Silvia Frost froze, her breath stuck as the battle ended in an instant. For the first time, Silvia realized that there were still mountains on top of the mountains. It truly broadens her vision.
She stared at his clear emerald eyes that sucked her in, and her heart pounded, sending a blood rush to her cold veins. Silvia opened her mouth as she tried to speak, but words got stuck in her throat.
"Ah, um...".
"Ah, I'm sorry about this!".
Jin awoke from his trance, releasing his grip and stepping back from Silvia. He slumped his shoulder, exhaling a deep regret for his actions. Promptly he glanced at the girl who still had a boiled face, 'I should have ended it in another way'.
On the other hand, Ryan's lips parted in broad grins, witnessing his son's natural ability in swordsmanship and courting women. Behind him, Marina's eyes knitted while her body stiffened in wary. '...Don't tell me!?'.
The Duke stared at Silvia; his gaze was profound, yet it carried a sense of relief. He exhaled softly, gazing down. This was the first time he witnessed Silvia defeated in a duel.
Silvia was a prodigy, excelling in academic abilities, etiquette, and her talent was so rare it only appeared one in a million.
***
Talent 'Sword Saint' is a skill that allows the user to master any sword or blade until it reaches the pinnacle of Humanity and is capable of touching the boundaries of transcendence.
Sullivan still remembers those days when his daughter received her talent at five. Her face glimmered in joy. He held those memorable days as the family celebrated togethers in laughter. Unaware of the weight that would befall them soon.
Silvia took her first swing and trained diligently from morning till noon. She was a competitive and determined girl, chasing her own pursuit of swordsmanship.
When she tasted her first defeat, it was just a setback that fueled her desire to grow stronger. Silvia started her intense training, yet everything came crashing down as Silvia showed her results.
The talent and effort that she honed over the years turned into a curse that weighed her down as her path deviated from the one she was chasing.
Silvia's lively atmosphere was gone. She changed into a cold, indifferent steel. Her swordsmanship was eerily precise, lacking in spirit devotion as if she was a reflection of others.
She no longer fought with creativity or joy, her swordsmanship has long turned into an abomination.
Her talent that could imitate other techniques with a single glance, pushing her further into an outcast. Many masters and knights who challenged her, left the arena not in admiration but in humiliation.
Their decades of effort meant nothing before her talent. That fact shattered their pride.
However, not only those people, little Silvia was wounded.
What she always wanted was recognition, for she was a Lady from one of the most renowned families in the Kingdom. But, instead of receiving it, Silvia was resented as she stood alone.
The Duke recalled the once bright-eye Silvia, those clusters of light dimmed. Her expression turned frigid like the winter breeze. The warmth laugh she always carried was now long gone like fleeting melting ice.
It cut through his heart, sharper than any blades.
That to his effort and other family members that always stood behind her back, giving her push every single day, prevented the girl from going to the path of no return.
Yet the past followed, relentlessly reminding him of the failure he had.
And that realization sank deep in his heart, pushing him into the pit of despair from where he couldn't return.
***
'...Silvia!?'. He inhaled deeply and looked toward his daughter's vacant eyes, yet he saw a faint flicker of blazing ambers start to lit in her eyes. A gentle smile crept up on his lips as he muttered, 'I'm glad for you, Silvia'.
Jin rolled his eyes to his father; he jerked his gaze to the side, gesturing to him to end the spar. But before his message got delivered, a hand tightly gripped his arm; it jolted his nerves.
"Wait, one more time!".
Silvia's clear voice rang through the area, it cut through the tension in the air. The empty eyes she possessed now long gone, replaced by a burning resolve. Her azure eyes gleamed sharply, like a blade that freed from its sheath.
"Um". He turned to the side, but his body yanked. "Woah, please calm down for a bit, Lady Silvia".
"Call me Silvia! Please, just one more time, can we spar again? I beg of you".
"Wha…!?".
Jin's gaze swayed as the girl continuously yanked his body. He could only hum incomprehensible words while the adults stared at them with tired exhales.
"Please, Jin! This time, I will be serious".
"Wait a minute, I…".
"Jin".
A calm yet deep voice traveled across the Arena when one man, the Duke, approached the two; his gaze swept to his daughter for a second before turning to Jin with a shrunken gaze, and he bowed his head.
"Eh?". Jin's eyes bloated, and his thoughts halted momentarily.
"Your Highness, what are you doing?". Ryan darted forward but stopped midway with a slack jaw; he saw the Duke's hand raised.
"...Father!?".
Silvia stared blankly at her father. Their gaze met, and emotions flickering across his face. Her eyes blinked a couple of times; deep inside, she understood her father's meaning and action, all of that was for her sake.
