In addition to the imperial family, each of the ducal families also wielded divine power. This was why they managed to rule their respective regions for so long. They were blessed by the gods. From what I observed just now, House Ritter’s divine power involved controlling the earth.
That was all I had time to think about, before the ground beneath me rumbled again. I moved just as another stone spike erupted out of the ground, almost skewing me. This pattern repeated itself several times, as stone spikes erupted out of the ground one after the other, while I evaded them to the best of my ability. Soon, the stone spikes filled the entire arena.
One of them managed to graze my body, though my Aura protected me. However, it still felt like an attack from another Aura Master. If one of those stone spikes hit me, I feared that it would pierce through my Aura. For a moment, I considered using the coldfire to fight back. However, I refrained for now. I wanted to see if I could beat her without it.
I tried to close the distance between myself and Lady Melitta, but she kept me at bay by summoning stone spikes. In fact, the rate at which she summoned them increased, and I had to keep moving to avoid getting hit. If I stopped for even a second, they would skewer me. As I ran around, avoiding the stone spikes, Lady Melitta studied me with a look of intense concentration on her face. It must have taken all of her focus to use her divine power like this.
After this went on for about a minute, I decided to take a risk. I leapt into the air and landed atop one of the stone spikes. My Aura kept it from piercing into my foot, though it still felt uncomfortable. Using the stone spikes as steps, I headed towards Lady Melitta. She watched me for several moments, before she let out a derisive snort.
The earth shook once again, before it split to reveal a deep chasm. I lost my footing and started to fall. If I didn’t do something, and soon, I would be in deep trouble. The fall itself didn’t bother me. However, I had no doubt that Lady Melitta would bury me alive once I hit the bottom. Even if she released me right after, it would still be my loss.
It was time to stop holding back.
When I first inherited the coldfire, back at Kaltbrand Castle, I spent a few days practicing and experimenting with it. The first thing I discovered was that the coldfire could freeze anything I wanted it to. It didn’t matter what it was. Wood, stone, fire, etc. It didn’t matter. As long as I willed it to, the coldfire would turn it to ice. This included air itself.
Before I fell more than a few feet, I summoned the coldfire and froze the air beneath me, forming a giant pillar of ice. I braced myself and landed on the pillar. Afterwards I pushed off the pillar and leapt towards Lady Melitta. I grinned at her as she stared at me in surprise. However, she soon snapped out of her shock.
The earth churned and several stone spikes shot out, flying right towards me. I summoned a gout of coldfire, freezing the stone spikes. They stopped in mid-air, their momentum arrested, before they fell back down to the ground. Lady Melitta summoned more to replace them, but I kept freezing them.
Moments later, I landed right in front of her. Lady Melitta roared and swung her mace at me. However, there was something different about this strike compared to her previous ones. It felt as if the weight of the world was behind it. My intuition told me that if I tried to block or parry Lady Melitta’s blow, it would go right through my defenses, including my Aura.
Instead, I used the coldfire to freeze her mace. This was tricky, since I also wanted to avoid freezing Lady Melitta. Despite everything, I doubted that she intended to kill me. I would give her the same courtesy.
The mace froze, turning into ice. This included the Aura that coated it. I swung my sword to meet the mace. The two collided for a brief second, before the top half of the mace shattered into countless frozen shards.
Lady Melitta stumbled forward, before she lifted the remains of her mace and stared at it. Silence fell over the arena as neither one of us moved or said anything. After several moments, Lady Melitta’s shoulders slumped and she let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
“I concede, Lord Wulfe.” She said. “I won’t be able to defeat you, not as I currently am.” She stared me right in the eyes. “However, make no mistake, I don’t intend to take this loss lying down. I will defeat you.”
I grinned at her.
“I look forward to you trying.” I said.
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The martial arts competition ended after that, since Lady Melitta and I destroyed the entire arena. Besides, even if we hadn’t, everyone else lost their fighting spirit. After witnessing the… sparring match between Lady Melitta and I, anything that came after would have looked paltry in comparison.
The only one who maintained his enthusiasm was Lord Kilian. As the servants packed away the furniture and the pavilion tents, he gazed at Lady Melitta and I with gleaming eyes.
“That was amazing.” He said to us. “Even if I were to die here and now, I would go to the afterlife without any regrets. Watching two wielders of divine power face each other in battle was like witnessing a legend come to life.”
Lady Melitta and I shared a glance at that, the exasperation in her eyes mirrored my own.
“Yes, yes, Kilian,” Lady Melitta said, “Why don’t you supervise the servants while they pack everything up? Lord Wulfe and I need to discuss something.”
Lord Kilian gave her a pitiable look.
“But Melitta-…” he started to say, but Lady Melitta cut him off with a sharp look.
Lord Kilian’s shoulders slumped, before he trudged off towards the others. Lady Melitta and I walked away, so we could have some semblance of a private conversation.
“I apologize for my brother’s behavior, Lord Wulfe.” She said. “Even though he’s a grown man, he acts like a child when it comes to Aura and divine power.”
