Becoming popular

At Duke Arbor's residence in the capital, Bahram drank with a woman in

his personal quarters.

"Damn those infuriating Anderson's men. Making a fool out of me!" Bahram cursed as he took a swig of his liquor, his red face making him seem intoxicated

already. He was in a bad mood after the humiliation and shame he had suffered

in the tournament that day.

"Heheh. Please calm your wrath, my lord." The woman sitting across from

Bahram gave him a serene smile. She looked to be in her mid-thirties.

"...Mrs. Rosalia. My apologies for behaving in such an unsightly manner," Bahramsaid, a little ashamed of himself.

"I can imagine how you must be feeling. It is fairly normal to give the students

the glory in matches like these... You must be frustrated to hear others say

what they please."

"T-That's right! It's a virtue not to be fixated on winning or losing in exhibition

matches. Yet those weak-kneed nobles that know nothing of swordcraft were

all swayed by the words of that Anderson..." Bahram started to speak rapidly,

spurred on by Rosalia's sympathy. Even through she was already in her mid thirtees. She was still very charming.

"They are simply envious of your ability, Lord Bahram. Let them say what they

wish. Now is not the time to draw attention to yourself." Rosalia's words appeared

to have touched upon Bahramm' ego, as his expression relaxed slightly.

But now the Anderson family has built momentum. Not even His Majesty

can ignore their opinions anymore." Bahram looked at Rosalia's inquisitively.

"Yes, it would be unfavorable for our kingdom to have Duke Anderson continue gathering strength like this. These last five years have proved his

capabilities to be exceptional. However, he must have a weakness somewhere."

"Five years, huh..." Bahram's expression twisted in displeasure, seemingly able

to recall bad memories during that time.

"Come to think of it, Duke Anderson came into power after the incident five

years ago. Weren't you deeply involved with that case too, Lord Bahram?"

"...I suppose you could say that. Actually, the student I faced today was the

one suspected for being involved in Her Highness' kidnapping. I was the one

who interrogated him back then."

"Oho, so he's the one..." There was an interested gleam in Rosalia's eye.

"And he was quite a stubborn brat back then too. No matter how much pain I

inflicted, he refused to confess. There were some suspicious parts of his

testimony that didn't match up with the situation at the time, so I thought he'd

crack with some... forceful encouragement."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He hung around the gang of thugs that kidnapped the princess, yet he was

the only one alive when they were murdered. He testified that the thugs were

killed by an assassin of unknown origins, yet he also claimed that the one who

defeated the assassin was none other than himself."

"I see. That is indeed suspicious."

"The investigation was terminated after he was declared Her Highness' savior.

If only I had made that brat confess..." Bahram's face twisted even more as the

irritation from that time resurfaced. He refilled his metal glass with liquor and

gulped it down.

"It sounds like you and that boy are fated rivals."

"Haha! If today's tournament had been a real battle, I would have cut him

down without a thought." The alcohol seemed to be taking its effect on him.

Suddenly Rosalia spoke"Mr Bahram don't you think his actions somehow make connection with Duke Anderson."

"How so" Charles spoke while drinking liquior from his glass."

"Whether it is princess Eira's kidnaping or your defeat in this tournament both of this events has helped Duke Anderson and had made you suffer a loss and the cause of both this events is that boy Kyle." Rosalia told Bahram while smiling charmingly.

"Well, now you said this it is indeed the case." Charles spoke with a understanding face.

"I think we should keep close eyes on that boy and dispose him when we found the oppurtunity we cannot let anyone cause a slightest disturbance in our future plans. " Rosalia spoke in a serious voice.

"Don't worry Mrs Rosallia ,I will make sure to make proper arangments after going back" Charles spoke in serious voice

The day after the tournament, William had prepared special tea and snacks to

celebrate Kyle's victory after class. As he was making his way from a middle

school class back to the research lab, he spotted Kyle in a connecting hallway

and opened his mouth to call out to him.

"Oh! Kyle..."

His words trailed off when he realized he was walking next to a female

student.

It wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say that Kyle was at the very bottom

of the Academy food chain. That was why he was very rarely seen with other

students — if he was, then it was usually because he had been dragged into

some kind of predicament. It was even rarer for him to be seen with a female

student.

Except for the times when he receved proposals from them.

His encounter with such an unexpected scene made William's thoughts cease

for a few seconds; in that time, Kyle and the female student walked off together.

They seemed to be moving to somewhere more isolated.

6th prosal in a row ,sriously man. William thought with an exasperated expression.

Well,it is none of my headache, not to mention I got a new topic to tease Kyle. William thought while gigling. After the tournament Kyle had received a lot of attention from other students specially female and had gotten one proposal after another from both senior and junior students .They had relocated behind the library tower. Kyle and the female student stopped walking once they arrived at the deserted area.

"U-Um! P... Please read this!" The female student suddenly took out a letter

and awkwardly offered it to Kyle.

"...Sure, I can do that. What's in it?"

"Y-You were really cool in your match yesterday!" At Kyle's inquiry to the

contents of the letter, the female student blushed and blurted out her words in a rush.