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He was the first man whom she lost to and was the first one to humiliate her in all her life.

Ever since then, Delphine sat idly for days as she recalled the memories of that day.

Her opponent was injured with only one usable arm and was exhausted from having just defeated a named beast. Her group succeeded in ambushing them, and the possibility of ‘defeat’ didn’t even cross her mind.

Despite that, she had lost.

There was nothing wrong with her strategy. Her plan was a bit underhanded, but it eliminated as many variables as possible and carried her to the verge of victory.

There was only one variable that she forgot to take into consideration.

It was Ian Percus. She had grossly underestimated his skills.

It wasn’t her first time battling him. At that time, she was surprised by his decisiveness and had thought that he would shine even more in an actual battle.

However, the Ian she faced on the day of the hunting festival proved that her evaluation was an underestimation in comparison to how skilled he actually was.

Everything happened in an instant.

Fermin had his nose ripped off and was left unable to battle. Olmar was defeated by one of the Holy Land’s secret techniques and even Aisha was incapacitated by a skill from the Sword Circle.

Up until that point, Delphine stood as still as a statue. To Delphine, who thought Ian would collapse at any moment, each scene came as a shock.

It went beyond her understanding of Ian’s skill. He was a completely different person on the battlefield.

She was aware of his terrifying competitiveness and violent tendencies, but the usage of the Church and Sword Circle’s secret techniques wasn’t something she accounted for.

Those were skills that could never be passed on to outsiders. She was left wondering how it was possible.

But before she could find the answer to that question, she first had to face the man in battle.

At first, it seemed like Delphine had the upper hand. No matter how much stronger he was in actual battle, there was still a clear difference in skill. Not only that, he had to fight with just a single arm.

Delphine soon regained her composure. The whole situation was unexpected, but she felt it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.

It happened right at that moment.

Space distorted around her. Seria ambushed her from behind, and the man, with a dagger held in his mouth, followed through with a charge.

The dagger reached her throat, and upon seeing it, she was struck speechless. It was the dagger she had given him.

It was her complete defeat.

It was her very first defeat, and there was no excuse she could give. It was the result of her mistakes and her lacking skills.

As such, she thought smoothly stepping down and admitting her defeat.

If only the hatchet hadn’t come slashing down on her shoulder.

A sickening crunch pervaded her ears and shook her brain as she felt her shoulder cartilage shatter. A feminine scream soon followed. It had been a long time since she had let out a scream like that.

The sudden pain turned her head blank. No, if it was just the pain, she would have been able to endure it.

The thing that terrified her was the fact that she couldn’t resist no matter what he did.

Her opponent didn’t care for any circumstances, whether it be the difference in noble status or that they were both students of the Academy. In other words, it was completely possible that he would actually kill her. Her first defeat, the pain, and the fear of death that followed clouded her mind.

So, she desperately begged for forgiveness.

Then, for the next few days, she bottled up her emotions and lived with the disgrace of pathetically pleading for her life constantly stabbing at her mind. The tumultuous emotions ignited a small spark in her heart, and over the few days, the spark grew into a raging fire that drove her mad.

The humiliation of that day wasn’t something a proud noble lady such as herself could endure. Losing was bad enough, but begging for her life while shrieking like a weak, little girl?

Delphine felt that death was better than living with such humiliation, and no matter how much she tried to douse the raging fire in her heart with water and alcohol, it refused to go out.

Nightmares of that scene kept her up all night. Then, after many days of thinking, Delphine Yurdina came to a conclusion.

That all she needed to do was to fight him again.

Although the painful history of her pathetically begging for her life wouldn’t be erased, she figured she would at least be able to overwrite her embarrassing loss. That was all she wanted before she actually went mad—to cover up the scars and shame of her defeat with a victory.

And if that wasn’t possible, death didn’t seem so bad.

She was desperate and wasn’t in the right state of mind when she wrote her letter to Ian. It was a new low for her to threaten her junior using her family name.

But driven into a corner, Delphine lost all semblance of self-control. She stood in front of Ian, prepared for death in the worst-case scenario.

Then, she lost.

It was a total defeat. Her sword didn’t even come close to grazing him and her illusory sword––her pride and joy––was completely overpowered by Ian’s own.

It was the moment her pride, as both the successor of the Yurdina family and a swordsman, was shattered into a million pieces.

Then, she was subjected to raw, brutal violence. Screams erupted from her mouth together with spurts of blood. She wanted to beg him to kill her instead.

Even then, she endured. She swore to never repeat such shameful behavior. However, her resolve snapped with the words that were completely out of her imagination.

“…….Death is too lenient of an end to your life.”

Delphine’s eyes turned blank.

“Yurdina. You probably know, right? Wounds caused by mana are difficult to heal even with divine power. Of course, there are high-rank priests at the Academy so you’ll probably be okay to an extent……..”

A silver haze enveloped his blade.

“…….But what do you think would happen if I stab your arm with this aura? And what about the legs as well?”

“W-what are you trying to do?”

Even after hearing Delphine’s voice trembling in fear, there was no change in the man’s golden eyes.

He was emotionless and cold. It was what truly broke her spirit.

Delphine couldn’t remember much after that. By the time she came to her senses, she was already on her knees with her head planted on the ground.

She swore she would never repeat the past, but in the end, she yielded once again.

The memory of that day turned into thick, blackened mud that tainted both her mind and heart.

Her entire pride and self-esteem were smashed into a pulp. She no longer even had any desire to resist. Her existence as ‘Delphine Yurdina’ was struck down and mercilessly broken into pieces.

