Ch 101: Judy and Lucien’s Confrontation

Why is she so persistent? Lucien eyed Judy, who had approached him once again despite him telling her previously that he could not train her.

Judy's gaze was fixed on Lucien, and though she seemed to question her own reasoning for approaching him, she held his gaze strongly nonetheless. Beside her stood Mark, who kept moving his eyes back and forth between Judy and Lucien, seemingly unaware of the fact that she had asked Lucien previously to teach her. Mark seemed just as baffled by the situation as Lucien himself was.

"Haah," Lucien sighed, shaking his head slightly. "I already told you before that I can't train you."

Mark shifted his position and stared at Judy with wide eyes. Lucien paid him no attention, having already grasped the fact that Judy had likely never mentioned to Mark that this conversation between them had happened before.

Judy's green eyes shifted toward Lucien, "Why?" she asked, clutching her fist so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Lucien saw the frustration burning in her green eyes and noted how stubborn she was acting today for no apparent reason. Mark stood frozen in place, torn between dragging Judy away and simply watching the exchange unfold, seeming to fear her enough that he did not want to risk getting on her bad side.

Why are these heroines so hellbent on making my life difficult? First he had to deal with Melissa, though she had not troubled him much, but then he had to deal with Eleena and the princess, then with Bianca, his freshly appointed teaching assistant, then with the twins of the elven kingdom, and now with the childhood sweetheart of the protagonist.

"I am not suitable for you," Lucien said, and he watched her face twist into contorted lines, deep creases forming across her temples.

"Then why are you teaching Melissa personally? Is it because she's more suitable to your teaching?" Judy shot back, and he would have already punished her for questioning him this far had it not been for the fact that hero Mark was watching, and Mark already hated Lucien enough as it was. It would not do for Lucien to fall even further into Mark's bad graces.

"Haah," Lucien let out a long sigh and rubbed at his eyebrows. "Melissa doesn't know much about anything related to combat. She's a complete newbie, so I'm just helping her get on her feet." Lucien paused, letting the words settle properly into Judy's mind, and he noticed Melissa listening to the conversation with far too much focus, as though she too had been waiting to hear these very answers. These heroines are never going to let me live in peace.

Lucien continued, "But you, Judy, you're different. You've been trained by your family since you were young, and you already know far more than Melissa does." Judy nodded along to his answer, and seeing that her expression finally showed some measure of being convinced, he added the final piece. "And besides, I don't have the free time, and I want to focus on Melissa for now."

Without waiting for any reply, objection, or response of any kind from Judy, Lucien turned on his heel, grabbed Melissa's wrist, and started walking away. He needed to put as much distance between himself and Judy as quickly as possible, before she could return with more questions or another request to be trained by him.

Lucien glanced at Melissa, who had her head bowed low all of a sudden. What's wrong with her now? Is there something wrong with all the heroines in this world?

***

"Judy, let's get back to sparring." Mark's voice pulled Judy's eyes away from the retreating figures of Lucien and Melissa. She turned toward him and saw his face full of unspoken questions.

"Mm," Judy nodded and began walking back toward the place where they had been sparring earlier.

Mark quickly caught up to her. "Why do you want to be trained by him?" His words were laced with a hatred she couldn't fail to notice.

Judy knew exactly how much Mark despised the Duskbane duke's house, all because they had failed to send their troops to his village, and she harbored some of that same resentment herself, having seen his sister lying in bed, fighting for her life day after day. It had been a pitiful sight, one that had broken something in Mark, and it had affected her deeply as well. So yes, she too carried some hatred for the Duskbane house for failing to send their knights when it mattered most.

But Lucien did not deserve to be the target of that hatred, or so she felt, and Mark needed to come to understand that soon, because Lucien had been a powerless child back then, with no say in deciding where his family's knights would be dispatched.

"Mark, you need to understand that Lucien is innocent in all of this." Judy voiced her thoughts plainly.

"But he's from the Duskbane house. He's the duke's son," Mark rebutted, then added, "And you still haven't answered my question. Why do you want to be trained by him?"

Judy sighed and shook her head, deciding it was better not to try changing his mind, not when he had been the one left at the receiving end of that tragedy, having lost his parents, with his only remaining family now lying unconscious.

She felt her heart ache at the sight of him like this, but she believed he would come to understand things better in time.

"He's powerful," Judy finally answered. "I've never met anyone that powerful while being that young, not in my entire life." Mark's gaze wavered under the weight of her words, and he clicked his tongue.

"Yeah, he is, but you know I'm not exactly weak either. I'm already Master rank, you know that, right? I could train you myself." Mark declared, puffing his chest out with pride.

"Yes, yes, I know of your greatness. So would you please grant this humble disciple of yours some good teaching, something that might enlighten her to reach new heights?" Judy joined her fists together and bowed slightly to him with a teasing smile.

Mark finally laughed, and she laughed along with him, lifting her head to find him looking like himself again, back to normal at last.

***

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