Chapter 116 - Challenge You to a Duel (Part 2)

Vaughn's face darkened when he heard Zenia's wish. He agreed to have a duel to settle the dispute between them and hoped that they would be able to let bygones be bygones. He did not expect that Zenia would make such a wish.

"I will not agree to this wish of yours." Vaughn could no longer keep it in and roared in anger.

Zenia's displeasure went up a notch. "Don't shout in my own turf! You may be the Crown Prince in Tissuria, but you are nothing in my territory. What right do you have to oppose me?"

Ovid and Zander were displeased with Vaughn's behavior and wanted to throw him out in an instant. Renaria stopped them and pushed the father and son duo inside the main house. It was the first time in many days that Zenia and Vaughn talked to each other. Renaria knew that they had so much steam to let out, and it was best for them to discuss their problem first.

Renaria gave a signal to the servants to clear the area and continue with their work. Everyone left the newlyweds who were still oblivious that they were all alone. Renaria made it clear to the doting father and son duo not to interfere. Nothing would be fixed if they meddle too much.    

"If that's your reasoning, why do we need to have a duel? Let's just go with what you wish if you are so adamant about divorcing me. Just tell me that you don't care about me and slap the damned truth to my face so I can wake up already." Vaughn was becoming frustrated the more they argued.

"We are going to duel so we can part ways without regrets and heartaches. The next time we meet we can be friends."

'Friends? You might as well stab me here now, you cruel woman!'

"Zenia, I did not travel non-stop all the way here and waited for you for so many days to talk to me just to lose you in the end. I know that you can defeat me in our duel. Otherwise, you will not be as confident as you are now. I am hoping that after the duel, we can get along again… I refuse to divorce you or just stab me here right now!" Vaughn slumped to his seat.

He unfastened a few buttons of his shirt to ease the feeling of being suffocated. He bent his arms and put his elbows on the table. He bowed his head and supported it with his two hands. Zenia saw some droplets on the table where Vaughn was seated.

'Is it a teardrop?'

Zenia somehow felt warm inside and guilt-ridden, and her face was slowly turning crimson. She must not allow herself to be swayed with mere words from Vaughn. She sighed because she had seen how many women could be easily swayed with words to appease their anger. What about their pride and dignity? Women should learn to love themselves a bit more and teach these men a lesson they would never ever forget for the rest of their lives.

"Vaughn, have you realized the wrong you committed?" Zenia toned down the domineering sound of her voice.

Vaughn did not move from his spot or turned to look at Zenia when he nodded his head.

"Let's hear it."

"I should've told you that I am the Big Brother Vaughn that you have been searching for. I should've told you everything while you were being good. You kept reminding me, but I still did nothing in the end."

"You know I hate liars."

"Yes, I know."

"Why did you not come clean right away?"

"I didn't know how to begin, and I was too terrified. There were times when I tried to tell you but got interrupted in the end."

Vaughn lifted his head and looked at Zenia. His eyes were red although there were no traces of tears.

"Zenia, do you know when I have fallen in love with you?"

Zenia was caught by surprise. Such a cheesy line and he did not even flinch. All along she thought that she was in total control of their conversation. Her face turned red, and she could not utter a single word. Vaughn mistook her silence for being angry since her face was already red all over.

He sighed and continued, "You may still not believe me, but I really liked you a lot already the first time we met. I can't exactly tell when I fell in love with you. It is possible that it happened on the day that I first met you. I had already seen myself spending my life every day with you by my side. Through these years, I always have you in my heart and mind. You don't know how frustrated I am right now. You are within reach, but I can't seem to touch you no matter how hard I try. I just want to live my life with you. I…"

Zenia's heart ached when she heard his words. She could feel his pain, but she dared not say anything in front of him. She looked away because she did not want him to see her reaction. She had no idea what kind of face she was showing at the moment.

She wanted him to understand that she was not someone that he could toy with. She only wanted to warn him and only uttered the word divorce out of anger. She did not want to divorce him either, but her pride was preventing her from telling him the truth. Both of them were quiet. No one uttered a single word for a long time.

Zenia turned her back from Vaughn and walked a few steps away from him before saying, "I can take out divorce from my wish, but I will stay here for a few weeks when I win. Zeze already knows what to do."

"W-what? You're not planning to divorce me anymore?" Vaughn stood up and wanted to make sure that he heard it right.

"Yes, I will not divorce you…for now. But, you need to always be good. I can't guarantee that I won't think of divorcing you in the future."

Vaughn walked to where Zenia was standing and wanted to hug her. She turned around when she felt that he was closing in and quickly stretched out her arms to prevent him from getting close. Her hands touched his exposed broad, muscular chest and stopped him from advancing.

Zenia blushed, even more, when she realized that she was touching his bare chest.

"We will still have our duel."

"If you insist, let's still have the duel. But the divorce is off the table."

"Yes! If I win, let me stay here for a few more weeks."

"If I win, we will go back immediately and have a proper honeymoon."

Zenia glared at him. 'This rogue prince is at it again! We are still negotiating and he's already thinking of something else.'

"If you win I will go back together with you and complete our original mission."

"That sounds fair."

"Since you don't carry your own weapon, you can choose one from the training hall. Let's meet in the open field outside the manor in two hours."

Zenia walked toward the main house while Vaughn trod the path leading to the training hall. Both of them had a faint smile on their lips.

* * * * *

Zenia informed her family about the duel and everyone, including some of the servants, went to the open field.

Vaughn was already there when Zenia arrived,

"Are you ready, Young Master Vaughn Pernell?" Zenia asked in a calm tone.

"Ready when you are Young Madam Zenia Anisen Pernell," Vaughn answered in an equally calm voice.

"Prepare to be defeated."

Zenia attacked immediately and did not stop thrusting her sword at every opening that she could find. Vaughn immediately sustained bruises, which were inevitable during a duel. Zenia had a few cuts as well.

Zenia made it clear to him beforehand that it was an insult to go easy on the opponent during a duel. But, either party should make sure that they wouldn't kill their opponent. She told him that she also would like to assess his swordsmanship.

Vaughn could not believe how strong and fast Zenia was. Every slash was precise and quick. He could not predict where she would strike next. He was being modest when he told her earlier that he knew she could defeat him, but he never thought that it could be true.

He managed to cut Zenia twice, and he had already given his all. After that, he could no longer find any opening. It only took two cuts for her to study the movement of her opponent and come up with an effective defense strategy. Vaughn was relieved that Zenia was not his enemy and he intended to keep it that way.    

Renaria was holding a medicine kit that contained a bottle of medicine, bandages, and other important stuff. She already knew that the duelists would sustain some wounds, especially Vaughn.

"Young Master Vaughn, I will let you experience the effect of my secret technique."

Zander heard it, and his eyes sparkled with delight. Renaria looked at Ovid and saw that her husband and her son got the same looks in their eyes.

Zenia used her gust of wind and sent Vaughn flying. Vaughn could not counter the impact and accepted his fate.

"Zander!" Renaria called out her son who ran fast to the direction where Vaughn would land.

Zander caught Vaughn who suffered more cuts from the wind that Zenia had manipulated. Renaria took care of Vaughn's wounds quickly. She was glad that the wounds were nothing serious. However, she could not guarantee the same result if Zander failed to catch Vaughn in time.   

Vaughn was defeated miserably by the insanely fast and strong Zenia Anisen. However, Vaughn noticed that Zenia was trying to end the duel quickly. There should be a reason, and he would find out why.