VIP Chapter 69: You’re Really Falling for Someone Else’s Trap
Treya stood in place, the rapier in her hand trembling. She looked at Eugenie, her mouth half-open, wanting to ask something but unable to voice it.
How could this be?
Sister…
Did Sister truly intend to harm her as that dark, wicked man had said…
Or perhaps…
Had she never spoken a word of truth from beginning to end, constantly deceiving her?
“What’s wrong, Treya? This is just like our usual training. For you, it only takes one Entake Style 11 to finish it, right?”
“I…”
Treya took a step forward.
Under the expectant gazes of everyone, under her sister’s constant escalation and praise, under the pressure of the engagement, she seemed to have no retreat.
Moreover…
Having always obeyed her sister’s commands and teachings…
She seemed to have no choice but to move forward.
But…
She wasn’t actually afraid of failing a sword technique once. What made her more upset was…
It turned out her fiancé had been right all along. Eugenie… had lied to her from beginning to end.
If…
If it was her sister who wanted her to be in such a predicament, then she…
Had no choice, did she?
In Treya’s eyes, Eugenie had become completely black. Even the dazzling red of her hair seemed to have turned black.
“Please wait a moment, Princess Eugenie.”
Suddenly, a familiar voice cut in.
Treya felt someone walk past her, interrupting her forward momentum. The person even tapped her shoulder with a cheeky gesture and whispered, “You really forgot. Honestly, you’re really falling for someone else’s trap.”
“Huh?”
Treya raised her head, finding her vision blurry, the lights seeming to smear across her eyes.
Had she cried?
Through her blurred vision, she saw a brown-haired figure in a black suit walking step by step towards Eugenie.
Blocking her path to destruction.
Is…
Is it Will?
Why did he appear at this moment? Was he here to gloat?
Eugenie crossed her arms, looking at Will with some displeasure.
“You again? What is it? Do you have something else to say? Just watch obediently from the side. Entak’s sword skills are not for someone like you…”
“No, I just wanted to ask. Princess Eugenie, known as the ‘Red Demon Sword’, in this situation, how many puppets can you cut down at most with Entake Style 11?”
“…” Eugenie was silent for a moment. “20. But I don’t train that anymore.”
“Oh, is that so…”
Will snapped his fingers.
“Ten puppets is too weak. Let’s add it to 30.”
“Wh-…” Eugenie, hearing Will’s arrogant remark, felt he was provoking her. “Do you know how difficult 30 is? Even 20 is only for someone of my level…”
“So what? If you can’t break through your limits, I won’t acknowledge Treya as worthy of being my fiancée.”
“You—!”
As soon as Eugenie spoke, she quickly calmed herself.
Hmph, this Will wouldn’t help Treya. He must be adding fuel to the fire of Treya’s embarrassment today.
After all, from her understanding of Will, he must be furious right now, definitely thinking the current scene wasn’t grand enough.
Compared to failing ten and leaving two, failing 30 and leaving a dozen or so failures would better prove Treya’s incompetence and the distance between her and Eugenie, wouldn’t it?
“Fine. 30 it is.”
“However, my condition is that I get to arrange the remaining puppets.”
“What…”
“Sigh. You’re all in this together, and you understand sword skills better than I, a commoner. What if you intentionally make the puppet placement easier to favor your own sister?”
“Oh. Alright, then you do it.”
Arranging 30 puppets wasn’t a difficult task, and some servants helped.
Will moved a few himself but insisted on adjusting the position of each puppet.
The space occupied by 30 puppets was significantly larger than that of 10, with varying heights and a considerable display. Placed on the plaza at night, under the lights, they appeared eerily pale, even resembling an undead army found in some dark dungeons.
“Treya, go ahead.”
Will stood in front of her, smiling.
“I… I can’t.”
Treya looked at the silver sword gripped tightly in her hands.
This was her first time backing down, perhaps the first major setback in her sheltered life as a princess.
Even…
She glanced at Eugenie, who stood with her arms crossed. Her sister seemed unaware of her despair.
The first betrayal by a loved one.
What should she do…
She couldn’t trust anyone. It seemed everyone was waiting to stab her in the back. Everyone…
Her hands gripping the sword were suddenly clasped.
“Mmm, although I’m technically helping you. Listen carefully though…”
Will tightened Treya’s hands, making her grip the silver sword even tighter.
“The only person you can trust is yourself, forever.”
“You don’t need to trust your sister, and you certainly don’t need to trust me.”
“The Entake you uncover yourself will surely be dark. Only by donning an even darker guise than them can you defeat them.”
“You only need to believe in yourself, Treya. That’s your unassailable purity. Only by doing so can you walk the long stairs to the throne alone.”
Treya couldn’t fully comprehend Will’s words.
However…
She stepped forward.
Believe… in herself?
Standing before the thirty puppets, she felt a sense of confusion.
This was a challenge she had never faced before.
But…
“Hoo…”
With her chest heaving with each breath…
She raised her sword.
Closing her eyes.
“Entake Style 11: Slash.”
The gust of wind Treya unleashed with all her might kicked up the dust from the ground.
This was a strike she unleashed with almost no thought, purely on instinct.
Accompanied by a clean metallic clang…
She stood on the other side of the puppet formation.
As she rose, sheathed her sword, and turned it… behind her…
Twenty-eight puppets.
Under her full-power strike, almost simultaneously, with identical cracks, they shattered to the ground with a clatter.
Only two puppets remained standing.
The guests watching the spectacle, at the moment she drew her sword, perhaps due to its sharpness, held their breath and fell silent.
Eugenie was stunned.
Impossible!
How could this be?!
Even her most proper, most perfect sword technique, the one recognized by “that person,” couldn’t cut down twenty puppets with a single strike using Entake Style 11. How could Treya, her sister whom she had only taught incorrect sword techniques, how could she possibly do it?!
This was practically a joke!
Especially these puppets; two of them had been deliberately placed in incorrect trajectories…
Wait… deliberately adjusted… during this process, hadn’t someone else also “deliberately adjusted” them…
Eugenie’s eyes widened as she looked at Will behind her.
“Clap clap clap clap…”
Amidst the stunned silence, Will, as if he had anticipated this, was the first to start applauding.
And his gaze, without any hesitation, glanced at Eugenie – a gaze that seemed to have observed her countless times in secret.
