“Look at this! I did it!”
The sword in her hand shimmered with latent sword energy.
Though the hue of the sword aura had yet to fully manifest, it was undeniably sword energy.
‘Why is it...’
That very sword energy, which had never once surfaced in Iris’s hand before.
Her father spun around, holding Liliana tightly in his arms.
“My treasure, our Lily, truly magnificent!”
His face overflowed with uncontainable joy—
a sight Iris had never been granted.
Kaiderich, who was about to leave the training grounds with Liliana in harmony, caught sight of Iris.
“To think they keep something like that in the Valentine clan. And she’s Liliana’s sister, no less. A disgrace as an example.”
“Ah, why are you like this? But still, big sister tries hard.”
“Is that so?”
The father, clutching Liliana close, shot a cold, harsh glance at Iris before storming out.
They left without a care for Iris, who had fallen to the ground.
That day, outside, a simple celebration was held for Liliana, filled with bright laughter.
From that day forward, Iris suffered harsher discrimination, treated like an unwelcome shadow.
There were even days when she was forced to spar against Liliana, made a spectacle in front of others.
At the sudden recollection of the past, Iris clenched the sword in her hand tighter.
Her tense body refused to relax.
‘...Cedric will be different.’
He would never disregard or abandon her. To even think that was an insult to him.
Yet the hesitation within her heart remained unavoidable.
‘This is my bottom line.’
She did not want the one she loved to see this side of her.
Not even by chance would she allow him to be more disappointed in her.
“My lady.”
Cedric looked at her with concern in his eyes.
“Are you alright? You don’t look well.”
His gaze was as warm and gentle as a cultivation flame’s glow.
Under that look, her stiffened body slowly softened and relaxed.
Cedric furrowed his brows slightly.
‘I shouldn’t have said that carelessly.’
Whatever the reason, it was clear Iris was struggling.
Though he never meant to, he felt sorry for making her uncomfortable.
“My lady, there’s absolutely no need to overexert yourself. My words were merely a suggestion.”
“No.”
Iris bit her trembling lip and raised her sword.
Looking at Cedric, she found a flicker of courage.
‘Perhaps it’s better to let him know my sword.’
Iris didn’t want to avoid or hide from someone so kind and warm.
And if even Cedric, like her family, couldn’t see potential in her—
‘Then it really is time to give up the sword.’
Just as she had let go of her family, perhaps it was time to sever this tiresome, fated bond with the blade.
“Let’s spar.”
“Are you sure about that?”
A firm resolve settled in Iris’s sky-blue eyes.
Even if she was thinking of giving up, this was her lifetime.
She had no intention of going half-hearted in a match where the outcome seemed inevitable.
“Don’t worry so much.”
Perhaps this would be her final duel.
Her opponent was not Cedric, but the towering wall of talent she had struggled against her whole life.
“Besides, take a look at my sword. It’s not so light anymore.”
Determined that this moment—when her painstaking efforts might finally crumble—would at least not become a source of regret,
Iris drew a clean breath and spun her sword once.
“I’ll start first.”
Her blade pierced through the empty air.
Cedric’s sword appeared before her, blocking the path.
Ching!
The cold clash of steel lightly scraped against each other.
Creak—
Iris smoothly twisted the trajectory of her blade.
She knew Cedric would block, and she knew exactly what her weakness was.
Again, her blade surged forward steadily.
Cedric twisted his wrist to deflect the strike.
‘Fast.’
His movement was so light and precise it was hard to believe he wasn’t wielding sword energy.
Cedric looked genuinely surprised as he parried the blade.
‘Difficult opponent.’
The blade she lightly flicked away curved like it had predicted his move, fiercely targeting a weak spot.
Iris’s swordplay wasn’t flashy.
‘But—’
That didn’t mean it had glaring flaws.
Her blade bore no compulsive bad habits.
No one naturally wields a sword that way from the start.
So in other words—
‘She erased them all herself.’
Anyone could say that.
But almost no one was so relentlessly free of bad habits like her.
Iris’s blade changed angle, striking upward from below—a smaller frame’s advantage over Cedric.
Cedric swiftly withdrew his body, parrying the strike.
As the assault continued, Iris’s sword accelerated, tightening the space between them.
‘Impressive.’
Her controlled movements made predicting the next step difficult.
Each motion formed a clean line, flowing endlessly elegant as if performing a cultivated dance.
The duel dragged on for quite some time.
From an outside view, it was hard to guess the victor.
But Iris was no fool.
‘I have no hope of victory.’
Even setting aside the fact that Cedric was restraining his sword aura out of consideration for her, none of Iris’s strikes found their mark.
Meanwhile, Cedric’s attacks could reach her.
‘This is... the gap in talent.’
No matter how she constricted the space or moved her sword strategically, her blade never touched him.
Instead, he feigned being pressured in unexpected places, twisting the space to press her back.
As time passed, the difference between them widened further.
At the moment Iris’s sharp reactions dulled ever so slightly, Cedric’s sword shot up in an unforeseen trajectory.
With overwhelming force from an angle she hadn’t anticipated, he pierced and then struck down her sword.
Clang!
Unable to withstand the power, Iris collapsed to the ground.
She barely held onto her sword.
But that was all. The victor had been decided.
She didn’t want to appear more pathetic in this fight.
Iris looked up at the victorious Cedric and muttered bitterly,
“...I’ve lost.”
Her sword, which she had devoted her life to, was defeated. She had never thought she would win.
Still, was this a last moment she could hold her head high in?
