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the Villainess they took for granted

Chapter 253: v3 - 14: training grounds III · Oct 27, 2026

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Chapter List (304)

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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 253: v3 Chapter 14: training grounds III

As the weeks passed, Cassian began noticing the hierarchy.

It was never formally explained.

No one needed to explain it.

Everyone simply knew.

The newer fighters stayed toward the outer edges of the training yard.

The experienced ones occupied the better equipment.

The instructors spent more time with certain men.

Some fighters were given better weapons.

Others received private instruction.

And there were a few whom everyone seemed to avoid.

One of them was a tall man named Dario.

Robert learned his name after hearing the others speak about him.

Dario had been in the Arena for more than a year.

He was broad and heavily muscled, with a broken nose and a scar across his throat.

The first time Cassian saw him spar, he understood why the others kept their distance.

Dario fought hard.

Too hard for practice.

He drove his opponent backward until the man struck the ground.

Even after the instructor called for them to stop, Dario kept his wooden sword raised.

The other fighter immediately backed away.

Dario smiled.

The instructor shouted something.

This time, Cassian recognized the word.

”Enough.”

Dario lowered the sword.

He walked away without apology.

Robert watched him.

”He’s an asshole.”

Cassian looked at him.

Robert shrugged.

”That’s the polite version.”

Cassian almost smiled.

Almost.

Later, Robert asked one of the older fighters about him.

The answer was simple.

”Dario doesn’t stop.”

Cassian looked toward the man.

”Even when they’re beaten?”

Robert nodded.

”Especially then.”

That was when Cassian understood something important.

The rules of the Arena did not require every fight to end in death.

They simply required one fighter to remain standing.

If the other fighter was unconscious, the match could end.

If he yielded, it could end.

But if the winner chose to continue—

no one would necessarily stop him.

Some fighters showed mercy.

Others didn’t.

And everyone knew the difference.

That difference shaped the way the fighters treated one another.

The strongest men were rarely challenged unnecessarily.

Not always because they were liked.

Sometimes because they were feared.

Sometimes because they were respected.

And sometimes because everyone knew they might eventually have to face them in the Arena.

Cassian noticed that the fighters who showed mercy were treated differently.

Someone would save them a place during meals.

Another might bring them water after training.

A younger fighter might offer to carry their equipment.

Small things.

Nothing that appeared important.

But Cassian understood what it meant.

They were building relationships.

If one of those men ever stood across from them in the Arena, perhaps he would remember.

Perhaps he would stop when they fell.

Perhaps he would let them live.

Mercy had become its own kind of currency.

Cassian found the idea strangely practical.

He also understood why some men chose the opposite.

Fear could be just as useful.

By the end of the first month, the six survivors had begun to settle into the training grounds.

They had their own sleeping quarters in a long barracks beside the yard.

Six beds occupied one section of the building.

There were shared washing rooms and a larger dining hall.

Their clothing was replaced regularly.

Their meals were substantial.

Their injuries were treated whenever necessary.

They were still watched.

Still marked.

Still forbidden from leaving.

But their lives had become almost routine.

Cassian sometimes found himself forgetting, for brief moments, that he was imprisoned.

Then he would see the guards at the gate.

Or feel the brand on his arm.

And remember.

The Arena had simply found a more efficient way to keep its fighters alive.

The second month brought harder training.

The instructors began pairing the newcomers with experienced fighters.

At first, Cassian lost.

Not badly.

But enough.

The older fighters knew the Arena better.

They knew how to fight within its rules.

How to use the limited space.

How to conserve energy.

How to make an opponent move where they wanted him to go.

Cassian learned.

He changed his stance.

Adjusted his footwork.

Changed the way he held the blade.

The Imperial style remained beneath it all.

But he layered the local techniques over it.

Eventually, he began winning.

Not every time.

That would have drawn too much attention.

But often enough that the instructors started watching him more closely.

Cassian noticed.

So he slowed down again.

He was not trying to become the best fighter.

He was trying to become a fighter who survived.

There was a difference.

During those months, the training grounds continued to change around them.

New men arrived.

Some were young.

Some were older.

Some could barely hold a sword.

Others already knew how to fight.

They were the next group of survivors.

The next investments.

Cassian watched them being brought through the gates and remembered the six of them standing in the same place.

Some would survive.

Some would not.

He knew that now.

He also began seeing fighters disappear from the yard.

One morning, a bed in the barracks was empty.

Robert noticed it too.

”Where’s Tomas?”

Cassian looked toward the empty bed.

They had trained beside the man for several weeks.

Robert asked around.

When he returned, his expression had changed.

”He fought yesterday.”

Cassian looked at him.

”And?”

Robert hesitated.

”He didn’t come back.”

Cassian said nothing.

There was no need.

The next morning, another fighter was already sleeping in the same bed.

The Arena had moved on.

By the third month, the six had changed.

Their bodies were stronger.

Their movements were sharper.

Their wounds had healed.

They understood the basic rules.

They knew the weapons.

They knew the training grounds.

And Cassian could understand more of the language than he had before.

Not much.

Enough to catch simple commands.

Enough to recognize when someone was speaking about him.

Enough to understand certain words without Robert.

It was progress.

But the most important lesson had nothing to do with language or weapons.

Cassian had learned what happened to fighters who entered the Arena.

Some became respected.

Some became feared.

Some became popular.

Some survived long enough to walk free.

Others never returned from their matches.

And all of them knew the same truth.

The Arena was not simply a place where men fought.

It was a system.

A hierarchy.

A life built around surviving long enough to earn the right to leave.

Cassian understood it now.

And soon, he would become part of it.

Tbcvvvv

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