There Is No Mercy

Chapter 32

“Don’t come out of your room until tomorrow, and Don’t make things worse than they are by coming out, just stay put until I get back.”

Fiorette rose from her seat and started to walk out, but Richelle quickly grabbed her by the hem of her robe.

Looking down at Richelle, who was sitting on the floor, Fiorett narrowed her eyes.

Richelle, feeling embarrassed and ashamed to kneel before someone of the same nobility, she forced a smile even in that situation.

“You’re not going to tell the princess, are you, Lady Bayron……?”

“The princess’s plans have fallen through, and now we’ve only done good for the other side. If an important plan fails, someone has to take responsibility.”

With a sharp motion, Fiorett shook off Richelle’s hand.

Richelle’s hand fell limply away, causing her to lean forward.

Looking up at Fiorett from the floor, Richelle’s face was filled with anxiety and embarrassment.

Fiorette stared at her face with dry eyes, then turned away.

“I don’t have to be the one. So just sit quietly and wait for the princess’s decision. I can already guess what she’ll say without having to see it.”

If a small house like Richelle’s turned Bozbourne into an enemy, it would only take an instant for their social standing and family to crumble.

Fiorett’s gaze fell on Richelle’s pale face as she continued to look down at her.

With only cold words, Fiorette hurried out of the room to deal with what she had done.

Richelle’s face trembled with nervousness and anxiety as she stood in the room, staring blankly at the floor.

“This isn’t right…, I just don’t want to live like everyone else… I don’t want to be ignored by everyone else… It’s not my fault, I didn’t do anything wrong, it’s all, it’s all her fault, so I’m not the one being punished…….”

Richelle’s voice, muttering insanely, filled the silent room.

* * *

As chaos unfolded over the next day, rumors spread quickly, whether good or bad.

Thanks to Richelle bringing so many people to the chaotic room in the middle of the night, the rumors took off like they had wings.

However, unlike my concerns about strange rumors spreading, yesterday’s incident remained quiet.

Instead, the gossip about Arden and me snowballed.

The rumor of Aden heading to his room with me in his arms had turned into speculation and speculation into a rumor that we were in a deep relationship.

There were all sorts of stories going around like us sharing a room or that we had crossed some forbidden line—it was almost laughable how exaggerated it got.

“…There’s already a baby between me and Aden, just from the way he looked yesterday. Rumors roll like snowballs.”

People were thirsty for gossip.

What was going on between me and Aden was a snack that would entangle Bellietta as well.

There was no way they’d let this opportunity slip by.

They’d keep talking about baseless stories until they got tired of it, then move on to the next piece of gossip.

“I’m sorry. If I hadn’t left my post yesterday…”

“Don’t worry about it. I told you, I sent the knight away, and that was all part of the trap. I didn’t tell you because I know your upright nature. If you knew, you definitely wouldn’t follow my orders. So there’s no need to feel sorry.”

Rupert, who I had sent away to wash up yesterday, had been worried about what had happened
all day.

Even though I doubled the guards, he cut down on their rest time to make sure there were no gaps.

It wasn’t necessary, but I figured he’d refuse if I told him to stop, so I let it be.

As I moved to the front row to watch the scheduled knight tournament, Count Ricardo approached from the opposite side.

“I’m sorry to bring this up, but did you have a good night?”

“Thanks to you, I was able to sleep comfortably.”

“I should’ve taken better care of you, and I’m truly sorry for that. I’ll make sure to be more attentive in the future. I’ll do everything I can to prevent anything like this from happening again during the tournament.”

After we moved rooms, Count Ricardo placed over twenty guards around my room.

It was a little noisy, but I was able to sleep in peace.

Count Ricardo looked at me with a worried expression on his face.

As I studied his expression, I let out a short gasp as I remembered something.

“Yesterday’s events will not cause the Genoa tournament to lose its sponsorship. Brilloxen will continue to sponsor the tournament as before, and I hope that this will not destroy the relationship between the Count and Brilloxen.”

The worry and darkness vanished from the lord’s face as he realized that he didn’t want to lose Brilloxen, the tournament’s biggest sponsor.

His face visibly brightened, he bowed his head and smiled broadly.

“Thank you so much for saying that. I’ll send an official apology to Count Brilloxen regarding this matter, so I hope for your continued support. Oh, and the three people who entered your room yesterday have been notified by their families. The Grand Duke also mentioned there might be some behind-the-scenes manipulation, so they’ve been handed over for questioning.”

Aden’s words about wanting to interrogate them came to mind.

I wanted to go along, but Aden convinced me I’d only see things that I didn’t want to.

