The Noble Girl Who Finds a Nerdy and Plain Guy Moe Thinks that the Arrogant Prince is in the Way Translation

Extra 16. The Battle of The Third Prince 2

  • About a year has passed after the previous chapter. It was set during the final of the magic tournament, in which Sevan is a freshman, while Riol is in second grade.

If he were to half-heartedly cast magic, he’d instantly be defeated.

If he were to use a magical instrument, said instrument would then be used to drain his own magic.

To take away control and foil his ultimate magic, his opponent needn’t resort to anything flashy.

So far, many participants had been defeated by that man.

“How about this…!”

Dozens of amulets already laid scattered across the stage. Dozens of straightforward, beginner-intermediate, spells had been countered in succession.

Sevan made his final gamble.

The man who had been expressionless until then widened his eyes which were obscured by his long bangs. Riol Glen, the only student from Research of Written Magic Department in that tournament, was a grade higher than him. At the same time, it was also the same man who had caused a great deal of trouble to his half-brothers.

As of the present, he was the man Sevan needed to defeat.

“…!”

Since the beginning of the match, spells had been repeatedly cast and countered. Meanwhile, Sevan had secretly prepared spells that required no chant.

It wasn’t one or two spells—but dozens.

Numerous magic circles unfolded around Riol at once.

It was the climax of the final match.

If it’s this much, he shouldn’t have enough time to cancel them!

“Huh?”

They were all Earth Spear spells. Sevan was going to conjure them all at once to push the man into submission.

“…How wonderful, Your Highness.”

“They were all cancelled!?!?”

However, after having only moved a few centimeters, all the earth spears disappeared. Amidst the remnants of the magic circles, which glitteringly danced, a man stood calmly.

No matter how much he thought about it, that man was just wonderful.

Due to a lack of magical power, exhaustion ravaged Sevan’s whole body as his vision grew hazy.

“No… wait, why… all of these amulets… shouldn’t they be… expired?”

Used amulets laid scattered across the stage. At that point, they should’ve been but mere slips of paper that had expired after being used.

…Now that he thought about it, why is there so many of them?

“They aren’t expired.”

“Eh?”

Looking over the pieces of paper, Riol explained while tugging at the hair behind his ear.

“…The correct term is ‘reused’.”

An amulet would expire after single use—that was common knowledge.

“There’s… no way!”

At the same time, the man before him had nonchalantly made a great invention of the century.

The umpire’s voice pierced the collapsed Sevan’s ear, announcing the victory of his opponent.

“Aaaah, even though I’m so close…!”

While lying down on the stage, Sevan squeezed his fist so hard, blood began to ooze. His body was both heavy and immobile. His nausea and malaise continued to increase. However, he refused to be carried on the stretcher.

“Let me lend you my shoulder, Your Highness.”

“Uuuh…”

Sevan managed to stand by borrowing the shoulder of the man who defeated him. It wasn’t cool, but better than a stretcher.

“T, tell Sophia… tell Sophia that I fought well to the end…”

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ll have a chance to meet her, so do it yourself.”

“…Can’t you show me some kindness.”

“I’m also feeling sorry for myself.”

It was the final match. He was just one step away. How much special training did he undergo to prepare for that day? It wasn’t once or twice that he was on the verge of being sent to the hospital before the tournament.

Immediately after entering the entry period of tournament, he thought a decent enough result would suffice—basically, he was trying to cut corners.

“If I were to see His Highness become the victor, I might be overjoyed and kiss you on your cheek.”

After hearing that, Sevan worked his damnedest to the verge of death. After finishing his class that day, such were the words his educator muttered in the castle.

“That was a great match, both of you!”

“His Highness Sevan… is such a hard worker…!”

“I feel bad for chalking him as an elusive person…”

“Riol, you’re so amazing! You’re very cool, Riol!”

From the spectators’ seats, voices praising both the winner and the loser—Riol and Sevan—overflowed. However, Sevan didn’t have the energy to turn around. Defeat was defeat—he didn’t feel like recovering.

