"Take this!"
I watched as the duel began between the two boys, and they were quite good considering their age.
The first to make a move was a blond boy. The blond tensed his calf muscles and shot toward the boy with brown hair. Reaching the brown boy, he slashed diagonally, which was blocked by the brown boy.
They struggled for a moment, but then the blond was pushed back, and a downward slash came, which he tried to block, but it was a feint as the sword's trajectory changed and hit the blond at the ribs, quickly followed by a barrage of attacks in quick succession that the blond struggled to block, giving him no chance to recover from the previous blow.
As the slashes slowed down, the blond found an opportunity to quickly back away and recover, but as he was about to catch his breath, a sword was thrown toward his face, and as he blocked it, a kick hit him in the stomach, making him unable to move anymore.
And the audience watched the exchange of blows between the blond and the brown with an amazed expression.
"The winner is Jacob Winterfall!"
After the referee announced the winner, both of them were taken to be healed and recover. Soon after, two more boys came. One with black hair, the other with white hair.
The white didn't choose any weapon, as he said he was more comfortable fighting with his fist. While the Black chose a spear.
After the first duel, the second didn't seem that amazing, and I quickly lost interest in them, so I went back with Alina to our quiet corner to eat more.
"Alina, what did you think of the first duel?"
"I guess it was okay, master. But they can't compare to you, master."
"Really? I thought they were quite good considering their age and all."
"The winner is Marcus Olympus!"
"Oh… the black hair won."
"It seems so, master."
"I guess those who won will compete again until there remains only one victor."
"Yes, master. I think so too."
"Anyways, try this, Alina; it is quite amazing."
***
Julie was born beautiful. Everybody praised her and loved her. She had a loving family, talents, and anything one could desire.
But tonight, she was quite annoyed, as a bunch of random noble kids came to her trying to impress and maybe even hoping to gain her interest. But she was not annoyed because they came to her; no, she even loved to make some friends.
She was annoyed because they saw her as a stepping stone to gain the favor of her elder sister.
"Miss Julie, try this cake."
"Miss Julie, you look quite beautiful."
"Miss Julie, what kind of perfume do you use?"
She was really annoyed and even tried to reject their advances, but all was in vain as they didn't take her hints that she was feeling uncomfortable. Amidst the flattery of the noble kids, her gaze wandered the surroundings in hopes of finding something.
And her eyes landed on a boy eating alone in a quiet corner with his partner. The boy had worn a brown suit accented with a white shirt and a dark green tie. He had handsome features, and with a black piercing on his left ear, he looked quite the charmer.
And his partner had worn a black knee-length dress adorned with a floral design that gave her a captivating look and added to her black hair and eyes and milky white skin. With a white dove necklace, she looked like a night goddess.
They were eating by themselves and enjoyed their time in peace, unlike her, who was constantly getting comments on everything she did.
But then she thought to herself. 'Are they not interested in me or my sister?'
She got curious about them, but she got more curious about the boy with the black piercing. And the way they interacted, she figured that 'the girl must be his servant.'
Before she could think more, the lights went off, and she was focused on her father, who gave a speech. After his speech, her sister came to talk to the guests with her father.
After which came the dancing part, where she got a flock of boys coming to her to dance with her, but she rejected them all. Yet, the ridiculous thing is they didn't listen and suggested a duel where the winner gets to dance with her.
The situation got more ridiculous when her father agreed to the duel, saying, 'It might be a good show to see the new generation's prowess.'
And here she was now watching the duel, with the prize being her.
"You must be quite flattered, Julie."
"Come on, sister, I am already annoyed here, and you are making it worse by your teasing."
"I am sorry, but it is what it is."
"And that's why it is annoying."
She watched the duel, but her gaze unknowingly lingered on the boy with the black piercing. The boy seemed quite interested at first but then lost interest quite quickly, which made her curiosity about him grow more. 'Is he perhaps stronger than them?'
She watched as he went back to eating with his servant and talking casually with her. His face looked quite indifferent, but if one looked more closely, one would see the occasional changes in his expression.
"What are you looking at, Julie? Did someone catch your interest?"
"It is nothing; I was just thinking about something."
"Oh, really?"
"Look, there, sis, the final match is starting."
Julie then changed the subject to dodge her sister's inquiry. She looked toward the duel as the two finalists came. 'I guess the final match will be between Jacob Winterfall and Peter Ozeberg.'
The two boys came face to face, their hands gripping the wooden swords tightly and with a serious expression etched over their faces as if to convey, 'I will be the one to dance with her.' Waited for the referee to commence the duel between them.
"Start!"
As the referee's voice reached their ears, they both launched at each other, their swords getting stuck in a deadlock for a few moments, but then, with a 'bang,' both were thrown back. It took less than a second to recover their footing and launch at each other once more.
But this time, Jacob was faster, attacking with a diagonal slash that was deflected and counterattacked with multiple thrusts, forcing Jacob to take a step back. After the thrusts were finished, Jacob immediately attacked again.
The clash between the two continued. Their hits were blocked, parried, and sometimes even hit their mark; both were in terrible shape. Their grips over the hilt of swords loosened, their breaths were haggard, and sweat drenched them both.
"Huff…"
"Huff…"
Looking at each other, they knew they were both at their last leg yet both refusing to go down, and so, they threw themselves at each other for the final attack.
They tensed their muscles despite the burning sensation in them that wanted to just relax and tightened their grip over the hilt so hard that it turned white.
Boom!
They ran at each other at their full speed, cracking the floor beneath and…
Bang!
Their swords met each other once more, and the clashes began. Jacob threw an upward cut that was deflected by Peter's diagonal slash, which was quickly followed by a thrust and horizontal cuts.
Bang! Clash!
Pieces of wood were thrown each time their swords met, but then…
Crack!
As if both the wooden swords had agreed upon an agreement, they broke simultaneously. Seeing their weapons break, both swordsmen halted and looked at each other's bodies, which were covered in injuries and black marks.
Then…
Thud!
They both fell, unmoving.
Their bodies were so exhausted that they were able to move only because of the adrenaline rush. But now that it had stopped, they lay on the ground drenched in sweat.
Seeing the condition of the two, all eyes fell on the referee for the judgment. The referee who noticed the gaze gulped a mouthful of saliva and then gave his verdict.
"Both the fighters lost due to not being able to defeat each other!"
Collective sighs came out of the crowds.
"It is a pity."
"Yeah, I wanted to see who she would get to dance with."
Julie, who heard the results, was happy. Instead of listening to the words of the crowd, her gaze landed on a certain person. 'If there is someone who can dance with me, then it is definitely him.'
She moved toward him with that thought, not noticing the gazes of the crowd.
***
Now back to the present.
I was drinking a grape juice while talking to Alina when suddenly a girl approached me.
"Would you like to dance with me?"
HUH?
What?
1+1 equals 5.
I was quickly thrown out of my daze by the gazes of the guests who came to tonight's banquet.
They had an amused expression as if they had just watched a drama with the greatest plot twist.
I quickly ran thousands of thoughts to find the best possible answer to politely decline, and an idea actually came to mind.
"I—
Bang!