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~Chapter 136~
Even while worrying, I still thought it was a good decision to come to the Marquis’ estate.
If Karl had fallen sick outside, there would have been no hope.
“I have to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
But I had no idea how to do that.
“Since there’s no way to sneak into the Imperial Palace right now…”
Should I go look for Captain Ista first?
I let out a short sigh and slowly stroked Karl’s hair.
“…If I could, I’d stay by your side all night to take care of you.”
Father snorted.
“You? Do you even know how to nurse someone properly?”
“……”
“With your clumsy hands, it’d be a miracle if you didn’t put a soaking wet cloth on his forehead and call it care.”
My lips jutted out at his blunt words.
“Still… I can at least stay beside him.”
‘That’s what I did back in Saint Portu.’
But yesterday, I couldn’t do it.
“Karl… no matter how I see it, you don’t look fine at all…”
“Elaine. I need a word with my son-in-law.”
“Father, perfect timing. Could you call for the physician?”
After that, Father had taken Karl away, and I spent the whole night sleepless, worried, only seeing his face just now.
“Because of some gigolo-looking fellow, my daughter lost sleep?”
Even as he said that, he still called for the doctor.
‘He pretends not to care about his son-in-law… but maybe he actually does.’
When I frowned, Father glared back at me.
“I can’t stand weak men. For now, let him stay in my room instead of yours.”
“He’s not weak! And what does that even have to do with us sharing a room?”
“I can’t even sleep with my own wife, so why should you?”
That’s his excuse? My eyes narrowed.
“…Father, you can’t sleep with Mother because she’s in the family grave.”
“You ungrateful child, how dare you say that to your father?”
“Father, I agree with Elaine. You’re being unreasonable.”
“Reina? Even you?”
“They’re already married.”
At that, Karl rubbed his cheek against my shoulder with a sly look.
“But this gigolo-looking guy…”
“I’m hurt, Elaine.”
“I’ll hug you. Come here.”
Father looked about ready to explode, while Karl and I hugged. Reina looked awkward, but still took my side. It was a warm family argument—until—
“…Marquis!”
The door opened quickly.
It was the maid I ran into at the front gate yesterday—the one with incredibly fast legs.
She blurted out something completely unexpected:
“The Holy Knights are here!”
Everyone in the reception room froze.
A tense atmosphere filled the air.
“…Why would the Holy Knights come here?”
Father’s eyes sharpened.
Immediately, one person came to mind.
“Is it Captain Ista?”
I thought he’d been captured, which was why security had gotten stricter.
But maybe he had been safe all along?
Or had he been caught, then escaped by force?
Either way, this might finally be the way to solve everything.
“If it’s Captain Ista, let him in.”
I spoke with some relief—but the maid shook her head firmly.
“No. It’s someone else.”
“Someone else? Who?”
“Um… he looked kind of slippery, and his name sounded similar…”
“…Huh?”
“It wasn’t someone from the 3rd Order. He said…”
The maid looked troubled, glancing at me.
“…He’s from the 4th Order, and that he knows everything.”
“What?”
At those words, only one person came to mind.
That annoying guy from the 4th Order we met a few days ago.
‘But Karl took care of him already…’
I turned to Karl with a sharp look.
‘You definitely used that memory-erasing magic, right?’
Karl met my eyes, then rolled his own and chuckled.
“My mana connection wasn’t stable.”
“……”
“I gave him a shock, but looks like it didn’t work properly.”
He said it like, “Oops, my mistake.”
But since he was still a patient, I couldn’t scold him.
Wait.
‘So all this time, I thought security was tightened because Captain Ista got caught…’
‘…But it was actually because we were exposed?’
“Kh-hm.”
“Kh-hem.”
The 4th Order’s Vice-Captain, Benji, sat stiffly, lips pursed under the barrage of glares.
He had come claiming he knew everything, and surprisingly, Marquis Pascal had let him in without much trouble.
…Though he had almost fainted when I nearly smashed him with a hammer from behind the door.
“Hey! Calm down!”
“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you.”
“If that’s not hurting, then what is?!”
“I just want to do what I couldn’t last time. Just a clean hit to wipe your memory.”
“Ridiculous—no, really, I didn’t come here to report you!”
Sweating buckets, he begged until he was allowed into the reception room. But even there, the situation didn’t improve.
Now he was surrounded by even more people—maids, my family—all glaring at him sharply.
Benji felt even more wronged.
But worst of all—
“….”
“….”
‘What the hell…’
The pressure coming from the dark-haired man—Karl—was overwhelming, like he could pierce Benji’s forehead just with his gaze.
‘Was someone like this even in the capital?’
A handsome “gigolo-like” face, but a body full of muscle, radiating Sword Master-level strength.
This kind of presence wasn’t something one could forget. Yet Benji had never seen him before.
‘Who is he?’
But he had no chance to ask.
“If you didn’t report us, then why is security so tight in the capital?”
“……”
“Talk. It was you, wasn’t it?”
Elaine immediately pressed him without mercy.
Thankfully, he had an explanation.
“You really don’t know? The capital issued an order to watch out for cultists.”
“Cultists? You mean those useless rabble?”
“Yeah. The ones who’d sometimes crawl out and try to preach.”
Elaine’s eyebrow lifted.
“They’ve grown strong?”
“Strong enough to start threatening people. That’s why the patrols are working so hard to root them out.”
Elaine narrowed her eyes. She muttered something under her breath:
“For all that, they didn’t seem that thorough in their searches…”
She looked dissatisfied, lost in thought.
“Of course, it’s also true that you and the Silence Duke were accused of treason.”
“…Not just the Duke, but me too?”
“Anyway, I swear I didn’t report you. That’s not why I came.”
“Then why?”
Everyone’s eyes turned on him with open suspicion.
Benji took a deep breath. He had struggled with this decision before coming here.
‘A traitor…’
That’s what they had called Elaine Pascal.
He remembered that meeting of the Holy Knights not long ago.
‘Elaine Pascal? I knew it. I always knew something was off about him.’
‘That marksmanship of his had to be a trick.’
‘If that’s true, then the whole Pascal family is tainted.’
‘Anyone helping him would be branded the same.’
His colleagues—including his captain—had mocked Elaine, clapping Benji on the back like it was obvious.
‘Congrats, Benji. Once his head rolls, you’ll be the number one shooter.’
But hearing that didn’t make him happy at all.
‘Because until Elaine dies, I’ll always just be second place.’
Even now, when Elaine had quit the Holy Knights, it still felt like that.
Benji often remembered that day.
‘Take care, you cross-carrying gorillas.’
The day Elaine, dressed as a noble lady, revealed she was a woman and quit the Holy Knights.
The shock was still vivid.
‘How… how could that even be possible?’
To Benji, Elaine had always been an unshakable wall.
He had trained madly, grinding his teeth, practicing marksmanship all night long, spreading ridiculous rumors just to distract her concentration.
And yet, no matter how much effort he put in, he could never beat her.
Many times, he had wished she would just disappear.
And many times after, he had confessed and repented to God.
But then…
“She was a woman all along?”
Women couldn’t even join the Holy Knights.
The realization struck him like a hammer to the head.
“…Then what on earth have I been competing against all this time?”