“Riol! Please look at me, Riol! Or I’ll jump!”

“Stop, wait, don’t move from there!”

On the other hand, Riol calmly replied to the voice that seemed to originate from the audience.

Was that the winner’s privilege? No… that was also Riol’s privilege as someone who was engaged. Sevan was convinced that even if the man had lost, his fiancée would say, ‘There’s always next time!’

It was a big difference from Sevan, who couldn’t expect any fiancée-like acts unless he was the victor of the tournament.

“No, not yet! There’s still a path for me to become 1st! There’s an award for, ‘Best Student of the Same Grade’ and, ‘Best Student in the Magic Department’…!”

“…But where would that path lead to?”

Could he somehow get some scraps? All that mattered was becoming 1st, right? At the very least, something that would curb that disappointment of his!

“Riol! RiolRiolRiol!”

“Yes…”

The lovely, full of love, voice of his fiancée could be heard. Riol naturally responded to it.

Sevan envied them.

Did they think about each other?

Was that how loving each other was supposed to look like?

Sevan was about to die from jealousy!

…If only Sophia would show him the slightest bit of affection.

“Please kindly share it with me… I need only one piece.”

“No can do.”

“Then, just a slight.”

“Not a speck.”

To the muttering loser Sevan, the beloved winner shook his head mercilessly.

“You know what… I made an appointment with my fiancée.”

“We’ve talked about this before.”

The award ceremony for the magic tournament was held in the area. However, the tournament runner-up, Sevan, and Riol, the tournament winner, were laying in beds alongside each other. Sharina sat on a chair next to Riol’s bed.

“Indeed… although she’s my fiancée, she doesn’t really want to get married with me. Even though she’s basically flaking me with all the formal promises, it’s enough for me to delude myself into thinking that she’s my fiancée… she’s my fiancée-in-the-making…”

“There’s so many things wrong with your definition of fiancée.”

“Shall I look it up in the dictionary?”

After their match, Sevan had completely lost consciousness. Due to the bad timing, Riol who didn’t have enough power to support him, fell down the stairs along with him. Then, they were treated together in the medical ward. Riol’s fiancée, Sharina, followed them.

Back to the present.

“T, there’s still next year…!” Said Sevan.

“I’m sorry, but I want to show my fiancée my cool side, too. Therefore, we’ll see each other again next year.” Said Riol.

“Y, you there! Do something about him!” Said Sevan.

“Riol is always cool at any time, any moment—even at this very second!” Said Sharina.

“See! Did you hear that?!” Said Sevan.

Around that time, the student who placed in 3rd should be receiving a grand celebration on the spacious podium at the arena.

“Aah… if only I had won…”

“Your Highness, pardon me…”

“Eh?”

Riol felt sorry for Sevan, who kept repeating that many times after waking up.

“She said if she saw you become the victor, right? However, she didn’t even come to watch the tournament. As such, she can’t see Your Highness. So, even if Your Highness had won…”

“Ah!”

Sophia had indeed said that. Sophia, who never failed to prepare an escape route. With a little thought, everything made sense.

“Dammit!”

He was so dazzled by the overly luxurious reward, he failed to notice such a simple logic. He was blinded by impulse. Sophia didn’t lie—she never lied—but there were many things that would count as ‘not lying.’

“Shall I peel some apples? Riol, I have ordinary apples sent by Apollo, and also apple-like something that were caught by Gabriella—which do you prefer?”

“Apple-like something.”

“Alright! It’s unusual for Riol to have a sense of adventure!”

“My curiosity won.”

Next year, he had to receive a clearer promise before participating. Besides, it wasn’t like he could win unless he thought up a way to counter Riol’s amulets.

While looking at the amiable couple who had long entered their own world, Sevan decided that one day—they’d become like that, too.


***T/N: Damn, the third prince got finessed hard, I pity him now.

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