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Chapter 71
A few hours earlier, at the Grand Duke Baharman’s residence.
“Ha….”
He had been expelled.
Akes, who had been thrown out of the residence while clinging to Eren summoned by Ainra, ran his hand through his hair.
His patience, already depleted, boiled over with violent emotions.
He could not remain calm.
‘I… really can’t hold back this time.’
Seeing Ainra’s face, as if she was about to break from saying that, had made it unbearable.
He couldn’t.
“…I’ll have to change the plan.”
His red eyes, completely at odds with his youthful appearance, glowed darkly.
There was no need to wait until dawn.
He could just storm in right now, drag out the traitors, and bring Ainra safely back to his mansion.
Sure, the emperor might scold him for raiding in the middle of the night with overwhelming force, saying it would provoke the other nobles—but that was the emperor’s concern, not his.
“Lord Neblo.”
Saikan de Neblo, Captain of the First Knight Corps, who had been waiting nearby wrapped entirely in a black robe, approached and bowed.
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Akes issued his order without taking his eyes off the mansion where Ainra was.
“I hereby command: The First Knight Corps, together with the other corps, will enter the mansion immediately and subdue the criminals—!”
At that moment, a sudden thunderous noise erupted from inside the mansion.
Bang! Boom—.
For an ordinary person, the sound would chill the heart, but amusingly, Akes felt his boiling emotions subside slightly the moment he heard it.
There was only one being who could produce such a roar in such a short time.
“…No, cancel the previous order. First Knight Corps, return to standby.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Lord Neblo departed.
Like everyone under the Serenia Grand Duchy, he did not question his lord’s suddenly changing orders.
The roar continued several more times.
Of course, suppressing his boiling emotions didn’t mean the impulse had vanished.
He wanted to take Ainra to his bedroom immediately and keep her safe, but he forced himself to suppress it with the reasoning he wished to give her, respecting her wishes.
A woman, concealed in a black robe, approached Akes, who was staring quietly at the Baharman residence, and bowed.
She was the captain of the Second Knight Corps, secretly stationed to report the internal situation of the residence.
“Captain of the Second Knight Corps, Karinne de Firenze, reporting the internal situation.”
“Speak.”
“The Elementalist is currently attacking the sorcerer Dante in the first-floor reception room. The Baharman household servants have escaped through secret passages in the meantime.”
“Aha.”
Akes muttered quietly and smiled faintly.
Still, focusing on one thing, ignoring everything else—that habit never changed.
But it didn’t matter.
If Ainra couldn’t notice other things, he could.
“Lord Neblo.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
The returning Lord Neblo bowed again.
Akes issued his command:
“Lead the First Knight Corps into the mansion and bring all the traitors, excluding Dante. Capture the Grand Duke Baharman and his household alive.”
“Understood.”
Lord Neblo saluted and disappeared.
“The Second Knight Corps will remain on standby. Report any anomalies.”
“Understood.”
Lord Firenze also vanished in an instant.
Leaning slightly against Eren, Akes gazed once more at the Baharman residence where the roar echoed.
The Baharman residence had two secret passages designed for emergencies.
With the First Knight Corps, those two could easily be blocked, and the traitors subdued.
As expected, shortly afterward, the Grand Duke Baharman and the others were captured by the First Knight Corps and dragged out to the front garden.
“Yes! You insolent fools! Do you know who I am…!”
The Grand Duke, forced to kneel, raised his head and shouted furiously.
Akes descended from Eren’s arms and walked up to him with a slight smile.
“‘Fools,’ you say. Such disrespectful language.”
“Wh-what…!”
The Grand Duke flinched at the boy who approached him.
Under the light cast by a magical tool, Akes, in his child form, revealed himself.
“Your Excellency, the Grand Duke.”
The First Knight Corps saluted Akes.
Walking confidently up to the Grand Duke, Akes tilted his head slightly.
“Did you think it was acceptable to belittle them just because they have no family crest? Your ability to discern rank and status is laughably poor.”
“Y-you…! Why are you… here?!”
The Grand Duke looked as though he had seen a ghost.