‘I don’t know.’
She simply felt sorrow.
With a heart on the brink of tears, Iris gave a wistful smile.
“Thank you for the duel.”
“That was at my request. There is no need for gratitude, Iris.”
“Still, thank you. Finally... I understand my place.”
“What do you mean?”
“Exactly as I said. But it’s alright. You don’t have to pity me.”
“Pity?”
Hearing this, Cedric furrowed his brow slightly, raising an eyebrow.
‘Is that troublesome? Or is she upset?’
Cedric, who had carelessly set down his sword at first, now carefully picked up Iris’s blade.
He examined the slight scars from their duel, then returned the sword to her.
“I don’t deal in pity.”
Ah, he’s upset.
Before Iris could offer her usual apology, Cedric wrapped her wrist with a towel he had somehow fetched.
Basic care to prevent injury after sparring.
This was the first time she had received such treatment.
‘Lily, a true warrior must always take care of their body.’
‘Come here, Lily. Let’s warm your wrist.’
She had only ever watched from afar as her father and elder brother cared for Lily.
It was so warm, so genuine.
“There’s no reason for me to pity you, Lady. It’s just a spar.”
“It’s just... a meaningless thing.”
“Why would it be meaningless?”
Cedric’s words carried a pure, honest question.
Somehow, a lump rose in her throat, blocking her words.
“My swordsmanship isn’t special...”
“It is.”
His tone was firm.
Why?
She had truly tried to give up.
But... somehow, it felt like she had been waiting for these words.
“Iris’s sword...”
Cedric seemed to hope to see something in her—something even she had avoided acknowledging.
“...is a sword that shows effort so intense it’s almost embarrassing.”
“Still, it’s meaningless.”
“Who decides that? You say that, but I can’t do what Iris does.”
Cedric knew himself too well. Born with abundant talent, he was naturally lazy when it came to correcting his weaknesses.
Unless it was important, even stepping forward felt tedious.
Cedric lifted his head.
“So, to me, Lady, you are an extraordinary and unique person.”
A beautiful soul who had never once lied silently spoke her truth.
“No matter what others may think.”
Iris could no longer keep her head bowed.
‘Thinking back, he has always said that to me.’
He had told her countless times she was special.
‘Yet it always felt so different—probably because.’
Back then, she wasn’t ready to accept his words herself.
“Tha… thank you.”
Speaking words and giving voice is simple enough.
Yet, within those easy words, finding sincerity is a challenge. Deceived by falsehoods, she had rejected even the truth.
Now, she finally confronted the feeling head-on.
Iris pressed down her emotions firmly to hide her tearful expression.
Of course, Cedric was not oblivious to this.
He quietly looked down at her, scratched his cheek for a moment, then spoke in a nonchalant tone,
“But Lady, you may pity me if you wish.”
Come to think of it, pity meant someone thinking only of oneself, not the other.
Iris was thinking only of him.
‘That’s… not a bad thing.’
Had it been anyone else, it would have been different. But this was Iris.
Wide-eyed and on the verge of tears, she couldn’t help but let out a soft chuckle.
“Haha. What kind of thing is that?”
Sometimes, Cedric wore a cold expression, unaware of jokes, casually saying strange things.
Iris did not yet know that these were not jokes but earnest words.
Watching his wife quietly laughing, Cedric eventually gave a lazy smile.
Maybe he misunderstood something.
‘As long as Iris is happy, that’s what matters.’
Nothing else was more important.
“Sigh—Thank you, Duke.”
“Cedric.”
Cedric quietly added one more word to Iris.
“My name is Cedric.”
Perhaps he wanted her to call him by name.
But for Iris, it was a bit embarrassing.
Aside from family, no one had ever called her by her name before.
Iris gave a clumsy excuse, not quite an excuse,
“I’m not ‘Lady’ either, just Iris.”
But it was a poor excuse at best.
Iris had misunderstood Cedric completely.
Though he behaved like a tamed warhound before her, his essence was that of a wolf.
Cedric smiled, lifting only one corner of his mouth, and said lazily,
“Very well. Iris.”
His somewhat arrogant voice caressed her ears like a sweet cultivation chant.
Today wasn’t the first time Cedric had called her by name.
But this was the first time he spoke it with purpose.
With her hair tied high, her flushed red neck and earlobes were fully exposed.
“I’ll be going now.”
Thinking back, the steward had requested to visit at an appropriate time for the handover.
‘The sooner I manage the finances of the Leontheim estate, the better.’
Although some management was underway, the lack of a head mistress overseeing everything had left weaknesses.
And the sooner those issues were resolved, the stronger the foundation could be built.
‘I’ll make this place untouchable by anyone.’
Of course, now was far too early to be the ‘right’ time the steward mentioned.
But Iris wanted to leave immediately.
Cedric followed behind her leisurely as she hurriedly left the training ground.
“Let’s go together, Iris.”
“No. I have other things to do.”
“What is it, Iris?”
He kept adding her name at the end of every sentence.
Now, with her cheeks flushed red all the way under her eyes, Iris glared at Cedric while clutching her sword.
“You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”
Usually, Cedric would apologize for crossing the line and then leave.
If the Iris of that time was an ice fortress that opened to no one, the current Iris felt different.
And Cedric, as well as anyone who knew her well, was quick to sense such changes.
“Oh.”
As if realizing something, Cedric approached her with a playful grin that softened and spread.
He leaned close and whispered in her ear,
“How did you know, Iris?”
Chapter 16