''Shut up!''

Edwin gritted his teeth. The bottom of his heart boiled in fury just at the smug sight of his fourth sister's face. He was supposed to be the one doing that face, not her, the weakling.

Yet here he was, receiving what his fourth sister had normally received....from her at that.

Oh how the tables had turned in an instant....against him!

'I can't last much longer....' Edwin bit his lower lips in frustration. To maintain the right sufficient amount of aura, and also to direct an attack with the flames was very hard for him. His tutor had always cautioned that there must be a balance between the two. If not, his attack could backfire at himself.

Exactly what was happening to him at the moment. The aura protecting him from the heat had long been depleted. Now his actual body was suffering the flaming heat.

If he had known this would have been the outcome of using the elemental skill, he wouldn't have used it in the first place.

He would have just killed his fourth sister with his normal swordsmanship.

Edwin's expectations were for his fourth sister to have died during his first attack. His fourth sister was a weakling, so Edwin had predicted to have finished at the beginning of the battle.

Yet...here she was...alive and breathing....with a smug look directed to himself.

'I'll get you for this!' Edwin glared at her hatefully. The other hand without the sword curled to a tight fist. If he had known, he would have listen to his tutor and not his mother.

His tutor had warned him never to use such skill as he had not gotten his aura as a mid-rank swordsman under full control yet.

To advance in swordsmanship, the aura must be fully under control without a flaw. Something that Edwin had not achieved yet.

Even if he was a medial mid-rank, about to undergo a breakthrough, it never changed that he was still mid-rank.

A mid-rank swordsman was still the same as low-rank swordsman. The only difference was the amount of aura. As his father's son, he must never be low in the eyes of others.

His mother had always told him that.

''Ugh...'' Edwin released a subtle groan. His gaze lowered to the sight of his fingers holding his sword. His flesh had been burnt to some extent, and the pain wasn't something that he could brush off.

Forcefully tearing his gaze away from the horrible and bloody sight, Edwin focused his eyes on his fourth sister that seemed to be patiently waiting for him.

Why? He wonders.

If he was his fourth sister, this moment would have been the best time to finish him off. Yet, she stood and watched him....quite calmly as though there weren't currently in a life and death battle.

'Are you looking down on me?' Was she pitying him? Was she scared to kill him?

'Ah...' Edwin smirked to himself. In the end, his fourth sister was a weakling thorough and thorough. Rather than finishing him off, she was hesitating.

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'A foolish mistake...' Edwin thought to himself. If he had been the one, he would have taken such opportunity.

Meanwhile, the patience of the said weakling has already reached her limits.

'I should just kill him now...' Raven finally wanted to end her little play and finish Edwin's life. Her eyes had sharply caught many open weaknesses on Edwin's body. It was only because of the little patient within her that she had been waiting for an attack till now.

But...she couldn't wait anymore! To begin with, she was an impatient person from the start. Edwin's pitiful sight was even becoming an annoyance in her eyes.

'....?' Dismissing her thoughts aside, Raven noticed something odd about this fourth elder brother of hers. Why exactly was Edwin looking behind her?

His gaze kept on going behind her, and that was questionable to Raven. Other than herself and Edwin, there was no one in within this barrier.

But if they were talking about outside, Edwin's gaze seemed to be focused in the direction where she came from. The spot where she and Jane stood before the start of the life and death and battle.

Wait...Jane!

Raven realized where Edwin was looking at, without turning around to trail his gaze. The only person who she was sure of that was standing right over there was Jane. The worried of gazes of maid had been very obvious, even during the battle.

'What---' Raven wasn't able to complete her thoughts as Edwin suddenly held out his sword, pointing towards Jane outside the barrier.

'Huh?' Raven stood a bit dumbfounded and watched how the swirling fire around the blade of the sword extended, aiming towards the same of direction. It blazing heat passed by her side, and aiming for herself.

'Why?' Raven was suddenly lost.

Why was Edwin directing his attack towards that place?

Why was Edwin aiming at Jane and not herself who was his opponent for this battle?

Did Edwin not know that there was a barrier?

Raven had all these questions appearing one after the other in her head.

However....

A question overwhelmed all as it was something that she did not understand as someone confident in her intelligence.

Most of all...why was she hurrying towards that spot in front of Jane who Edwin was aiming for? This was the question that Raven asked herself, as her body was moving exactly as her words.

''Young lady!'' Jane's scream followed as her eyes and little figure welcomed the fierce flames of the fire. Before that, she noticed the arrogant tug on Edwin's lips.

'Ah...' Raven realized what just happened. This brat just played her. Something so simple yet complicated for her to understand.

At the same time, she also realized that none of Edwin's attack had touched the barrier. He only aimed towards her, but the fire had never come in contact with barrier. He had precise control on who and where to aim his attack at, making her to suddenly dwell in thoughts.

Did Edwin know about the barrier?

Or

Did he not know about the barrier?

What was with this confusion?

Unfortunately, Raven did not have time to ponder on such as her entire body was engulfed in the blazing flames of Edwin's attack.

'I've played too much...' With a thin yet cold smile on her lips, her ruby eyes suddenly had a sharp glint, glowing in fury.

****

''Did you notice that Hibro?'' Above the flames engulfing Raven was the Grand duke indifferently watching all, and Hibro respectfully standing behind him.

''If your excellency is talking about the fourth young lady's eyes, then yes, this servant noticed them.'' The butler replied with a nod. As someone who has served the Grand duke for a very long time, he had always been sharp to certain things.

Such as the power inherited through the blood of the Langston family.

Right now...it seemed the fourth young lady has awakened hers...or has yet to awaken the power. She might be using the power unconsciously. The sharp glow in her eyes told him of such guesses.

Perhaps the danger she felt awakened little of the power within her. If the fourth young lady was in actual danger, Hibro guessed that she would awaken all of it.

She would only be behind the second young master who awakened his at the age of seven. That is, if the power comes alive within her at this age of hers.

'She will come out alive...' Hibro guessed with narrowed eyes on the body engulfed in the flames within the barrier.

If the fourth young lady had unconsciously used that power, then Hibro had not doubt that she would definitely come out alive from this battle.

Besides, those words from the head maid had already stamped his guesses.

''The winner has already been decided, your excellency.'' Hibro remarked, shifting his gaze to the grand duke that made no reaction to his daughter burning in flames.

''Hmm...Prepare the papers for the Imperial academy, Hibro.'' Red eyes like ruby, flashed with sharp glow, just like Raven's. ''The training needs to start soon.''