29 Second in Command

William took his jacket off and placed it on the bench as one of the Duchess's ladies came to him with a concerned face. Meanwhile, the Duchess removed her long skirts to reveal that she was already wearing pants under the dress. The same type of pants that knights wear under their armor as it gives decent defense against small knives or sharp objects.

"I'm so sorry, Sir William. When the Duchess gets comfortable with people she trusts, she gets out of control with alcohol. Please bear with her and try to knock her down as quickly as possible." The lady said to William which got him curious about the Duchess's motive to challenge William.

"I kinda get the idea why she wants to fight me since she explained to me just now, but does she challenge every strong opponent in a duel?" William asked the lady which expression changed from concern to depression as she sighed and closed her eyes for a second as if it was painful memories.

"Your guess is right. The Duchess tends to challenge anyone she believed to be a strong opponent. So far, two people managed to win against her. They are her father and Sir Dolven as him who taught her how to fight since she was a young lady. Few people got close to winning but unfortunately, they all lost including few nobles who proposed to her." The lady once again sighs after explaining the Duchess's history as William realized how battle crazy the Duchess is.

"She will have a third loss tonight. I'll make sure she won't get hurt during this match," William assured the lady and proceeded to enter the duel arena as the Duchess did the same from the opposite side.

"You took your time," Rana said to William as her face remained red and the smell of alcohol could be smelled from her. Still, she took her fighting stance and showed no flaws as she wielded wooden staff as her weapon. For William, he picked a wooden greatsword since it was big enough for William to wield it as a regular sword.

"Now, let us begin," William said to Rana while the same lady who talked to William earlier signaled the beginning of the duel.

When the duel began, two fighters didn't initiate the first strike as both of them waited and observed each other. After a few seconds, Rana began her attack as she charged forward with her weapon ready to strike. When the attack came, William blocked Rana's weapon with his own and pushed her with his brute force which made the Duchess push backward significantly.

Returning to her original spot, Rana once again charged at William but changed her pattern to confuse William which direction she was coming from. From left to right and shuffling the direction at each step, Rana's speed increased and made people who were tracking her unable to follow but for William, it was a different story.

This time, William made his move before the Duchess could attack first as his wide swing from wooden greatsword generated a powerful force of the wind which staggered his opponent. Rana, who had to fight against the wind, was stopped for a second which was enough time for William to attack again.

With a powerful blow from the practice weapon, William struck from the above. Seeing the attack, Rana used her weapon to block it but her weapon wasn't strong enough to stay intact as her staff broke in half. Still, thanks to her weapon, Rana managed to escape without receiving any fatal damage except her arms felt heavy vibration from William's attack.

With a broken weapon in her hand, the Duchess changed her fighting stance to dual wielding and circle around William. Having enough, William decided to finish this fight and start pressuring Rana's defense. With multiple quick attacks, William made sure he wasn't going to hurt the Duchess but use enough force to push her into the edge of the arena.

Unfortunately, the Duchess expected this from William and dodged the majority of his attack and proceeded to use her agility to fight against William's strength. The Duchess's counter-attack came right after William's wide swing as she rolled between William's legs and immediately attacked William from the back.

With quick strikes, Rana made sure she aimed her attacks on critical points such as knees, shoulder, hip, and elbows. The fast but powerful attacks turn William to take a defensive stance to which Rana continues her strike. In the end, William got into his knee while Rana stood in front of him with a heavy breath and her stamina exhausted.

Seeing William receive damage in the critical areas and his knee, Rana was about to give her final strike but to her surprise, William stopped her attack by grabbing both of her hands. William lifts his head and moves to stand up which Rana ends up dangling in the air as a giant of a man uses his strength to lift her like a doll. Still, Rana did her best to fight back with her kicks but it wasn't enough as William let go of her right arm and flick her forehead with his free hand.

The powerful flick from William's finger was enough to faint Rana in one shot as the Duchess lost her consciousness. This concluded the duel between Rana and William as the Duchess's followers came to assist their lady.

"Well, I think you should call the healer to check her head. I didn't use my full strength but you never know," William said to one of the ladies as he looked over to make sure Rana's forehead wasn't bleeding. Thankfully, there was no blood but her entire forehead is now bruised with dark purple which will give her a big headache tomorrow morning.

