Chapter 378: Heated Relationship
Finally, after working her way through the entire assembly, leaving a trail of humiliated warriors in her wake, Mavis turned her attention toward Thea.
Her mouth opened—
"And as for you, big sis Thea—"
But Thea simply turned her head with a small, knowing smile.
"What is it, Mavis? What are you going to say about me?" Her voice was calm, almost amused. "Are you planning to insult me as well?"
The effect was immediate and dramatic.
Mavis, who had been so confident, so utterly assured of her superiority suddenly faltered.
Her smug smile wavered, becoming strained and uncertain. She forced it back into place, but it was a hollow imitation of its former glory.
"Oh, not at all, Big Sis Thea!" She said quickly, her voice losing its cutting edge. "You’ve been doing an exemplary job protecting our queen!"
"I, of course, have absolutely nothing to say to you. Nothing whatsoever!"
Luca raised an eyebrow.
’Interesting. Very interesting. So there is someone she respects.’
Thea’s smile widened just a fraction, as if she had seen through Mavis’s act completely but chose not to call her out on it.
Realizing that she was losing her momentum, Mavis whirled around and addressed the entire gathering once more.
"But seriously! All of you!" She shook her head, clicking her tongue in dismay. "How could you fall for a trap this obvious?
The centaurs groaned.
"From the very beginning, the Hero has been confident! Even after his powers were stripped away, he never faltered for a single moment!"
"He never looked scared. He never hesitated. The entire time, he treated you as though you were playthings."
She swept her arm across the gathered centaurs.
"With that, couldn’t at least one of you have figured out that something was wrong? That he was drawing you into a trap from which you could never escape?"
The centaurs looked down, shame burning fresh in their chests.
"If even a single person here had been smart enough to recognize what was happening..."
Mavis continued with a sigh.
"...my sister’s honor would not be in such a precarious state."
Then, quickly she added, "Of course, Big Sis Thea is different! I’m certain you realized what was happening. You simply didn’t get the chance to speak up about it!"
She said this as though desperate to ensure Thea was excluded from her condemnation, then immediately returned to her haughty demeanor.
"But the rest of you—! Shouldn’t you be absolutely ashamed of yourselves!? It’s one thing for Lady Poppy to go along with the Hero’s scheme. She’s quite dumb, after all."
Mavis shrugged dismissively. "But are all of you truly the same as Lady Poppy?"
"Hey! "
Poppy, who had been attempting to hide behind Thea as though hoping Mavis wouldn’t notice her, shot upright with indignation.
"How dare you, Mavis! How dare you say such things to your queen!"
She pointed a trembling finger at the smaller centaur.
"You have absolutely no respect for me whatsoever! This is treason! You should be locked in the dungeon for such insolence!"
Seeing her queen pass judgement upon her, Mavis’s demeanor transformed instantly.
She clasped her hands together, her expression melting into something almost fawning.
"Of course not, my lady!" She said, her voice dripping with sycophantic sweetness. "How could I possibly ever insult you? When did I ever do such a thing!?"
Poppy faltered, caught off guard by the sudden shift.
"But—but you just called me dumb. Everyone heard it!"
"Oh no, my lady. You misunderstand."
Mavis’s voice took on a tone of exaggerated patience, the kind one might use when explaining something to a particularly slow child.
"You see, in our culture, the word ’dumb’ means very idiotic. Without any brain at all."
Poppy nodded slowly. "Exactly!"
"But in human culture." Mavis continued. "The word ’dumb’ means something completely different. It actually means very smart! Exceptionally intelligent! Brilliant, even!"
Poppy’s eyes narrowed. "It...does?"
"Of course, my lady! So, I was praising you! I said it’s one thing for you to be dumb—which means you’re so smart that no one else can compare!"
"After all, how could the others possibly reach your level?"
"Your intelligence is unmatched. Untouchable! I was honoring you with my words, my queen."
Poppy’s brow furrowed in thought. She tapped her chin with a tiny finger, her nose wrinkling as she processed this information.
