Chapter 8: Audience II (part 2)

“Still, I believe you will overcome this. The reason I’m giving you permission, even against tradition, is because I believe you’ll gain something meaningful from this Knight Competition.”

My father continued.

“You can win, Ike. It might be difficult for you to win this time, but I believe you have enough skill to succeed.”

I couldn’t look him in the eye and say it was impossible.

“…Okay, Father.”

I took a deep breath and gave a quiet nod.

***

After returning from the capital on Thursday, it wasn’t until Friday that I finally saw Reina again after a week.

“You’re really going to compete after all?” she asked.

“That’s right.”

“The preliminaries start next Monday. Five days of preliminaries, two days off, and then another five days for the finals. After that, there’s a week of rest, followed by the final competition.”

So… it spans a total of 20 days?

“So? Do you think you can win?”

Reina didn’t look too hopeful when she said that.

Of course, winning would be ideal—but just as my father said, it wouldn’t be easy.

“I think I have a fair shot.”

She clearly wanted me to win, and I didn’t want to disappoint her just yet.

“Anyway, I am an aspiring knight.”

“Hehe, I’ll be looking forward to it. And here’s a little gift in advance.”

“A gift?”

Reina handed me something wrapped in cute paper.

“A pendant?”

“To be precise, a locket. Try opening it.”

I gently pressed the small button on the side. The lid popped open, and a soft sky-blue light spilled out.

Eventually, the light formed a circle and transformed into a beautiful clock.

“…It’s beautiful.”

“Isn’t it?”

I was so happy I wanted to get up and hug Reina on the spot. But I held myself back. She had her reputation to uphold—and more importantly, she was betrothed to the prince.

“If you inject a bit of magic, an A-class protection spell will activate.”

Of course, magic tools weren’t allowed in the Knight Competition without prior approval.

Reina gave a small, playful smile as she said that.

But despite her light tone, her words didn’t quite register at first.

An A-class protective magic tool?

No matter how modestly you estimated the cost, it had to be worth at least a hundred platinum coins.

That was way too extravagant to call a “simple gift.”

“Thank you… but isn’t this too expensive? It’s not a special occasion, and I haven’t even won anything yet.”

I asked cautiously, concerned.

Reina lowered her eyes slightly.

“…I just wanted to properly say thank you.”

“Thank you?”

“Yes.”

I hadn’t done anything that deserved this—at least, not recently. What did she mean?

I was about to smile and brush it off when I noticed how serious she looked.

“Ever since you saved me at the ball… I felt I had to show my sincerity somehow. You said it was fine, but that injury wasn’t something to be taken lightly.”

She bit her lip as she said that.

For some reason, seeing her sad expression made my old wound throb again.

“An apology isn’t enough. You can’t call someone a friend unless you’re willing to repay what’s owed. I kept thinking about that—so I asked the Duchess for help.”

Her words brought back memories of our trip to the market.

She mentioned she had gotten something my mother requested…

“Was this locket what you got at the market?”

“Not the locket itself, but the materials. I wanted it custom-made. I gathered the components from various places. The one from the market was just one of them.”

So she had gone through all that effort.

I felt a deep sense of gratitude. From the start, I had decided to live my life for her.

And after hearing all this, I couldn’t possibly refuse the gift just because it was expensive.

“And also…”

“Also?”

“No, I’ll tell you after the competition. You’ll find out eventually.”

She smiled softly as she said that.

Was she planning to give me something more after the Competition?

“Are you saying you’ll win, then? I’ll be watching from the finals onward, sitting with my father.”

It sounded like a bluff, but Reina seemed to believe in it wholeheartedly.

The real purpose of the Knight Competition was to discover potential talents who could become knights.

In other words, most of the participants were aspiring knights.

I might be able to make it through the preliminaries easily enough—there weren’t that many aspiring knights to begin with.

But would I be able to stand out in the finals?

Objectively speaking, I’d probably place around 10th at best.

Usually, about 10 aspiring knights entered the Knight Competition.

And right now, I couldn’t even pass the first stage of the knight entrance exam.

That’s why I said 10th place would be my best outcome.

“…Honestly, I feel uneasy about this. It goes against our family traditions.”

“But still—don’t you want to become a knight? If you do, then you’ll just have to work harder.”

The truth was, I didn’t really want to be a knight.

Reina’s request to her father on my behalf was all based on a misunderstanding.

I just wanted to become stronger—strong enough to protect Reina.

Last Monday, I had accidentally told her that I wanted to be strong enough to become a knight.

After hearing that, she brought up the Knight Competition.

Instead of letting me say no because of family traditions, she went ahead and asked her father herself.

Honestly, I had wanted to come clean and withdraw from the competition.

But then—

“Are you looking forward to me winning?”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth.

She was genuinely looking forward to it.

And so, all I could do was try.

To get even one second closer to her ideal—to that movement I dreamed of reaching.