I shrugged.
“I can understand his enthusiasm,” I said, “I’m the same way sometimes.”
Lady Melitta gave me an inquisitive look for a moment, before she shook her head.
“I imagine you’re curious as to why we invited you here, Lord Wulfe.” She said.
“The thought crossed my mind, yes.” I said in a deceptively mild tone.
“Well, since you defeated me, I will answer your questions.”
I gave her a skeptical look.
“Just like that?” I asked. “Why?”
Lady Melitta shrugged.
“Guilt for the most part.” She said. “Even though I objected to my aunt’s plan, I still went along with it.”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“You mean the Empress.” I said.
Lady Melitta nodded, her expression solemn.
“You angered Aunt Regina and Cousin Cornelius with your actions when you visited the imperial palace not too long ago.” She said. “So, they decided to punish you for it, and they chose me to be the instrument of your punishment.”
How petty could Prince Cornelius and the Empress be? I expected better from the imperial family. If I hadn’t already decided to not support Prince Cornelius, this would have pushed me towards that choice. The Reichwald Empire was better off without someone like him as the emperor.
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“So, what was the plan?” I asked. “Lure me here and then what? Trick me into sparring with you?”
“Yes.” Lady Melitta said. “The plan was to lure you into a false sense of security, before revealing my true strength and cripple you, or at least defeat you and humiliate you.”
My eyes widened at that. I expected something like the latter, but the former surprised me. This was an outright attack against the heir to House Kaltbrand. What were Prince Cornelius and the Empress thinking? This all but guaranteed that I, and House Kaltbrand, would turn against them. Maybe they realized that I never planned on supporting Prince Cornelius, and thus decided to deal with me.
“As I said, I objected to this plan.” Lady Melitta continued. “I found it underhanded. I wanted to defeat you without resorting to trickery. However, my father commanded me to give my full support to Cousin Cornelius, so I had little choice in the matter.” She spoke the next sentence in a sardonic tone. “It’s unfortunate that you figured out that I was an Aura Master before we fought, causing the plan to fail before it even began.”
From the expression on her face, it was clear that Lady Melitta’s words didn’t reflect her true feelings.
“And yet you resorted to using divine power during our… sparring match.” I said.
“Of course,” Lady Melitta said. “While I didn’t want to defeat you using underhanded means, I still wanted to defeat you. We aren’t friends, Lord Wulfe. In fact, given our families’ shared history, we’re the opposite. The only reason why I’m telling you anything is because I disagree with my aunt’s methods.”
“A shame, Lady Melitta,” I said, “In another time, in another life, perhaps we could have become friends. I find myself liking you, and your enthusiastic brother.”
Lady Melitta shook her head.
“No,” she said, “I like you as well, Lord Wulfe. However, just as a sword needs a whetstone to remain sharp, a worthy opponent can help a warrior hone and improve her skills. We’re better off as rivals.” She gestured to me. “Though, if you want to befriend Kilian, I won’t object. I know he would like that idea.”
Fair enough.
“What will happen now?” I asked. “I don’t imagine that the Empress and Prince Cornelius will be happy with your failure today.”
Lady Melitta scoffed.
“So what?” She asked. “Even if they saw fit to punish me, there are lines they can’t cross. After all, they need us more than we need them. I have more than one cousin.”
In short, if the Empress and Prince Cornelius went too far, House Ritter could always support Princess Henriette or Prince Jeremias.
“Now then,” Lady Melitta said, “I shall be heading off, Lord Wulfe. I look forward to our next match.”
With that, she walked off to join the others. I watched her go for a few moments, before I headed towards Sir Kane.
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Over the next few days, I kept myself busy with my various duties and tasks, which included attending social events. Lina and I often attended these together. Good thing too. While I enjoyed some of the social events, I found the rest tedious. If it weren’t for Lina, I would have been bored to tears. No wonder Dad spent all of his time in the Barrens. I didn’t understand how the central nobles, who spent their entire time participating in social events, didn’t go crazy.
I also started planning the party I would hold at Kaltbrand Manor, the one where I would propose to Lina. She offered to help me with it, but I declined. I wanted to do something for her through my own efforts. She called me silly, but didn’t press the issue.
Baron Kurz and the other servants were ecstatic about the party. After all, there hadn’t been any events at Kaltbrand Manor in decades. The party would be small, family and close friends only, but even so. They threw themselves into the preparations with great enthusiasm. I felt bad, since they were also busy with the redecoration of Kaltbrand Manor, but I couldn’t dissuade them.
Emmerich grumbled here and there about the party for form’s sake, but put in just as much work as the others. He didn’t need to, now that I knew who he was, but he said that he wanted to earn his keep since I was hiding him from the Tower of Magic.
Speaking of Emmerich, I told Maria and Sir Kane about his true identity. They were surprised at first, but soon accepted it. When I told them that the Tower of Magic was looking for him, and that was why he disguised himself, they promised to keep his true identity a secret.