All this time, her father always recommended that she fight the people he summoned to his palace and fight her in spar. At first, Silvia thinks that her father wants to make her become the strongest in the Kingdom by bringing several people to challenge her.
However, every time Silvia clenched a victory, her heart was frozen by the boredom of how easily she could trample those people's efforts. On the other hand, she also realized her father's sorrowful gaze.
The Duke turned to Jin and lowered his gaze again under heaven's gaze.
"Please, Jin, can you entertain my daughter once more".
"Eh? Um,,,". Jin gulped his saliva, then shook off the hand that gripped him hard before approaching the Duke. "Okay, I plan to do that in the first place, so please don't do this to a kid like me; you are a Duke; you must show some dignity".
"What use of dignity, if I couldn't even save my daughter's heart".
"...".
Slowly, The Duke straightened his torso and stared at the boys before him. Deep within those emerald eyes, lay an unfathomable abyss that stared back at him, giving the Duke's body a taste of abyss.
'What was that!?'. His body shivered but soon dismissed as the boy parted his lips with his thumb up.
"Don't worry, I plan to accept the spar anyway".
"!?". The Duke's eyes bloated, his face stiffened like a mask.
"What, do you think, you will have a change this time!? I will show you my full strength!".
Silvia's voice broke the stillness and tension that enveloped the entire Arena after witnessing a Duke lowered his head, something unheard of in the founding of the Kingdom.
"Um, give my daughter a good fight".
"Let's go, Silvia; wait before that". Jin raised his hand and opened his lips with a brazen attitude. "Duke, can I ask you for something in return?".
"Sure, I will open for negotiation". Unknown to himself, The Duke's lips parted into a broad grin. It's been a long time since someone dared to act so brazenly before him.
Not that he minds it, though; it feels less distant and nostalgic at the same time. Being treated the same without minding each other's status. Deep inside him, he longed for that relationship with someone.
After getting his promise, Jin turned his back and stood facing Silvia, whose cheeks bloated, fuming about the earlier statement.
Silvia tightened the grip of his wooden sword and then closed her eyes. She threw away all the unnecessary thoughts, focused on the feeling in her hands, and cast a heavy exhale to return to reality.
Her eyes snapped open, gleaming with sharp intent. Her azure eyes were clear and sharp like a blade as she prepared her stance.
"I'm ready".
Jin's eyes snapped open, a heavy atmosphere prickling his skin. He inhaled deeply before exhaling it in one go. Slowly, he lowered his stance to Iai's posture.
"Huff, I'm ready".
[Mind Sword active]
*Thud!
The air around the Arena blasted to bits, and all sound disappeared, turning the entire world into an eerily death mute. A waterfall of dread poured down from above; it weighed the people and everyone in the palace, turning the whole palace upside down.
Silvia's lungs tightened; every breath she took turned into intense labor. Her body felt heavy, restrained by an invisible power that took her freedom to move. She looks ahead as saw space suddenly distorted.
An image began to play in her mind, displaying the match as she rushed ahead before her vision suddenly rolled, and saw the crystal clear sky stretched endlessly toward the horizon. Silvia saw that her body was standing still, holding the sword, yet his head was rolling to the ground.
All the atmosphere clumped together as it cracked and broke the reality she was seeing. A clear sky, the cold and stinging taste of the winter air, and the firm touch of the ground that supported her feet felt real; she returned to the reality she should have been.
"You lost".
As soon as those words resounded, Silvia's body jerked and gasped for breath. A dull 'thud' resonated as her body dropped to the ground, tasting the tasteless dirt, and stern pain that pierced through even her soul tormented her consciousness.
'What? What is happening?'. Silvia realized that her temperature had spiked, sticky outfit by the sweat that ran down her skin, drenching her body. A tightening pain spread to all her veins, choking her throat. 'I-I can't breathe!?'. "A-ah, a!?".
Dread washed away the blood on her face as she struggled to breathe. A shadow loomed before a warm sensation draped on her forehead; slowly, her body rolled to the side, facing the sky. Silvia stares at the figure of the boy's apologetic expression, saying something.
"I'm sorry; it was my fault".
Silvia's vision blurred, and ears started to ring because of the lack of oxygen in her body. Her body begins to convulse, but a pressure from her forehead gently calms her breath.
"Take a deep breath! You can do it, Silvia".
"Aah,, uuh, fuu, haa". Slowly, Silvia regulated her breathing, following the instructions that rang in her ears.
"Yeah, that's good. Keep breathing, Silvia".
"Fuu, haa… Fuu, haaa…".
Silvia's erratic breath stabilizes, and so does her pounded heart. Her gaze flickered for a few seconds before she could capture the figure above her. She inhaled one last breath before heavily exhaling.
"Huuf, I lost".