🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter : 24
One hour earlier.
“What’s this? Wine?”
On the night the Grand Duke entered his chambers first, the knights drank the wine that seemed to have been left behind by the butler—and got thoroughly drunk.
“This good stuff shouldn’t be enjoyed by just us!”
And in that state, they headed toward the Grand Duke’s quarters.
“Grand Duke? Are you already asleep? Even so, we’ll just go in— huh?! What the—!”
The knights froze in shock.
The spacious room that Duke Haim had assigned to Grand Duke Rikesis was completely trashed.
And standing before the stunned knights was—
“You’re really late.”
A kid with wheat-colored hair, wearing a robe.
And their lord, the Grand Duke, was rolling around on the carpet, groaning in pain.
“You… what did you do to our Grand Duke?!”
It was only natural for the knights to shout in outrage.
But then—
“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to fight me?”
Despite the many knights glaring daggers at him, the boy wasn’t scared at all—rather, his eyes sparkled as he approached them.
“What’s wrong? Did you all lose your nerve?”
“What nonsense is that little brat spewing?”
“Let’s show him how scary adults can be!”
Naturally, they attacked Luark one by one.
But then—
“Ugh!”
“Argh!”
‘Didn’t they say he was only sixteen?’
The knights had already recognized Luark.
After all, he looked exactly like the Crown Princess.
‘We’d heard that Young Master Luark of House Haim was a swordsmanship prodigy, but…’
They hadn’t believed it.
“Court knights who only trail after noble ladies—what do they even know?”
“The greatest knights in the Empire are us!”
“So what if a kid can swing a sword well?”
“I’ll challenge him to a duel the moment I meet him and test his skills.”
And yet, they ended up paying for that hasty prejudice immediately.
‘He must’ve asked the Grand Duke for a spar at night because his sister wouldn’t let him fight!’
‘He’s one of us!’
‘I want to befriend him!’
As the knights were getting beaten senseless by Luark, their excitement oddly escalating—
“Everyone, attention!”
Grand Duke Rikesis suddenly sprang to his feet, raised his sword high, and shouted.
“Let us show the true might of Rikesis!!”
“Yes!!”
And immediately after that, Luark was thrown into confusion by the actions of the Rikesis group.
‘What are they trying to show me right now…?!’
No matter how large the guest chambers assigned to a Grand Duke were, it was still an indoor space.
And yet—
“Squad B, surround the target! Squad C, provide cover behind the Grand Duke!!”
Watching the knights form an anti-demonic-beast formation against him, Luark’s composure completely vanished.
‘Damn it.’
Luark had planned to knock out the Grand Duke and the knights, erase their memories, and disappear.
Make it look like the Grand Duke and his knights had gone on a drunken rampage.
But then—
“Grand Duke? Are you asleep? We’re coming in— what is this?!”
As if things weren’t bad enough, the remaining knights entered the Grand Duke’s chambers.
‘I’ll have to kill them all!!’
Sword aura erupted violently from Luark’s entire body.
And that was the full story behind this brawl.
“So you’re saying he fought eleven people alone, and the noise even spread beyond the soundproof barrier.”
Listening to the report from the ducal guards, I stared blankly at the half-destroyed chamber and the men sprawled across the floor.
Then my gaze shifted to Luark, who was trembling violently while surrounded by guards beside me.
‘Should I have just sent Luark back to the territory as quickly as possible?’
But regret came too late.
Dark clouds had already gathered over my revenge plan.
‘If I were the Grand Duke, I wouldn’t try to court the sister of someone who attacked me in the middle of the night.’
Thinking that, I approached Luark with a hardened expression.
Smack—!
With a loud sound, Luark’s face snapped to the side.
‘I have to make it clear this wasn’t House Haim’s intention!’
My wrist stung from the impact, but I didn’t regret it.
Father was out today, so the highest-ranking person here—and the only one who could offer explanations or apologies—was me.
I had to put on the strongest performance possible.
‘To Luark, it probably feels like being hit with a feather.’
