The Age Of Arrogance

Carlyle, his mouth shut and legs crossed, slowly fingered the cigar wedged between his fingers.

 

‘You didn’t react at all to being insulted, so why are you doing this all of a sudden?’

 

He wasn’t offended by what Asha had said. He also felt that he needed to keep the lower classes in line, as she had said.

 

However, before that, his curiosity was piqued.

 

What on earth had ‘pissed off’ this Asha Pervaz?

 

“Hmm……. I don’t think my servants said anything wrong?”

 

Lionel gasped next to him and squeezed his eyes shut. Giles lifted his chin slightly with a ‘so, so!’ expression.

 

However, Asha didn’t even notice such reactions.

 

“Your Majesty Carlyle. Do you remember what you agreed to with me?”

 

“Of course. And I am fulfilling that contract faithfully?”

 

“Lord Bailey. Would you mind bringing out that contract?”

 

Lionel’s skin crawled at her flat, dry voice. So he glanced at Carlyle’s expression and found the contract as she had said and spread it out in front of the two.

 

“There was something I asked for before the money.”

 

Carlyle, who had been staring at Asha’s gaze, which was fixed on him without wavering, stopped for the first time at her words that she had asked for something before the money.

 

He couldn’t remember at all.

 

All Asha had asked for was the money and supplies needed to rebuild Pervaz…….

 

Carlyle glanced over the contract.

 

……The requirements are as follows.

 

1. Respect the people of the Pervaz territory.

 

2.Immediate resolution of the current food shortage throughout Pervaz.

 

It was true.

 

Article 1 was none other than ‘Respect the people of the Pervaz territory’.

 

It was simply that it was such a textbook phrase that he didn’t remember it at all.

 

“It’s okay if Your Majesty ignores and mocks me. I’m also happy to accept Lord Bailey or Lord Raphael blaming my incompetence. Barbarian princess? I’ll thank you for calling me princess. But.”

 

Asha’s eyes seemed to be filled with coldness.

 

“You can’t do that to the people of Pervaz.”

 

“As you know, I’m a human being who even my father, the emperor, laughs at. Are you saying that the people of the Pervaz territory should be treated better than the emperor?”

 

Carlyle half-jokingly taunted.

 

If it were the usual Asha, she would have ignored and brushed off the provocation, but she wasn’t the same Asha as before.

 

“You are in Perbaz now, not Zyro. And if the people of Perbaz turn against you… Your Majesty’s endeavors may become quite difficult.”

 

It was Giles who burst out angrily at her words.

 

“You insolent! After receiving His Majesty Carlyle’s grace, how dare you speak such nonsense!”

 

“Know when it’s appropriate to intervene, Lord Ralphlet.”

 

Giles momentarily faltered.

 

Carlyle keenly sensed that Asha had just subtly jabbed at Giles.

 

‘This is unusual.’

 

Being able to freeze the opponent with one’s presence was already a tremendous weapon, and knights of such high caliber were rare.

 

She stared at Carlyle as if she could see through him with her icy eyes.

 

“Do not mock the resolute warriors who endured 28 years in a desperate war and eventually emerged victorious.”

 

“If I were to ignore your warning?”

 

A smirk played at the corner of Carlyle’s lips.

 

If it were Lionel, it would have been a smirk filled with arrogance, but Asha didn’t waver in the slightest, not even a bit.

 

Instead, she leaned forward as if she were about to engage in a duel.

 

“You’d better be careful if you want my cooperation.”

 

“Are you itching to experience what it’s like to be betrayed firsthand?”

 

“I’m warning you because it seems like you’re already in the midst of betraying me. Keep to the contract. If a dog bites you, it’s your own fault for provoking it.”

 

Giles was stunned, and Lionel held his breath.

 

No one had ever spoken to Carlyle Evaristo like this before.

 

But as Carlyle looked quietly at Asha, he merely smirked.

 

“You’re quite the charming dog! Starting to feel like biting me, huh?”

 

He meant it.

 

Carlyle truly regarded Asha Pervaz as a remarkable entity.

 

Asha’s presence was cold and sinking. It felt like the air in Pervaz on a winter day…

 

In her emotionless gray eyes, there seemed to be a wintry mist spreading, and within it, Carlyle saw a beast with gleaming eyes, as if ready to tear his throat.

 

On the flip side, Perbaz was Asha’s weakness, if she were to reveal such a weakness so easily.

 

You’re exposing your weaknesses so easily, my lady.’

