Raising the Princess to Overcome Death

Chapter 363: Lena - Tournament

361: Lena - Tournament

"Argh! Which bastard... Hey?"

A coin hit my forehead and fell to the ground. A gold coin, no less. Wow. It's the first time I've seen one since I was a kid.

Stunned, I looked up, only to see someone dismissively waving their hand at me.

"A country bumpkin dares to walk down the main road? Move aside, now."

It was a carriage adorned with an elaborate crystal design. No, judging by the sparkle, it looked like they had embedded actual crystals to create the pattern.

Did I do something wrong?

Realizing that the other party was a noble, I instinctively apologized.

"I'm sorry..."

I stepped aside from the road, but then I wondered why I even needed to apologize.No, the road was empty, so I walked through it. I wasn’t blocking anything, and even if I were, why were they being so rude?

The noble’s carriage stopped by the roadside, as if to meddle unnecessarily, throwing the gold coin at me as if to say, "Take this and get lost."

How disrespectful.

I dashed to the street, picked up the coin, and felt its heavy weight in my hand. For a moment, I wavered, but I threw it back through the carriage window.

Gasps echoed from the bystanders.

...Did I just make a mistake?

No way. What’s the worst that could happen?

Though a bit nervous, I approached the carriage, expecting a middle-aged nobleman to poke his head out.

But instead—

"Hey! Was it you who just threw the coin? Huh?"

"Ow, ow, ow... Which wretched fool dares...?"

Rubbing his eye, a young man with a youthful face leaned out of the window.

He wasn’t much younger, maybe a little older than me, but he had the look of someone who had never lifted a finger to work. I felt a bit let down.

"So, you’re that stupid country girl! You insolent wench! Do you know your crime?"

"What? Hey, you threw it first!"

"Hey? Hey?! You?! Do you even know who I am? Guard Captain! Ah, right, he’s out buying clothes. Guards! Seize this wench and make her kneel!"

"What? Hey! What’s going on?"

As the soldiers approached, I reached for my sword. Then, from behind me—

"Miss, no! Stop!"

"Just apologize! Quickly!"

The cries of the bystanders left me bewildered.

‘Do nobles really get to act like this? But what did I even do wrong?’

I hadn’t done anything wrong. All I did was protest against having a gold coin thrown at me. I drew my sword.

"Back off! If this is how you’re going to act, I won’t stand idly by!"

"That wench dares—!"

"Oh dear..."

I shouted with determined resolve, but the bystanders only sighed. How discouraging. One of the soldiers lowered his voice and spoke to me.

"Miss, I don’t know where you’re from, but you can’t act like this in front of a noble. Don’t escalate things; just apologize."

"...Why should I?"

A knight should never bow to injustice—I learned that from Uncle Noel.

Of course, I wasn’t a knight yet, but I would be soon, and I certainly didn’t want to kneel to such an insolent noble brat.

But the atmosphere grew colder.

The onlookers seemed convinced that I was in the wrong and needed to seek forgiveness.

Feeling confused, I turned to look for Ray. But...

‘Where did he go?’

Ray was nowhere to be seen. What should I do?

"You insolent...! What are you all doing? Seize the lowly wench who dares to draw a sword before a noble!"

"Wait!"

Just as I was debating whether to fight or back down, a middle-aged man burst out from behind the carriage, coming from a clothing shop. Ray was with him, and from his demeanor, it was clear—

"Young master! What trouble have you caused this time?"

"Guard Captain! No, you see, that wench—"

"How many times have I told you not to throw coins at passersby! This won’t do. I’ll have to report this to the Count. Driver! Take Young Master Yuan back to the estate immediately! Ray, I’m sorry. Head home first."

It was undoubtedly Ray’s uncle.

The man who ran a mercenary group in the capital.

The carriage left, carrying away the protesting noble brat, and I breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I’m fine. But Ray, where did you go? You disappeared and scared me."

"I saw my uncle."

"So, that really was your uncle. Phew, I guess I was lucky—no, actually, unlucky! What kind of brat was that? And why did it have to be me who ran into him?"

I couldn’t tell if I’d been fortunate or unfortunate. Still, it was over without major trouble, and the incident would only remain as a minor mishap in my life.

Grumbling, I followed Ray. That evening, I received an indirect apology.

It came from Ray’s uncle, Elson.

"My apologies. That young master has grown quite insolent. The Pamphili Count and Countess are busy managing their crystal mines and neglect him. Recently, they asked me to take care of him. I’m deeply sorry for what happened."

"It’s fine. It wasn’t a big deal. So, are you acting as a tutor or something?"

"Not exactly. They needed someone to follow him around and fix his attitude. The Pamphili family is wealthy, and getting close to them is advantageous. So I took the role of guard captain and, well, disciplinarian. Haha. It’s actually been quite entertaining, like having a troublemaking son."

"Hmm~ I see."

"Believe it or not, he’s much better now. When I first met him, he was impossible. He once tried to slap someone just for looking at him. I slapped him back."

"What? Is that okay?"

"Why not? I had permission from his parents. They were shocked at first, but haha! Who am I? Back in my knightley days, I once threw my tyrannical superior’s armor into a dung pit and quit the order!"

"I... see..."

This guy was something else.

I looked at Uncle Elson and thought to myself: I should make sure not to become an adult like him.

I also thought that I should’ve just held back earlier.

That being said, he was still an amusing person.

