“You have defiled the sacred laws of the duel and turned your blade against His Highness the first prince! In doing so, you have turned your blade against the royal family of Ogdenn in turn. This is nothing short of high treason against the royal family!”
It was only at that point that Watt finally realized that Lezamer had never had any intention of actually fighting him. In the end, it didn’t matter if Watt was plotting treason or not—Lezamer had merely chosen the duel because it was a convenient premise to trap him.
“That’s nonsense and you know it!” Watt barked back. “You’re the one who suggested a duel in the first place! Fight me fair and square!”
“What an unsavory argument when the proof’s clear as day! Hah! Such insolence for common-born filth like you to call yourself the Top Knight of the Kingdom! Father must be going blind!”
A throng of knights in Lezamer’s service piloting Mechsteels appeared, holding Watt and his Mechsteel down. Lezamer strode over in his own machine and lifted his sword in the air, only to bring it slamming down on the sword Watt’s Mechsteel was holding. With Watt unable to even brace for the impact, the sword snapped cleanly in two, the edge of the blade twirling through the air before plunging into the ground.
“You’re starting to look more and more like a commoner now! Ha ha ha ha ha!”
“You bastard... Looks like you’ve got a death wish, huh?!”
“Hmph! It seems you still don’t realize the situation you’re in, do you? Traitorous scum! Why don’t I just crush you now?”
The edge of Lezamer’s blade was pointed directly at the back of Watt’s Mechsteel. If he were to thrust his sword in, the blade would pierce Watt inside the cockpit as well.
Lezamer purposefully slowly pushed into his sword, leaving the armor on Watt’s Mechsteel to give a piercing shriek before—
“Wait, please.”
It was that same moment that the dignified voice blew through the chaos playing out on the duel stage. There was no way Watt could ever mistake that voice. It was none other than Cullinagemia Turris. Walking up to the titans’ feet without a hint of fear, Cullinagemia positioned herself between Lezamer and Watt.
“What is it?” Lezamer demanded. “It’ll all be over soon enough. You’re the trophy—all you need to do is watch in silence from the sidelines.”
“Your Highness Lezamer Ogdenn. I believe your goal for this duel was to win me, not to kill him. If you say that you’ve won, then I ask that you do what the rules prescribe you to do as victor.”
“Well, now,” Lezamer replied. “Unlike that ignorant commoner over there, it seems you’re rather astute, aren’t you? You’ve caught my fancy even more. Very well, then—in that case, come to my hand.”
Lezamer knelt down his Mechsteel, extending its massive hand before her. His interest had already shifted away from Watt and onto the trophy that was within his grasp.
Cullinagemia took a step forward. Watt couldn’t contain himself from screaming.
“Cullina, stop! You can’t go with the likes of him!”
Cullina stopped in place. With her back still turned, Watt only heard her next words to him.
“Watt. I’m sorry this is the only way I could save you.”
“That’s not how it works! I’m supposed to be the one saving you! Just hold on! I’ll get this all sorted out right now!”
Nothing else mattered at that point. They were the one who’d given Watt a blade that hadn’t had its edge removed—all that was left was to wield it just as they’d hoped he would. His partner’s Mech-Heart throbbed, surging its output of power. It was that same moment that Cullina turned around.
“Watt, you can’t. If you just throw everything away here, then you’re only playing into his hands. And if you sink to become a true traitor, Sir Watt...you’ll be an enemy to all.”
The trembling that enveloped Watt’s whole body bound his arms in place. Why on earth had he ever even sought to be a knight in the first place? His boiling rage falling silent, Watt realized it—he realized that a blade wielded only in anger could never save a soul. In fact, worse yet, he might very well harm Cullinagemia, when she meant the whole world to him.
“Watt, would you grant me one last selfish request?”
“Selfish?! I’ve never—!”
I don’t want it to end like this! Watt wanted to burst into an unseemly mess of tears. Cullina carried herself unflinchingly—there was no way he could be the only one to act so shamelessly. Watt’s pride as Cullina’s own knight upheld his heart that seemed like it would shatter at any moment.
“Somewhere out there, I’m sure there’s someone who needs your sword...and needs you to save them the same way you saved me. So, please... I ask only that you stay the virtuous knight that you are.”
“You always asked the most difficult things of me.”
“I know you can do it, Watt. You’re the knight who laid his life on the line to save me.”
And so, Cullina stepped onto the Mechsteel’s hand. Watt could only watch as she was lifted away before him. That moment was the last time he spoke to Cullinagemia Turris.
It seemed the kingdom had covered up the scandal that emerged in the wake of the incident at the duel. Watt found himself presented with a mountain of gold coins to stay silent. He leveled the mountain with a kick then and there, resigning from his post as Top Knight of the Kingdom while he was at it. Leaving the army behind as well, Watt had returned to being “just Watt.” He was a knight no longer. In the end, he grabbed everything he could as a substitute for his retirement pay before running out of the capital.
Afterward, Watt continued to wander here and there throughout the kingdom, eventually washing up in the furthest frontier of the kingdom before he knew it.
“I didn’t see Cullina once in the seventeen years after that. She’s still the first princess, though. So the gist of it is that Anna’s my daughter...and that bastard’s stepdaughter.”
As Watt brought his tale to a close, everyone on the scene had fallen into silence. Actually, Meddié was even sobbing quietly.
“H-Hey, come on now! Don’t look so serious! It’s all in the past. Time’s the cure-all that’ll wipe anything away, see? Too late now to be moping over all that!”