 

As roughly expected, there was a weakness. But it was also true that I had thought, “Surely not.”

 

It was surprising, to put it frankly, that there still exists such a person in this world.

 

The guardian of Pervaz who is as pure as ice, passionate enough to burn, and seemingly indifferent yet kind.

 

Having such a person act as a shield for me would be quite useful.

 

“However, the words of your servants, who harshly criticized mine… can they be trusted?”

 

“Of course. They endured it for a while, fearing they would upset the inadequate lord, but now they have decided to speak up.”

 

“Really?”

 

Carlyle laughed.

 

“Then gather the servants who you say were harshly criticized and come to the first-floor hall in an hour. If they truly heard such things, and were angered by them… it wouldn’t be difficult to identify the offender, would it?”

 

“You don’t intend to harm my servants, do you?”

 

“Not at all. I merely want to confirm things.”

 

And without giving Asha any chance to argue, Carlyle commanded Lionel,

 

“Gather the servants we brought.”

 

* * *

 

An hour later, all the people who came from the capital were gathered in the hall of Pervaz Castle.

 

Carlyle’s knights were guarding all sides of the hall, and on a platform in front of them stood Carlyle, Lionel, Giles, Asha, and a few of her own servants.

 

Carlyle looked down at the servants who were exchanging worried glances, unsure why they were gathered.

 

“I hear there’s someone here who dared to insult my wife. Isn’t that so, Asha?”

 

Asha flinched. It was the first time Carlyle had called her by name.

 

It was just like Carlyle to do this in such a setting. Or maybe, there would never be an occasion other than this one to call her by name.

 

In any case, his one word caused the hall to become quiet, almost as if a pin could drop.

 

“Yes, that’s right. These people who have worked at Pervaz Castle for a long time testified to it.”

 

“If they were so upset, they must remember their faces clearly.”

 

Carlyle’s gaze swept over Asha’s servants standing behind her. But unlike the servants from the capital, they didn’t cower or tremble.

 

They were bowing their heads slightly out of courtesy in front of the prince, but that was all. Just like their mistress Asha, they remained calm.

 

“If what you said about my wife is not a lie, immediately point out the people who insulted my wife right now.”

 

At those words, the Pervaz servants looked at Asha, not Carlyle, for their cue.

 

Only after Asha gritted her teeth and gave a short nod did they begin to look at the faces of the people gathered in the hall.

 

And as they pointed them out, the ones who were pointed out laughed derisively and stepped forward.

 

‘Surely, there can’t be anything wrong with this…’

 

Carlyle didn’t seem serious at all, and Giles was clearly displeased with Asha and her servants, so they all thought it was nothing serious.

 

Just then, seventeen people stood with blank expressions, staring at Asha and her servants.

 

“Are these all of them?”

 

“According to my servants’ memories, this is all of them. There may have been more in places other than in front of us, but…”

 

“Lies!”

 

One of the servants in front shouted before Asha could finish her sentence. The other servants began to express their dissatisfaction as well.

 

“I just taught them some manners. Is there a custom in Pervaz of twisting words?”

 

“How do you know what they were babbling in the Pervaz dialect in front of us?”

 

“Would we be able to lie in fear like this?”

 

Giles also sided with them.

 

“Isn’t it rather Pervaz who is being petty? If not, it seems like something Count Pervaz did to try to intimidate our servants.”

 

At those words, the Pervaz servants gritted their teeth and swallowed their anger. They had come to this place at the risk of their lives.

 

The prince had asked them to pick out the people who had insulted ‘his wife’, but it was unlikely that they would look kindly on an outsider who was pointing out their own people as criminals.

 

[I will do whatever it takes to stop you from being punished.]

 

Asha told them this, but they didn’t want her to get into trouble with Carlyle.

 

[We should have just endured it. It seems like the lord is in trouble because of us.]

 

[They can just insult us! Why are they insulting our lord?]

 

[Anyway, since it has come to this, let’s find all the bastards who insulted our lord and show them his face. Surely they won’t be able to talk arrogantly in front of him when they know his face.]

 

That’s what they thought, but it was the naive Pervaz people who were mistaken. The servants who had come down from the capital did not even show any sign of respect even though Asha was in front of them.

 

And seeing Giles siding with them, they began to think that maybe Carlyle had arranged this place to further ridicule Asha.

 

It was then that they lowered their heads, feeling the discomfort of the weak.

 

****

 

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