Our Duel, My Little Brother

The marquess wanted to hand over Bronka to Altezza, not Abercio. Fortunately, Altezza's abilities are extraordinary, and due to some reasons, all the residents of Bronka hate Abercio and like Altezza instead. Actually, the cause was made up by Vivian, the Marchioness who is Altezza's biological mother.

'The next marquess is Altezza, not Abercio.' It was an accepted perception at Bronka. However, if Abercio showed any extraordinary talent, that thought might be blown to pieces.

'Tradition supports Abercio. If I try to hand Bronka over to Altezza for no good reason, someone else will try to interfere. Also, even if they all don't like Abercio, if that kid shows such extraordinary talent, their hearts might waver to support him,' the Marquess thought.

Everyone in Bronka, who was at the forefront of the empire thought that skill in the military arts was the most important trait that one should possess, especially the heirs of the Bronka. People would even follow the person they hated if there was a high chance that he could protect them. All sorts of thoughts raced through the Marquess' head.

When all eyes were on him, Abercio moved.

The priests started to come forward to take care of Vino. The priests raised their hands and shook hands widely to show that Vino's life was not in danger, and the crowd breathed a sigh of relief.

The priests also approached Abercio.

"Young Master! We will take care of your injury!"

The voices of the priests were urgent, because although Abercio's injuries were less than Vino's, still... he was also severe.

"Wait."

"Sorry?" The priest looks confused

"I still have something to take care of."

Abercio refused the priests who would use God's miracles to go and walk to the outskirts of the stadium. Abercio's unexpected behavior caught everyone's attention again. They were also terrified to see him staggering while dripping blood all over his path.

Morla, who was standing in front of the chair in front of the audience asked, "What is it, Young Master Abercio?"

"Ah, Mr. Morla. It won't take long. I just want to say something to Altezza."

Abercio's voice was heard. Mana was channeled into his voice so that everyone in the stadium could hear him well. Everyone looked surprised at first, and various expressions appeared on people's faces.

'Oh my, how could that be?' Morla was even more shocked.

It didn't surprise him that Abercio could imbue mana in his voice because he could use skills like Mana Synchronization, but it did impress him that Abercio could use mana so clearly even when he was heavily injured, and actually only a few trained knights could do such a thing.

Abercio shouted at Altezza, "Altezza! Come down! This is the duel we agreed on a month ago!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

Altezza was so shocked that she gasped. Everyone was astonished too, just as shocked.

"What did you just say, Abercio?" the marquess asked. As if he was also shocked, his response was a bit slower than expected.

"What do you think I said? I challenge Altezza to a duel. Father, don't you allow this too? I know that the rumors have spread far enough even to the people of our region," Abercio retorted.

"A duel between Abercio and Altezza," murmured the crowd.

"Isn't that an unofficially announced duel to inherit the title of Marquess as well as the Bronka family?"

"Think about your words before they are spoken! It didn't make sense that a single duel would decide who was the heir. "

"But that's what the rumors say. Even the Marquess' actions seemed to indicate that she would give greater preference to the winner of the duel. It's very clear that they are trying to give Young Master Altezza the edge to be the heir because they think that Young Master Abercio has no chance of winning at all."

"Poor him," some people whispered.

The bloody battle that had just occurred, the unexpected victory of Abercio the Young Master who had been considered weak, and his fearless behavior prompted the audience to speak the words they had been holding back for so long.

"Y-Young Master! Let us treat your wounds first!" cried the priests in worried tones.

"It's okay," Abercio refused.

He shouted again, "hey, Altezza! Hurry, come down! I will fight in my current state! I think I should at least give myself a handicap against my little brother! I'm an understanding older brother, right?"

The people were shocked again, especially the priests beside Abercio. They felt like their eyes were about to pop out, their jaws dropped from the shock, and they were about to be on the verge of a stroke because of all the words Abercio had said.

"Young master! You can't! You must be treated immediately!"

With blood running all over his body, Abercio looked like a blood devil. He looked like he was about to die from losing a lot of blood in the eyes of the onlookers, but Abercio remained calm as if nothing had happened.

"Don't overreact. I won't die just with this much." Abercio spoke soothingly.

"No, it's really dangerous, Master!" the priests argued.

As if they were annoying flies, Abercio flicked them off with his hand, and the priests thought they were going crazy at Abercio's stubborn refusal.

"What are you doing, Altezza? Hurry up!" Abercio insisted.

"What kind of nonsense are you speaking, Abercio? Take care of yourself first! How are you going to duel with a body like that?" asked Altezza.

Of course, Altezza has a point. Anyone could see that instead of a duel, Abercio needed immediate treatment, or rather that he should lie in bed as a patient now.

"I'll handle this by myself. Besides, we made a promise from the start. You guys calm down!" Abercio smiled as if his body was fine, even though the priests had almost fainted at the sight.

"Didn't you also agree that I will decide when our duel starts, Altezza?" asked Abercio.

Altezza closed his mouth tightly. He was the one who proposed the duel while putting the conditions in place. Now that Abercio had brought up that promise, Altezza had no choice but to comply.

"Stop it! How are you going to start a duel with those wounds, Abercio? Are you planning to break your younger brother's heart for worrying about your physical condition?! You want him to succumb so easily so you can win by taking advantage of your pitiful state?" growled Theodore the Marquess of Bronka.

"Ah, you even think that way, Dad? I didn't even think that far at all. But you know, I had no choice but to misunderstand. I mean, look at Altezza's face now," said Abercio with an innocent face as if he didn't know anything, even though he did know what had happened to Altezza.

"Doesn't he even look like he's scared?" continued Abercio.

"…"

If it was normal, Altezza would definitely be angry at being said like that by Abercio. For many reasons all the time, Altezza hated being seen as inferior to Abercio in any area more than anything else, but now he's silent. Only his lips twitched as if he wanted to say something.

Altezza's face turned pale, and her pupils trembled while her lips bled. Everyone could see that Altezza was terrified.

"Stop it, my little brother. You should relax a little. Or everybody, I mean other people around us will misunderstand. Like me, they may believe that you are just a coward when seeing your reaction, maybe some of them are afraid that you will break your promise to escape from the duel." Abercio smirked.