Unlike Li, who cleanly ignored the Crown Prince’s declaration, there was someone who reacted strongly.

“Daaaaaah!” the male instructor shouted loudly.

“Why would you go and do something like that...”

Scratching his head roughly with both hands, the words slipped out without being directed at anyone in particular.

The Amesverta Kingdom has a strong martial culture.

In such a country, a duel is something carried out when neither side can back down any further.

There is no cunning system like using a proxy.

It is conducted strictly between the one who issues the challenge and the one who accepts it.

The idea that a noble’s power includes the strength of their house does not apply.

After all, there are many battle-crazed individuals, and such reasoning is seen as uncool.

Whether man or woman, before a duel, one stands as an individual.

It might be because this is a world where the mysterious power of magic exists.

A duel typically continues until a complete conclusion is reached.

Both sides push their pride to the limit.

For the loser, there is only death.

There was no way something like that could be allowed for students.

Especially when it involved the Crown Prince and a young lady of a Ducal House.

No matter who lost, it would be a problem.

From the male instructor’s perspective, the outcome was already obvious.

Certainly, the Crown Prince was also excellent.

However, he still fell within the bounds of ‘excellent.’

But what about Li?

She wasn’t something that could be described as excellent anymore.

She was simply beyond all standards.

For some reason, she insisted on wanting to live a normal academy life.

However, in reality, she was a being too large to fit within something like the academy.

A duel with someone like Li?

It was like spitting toward the heavens.

That was why the male instructor said, “That’s not allowed.”

“Why not!?”

The Crown Prince’s angry shout came without a moment’s delay.

Of course, the male instructor couldn’t say, ‘Because you would lose.’

If he could, he would have said it, but that was impossible.

From the Crown Prince’s perspective, his words came from an unwillingness to admit that he was inferior to Li.

The male instructor understood those feelings well enough.

In other words, even if he said it was because he would lose, it would only be like adding fuel to the fire.

“That is acceptable.”

While he was at a loss for words, Li spoke up.

The male instructor thought, ‘what is she saying now…’

The way his hand unconsciously moved to hold his stomach made it clear just how much stress he was under.

“However! A duel is unacceptable. Therefore, let us make it a mock battle instead.”

Li proposed.

At that suggestion, the Crown Prince frowned.

She could have simply ignored him.

To be fair, she was aware that she had been acting a bit too freely lately.

It was also due to instructions from the Headmaster, but she was being treated specially.

It wasn’t strange that a student like the Crown Prince would be dissatisfied with that.

However, even if she asked not to be treated specially, how much would that really change?

Although she thought it couldn’t be helped, there was also a sense of guilt from having enjoyed it.

That was why she deliberately engaged with him.

However, a duel was absolutely out of the question.

“Why can it not be a duel!?”

“You still ask for a reason, Your Highness? It is because I have no desire to engage in a fight where lives are taken.”

“But if it is not a duel—!”

“Red, Blue, Green, Purple, Brown! Do all of you also think that is acceptable?”

“Don’t call us by our colors,” Red reacted.

Then, scratching his cheek, he spoke.

“Well, it can’t be helped, right? His Highness says he wants this. We’ve never seen His Highness like this before. So we’ll just believe in him.”

Even though she hadn’t expected much, Li still felt like holding her head.

They were taking a duel too lightly.

They were taking the idea of a fight to the death too lightly.

Even if they called it a duel, they probably believed they themselves wouldn’t die.

Was that because of their position as sons of high-ranking nobles?

Or was it simply due to a lack of experience?

Either way, they weren’t thinking about death in a realistic sense.

That was why they could speak so casually about a duel.

Originally, it was meant to be a last resort when neither side could back down any further.

Nobles conduct their disputes in such a way as to avoid crossing that line.

At the very end, they do not push things to that point.

Therefore, even though the history of the Amesverta Kingdom is long, there are not many cases where matters escalated into duels.

They themselves should have been taught that.

That a duel is not something to bring up lightly.

And yet, the Crown Prince and the others had stepped over that line of their own accord.

Perhaps it meant the Crown Prince was taking this very seriously.

However, Li did not want to accept it, but he was also her fiancé.

To propose a duel to one’s own fiancée would be unprecedented.

Handled poorly, it could even divide the nation.

Even though the head of the Ducal House was the King’s younger brother, it wasn’t impossible to imagine him flying into a rage.

Simply put, it was not something that could be taken lightly at all.

Taking all of those circumstances into account, the Crown Prince and the others likely hadn’t thought things through at all.

That was Li’s conclusion.

At this point, she needed to knock some sense into them properly.

That was what Li thought.