"Which one do you need for sparring?" Luella asked, taking a deep puff of her cigarillo.
Her eyes fluttered shut for a brief moment, and a look of pure relief spread across her face as the warm, soothing sensation filled her chest and throat.
It had been far too long since she'd felt that comfort.
The sharp, acrid scent of tobacco hung in the air, making Ardyn's nose twitch.
"Why the hell does she like smoking that much?" he mumbled, suppressing the urge to gag as he glanced at her blissful expression.
He suppressed the frown and shifted his gaze to the knights running around the ground.
They look as if they're going to die - he thought as he looked at them.
Their faces were pale, drenched in sweat, and their mouths hung open as they gasped for air.
Their wide, desperate eyes held a hollow look, as if they were barely clinging to life.
After scanning the group, Ardyn raised his hand and pointed to three individuals.
"I need that burly knight, that lean boy, and that tall girl."
Luella's brows lifted in surprise as she exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Are you going to spar with three of them at once?"
"Why?" he asked, turning back to her with a confident glint in his eye.
"You think I can't win."
Before she could answer, his lips curled into a smirk. "Shall we make a bet then?"
"If I win, I get to spar with the knights whenever I want. If I lose, I'll get you two packs of cigarillos every day—without Mother finding out."
Luella's eyes squinted in suspicion, the cigarillo resting lazily between her fingers as she stared him down.
Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she tilted her head slightly, studying his expression.
She took another drag, exhaling slowly as she mulled over the terms.
Really, she didn't have anything to lose.
If he won, it wouldn't make a difference to her. If he lost, two packs of cigarillos a day? That was a win in her book.
After a moment, she flicked the ash off her cigarillo and shrugged.
"Alright, deal."
After that, Luella called over the three knights, her tone brisk and commanding.
"You three, you're sparring with him," she said, pointing toward Ardyn.
The knights exchanged confused glances but didn't dare to question her.
Before they could linger on their confusion, her voice cut through sharply.
"You have to win. If you lose..." Her tone dropped, heavy with warning, as her eyes narrowed.
"You'll be getting special training from me."
The air around them seemed to tighten, and the knights stiffened under the weight of her words.
Their faces went pale, dread flashing in their wide eyes as the implications sank in.
"We won't lose!" they blurted out in unison, their voices trembling with a mix of fear and forced determination.
Luella's lips curled into a faint smile as she leaned back in her chair, taking another puff of her cigarillo.
"Good," she said simply, exhaling a curl of smoke.
It's better for me if they give it their all - Ardyn thought, his eyes narrowing as he took in the scene.
That's exactly what he needed.
If he could win against the three of them while they were putting everything they had into the fight, his mastery in skills would improve faster without doubt.
***
After changing into fitted clothes like the knights, Ardyn stepped into the sparring ring, gripping the wooden katana in his right hand.
"Greetings, young lord!"
The knights bowed as he entered, straightening only after he gave them a brief nod.
He couldn't see them clearly earlier when they were running laps, looking like corpses, but now, as they stood opposite him, their features came into sharp focus.
The first was a burly man with a muscular build, holding a wooden longsword.
Beside him stood a lean boy gripping a wooden blade, and on the other side, a tall woman stood steady, clutching a wooden spear.
Though their expressions were calm, Ardyn could see their emotions clearly, thanks to his ability—Threads of Emotion.
Are they angry because they're being used as my training dummies? - he wondered, noticing the faint red threads extending from them to him.
Even if they were angry about being used, it wasn't like they could do anything about it.
He was the son of the Duke, the young lord of the Haze household. They were just knights.
They're trying so hard to hide it - he thought, suppressing a smirk.
And..
"They're more afraid of her special training than facing me," he mumbled, his eyes flicking to the dark gray thread stretching between the knights and Luella.
It pulsed with dread, heavier than their anger.
Outside the ring, Luella leaned back in her chair, puffing her cigarillo lazily, while the other knights watched everything unfold with curious expressions.
"Do you think he can actually beat all three of them?" one knight asked, his brow furrowed with skepticism.
"I'm not sure," another whispered, shaking his head. "There's never been any talk about the young lord's skills—or if he even has any."
"Yeah," a third chimed in, voice low. "If he was a prodigy or had some hidden ability, we'd have heard by now. Word travels fast about things like that."
Whenever a genius or prodigy was born, or someone achieved something extraordinary, the news spread like wildfire.
But when it came to Ardyn, the only rumours that circled about him were of his strikingly handsome features and his sharp, intimidating personality.
Their murmurs came to an abrupt halt when a heavy, oppressive aura radiated from Luella, silencing the crowd with its sheer weight.
Ardyn tapped twice on his Arcband, bringing up his skill stats.
After a quick glance, he decided to focus on improving his space-related skills first.
———
• Space
— Gravity Field [Mastery - 63]
Erects a zone of increased gravity that slows enemies and their attacks.
— Implosion [Mastery - 45]
Collapses all spatial energy in a concentrated area, resulting in a devastating implosion.
— Void Shell [Mastery - 70]
Encases the user in a protective sphere of spatial energy that absorbs damage.
———
Raising his wooden katana, Ardyn signaled the start of the match.