A Troubled Mind - Part 2

While she was on her knees, many thoughts raced through her mind. With no strength to rise and her head bowed to her opponent, Naige began to think about her brother. What she had learned from him, her solitary training all these days, all the efforts, and for what? To kneel before some random wizard? They were all right when they said she should give up fencing, weren't they?

One day, she complained about being born a woman, longing to be strong and fight like her brother. He, however, called her a "silly little sister," as he often did, and said, "Listen, Naige, fencing isn't just about strength. Through it, even a person as debilitated as I am can overcome someone privileged with strength like General Fleddblyt. Do you know why?"

"Why, because you're the best swordsman?"

Her brother laughed and then replied, "No. It's because for me, fencing is something fluid and spontaneous, like when a feeling is born in our hearts, and through it, I can overcome the strength of my opponents. However, you don't need to copy my steps. Instead, find your own path through your body, your mind, and your sword."

Naige was still far from finding her path, she pondered. But nothing would change if she stayed there, wallowing in self-pity. So, she gathered the strength to stand up. The pain and the blood trickling between her fingers after the punch were used as the fuel she needed to return to the fight. After all, she hadn't lost that battle yet.

When Naige lifted her head, the wizard was already in front of her, wearing a smug smile. So, she grabbed her saber and struck low against his legs, causing him to jump back. But before she could get back on her feet, four branches sprouted from a tree trunk and came at her, wrapping around her wrists and ankles.

"Damn it! Accursed magic..." she cursed while bemoaning her opponent's magical ability.

But cursing didn't change the fact that she was, once again, trapped and disarmed.

"What a foul mouth, princess," said the wizard, approaching her with nothing to stop him.

Naige tried to break free from the branches by force but couldn't manage it. On the contrary, the wizard used his magic to tighten his grip on her, and now she couldn't even move a part of her body other than her head.

"What a fantastic sight!" the wizard exclaimed with an exultant smile, watching Naige struggle to free herself. "The pain and suffering on your face are wonderful! You're experiencing a taste of what people like me have felt, princess... But this is just the beginning..."

"Naige!" Jiro shouted.

He immediately moved to help her. However, the black-clad swordsman blocked his path with his large sword.

"Where do you think you're going, pupil?"

Gritting his teeth, Jiro growled, "You damned scoundrel! Get out of my way!"

"I can't let you interrupt him now, or he won't be satisfied later," the swordsman said with a rare serious look towards the princess and the wizard. Then he faced Jiro and smiled. "Besides, we haven't finished our duel yet..."

"I don't need your help!" Naige shouted.

However, Jiro was determined to help her. After all, keeping her safe was his job. He ran into the flames burning on the wooden floor to escape his opponent. Suddenly, he noticed the fire moving away from him, and a dark blade came at him. The only way Jiro found to escape was to jump back, breaking through a wall of flames.

His opponent was more persistent than he had imagined. Jiro clenched his teeth and attacked suddenly. He brandished his sword ferociously. More than wanting to win, he seemed in a hurry to get the black-clad swordsman out of his way. So, his strikes, though strong and fast, were predictable and unable to break through the defense of someone as skilled as the swordsman.

"Fighting like this, you won't save her, pupil," the black-clad swordsman taunted.

Jiro ground his teeth again. However, he didn't have time to respond to his opponent's taunts because he needed to end this fight. He attempted a risky charge, while keeping an eye on the princess and the wizard. The slender sword vibrated in his hands like the strings of a lyre but held up well. However, if things continued at this pace, he knew it wouldn't last much longer. The princess didn't have much time either.

So, Jiro attacked again, this time with more incisive and deadly strikes.

"Oh, your strikes have improved... but they're still hasty and predictable," the black-clad swordsman remarked.

Jiro became irritated when the swordsman acted like a master teaching a novice. He continued to attack with even more determination to finish him off.

"Take this seriously, pupil," the black-clad swordsman continued. "The princess is still in danger. Is that what you want?"

"You bastard!" Jiro shouted furiously. "What do you want from me?"

The black-clad swordsman replied calmly, "I just want a true duel!"

Jiro looked at the girl, trapped at the mercy of a lunatic wizard. Why did this have to happen on the day he had to escort the princess alone? How could he calm down at a moment like this?

