Breaking Off The Engagement… Bring It On! Chapter 33

33

We continued to face-off against each other.
If we move recklessly here the King and others will get injured.
Aren-sama has quite some ability as well so speaking of battle potential we clearly have the advantage.
Ah–, this would have already been over had Leon-sama not jumped out before ..

“Saa, Ririinjou, drop that dangerous looking sword, and go to the side of the King and others.”

“If I let go of my weapon you would come attack me right away, wouldn’t you?”

“Haha, I wouldn’t do such an uncivilized thing. Saa, swinging around something like that which you aren’t used to is dangerous.”

Did the Duke not see me defeating the soldiers just then.
Something I’m not used to, you say .. but I’m extremely accustomed to it, though.
If could continue fighting even if I dropped my sword. But engaging in hand-to-hand combat with my current appearance is a bit .. I’m not on the level of the Duke but even I would wonder what to think of that as a lady?
Still, I can’t be picky about the method right now.

“Ririina! Don’t worry about us, you go escape!”

Leon-sama who is unchallenged in being unable to read the situation, exclaimed so.
There’s no way I could escape from here having promised to protect Leon-sama and the others, now is there.
Moreover, even if I made a strategic retreat here that would still result in a game over.
The probability that I wouldn’t be able to see them ever again afterwards is high.

“Prince Leon .. can you be quiet for a while? I think there are a lot of issues with your behaviour, as royalty.”

As if astounded the Duke offered Leon-sama his honest advice.
Indeed, as royalty there were lots of issues, but suddenly starting a revolt because of that was unreasonable.
If we simply continued our stand-off like this, I didn’t know whether they would have reinforcements coming.
I absolutely didn’t want to create any regrets so I am going to to all I can!
I whispered in a small voice so that only Aren-sama could hear me.

‘When I engage please follow up on that.’

He faintly nodded in response.

In the next instant I flung my sword at the Duke.
In the small opening when the Duke flinched I dashed forward, closed the distance to the soldier keeping Leon-sama in check and kicked him flying.
Right now I couldn’t be thinking about my skirt.
Following up on that I kicked away the weapons of the soldiers surrounding Rachel-sama and finished them off with a seoi nage .
Aren-sama continued to take out soldiers barehanded just like before.

Now then, with this it should be alright, shouldn’t it?
As I looked around thinking so .. for some reason Leon-sama and the Duke were standing off against each other readying their swords?

“Duke! You alone I can’t forgive! To try to hurt Ririina, and even try to kill her!”

” .. Prince Leon, you really don’t have anything except Ririinjou in that head of yours. You are someone who ought to become the King of this country. If, perhaps, you must wield that sword against me, aren’t there other reasons you should be doing so for?”

The Duke made a slightly sorrowful face.
Not minding that Leon-sama commenced his attack on the Duke.
They both struggled for supremancy against the other.
How to say it, this wasn’t a mood one could really interrupt.

Maybe because of his youth Leon-sama had started to push his opponent back.
The Duke was doing his best to only receive the attacks.
‘Kaki—n!’
The sword the Duke had been holding got flung away by Leon-sama.
Leon-sama continued to try and attack the now weaponless Duke as if to finish him off.
That’s bad, at this rate the Duke will ..

‘Ba—n!’
At that moment the doors of the audience hall were flung open strongly.
As expected that must have surprised him, as Leon-sama had halted his hand.
The ones entering were .. Father and Mother? Reinforcements?
Ignoring us who were surprised they headed towards the Duke.

Doka!
“ku!”
The Duke didn’t receive Mother’s fist, but Father’s instead.
The one responsible for hitting, Father, also seemed to hold his hand in pain.

“You idiot! Why the heck would you do something like this on your own!”

Yelled Father at the Duke.

“Funh, you know that, don’t you? Thinking for the sake of the country, this revolt, I ..”

“Aah, you thought about it and ended up deciding to sacrifice yourself alone to protect the country, didn’t you?”

Nh? Protect, you say ..
Also, to become a sacrifice?

“What ridiculous things are you .. I tried to make the King and Queen disappear in order to govern the nation myself, you know. I’ll have you refrain from saying strange things such as sacrifying myself.”

“Why have you always been such a blockhead, from the past, to try and advance on your own? I know that you, more than anyone, are thinking about the good of this country. I heard from the Vice-Commander .. from your son, you know.”

” .. fuu. I even told him to stay quiet.”

The Duke sat down on the floor as if a thread got cut.
There was no trace of the vigour he had had until just before.

“Ever since the past you really like to make yourself the scapegoat, don’t you?”

At some point Rachel-sama had walked over.

“I bet because the momentum of those within your group that were unsatisfied with Leon grew too large, you realized that at this rate there would an actual large-scale upheaval, so you decided to act as the leader of that group and, by yourself, ensure that this insurrection would end in failure. And on that note, in the hopes of lightning at least some awareness as royalty within Leon you even put up this little drama.”

The Duke pulled a wry face upon Rachel-sama’s words.

“You are really .. Didn’t you join in on that quite readily yourself.” 

This is perhaps ..
From the very beginning the Duke tried to make the revolt meet with failure?
That is why there aren’t any other n.o.bles from the revolting faction here, I see.

“Aside from the, the lot that earnestly wanted to remove you two from power should be, just as you planned for, getting captured by the chivalric order right about now. You know how they are a bunch that have previously been getting their misdeeds revealed by Prince Leon, had their land confiscated and such, don’t you? I certainly do question Prince Leon’s ability to become King, also with that att.i.tude in regards to Ririinjou, but those guys are just holding unjust resentment, after all.”

Are?
But he really did try to kill me, didn’t he.
Having revealed everything the Duke seemed sort of refreshed and began talking to me.

“Ririinjou, and also Aren, I apologize. To get you involved in something like this. The one who had send those a.s.sa.s.sins for Ririinjou was, without doubt, me. Just .. I couldn’t begin to imagine you losing against them. In the first place, it would be impossible for the daughter of that Liesa to get done in by some ordinary rogues.”

Ah, so the Duke did know about my abilities.
Moreover, he said so knowing Mother even.

“Aren. I have done something truly terrible to you and Anjiu. I did intent to let you return to your Mother’s place after this revolt incident was over.”

“You really are an idiot, after all. You must have known what would happen to you if you did something like this, isn’t that so?”

Aren-sama made an angry, a sorrowful, an expression containing complicated emotions.
To have his Father be turned into the culprit in such a situation ..

Panpan.
Rachel-sama clapped her hands.

“Now then, this pretend revolt is now over. These soldiers are from your provincial army, aren’t they? Return to your territory. As for the Duke as expected I can’t acquit him, after all this. However, there is the matter of having helped avoid a large-scale uprising as well. Let us talk about this more amongst us old aquaintances, shall we?”

Against her words not allowing for any answer, we could but nod our heads.