Then her eyes lit up.
"Of course!" She snapped her fingers. "A cultural difference! That explains everything! I knew you couldn’t possibly be insulting me." She puffed out her chest with pride. "So I’m very smart, then. The smartest centaur here. It only makes sense!"
"Or...as humans would say I’m the dumbest person in the world!"
Hearing their queen call herself dumb, the surrounding centaurs groaned.
"My Queen...my liege...oh sweet heavens above..."
"Will she ever grow up?"
"She fell for it...she fell for it in three seconds flat..."
It was so painfully obvious that Mavis was manipulating her. But she had fallen for it completely, without even a moment’s hesitation.
Thea slowly raised her hand and pressed it against her forehead, letting out a heavy, long-suffering sigh at her monarch’s hopeless naivety.
Meanwhile, Mavis stood by, looking as calm as a placid lake, clearly having pulled this exact trick dozens of times before.
Luca, on the other hand, was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.
The entire centaur military treated Poppy like a sacred, fragile deity, placing her on an unreachable pedestal despite her childish nature.
Yet this tiny pony spoke to her like a mischievous younger sister tricking a gullible older sibling.
And yet, when he looked closer, he noticed something interesting.
Despite her insults and mockery, no one was truly offended.
The centaurs shook their heads with frustration and vexation, yes—but it was the frustration of siblings dealing with an exasperating younger sister, not the outrage of warriors whose honor had been slighted.
They were obviously used to this. They had heard these jabs many times before.
Even Mavis’s tone, smug and haughty as it was, lacked genuine venom.
It felt more like playful, one-sided banter than words spoken out of hatred.
And when Luca studied the way Mavis looked at Poppy, he caught a flicker of genuine respect in those sapphire eyes.
She might insult her queen now, in this moment of casual ribbing, but when it truly mattered? She would give her life without hesitation.
She was fascinating, Luca realised and also the complete opposite of her sister.
Sigrid was stubborn and bound by her values at all costs.
But Mavis did whatever she wanted, said whatever she wanted, and seemed to delight in doing so.
It was genuinely entertaining to watch such a tiny, pony-like centaur openly mock these massive warriors twice her size, reducing them to stammering silence with nothing but words.
She was, Luca had to admit, quite the formidable presence.
—
Finally, after dealing with everyone else, Mavis turned to face Luca directly.
He immediately went on guard, curious to hear what sort of words she had prepared for him.
Her sharp tongue had already proven devastating against her own people—what would she say to the opponent who had humiliated them?
But before she could open her mouth, a cold voice cut through the air.
"...Why did you come here Mavis?"
The tone was so utterly destitute of warmth that Luca flinched.
He turned his head toward the speaker, expecting some ancient, terrifying matriarch to step forward—only to freeze when he realized the voice belonged to Sigrid!
But this didn’t make any sense.
Before her voice had been full of bravery and righteousness, ringing with the authority of a commander.
Now it had dropped to something low and cold. A murmur that carried more menace than any shout.
Even her eyes had changed.
Those brilliant blue eyes, which had blazed with determination during their battle, now held a chilling intensity that made the temperature of the entire field seem to drop several degrees.
Luca found himself genuinely confused.
’What in the world? Why is she looking at her own sister like she’s an invading enemy!?’
Mavis, who had been so confident mere moments ago, visibly faltered under that gaze. It was as though she had encountered her natural predator—the one opponent she couldn’t easily combat.
For just an instant, vulnerability flickered in her eyes.
But she recovered quickly, forcing a brave smile onto her face as she realized everyone was watching.
"It’s nothing at all, Big Sis." Her voice was slightly too bright, slightly too casual. "I heard that every single one of our knights was failing over and over again. Anf as a proud member of the centaur race—"
She placed a hand over her rather plump chest.
"—I couldn’t simply hold back and stay with the others!"
"That’s why I decided to come here and help. I’ll duel the Hero myself and reclaim our honor!"
