The dust settled. The echoes of their clash lingered in the air, a silent testant to the storm that had just passed.
Lucavion remained on his knees, his breathing heavy, but his smirk never fading. Blood stained the ground beneath him, his body marked with fresh wounds—yet, despite it all, his eyes burned with sothing fierce. Sothing unyielding.
Across from him, Thaddeus flexed his fingers slightly, rolling his shoulder as he examined the wound on his arm. A thin, clean cut—precise. Purposeful. Lethal, had it been just a fraction deeper.
He exhaled through his nose, golden eyes gleaming with sothing unreadable. He had suspected, of course. He had watched Lucavion fight before, had observed the way the young man carried himself, the way his blade never hesitated, the way he read his opponents with an instinct honed through sothing far beyond formal training.
But seeing it firsthand—feeling it—was different.
That black estoc of his was more than just a weapon. It was an extension of him, a mirror of his mind and soul. It did not simply strike—it spoke. Each movent, each shift, each calculated adjustnt—it was the language of soone who had never been allowed to fight for anything less than survival.
A swordsman like Lucavion did not fight for sport. He did not fight for pride.
He fought to kill.
He fought to win.
And more than that—
He enjoyed it.
That final mont, when he had let himself go, when the restraint had shattered and sothing deeper had erged—Thaddeus had seen it. That unhinged, terrifying smile. That spark of madness lurking beneath the refinent.
'This child was born for the blade.'
And, more importantly—
He had proved himself worthy of everything he had claid.
Thaddeus inhaled deeply, then exhaled, letting the tension in his body ease. He flicked the excess blood from his blade with a swift motion before lowering it.
Then—
He spoke.
"You are befitting of all that you have requested."
Lucavion chuckled, tilting his head up to et the Duke's gaze. "Oh? You doubted ?"
Thaddeus shook his head slightly, the ghost of a smirk tugging at his lips. "No word can speak clearer than the sound of a blade."
Lucavion let out a low, breathless laugh, amusent flickering in his dark eyes. "Now that—" He exhaled, adjusting his grip around his estoc as he finally pushed himself back onto his feet. "—is sothing I cannot agree with more."
Thaddeus watched as Lucavion straightened, rolling his shoulders despite the obvious ache in his body. He was bleeding. He was winded. He had been forced to his knees.
And yet—
He stood as if he had won.
Because in a way—he had.
A lesser man would have broken under such pressure. Would have faltered, lost control, succumbed to the overwhelming weight of battle.
But Lucavion?
He adapted.
Even mid-fight, he had learned. His movents had sharpened with every exchange, his footwork adjusting, his energy refining, his very presence shifting into sothing even deadlier than before.
'Give him a month, and he will have countered every technique I used against him today.'
The thought was almost amusing. Almost.
Because Thaddeus knew exactly what that ant.
Lucavion wasn't just talented.
He was dangerous.
Aeliana had chosen well.
Thaddeus exhaled again, rolling his wrist as he studied the young man before him. "You learn quickly."
Lucavion grinned, tilting his head. "Was that a complint?"
Thaddeus scoffed. "rely an observation."
Lucavion chuckled again, shaking his head slightly. "Well, I'll take it as one." He shifted his weight, his smirk turning just a touch more thoughtful. "You know, Mister Duke, for all your talk of 'testing' , I think you enjoyed that fight just as much as I did."
Thaddeus did not deny it.
Because, if he was being honest—
He had.
It had been a long ti since he had faced soone like this. Soone who did not simply fight, but understood the sword. Soone who could stand in the chaos of battle and thrive.
A rare breed of swordsman.
One that, perhaps, he had underestimated at first.
Thaddeus took a slow breath, the weight of his own words settling in his mind before he spoke them aloud. His golden eyes, sharp and unwavering, t Lucavion's dark gaze.
"You are befitting of all that you have requested," he repeated. Then, after a pause, his voice carried sothing heavier. "Including my daughter."
Lucavion's smirk faltered for just a second.
Thaddeus did not miss it.
"I tested you, Lucavion," the Duke continued, tone asured but firm. "Not just as a swordsman. Not just to see the extent of your skill." He tilted his head slightly. "I wanted to know if you could protect her."
