69. Swordsmanship Duel

Clint walked in.

“What’s going on? Did Lady, no, Countess, say Lady Rachel is visiting the capital?”

As Clint walked in, his face was oddly contorted.

To others, it might have been an imperceptible change, but Psyche quickly sensed his discomfort.

The noblewomen present there looked at the arrival of the Duke with ecstatic eyes, as if welcoming a long-awaited guest.

Since Psyche’s return to the Duke’s mansion, unless it was a formal event, Clint rarely showed his face.

Once, he gained some notoriety for appearing at the Countess’s tea parties, despite not attending social events or receptions held at the palace.

Psyche’s tea parties were popular not only because of Psyche’s own reputation but also because of the Duke’s rare appearances, thanks to rumors that attending her parties might catch a glimpse of the elusive Duke.

Although it was due to the naive thoughts of noble young ladies who wanted to see the Duke, who usually didn’t show himself, it wasn’t because they were jealous of Psyche. The status of the Duke and Duchess was so firmly established that they were simply objects of admiration.

“Did you say Lady Rachel is coming to the capital?”

When Clint asked, the women around him were in an uproar, screaming silently.

“It seems so.”

The answer came from Psyche.

“I must meet His Majesty again.”

Clint, who spat out his displeasure like a soliloquy, suddenly changed his facial expression as if to say, “When did that happen?”

“Well then, please continue your conversation.”

With a graceful smile, he gently kissed Psyche’s hand.

“Madam, you haven’t forgotten our dinner appointment tonight, have you?”

Psyche nodded slightly.

Seeing the two of them like that, the women erupted into chatter again, talking about how envious they were of their relationship, how the Duke only had eyes for the Duchess, and so on.

Lately, whenever there was time, Psyche was learning swordsmanship from Clint.

Initially, it started as a modest effort to protect herself, and the one who initially taught her was Alejandro.

However, for various reasons, ultimately, Clint became her swordsmanship instructor.

From Psyche’s perspective, the reasons were unreasonable.

It was just strange reasons like Alejandro being too arrogant or Psyche getting too close to Alejandro. Nevertheless, since there was no one else to match Clint’s skill, Psyche thought it wasn’t so bad, so from then on, they had swordsmanship duels two or three times a week.

It was just a confirmation that today was the day for a swordsmanship duel, but the women were in a frenzy.

Because they were making such a fuss, Psyche briefly forgot about Rachel.

“Oh my, do the Duke and Duchess have separate private appointments?”

“Oh, it’s not that… these days, the Duke is teaching me swordsmanship.”

“Wow, really?”

“Oh, how romantic!”

“Holding swords and brushing hands!”

The women sat there, spreading their wings of imagination and writing novels in their hearts.

Psyche knew she couldn’t stop them, so she just laughed and let it be.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Hah, hah…”

Breathing heavily, Psyche tightened her grip on the sword with both hands.

She hadn’t clashed a few times yet, but she was already out of breath.

She knew it wouldn’t be easy to face Clint, who had been trained in swordsmanship since he was young, but Psyche was quite sincere.

When she recalled the day she ran away from the Duke’s mansion or the days she encountered bandits, she felt it was urgent to learn swordsmanship to protect herself.

Psyche concentrated as much as possible and stared at Clint, who faced her with a sword.

Finding his vulnerability was not an easy task, so she had to focus all her attention.

Clint always used a wooden sword to spar with Psyche out of concern for her safety, but even so, she couldn’t defeat him.

“…”

It was frustrating to see Clint’s posture without any flaws.

“Hyah!”

Psyche rushed towards him as lightly as possible.

“It’s slow!”

Thunk!

The sound of clashing swords was light.

Psyche immediately followed with another swing of her arm without rest.

Clang! Clang!

She knew her attacks weren’t landing at all, but Psyche gritted her teeth harder.

“Put more strength into it! Not just your wrists, but your entire arms!”

Clint easily parried Psyche’s sword with a light touch.

His movements seemed almost like flying.

Clang!

“Hah… hah…”

After a few exchanges of attacks, they both stopped with their swords crossed.