She reached behind her, and Luca noticed for the first time that she was carrying a large sack—a bulky leather bag with various tools protruding from its opening.
"I’ve brought the perfect weapon for the job!" Mavis continued, her confidence slowly rebuilding. "I recently modified it so that—"
"There’s no need. "
Sigrid’s voice cut through her words like a blade through silk.
Mavis faltered, her hand freezing halfway to her satchel.
She forced her smile to remain in place, but it had grown strained at the edges.
"But—but, Big Sis, you have to listen. This will definitely—"
"I said...there’s no need."
The moment those words left Sigrid’s mouth, every centaur in the vicinity fell utterly silent.
Her eyes had taken on an edge of genuine anger, as though Mavis’s mere attempt to argue was something she could not, would not tolerate.
Mavis also stopped immediately.
Her mouth hung open, words dying on her tongue. The confidence that had seemed so unshakeable moments before had completely evaporated.
The other centaurs shifted uncomfortably. Some looked away, as though they didn’t want to witness whatever was about to happen. Others suddenly found their swords utterly fascinating, studying the blades with intense concentration.
Even Poppy herself, who clearly knew the history between these two sisters began whispering loudly to Thea about how beautiful the sky looked today, desperate to distance herself from the confrontation.
Luca, however, leaned forward with undisguised curiosity.
Mavis swallowed hard. Her tiny hooves shifted nervously against the dirt. She looked unbearably small under her sister’s towering shadow.
But then, a flicker of stubborn defiance sparked in her sapphire eyes. She clenched her fists.
"I...I don’t have to stop speaking just because you tell me to, Big Sis!"
Mavis blurted out, her voice quivering slightly before regaining its heat.
"And I don’t need your permission to be here! If I want to fight the Hero, I will fight the Hero, and nobody can stop me!"
Sigrid raised one elegant eyebrow. "Oh, is that so?"
The words were simple. But they carried such weight that Mavis physically recoiled, taking several involuntary steps backward.
Still, she refused to yield.
"Y-Yes. It is!" Mavis raised her voice, pointing at Luca with a trembling finger. "The Hero said any centaur could challenge him. And I’m a centaur! I came from the same womb as you, after all!"
"I have every right to be here!"
A ripple of discomfort passed through the crowd at her mention of their mother.
Even Sigrid flinched, as if the words had struck a nerve she had not been prepared to expose.
"So no matter what you say!" Mavis declared, her voice ringing with conviction. "I am still a centaur at the end of the day and I have every right in the world to challenge the Hero!
"You can’t deny me that!"
For a moment, she stood there like a rebellious teenager defying her parent, which, Luca realized, was essentially what was happening.
But Sigrid composed herself with visible effort. When she spoke again, her voice had returned to that controlled, commanding tone.
"The Hero did indeed call for anyone to face him. That much is true."
She paused, her eyes narrowing.
"But that invitation was extended to warriors. To knights. Those who train to protect our queen and who accompany her when she travels beyond our territory."
She took a step forward.
"Are you doing that, Mavis?"
"Are you in training to protect our lady?"
The question struck home. Mavis’s expression twisted with frustration.
"THAT’S ONLY BECAUSE YOU NEVER LET ME!"
The words burst out of her, raw and accusatory.
"I’ve wanted to join the training for years—years—and you always refuse! Every time you ride out to protect Lady Poppy, you push me back to the territory! You won’t even give me a chance!"
Her voice cracked slightly on the last word, and Luca suddenly saw the situation in an entirely new light.
He had initially assumed Mavis didn’t want the responsibilities of a knight.
That she was too smart to dedicate her life to protecting someone else, too independent to swear the oaths her sister had sworn.
But it was the opposite.
She wanted to be a knight. She wanted to serve. And Sigrid was the one preventing her.
But why?
He got the answer when Sigrid stamped her hoof against the ground, a commanding sound that made several centaurs jump and announced,
"That’s because you are not fit to be a knight, Mavis and you never will be!"