Home / the Villainess they took for granted / Chapter 273: v3 - 34: a gamble I

Continue on Novkyn

the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 273: v3 - 34: a gamble I · Oct 27, 2026

Prev Chapter Novel Info Next Chapter

Chapter List (304)

Page number / 7

251 Chapter 251: v3 - 12: training grounds I 2026-10-27
252 Chapter 252: v3 - 13: training grounds II 2026-10-27
253 Chapter 253: v3 - 14: training grounds III 2026-10-27
254 Chapter 254: v4 - 15: Training grounds IV 2026-10-27
255 Chapter 255: v3 - 16: the first duel I 2026-10-27
256 Chapter 256: v3- - 17: the first duel II 2026-10-27
257 Chapter 257: v3 - 18: the first duel III 2026-10-27
258 Chapter 258: v3 - 19: the first duel IV 2026-10-27
259 Chapter 259: v3 - 20: the first duel V 2026-10-27
260 Chapter 260: v3 - 21: the first duel VI 2026-10-27
261 Chapter 261: v3 - 22:First duel’s aftermath 2026-10-27
262 Chapter 262: v3 - 23: changing seasons 2026-10-27
263 Chapter 263: v3 - 24: unexpected guests I 2026-10-27
264 Chapter 264: v3 - 25: unexpected guests II 2026-10-27
265 Chapter 265: v3 - 26: challenged 2026-10-27
266 Chapter 266: v3 - 27: the challengers I 2026-10-27
267 Chapter 267: v3 - 28: the challengers II 2026-10-27
268 Chapter 268: v3 - 29: the challengers III 2026-10-27
269 Chapter 269: v3 - 30: the challengers IV 2026-10-27
270 Chapter 270: v3 - 31: the challengers V 2026-10-27
271 Chapter 271: v3 - 32: the challengers VI 2026-10-27
272 Chapter 272: v3 - 33: the challengers VII 2026-10-27
273 Chapter 273: v3 - 34: a gamble I 2026-10-27
274 Chapter 274: v3 - 35: a gamble II 2026-10-27
275 Chapter 275: v3 - 36: the first recruit 2026-10-27
276 Chapter 276: v3 - 37: a way forward I 2026-10-27
277 Chapter 277: v3 - 38: a way forward II 2026-10-27
278 Chapter 278: v3 - 39: a way forward III 2026-10-27
279 Chapter 279: v3 - 40: a new beginning I 2026-10-27
280 Chapter 280: v3 - 41: a new beginning II 2026-10-27
281 Chapter 281: v3 - 42: a new beginning III 2026-10-27
282 Chapter 282: v3 - 43: a new beginning IV 2026-10-27
283 Chapter 283: v3 - 44: a new beginning V 2026-10-27
284 Chapter 284: v3 - 45: a new beginning VI 2026-10-27
285 Chapter 285: v3 - 46: Count Carlo of Almery I 2026-10-27
286 Chapter 286: v3 - 47: count carlo of almery II 2026-10-27
287 Chapter 287: v3 - 48: count carlo of almery III 2026-10-27
288 Chapter 288: v3 - 49: His first appearance I 2026-10-27
289 Chapter 289: v3 - 50: His first appearance II 2026-10-27
290 Chapter 290: v3 - 51: years in passing 2026-10-27
291 Chapter 291: v3 - 52: the final six months 2026-10-27
292 Chapter 292: v3 - 53: securing the crown 2026-10-27
293 Chapter 293: v3 - 54: the rewards of victory I 2026-10-27
294 Chapter 294: v3 - 55: the rewards of victory II 2026-10-27
295 Chapter 295: v3 - 56: the truth I 2026-10-27
296 Chapter 296: v3 - 57: the truth II 2026-10-27
297 Chapter 297: v3 - 58: the truth III 2026-10-27
298 Chapter 298: v3 - 59: the road home I 2026-10-27
299 Chapter 299: v3 - 60: the road home II 2026-10-27
300 Chapter 300: v4- - 1: the life she had chosen I 2026-10-27

Chapter 273: v3 Chapter 34: a gamble I

The match was over.

