Leo, who was struggling to accept reality, was thrashing about, and Stella was dying to just sit back and watch the spectacle.

Seeing how much he disliked his current appearance sparked an inexplicable, sadistic pleasure in Stella's chest.

However, now wasn’t the time to indulge in such things. Her brother was still aiming to take her life.

“Leo. I understand that you’re feeling a bit flustered by that cute form of yours, but can you save the confusion for later? It’s a pretty dangerous situation right now.”

“Ah, r-right! I’ll help you right away!”

Perhaps due to being unaccustomed to his new body, Leo stumbled clumsily, moving like a child as he tried to adjust. Seeing this, her brother sneered at her.

“Hah, so that’s your backup? Do you really think that little child can help you?”

“He may look like that, but he’s quite strong.”

Probably.

No, not "probably." She had already seen with her own eyes how strong Leo was, many times over. Hadn’t he even cleanly sliced off that giant demon’s arm?

But watching him struggle with a sword now far larger than his shrunken body was beginning to stir feelings of unease in Stella’s chest.

“Ugh, m-my stance...! I can’t figure it out!”

“?!”

Unable to control his newly transformed body, Leo swung his sword awkwardly, apparently deciding that dragging things out any further would be dangerous.

And then, imbued with the power of the Swordmaster's relic, a brilliant white sword aura shot out from Leo's blade.

...It was so large and so fast that both Stella, who had been doubtful, and the prince, who had been sneering, were left staring in disbelief.

“What the hell...?!”

BOOM!

The layers of defensive shields the prince hurriedly conjured began dissolving like sugar crystals in water the moment they came into contact with Leo's sword aura.

The sheer destructive power of the attack, despite coming from such an awkward stance, was so absurd that the prince's face went pale.

In stark contrast to her brother’s expression, Stella’s face brightened.

“Heh, hahahaha! You wretched brother! Where’s your royal decorum now? Didn’t you say crude words weren’t fitting for royalty?”

“Ugh... ghh...!”

In the end, the prince managed to block the sword aura, which seemed as if it would cleave him in two.

Even though it was a poorly executed strike, relying purely on physical strength and life force, there was no skill behind it.

Normally, a sword strike like that wouldn’t be difficult to block, though it might take some effort.

But not this time.

Between dealing with the Observer, the demon-possessed, and Stella’s constant interference, there were only two of his six men left. They had just finished an intense battle.

And now, without even a moment to catch his breath, he was forced to block this brute force attack.

It was obviously going to be difficult.

As evidence, the remaining knight who should have been around the prince was nowhere to be seen. Either they had been vaporized by the sword aura, or they had tried to put up a shield and were blown away with it.

It didn’t matter. Neither of them could do anything now.

The sight of her arrogant brother, who had taunted her only moments ago, now in grave danger—Stella decided she would repay him for everything he had done to her.

“Hahaha! Leo! Do it again! More!”

“W-what? But my stance...!”

“It doesn’t matter! Just do it!”

“Y-yes!”

Boom, boom.

Each time the terrifying sound of the sword aura crashing against the prince’s shields echoed, the prince felt as though his vision was darkening.

Even though he realized that Stella was slipping away from her position and moving further from his reach, he couldn’t do anything about it.

If he lowered his shield to deal with her, that sword aura would cleave him in half.

No matter how skilled a healer came, or how godlike the doctor, there would be no way to save him.

He’d die the moment he was sliced.

So, he had to do something. If this went on, he’d be exhausted and killed anyway.

His magic was already running dry, his vision blurring, while that clumsy monster showed no signs of tiring, despite unleashing such ridiculous power.

He had to do something, anything...

"...Ugh!"

In that split second of frantic scanning, the prince’s concentration slipped just for a moment.

And the consequences were dire.

His shield, weakened by that lapse in focus, was torn apart by the sword aura, and the prince experienced a pain like nothing he had ever felt before.

“Ugh, gah...! Kuaaaah!”

As he twisted his body in a desperate attempt to survive, the prince’s eyes turned bloodshot, and an indescribable scream escaped his lips.

He avoided instant death.

However, instead of his upper and lower body being separated, his left arm had been completely severed.

“Stella, Stella Adelheid...!”