His stories (albeit long-winded) were entertaining, and he enthusiastically regaled us with tales about that noble brat, Yuan.

I heard he never got married, but it seemed he was living a rather enjoyable life in his own way.

Ray and I snacked on dried radimu pieces with some drinks, and that’s how our first evening in the capital came to a close.

A Few Weeks Later

Ray and I ventured out from the estate for the first time in a while.

We wanted to enjoy the ripening festival atmosphere and also submit our applications for the Maunin-Reti Tournament. As we walked, I noticed something remarkable hanging along the estate wall.

Excitedly, I turned to Ray, convinced it was a gift for us after all our dedicated training.

“Wow! Ray, do you like Northblue? If you do, we should pick some later!”

“Northblue? I do, but... pick some? What are you talking about?”

“Huh? Look over there. There’s so much Northblue growing! Didn’t you notice?”

The estate wall was covered in vines, befitting a manor belonging to a distinguished knightly family.

Apparently, during the weeks we stayed cooped up, the Northblue vines (a type of berry) had produced a bounty of fruit.

Ray, upon noticing the ripe berries, stammered in surprise.

“Oh? Ah, ahaha! You mean that. I thought—never mind.”

“Why? Is it not okay to pick them?”

“Well... uh... probably okay, but, um, we should ask my uncle first.”

“?”

I wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t seem like a big deal, so I simply agreed.

We finished our tournament applications early that morning.

“What now? Barnaul’s so vast, I can’t make heads or tails of anything.”

“Follow me. There should be a marketplace that way.”

Ray was right, of course. When we followed his lead, we found ourselves at a bustling crossroads filled with stalls. I tapped Ray on the shoulder.

“As expected! Our Ray knows everything. So, where should we start? Shell game? I’m pretty good at those.”

“Those are perfect for getting scammed. Let’s start with the stall next door.”

After wandering through the marketplace and having some fun, we found ourselves seated in a tavern.

I slumped into my seat, exhausted by the overwhelming number of people.

It wasn’t too bad at first, but by lunchtime, the crowds grew unbearable. So this is the capital, huh? I’m never coming out here again.

Face down on the table, I groaned.

“Ray, I get now why you suggested going out early. Ugh, it’s exhausting.”

“Haha, you haven’t seen anything yet. If you were out here on the day the King gives his speech, then you’d truly understand what a crowd is.”

“The King’s speech? Hmm~ I’d like to see it, but forget it. It’d be better for my sanity to meet him by winning the tournament instead.”

“Winning, huh... haha.”

“What? You don’t think I can do it? If you underestimate me, you’re going to regret it.”

I declared this confidently (while still slumped over).

After all, either Ray or I was bound to win. The real question was whether I could beat him.

If I won, if I could beat him...

“...Rera, your expression is weird.”

Oh no.

I must have been failing at controlling my expression. But I couldn’t help it—my grin kept breaking through.

Soon, Ray and I would both become knights.

Side by side. We’d become knights together, and on the day of our knighting ceremony, we’d also hold our wedding. Of course, we hadn’t discussed the specifics of when or how the wedding would happen yet, but Ray would surely agree to my wish.

Ideally, I’d win before we got married. Let’s do this!

“Hahaha! Cheers to that! To victory!”

The beer we’d ordered arrived just in time.

I jumped up and raised my mug for a toast—but in my excitement—

SPLASH!

“Ah! Oh no, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

I’d spilled beer on a young man sitting nearby. Not too much, but more than just a little.

Oh dear, what now?

As I checked on the beer-soaked youth, I noticed he was... laughing. Out loud. Cheerfully.

“Uh... are you okay?”

“Pfft, hahahaha! Ahem, I’m fine. I tried to dodge, but... haha, no luck.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it. If you feel bad, just order me a snack or something.”

What a weirdo.

Still, he didn’t seem like a bad person. He had a friendly, likable face... but whatever.

“Okay, fine. I’ll get you something. Chicken? I’ll get something simple. Be right back.”

I went to the tavern owner to ask about the menu, picked something universally appealing, and placed the order (ugh, my money). As I turned back, I noticed Ray smiling.

Ray didn’t smile often.

He reserved his smiles for me, which I always appreciated. But now? What was this about? I quickly returned to the table.

“What’s up? Were you chatting?”

“Yeah. Turns out, this guy’s joining the tournament too.”

“Oh, really? You don’t look—uh, I mean, did you already register?”

“Not yet. I just got here. I’ll head over after eating what you ordered.”

“Ah~ Got it. I ordered braised chicken, with sauce.”

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

“Sure. Sorry again.”

I didn’t have much else to say.

The guy wasn’t very talkative either, only thanking me politely before withdrawing his interest. I glanced at Ray, but he just met my gaze with a “what’s up?” look.

What was this about?

It felt odd, but I didn’t press the issue. Soon after, something hilariously coincidental happened.

When the Maunin-Reti Tournament began, I was seeded in B-2 and made it through the preliminaries.

“Hahaha! You two ended up meeting? What a crazy coincidence!”

Ray was seeded in C-2 and advanced to the round of 16. And that young man from the tavern? He was seeded in C-1.

I laughed it off with great amusement.

“Congrats! Not to jump to conclusions, but that guy doesn’t seem all that strong. Looks like you’ll have an easy time making it to the quarterfinals!”

But Ray wore a completely defeated expression, as if something entirely unexpected had happened.