A Warm Marriage After Rebirth

Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Five-Shot Duel

The shooting range was vast. ’Had he turned his entire estate into a training ground?’ Seraphina Sterling wondered. From the outside, the residence looked antique and quaint, but the inside held a whole different world. If she wasn’t actually living here, she would never have believed such places existed within it.

”My time is precious. I’ve already wasted an entire afternoon on you, so let’s make this quick. Five bullets each. First one to hit the other wins.” Terrence Grant tossed the gun to Seraphina Sterling.

’Live rounds?’ Seraphina Sterling tested the feel of the gun. She’d never used live ammunition before! At that moment, she completely forgot the rules of the match—first to hit the other wins.

”Sir?” Hughes watched their actions in shock. ’These are live rounds! A single slip-up could be fatal! How is the master getting so reckless!’

Seraphina Sterling had no intention of losing this opportunity to practice with live ammunition. ”Hughes, don’t tell me you’re worried your master will get shot by me?”

Hughes maintained his poker face. Terrence Grant glanced at the eager Seraphina Sterling. ”You’re not a very good student. So quick to forget what I told you on your first day here!” he said, deftly spinning the handgun. The silvery gleam was blinding.

Seraphina Sterling froze. ’In the face of absolute power, all tricks are useless!’

”And you have the nerve to use such a clumsy goad on me! Besides, I’m not worried about the master. Your shooting scores may be your best, but that’s only when compared to a novice. If you want to beat the master, you have a long, long way to go! My concern is that if the master accidentally shoots and kills you, we’ll have no way to answer to your mother!”

For the first time, Hughes wasn’t acting like a stiff, unfeeling robot in front of Seraphina Sterling.

Seraphina Sterling composed herself, faint dimples appearing on her fair face. ”Hughes, have you ever heard the saying, ’the more you talk, the more you risk a slip-up’? You just said more in one breath than you have in all the days we’ve known each other combined! My Language Arts teacher taught us that acting out of character is a sign of a guilty conscience!”

Seraphina Sterling took her gun and strode coolly into the woods. ’If he’s worried about Terrence Grant, then just be worried. It’s not like it’s some shameful secret. Why make up such a lame excuse!’

Hughes’s expression was terrible. ’I really was too obvious just now! I was too rash!’ he thought. ”Sir, don’t let your guard down. Seraphina Sterling may be a novice, but her instincts are incredibly sharp, especially her feel for a gun!”

A slight smile touched Terrence Grant’s lips. ”This is the first time I’ve heard you praise someone so highly. I’ll have to see this for myself.”

While Seraphina Sterling and Terrence Grant were filled with excitement, poor Hughes was a nervous wreck. He rushed to prepare a first-aid kit and even laid out standard emergency medical equipment.

Seraphina Sterling didn’t go far, concealing herself in a patch of tall grass on high ground. It was a beginner’s perk: she was allowed to hide first. Seraphina Sterling waited quietly for her prey to take the bait.

What she didn’t know was that Terrence Grant hadn’t entered the woods at all. He had circled around to the rear—directly behind her. His plan: attack from the back and end the fight with a single shot!

Terrence Grant aimed for Seraphina Sterling’s arm and pulled the trigger.

But at the exact moment he pulled the trigger, as if she had eyes in the back of her head, Seraphina Sterling suddenly rolled to the side and dodged it!

Missing the first shot, Terrence Grant immediately fired again. Seraphina Sterling nimbly scrambled behind a thick poplar tree, narrowly avoiding the bullet!

But before she could even catch her breath, another shot rang out from the other side of the poplar! The angle was impeccable, making it nearly impossible to dodge even if she’d anticipated it!

Seraphina Sterling instantly dropped to her knees, throwing her body backward until her back was flat against the ground, barely evading the shot!

Three shots fired in the blink of an eye. In less than three seconds, the two of them had already clashed three times!

’He’s truly worthy of his title as Aethelgard’s Mr. Grant. His marksmanship is the real deal!’

Dodging once could be a fluke. Dodging twice could be luck. But dodging three consecutive shots—that was skill!

But in the instant Terrence Grant was lost in admiration, Seraphina Sterling vanished from his sight. Passively taking a beating was not her style!