Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Whose Arrogance Shatters First

Freya’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the scene before her.

“What the hell are you teaching this child?” Her voice dripped with disdain. “You’re an absolute nuisance to society. I suggest you send her back to wherever you kidnapped her from.”

The girl who had been clinging to Amelia’s hand suddenly bolted. She ran straight to me and wrapped her tiny arms around my leg, squeezing tightly.

“I won’t leave!”

Her voice trembled but carried surprising determination.

I placed a hand on her head and looked at Freya with a smug expression. “See? The kid likes me. That’s the only reason she’s sticking around.”

I shrugged casually.

“As for that name, well, it’s a bit complex. She didn’t have one to begin with, so I decided to let her think of a name herself. Until then, if anyone asks, she can tell them that cute little phrase she just gave to Celestine.”

Freya opened her mouth but couldn’t form a proper response. Her composure had cracked just enough to leave her speechless.

I took advantage of her silence, turning my attention to the man standing behind her like a shadow.

“Now that I think about it, are you really a princess?”

My tone shifted to genuine curiosity.

“I mean, if you truly are, then that makes you one of the most important figures in the entire world. The Norvia Empire is the most dominant power on this continent, and your mother rules it all.”

My mind wandered through what I knew of this world’s politics.

Norvia was the most powerful and feared empire, primarily because of its unity. It operated essentially as a dictatorship, with the entire Astrea clan occupying the head positions of every major institution. Military, governance, commerce. All of it under one bloodline’s control.

However, there existed an even more powerful nation to the west. Rhelthas.

If that empire ever decided to conquer others, they could accomplish it with terrifying ease. Their territory was vast. Their strength was overwhelming.

But they could never act on that potential.

Internal conflicts plagued them constantly. Ancient rivalries festered between their dominions, bound together only by a sacred vow and an uneasy stalemate born from their own civil wars.

They couldn’t participate in external warfare unless their territory was directly threatened. If war ever did break out, the ceasefire would lift, the vow would become meaningless, and before they could even think about conquering foreign lands, Rhelthas would tear itself apart in civil war.

All that bottled anger from years of forced peace would explode inward first.

But returning to the matter at hand.

“Here’s my confusion,” I continued, studying Freya carefully. “I’ve never seen you accompanied by royal guards. Not once. Even Celestine, who comes from a comparatively small kingdom, was always protected by guards and surrounded by servants back in Norvia.”

I gestured at the lone man behind her.

“But you? I’ve never seen anyone with you. In fact, I even mistook you for a commoner when we first met.”

I scratched my chin dramatically.

“So this doubt has been plaguing me for quite some time. And seeing this single poor solitary guard today brought it all rushing back.”

I adopted a theatrical pose.

“So which is it? Are you some poor damsel whose parents were shocked to witness a failure during birth? Did they look upon you and cry out to the heavens, ’Oh gods, what have you done? This cannot be!’”

I stroked my chin thoughtfully.

“Or perhaps you were touched by someone? A tragedy befell you? Which tale should I go with? I’m genuinely curious.”

I watched anger form on her forehead. Veins bulged slightly beneath her skin. But her face remained perfectly composed, carrying absolutely zero expression.

She was a master at controlling her emotions.

The person beside her, however, was not.

He was hissing through clenched teeth and started closing the distance between us. Murder radiated from his eyes.

“I didn’t command you to move.” Freya’s voice cut through the tension like a blade. Rogers froze mid-step.

“My lady, but he—”

“Just leave it.”

She turned to face me directly, and I could see the storm barely contained behind those cold eyes.

“Listen, you assho—”

She caught herself, swallowing the word.

“Take all your assumptions, all your pathetic little tales, and shove them back up your a—”

“Ahh…” She suddenly coughed, clearing her throat awkwardly.

“Look,” she continued with forced composure, “I had my reasons for not accompanying servants or royal escorts back in your village. And even now, I am accompanied only by my butler Rogers because of the specific rules of this land.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Oh, how could I forget how monumentally ignorant you are? You didn’t even know the rules of the very tournament you participated in, let alone the rules and politics of Azuredel.”

She crossed her arms.

“But to keep it brief, this land operates under its own set of laws. They treat everyone as equals. No special treatment for anyone. Thus, even a prince or princess is nothing more than a commoner within these borders.”

A hint of bitter amusement crossed her features.

“We can even be bullied by commoners here. Well, if they’re insane enough to try.”

She gestured at Rogers.

“What I’m telling you is that we receive no special treatment here and are not permitted to bring our own staff due to these same principles.”

Her tone shifted to something more dangerous.

“And you see my butler Rogers? He is far more capable than an entire army of royal order. He was always watching from the shadows, aware of your every action. If I hadn’t stopped him today, you would have died before even seeing your results.”

From beside me, Amelia’s voice chimed in cheerfully.

“Oh my, why did you stop him then? It would have been quite entertaining to watch his ass getting beaten.”

I spun toward her with betrayal written across my face. “Hey! You can’t just switch sides against your own master!”

She hissed back without missing a beat. “Who told you that you’re my master?”

Watching our verbal sparring match, Freya commented dryly, her eyes locked onto Amelia with analytical interest.

“You certainly possess some crazy summons. Just like master, like summon, I suppose.”

BEEP.

An alarm echoed across the square, followed by a magically amplified announcement.

“The results are now live!”

Neither Freya nor I showed any particular excitement to check. But Celestine, who hadn’t even participated in the tournament, was absolutely fixated on the projections.

“Let’s go!” She grabbed at our sleeves eagerly. “Freya! Eren! Let’s see your ranks!”

Freya remained rooted in place. “I don’t need to.”

I scoffed loudly. “Oh, thinking so highly of yourself? Know this, I could have beaten your ass if I actually wanted to. So consider it a gift that I handed you first place.”

She didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, her voice came out quieter than before.

“I said I don’t need to check because I will only feel ashamed of myself.”

I blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

She let out a heavy sigh. “I lost to a girl in the finals.”

My brain struggled to process her words. Freya was supposed to be the strongest participant by a considerable margin. Who could possibly defeat her? More importantly, who could break her pride this thoroughly?

“You’re not joking, right?”

Before she could answer, Celestine had already lost patience with our conversation. She sprinted off toward the projection, disappearing into the crowd of anxious examinees.

Freya gestured for Rogers to follow and protect her.

Then she turned back to me.

“I lost. Lost because of my overconfidence and how lightly I took the match at the start.”

She paused, and something vulnerable flickered in her eyes.

“But if I’m being completely honest, she would have overpowered me even if I had given my absolute best.”

A grin spread across my face hearing about her defeat. I adopted an exaggerated pose of righteous fury, scanning the crowd dramatically.

“Who was it?! Who broke my dear friend so completely that her ego and confidence lie shattered?!”

I raised my fist to the sky. “Show yourself, you commoner! You dirt! Face me!”

Before Freya could respond to my theatrics, Celestine’s voice rang out from the crowd.

“Freya!”

She was waving her hand enthusiastically. The horde of people around her had recognized her royal status and parted to give her space.

“I found your name! Congratulations! You secured second position with one hundred twelve points!”

Time passed as she continued searching.

Then she waved again.

But this time, her expression wasn’t jolly. It was sad. Worried.

“Eren…” Her voice carried across the square with hesitation. “I didn’t find your name anywhere on the list.”

Shock rippled through me.

I scanned from Freya to Amelia, searching for some explanation. Then I forced a laugh.

“Relax. Celestine is naive and a bit dumb. She probably just missed my name somewhere.”

I waved dismissively.

“Or maybe her height didn’t let her reach up to see the top spot properly.”

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