Chapter 66: Icy Reminiscence (Part 1)
Frigid air dances. Thin ice forms.
Noel and the helmeted girl. The space where the two fought was covered by a thin white membrane-like layer of scattered ice.
“Freeze and disappear—-[Flower Blizzard]!”
An enormous ice flower spews from the blade. This wide-ranging attack failed to catch the helmeted girl. The attack didn’t hit—-no, it was as if it had been fired in a completely random direction.
“Tricks…!”
A white breath escapes, carried away by the cold wind.
Noel was getting out of breath. Even with his excellent magical power, he was certainly wearing down from the continuous use of powerful techniques. Ignoring the gradually accumulating fatigue, he continues to swing his blade at the helmeted girl.
“…………”
“Damn…!”
It doesn’t reach. No matter how many times he swings his blade, it’s of no consequence. Like an empty phantom, an insubstantial mist, he can’t get a solid hit.
“…………”
Magma boils in the pit of his stomach. While Noel swings his sword with that erupting feeling, the helmeted girl remains chillingly calm. While continuing to dodge Noel’s attacks, she strikes back at his openings with terrifying accuracy, without mercy or compassion.
“So what…!”
Prepared for some injuries, he forcefully thrusts his sword. But once again, the helmeted girl disappears like mist. The blade cuts through the air. The feeling of a swing and a miss. He began to feel like a puppet being manipulated.
“…………”
“Tch…!”
In the blink of an eye, the helmeted girl appears again. Her slash is sharp. The timing to deflect it had long passed, and Noel had no choice but to use his sword defensively.
“—-!?”
A sudden sensation. Following his innate talent-driven intuition, he twists his body. The next moment, the helmeted girl’s strike slips past his sword’s defense and grazes Noel’s shoulder. Fresh blood spurts out, lightly wetting his cheek.
(Again…!)
The wound itself isn’t serious. However, Noel’s body was already marked with several injuries.
All of them shallow, with minimal bleeding. Yet, when accumulated, they become significant damage.
This routine had been repeating for a while now.
None of Noel’s attacks land, while the helmeted girl’s attacks slip through.
It’s probably due to her illusion techniques, but Noel had lost the composure to unravel this mechanism.
“Hah, hah…! D-damn it…!”
“…………”
The helmeted girl raises her sword. A storm of thin ice dances, magical power rages throughout the area—-.
“…………!?”
The next moment, countless blades appeared in the air, surrounding Noel.
Each and every tip, all of them are aimed at Noel alone.
“Tch! [Flower Blizzard]!”
A hastily unleashed wide-range attack. Ice flowers rage, assaulting the surrounding blades, but,
(No response…!?)
The moment he experienced the sensation of a miss that had been repeated countless times, he once again entrusted himself to his instincts and twisted his body. A blade grazes his side. A sharp pain runs through him.
“Again… illusions, huh…!”
Most of those blades were illusions. Only a handful were real. However, Noel no longer had the energy or composure to discern the illusions. As if recognizing this as an opening, the helmeted girl coldly rains down blades interwoven with illusions like rain.
“Gaaaaaaaaaah!”
A merciless blizzard of blades assaults Noel, slicing his entire body.
Although he unconsciously used his sword and magic to avoid fatal wounds, the accumulated injuries and the amount of blood lost sapped the strength from his body, and finally, Noel collapsed to the ground.
“Kaha… ah…”
He can’t put strength into his hands. His legs won’t listen to him.
(Move… why… won’t you move…!)
His [Spirit Armor] has been dispelled, and his fighting power is gone.
(She’s right there… in front of me…!)
Even so.
(The one who took… my most precious…)
He can’t give up fighting.
(Liatris… the enemy who… took her away…!)
☆
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He had never been attached to anything.
From the time he became aware, a blizzard swirled in his chest.
Pure white, cold, and empty. Only a cold white darkness spread out.
He had never become passionate about anything, never been fixated on anything.
He lived days that were devoid of the heat that everyone should have in their hearts.
He never thought it was sad, nor did such an idea ever occur to him.
A heart without heat. A heart of ice.
A heart that doesn’t burn, doesn’t heat up, doesn’t ignite, a frozen heart.
That was Noel Nol Ivelpe—-the second prince of the Kingdom of Ivelpe.
The Kingdom of Ivelpe is a snow country in the north, founded by one of the warriors who once fought against the [Night Witch].
Severe cold constantly covers the entire country, and at its borders, a fierce blizzard stands like a wall. An endless eternal extreme cold. A beautiful yet sharp frozen kingdom.
Noel was born as the second prince of such a Kingdom of Ivelpe.
His aptitude for water was comparable to that of the first king, and he was expected to have a bright future from a young age.