Suddenly, he felt his instincts warning him of imminent danger. The sword of his opponent came at him with enough force to cut a rock in half. It was an attack he couldn't block with his thin blade, so he stepped back, moving further away from the princess.

The wizard regained control of his magic after calming down. The roots stopped sprouting from the ground, and the fire slowly dissipated. With that, much of the area returned to its former state, except for a layer of dry soil covering it.

The remaining four branches pressed her wrists and ankles, and Naige felt like they could snap at any moment. She was also trapped by a fifth branch coiled around her neck. Although she wasn't suffocating completely, she could barely breathe, and the friction of the branch on her skin caused pain and intense discomfort. On the other hand, the wizard reveled in her suffering.

"You can resist all you want, princess. Let's see how much you can endure..."

Naige was dragged closer to him and suspended from the ground. As the rough bark slid over her neck, she felt agonizing pain shoot through her entire body.

"You bastard... do you think you can change this world? You're just a crazy coward!"

"Ah, you can still speak?"

The wizard approached the princess calmly. He was free to do as he pleased, so he began sliding the blade of his dagger gently over her face without causing harm. He did it for pure amusement, and a sadistic smile appeared on his face every now and then.

"Now I'm going to purge all your sins born from your impure existence," he said with apparent pleasure. "But first, I need to punish you, princess."

The wizard noticed the expression on the girl's face. She had a different look than he expected. She wasn't afraid; it was merely a fearless gaze. Dignified. Those blue eyes seemed to engulf him like a raging sea and displayed disgust for every part of his being. Why was this happening?

"Why...? Why do you still look at me like that?" Naige stared at him intently. She wasn't sure what was happening, but it disturbed his magic. The roots began to loosen and weaken. If this continued, she might be able to free herself with her remaining strength.

"These eyes...," the wizard murmured with a disturbed voice. "Not again... Not again..."

He brought his hands to his head as if trying to forcibly remove those memories from his mind. The nails left expressive marks on his face. However, the pain he felt was different.

But it should be the girl who suffered, not him. Her noble face, maintained through the suffering of the innocent, should now contort with pain and fear, thereby relieving his own suffering. But it wasn't happening that way. Even when the blade threatened to harm her or when his magic deprived her of breath, nothing seemed to shake that expression of arrogance on her face.

The wizard lowered his head, closed his eyes, and then opened them again. The princess still regarded him with disdain. Once again, he felt oppressed by the same contempt from people who considered themselves superior. His mind tormented him with vivid memories of his past. Now, it was he who was suffering. He began shouting things that seemed to make no sense. But suddenly, he fell strangely silent.

"Enough!" he whispered, as if saying something to himself.

Naige noticed that there were thin, protruding red veins within the wizard's eyes, along with a golden gleam in his pupils. The corners of his lips curved upward, forming a grotesque smile as he looked at her. She saw the face of madness.

"I need to take those eyes out of your face, princess. Only then... only then... I would have peace again..."

Then, the wizard approached and held Naige's chin, raising her face to meet her eyes. Next, he placed the sharp tip of his dagger dangerously close to one of her eyes.

Naige felt unable to move. Her entire body seemed frozen, and her strength left her, replaced by fear. She certainly didn't want to die like this, at the hands of some madman. She closed her eyes and thought of the one person she wished would come to save her. "Brother..." She called out to him, wishing from the bottom of her heart that her brother would be there at that moment.

The brown-haired boy was skilled at acting discreetly. He was also fast. He had developed these skills while evading his father's and Lord Micaelo's surveillance, as well as from other people he had tangled with before. Additionally, nothing about him drew much attention — a positive aspect at that moment — so he managed to move without alerting anyone.

As he advanced, Lince saw the princess's saber on the ground. He knew what he needed to do. He picked up the weapon and then focused his gaze on the figure of the wizard.

"Stay away from her!" he shouted as he attacked.

He closed his eyes as he struck. Then he thought about how reckless he had been, as he could have hit the princess… so he looked back over his shoulders, fearing what he might see. To his relief, she was fine despite everything. At least, he hadn't harmed her with his clumsy attack. A sigh of relief escaped him. Then, Lince stared at the wizard.