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Lucia was the model of Belladonna that was praised as a masterpiece of the times. Even Raphael, the painter who painted Belladonna, trusts and relies entirely on her. Not only that, but he was guessing that L, the madman who was aiming a sword at the Great House, was her. Even that was exactly what Ren liked.

"That's how she stole our Highness's heart."

No one else can deceive himself. When Sian, who was united with a sense of mission and duty, stood in front of Lucia, it was visible that he was shaken. To settle in so many people, intentionally or unintentionally, with so many fake identities. She was a sensual woman who's fatal.

"Oh, my mistake. It wasn't just His Highness's heart that was stolen?"

Ren grinned.

***

"Wooow!"

Cheers resounded through the stadium. Sian won after a fierce battle for a spot in the final. The opponent defeated by Sian seemed to be Neo. Throughout the Faculty of Swordsmanship, Sian never beat him. Even in the lower ranks, he was as good as the bottom. Since he had lost to that Sian, he could not get over the shock.

"Sir, how does it look to you?"

Elena kept her eyes focused throughout the match. His opponent, who had also reached the semi-finals of the swordsmanship tournament, was an outstanding swordsman. Sian had to go through a lot of hurdles before he was able to win the match, as the tip of his sword reached his opponent's heart first by a single cheek.

'I think it's a one-way race, but…'

To be honest, the wooden sword hitting in the air was too fast to be chased by eyes. However, she tried her best not to miss the sword, and she managed to see the moment when the game took off. No matter who won, it was a fierce match.

"I think His Highness won by a hair's breadth. Is that right?"

When Elena asked again, Hurelbard took a break and opened his mouth.

"I remember you asked me earlier. If I was confident of winning against Sir Ren."

"I did."

"I'll change the question and give you an answer on the assumption that I'm now facing the Crown Prince."

'You don't have to…'

Elena was calm. Hurelbard was not just a common knight, but a genius who had been hailed as a Sword of the Empire. The fact that Sian had gone to the finals of the sword competition was certainly an amazing feat and deserved applause, but it couldn't erase the impression that he had desperately won. In contrast, Ren, who was on the same level as Hurelbard, overwhelmingly outplayed his opponent and advanced to the final. The temperature difference was huge.

"40%*. Maybe it's underneath."

"So, you mean that the odds of His Highness winning against Sir are that low?"

"No, I'm saying that the probability that I will beat His Highness is 40%, maybe below that."

Elena couldn't believe her ears. Even in the original history, Sian had always been in the lower ranks of the faculty, and even in the swordsmanship competition, it had failed to make headway. Hurelbard's evaluation was enough to shatter Elena's thoughts.

"That can't be true. I can't believe Sir is behind."

"… The Princess is very strange. It's easy to recognize the winning rate with Sir Ren, but you don't want to admit it with His Highness."

Elena felt sick when Hurelbard hit the nail on the head. It could also be seen as an evil of blind faith in memories of the past. Sian may become stronger due to some kind of opportunity, but she couldn't get rid of the tendency to look at it through colored glasses.

"You're right. But, isn't it true that His Highness's skills look lagging behind Ren, who overwhelmingly defeated his opponent?"

"Because His Highness is matching the level of his opponent."

"How can you guess that. What do you mean?"

Hurelbard opened his mouth carefully.

"I think His Highness is hiding his skills."

"No way."

"His Highness is stronger than me and Ren."

"…!"

Elena realized in a flash that she had missed something. In the original history, Sian attempted to revive the imperial family that had lost its authority. However, the more outstanding the qualities of Sian, the more he had to face the intensive scrutiny of the four major families, including the Grand Duke.

'His Highness was crouching. Waiting for a chance to fight back.'

It was frightening to think that the Sian she knew was a shell. For whatever reason, Sian had made a different decision than he had in the past. Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to reveal his hidden sword art to the whole world. Elena stared at Sian as he left the arena to applause.

'I still don't know anything about you.'

She couldn't take her eyes off Sian who left the stadium for a long time.

***

Of the three major festivals of the academy, the Sword Fighting Festival was by far the most popular, as it was a fierce competition of swordsmanship and naturally had a lot to offer. The final match of the festival was also open to the public, so many people from outside came to watch. In addition, expectations were high because this year's final match was to be between Crown Prince Sian, the heir to the throne of the Empire, and Ren, the heir to the Bastasche family, the leader of the new aristocracy.

