Chapter 69: Jumping Right Into the Trap

Treya stood frozen in place, her slender sword trembling in her grip. She stared at Eugenie, her lips parted as if to ask something, but no words came out.

How could this be?

Her sister…

Could her sister really be as that dark villain said…?

Could she truly be trying to harm her?

Or worse…

Had she been lying to her all along, never once speaking the truth?

“What’s wrong, Treya? This is just like your usual training. For you, a single Entark Eleventh Form should be enough to handle it all, right?”

“I…”

Treya took a hesitant step forward.

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, under her sister’s relentless praise and encouragement, and under the pressure of the engagement, it seemed like there was no way out.

And…

Having always obeyed her sister’s commands and teachings…

She felt she had no choice but to move forward.

But…

She wasn’t afraid of failing the sword technique. What hurt her more was…

Realizing that her fiancé might not have been wrong at all. Eugenie… had been deceiving her from the very beginning.

If…

If her sister wanted her to humiliate herself like this, then she…

Had no choice, did she?

In Treya’s eyes, Eugenie’s once radiant red had turned pitch black, her brilliance now smothered by darkness.

“Hold on a moment, Princess Eugenie.”

Suddenly, a familiar voice interrupted.

Treya felt someone walk past her, halting her steps. The person even had the audacity to pat her shoulder and whisper:

“I knew it. You really forgot. Honestly, jumping right into someone else’s trap?”

“Huh?”

Treya looked up, her vision blurry as if the lights around her had smeared into her eyes.

Was she… crying?

Through her hazy vision, she saw a figure in a black suit, brown hair catching the light, walking step by step toward Eugenie.

Blocking the path to her downfall.

It was…

Will?

Why was he stepping in now? Was he here to kick her while she was down?

Eugenie crossed her arms, visibly annoyed as she looked at Will.

“You again? What now? Just stand aside and watch quietly. Entark swordsmanship isn’t something a person like you can—”

“No, I just wanted to ask. For someone like you, Princess Eugenie, renowned as the ‘Red Demon Sword,’ how many dummies could you cut through with the Entark Eleventh Form in this setup?”

“…” Eugenie paused for a moment. “Twenty. But I no longer train with this technique.”

“Oh, I see…”

Will snapped his fingers.

“Ten dummies are too easy. Let’s make it thirty.”

“What…” Eugenie’s eyes narrowed at Will’s audacious suggestion, her tone dripping with disbelief. “Do you even understand how difficult thirty is? Even twenty is a challenge for someone at my level—”

“So what? If you can’t push your limits, how can I accept Treya as my fiancée?”

“You—!”

Eugenie’s words caught in her throat as she forced herself to calm down.

Hmph, there was no way Will was helping Treya. He was clearly trying to make her humiliation even worse.

Based on what she knew about Will, he was probably furious and wanted to escalate the situation. After all, a failure with thirty dummies, leaving a dozen untouched, would be far more humiliating than failing with just ten.

“Fine. Thirty it is.”

“But on one condition: I get to arrange the remaining dummies.”

“What…”

“Sigh. You two are on the same side, and you clearly know more about swordsmanship than I do. What if you deliberately arranged the dummies to make it easier for your sister?”

“Oh, fine. Go ahead.”

Arranging thirty dummies wasn’t particularly difficult, especially with some servants helping. Will personally moved a few of them, insisting on adjusting each dummy’s position himself.

The space occupied by thirty dummies was significantly larger than before. With varying heights and positions, the setup looked far more imposing. Under the courtyard lights, the dummies cast stark, pale shadows, resembling the eerie undead armies often found in dungeons.

“Treya, it’s your turn.”

Will stood before her, flashing her a smile.

“I… I can’t do it.”

Treya stared at the silver sword clutched tightly in her hands.

This was the first time she had ever hesitated, perhaps the first real setback in her otherwise smooth life as a princess.

And…

She glanced at Eugenie, who stood with her arms crossed. Her sister seemed oblivious to her despair.

Her first betrayal by someone so close to her.

What was she supposed to do…

She felt like she couldn’t trust anyone. It seemed like everyone was waiting to stab her in the back. Everyone…

Her trembling hands gripping the sword were suddenly steadied.

“Ugh, I guess I’m helping you. But listen carefully…”

Will tightened her grip on the sword, his hands firm over hers.

“The only person you can trust is yourself.”

“Don’t trust your sister, and you don’t have to trust me either.”

“The Entark royal family is shrouded in darkness. The only way to defeat them is to cloak yourself in an even deeper darkness.”

“You just need to believe in yourself, Treya. That’s your unshakable purity. Only then can you climb the long steps to the throne on your own.”

Treya didn’t fully understand Will’s words.

But…

She stepped forward.

Believe… in herself?

Standing before the thirty dummies, she felt lost.

This was a challenge she had never faced before.

But…

“Huff…”

With a deep breath, her chest rising and falling…

She raised her sword.

And closed her eyes.

“Entark Eleventh Form: Slash.”

The wind from her blade stirred the dust on the ground.

This was a strike executed purely on instinct, without any thought.

As the clean, sharp sound of metal echoed in her ears…

She stood on the other side of the dummy formation.

With a fluid motion, she rose, sheathed her sword, and turned.

Behind her…

Twenty-eight dummies.

Under her full-force strike, they shattered almost simultaneously, falling to the ground in pieces with identical cracks.

Only two dummies remained standing.

The onlookers, who had been eagerly awaiting her performance, fell silent. Perhaps it was her sheer intensity that left them holding their breath.

Eugenie was dumbfounded.

Impossible!

How could this be?!

Even her most refined, flawless swordsmanship, recognized by “that person,” couldn’t cut through twenty dummies with the Entark Eleventh Form in a single strike. How could Treya, who had only been taught flawed techniques, possibly achieve this?

This had to be a joke!

Especially since two of the dummies had been deliberately placed in positions designed to ensure failure…

Wait… deliberately placed… and during that process, wasn’t there someone else who had also “deliberately adjusted” them?

Eugenie’s eyes widened as she turned to look at Will.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

In the stunned silence, Will, as if he had expected this outcome all along, was the first to start clapping.

His gaze, unflinching, met Eugenie’s.

It was a gaze that felt as though he had been watching her every move from the shadows all along.