Chapter 313: The Swordsmanship Competition
Chapter 313: The Swordsmanship Competition
(From Blue's Perspective)
"The dress needed to be made in a very short time. But it is perfect," a maid said.
'Well, that's why she is my personal tailor. She is amazing.'
The maids were getting me ready for the event. It took a very long time as usual. I only sat down or stood up or turned whichever way they wanted me to.
The dress was black and my accessories were golden. Even though this world was very different than mine and it was not the modern time, there were a lot of great things here and people were not as outdated as I thought as per the standard in my world. Corsets were not mandatory. Some wore them because they wanted to. And there were also many women who did not wear them because they did not want to.
It was not like a woman would be shamed because her waist was not small enough.
After coming to this world, I perhaps wore a corset once or twice. Most of my dresses did not require a corset. I did not hate corsets. But wearing them made it hard for me to breathe and my doctor cautioned me not to wear too tight dresses because I sometimes had difficulty in breathing.
"Your Highness looks gorgeous!"
"Thank you. You all worked very hard," I smiled.
Dem came into the room after a while as I was putting some important things in my handbag. The bag was very little which the tailor said was made according to the dress. I was on my period and it was the first day. The cramps were pretty bad and it kept going on and on after taking a short break in between.
He stared at me for a while and then kissed me on the cheek. "You look beautiful," he said. "But are you sure you can walk in those heels?"
"I think so. Well, it is not that comfortable, but I think it will be fine. We are gonna sit there anyway," I said. "Don't worry."
Dem looked very handsome just as usual. But every time I saw him, I was taken aback. He was just too good-looking. I blushed and looked away, making sure I took everything I needed.
"You have cramps, right? I told you..."
"I know. I am not going because I need to, but rather because I want to," I said, cutting him off.
Seeing my bad condition because of the period crams, Dem suggested that I did not need to go. But I insisted. I truly was interested and excited.
We took the carriage because Kings and Queens always entered in this manner every year. Dem wanted to use teleportation, but I insisted. Well, I did not like carriages as well because they were too shaky. But I wanted to follow the tradition, this time.
"The carriage is making it worse, isn't it? We don't have to follow the damn tradition all the time. We don't need to," Dem grumbled.
"... I'm f-fine..."
"You are not. It's clear. Why are you lying?"
Dem massaged my lower stomach just like he did whenever I had period cramps. I leaned against his shoulder and closed my eyes.
"Really? Why do women need to go through something like this?"
"Well, it's only natural," I replied, without opening my eyes.
"For seven days? I hate it!"
"If we, women, did not have periods, then how would we become mothers? You see, it represents our ability to become a mother."
"What if someone doesn't want to be a mother? She has to face it too, right?"
"How will our body know if someone doesn't want to be a mother? She can just use condoms or other contraceptives. Our body is made this way and we can do nothing about it."
"If period comes to let you know that you can be a mother, then why doesn't it go away right after bleeding for a minute or two? Why does it have to be for seven or eight days? Does it make sense?"
"What kind of conversation are we even having right now? I got to admire your broad thinking. It's quite impressive and weird," I muttered.
"Period cramps are unnecessary. Let's say you will bleed for seven or eight days. But why do you have to endure cramps too?"
"It's the first and second day only..."
"Yet, you look like you are going to die. That's too much."
"Geez, calm down," I chuckled. "You don't have to get angry about it."
We reached within an hour. My waist hurt, but Dem had his hand around my waist to help me.
We saw Iris nearby. She bowed at us. Since we were in public, we were back to being formal with each other.
"Your Majesty looks stunning today," she commented. "The style of this dress is pretty different. One sleeve is up and the other one is down to the shoulder. Though it's black only, it looks gorgeous. And the gold accessories have enchanted the look."
"The duchess looks very beautiful as well," I smiled.
"Let us sit down, Your Majesty. The main event is right about to start now that Your Majesties are here."
I sat down beside Iris and Dem. Dem seemed bored. What did he even enjoy other than spending time with me? I was concerned for him. I might not be there the whole time. What if something happened to me?
I touched Dem's hand and clasped it tightly. In this life, I did not want to leave him. His mental state was not normal, but I did not care. I wanted to help him. I loved him. How could I even think of leaving him?
He still thought that I would leave him someday. But it did not matter anymore. I was ready to prove that I was not going to leave him, nor I was planning to do so. I just wanted a happy life with him. It would be great if we could grow old together and have kids and see them grow up.
He smiled at me at my gesture and leaned closer to me. I was excited about the competition, but that did not mean I would enjoy it when my husband looked so bored. I wanted to make sure that at least he did not have to feel bored the whole time.
"It's really noisy," I muttered.
"Yeah, my ears feel like they are going to burst. It's even hard for my mind since I can hear all of their thoughts. It's too chaotic."
'Ah, it is really hard for him.'
"You are wearing that ring?" I asked. Since he was wearing gloves, I could not see it myself.
"Yeah, I always do. It is quite an important thing," he said.
It was soon announced that the duke was entering the arena. The announcement was followed by a round of applause and cheering. Iris was screaming as well, which was quite amusing to see. It was her husband after all and everyone knew about Iris's behavior very well. So, no one was surprised.
"Are your ears okay, baby?" Dem asked, concerned.
"Yeah," I laughed. "I am fine."
Another guy from a marquis family entered the arena. They were going to fight against each other and the first one to lose their weapon would lose the match. In the final round, there were eight contestants. There would be four matches between each two of them. Then, there would be four of them left. There would be two more matches to get the last two standing.
After that, it was the final match.
Dem said the duke would be the winner.
"He is that good?" I whispered to him.
"He is. They are no match for him," he said. "I have seen him fight many times. He has got the physical strength as well as the techniques. Of course, he will win."
"Have you ever fought against him?"
"Yeah, once. I won. I am two inches taller than him and physically stronger than him as well. These things helped," he replied.
The duke won the match very easily. At this point, I was worried about Iris's voice. She was going to get a sore throat if she kept screaming like that.
I smiled seeing her happy face. 'I guess it doesn't matter even if she gets a sore throat. It's fine as long as she enjoys herself.'
"Dem, tell me more about each of their moves," I said, shifting my attention back to my dear husband. He seemed bored if I did not talk to him. "I want to know everything."
"Are you that interested?" he chuckled.
"Yeah, I want to know every single thing. I am learning swordsmanship after all. And you can be the best person to describe everything to me. Come on, I am listening."
"Haha, alright. So, the count's son's just tried to..."