/
Knights of other orders finished their duels and now only the finals were left.
Seira had already proven her skills sufficiently, but it would be good to wipe out all the opponents.
‘I don’t want to hear that I chose you because of your face
 
 So make sure not to give them any face.’
In a world where people found fault at the tiniest thing, there would be no way they could pretend they didn’t know her skills if she showed no gaps. Even so, there would probably still be that one person who would be resentful and pretend not to see Seira’s skills.
While Medea was thinking, Seira ended the match so easily that it was funny  to think of it as a part of the finals. Now only sixteen knights remained.
“Wow! Sir Hestia has won, Empress!”
“Yes, yes.”
The baby in her womb had yet to be felt, but Medea smiled at her stomach and nodded her head. Seira also greeted at Medea with a bright countenance.
“Sir Hestia’s skills must be better than he looks.”
Everyone, except for the escorting knights, froze at the frosty voice. The guards seemed to have noticed his arrival long before, but did not announce his arrival as if they had been warned not to.
“Your Majesty!”
Starting with someone’s cry, everyone bowed. Everyone except Medea.
Medea turned her back to look at Lyle and blinked her eyes in surprise.
“Why didn’t you announce your arrival?”
“Because the Empress was having fun watching.”
There was a hint of dissatisfaction and disapproval in his rough voice.
‘I’m sorry, but I didn’t watch Seira’s game properly. I was thinking of something else.’
Lyle approached, bowing his head and kissing Medea’s forehead.
“When she heard the news that the Empress had gone to the gymnasion, I took a break. If I had known that you were so interested, I would have raised my sword in front of the empress earlier.”
Lyle with a sword. She was sure he would look cool, and would have eagerly looked forward to it when he was someone else’s man. Now it turned her stomach thinking that the father of her child would jump into harms way.
“No, I’m not
 
 . The Emperor should not do anything dangerous.”
she spoke firmly and Lyle’s expression hardened. He didn’t seem to like Medea’s answer.
‘What?’
Medea did not understand Lyle’s reaction. Did he want her to cheer and fawn over him like her maids?
Even when Seira was victorious, Medea did not cheer. She smiled, but she didn’t seem to be that happy.
“Hmm
 
 . Does the Empress doubt my abilities?”
“Don’t get upset. I’m saying this because I’m afraid that his Majesty’s might get wounded.”
“I won’t get wounded.”
He came closer and whispered into Medea’s ear,
“The only wounds I have is from you scratching my back.”
At the words that reminded her of last night’s love affair, she glanced at Lyle. He kissed her again on the cheek, then untied his cloak and gave it to Sid and went down to the gym.
“Sir Hestia, can you be my opponent?”
Except for the fact that he was the emperor, there were few who could be Lyle’s opponents. It was possible only for knights at the highest level, so when Lyle pointed to Seira, the atmosphere froze.
An undeserved opponent. As if he thought it was a good opportunity, he looked at the emperor with a calm light in his green eyes.
“It is an honor, Your Majesty.”
When Lyle pointed out Seira, it was Medea who was perplexed.
‘Why did you choose Seira?’
Even though she knew neither the situation nor the atmosphere was anything close to romantic, she was very nervous as to whether a flag she was unaware of was now linking Lyle and Seira.
Lyle’s complexion also hardened when he glanced at Medea’s expression.
‘You mean that you care about him that much?’
Despite Lyle’s gaze, Seira was so excited that her body trembled thinly. He was the continent’s best swordsman, the opportunity to spar with him was not common.
Even though Seira and Lyle held up fake swords, the tension in their eyes as they looked at each other was palpable.
‘It seems like I’m nervous for nothing, but
 
 .’
“It would be better to give up the thought of performing it in moderation just because I am the emperor. I will judge whether you are competent to be an escort knight next to the empress, so do your best.”
As Lyle spoke in a soft voice, Seira said with a tense expression on her face.
“I will do as you command.”
uh
 
 ?
There were sparks of flames burning in the eyes of the both of them, but it wasn’t that kind of spark. Even the knights who were watching swallowed their breath.
‘Are you going to kill her?’
It’s true that she didn’t want Lyle to show interest in Seira, but she didn’t want him to attack her like that.
Medea grew pale and watched the two of them fight.
Words of admiration and gasps flowed from the knights’ mouths, and the floor of the gymnasium could be seen being cut and cut here and there from the sword.
“Insane
 
 .”
She couldn’t even see anything because they were moving too fast. Seira was holding up well against him, but she wouldn’t be his truely his opponent because she wasn’t even halfway through the story.
As Lyle’s blade flew into Seira’s arm, Medea almost screamed. The temporary sword was removed, but
 
 .
“Oh!”