Applause rang out in the center of the grand ballroom.
At first, it was polite applause.
Then anticipation mixed in, and finally, cruel curiosity joined it.
Eveline Rosette of House Rosette.
The eldest daughter of a renowned swordsmanship family.
A wayward young lady.
And now, someone who had left her sword behind.
She had been called before everyone as a swordsmanship demonstrator.
"Our first demonstrator is Lady Eveline Rosette of House Rosette."
The host’s voice rang out once more.
Eveline’s fingertips trembled.
There was no sword in her hand.
Instead, she held a white handkerchief.
The handkerchief she had tried all day not to crumple.
But now, its edges were slowly curling in on themselves.
The system window flashed madly.
`A Forced Swordsmanship Demonstration Event has occurred.`
`Eveline Rosette: Unarmed State`
`Emotional strain accumulated`
`Public scrutiny pressure stacking`
`Upon failure: Public humiliation / Duel Accident Route reactivated`
`Preliminary Ball Counterattack Route success rate: 63%`
63%.
Just moments ago, it had been 98%.
Arsene Berhardt had played his final card well.
We were the ones who had made her leave her sword behind.
Thanks to that, we had prevented the Duel Accident Route from activating immediately.
But Berhardt had turned that against us.
The eldest daughter of a renowned swordsmanship house was stepping up for a swordsmanship demonstration without a sword.
That would make her a laughingstock.
What if she borrowed a sword?
That was even worse.
If Eveline gripped an unfamiliar sword, there was a high chance she would fall back into her old habits.
Her family.
Her pride.
Her father.
Arsene.
Liana.
Hundreds of gazes.
If all those emotions converged on the tip of her sword at once, Eveline would explode.
That was exactly what the original story’s ruin route was waiting for.
"Leon."
Eveline spoke quietly.
Her voice cracked ever so slightly.
"I don’t have my sword."
"I know."
"If I go out there without one, I’ll be a laughingstock."
"Yes."
"What if I borrow one?"
"That would be dangerous."
"Then what do I do?"
It was the first time.
She was genuinely asking me.
It was neither an order, irritation, nor a provocation.
What do I do?
There was fear in those words.
And trust, too.
Trust that I would give her some kind of answer.
It was heavy.
Really heavy.
I should never have taken something like this on.
My goal had only been to not die a week from now.
But now, I had to hold a villainess together so she would not collapse in the middle of a ballroom.
I inhaled.
Knowledge from the original story and the training we had done so far clicked rapidly into place in my mind.
No sword.
A forced swordsmanship demonstration.
Emotional strain.
Public scrutiny.
A handkerchief.
Deflecting.
A waltz.
Do not move first.
Ask first.
Smile at the end.
Swordsmanship was not a technique for destroying things.
It was a technique for stopping them.
Then there was only one answer.
She would not take up a sword.
"My lady."
"What?"
"Today’s swordsmanship demonstration will not use a sword."
Eveline stared at me blankly.
"What?"
"Show them swordsmanship without taking up a sword."
"Does that even make sense?"
"We’ll make it make sense."
I pointed to the handkerchief in her hand.
"With that."
Eveline’s eyes dropped to the handkerchief.
"You want me to demonstrate swordsmanship with a handkerchief?"
"Yes."
"Have you lost your mind?"
"I’ve heard that several times today."
"Don’t joke around."
"I’m not joking."
I looked her straight in the eye.
"What you learned today was not how to swing a sword. You learned how to stop force, deflect it, receive it, and rise again."
Eveline’s eyes wavered.
"Show them that."
"People will laugh."
"At first."
"At first?"
"You only need to smile at the end."
She said nothing for a while.
The host was preparing to call Eveline’s name again.
Arsene was watching us from afar.
His smile was gentle.
His eyes were cold.
He was probably thinking it was over.
If Eveline borrowed a sword, she would lose control.
If she did not borrow one, she would humiliate herself.
If she did not step forward, she would be running away.
Either way, it was Arsene’s board.
So I would change the board.
Not into a swordsmanship demonstration, but proof that Eveline Rosette had changed.
"My lady."
I spoke quietly.
"If you take up a sword now, everyone will wait to see when you explode."
"……."
"If you do not take up a sword, everyone will laugh at you."
"Then?"
"Make them shut their mouths while they are laughing."
Eveline gripped the handkerchief.
She did not crumple it.
