39. Sword To Sword

**Chester**

Christopher shook his head. “Y-Your Majesty, I think you might have misjudged me.”

“And since you will be stripped of your place,” I went on, not caring enough to give him a chance to talk over me. “As your legitimate heir, Ester Hermonia will be taking over as the head of the Hermonia family. That’s all I wanted to say. I’ll let you know when the court will be processing the transfer of possessions. I won’t interfere in your marriage with Mrs. Hermonia, so you can rest easy.”

His mouth was open to the point where it was larger than the tray the maid was still holding. I turned around and the maid lowered her head. I removed a glass from the tray and consumed the iced tea.

“Hm. This actually tastes good. What brand did you buy?”

“This is madness!” Christopher shouted. He shot to his feet. “King Chester, you have to agree that it’s not logical for a capable man like me to be insulted like this because of a girl!”

I drank it all until there was nothing left in the glass. My lips separated from the rim with a satisfied sigh. I smiled at the maid. “If you wrote down the name for me, I would be really thankful.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

With a short bow, she carefully placed the tray on a display table before jotting the information down on a notepad she retrieved from her apron. In the meantime, I slowly turned around to face Christopher.

His chest moved with each breath he took. His fingers curled into fists. No longer was he the well-put-together gentleman he liked to present himself as. This was a man who was losing control of the situation and wanted the ball back in his court.

I spoke to him, my tone as calm as the sea on a sunny day.

“Seeing as how you’ve conducted yourself when you think no one is looking, I’d say it’s not that crazy. I’ve received reports about how you treat your workers. Remember how you withheld payments and pressured them into working on their days off? How you verbally abuse them after you made them take a role they weren’t properly trained for, all so that you could save money? You don’t think that I came here to meet you without doing my homework first, do you? That’s pretty naive of you.”

“I-”

*“Did I permit you to speak?!”*

Christopher sealed his lips shut, body trembling.

I returned to a calmer manner of speaking. “Sadly I don’t see myself spending my money on you. I’m sure that you’ll be able to find another sponsor. Thank you for inviting me into your home. It’s beautiful.”

I was ready to leave. I’ve said what I needed to and see no reason to stay here any longer. My phone pinged with another message. I checked it, a smile spreading across my face.

“I need to go now. My bitch of a daughter is asking me to pick up donuts on my way home. Teenagers, am I right?”

He didn’t say anything. Smart choice.

I thanked the maid for the iced tea and for writing down the name for me. Minutes after leaving the mansion, my grin never dropped.

_______

**Ester**

Our swords produced a *clack* sound as they made contact. Jeffrey gritted his teeth, staring directly into my eyes.

“Give up already!” He said.

I smiled, sweat creasing my brow. “Why? Because you have noodles for arms?”

Just as he wished, I stopped trying to fight him so hard with the sword. Instead, I dropped to the ground and swept his feet out from under him.

“Not so fast! You’re not catching me off guard a second time!”

He leapt back before my shoes could make contact with his boots. His lips formed into a satisfied smirk.

“My Lady, I thought that you would be coming at me using your skills, not tricks.”

I got back on my feet. Jeffrey swung his sword around in a taunting gesture. I smirked.

“I prefer to call them ‘tactics’. Besides, you’re training to be a knight. Aren’t you supposed to be learning about battle techniques?”

“That’s only-”

Before he could finish his sentence, I charged at him. Jeffrey put up his guard. The blade of his sword reflected the sunlight. He held it in front of him like a protective shield. Big mistake.

I tilted the weapon in my hands, making it look like I was going to aim for his stomach. Just like I thought, he guarded that area. When there was only a short distance left between us, I threw the sword into the air.

Jeffrey’s focus shifted repeatedly between me and the sword. He knew that something was up but he didn’t know what. I twisted my body as I rushed past him and landed a flying kick directly to his lower back. He started to tumble. I thought I would win as long as I caught the sword in time and held it to his throat. Little did I know that Jeffrey was one step ahead of me.

Jeffry’s stance was more steady than I thought. My kick only caused him to take a step forward but not fall. He swiftly spun on his heels and positioned his sword, ready to strike.

I caught my sword and tried to create space between us by stepping back but it was too late. I ended up falling onto the ground. Jeffrey was unable to stop himself in the midst of his attack and ended up falling on top of me.

His knees were on either side of my legs. The sharp end of my sword touched the nape of his neck. We were both panting. Then we smiled and started laughing.

It was a peaceful kind of tension, a simple joke between two friends. Despite our competitive nature at no point was our sparring match filled with hostility. I grinned. “See? No tricks, just tactics.”

“Did I come at a bad time?” Someone said.

I spotted his black sneakers before I looked up to see his face. Sirius.