Of course, psychologically, it would still hurt…
“Ah…”
Just as expected, Luark turned to me, clutching one cheek.
“Sister…”
Seeing the shock in his eyes made tears spill from mine as well.
“Luark, how could you do something this horrible to our guests?!”
“…I’m sorry.”
After saying that, Luark bowed his head deeply, his body trembling.
‘This brat—acting pitiful!’
I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to turn away.
“Gasp…”
The knights of Rikesis were staring wide-eyed.
‘They never expected me to slap Luark.’
“Come here.”
Ignoring their reactions, I spoke coldly, grabbed Luark by the back of the neck, dragged him in front of the Grand Duke—who stood there dumbfounded—and shoved his head down hard.
“Apologize.”
“Nggh…”
“Now.”
“I-I’m sorry, Grand Duke of Rikesis.”
Perhaps intimidated by my ferocity, Luark whimpered like a kicked puppy before quickly apologizing.
He looked pitiful—but now I knew for sure.
I must never trust my little brother.
‘I need to get rid of him before he causes even more trouble!’
“Luark. I’ll handle the rest of the apology. Go to your room immediately. You’re confined.”
“S-Sister. Please.”
“Captain of the Guard, take him away.”
“Yes, my lady.”
At my order, the guards seized Luark by both arms. Tears streamed down from his violet eyes.
“Ugh… hic… sniff… sob…”
‘What do you think you did right to be crying?!’
I’m the one who wants to cry!
I wanted to snap at him, but instead I quickly averted my gaze from Luark as he was dragged away, sobbing.
After his presence completely disappeared—
“I sincerely apologize, Grand Duke.”
“W-What are you doing?! Please, don’t do this!”
I bowed deeply to the Grand Duke, and he panicked in alarm.
But I had no intention of straightening up.
“This is entirely my fault.”
‘Better to bow once than let this turn into a conflict between houses.’
Of course, there was another reason I bowed so deeply.
While my face was hidden, I rolled my eyes around, scanning the half-destroyed chamber.
And then—
‘Found him!’
The wary troublemaker, Jenin Rock, was slumped in the corner of the room.
Judging by how he lay motionless with his eyes closed, he was unconscious.
‘At least that’s a relief.’
Because of today’s incident, negative opinions about me would likely spread among the Rikesis knights.
But—
‘All the dissatisfied faction who hung around Jenin are unconscious too…?’
They looked like they’d all been taken out at once.
‘Then now is the perfect time to clean this up.’
With no one able to object or nitpick my apology, I needed to handle this well and firmly empower the knights who would speak positively of me.
Having assessed the situation, I straightened up and spoke.
“First, I’ll provide magical healing.”
The areas where Luark had beaten them looked quite painful.
I immediately formed hand seals.
Magical healing was extremely expensive.
Not only did it purify the body’s toxins, but those who could use it were exceedingly rare.
‘For fatigue recovery, it’s even better than holy healing.’
“Oh!”
As expected, the Grand Duke and the knights visibly brightened.
‘It’s going to strain my body, but honestly—this is all because of Luark!’
A surge of nausea rose up, but I forcibly suppressed it.
Whoooom—
As wide-area healing magic poured out, the knights’ expressions softened noticeably.
‘This is what I was aiming for.’
At times like this, appealing to emotions worked wonders.
“I truly have no face before the Grand Duke’s entourage.”
At my words, the knights flinched.
“Yes?”
“Today’s incident is something I absolutely cannot tolerate as a daughter of House Haim. Therefore, I will apologize.”
“No, we actually—”
The knights looked overwhelmingly honored.
So I spoke with an even calmer gaze, as if prepared to pay any price.
“Therefore, for each person who suffered damages, I promise that House Haim will provide whatever compensation it can.”
But then—
“‘Whatever’… you say?”
“…!”
The atmosphere suddenly turned ominous.
I recoiled instinctively.
‘W-What?’
Don’t tell me—
‘Was that innocent demeanor all an act?’
