I Became the Male Lead who was Clinging onto the Female Leads

TL/Editor: Raei

Schedule: N/A

Illustrations: Posted in discord.

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“Celine? Aren't you far above the first years?”

“Didn’t you see his spar just now? I don’t think that guy would get hurt if he sparred with me.”

"Well, you're not wrong, but..."

"I'll take that as permission."

Celine bowed her head slightly and approached Eugene with confident strides.

She usually maintained a cold distance, never initiating conversations, but the situation now was different.

It was a spar organized by their teacher during class and they were even in the same team.

No matter how reserved she was, speaking in an official setting like a class wouldn’t be strange.

'And that sword technique...'

During the five rounds of sparring, he hadn't swung more than twenty times.

As a swordswoman who had dedicated her life to the art, she felt compelled to challenge that sword directly.

“Eugene, since we’re in the same group, a spar doesn’t seem out of place. What do you say? Want to go for a round?”

"I'm scared... I don't want to."

“What?”

How could he say such a thing with a face that didn't seem scared at all!

Celine bit her lip.

It only seemed like retaliation for rejecting his confession.

'I know you're nothing more than that kind of man!'

But I am genuinely curious about your swordsmanship!

She hadn’t expected Eugene to decline like this, and Celine found herself at a loss for words.

If you only looked at her appearance right now, she looked like a little chick hit by frost.

'Really scared.'

Eugene was genuinely scared and that's why he had declined.

'I don't think I'll lose in swordsmanship.'

Just in terms of swordsmanship.

Considering other factors, overtaking Celine wouldn’t be easy.

Born into a prestigious swordsmanship family, she had been trained her entire life and, thanks to her impeccable lineage, her magical prowess was unparalleled among her peers.

If they sparred, Eugene might have a slight advantage in swordsmanship, but her overwhelming mana would make victory challenging.

A draw would be the best he could hope for.

‘It’s still too early.’

To ensure victory against Celine, Eugene needed more time.

If she only had a lot of mana but was a novice in swordplay, it would be different.

But she was, after all, a prodigy in the art of the sword.

“Are you doing this because of what happened before?”

Celine’s face hardened, ignorant of his internal struggle.

“If you’re declining because of that, you're really not worth my time."

Turning briskly, Celine began to walk away.

In her view, it was a cold and merciless walk.

However, due to her slightly petite stature, she looked a bit pitiful in Eugene's eyes.

“I’ll agree to a spar under one condition.”

Celine stopped in her tracks.

‘A condition?’

Had anyone else proposed it, she might have asked without hesitation.

But coming from Eugene, it evoked skepticism.

'Does he want to use sparring as an excuse to ask me out again?'

If that's the case, she wouldn't care about sparring and would immediately swing her sword.

"What's the condition?"

“Just go easy on me.”

“What?”

"Don't hurt me, go easy."

Celine's face twisted oddly.

She had expected some peculiar demand, but he was just asking for mercy.

"...I don't mind that."

She felt a bit embarrassed for making such wild assumptions.

“Then, draw your sword.”

“Huh?”

Lost in her thoughts, Celine instinctively raised her wooden sword.

In that moment.

Taaak!

"Huup...!"

Eugene, with full force, swung at her.

If not for her years of training and honing her instincts, she would've been seriously injured by that strike.

‘What kind of power is... this...?’

The mana she felt was minimal.

Yet, the angle of his descending blade kept Celine from even using a tenth of her strength.

‘Damn it…!’

She gritted her teeth, extracting mana from within.

Mana surged out like a tidal wave, adding strength to her blade.

The air hummed as Celine's sword sliced through it.

But in the blink of an eye, Eugene had dodged her swing.

'He never moved like that when he was sparring with Tina...!'

Caught off guard by Eugene's sudden onslaught, she faltered.

However, Eugene too was having a hard time.

'She's an opponent I have to take seriously.'

He was putting his utmost effort against Celine.

Determined not to let her catch a breath, he lunged forward, swinging his blade vigorously.

‘What kind of sword technique is this...?’

Celine tried to deflect and counter, but the trajectory of Eugene's strikes seemed tailored to block any potential counterattacks.

She had to focus entirely on defense.

Recklessly attempting to strike back would leave her vulnerable.

‘I can't let him dictate the pace!’

She pushed for more power; a greater surge of mana surging from her.

Sword energy radiated from her wooden blade.

“Look, sword aura!”

For a brief moment, Tina’s amazed voice could be heard.

Celine, the only first-year student able to emit sword aura, swung her aura-infused blade and forced Eugene back.

Then she launched her counterattack.

‘Like this... I can win!’

Soon, Eugene appeared to be on the back foot, struggling to fend off her attacks.

"Celine is truly unbeatable!"

Tina, watching the spar, did not doubt Celine's supremacy.

Indeed, the pattern continued: Celine attacking, Eugene defending.

“But why...”

Why wasn't it ending?

Oddly enough, the spar was at a stalemate.

