Chapter 6: The Weight Of A Handshake

The steps of Yelena, who confidently challenged Sian to a duel and returned to her dormitory after a clean defeat, were heavy.

She had thought that her skills were no longer inferior to anyone else.

At least, she believed that there was no one among her peers who could be her match.

Was it all just her own arrogant delusion?

Even with the support of the Frost family, she had never rested for a single moment.

Was she ultimately just a frog in a well?

“You have returned, my lady.”

Ignoring the maid who spoke with her usual indifferent expression, Yelena lay down on the bed with a heavy heart.

As she lay down, a strange sense of lethargy enveloped her entire body.

Yelena did not resist it and closed her eyes, only roughly unbuttoning her top.

“Sigh…”

With a complicated mind, as she closed her eyes, the image of Sian pointing her sword at her came to mind.

Even within the [Winter’s Boundary], the Stigmata of the girl who steadfastly held her sword shone.

Unshed regrets lingered in her mind.

What if she had evaded instead of blocking when Sian swung her sword?

What if she had regained her senses a little faster?

What if she had quickly moved back when she activated her Stigmata?

Meaningless hypotheticals kept surfacing.

Even when she tried to forget by thinking of other things, the conclusion always came back to regret about what she could have done differently in the duel.

And at the end of those regrets, there was always the student named Sian.

A girl with a rather cute impression, with uncommon black hair and amethyst-like eyes.

However, unlike her harmless appearance, the girl’s sword was that of someone who had gone through countless real battles.

Cute appearance and mismatched swordsmanship.

That gap seemed to have engraved Sian in her mind.

And the words from their first meeting.

The compliment she had never heard before, that she was so beautiful that Sian couldn’t take her eyes off her.

“Am I, that pretty…?”

Yelena was certainly aware that her appearance was beautiful.

However, Yelena, who had only ever trained with the sword, did not know that one could be captivated by someone simply because of their beautiful appearance.

She stared blankly into the mirror for a moment.

“…Ah.”

And then, a beat later, embarrassment hit her.

As she recalled how she had reacted to such a compliment, a strange heat rose to her cheeks.

“Ugh…”

In front of others, Yelena Frost had to show a perfect appearance.

Because the world was a place where the weak were preyed upon.

Because neither law, nor wealth, nor army could protect her at all times.

The law of the jungle did not apply only to monsters.

But why?

Why did the hidden parts of herself keep surfacing in front of this girl named Sian?

What was even worse was that even while thinking such thoughts, the regret about the duel did not disappear.

Covering her eyes with her arm, Yelena lay there for about thirty minutes trying to shake off her thoughts.

In the end, she ruffled her hair and got up again.

It was a strange feeling.

It should have been a humiliating and infuriating situation.

But why did she feel a strange feeling towards this student named Sian?

Somehow, she felt that this girl, who showed her pure goodwill, wouldn’t push her away even if she was like this-

Slap-

Yelena Frost gritted her teeth and slapped herself.

“Get a grip, Yelena Frost.”

Her cheek stung, almost painfully.

Along with it, the soft feelings that had been rising in her heart disappeared completely.

With her characteristic expressionless face, Yelena muttered as she looked in the mirror.

“You lost the duel, what are you doing smirking to yourself?

You shouldn’t be doing this, for the sake of your deceased parents.”

As she closed her eyes, the memories of her childhood came to mind.

Her mother had sacrificed her own life to protect her, who was weak.

Her father had sacrificed his own life to draw the attention of the monsters away from the place where she was hiding with her mother.

The knights of the family who were guarding the carriage had willingly given their lives to buy her time to hide.

And she, who survived, swore in front of their bodies.

As her parents had wished, she would become the guardian of the North who would not be broken by anyone.

If the world was governed by the logic of the survival of the fittest, then she would become the strongest of all.

So, she would take revenge on the monster that had devoured her parents.

She would prove that the sacrifice of the two who tried to save her was not in vain.

“You swore an oath.

You can’t let yourself get loose.”

Her voice was filled with a hint of madness.

The girl gritted her teeth and slowly opened the drawer of her desk.