The roar of the Arena continued long after Cassian lowered his sword.

The attendants entered the fighting ground almost immediately.

One took Cassian by the arm.

Another moved toward Marcus.

Cassian allowed himself to be led away.

Only after he passed through the gate did the exhaustion truly reach him.

His legs felt heavy.

His side burned.

His forearm throbbed.

But he was still standing.

He had won.

The other Arena fighters were already being gathered in the preparation area.

Alex had returned first.

Gary was being examined by one of the medical attendants.

Harry sat against the wall while someone wrapped his injured leg.

Robert was pacing nearby, still energized despite his own wounds.

The moment he saw Cassian, he turned.

”Carlo.”

Cassian looked at him.

Robert stared.

”Where did you learn that?”

Cassian frowned.

”Learn what?”

”That.”

Robert gestured toward the Arena.

”The way you were fighting at the end.”

Cassian said nothing.

Robert stepped closer.

”I’ve never seen you fight like that.”

He paused.

”Actually...”

His expression shifted.

”I think I’ve seen something like it before.”

Cassian’s eyes sharpened.

”Where?”

Robert shook his head.

”I don’t remember. I was young.”

He studied Cassian for another moment.

”But whatever it was, you were hiding it.”

”I learned a few things before I came here.”

Robert let out a disbelieving laugh.

”A few things?”

Cassian ignored him.

A medical attendant approached and ordered him to sit.

Cassian obeyed.

His wounds were cleaned and bandaged.

Around him, the others were receiving similar treatment.

For once, there was no hurry.

No order to return to the fighting rotation.

No next match waiting for them.

An Arena official entered the preparation area.

”You will all be given three days of rest.”

Robert looked up.

”Three days?”

”Three days. No regular matches, no training obligations, and no challenges during that period.”

Robert’s expression brightened.

”Now that’s a reward.”

”It is,” the official replied. ”You earned it.”

The official looked over the five fighters.

”Use the time to recover. Your next assignments will be given afterward.”

He left.

Robert leaned back with a satisfied sigh.

Cassian said nothing.

Three days.

It wasn’t much.

But after the fight he had just endured, it was enough.

The victory had changed something.

The crowd had seen it.

The patrons had seen it.

Money had changed hands.

The five Arena fighters had won the event three matches to two.

And Cassian had won the final match.

Yet Cassian barely thought about the victory.

His mind remained on the man he had just fought.

And on the person powerful enough to send him.

He had taken a gamble.

He still didn’t know where it would lead.

The challengers had their own quarters.

The room was silent when Lorenz entered.

All five men were already there.

No one looked at him.

They were ashamed.

They had come to the Arena as trained professionals.

Every man in the room had spent years learning how to fight.

They had expected to test five Arena fighters.

Instead, they had lost.

Three victories to two.

George’s defeat had been the most avoidable.

He had underestimated Alex from the beginning, treating the fight as a test rather than a serious contest.

Alex had punished him for it.

Ben had defeated Gary.

But it had been far from an easy victory.

Gary had refused to surrender even after the fight had clearly turned against him. He had continued until Ben was forced to knock him unconscious.

Gene had defeated Robert.

Robert had been fast, unpredictable, and far more difficult to contain than Gene had expected.

Then there was Alan.

He had lost to Harry.

Harry had fought without hesitation, using methods that were less than clean when the opportunity presented itself.

But a loss was a loss.

On a battlefield, no one could expect an opponent to fight fairly.

Survival was the only rule that mattered.

And Harry had survived.

Then there was Marcus.

No one needed to explain what had happened.

He had lost.

There had been no trick.

No dirty tactic.

No mistake that could conveniently explain the result.

He had fought Carlo seriously.

And Carlo had beaten him.

The strongest fighter among them.