Feeling how strong Clint’s grip was, just holding the sword was making Psyche’s hands and arms numb.

She was trying her best to hold onto her legs to prevent herself from being pushed back.

But the difference in strength was too much for her to bear.

“Ugh!”

“I told you, you’re slow.”

Clint, who parried the attack, was suddenly close to Psyche’s ankle.

It was a moment when he tried to deflect the sword. With a screech, her body was suddenly pulled forward.

Raising the sword to deflect Psyche’s attack, he grabbed Psyche’s hand with one hand while supporting the sword with the other.

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, his face was next to Psyche’s ear. His breath, slightly rougher than usual, reached her ear clearly, and she quickly moved away.

“Ugh!”

As she tried to fall, Clint quickly caught her.

Thunk.

The dropped sword fell to the ground weakly.

Psyche’s face flushed with embarrassment.

“You seem more enthusiastic than usual today.”

Clint pulled Psyche into his arms and looked into her eyes. Psyche turned her face away and stepped out of his embrace.

“Well, I had something I had to resolve.”

As if nothing had happened, she picked up the sword and stepped back a little to adjust her stance.

“Why are you so stubborn!”

Clang!

Psyche swiftly attacked while Clint was speaking.

“Gap!”

Clang!

“Don’t show yourself!”

Sharper than before, the attacks surged. Clint smiled and began to counterattack with his sword, dodging the blades flying towards him.

Clang!

“Why are you so! Stubborn!”

Psyche continued to attack tirelessly.

The swords clashed several times in diagonal lines.

“Annoying!”

Clang! Clang!

They repeated the cycle of getting close and then moving away from each other.

“Ugh!”

Clang!

Psyche closed the distance between them in an instant.

“You seem to have! Time to talk!”

Then she stepped back and changed her posture to rush forward again.

Clang!

It was quite a loud noise. As soon as the sword clashed, Psyche tried to thrust the sword forward.

For a moment, she thought it was a perfect attack. Clint’s rough breath caught her off guard.

And then, at the moment she thought she had aimed perfectly.

“Huh!”

“Don’t let your guard down!”

Grabbing the middle of her sword, Clint pushed Psyche away in an instant.

Due to the unexpected force, Psyche was pushed out uncontrollably.

“Ah!”

“Oops, be careful!”

Quickly turning around and rushing towards Psyche, he threw his sword and swiftly embraced Psyche, preventing her from falling.

“Ugh…”

“Are you alright, my lady?”

Clint helped Psyche up.

“What was that just now?”

“What?”

“You didn’t grip the sword blade in the middle?”

Psyche asked with wide eyes.

“Oh, that’s a half-swording.”

“Half-swording?”

Clint took Psyche’s sword and demonstrated a motion of holding the hilt with one hand and the middle of the blade with the other hand, as if defending against an attack.

“Sometimes, when women are disadvantaged in terms of strength or reach, they use techniques like this. By gripping the middle of the blade, they can get closer to the point of force and exert more strength to push the opponent away.”

“Wow, that’s fascinating.”

“Then what about earlier? When you grabbed my hand?”

Curiously, Psyche asked.

“When swords clash, bodies sometimes get close, and in that moment, various gripping techniques can be used to disarm or neutralize the opponent. It’s one of them. Be careful if the attack succeeds and the bodies get close.”

“Wow, there are so many different ways to use a sword.”

Clint handed the sword back to Psyche and asked again.

“Yes. So why were you so angry?”

“Ah…”

As if suddenly getting angry again, Psyche pretended to aim the sword at Clint.

Then Clint raised both hands as if surrendering, but then quickly grabbed Psyche’s blade and pulled her towards him.

“You can grip not only your own sword but also the opponent’s.”

In an instant, their faces were close, and Psyche blushed as if their cheeks were about to touch.

Then Clint whispered again.

“Are you not going to tell me why you were angry?”

“Um, just back off for a moment!”

Psyche quickly backed away and took a deep breath.

“Because Rachel Halston is coming.”

“Ah.”

“So, I don’t want to go to that hunting expedition.”