Having barely managed to block his master's blade that flew at him at the speed of light, Max suppressed his nausea. He thought his master truly knew of the way to becoming a transcendent being. However, he had led Max to the drill hall.

Throwing a sword toward him, Regis had said, "Enlightenment is bound to come during a time of crisis. Try surviving my blade."

His master's onslaught was more threatening than the six years Max had spent on the battlefield. He muttered curses under his breath for falling into a measly trap like this. That was when his master began to move swiftly as if to catch Max's attention. In his eyes, it looked like there were two of his master. As the blade rushed in and took control of his sword, Max was forced to pay a disastrous price for becoming momentarily distracted. It was as if his weapon had become wrapped inside that of his opponent.

His master pushed against Max's blade, and it flew back, spinning in a circle. Max stood with his mouth agape at the unbelievable sight. He had never been forced to let go of his sword like this, and his pride was scathed.

"Too weak," his master sneered.

'Damn him!' Max's head grew hot with anger. Max had tried to remain patient with the father of the woman he loved, but now he was at his limit. Drawing another sword from his waist, Max crouched to pounce. Nevertheless, his master was in front of him in an instant, aiming his blade at Max's neck.

"Too slow."

"Damn it to hell."

Regis furrowed his brow at the sight of his disciple swearing under his breath. The duke then let out a sigh. 'If I do this, Jubell will become even more frightened of me.'

Little did he know, his daughter was standing at the entrance of the training ground, pale-faced. She had been watching what was happening.

* * *

After I heard that the two were in the drill hall, I wondered what they were doing there.  'Surely… they're not fighting, are they?' Anxious thoughts overcame me, and I sighed. 'Is that really the best way?' I had consulted Rose on how to get close to my father, but her reply was shorter than usual.

"I'll be blunt, Lady Floyen. I just address my father as 'daddy.'"

"Daddy." It was awkward to say the word out loud as I had never used it in my previous life, let alone my present. Moreover, I was approaching adulthood. There was a chance my father might think I had gone crazy if I called him that way. No matter how much I thought about it, calling him "daddy" was unreasonable. I had decided to figure something out my way.

Sighing from frustration, I hastened my steps. The drill hall, which was located some ways away from the mansion, grew closer.

'I wonder what they are doing there.' With that thought in mind, I carefully opened the door to sneak in. An astonishing scene caught my eye. 'What are they doing?' Father and Max were exchanging furious attacks with each other. I could not even follow their blades with my eyes.

'Won't they get hurt?' Although I was ignorant of the sword, I could tell that the match between the two was extremely dangerous. Just then, I remembered that knights sometimes got injured during training. They tended to practice with handicaps to avoid injury. On the other hand, the two men's blades were sharper than ever. I could feel a vicious aura just by watching. Were they actually battling?

I gulped in nervousness as I watched. That was when Max was forced to let go of his sword due to Father's attack.

'Ah, maybe I can approach them now.' I was about to take a step forward, thinking the duel was over. A strong headache suddenly emerged just then.

"I'm… sorry… for… making… you… frightened…"

As the strange memory flashed before me, my face crumpled. Realizing my father was pushing his blade closer to Max, however, I yelled out, "D-daddy!"