Lucavion inhaled slowly, his fingers flexing around the hilt of his estoc. His expression remained unreadable, but Thaddeus could see the shift beneath his carefully crafted exterior.
"…And?" Lucavion finally asked, his voice smooth, but lacking its usual playful arrogance.
Thaddeus sheathed his sword, his golden eyes unwavering. "You have answered that question yourself."
Lucavion's smirk returned, slow and sharp. "Hah. You really do like making things dramatic, don't you, Mister Duke?"
Thaddeus exhaled through his nose, unimpressed. "And you deflect with humor when the subject gets too heavy."
Lucavion let out a low chuckle. "What can I say? It's a habit."
The Duke studied him for another long mont before shifting the conversation.
"Aeliana," he said.
Lucavion's posture straightened ever so slightly, his smirk dimming just a fraction. "What about her?"
Thaddeus clasped his hands behind his back, expression composed. "She is already gone."
Lucavion's gaze darkened. "Gone?"
"She has been sent to train," the Duke clarified. "It was always the plan. She needs to polish her control over her mana."
Lucavion remained silent for a mont, his fingers lightly drumming against his weapon's hilt. He wasn't surprised—he had expected sothing like this. But still…
"She didn't ntion it," he said, his voice quieter than before.
Thaddeus arched a brow. "Would you have let her go so easily if she had?"
Lucavion clicked his tongue, looking off to the side. "…That's a cheap assumption."
Thaddeus didn't press the matter. Instead, he continued.
"You were the one who cured her." It wasn't a question. It was a fact.
Lucavion's jaw tightened slightly. Then, after a mont, he nodded. "I was."
"Then you must have sensed it."
Lucavion exhaled. "Yeah."
Aeliana's mana had not simply returned—it had been forced back, flooding into her system like a dam that had been held back for too long. It was wild. Untad. More than what she should have been able to handle.
Sothing had concealed it for years. And now, with the seal broken…
Lucavion narrowed his eyes slightly.
"She's strong," he murmured. "But that mana isn't natural."
Thaddeus nodded, his expression unreadable. "That is why she must train. She needs to master it. Before it masters her."
Lucavion let out a slow breath, rolling his shoulders as he processed the information. Then, after a mont—
Lucavion exhaled, rolling his shoulders as if shaking off the weight of the conversation. Then, with his usual casual ease, he spoke.
"Well, if that's the case," he said, adjusting his grip on his estoc before slipping it back into its sheath, "then I suppose I no longer have any reason to stay here."
Thaddeus raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Lucavion nodded, already turning slightly as if preparing to leave. "I was staying in your mansion to look after Aeliana a little. Now that she's gone, I have no reason to."
Thaddeus' mouth twitched.
Lucavion, oblivious at first, continued, stretching his arms as he spoke. "I an, I did what I ca here to do. Kept an eye on her, made sure she was alright—y'know, spent so ti with her. Now that she's off training, there's not much else keeping here—"
His own words finally caught up to him.
Wait.
Wait, wait, wait.
Thaddeus' expression remained unreadable, but there was sothing dangerously neutral about the way he was watching him now.
Lucavion's mind whirred.
Had he… just implied he had been staying in the Duke's estate just to woo his daughter?
His own mouth twitched.
"I—wait. No. That's not what I—" He cleared his throat, quickly backtracking. "I didn't have such intentions."
Thaddeus said nothing.
Lucavion pressed on. "Really. If anything, Aeliana was the one who pushed down."
The Duke's golden eyes narrowed.
Lucavion froze.
Oh.
Oh no.
A slow, deliberate silence stretched between them.
Then, Thaddeus tilted his head slightly. "Are you saying my daughter is… an inappropriate lady?"
Lucavion opened his mouth—then shut it.
He opened it again.
Nothing.
Panic flickered in his mind for the first ti in years.
His options:
Deny it, which might sound like he was insulting Aeliana.
Admit it, which might get him murdered by the Duke.
Run.
…No, running wasn't an option.
Lucavion exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair, trying to gather himself. Then, finally, he spoke.
"…I am saying that Aeliana is very assertive in what she wants."
Thaddeus rely stared at him.
Lucavion sighed. "I should just stop talking, shouldn't I?"
Thaddeus nodded. "Yes."
Lucavion pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right. Noted."
----------A/N---------
Now it is Knight of the Wind's arc.
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