Originally, the Kingdom of Ivelpe was in a harsh environment, and in addition to that, like other countries, there was also the threat of [Ragment]. The pressure of the responsibilities held by the royal family is immeasurable.
The magnitude of expectations and responsibilities was directly thrust upon the young Noel.
Training more grueling than any soldier’s, and education stricter than any noble’s.
Days where no indulgence was allowed. Noel spent days that ordinary children could never endure without uttering a single complaint.
More accurately, he didn’t think of it as harsh or strict.
He simply accepted what was demanded of him as it was, and just happened to have the talent to execute it.
—-He didn’t feel anything. That’s all there was to it.
A lump in human form with a heart of ice.
That was the child called Noel.
“Good day, Lord Noel”
Noel met that girl when he was seven years old.
Hair and eyes so black they seemed to absorb light. She appeared to be about seven years old, the same age as Noel.
A carefree expression as bright as the sun, and a lithe, cat-like physique. Yet, she was brimming with energetic vigor like an inner flame, which left a strong impression.
The elegant dress she wore seemed almost like a restraint, and Noel somehow sensed that she probably preferred more agile attire rather than dresses.
“Who are you?”
“Perhaps you haven’t been informed yet? I’m your fiancée.”
Then he remembered. His father had told him about arranging a fiancée.
He had no particular interest, much less any attachment or curiosity about the partner. As long as he could fulfill one of his duties as royalty, anyone would do, so he had quickly forgotten about it.
“Judging by your reaction, it seems you don’t even know my name.”
Without getting angry at Noel, who didn’t even know her name, let alone try to learn it, the girl grinned and performed an elegant curtsy.
“Then, let me introduce myself again. I am Liatris Lilimbell, who has become Lord Noel’s fiancée. I look forward to our acquaintance.”
Liatris smiled mischievously.
“Lilimbell… the lineage of goldsmiths who have served the Kingdom of Ivelpe for generations?”
“That’s right. It was my father who made your father’s [Royal Ring], you know.”
Liatris approached Noel step by step, her footsteps echoing.
The palace corridor was deathly quiet, and illuminated by the moonlight streaming in, her figure gradually became more clearly visible.
“…Are you disappointed?”
“About what?”
“Well, you know… I’m like this…”
Liatris fiddles with her jet-black hair with her fingertips.
Black hair. Black eyes. In a world still bearing the scars of the Night Witch, these traits are considered ominous.
“Geez, it’s crazy, isn’t it? Making an accursed child like me the fiancée of the second prince. Being too excellent can be problematic too. I feel sorry for you. Ahaha.”
“Nonsense.”
Noel dismisses her words with a single word.
“What of it? The [Sixth Attribute] is a valuable power that can counter [Ragment]. If you’re my fiancée, then use that power for the benefit of this country.”
“……………………”
At Noel’s words, Liatris’s eyes widened. Not even interested in that reaction, Noel quietly turns his back and resumes walking.
“Is that all? Don’t stop me for such trivial matters in the future. It’s a waste of time.”
As he walked, he gradually began to recall the circumstances of when his fiancée was decided.
Noel is certainly exceptional. However, his title is still just the second prince. He’s one step behind his brother in the right of succession to the throne. And that first prince, while talented, doesn’t have abilities on par with Noel’s.
If Noel is considered a ‘once-in-a-millennium genius’, then the first prince is merely an ‘above-average student’.
Among the nobles, there are not a few opinions that ‘Noel should be king’, and It’s heard that small conflicts have been occurring with the first prince’s faction.
Foreseeing that a full-scale dispute between the first prince’s faction and the second prince’s faction would occur if things continued as they were, the king decided to balance the first and second princes by arranging a fiancée for Noel who bore the symbol of ill omen – black hair and black eyes.
In other words, it was politics. Adult circumstances for adult reasons.
Noel never felt dissatisfied with this, nor was he interested in the throne to begin with.
He was aware that he was just a puppet, following orders and fulfilling duties, and he had no complaints or objections to this state of being.
(…………It doesn’t matter)
Those circumstances, his fiancée, everything was irrelevant and uninteresting to him.
Nothing changes. Not the past, not the present, not the future.
He thought he would just spend his days without passion, continuing to live as a cold puppet.
“Hey, Lord Noel!”
Hearing someone call out to him, he stops walking.
When he turns around, Liatris runs up to him and, without hesitation, grabs Noel’s hand.
His shoulders instinctively jump at the warmth, and while he’s still startled,
“I may be inexperienced, but I look forward to our future together!”
The girl smiling brightly before him was so straightforward and radiant like the sun that he almost wanted to avert his eyes.
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