In particular, Sian's appearance in the finals was a big hit with the extravagant crowd. Sian, who had been hovering at the bottom of the school throughout the school, was applauded, saying that he should be praised for reaching the final in a fierce battle that was not like the Crown Prince.

In addition, his opponent in the finals was the "genius" Ren, who had never failed to win first place in the swordsmanship department since entering the academy. The final match between the two seemed to be a showdown between hard work and talent. The aristocrats, of course, were rooting for the unusual Ren. They were emotionally invested in the aristocrat Ren, and they wanted to enjoy the sight of the weak Crown Prince Sian in defeat and despair.

On the contrary, Sian received overwhelming support from the commoners. It was the result of listening to Elena and making an effort to get closer to the commoners first. It was learned later that Sian often participated in the discussions of the commoners while he was in the academy. At first, the atmosphere was reluctant, but the current students from the commoners were impressed by the way he tried to approach them without any sense of authority. Other than that, Sian was not bound by the status of the Crown Prince and visited stores and restaurants near the academy to try to understand their lives.

In the midst of all this, Sian, who had been in the lower group, fought a fierce duel from the preliminary round of the sword fighting competition, and breathed a flame that led them to the finals. The commoners were enthralled by the miraculous stories that were being written down. Regardless of their status as a commoner, they saw Sian change the results with effort, and they got hope that they could endure their unhappy lives.

"… "I had no idea. I didn't think that the people would be so eager for His Highness to win."

Elena, disguised not as Veronica but as Lucia, visited the stadium. Perhaps no one would have guessed it, but she wore a wide-brimmed hat with her eyes wide open and an outdoor dress that was not her uniform, trying to erase the image of the Belladonna.

Elena was surprised to see the commoners that filled the playing field. The previous academic and artistic festival had been similar, but the number of commoners was noticeably smaller than the nobility. However, the number of commoners that crowded the final match field was too many to count. Elena had participated in the historical sword fighting festival before, so she could feel the disparity firsthand.

"His Highness will win, won't he?"

"By all means, I hope so. Break the nobleman's nose."

"But it's said he was a genius? It's said he never missed first place throughout his time in school."

"Talent? Effort is the best. Take a good look. His Highness will chew him up and eat him. It's refreshing."

The common people, of course, defined Ren from the nobility as their enemy and cheered for Sian. There was also antipathy toward aristocrats, but they had become closer to Sian.

'The people are on your side, regardless of victory or defeat.'

Elena's eyes lit up. It could be said that she was overinterpreting the reaction of the commoners who had come to support him at a mere sword festival, but Elena didn't think so. Because all change starts with something trivial.

"Hey!"

Khalif spotted Elena in the distance and approached her, waving happily, behind him were Raphael and Cecilia.

"Huh? How are you with Raphael and Cecilia?"

It was only a few days ago that she introduced Khalif to Rafael. She couldn't believe that in those few days, the three of them had become close enough to watch the finals together.

"What do you mean, we're friends."

When Khalif replied triumphantly, Elena looked alternately at Raphael and Cecilia as if it were true.

"It happened somehow. He told me that if I miss the final match, I will regret it forever."

"And I was brought along, too.

Cecilia sighed in perplexity. Even though it was Raphael, Cecilia had been between Sian and the appointment of the Crown Princess. It was bound to be embarrassing, but it could only be said that Khalif, who did not know the situation before and after, forcibly brought her. Elena, who felt moral responsibility from the point of introducing Khalif, apologized instead.

"Senior is a little wide, so please understand."

"Oh? No. I'm fine."

Like the empress, Cecilia smiled brightly and waved her hands. As she always felt, she was a deep-seated woman who thinks and cares about others before her own feelings.

"Hey, I managed to get you here. Why are you trying to send me back?"

"If you don't really know, don't talk."

"What do I not know? Hey, talk to me. You have to tell me!"

When Elena ignored Khalif's words and headed for the arena with Raphael and Cecilia, Khalif ran behind them. The party was about to enter the stadium, but one knight approached.

"Excuse me, are you Lady Lucia of the archaeological department?"

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(T/N: Hurelbard could also be saying his probability of winning is 0.4%, but 40% is more likely.)