“… Hmm? Kaisar, did you just lash out at me?”

“No, I didn’t. There’s no way I can use such words against His Highness Claude.”

“Hmm, true. I was wrong after all.”

“Is this guy stupid?”

I might have hallucinated and heard something, but it was probably just me being tired.

More importantly, I don’t give a damn about this trash right now. Karendoll has to be my priority.

“Sorry, I guess that, in dealing with this scum, I broke our conversation in the middle. Nevertheless, why does Karendoll hold Kaisar up so high? And what’s more, you insinuate that I am unfit to succeed to the throne?”

“I’m just saying since you don’t seem to understand the obvious. Is there anything wrong with that? In the first place, you are the second in line of succession to the throne, and if things went according to order, your brother would be the one succeeding to the throne. But where does your confidence come from? And you called my fiance, Kaisar-sama, a scum, but aren’t you the scum to call someone else’s fiancée one?”

“What are you talking about, Karendoll? Are you saying that I am inferior to that foolish brother of mine? My foolish brother will lose his place from the line of succession due to his own stupidity, and we are currently making plans to drag him down.”

I replied, and for some reason, Karendoll looked at me as if I was a worm in the trash.

When I saw the look in her eyes, I wondered the extent to which Karendoll got brainwashed. 

I glared at Kaisar, the culprit who had made her so. Though, unlike last time, I won’t fall for his trap by challenging him to a duel. 

“Kaisar, how dare you brainwash not only Bridgette… but also Karendoll?”

“No, I didn’t brainwash Bridgette or Karendoll. In case you really think they are, I’d like you to undo it.”

Even the stupid and dim-witted Kaisar wouldn’t tell the truth so readily, would he?

However, it is obvious that Bridgette and Karendoll, who hated Kaisar so much, have started both like Kaisar, which implies they got brainwashed by him.

That is why Kaisar is such a hypocrite.

And unlike Kaisar, I’m intelligent. I won’t make the same mistakes.

“Then let us duel once more in a week’s time.”

“Ha? I don’t want to.”

I certainly won’t be making the same mistake as last time. It’s why I didn’t tell him we would fight immediately.

In the first place, the reason for the last failure was that I hadn’t expected that he’d play such a trick and allow me to win the duel, but this time I prepared some things in advance so that the outcome won’t be changed even after I win our duel.

“Then, wait till a week from now, after school. Until then, keep your head clean.”

“No, I told you I don’t want to do it, scum.”

“Hn? I just heard you say something rude─”

“Ha? There’s no way I’d use such language with His Highness Claude, and I don’t want to duel either.”

“Well then, I’ll get permission to use the arena next week, so at the very least, in the time you have left, you can train or do whatever you can to become as strong as possible.”

And so I told Kaisar and headed to the staff room to get permission to use the arena for the duel next week after school.