She closed her eyes.
Once.
She inhaled.
Then she slowly opened her eyes.
Her red eyes were still trembling.
But she did not run away.
"Leon."
"Yes."
"What if I fail?"
"Then you rise again."
At those words, Eveline’s expression changed ever so slightly.
The Sword That Rises Again.
The new trait she had acquired.
She still could not see the system.
But her body must have known.
What she had learned yesterday and today.
"Fine."
Eveline said.
"I’ll try it."
I’ll try it.
Eveline Rosette had said something like that for the first time.
It was neither an order, a threat, nor empty bravado.
Just a declaration that she would try.
I bowed my head.
"I will act as your opponent."
"You?"
"Yes."
"Trying to die again?"
"If you kill me with a handkerchief, my lady, that would go down in history in its own way."
"Don’t be ridiculous."
She gave a very small laugh.
Some of the tension eased.
Good.
We walked toward the center.
Every gaze in the grand ballroom focused on us at once.
The host asked with a flustered expression.
"Lady Rosette. Your sword is..."
Eveline spoke first.
"I will not be using a sword in today’s demonstration."
A murmur spread.
It burst through the ballroom like an explosion.
"She is not using a sword?"
"A Rosette lady?"
"Is she running away?"
"Is that a handkerchief in her hand?"
Eveline’s hand trembled just a little.
But she did not break.
The host gave an awkward smile.
"My lady, this is a swordsmanship demonstration, so..."
"Swordsmanship does not only mean knowing how to hold a sword."
Eveline said.
Her voice was cold.
But it did not tremble.
"It is knowing how to handle force."
The grand ballroom grew a little quieter.
Those were words I had taught her.
But coming from her lips now, they sounded different.
"Today, I will show you the foundations I have newly learned."
She unfolded the handkerchief.
The white cloth gleamed faintly beneath the magic lamps.
"How to receive without breaking."
I stood opposite Eveline.
The gazes around us stung.
Some people were laughing at us.
Some were intrigued.
Arsene’s expression was impossible to read.
Kaiden watched silently from the second-floor railing.
Liana watched Eveline with both hands clasped together.
Klaus was gritting his teeth.
Good.
They were all watching.
Then all we had to do was show them.
I spoke to the host.
"Three movements will be enough for this demonstration."
"Three movements?"
"First, receive an attack."
I stepped back.
"Second, deflect it."
Eveline held the handkerchief loosely.
"Third, stop it."
The host did not know what to do and looked at Arsene.
Arsene fell silent for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"Very well."
He deliberately raised his voice.
"Lady Rosette’s new swordsmanship—I look forward to seeing it."
There was mockery mixed into it.
But that was fine.
Make them anticipate it.
Then betray those expectations.
I spoke softly to Eveline.
"Ready."
She nodded.
The first movement.
I slowly extended my hand.
A hand instead of a sword.
My target was her shoulder.
In a ballroom, hands came at you more often than swords.
Dragging someone away.
Pushing them.
Grabbing them.
Violence without justification.
The old Eveline would have knocked my wrist aside.
No, she would have tried to break it.
But this time was different.
She laid the handkerchief over my wrist.
Very lightly.
Then she deflected my force to the side.
My hand passed through empty air.
The murmurs quieted.
Second.
This time, I moved in quickly.
A motion that blocked her vision, just as Klaus had done.
Eveline’s eyes wavered.
But her hand did not strike first.
The handkerchief rose.
It slid along the back of my hand.
Rather than block my force, it changed its direction.
My body spun halfway around.
The audience sucked in their breath.
Third.
The last one.
I deliberately glanced once toward Arsene.
Then I spoke quietly.
"Broken engagement."
Eveline’s eyes shook violently.
The air in the grand ballroom froze.
Some people might have heard it, and some might not have.
But Eveline had heard.
An emotional trigger.
The word that made her explode.
She had to succeed here.
The essence of a swordsmanship demonstration was not the movements.
It was whether she could stop her hand even when her emotions were shaken.
Eveline’s handkerchief nearly crumpled.
A tiny spark of red mana leaped from her fingertips.
I did not move.
I had to trust her.
No.
At the very least, I had to pretend to trust her.
Eveline clenched her teeth.
She inhaled.
She unfolded the handkerchief.
Then she wrapped it around my wrist.
She did not grip it tightly.
She did not break it.
She simply stopped it.
