The man wearing a crown on his head and red silk clothes richly embroidered with gold threads and pearls raised his arms.
Xander stands up and says with a smile "Congratulations, Your Majesty! You have finally won the war!"
The king, Eamon, scoffed and slumped on his right hand as he replied with a smile of his own, "You talk big Xander. But thank you. It couldn't have been possible without you."
The king, Eamon Brightshield, belongs to the royal family of Brightshield who have been ruling over Landorius since the day it was born. Legends say that an ancestor of the Brightshield family was a legendary hero who saved humanity and created the kingdom of Landorius.
Eamon sat up straight. "Well then. What would you like as a reward Sir Xander?"
"For now I just wish to go back to my family and take a long rest."
"Come on now! That's not a proper wish! That kind of thing can be given without the pretext of a wish."
"I really do not have any wishes right now Your majesty." Xander replied without much thought as his head was already occupied with thoughts of the curse and the church.
"All right then. But if you ever have some wish you need to fulfill then do not hesitate to ask of me."
"Thank you, Your majesty." Xander replied with a nod.
"Now please tell us everything about your last battle."
Hearing this command from the king, Xander started to describe the last battle at Knightrun. Expecting that someone would question why he didn't return a few days earlier, he added the parts of him fainting and waking up 2 days later. Of course he didn't mention anything about the curse and simply explained it away as happening due to the blood loss caused by his wounds and his overall exhaustion from the war.
Hearing the description of the last battle from Xander, the people present started to talk with smiles on their faces as they discussed.
"You have done well ! You many go now and enjoy your well earned rest with your family." Eamon raised his hand and signaled for Xander to bid farewell to the court.
Xander did a slight bow and turned to leave the court. Great! Now that that's done, I'm gonna meet mom and then head to the church as quickly as I can.
Just as he was about to leave, he heard a voice coming from his side.
"Hold on everyone! I think there is one thing we haven't discussed yet that we need to."
Sighs...There goes my plans. Xander turns his head to look at the familiar fox like face of Harry Coburns, the eldest son of the Coburns family. He is wearing a regal outfit, fitting for a noble.
Edamon looked confused before opening his mouth "Harry, what are you talking about?"
"Have you forgotten that he is from the famous Cursknight family? Doesn't him being unbelievably capable and then all of a sudden feeling weak and falling over doesn't ring any bells?" Harry replied with a smirk on his face.
"You... are you implying that..."
"Yes! It is precisely as you think! I believe that he is trying to hide that the Cursknight curse has afflicted him!" Harry declares as he opens up his arms and points towards Xander.
Xander looked at him, having difficulty in hiding his annoyed expression. "That is none of your concern. Even if that was the case, there is no proof that I have the curse."
Harry had a smirk on his face. "I believe there is a very easy way to determine that."
People are looking on at the young man with fox like face, awaiting for his answer.
"I challenge Xander Cursknight to a duel! If he hasn't been afflicted with the curse then surely he should be able to win against me. But if I win then it will be confirmed that he has the curse."
The nobles gasped and the court fell silent.
"How dare you?! How..." before the king could continue the mature and beautiful queen raised her hand and stopped him.
"I believe you should allow this duel honey." The queen said to her husband calmly.
Xander expected this situation. The queen's name before she got married to the Brightshield family was Isolde Coburns.
Yes, I had expected this situation the moment I saw that arrogant bastard's face. Since the queen is originally from the Coburns family so she will do anything to make sure the honor of her family isn't lost in any way. On top of that the king is a gentle man when it comes to his family. He wouldn't go against his wife unless it is something very very important.
Just as Xander had predicted, after some back and forth the king decided to allow the duel. It was decided that after an hour,the two young nobles would meet at the arena.
....
An hour or so later, the two young men stood at opposite ends of the arena, the seats half filled with people. The royal family was also observing the arena from their royal chairs at the topmost level of the arena.
"sigh... Why are we even doing this?" asked Xander as he analyzed his opponent before the duel's start.
"When you are from a royal family, you have to learn how to be good at politics from a young age. And a lot of politics involve taking every opportunity to make yourself look good while taking advantage of others" Harry replied casually.
Xander sighed again. He didn't completely understand politics but he knew to not completely hate his opponent. He was raised in a completely different environment than him and is doing what he deems as being important.
The makeshift referee, who is actually one of Xander's men, raises one of his hands towards the sky. Both fighters take stances, readying themselves for combat. The referee brings his hand down in a chop like motion and screams "BEGIN".
As soon as the words come out of the referee's mouth, Harry runs towards Xander. After reaching closer to Xander, he slashes upwards. Xander takes a step back and towards the side and dodges the attack.
"Too slow" Xander mutters as he prepares to kick Harry's head with a roundhouse kick.
Harry brings his arm up to his head and blocks the kick. He takes a step back, a cocky smile on his face. He is pretending as if that kick didn't hurt.
As Xander gets back to his initial stance, he can feel it. He can feel himself getting suddenly weaker and even his vision is starting to get blurry.
I need to finish this quick. I need to get away from all this and to the church as quickly as possible. Xander readies himself, tightening his grip on his sword.
Seeing the slight hesitation in Xander, Harry sprints towards Xander and starts attacking him with a blurry of attacks.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Harry's wild sword attacks aren't doing much. Xander blocks and parries every one of his attack. He sees a blind spot, a part of him that isn't being covered by his attacks.
Xander immediately thrust his sword towards the opening. His sword now just inches from Harry's throat.
"Surrender... You lost." The blonde knight says in a assertive voice. Harry grits his teeth.
Xander kicks his knee causing him to lose his balance and slightly fall downwards. Xander hits the noble's head with the back of his sword.
Harry falls down, unconscious and face down on the ground. Loud gasps from the audience as every one processes what had just happened. Xander stretches his sword to the sky. The refree shouts, "Harry has been knocked unconscious. Xander is the winner." Sounds of cheering can be heard from the common people, all cheering.
"I mean the result was obvious from the beginning. There was no way a normal noble would be able to fight against a legendary knight." A commoner says to his friend.
The nobles are a bit more disappointed though. Of course this was an outcome they were expecting but they were expecting something more thrilling. The king claps his hands before leaving with the queen, who has a cold expression on her face as she stares at the knight.
As the people start leaving, Xander plunges his sword on the ground and starts moving towards the exit. He needs to go the church and find out about his condition before it gets any worse.