Charisma 100: My Academy Life As A Heartbreaking Commoner-Chapter 233: Concession

It wasn’t a polite round of applause, either. It was the kind of noise that rattled Aegis’s teeth, that shook the sand beneath her feet, that made the columns of the arena vibrate. People were on their feet, screaming, clapping, stomping. Some of them were chanting her name.

"STARCALLER! STARCALLER! STARCALLER!"

Aegis lowered her blade.

Her arms felt like they were made of wet paper. Her mana was completely gone, her legs were shaking, and she was bleeding from at least four different places. She probably looked like absolute shit.

But God, did it feel good.

Darius dropped the broken hilt onto the sand and took a step back. He looked at Aegis for a long moment, then closed his eyes.

"I yield."

More roaring. More chanting. Aegis let herself soak it in for a few seconds, just standing there in the middle of the arena, sword hanging loose at her side, listening to thousands of people losing their minds over what she’d just done.

[I did it. Holy shit, I actually did it.]

She looked up toward the stands, searching for Talia. She found her almost immediately. The princess was gripping the railing with both hands, her yellow eyes wide, and Aegis could’ve sworn she saw her lips trembling.

[Told you I’d win, hehe.]

Before Aegis could do anything else, a commotion erupted in the stands. Someone was pushing through the crowd, attendants scrambling to keep up. A sharp voice cut through the noise, and even though it wasn’t magically amplified, Aegis heard it just fine.

"This is absurd."

Duchess Evangeline Stone descended the steps from the VIP section and walked onto the arena floor. Her heels sank into the sand but she didn’t slow down, not even a little. Two House Stone guards flanked her.

The crowd’s cheering slowly, but surely, dimmed. Not all at once, but in waves, as people noticed the Duchess marching across the sand toward Aegis.

"Your Grace," the official in grey robes started, stepping forward, "the duel has been concluded. The result is—"

"The result is meaningless!" Evangeline yelled. She stopped about ten feet from Aegis and looked at her with the kind of contempt that most people reserved for stains on their shoes. "This duel was a formality. A-A show for the masses. Nothing more. It does not compel House Stone to accept this... commoner’s claim to my daughter’s hand."

Aegis tightened her grip on the sword. Not because she planned to use it, but because she needed to hold onto something.

That same, odd anger, fueled by shadow magic, that burned inside her a handful of times recently was back. Only this time, Aegis’s conscious mind agreed with it.

"With all due respect, Your Grace," Aegis said, keeping her voice as steady as she could, "the duel was issued under formal terms. Witnessed by the Noble Consortium. Agreed to by both parties. If the outcome is meaningless, then why did you allow it to happen?"

"I allowed it because I expected the Goldspire boy to win." Evangeline didn’t even blink. "That expectation was clearly misplaced."

"So the rules only matter when your side wins?"

A murmur rippled through the crowd. Evangeline’s jaw tightened.

"Do not lecture me about rules, girl. I am the matriarch of House Stone. My daughter’s future is mine to decide, not yours, and certainly not the crowd’s."

"Your daughter is standing right up there," Aegis pointed toward the stands, "and she has her own opinion on the matter."

"Her opinion is irrelevant."

"Her opinion is the only one that matters at this point."

They stared at each other across the sand. Evangeline’s eyes were narrow and cold, and for a moment, Aegis genuinely thought the Duchess might try to have her arrested on the spot.

Then, someone came closer.

Darius.

He was still standing where he’d been when he yielded, blood on his arms, sweat on his face, broken hilt at his feet. But now he was moving forward, and the look on his face was one Aegis hadn’t expected.

He looked relieved.

Darius walked past Evangeline, stopped in the center of the arena, and dropped to one knee.

"I, Darius of House Goldspire," he said, loud enough for his voice to carry across the entire arena, "formally withdraw my offer of marriage to Princess Talia Stone."

The silence that followed lasted maybe two seconds.

Then the crowd exploded. Louder than before, louder than when Aegis had won, loud enough that Aegis could feel it in her chest. People were screaming, laughing, some of them were crying. A few rows up, she spotted Scarlett pumping her fists in the air and Kanna standing beside her, arms crossed, with what might have been the faintest smile Aegis had ever seen.

Evangeline looked like she’d been slapped. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"W-What? Y-You can’t-"

"I lost," Darius said again. "I agreed to the terms. She’s won." And then he walked off.

Aegis turned toward Talia’s box and gave a small bow. Nothing dramatic, nothing showy. Just a simple bow from one woman to another.

When she straightened up, Talia was standing.

The princess placed her hands on the railing, took a breath that Aegis could see from across the arena, and spoke. Her voice was amplified, probably by some enchantment one of her attendants had set up.

"Per an earlier suggestion from my mother, Duchess Evangeline Stone," Talia said, and Aegis noticed how carefully she emphasized the word "mother," "the wedding between myself and my newfound partner will take place one week from today. This will conclude all matters of betrothal before the next academic year begins at Rosevale, exactly as you wanted, no?"

She looked down at her mother first and then at Aegis.

Aegis looked up at her. Then, Aegis bowed again.

The crowd went nuclear.

Evangeline stood alone on the sand, surrounded by noise, her mouth open and no words coming out. Her guards looked at each other, uncertain. The official in grey robes had wisely retreated to the far side of the arena.

Aegis didn’t wait around. She threw down her borrowed sword, turned, and walked toward the exit. Her legs were screaming, her arms were dead, and she was fairly sure she was going to pass out the moment she sat down.

But she kept walking. One foot in front of the other. Back straight, head high, until she passed through the archway and out of the arena.

She’d done it.

She’d won.