“What is it, dear brother? Rex Adelheid.”

“You...! You...!”

Rage and fragmented words spilled from the prince’s mouth, but Stella’s expression remained icy.

“Yes, I’ve won, brother.”

“That... that can’t be true!”

“I’ve lost to you my whole life, and I even lost earlier today... but just once, in this decisive moment, I’ve won.”

“How dare you... how dare you...!”

“With you defeated here, the succession naturally passes to me. There are no other direct descendants left, except for the two of us.”

“No... that can’t be! I haven’t lost yet!”

“You have. With a wound like that, if you don’t get treated immediately, you’ll die. You can’t fight anymore.”

“...”

Looking up at Stella as she let out excited breaths, Rex Adelheid finally realized.

He had been defeated.

He had never lost before, but now, at the most critical time, in the most vital place, he had been defeated.

“Kuh... hah... Defeated, am I...?”

“Yes. You have been defeated.”

“...I can’t believe it. I never imagined losing to you, my sister.”

“That’s exactly why you lost. You thought you could put me off for later, casting me out to the academy. If you had gotten rid of me back then, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Hah... yes, you’re right. I should have killed you then...”

With his mind growing hazy, the prince closed his eyes in regret.

He should have killed her earlier. He shouldn’t have been complacent. Instead of sparing her, he should have crushed her with all the forces of the royal family.

But even with all that regret, his consciousness didn’t fade away, forcing him to open his eyes again.

“...Why don’t you finish me?”

“Well, I see no reason to. You’ve lost your arm, and you’ve lost the duel. I’ll simply expose all of your lies, and you’ll die on your own.”

“Hahaha...! Is that so...?”

His sister truly intended to humiliate him to the very end.

What would happen when all his dirty secrets came to light?

It didn’t take much thought to figure it out.

Even if he managed to survive and receive treatment, everything would be taken from him. He’d be left with nothing, having fallen from the heights of power.

And then, from the top, she would look down at him crawling in the dirt and laugh.

...He couldn’t allow that.

“If you’re going to let me live, I’ll make sure that’s impossible!”

The prince used every ounce of remaining magic to gather a small amount of energy at the tip of his remaining finger.

His mana reserves were almost empty, so the amount he could muster was barely the size of a grain of rice.

But that was enough to destroy his own brain.

“Kuh!”

The small ball of magic left his finger and disappeared into his skull in an instant.

And with it, the prince’s body collapsed, blood dripping from his eyes.

“...So, he really did hate losing more than dying. I guess that wasn’t a lie.”

Stella muttered in disbelief as she looked down at her brother.

Even at the end, he had been like that.

Any remaining sympathy she might have had for him disappeared.

At least she didn’t have to dirty her hands.

“Um, excuse me...”

“Ah, Leo. Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to overcome a great danger. It looks like I’ll become the emperor, so what would you like? I recall you wanted to become a knight. How about becoming the imperial guard’s knight?”

“Really?! I’d be honored to—wait, that’s not what I meant?!”

“Hm?”

What was this?

Was Leo unhappy with the position of imperial guard knight?

After all the times he sang about becoming a knight, she had planned to ensure he would achieve that if things turned out well.

Was he not pleased?

No, his face had lit up, and he had seemed happy about it.

...Was there something else bothering him?

“This form! When will it wear off?!”

“...Ah, that.”

“Yes, yes!”

So he was upset about turning into a woman through the promotion.

Leo looked at Stella with teary eyes, hugging his sword like it was the most precious thing in the world.

“Well, after some time, it should revert b—”

“I won’t have to live like this forever, will I?!”

“...”

Tears welled up.

As she looked at the face of the former man, now tearfully hugging his sword, Stella’s cheeks flushed slightly.

...I really want to tease him.

“Well, I’m not sure. This is the first time I’ve seen a promotion, so I don’t know what’ll happen.”

“N-no way...?!”

Ah.

This is fun.

Stella looked at Leo, who seemed utterly at a loss, and made a decision.

I’ll make him my personal guard for sure.

And, occasionally, I’ll turn him back into a queen to mess with him.

Maybe letting him stay in this form permanently wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Stella, without hesitation, entertained thoughts that would make Leo run for his life if he heard them.