"One of us is a healer so don't worry, Sir William. Thank you for ending this quickly as you did but I'm afraid she won't remember due to alcohol and her injuries." The same lady said to William with little concern came from her voice but there was relief at the same time.

"That is good to hear. I believe gals got this and I will head to my quarter. Thank you and let's keep this between us since Rana won't remember what happened tonight," With that William left the training field and returned to his room.

As Ladies heal and carry their lady in command back to her room, a shadowy figure stepped back from the upper level as he saw the entire event from beginning to the end.

"This is going to be interesting, I can't wait to let everyone know when we arrive back in the capital." The mysterious person said to himself and disappeared as he is the last person to leave the scene.

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Next Day,

The day started late as everyone began their meal with lunch. When William entered the main hall where meals were served, he saw most of the people recovering from the hangover. Especially for Prince Benton, he has dark under eyes as if he stayed up late and had a few hours of sleep.

"You look like you're about to join the undead. What happened? I thought you went to sleep after leaving the party." William said to the prince as he placed his tray of food on the table. Before the prince could answer the question, an old knight commander joined the table with his lunch.

"The Crown Prince had a few more drinks after he went to his room and somehow escaped through the window. This is what happens when I allow young royalty to roam free without supervision." Sir Dolven said to William and Prince Benton which made William laugh while the prince covered his ears to ease his headache.

"It was worth it. I was able to enjoy the night sky here since I can't see any stars in the capital night sky." Prince explained his reason why he took a night stroll as William simply shrugged his shoulder as it was nothing significant.

"For royalty to walk alone at night isn't allowed especially during military campaigns. This is why you have royal knights following you wherever you go. Even the Duchess has bodyguards as she is a member of royal blood even if she is a branch family member. By the way, where is she? It's not like her to struggle with a few drinks from last night." Sir Dolven's question made William freeze for a second as he might be the reason why Rana isn't here having lunch with two other commanders. After all, today is the prep day before returning to the capital tomorrow morning.

As Prince Benton left half of his army at Fort Stormfist, the Duchess will leave her troops as a security force on Deron. After receiving a decree from the king, the two military forces will be relieved by the new lord of this region and go back home. As for Sir Dolven's force, they will escort William, Rana and Prince Benton back to the capital and head back home while Sir Dolven stays behind to give a full report.

"I'm sure she is late because of William," Prince said to Sir Dolven with a questionable remark and left William in a difficult situation.

"Did something happen, William?" The old knight asked William and gave him a serious face which put William on the defensive.

"Well… After you two left, Rana and I had a little duel. Don't worry, no one is dead or anything but I might have given her a bad headache during our match." After listening to William's explanation, Prince Benton laughed hard and Sir Dolven fell silent as he began to feel a headache.

"Ok, that explains everything, I'm guessing she is in her bed and she will send her second in command to handle today's preparation. William, you are going to visit the Duchess and help her out." Sir Dolven gave an order to William which forced the Space Marine to follow through.

After lunch, William went to the Duchess's quarter to visit her and get additional instruction on how to help her army. When he arrived, he was welcomed by the same group of ladies from last night and told to wait in the main room. After a few minutes later, the Duchess came in with one person William is familiar with, the same lady who asked him to knock Rana out cold before the duel began.

"Sir William, my apologies for not meeting you and others earlier. It seems I couldn't handle the alcohol from last night. I don't know what happened but it seems I blacked out halfway to the party." The Duchess gave her sincere apologies to William which made him turn his eyes to the lady in the back. Seeing William's eyes, the lady placed her index finger at her lips to signal William to keep it a secret. Realizing the situation, William decided to go with it since it will create more problems if he tells the Duchess the truth.

"Oh, yea. You were drinking nonstop, I had to admit you impressed me and others with your drinking ability." William gave a big smile and continued to explain his reason to visit her.

"I came here to confirm that you are alive but I'm also here because I was told by Sir Dolven to help you with tomorrow's return trip. Since you are not feeling well, who do I report to help?" William asks the Duchess to which she gladly accepts William's help and turns around to introduce her second in command.

"This is Silvi Greenheart, my second in command and best friend since I was a little girl." After the quick introduction, Lady Greenheart, the same person who asked William to beat up the Duchess, gave a small smile to William.

"Hello Paladin, it is nice to finally meet you. My name is Silvi Greenheart and I will be in your debt from now on."