The Crown Prince’s personal guard.

His most trusted shield.

For several seconds, Lorenz said nothing.

Neither did the others.

Finally, one of the guards spoke.

”We failed you, Your Highness.”

Lorenz looked at him.

”You lost.”

The man lowered his head.

”Yes.”

”Those aren’t the same thing.”

The guard looked up.

Lorenz’s expression remained calm.

”You came here to test them. You found out what they could do.”

His gaze moved across the room.

”And apparently, we learned something about ourselves too.”

No one answered.

Marcus remained standing apart from the others.

Lorenz looked at him.

”You all watched the final fight.”

”Yes.”

”And?”

Marcus was silent for a moment.

Then he spoke.

”That stance.”

Lorenz’s expression changed slightly.

Marcus continued.

”There’s no doubt.”

George looked toward him.

”It’s Imperial.”

The room went quiet.

Lorenz’s eyes narrowed.

”You’re certain?”

”Yes.”

Ben nodded.

”I recognized it too.”

”So did I,” Gene said.

Marcus looked toward the floor.

”The way he changed his footing. The angle of the blade. The transitions between guard and attack.”

He paused.

”That wasn’t something he learned here.”

Lorenz folded his arms.

”So he is skilled enough to be someone important from the Empire, perhaps?”

”Perhaps.”

Lorenz’s gaze remained fixed ahead.

”Then the question we should be asking isn’t who he is.”

He paused.

”Why is he here?”

No one answered.

That was the problem.

If Carlo truly came from the Empire, and possessed swordsmanship of this level, then why was he fighting in a Milician Arena?

A man capable of fighting Marcus on nearly equal terms should not have ended up here without a reason.

Marcus glanced toward the floor.

”His records give us nothing.”

”Nothing?”

”Nothing. Only the name he was registered under and the record of his purchase into the Arena.”

Lorenz was silent.

That made the matter stranger.

A foreigner with Imperial swordsmanship.

A fighter skilled enough to defeat Marcus.

And yet, no history worth finding.

Then there was the fight itself.

”He knew we were watching,” Lorenz said.

Marcus looked at him.

”You think he showed it deliberately?”

”I think he made a choice.”

The room fell silent again.

It had not been a death match.

The man had not needed to reveal everything simply to survive.

He had chosen to show them what he could do.

Which meant he had known that being noticed might be worth the risk.

Lorenz’s gaze sharpened.

”Then we need to understand why.”

Marcus nodded.

”Agreed.”

Lorenz looked toward the other four men.

”And the others?”

”We’ll assess them as well.”

Lorenz nodded.

”But Carlo first.”

No one disagreed.

They had come to the Arena looking for men capable of serving the Crown Prince.

They had found several.

But Carlo was different.

Not simply because of his skill.

Because none of it made sense.

And until they understood why a man who fought like an Imperial had ended up in a Milician Arena, they couldn’t know what they had actually found.

–

Tbc

Prev Chapter Novel Info Next Chapter

Also worth opening

Transmigrated as the Villainess, my University Romance went Off Script champilyn

Genius Doctor Black Belly Miss Dạ Bắc

My Sister Insisted on Swapping Marriages, and I Became a Marchioness Instead Mo Qi Jian

Genius Doctor Black Belly Miss North Night

The Deadly Hitwoman: The Heiress's Special Abilities Seven-leaf Hibiscus

The Golem Mage mystic dark

The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] Kairie

The Golem Mage mystic dark

The Valued Lady is Truly Dominant Yan Xiaomo

Peaceful Farm Life Evergreen Tree

From Folly to Fortune：I Rewrite My Life After Rebirth! Lu Chengfeng

Reborn In The Three Kingdoms Tang12

The Feng Shui Treasure Appraiser Chao Ji Xue Ba

The Dramatic Crown Princess Wants to Poison Me! Chu Qianmo

Stop Fooling the Us, China Really is Doing This! Shen Qian Zhi Jian