🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 28
Rosaline didn’t realize that the words she had just spoken were the same ones Cassis often said to her.
Erich twisted his lips into a crooked smile.
“As a captain, I once had you as my deputy. I thought about how I never really taught you properly.”
“But the deputy was for Sir Cassis of the Black Iron Knights, not Erich of the Silver Knights, wasn’t it?”
“It’s all the same. A knight-captain is a knight-captain.”
“It’s completely different! Black Iron and Silver— even the colors are the exact opposite!”
Rosaline spread out the Silver Knights’ banner displayed in the captain’s office for emphasis.
On the white cloth, a golden lion bared its gleaming fangs, embroidered with golden thread.
Erich, watching quietly, spoke abruptly:
“Today, you’ll follow me.”
The playful tone was gone.
Rosaline’s expression also turned serious in an instant.
“Because of yesterday?”
“We tricked the Duke of Ainderth. Now we have to deal with the fallout.”
“I didn’t think you’d take such initiative.”
“I was involved too, wasn’t I?”
“‘Involved’ is too mild. You were an accomplice.”
Erich shrugged, spun his chair around, and stood.
Beyond the window lay the grand audience hall, radiating authority.
“The Duke will be entering the palace today.”
The Silver Knights were the Emperor’s personal guard.
They had the quickest and most accurate access to palace news.
Erich turned back to Rosaline.
“I’ll give you a tour of the palace.”
Clack, clack!
Wooden swords clashed briskly.
So the Duke’s entering the palace today…
Rosaline watched the training grounds with a sour look.
The one sparring with Erich was the First Prince, Mikhail.
Clack, smack!
The young prince lunged desperately, his face twisted with effort.
Meanwhile, Erich’s steps were light and effortless, one hand even clasped behind his back.
“An opening.”
With his leisurely voice, the match ended.
Mikhail gasped heavily, glaring at the wooden sword pressed against his neck.
“Your Highness, whenever you attempt an upper-left strike, your left side is left exposed. Overconfidence will be your downfall.”
“Again! This time, I’ll win.”
“We’ve already sparred four times in a row. Rest is also important. Overconfidence…”
“…is fatal.”
Though muttered with a sulky face, the prince fell quiet.
Rosaline raised her brows in surprise.
So he’s good at handling the prince too?
Mikhail was infamous for his immaturity. Perhaps Erich could manage him only because they were alike in kind—
like a cub thrashing about against a full-grown tiger.
Coming down from the training platform, Erich held out his hand toward Rosaline.
“Water!”
His forearm muscles, sharply defined from the bout, peeked out through his sleeve.
Rosaline shoved the canteen into his hand with little enthusiasm.
Gulping it down, Erich flashed a grin.
“It’s nice having an aide.”
“You already have an adjutant, don’t you?”
Perhaps it was her bad mood, but Rosaline found it hard to stick to polite speech.
“He’s stiff. No fun.”
The adjutant standing nearby didn’t even flinch at being called boring to his face.
“You’re too harsh. There must be a reason you made him your adjutant.”
“He does good work, at least.”
A cheerful voice chimed in behind Rosaline.
“What’s the fun talk about?”
Prince Mikhail stepped forward, glancing Rosaline up and down.
“Weren’t you the woman beside the Black Iron Knight Captain last time?”
Like master, like disciple—
Pretending not to know when he clearly did, just as irritating as Erich.
“I borrowed her from the Black Iron Captain for today.”
Of course, without Cassis’s consent.
“Hmm.”
Mikhail gave a sly smile.
I miss Sir Cassis.
If not for the Duke of Ainderth, she would have simply returned to the knights.
As Rosaline’s eyes clouded with thought, the prince and Erich moved toward a gazebo.
A tea table had been prepared for three.
Dropping into a chair, Mikhail glanced at the extra seat.
“There’s one more place set?”
“And here he comes.”
Erich gestured subtly toward a figure approaching: the Duke of Ainderth.
Mikhail’s face instantly soured.
“Is today the day he enters the palace?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t like him.”
“But he is your maternal grandfather.”
Prince Mikhail’s mother, Empress Isabella, was the Duke’s daughter—making the Duke his grandfather.
But their relationship was clearly strained.
“Even Mother dislikes him.”
Mikhail made sure to emphasize that he wasn’t alone in his distaste.
Rosaline quietly retreated behind Erich’s adjutant, keeping her distance.
Her disguise from yesterday had been flawless, so they likely wouldn’t recognize her—
but caution never hurt.
The Duke reached the gazebo and bowed to the prince.
“I greet His Highness the First Prince.”
“What brings you here?”
“Having entered the palace, it is only proper to pay respects to Your Highness.”
But it hardly seemed coincidental—
the tea table was already set for three.
So this was Erich’s arrangement.
Rosaline kept her guard up, eyes sharp.
Erich bowed politely.
“It’s been a long time, Duke.”
“Indeed, a very long time.”
The two spoke as if they hadn’t just met the night before—
both utterly shameless.
It was only natural, Rosaline thought. Father and son.
Come to think of it… all three here are family.
The Duke’s second son was Erich.
Mikhail was his grandson.
That made Erich the prince’s uncle.
Together, the three shared the same faded golden hair, their resemblance uncanny.
They’ve inherited the same brazen nature too.
By contrast, Cassis seemed utterly apart from this family—
in looks, in aura, in character.
And yet, ironically, Cassis was the Duke’s heir.
Seated now, the Duke didn’t so much as glance at Rosaline.
More precisely, he paid no heed to anyone beneath him—whether Erich’s adjutant or the prince’s attendants.
Soon, a bitter, translucent brown liquid filled the teacups.
Whatever it was, it must be incredibly expensive—palace tea.
The Duke drank it easily, chatting idly with little substance.
Then, almost as if in passing, he said:
“By the way, Your Highness… have you heard of the Royal Family of Tenebre?”
