Chapter 12

“So, this is going to be our duel,” Roselle said, holding out her rapier and giving Prince Caspian a grin. She turned towards the stands, where Cerise was and winked towards her. “Watch me spar against Caspian. As long as I have you by my side, dear Cerise, I can overcome any challenge!”

“Good luck, Roselle!” Cerise called enthusiastically, and Roselle giggled and put a hand to her face as she flicked her side ponytail to the side.

“Well, I’ll give it my all,” Roselle said while pointing her rapier towards Prince Caspian. “I expect that you will give your all as well, Prince Caspian.”

“Indeed,” Caspian said. “I have a formidable opponent in front of me. Though I have to warn you, Roselle—I’ve sharpened my blade, wits, and skills. You’ll have a hard time keeping up, I think.”

“Oho,” Roselle said while putting a hand to her mouth and laughing. “I will challenge you to a Duel, my Prince Caspian! You will not best the Grand Duelist at the peak of her career!”

“Is that so?” Prince Caspian said with a wink. “I’m going to disarm you before you’ve had time to blink!”

“Oh, stop your posturing,” Roselle said, even though Roselle loved the aspect of posturing and giving a spectacle for the crowd, that was excited to see the two Kingdom’s best sword wielders duke it out with one another. “I could take you on blindfolded and with one arm behind my back!”

“You just only need to hit me once, Roselle,” Prince Caspian said. “Your blade cannot touch a Deity of the heavens.”

“Show me what you’ve got!” Roselle yelled out, and then she lunged forward with blinding speed. Her footwork was so amazing that it looked like she teleported at several places at once, and Prince Caspian merely stood there, with a serene smile on his face while he tried to determine where the real Roselle was. His instinct finely honed, he guessed that Roselle came from behind and parried her blow to the back of his head before she could react.

“Now you’ve got my blood boiling!” Prince Caspian said to Roselle. “I’m going to get you! Just you wait!”

The Prince then showed off his fancy footwork, and together with Roselle and Capsian formed an elaborate dance of teleporting dancing across the stage with their special footwork technique. They parried, thrust, and clanged their swords together in a mad dance for domination and in hopes of disarming the other, though Cerise could only imagine how intense this match was. They tried to strike at their vital areas though neither one of them could land a playful flick onto the other; their defense and offense were literally perfect. So the was what it was like to witness two top-tier swordsmen have at one another.

Cerise couldn’t possibly hope to match their swordplay, which she found enchanting to watch. She clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth, cheering Roselle on. Roselle must’ve loved the posturing and gesturing and grand spectacle, as with a flourish of her hair she paused in mid-strike and posed, while Caspian did the same while simultaneously crashing his rapier against Roselle’s. Those two were such large hams; they complemented one another. Their swordplay was definitely a spectacle that should be witnessed, and Cerise found herself cheering them both on at the same time.

Wait, since when did she become attached to Prince Caspian? He was troublesome and high maintenance, to be sure, but there was something about him that reminded him of her sister. Cerise thought that Caspian was doing well for himself, and he looked so happy sparring with Roselle. He truly did love her, even though that love might not be reciprocated.

The duel ended in a tie. Both of them were panting, though there was a very satisfied smile on both their faces. They both must’ve lived for the thrill of battle, the intricacies, and adrenaline of sword fighting. IT was a grand spectacle to be sure, and the crowd cheered when Prince Caspian and Roselle bowed together towards the audience. Cerise stood up in the crowd and clapped as hard as she could, cheering for both of them.

When Roselle came up the stairs in the auditorium, Cerise clasped her arms around Roselle and lifted the petite Princess in her arms, laughing.

“That was a grand show,” Cerise said before she turned towards Caspian to acknowledge him as well. “You guys did a great job. I now know what it’s like to have two master swordsman on the battlefield.”

“It takes years of dedicated practice,” Capsian said with a somewhat shy smile. “As soon as I could pick up a sword, I was trained from childhood to my current status as a Prince to learn the fine art of swordplay. That’s one of the essentials that a Prince must do, don’t you think?”

“You’ve got that right,” Roselle said. “I didn’t want to be an ordinary Princess that sat idly by. I wanted to get into the thick of the action, and thus learn the art of the sword so that I could stand side by side by Prince Caspian. I believe that the score is now 350 to 351 now.”

“You’ve been keeping track all this time?’ Prince Caspian said with a smile. “Well…you’ve definitely improved in your swordplay, Roselle. I think it’s because you had a reason to fight so long and hard for someone to protect.”

He then gave a nod to Cerise.

Cerise blushed.

“Well, er…” Cerise said before Roselle leaned forward and give her a kiss on the lips, which made Cerise blush as red as her hair.

“Dearest,” Cerise said with a laugh, and Roselle laughed as well.

“I wanted to give my wife to be a little kiss,” Roselle said. “I like it when you blush, Cerise. It’s very becoming of you.”

“Now you’re just trying to embarrass me on purpose,” Cerise said while hiding her face behind her hands. “In front of Caspian, of all people!”

“Please, you embarrass yourself on your own,” Prince Caspian said, though there was a good-natured smile on his lips. “Don’t make me fall for you, Cerise. It’s very high up in the heavens.”

“Someone needs to bring you down to Earth,” Cerise said with a laugh, and then she saw that Princess Nautilus and Viola were waiting for them.

“Congratulations on the duel, my Prince,” Vila said while bowing towards her master.

“Yes, it was most invigorating,” Caspian said. “I haven’t had a good sword fight like that in ages. Roselle is the only one who can give me a good match like that.”

“I share the same sentiment with you, Prince Caspian,” Roselle said. “Now we need to teach Cerise how to properly wield her wand so that she may learn magic on our journey for the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“Oh yes, we prepared a trial for you too, Cerise, ‘Princess Nautilus said, as Cerise cocked her head to the side in wonderment.

“What kind of trial?” Cerise asked, clasping her hands against her chest.

Capsian gave a meaningful look to his Sister, Nautilus, and Nautilus nodded.

“Nautilus was setting up your trial while you were studying the history of the Soreno Kingdom,” Caspian drawled. “Which, you’ve no doubt found so fascinating that you were moved to tears.”

“Ha,” Cerise said, though her green eyes gleamed with excitement when she heard about the trial that Princess Nautilus set up. “So what exactly is this trial?”

“It is going to be a test of your wits,” Princess Nautilus said.