"Quit sitting there like a smiling idiot," Theresa said with a displeased expression as she sat in Erwin's arms and poked his cheek with her finger.

Erwin ignored her and continued to look out the window with an idiotic grin. A displeased pout appeared on her face upon seeing this, and she took a bit out of the green olive in her hand, upon which she shuddered as she exclaimed, "Oh, that's way too sour!"

[1]

As the server brought the fruit platter to them, he had told them that it was still not the season for eating olives, so at the moment, they could only be infused into alcohol to lend the beverage a sour taste.

Hence, Theresa was well aware that these green olives were extremely sour, and she had only done this to aim an underhanded insult at Onean.

Ever since she had returned from the imperial conference, Onean had been looking very unhappy, and she had occasionally taken glances at Erwin with a murderous gleam in her eyes.

Theresa quickly realized that the emotion leading to Onean's abnormal demeanor was jealousy. No matter how intimate Theresa had been with Erwin, Onean had never looked at Erwin with this type of expression. Theresa knew that this was because Onean didn't see her as someone worthy of being jealous of, and that had always frustrated her.

What's going on today? Who could they possibly have met that's making Onean so jealous? Theresa thought to herself.

This was why she had intentionally used the green olive to throw a jab at Onean. Normally, it was always Theresa who was coming off second best, and it was a very pleasing change for her to see Onean so deflated and frustrated.

"Don't expect me to help you save her," Onean said in a cold voice as she cast her gaze toward Erwin, paying no heed to Theresa's little tricks. She had broken the silence between her and Erwin first, so it appeared that Erwin had seized the moral victory.

"I wouldn't dare to hope for that," Erwin said as he pursed his lips.

"You should've seen yourself when you were drawing the lots. You looked like you had completely lost the plot!" Onean continued with a disdainful expression.

The drawing of the lots that Onean was referring to was naturally the one that the emperor had proposed for the contest. In order to ensure fairness, the emperor had made all of the dukedom rulers draw lots to decide the matchups.

"What's this about drawing lots? What is going on?" Theresa asked with a curious expression.

Onean had no interest in answering her question, so it was left to Erwin to tell Theresa about what had happened during the imperial conference.

"I see," Theresa said in a meaningful voice after hearing his recount of events. Erwin had only mentioned Lana to Theresa in passing in the past, so Theresa hadn't realized just how important Lana was to him, but now, it had become apparent to her that Lana's position in his heart was comparable with that of Onean's.

It was no wonder that Onean was looking so disgruntled and jealous.

"If it's just going to be another love rival, then I don't want to get involved, either," Theresa said with an amused expression.

Erwin immediately turned to her with a stunned look in his eyes. "Are you going to abandon me as well?"

"What else would I do? Put my life on the line for something that's more like a curse than a prize for me?" Theresa countered as she crossed her arms with a disgruntled expression.

Onean couldn't help but burst into laughter upon seeing this.

Erwin was quite pleased to see that Onean was finally smiling again, and he said, "As long as this contest isn't being orchestrated by Prince Xar or Prime Minister Henry, then it's not that perilous."

"Is that right? As I saw it, that masked woman almost killed you right there and then with just a casual wave of her hand," Onean scoffed, but there was a clear hint of concern in her eyes. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine now," Erwin replied.

He thought back to the masked woman and the attack from her that had almost taken his life, and he couldn't help but shudder internally.

"Can you beat her?" Erwin asked as he cast his gaze toward Onean.

"I... don't think so," Onean replied in a begrudging manner.

"That's the first time I've heard you concede something like that," Erwin jibed.

"We're talking about someone who was able to take that red-haired witch's memories. Just hearing about that sends shivers running down my spine," Onean said with slightly furrowed brows. "What kind of being could possibly have such an ability?"

The thought of Lana's amnesia was quite a saddening one for Erwin.

"What?! Memories can be taken?!" Theresa exclaimed. "I've never heard of anything like that..."

"Who cares what kind of monster she is? I have to save her no matter what," Erwin said in a determined voice.

The two women in the room were saying that they weren't going to help him, but they wouldn't be able to bear the thought of seeing Erwin rush to his death on his own.

...

The emperor gave the contest a rather innovative name: the Trapped Phoenix Tournament, and it was to be held in the back garden of the imperial palace.

After witnessing Lana's beauty several days ago, many of the dukedom rulers were determined to claim her. In contrast, neither Prince Xar nor Prime Minister Henry displayed any interest in participating in the contest. For one, they were no longer interested in beautiful women at their age, and secondly, it was unbecoming of figures of their lofty status to send people to compete in the tournament. However, they certainly weren't going to pass up the opportunity to spectate the event.

