Chapter 88 – A Duel with Harold

Third person POV

As Robert and Peter kept on training, Zarah was peeking at them. She seems to be happy that Robert had used her first lesson on dual magic, thinking, "You can do it, Robert-kun."

But then, Harold, holding a textbook, was passing by when he saw the princess of Saheda peeking at his friends.

"Um, what are you doing, Zarah-chan?" he asked her.

Upon hearing that, Zarah was startled, and she quickly turned around and responded, "Nothing!"

She was hiding her love for Robert.

But when she saw Harold's face, Zarah asked, "Are you from Vanworth?"

"How can you tell?" Harold asked back.

"Your hair…it resembled of those who are from the Earthheart clan," Zarah explained in response. "Are you a member of that clan?"

"Yes, my name is Harold Earthheart Jaune," Harold positively responded back, "or Harold Jaune for short. I'm a prince of Vanworth."

This really shocks the princess a lot, knowing that Harold was a prince from a kingdom that had a strained relationship with her kingdom. "Eh? A prince? But, how did you get here? Did you escape or something? I heard that your kingdom is notorious on its rules for leaving and defecting."

"Well," Harold replied back, "it's a long story, but Ro-kun just helped us to escape."

"Ro-kun?"

"That's a short name for Robert Lightningheart."

"What? You knew him, too?"

Harold then nodded. "Yes, I do."

And then, Robert and the others overheard their conversation, and Peter asked, "What was that?"

"I don't know," Emma retorted back.

"Let's check it out," William suggested.

"Sure thing," Robert agreed.

To that Emma was a bit upset, thinking, "He's so easy on requests."

And so, all of them went to see who is having that conversation, only to see that it was Zarah and Harold.

"Harold-kun? Zarah-chan?" Robert said to them.

Upon hearing that, Harold and Zarah looked at him and the others.

"Oh, no," Zarah responded to this.

"What are you guys talking about?" Peter asked in response.

"Oh, we're just getting to know about each other," Harold confidently replied back.

"O…Okay," Peter responded.

Then, Zarah asked Robert, "Is it true that Harold-kun is a prince and an escapee from Vanworth?"

"Yes, alongside his older sister," Robert replied back. "They're now living with the headmaster."

"What? Headmaster?" Zarah retorted in response. "But why? The Ruler could've provided a place to live for him and his older sister."

"Well, the Headmaster says so," Emma replied back.

"I see."

After that, Harold asked Robert for a battle.

"Oh really?" Robert responded back. "You want a battle with me?"

"Yes, so we, you know, test each other's strengths," Harold replied back.

Thinking about this, Robert eventually answered, "Sure, why not."

"Okay! Let's stop our wind magic training for now," Peter announced in response to this.

"Thanks, Peter-kun," Robert responded while smiling.

Not long after, Robert and Harold had a duel. William, Emma, Peter, and Zarah are watching this nearby.

"Be prepared," Harold said to Robert in positive coolness, "I had been training in secret when I was young. Originally, I did this to beat my eldest brother and outsmart him."

"Oh, okay then," Robert responded back. Then in a positive coolness, "Well, my lightning magic is a disadvantage to earth magic, but it's okay, it doesn't matter if I lose or not, as long as I enjoyed the battle."

"Alright then," Harold responded back. "Let's begin then."

And so, their duel began.

Harold placed his right hand on the ground, and shouted, "Earth Pillar!"

Then, pillars of earth sprang out of the ground, partially trapping Robert around.

But then, Robert summoned a sword made of lightning and managed to slice the pillars apart with speed.

"Woah, what?" Harold commented upon seeing that.

"It is a disadvantage on a surface level," Robert responded to this, "but in speed, it can be that strong."

To that Harold thought, "I didn't know that."

Then, Robert held his sword made of lightning real hard and charged towards the prince of Vanworth.

Harold then summoned a sword made of earth and clashed with Robert's sword, producing a loud clanging noise.

Both sides tried to push against each other, but Robert went a bit further and pushed through.

Harold tried to push back, but then, his sword of earth somehow broke through Robert's sword of lightning. And then, to prevent injury, Harold pulled back the sword as soon as Robert's lightning sword broke.

"What in the…?" Robert commented to this. "It's so strong."

William and the others are amazed to see that, with William commenting, "That earth sword is so strong!"

"No way!" Peter added.

Back at the battle, Robert panted heavily in exhaustion because he used most of energy in pushing against Harold.

But, like he said before, he actually enjoyed it, confirming it with a cool smile on his face.

"Wow, that was strong, Harold-kun," he said to Robert as he lets go of his now broken sword of lighting.

"Yeah, I trained up a lot," responded Harold back, "so I'm strong."