Delphine was traumatized. She was scared to make eye contact and couldn’t find the will to refuse him if he spoke in a stern tone.

Delphine trembled in fear the whole time—back when he made a trivial request of her, and when they entered the forest alone.

She broke out in cold sweat as she thought she was caught red-handed. It was likely that he had found out about her fight with Elsie as that was the only possible explanation for why he was taking her into the forest.

‘Elsie… Did that little bitch go and tattle?’

No, that couldn’t be it. Elsie also didn’t want to be caught fighting.

Regardless, it was already too late.

She was already alone with Ian. In the forest.

Those two conditions were enough to evoke the nightmarish trauma engraved deep in her mind.

It was possible that he intended to chop her up into minced meat so that she could never wield her sword again. No, even that was just wishful thinking. She couldn’t predict what that monster that lacked any semblance of human compassion would do.

Throwing her to become food for the demonic beasts; Having her rip her flesh off with her own hands; Maybe even severing her limbs so they could never regenerate.

All sorts of gruesome delusion painted her imagination, causing her to fiercely tremble in fear.

It was then that Ian’s voice entered her ears.

“………….No, really. Or what? Did you seriously think I would take my hatchet out against you? It’s not like I’m some ‘Hatchet Murderer’ or anything.”

Hearing that, she was convinced.

He knew everything.

‘Hatchet Murderer’ were the exact words she used to insult Ian when she was arguing with Elsie. Elsie had even asked her to apologize for saying that.

Delphine’s fear reached its peak. The moment she saw Ian move the slightest bit, she instinctively groveled on the spot and begged for mercy.

However, the only reaction Ian showed was bewilderment at her sudden action.

When he didn’t show any other reaction, Delphine hesitantly stood back up.

She was hot with shame.

She felt like a dog being trained by her owner—as if Ian was her owner and she was the puppy who had to be conscious of his every reaction.

However, that was just the beginning of her downfall.

The moment she saw the hatchet shatter the beast’s skull, her mind turned white.

Numerous images jumbled together in her head. Most of them were of the golden eyes of the man looking down at her while covered in blood.

Before she even knew what she doing, her body was already shivering while curled up into a ball on the floor. She had no further recollection of that moment, and intense shame washed over her when she came back to her senses.

And beyond that shame, was despair.

It was over—the end for her as both a swordswoman and a human. Despair seeped into her entire being.

She no longer had any control over her body when faced with his hatchet, and there was she just couldn’t will herself to refuse anything he told her to do. Just by being around him, she was reduced to such a pathetically useless state.

And so, an intrusive thought briefly flashed through her mind.

In a daze, Delphine observed Ian’s back. Under the moonlight, her crimson eyes captured his bloodied figure. His uniform was thoroughly soaked with the blood seeping out from his back.

His arms looked to be injured as well. And above all else, he had his back turned to her.

‘Should I take him by surprise?’

She thought this could be her last chance. Her senses felt clear and Ian was also empty-handed.

The dog on a leash saw her only chance at freedom in front of her.

Her pounding heart echoed in her head, and her hand firmly gripped her sword with renewed strength.

Then, the man’s voice pervaded her ears as she was hesitating to act upon her thought.

“…….What do you want to do?”

The man slightly glanced back at her.

His blood-soaked hair and brilliant golden eyes filled her vision. He looked the same as the day he slashed her limbs with his hatchet.

He was aware.

It was only then that she regained her sanity. She felt enervated. She was vexed at herself that she had preposterously housed such cowardly intentions.

He was a colleague who fought against the numerous demonic beasts in place of her useless self. Not to mention, judging by the corpses strewn around her, he seemed to have protected her as well. But to take advantage of his injuries and attack him from behind…

She hated herself for having such contemptuous thoughts, and it sunk her even deeper into despair.

Even in a situation she thought to be her last chance to escape, she felt that she was merely dancing in the palm of his hand.

The rebellious spirit that had briefly rekindled itself shattered once again.

It was a complete and total surrender.

Delphine Yurdina could never beat Ian Percus for as long as she lived.

That fact was engraved deeply in her heart and it pained her. She bit her lips and swallowed back her tears.

“…….I’ll go back.”

“Good choice.”

It was as she expected. He praised her judgment in not attacking him.

If she had chosen to ambush him, she would have been the one to be defeated before being subjected to unimaginable torture. Just imagining that possibility made her shoulders shudder in horror.

He was a terrifying being. Not only was he physically strong, but he also knew how to work his way around someone’s mind.

He had brought her to this forest today to test her.

Delphine was genuinely relieved that she hadn’t rebelled against him this time around. She hated herself for feeling that way, but she couldn’t help herself.

She was already broken beyond repair, and now, it seemed better to be safe than sorry.

Just as she was about to heave a sigh of relief, Ian placed his hand on her shoulder.

Delphine looked at him anxiously. His lips lifted into a warm smile.

But that only frightened her more.

“…….Now then. How should I punish you before we head back?”

His words didn’t match his warm smile.

Several memories flashed through her mind.

She had insulted him by calling him a ‘Hatchet Murderer’. And although she hadn’t taken action, she had some intentions of rebelling against him.

It was given that she had to be punished, since dogs who bit their owners needed to be punished. Her eyes became stained in despair as she arrived at that conclusion all too naturally.

Before she knew it, she had come to naturally acknowledge the pet-owner relationship between them.

As a result, her knees fell to the ground on their own.

It was her third time submitting to Ian in defeat.