Even though it was clear that Erwin and Lana shared a very close relationship, none of the dukedom rulers cared about that, they were all determined to get their hands on Lana. On top of that, not many of the dukedom rulers actually took Erwin seriously. It seemed like he was receiving an inordinate amount of attention from Prince Xar and Prime Minister Henry, but that certainly didn't mean that everyone was going to treat him like an important figure.

Hence, Erwin could expect to face a great deal of competition during this Trapped Phoenix Tournament.

However, only when the tournament actually began did all of the dukedom rulers come to realize just how fearsome Erwin was.

The outburst during the imperial conference had only been a brief glimpse into his power.

For the first two rounds of the tournament, Onean and Theresa weren't even required to take part as Erwin was able to take care of their opponents on his own with ease.

Erwin was going into this tournament with a belly of fire, so he was extremely ruthless, even brutal, to his opponents. Even though the emperor had stated that killing was prohibited during the tournament, Erwin seemed to be completely ignoring that rule. All of his opponents were horrifically beaten, then carried away on stretchers to be treated by the palace doctors.

In the wake of Erwin's performance during the first two rounds, many of the dukedom rulers had begun to stay far away from him. After all, anyone would feel a little spooked at the sight of the murderous look on his face.

"Looks like he's in a foul mood and is taking it out on his opponents," Theresa said as she turned to Onean with an amused expression.

"Hopefully he can maintain this momentum until he encounters that monstrous woman," Onean replied with a nonchalant shrug.

It just so happened that the representatives of the Fano Dukedom had stepped onto the platform.

The masked woman from the day before was among them, and following along behind her was none other than Lana.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble and attention, Lana had taken a leaf out of Aglea's book, donning a silver mask to cover her gorgeous features. However, her mask was rather seductive in appearance with purple patterns engraved upon it, and she was wearing a dark azure rose tuck behind her ear.

Even though her face was concealed by the mask, most of the dukedom rulers had already witnessed her stunning beauty the day before. Thus, they were well aware of just how gorgeous she was, and the mask only served to lend her further allure and mystique.

Erwin was laying on the lawn, taking a nap, only to be woken up by the commotion ringing out around him.

He immediately caught sight of Lana in the crowd, and even though he was extremely excited, he was far calmer and more restrained on this occasion.

Behind the mask was a pair of blue eyes that resembled a pristine spring, which instantly devoured him whole, leaving him rooted to the spot.

Lana was struck by the urge to chuckle at the sight of Erwin's entranced expression, and even though she was wearing a mask, Erwin was still able to see the amusement in her eyes.

It was as if time had suddenly gone back in reverse, taking them back to their first meeting in Sarus.

Fate could be cruel and unpredictable at times, but they were already extremely fortunate to have been reunited with one another, particularly in such a faraway and unfamiliar land.

Regardless of what happened, Erwin was determined to save her.

...

"Are you still sulking?" Theresa jibed as she prodded Onean's waist with her elbow. "It looks to me like Lana doesn't lose to you at all in the looks department. No wonder you feel so jealous and threatened."

Right at this moment, a handsome young man joined in on the conversation, seemingly completely uncaring of the fact that it was considered to be quite rude to be eavesdropping on other people's conversations. "Oh? Who could possibly be making the most beautiful woman in Finklan jealous?"

Onean and Theresa both turned toward the young man in unison, and seeing the hostile looks on their faces, the young man smiled to alleviate the awkward atmosphere as he said, "Please pardon my intrusion, I just so happened to overhear your conversation. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Duba Xar."

It seemed that Prince Xar had told his son about Onean's beauty following the imperial conference.

"Has the son of the esteemed Prince Xar not been taught that it's rude to intentionally eavesdrop on other people's conversations?" Theresa asked in a cold voice. Even though she hadn't had any dealings with the nobles of Finklan, she had a rough idea of who this man was after hearing this surname. In the past, there was no way that she would've been so cold and abrasive to the son of Prince Xar, but it seemed that Erwin had had a bad influence on her. Ever since she joined the City of Freedom, she had developed more and more disdain toward the nobility. The thought that she was being subtly influenced by Erwin immediately brought a faint blush to her face.

"My sincerest apologies," Duba said with a bashful smile. "I really did only just so happen to overhear your conversation by chance."

"The best way to ensure that you're cherished by a man is to make him feel threatened. A complacent man who takes you for granted will never value you as much as he should," Onean said in a quiet voice that was only audible to her and Theresa.

Sure enough, as soon as Erwin noticed that an unknown man was speaking with Theresa and Onean, he immediately brushed off the grass on his robes before rushing over to the two women.

Theresa was very amused to see this, and it seemed that Onean's statement had struck the nail right on the head.

"Do you think about anything else other than women?" Theresa chuckled as she turned to Erwin with an amused expression.

1. In Chinese, the word "sour" relates to envy or jealousy. ☜