Reborn to be Royal

Chapter 14: Tiger and Dragon.

Valentina and I are on our way to the sparring ring. Walking side by side like this with the resident battle master has of course, raised a few eyebrows. If it were a scene in my old world I suppose it would look like an excited older sister with her younger, more introverted brother.

[Valentina] "so, any clue as to what I can expect from you?"
[Kai] "nope."
[Valentina] "awww~ come on~ that's not fair!"
[Kai] "not fair my ass. Against you I need every advantage I can get!"
[Valentina] "heheh, y'know flattery won't get you anywhere~"

I couldn't help but look at her with mild disdain and admitted curiosity at the strange person I was walking with.

[Valentina] "ah, here we are!"
[Kai] "hm?"

We were standing in front of a large, empty field of grass, wooden fences surrounding it, creating the boundaries. It would also appear that news of our little sparring match spread throughout the castle as the audience we had accrued was quite large.

"Lady Lucile is outside!"
"She left the castle?!"
"She came to watch the spar!"

Ah. They're not here for us but rather Lucile. So she really decided to show up.

[Valentina] "outta the way!"

At the sound of Valentina's booming voice, the sea of vampires split in two while visible shivers crept up their spines.

[Kai] "neat trick."
"Kai!"

From the crowd appeared a short, silver haired, golden eyed girl with a wide smile on her face as she ran towards us.

[Kai] "Lucile. You came."
[Lucile] "of course! I told you I would cheer you on!"
[Valentina] "oh? What's this~, does our lords daughter have a little crush on the new guy~?"
[Lucile] "e-eh?! N-n-no! I-I mean..."

Huh?

[Valentina] "haha! I'm only teasing. Enjoy the show miss Lucile!"
[Lucile] "e-eh? Uh, y-yes!"

Valentina and I began making our way to the arena.

[Lucile] "Kai!"
[Kai] "hm? Yes?"
[Lucile] "g-good luck.."

I have her a warm smile as I looked back at her.

[Kai] "thanks."

With that, I turned back to face Valentina and entered the arena.

Once Valentina and I were standing on opposing sides of the arena and the cheers and conversations continued, she pulled out a small vial of red liquid and threw it to me. I caught it with my right hand just before it smashed on my face.

[Kai] "this is...!"
[Valentina] "the same potion I got to try out at the banquet. I'll be using it too so don't worry and drink up!"
[Kai] "heh, I figured this would be a fight using only our own skills."
[Valentina] "don't blame me! It was Verren's idea!"

Ah, now I get it. He made me his left hand and now, using one of the new potions I made, his left hand will be beaten horrifically, leading the others to believe the potions are incredibly potent.

Valentina took the shot of blood and dropped the vial before looking at me place the still full vial in my coat.

[Valentina] "are you that confident?"
[Kai] "not at all! I just don't feel like growing scales!"
[Valentina] "Haha!"

As she threw her head back in laughter, the same scales from the banquet appeared on her skin once more, resulting in the familiar oohs and aahs.

[Valentina] "tell you what! If you last for the time this stuff is active then you win! I'll even listen to one thing you say!"
[Kai] "sounds good! But what if I lose?"
[Valentina] "then you do something I say."
[Kai] "heh, sounds fair."