Eugene, seemingly on the verge of dropping his sword and admitting defeat, somehow managed to deflect every single one of Celine's swings.

‘Why isn't he falling?!’

Having expended more than half her mana, Celine was on edge.

Eugene, though appearing to be on the brink, never fell.

Whenever she believed she had an opening and swung, his sword, as if it already knew where her blade would land, successfully blocked her.

Only a minuscule amount of mana, just enough to fend off her attacks, made Celine's sword seem frustratingly ineffective.

At this rate, the two of them would exhaust their mana, resulting in a draw.

'A draw?'

How could there be a draw when I, who was born and raised in the continent's most prestigious swordsmanship family, the Luberuta Ducal House, have the continent's greatest sword hero, Drayn von Bennet Luberuta, as both my mentor and father?

Against someone who set aside his sword for half a year and merely picked it up again a week ago, the heir of a fallen barony?

"Absurd!"

Fury flared in Celine's eyes.

Domination would've been expected; winning now would barely redeem her.

There was no way she could accept a mere draw.

She even forgot that injuring the opponent was against the rules.

Celine's magic circuits were fully activated, channeling a force resembling a tidal wave into her sword.

Releasing such powerful mana against an opponent with low mana in a non-injury spar was a clear violation.

But Celine was too focused to care.

"Ah!"

A sword brimming with immense mana came crashing down toward Eugene.

Thwack!

Suddenly, another wooden sword appeared, blocking Celine's blow.

"Celine, you've let your emotions run wild. This spar needs to be stopped immediately. Sheath your sword!"

Out of nowhere, Professor Fritz intervened, his stern face barring her path.

Snapping back to her senses, realizing her grave mistake, Celine lowered her head in shame.

"...I apologize."

Her lips pressed tightly together.

However, Fritz was unyielding.

"Your apology should be directed to your sparring partner!"

He was right.

The blow she just delivered wasn't something a first-year student could deflect.

Had Fritz not intervened, Eugene might've been seriously injured.

Slowly raising her head, Celine looked towards Eugene, who had already sheathed his sword, and said,

"…I'm sorry."

"It's alright; I'm not hurt."

Eugene casually waved her off and turned to walk away.

'What just happened...?'

Has he... changed?

The Eugene Celine knew would have either sat down sobbing or asked for some absurd compensation for her actions.

But he simply waved her off and walked away.

Watching his retreating figure, the hostility in Celine's eyes diminished, if only slightly.

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Raei Translations

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"That was close. Phew."

Away from prying eyes, Eugene collapsed, relieved to be alive.

"How can a girl my age have such insane mana?"

Is this the privilege of being born to a ducal family?

Even though he had conserved his mana as he could during their spar, he was still sorely lacking.

"The gap is just too wide."

Mana grows exponentially as one ages and their magic circuit matures.

This meant that the still-young Celine, despite having amassed a vast reservoir of mana from various elixirs and family secrets, had yet to fully expand her mana pool.

The mana that Celine possesses now, will be considerably less compared to what she will have in a few years.

"Yet, there's such a gap between hers and mine..."

He was suddenly struck by the disparity: his meager mana, like being born with nothing, and her abundant mana, like inheriting a fortune.

'Mana should ideally be accumulated from a young age.'

If he had the strength to travel the world, he'd tirelessly seek out elixirs and secrets to enhance mana.

"There's so much to be done."

Eugene, having exhausted all his mana in the recent spar, closed his eyes.

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Raei Translations

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After class.

Celine's entire body was drenched in sweat, her uniform clinging to her.

Yet, she didn't care about such discomfort.

'Lately, my progress has hit a wall.'

With lips pressed tight and her arms trembling from fatigue, she had come to a startling realization during today's spar.

Her rapid growth in swordsmanship had plateaued.

As a 16-year-old prodigy, she relished the rapid rise of her swordsmanship skills.

But, for the past week, her usual enlightenments felt stagnant.

She knew she was a genius.

Since childhood, she possessed a natural affinity for the sword.

No other swordsman her age could match her prowess.

Wasn't she the top scorer in the swordsmanship section of the Royal Academy's entrance exam?

Her growth rate, already faster than most, increased even more after entering the Royal Academy.

'But now, that pace has slowed!'

When she swung her sword, she no longer felt unity with it.

The natural realizations she gained from practice no longer emerged.

It felt as if her mind had been sealed off.

‘If only I were a bit stronger during today's spar!’

She wouldn't have lost her cool and made such a reckless move.

'Why am I like this lately?'

Unable to find the reason, she continued to tirelessly swing her sword, grinding her teeth in frustration.

However, the human body has its limits.

"Ugh..."

The sword slipped from her grip, clattering to the ground.

She tried to reach for it, but her trembling hand refused to cooperate.

Any more training would only be torturous to her body.

"Why... why is this happening?"

She sank to the ground, desperately trying to understand her current predicament.

But no matter how hard she thought, the answer eluded her.

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