Meeting Deon and asking would be quicker, but Cesselphone strictly prohibited the entry of outsiders until the main competition started during the tournament.
Only residents and tournament officials could be inside the castle.
“Take care of yourself. I’ll come find you as soon as the main competition starts.”
“Do I have to pass the preliminaries? I might be able to go home tomorrow if I fail.”
“That’s fine too.”
Blake concluded the communication with Liche.
Afterwards, he immediately investigated the reason why Deon became an examination instructor, but there was nothing special other than it being a normal procedure.
‘Seems like he followed Liche.’
Blake came to that conclusion. Deon must have his own thoughts and reasons for acting this way.
The fact that not a single person passed, there must have been a reason for that, clearly.
… Probably.
“Six years ago.”
In the meantime, Duke Hibetsman, who had been silently staring at the tea, opened his mouth.
“The day your daughter saved me.”
“…?”
It wasn’t a topic that could be brought up lightly.
Thinking that he might be about to tell a serious story, Blake turned his gaze and looked at Duke Hibetsman.
Still fixated on the tea, Duke Hibetsman spoke.
“Amidst transcending life and death, someone’s figure flashed by, and I thought it was seeing your daughter but refrained from saying anything.”
“Why did you think it was Liche? For what reason?”
“Silver hair. There is no one around me with silver hair other than your daughter. However, lately, the events from back then have been vividly coming back. Maybe it’s someone else.”
“If it’s not Liche, then it’s like dreaming, not reality. But is it important enough to mention it like this?”
Even if it recently came to mind, it was curious about the reason for bringing up a dream from six years ago.
In response to Blake’s question, Duke Hibetsman lowered the teacup to the table and answered.
“I felt a foreboding. The words he said.”
“The words?”
When Duke Hibetsman stood at the crossroads of life and death.
In the unconscious darkness, far away, he discovered a brilliant yet lonely light. At the place where he followed the light, there was someone’s silhouette.
A silver-haired woman standing in the bright light. Her face was not visible due to the light. The woman asked him.
[If you could go back, what would you undo?]“I….”
The moment Duke Hibetsman tried to answer, a strong light from behind pulled him into the air.
In the distance of the receding darkness, the woman shook hands with him as if saying farewell.
[I will undo my mistakes.]“Swordsmanship reevaluation has 47 passers.”
Upon hearing the results of the preliminary round from the organizers, professors from the 12 academies and swordsmanship students cheered.
It hadn’t even been a week since arriving at Cesselphone, and they had to return to the academy without even moving.
“Now let’s unpack!”
The swordsmanship students, who had relieved some tension, finally began unpacking their belongings in the accommodation on the first day. Some students were sad, mentioning that they had to return tomorrow morning. Among them were students who even failed the reevaluation.
“It’s fortunate.”
Liche also breathed a sigh of relief. He was concerned that the swordsmanship students who had failed might harbor ill feelings towards Deon due to this incident.
Talking about it wouldn’t have changed anything, but Deon might have overheard.
“Are those two eating well?”
Walking towards the dining hall in the same building as the accommodation, Liche thought of Deon and Phillip.
At least, he felt reassured that Phillip was with him.
It seemed that someone was being appointed to the position of assistant instructor one by one.
“Tarije, want to grab a meal?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go together.”
A student who had become friendly with Liche during the journey to Cesselphone approached him affectionately.
It was Jackson, a 7th-year student like Liche, who shared a connection with plants.
“Jackson, are you well-prepared for the preliminaries?”
“I’m just reviewing what I know. I don’t know what kind of assignment will be given.”
Jackson shrugged his shoulders when talking about the preliminaries.
Cesselphone’s preliminaries, which occupied four out of the six months of the tournament period, had its reasons.
Liche recalled the guidance she heard in the afternoon.
“The preliminaries will take place throughout the entire city. Five exam instructors from each department will each give different assignments. Participants can choose and solve the assignments. After that, if you receive a passing certificate from the exam instructor, your entry into the main round is confirmed.”
Cesselphone’s preliminaries involved solving assignments given by exam instructors over a four-month period.
Each passing certificate held by an exam instructor was limited to three.
Since there were five exam instructors for each department, they could select a maximum of 15 participants for the main round from each department.
“Participants will go to the exam instructors they want to receive a passing certificate from and get the assignments. Even if you fail the assignment, you can go to another instructor and try again, but as time passes, the number of passing certificates will decrease.”
Deon was the first to firmly declare that he wouldn’t give certificates to just anyone.
“I’ll only give it to the one who beats me.”
The 15 tickets to the main round were reduced to 12. The swordsmanship students were saddened, but no one dared to protest against his words.
“Is it settled for magic as well?”
“I’ll be informed about that tomorrow in the Clock Tower Square.”
Since there was no pre-information about the exam instructors, Liche planned to get the assignment from the instructor she had faced during the qualification review.
It was an instructor named Kaysley with gray short hair.
At Liche’s words, the surrounding magic students pricked up their ears.
‘Tarije’s destination is a place to avoid.’
The total number of participants in the magic preliminaries, including other academies, was 38.
Although the victory would likely go to Tarije, they had come this far, and it would be a shame not to qualify for the main round.
Accepting the plate handed by Liche, Jackson cheerfully said, “Tarije will get the certificate soon, right? I envy him. Then, you can have fun during the remaining preliminary period.”
And Liche had not received a passing certificate for over a week.
Good morning, everyone.
If you want to receive a passing certificate, come and catch me.
I will be in the city except for the tournament venue.
Exam Instructor Kaysley
A wooden signboard stuck in the middle of Clock Tower Square.
That was the beginning of the incident.
After Being Cheated On, She Picked Up a Treasure (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The husband I married on a whim had been secretly in love with me for a long time.
On the day when Jun Shao finally obtained the imperial decree for her marriage, Lan Qu, the person she had admired for six years, defied the decree and ran away.
Her gentleness and devotion, her promise of a lifetime together, were all disregarded by him. Instead, he dreamed of entering the palace to serve the Emperor’s sister as a sixth-rank attendant.
News of this incident spread throughout the capital, and the alleys in front of and behind the Lan mansion were crowded with people who came to watch the commotion.
Jun Shao should have been embarrassed and angry.
But someone stepped in to protect her dignity.
The figure was in a miserable state, yet still possessed an undeniable elegance and handsomeness.
The young lord struggled to climb the wall of the Lan mansion and shouted to her, “If he won’t marry you, I will!”
So, Jun Shao took advantage of the situation and married the person.
She thought the young lord did it to save the Lan family from the crime of defying the imperial decree, but never imagined that from beginning to end, what he coveted was her.
*
After the wedding, Jun Shao felt like she was living in a dream.
Her Wife-master was as beautiful as a fairy in a painting, skilled in the six arts, well-versed in poetry and literature, capable of being gentle and attentive, and also grand and dignified. Most importantly, she was the only one in his heart and eyes.
Jun Shao didn’t know how Lan Shiwu, as a illegitimate son without a father and blessed with beauty, had managed to preserve his purity, recklessly escape, and use his last ounce of strength to ruin his own reputation, all because of his love for her, just to stand before her.
She could only see him gazing at her with eyes full of love, and when she bestowed a name upon him, his eyes shone like stars.
“You have come to me like a weary bird perching on a branch. I shall call you A Qi.”