A cold smile appeared on Akes’ face.
“Has it been since the celebration of our last victory, Grand Duke Baharman?”
“Ugh…”
“Back then, I was the one who fell, and now the roles have reversed?”
“S-shut up…!”
The Grand Duke glared and growled at him.
Akes, as if it were trivial, raised an eyebrow and continued.
“Ah, thanks to that, the position of Serenia Grand Duchess has found its rightful owner. I cleared up the misunderstanding while staying with Ainra in this young form.”
“…!”
The Grand Duke’s eyes widened to their limits.
Akes, looking down at the trembling Grand Duke, added lazily:
“You should be grateful for this.”
“I-I should spit on you…!”
The Grand Duke’s pinkish eyes flared with fury.
“No.”
Lloyd, who had been kneeling beside the Grand Duke in shock, muttered quietly.
“Ainra is my partner. She will be Grand Duchess Baharman. There’s no reason to attack me. There must be some mistake…”
He babbled incoherently, seemingly unaware of what he was saying.
The crimson eyes of Akes fixed sharply on Lloyd.
The Grand Duchess hastily covered his mouth, but the words had already been spoken.
“Ah, Grand Duke Baharman.”
The cold, sharp gaze of Akes swept over him.
“I have many regrets toward you.”
“Y-you… what are you plotting against Lloyd!”
Sensing something ominous, the Grand Duke shouted, but it was futile.
Akes strolled leisurely to Lloyd and commanded:
“Escort the traitors to the underground prison of the royal palace.”
“Understood.”
The First Knight Corps saluted properly and roughly lifted the kneeling captives.
As the magical transportation tool activated, platinum-colored runes appeared beneath their feet.
All except Lloyd.
“What… what are you trying to do to Lloyd?!”
The Grand Duke shouted, twisting his body, but he was quickly subdued by strong hands.
Akes tilted his head with a sneer.
“Well, what do you think I intend to do?”
“You…!”
“You seem worried I might do the same thing to you that you did to me.”
The Grand Duke fell silent, struck to the core.
Akes’ lips curled into a sharper sneer.
“Don’t worry, I won’t cast a curse.”
“T-then….”
“Even without a regression curse, I can make you miserable enough.”
“Akes de Serenia!”
The Grand Duke’s briefly hopeful gaze rapidly turned into despair.
Their screams vanished as the magical runes beneath them swallowed the people standing on them.
“Your Excellency, what about this one?”
A lone knight asked, glancing at Lloyd.
Akes replied leisurely:
“Throw him into the underground prison of the Serenia residence for now.”
“Understood.”
The knight was about to use the magical tool when…
“W-wait a moment!”
Finally regaining his wits, Lloyd’s golden eyes became clear.
He grabbed the knight’s hand holding the magical tool and shouted:
“I need to talk to Ainra. Let me meet her.”
The knight’s face stiffened at his audacity, as if unaware of the situation.
Akes twisted his lips in displeasure.
“Why should I do that?”
“Ainra likes me. And it probably wasn’t her will earlier. If I clear the misunderstanding…”
Even after the mansion had been destroyed by Ainra’s hand, this foolish Grand Duke still believed Ainra liked him.
Akes’ eyes swept coldly without warmth.
“That’s quite the confidence you have.”
“W-what?”
“Have you never considered that Ainra might dislike you?”
Lloyd furrowed his brows.
“Dislike me? …A woman would dislike me?”
He had never thought about that before.
There was no need to.
“Ridiculous. Women do all sorts of things just to get a single glance from me.”
Every woman he had met had blushed and confessed love at even the smallest gesture from him.
Without exception.
They clung and lingered around him just for a single word.
That’s what women were to Lloyd.
And Ainra—was she not a woman too?
“And I, who love Ainra so much I even considered marriage, how could she dislike me—?”
Akes’ lips twisted sharply.
With a bang, Lloyd’s body crashed to the ground.
“Ugh…!”
“I simply cannot tolerate this any longer.”
Akes’ eyes glinted with lethal intent as he grabbed Lloyd by the collar.
