“… Hm?”
At my sudden outburst, both Taze and Jack blinked in surprise and looked up.
I cleared my throat as if I had never said the word ‘ruffian’ and continued speaking.
“That person did something dishonest, and you know it better than anyone, so please don’t say anything strange. Why didn’t you tell the Duke about this important fact?”
“I didn’t want to cause a disturbance. My admission to the knight order had already caused a lot of trouble for the Duke. Even if I couldn’t win, there would be quite a few people within the order who would oppose me. Besides, the commander is also from a long-standing noble family in the Duke’s territory.”
I looked at the downcast Taze with a cold gaze.
‘How can a knight who was admired by so many people be such a coward?’
I insisted that everything should be told to Duke Ellard.
If he really cares about the Duke, it is dangerous to have a man who is plotting such a dangerous scheme for Diana’s safety as a confidant.
Taze’s face was deeply impressed by my words, but he soon spoke bitterly.
“Who will believe me? There’s no evidence left. It’s just stirring up trouble for no reason.”
“Disappointing! The man is a coward!”
I ended up pushing Taze away and leaving the room.
I shouted out of anger, but the disappointment was sincere.
In fact, I wasn’t even a knight, and I didn’t have much admiration for Taze, but I had secretly thought of him as a cool person.
He was the one who adopted and raised Jack to become a great knight.
“Maybe it was all a misunderstanding.”
I really wanted to pretend I didn’t know about this incident because I was so angry.
But I couldn’t just leave the man who put Diana in danger as a close aide, especially since I had received the favor of staying in the Duke’s house for a while.
Moreover…
“This is something that only servants should do!”
The Duke Elad was very kind-hearted, and he gave me a lot of luxurious treats that Diana also enjoyed. Wanting to share these treats with Jack, I visited the knight’s barracks the next day and witnessed an unexpected scene.
Jack was doing all the miscellaneous tasks alone, such as laundry, cleaning, and weapon maintenance for the entire knight’s barracks. I couldn’t bear it, whether it was due to the pressure from the deputy commander, or because he didn’t welcome the sudden arrival of an orphan boy within the knight’s ranks, I didn’t know.
“If you’re a seed of the knight’s order, then you should do everything, right?”
“Then why are you doing it alone? It’s not like there’s only one seed, is there?”
The prestige of the Lexion Knights in the Empire was remarkable. Many nobles and aspiring knights wanted to join the Lexion Knights, and indeed, Jack’s residence was filled with young seedlings who had not yet become apprentice knights.
However, Jack was not training or getting close to the knights like them. Instead, he was doing menial tasks like this.
It was clear that Taze had left on a mission ordered by the deputy commander as soon as he returned with Jack, so he probably didn’t even realize the situation.
‘Jack must have gone through something like this in his previous life.’
And he would have overcome such difficulties and finally gained recognition.
But I couldn’t just stand there and watch this unfair treatment, even if I didn’t know about it.
I immediately started gathering information about the vice-captain.
‘Since they are servants of the Elad duchy, I thought that the iron wall would be tremendous, so I made various plans.’
Contrary to my expectations, the process of gathering information was very easy.
Perhaps because I approached them with an innocent and harmless-looking childlike appearance, or because the servants were very friendly even without giving help or building a relationship.
And the result was…
Oh, I see. So you mean the vice-captain is Sid Valerie of Count Valerie…”
“Yes! He’s an excellent knight from a noble family.”
The maid didn’t notice my strange expression and just looked admirably at my interest in the Duke of Elard.
Feeling happy that I had obtained all the information I wanted, I smiled broadly.
Sid Valerie.
The vice-captain of the Lexion Knights, he was the second son of Count Valerie, a vassal of the Duke of Elad.
He was also Allen’s teacher, teaching him swordsmanship in Allen.
‘Those nasty words were all influenced by that guy.’
I thought there was something wrong with Allen’s character, who would later be known as the defender of justice, but there was a reason for it all.
And the more I learned about his background, the more I felt like I understood why Taze tried to cover up the unfair things that happened to him.
Count Valerie was a family that played a pivotal role in the Lexion Knights for generations.
Particularly the current Valeri, who was even the chairman of the Elder Council of the Ellard Duchy, had the most influence among the noble families that served Ellard.
Then there was Sid Valeri, who had become the vice-commander of the Lexion Knights by following the elite course of a knight. He was known for his noble character and loyalty that only bowed his head to Ellard.
“But in reality, all of my subordinates are just selfish and arrogant jerks who treat their subordinates like bugs.”