Instead, I decided to send Rupert to listen in on the interrogation.

At least Rupert was a trustworthy knight.

“Got it. I’ll ask the Grand Duke about that later. Anyway, the tournament is starting soon, so let’s get moving, Count.”

“Oh, I was just about to mention that, but it’s too late now.”

The Count patted his hand in frustration and shook his head.

“The knighting contest that was scheduled has been canceled.”

“Canceled? Why all of a sudden? Is it because of what happened yesterday?”

“It’s not that. The family that sent the knights has withdrawn their offer. I don’t know the reason yet, but there must be some internal issues. We tried to fill the tournament with other knights, but if it’s not a high-level competition, it wouldn’t make sense, so we decided to only hold the finals.”

Count Ricardo looked troubled by the unexpected situation.

The reason we pushed through the semifinals yesterday was because we had a tournament today.

Now, we’re only having the finals in front of a crowd, which pretty much kills the excitement.

With all these setbacks for this tournament, Count Ricardo didn’t look too happy, but he was trying to smile anyway.

I comforted him as we moved to the location where the finals were being prepared.

Just like yesterday, I took my seat in the front row and waited for people to enter when Fiorret and Richelle were the first to show up.

Fiorret greeted the lord and me briefly before sitting down with a nonchalant expression.

On the other hand, Richelle looked really quiet and tense, staring down at the floor.

I wonder if she’s disappointed that her plan to bring people to gossip to humiliate me yesterday didn’t work out.

She seemed desperate to get into Belietta’s good graces.

How foolish.

If she realized that Belietta doesn’t care about anyone but herself, she wouldn’t act like that.

Tsk tsk, I clicked my tongue in my head and turned away.

As time passed and the finals were about to start, Aden finally showed up.

“Where have you been? I came looking for you to have breakfast together, but you were gone.”

“I had some things to take care of for a bit.”

Things to take care of?

I tilted my head but then remembered he mentioned being busy with recruiting knights yesterday, so I didn’t press further.

In the meantime, the finals were ready to start.

Jin, who had been drawing a lot of attention with his overwhelming skills, showcased his talent without holding back in the finals.

Unlike before, he didn’t dominate his opponent, but he still dominated the entire match.

His opponent held up pretty well but eventually couldn’t last and fell.

As soon as Jin’s victory was confirmed, cheers and applause erupted, and I joined in with enthusiastic clapping for the knight I would be getting.

After the tournament ended, we moved to the podium for the awards ceremony.

Aden, Fiorret, and I went up as the major sponsors.

Standing next to Aden while preparing for the awards amidst the gazes of so many people who didn’t know about yesterday, I casually said, “Looks like things turned out just as you said.”

Aden’s gaze slowly turned toward me.

He lifted his chin slightly, and with a short gasp, he broke into a grin.

“Really, the rumors related to the incident have disappeared, and only the stories about you and me are going around. Did you hear? There’s a rumor that we have a kid.”

“I heard a rumor that we have twins.”

“Wow, the rumors have evolved even more. How scary.”

I let out a hollow laugh and shrugged, and Aden just nodded in agreement.

I glanced at the lord as he talked for a while about the tournament before turning my attention back.

“It looks like we’ll be parting ways soon. It was short but fun. It was nice to see you after such a long time.”

Aden’s gaze slowly turned toward me as he looked ahead.

He smiled slightly and tilted his head, making his eyes narrow.

In the meantime, Jin and three others stepped forward one by one to stand in front of us.

Jin stopped in front of me and gave a slight bow.

“Congratulations on your victory. You seemed to have a rough time yesterday. Are you okay?”

“Since I’d already decided where to go, they all left without much fuss. Some were persistent, but once I mentioned Sierra’s name, they backed off.”

“Smart move. By the way, do you have plans after the tournament? You don’t need to rush, but the official appointment has to be done in the territory.”

Jin paused for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

“I have somewhere to go for a bit. I’ll head to the Brilloxen territory after that.”

“Take your time, and make sure to handle your business. Just don’t suddenly disappear or break your contract to go somewhere else. Brilloxen remembers both favors and debts, but they also don’t forget grudges. Got it?”

Jin nodded without changing his expression at my subtle warning.

I smiled at his response and turned back.

After receiving the certificate and trophy from Rupert, I was about to turn around again when I noticed Richelle approaching Fiorret.

Richelle handed the certificate and trophy to Fiorret before stepping back.

Jin’s award ceremony started first, and then the awards continued one after another.

With the sound of applause, the end of the tournament was drawing near.

“What’s going on?”

As Fiorret’s award ceremony began, Richelle slowly approached her from where she had been standing back.