At the same time, the sound of gears rubbing against each other could be heard.

Yelena’s calloused hand slowly fumbled for the key at the top of the drawer and took it out.

“My lady, it is time for your medicine.”

“…I know.

Don’t call me.”

Unlike other dormitories, it was a desk that she had brought directly to the academy by using the power of the eldest daughter of the Northern Duchy.

Yelena opened the keyhole in the corner and carefully took out a vial of medicine.

A pink liquid with a mysterious glow shimmered in the small, fingernail-sized vial.

Elixir, the miraculous potion that could revive even a person on the verge of death.

She downed the elixir in one gulp and frowned at the burning sensation in her stomach.

“About three years left, I suppose.”

The girl who had thrown the vial into the trash can spoke of her remaining time in a dull voice.

Her parents, Elysia Frost and Evan Frost, were never weak people.

They were the heads of the Frost family, which operated on a thorough meritocracy.

Even those two were unable to withstand the attack of the monster, so there was no way that Yelena Frost, who was only nine years old at the time, could have been unharmed.

Although she miraculously survived, Yelena Frost had suffered a wound too great.

Even the miraculous potion called the elixir could only postpone her demise.

“…I’m running out of time.”

Yelena muttered and slowly closed the drawer.

With the power of the Northern Duchy, they might be able to find a way to cure this disease.

But Yelena couldn’t reveal that she was terminally ill.

The Frost family, the sword that protected the North, had no reason to support Yelena, who would die after graduating from the academy because she was terminally ill.

So Yelena didn’t tell anyone that she was terminally ill.

Except for Beatrice, her personal maid who had been with her for ten years.

Therefore, she didn’t have much time left.

“So, please get a grip, Yelena Frost.

You’ve been doing well for the past ten years.”

It was difficult for a nine-year-old girl, who was still at an age to crave affection, to cut off everything and only swing her sword.

So the young Yelena swung her sword obsessively.

When she wanted to rest, she would recall her parents who had died miserably before her eyes.

‘If I put down the sword, I will end up like them too.

I will be miserably defeated by the strong and die horribly.

If I stop now, I will suffer the same fate.’

‘If you don’t want to end up like that, swing your sword.’

Yelena repeated it to herself as if brainwashing herself.

Until she discarded everything unnecessary to become stronger.

“…So, I can’t stop.”

For the sake of her parents, who had devoted their entire lives to a mere 20-year lifespan, Yelena had to avenge her parents.

So she had to prove that her parents’ miserable deaths were not in vain.

“In the end, the only thing that can protect me is my sword.”

Repeating the words she had told herself countless times over the past eight years, Yelena slowly got up.

“Beatrice.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Send anyone who comes looking for me away.

If it’s urgent, tell them to come to the training hall.”

“Understood.”

Yelena washed herself lightly and changed her clothes.

As she had done for the past eight years, she buried the soft feelings that arose whenever she thought of Sian deep in her heart.

Unaware that her suppressed emotions had already reached their limit, Yelena left the dormitory with an emotionless expression.

Vowing not to be shaken any further from now on.

…She definitely thought so.

“Ugh…”

Looking at Sian’s outstretched hand, Yelena felt the heat rising to her face again.

It was that feeling again.

A strange sensation she had never felt before, a pure emotion untainted by anything.

To the girl who had lost both her parents in the carriage attack and had abandoned everything, pure goodwill was too unfamiliar.

Yelena unknowingly blushed.

She had to maintain her expressionless mask, but she couldn’t control the heat rising to her face.

Yelena’s lips trembled at the complex emotions she felt for the first time in front of others.

In that state, she carefully pondered Sian’s words.

“Friend…”

Friend.

It was an unfamiliar word to the broken girl who had only lived for the sword and had lost her social skills.

Yet, somehow she liked the warm atmosphere that the word ‘friend’ gave.

Excusing herself by saying that this was just to spar with Sian again.

“Um, if…

if you were uncomfortable…”

“No.”

Yelena Frost took the outstretched hand.

The hand of a girl her age, which she was holding for the first time, was quite soft.