Almost a week after my sparring session with Lady Melitta, I received a message from Father. He managed to secure the personal journal of Grand Sage Lambert, which we needed as bait to lure out Tower Master Katarina’s disciple, Valerie. I wasn’t surprised. When Father put his mind to it, there wasn’t anything in this world that he couldn’t get his hands on.
The message asked Emmerich and I to attend a family meeting at the House Guld townhouse. The two of us did as Father asked and arrived at early afternoon of the same day. It was a beautiful day out, so Father decided to hold the family meeting in the townhouse’s gardens.
The servants had laid out a table and some furniture underneath a pavilion tent. Afterwards, they brought out the refreshments, including tea. Everyone who attended the last family meeting was there, with the addition of Mika. She seemed happy to be included, especially after missing the last meeting. For the first few minutes, everyone chatted and caught up with one another, before Father called the meeting to order.
“Here,” he said, pulling out a leather bound tome with a dramatic flourish, “Is our bait.”
The journal was in remarkable condition despite its age. It was enchanted with magic, though I didn’t know which kind. Otherwise, nothing about the journal stood out to me.
“May I see it, Father?” Emmerich asked.
Father nodded, before handing the journal over. Emmerich flipped through it and studied its contents, before nodding.
“This is the real thing.” He said, placing the journal on the table. “With this, we can lure Valerie out of the Tower of Magic and capture her.” He frowned. “The problem is, I don’t know of any auctions that are occurring any time soon. We may have to wait a while before we can put our plan into action.”
Father waved off his concern.
“You don’t have to worry about that.” He said. “While I was busy securing the journal, your mother was dealing with the auction.”
We all turned to Mother, who sipped her tea with a smirk on her face.
“Rather than wait for an auction to occur,” she said, “Your father and I decided to host one of our own.” She smiled. “Of course, we worked through several proxies to prevent anyone from realizing our involvement.”
Everyone stared at her in surprise. Organizing and hosting an auction was no small feat, especially when working through a series of proxies. There were several factors to take into consideration, such as finding the right location, providing security for the event, and procuring items to be auctioned off. I studied Mother with newfound respect. Once again, I was reminded that she was once considered a contender for the throne. If things had worked out differently, she could have become Empress.
“I’m still in the middle of organizing everything.” Mother said. “However, it should all be ready within the next week. I’ve even sent out a few invitations.”
Wait a moment, she managed to put all of this together within two weeks? I’ll be honest, that frightened me a little.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Emmerich asked, skeptical. “If Valerie realizes that this is a trap, we may lose our chance to kidnap her. We would have to come up with a new plan to deal with the Tower of Magic. Maybe we should just wait for a real auction.”
Mother gave Emmerich a derisive look.
“Who do you think you are talking to?” She asked. “This is going to be a real auction. While the primary purpose of it is to lure out Valerie, I don’t do things in half measures.”
Emmerich looked abashed at her scolding and nodded in apology.
“If this is going to be a real auction,” Mika said, her eyes gleaming, “Does this mean there will be interesting items up for bid?”
This caught the attention of everyone in House Guld, including Lady Amalina, except for me.
“Indeed, Mika.” Mother said with a smile. “I won’t tell you the exact details, since I want it to be a surprise. However, I will say this, there will be all sorts of strange and esoteric objects available. After all, this is an auction to lure out a magician. I’m sure you’ll find at least one thing that will capture your eye.”
Mika wore an excited expression at this.
“In that case, we have our bait and our auction.” I said. “That just leaves the actual kidnapping. What’s the plan?”
Father shrugged.
“Simple.” He said. “After the auction, we’ll lure Valerie into a private area on the pretext of handing the journal over. Once she arrives, we subdue her.” He nodded in my direction. “We’ll be relying on you for that part, Wulfram.”
I nodded. While magicians were powerful, they fared poorly against Aura users in close quarters. Besides, I was an Aura master. Unless Valerie was a Grand Sage, she had no chance against me. Even then, I still had the advantage. However, that didn’t mean I could grow complacent.
“Given Valerie’s status within the Tower of Magic, she will have bodyguards accompanying her.” I said.
Emmerich pursed his lips in thought.
“Maybe not.” He said. “Valerie is confident in her own power, almost to the point of arrogance. She may come to the auction alone.”
Father shook his head.
“It’s better to assume the worst and prepare for it.” He said. “Tower Master Katarina isn’t an idiot, and I assume her disciple isn’t either.” He looked at me. “We’ll have some of our knights assist you, Wulfram.”
I almost suggested using the Coldsteel Knights, but decided against it. While I considered myself a member of both House Guld and House Kaltbrand, that didn’t mean I could use the latter’s resources on behalf of the former. If this was for something that affected both families, that would be a different story. However, this was a House Guld affair. It had nothing to do with House Kaltbrand.
“Very well, Father.” I said with a nod.
We then spent the rest of the afternoon, discussing the details of our plan and hammering out the flaws.