Precisely.
My hand stopped in front of her shoulder.
It did not touch her.
Eveline spoke.
"I stopped it."
The grand ballroom fell quiet.
Complete silence.
Within that silence, Eveline unwound the handkerchief from my wrist.
The cloth was not wrinkled.
And neither was she broken.
I stepped back and bowed my head.
"That concludes the demonstration."
The first person to applaud was Liana Bell.
A very soft applause.
Cautious, but sincere.
Kaiden Astrea followed.
Slow applause rang out from the second-floor railing.
Then several nobles who had seen House Rosette’s seal of guarantee joined in.
Before long, the applause spread.
This time, applause came before laughter.
The gazes in the grand ballroom had changed.
A moment ago, they had seen a `wayward young lady without a sword`.
Now, they saw a `Lady Rosette who had stopped her own force even without a sword`.
The system window appeared.
`You have successfully overcome the Forced Swordsmanship Demonstration Event.`
`The weakness of being unarmed is converted into a new strength.`
`Duel Accident Route entry rate is fixed below the threshold.`
`Eveline Rosette’s first ruin condition collapses.`
The letters glowed red.
`Ruin Route: Duel Accident - Cleared`
I held my breath.
Cleared.
Finally.
The first ruin route had been completely broken.
Eveline Rosette was still a wayward young lady.
Her personality was still awful, her words were still sharp, and she still reacted to a single handkerchief as if she wanted to kill someone.
But at least today.
She would not be ruined by a duel accident.
Eveline stood amid the applause.
Her face was dazed.
As though she could not understand why she was receiving applause.
I spoke softly.
"Rule three."
Her eyes turned toward me.
Then Eveline Rosette smiled.
This time, she truly smiled.
A beautiful, proud, slightly clumsy, and just a little happy smile.
The applause in the grand ballroom grew louder.
Arsene did not applaud.
The smile had vanished from his face.
Klaus had lowered his head entirely.
Liana watched Eveline with shining eyes.
Kaiden smiled quietly from afar.
And I...
Looked at the last line in the system window.
`Leon Cart’s projected survival date has been updated.`
`21 days -> 45 days`
Forty-five days.
A month and a half.
For a tutorial NPC, that was tremendous progress.
But the next line appeared immediately after.
`Warning.`
`As the first villainess’s ruin route has been cleared, original story correction shifts to the next target.`
`The next villainess candidate has been activated.`
`Seria Blanc`
I closed my eyes inwardly.
It was not over.
As soon as one ended, the next one activated.
And it was Seria Blanc, of all people.
The smiling poison-tongued woman.
The second daughter of a ducal house, who fell from grace after being framed for an attempted poisoning at an imperial banquet.
And one of the most exhausting villainesses to deal with in this game.
"Leon."
Eveline came over beside me.
The applause was still continuing.
She tucked the handkerchief against her chest.
Once again, it was not crumpled.
"Me."
"Yes."
"Did I win?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Really."
She was silent for a while.
Then she spoke very softly.
"Then teach me again tomorrow."
I looked at her.
She was not looking at me.
She was looking ahead.
But the tips of her ears were red.
"The ball is over, though."
"The academy entrance examination is still coming up."
"That is true."
"And..."
Eveline paused for a moment.
"I’m still not very good at smiling."
I did not answer.
That was a rather significant thing for her to say.
An admission of her own shortcomings.
From Eveline Rosette.
I bowed my head.
"I will come at the same time tomorrow."
"If you’re late, I’ll kill you."
"Yes."
It was a familiar threat.
Strangely enough, it was no longer quite so frightening.
Then someone slowly began to applaud from the entrance of the grand ballroom.
It was not Kaiden.
Nor was it Arsene.
A new person.
A blue-haired young lady holding a silver fan.
A hand clad in a white glove.
A perfectly calculated smile.
She was parting the crowd as she walked toward us.
The system window appeared.
`You encounter the next villainess candidate.`
`Seria Blanc`
`The Smiling Poison-Tongued Woman`
`Original Story Ruin: Framed for an Attempted Poisoning at an Imperial Banquet`
Seria Blanc smiled at Eveline.
Her voice was sweet.
And poisonous.
"Lady Rosette."
"You seemed more like a person than I expected today."
Eveline’s hand froze.
My head began to ache.
The first villainess was only just starting to become a person.
And the second villainess...
Had already arrived.
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