making a bet?”

“···A bet?”

Rebecca’s eyes immediately widened at the word “bet.”

And I could clearly feel it.

‘···Are you still holding onto that?’

The princess was still holding onto the time she lost a chess bet and had to give me a kiss.

I wanted to shout that it was impossible right then and there, but I had been hit so many times that my mouth wouldn’t move.

The knight who suggested the bet, unaware of my feelings, continued to talk about the bet.

“Yes. If Prince Albert can touch you with his wooden sword, he wins. If he can’t, you win. How about that?”

“Oh…”

Rebecca let out an admiring sound, as if it was a pretty good idea.

Even that admiring reaction scratched at my pride.

Thinking this suggestion was good meant she was confident I wouldn’t land a single hit.

But the fact that I hadn’t even touched a hair on Rebecca’s head during the spar was already proven.

No matter how much my pride was hurt, I couldn’t argue.

“That’s good. Let’s do that.”

Rebecca looked at me with an expression that said, “You don’t have any objections, do you?”

“I don’t want to…”

Already filled with dissatisfaction, I tried to refuse.

“You don’t want to? Then let’s continue the spar.”

“···I’m fine with it.”

I had no desire to enjoy more of the princess’s merciless wooden sword violence.

Swallowing my tears, I had no choice but to accept the proposal.

[Three years have passed since I transmigrated into “The Crown Prince Holds a Sword.”]

I realized that even in this world, life is tough for the weak.

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