Up until now, I thought I was the best and lived my life like that, so if Taze suddenly appeared as Ellard’s trusted man, he would have been an obvious thorn in Sid’s side.
Especially with a title like a commoner and mercenary, he would have acted even more maliciously.
I could roughly estimate how much influence he had within the Knights, but I wasn’t scared.
“Mom!”
Lost in thought, Diana suddenly made a noise.
When I turned my head, the Duke and Duchess had just entered after opening the door.
‘Time has passed so quickly.’
I had been taking care of Diana all day, and at the same time, I hadn’t realized that night had already come while interacting with the servants.
“Diana, can’t you see your father?”
The Duke, who was holding Diana skillfully, naturally headed towards the bed.
“What should I read for you today?”
“Princess!” Diana shouted cheerfully.
“You read that yesterday too.”
“But I like the princess!” Diana exclaimed stubbornly.
In fact, I had already read the fairy tale book about the princess trapped in a tower and the hero who saved her five times today.
Diana was completely absorbed in the story of the hero who breaks the curse and rescues the princess.
As the stubborn Diana’s plump cheeks bounced, the Duke gently took the book away. Meanwhile, I prepared to leave the room with the maid who was with us.
“Lia, sleep well.”
The Duchess gently stroked my head and thanked me for my hard work today.
Feeling shy, I quickly nodded and quietly closed the door.
“…”
Just before the door closed, it was hard to take my eyes off the sight of the Duke and Duchess lying on either side of Diana on the bed, reading her a fairy tale book.
Even though it was a scene I saw every night.
***
The next morning.
“Allen? Have you finished eating already?”
Allen stood up from his seat and nodded vaguely in response to his mother’s question. He glanced at Diana and Lia, who were sitting across from him.
Even when Lia offered her some beans or peppers, which Diana hated, she eagerly opened her mouth like a baby bird and ate them.
Thanks to Lia, Diana’s picky eating habits were corrected, and their mother was pleased. However, Allen had to force himself to eat beans just to show off his cool older brother’s image.
“All because of that annoying kid.”
After forcing himself to eat breakfast, he couldn’t taste anything. He didn’t even want to look at her face, but he had to eat with Diana and Lia because Lia was always there. Allen thought he was being considerate, but it didn’t seem that way to himself.
On the contrary, there was far more food that his mother puts in front of that kid Lia than the food she puts in Diana’s mouth.
‘There’s no servant who eats together like that with their master in the first place.’
Allen grumbled out of the dining room, frowning, and then muttered to himself, “Well, if you’re that filthy, I won’t be able to play with Diana properly…”
Slap!
Allen slapped himself in the face, startled by what he said to himself.
‘It’s crazy.’
Startled by his own words, Allen slapped himself in the face.
He was truly losing it.
“Why do they keep being so generous with things like that!”
He tried to control his softening heart by recalling the words of Sid, his mentor and proud vice-captain of the Lexion Knights.
He had heard that commoners had no self-respect and lied as easily as they ate their meals.
They would easily deceive and manipulate people without any sincerity.
“Diana is probably like that too.”
Allen couldn’t let such a foxy girl be next to his precious younger sister.
Right now, he feeds her healthy beans, but he didn’t know what he would feed her later.
‘In the end, she’ll do whatever she wants.’
Even if Dianna was young, she deceived not only him but also her mother and father, so she was not an opponent to be taken lightly.
“I won’t be fooled.”
No matter how sweet her words are, I will never fall for them.
Although a few days ago…
〈’ It was the Lady. Lady Diana said she has two handsome older brothers! They must have looked like the young lady, and I thought they would, but I was surprised that it was beyond my imagination!’〉
When she said this, the corners of Allen’s mouth went up without realizing it.
It’s not that I was happy that she said that. I’m just happy that Diana bragged about me and my brother.
“You have an eye for appearance.”
Allen, who was exasperated, stopped walking.
Come to think of it, a guy named Jack, who Lia said to be her friend, also had a pretty beautiful face.
After he came out of my father’s office, he entered the Knights, so it was clear what he whispered to my father.
In addition, these days Diana has been coming to the training ground with Lia every day to watch…
“Hah! Even if you watch me closely, what’s the point of being a little cute and showing off your face?”
I don’t know why, but I felt very upset.
So Allen decided that if Lia showed up at the training ground today, he would give her some sharp advice.
Men are not all about appearance!
But a few hours later, when Allen bumped into Lia at the training ground, he completely forgot about that thought.
“Hey, what are you doing now…?”
He was too stunned.
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Translator Note:
This chapter was translated by Bree.
Next chapter will be released on June, 5. To read chapters in advance support us on Patreon!!
