Chapter 11
#011. When the Grand Duke Swears the Knight's Oath
No way.
Olivia's lips parted slightly. The Emperor stretched out his arms towards the Knights.
A man Olivia knew paid his respects to the Emperor, representing the Knights.
"Homage to the sun of the Empire. Edwin Lowell Vikander. I greet Your Imperial Majesty."
"My proud Knights have finally arrived. It's a banquet for you all, why are you so late?"
At the Emperor's barbed words, the man, the Grand Duke, replied indifferently.
"I apologize. I could not use a common sword for the oath presided over by Your Majesty, so I brought the heirloom Airaluten from the Territory of Vikander."
The Grand Duke pointed to his scabbard. The magnificent voice that spread through the banquet hall left people speechless for a moment, before they became noisy.
"Is that the sword? The treasure that has been passed down through the ruined Lowell royal family?"
"His Majesty coveted that sword so much. They say he would rather give up his precious White Crystal Mine than part with it?"
"But, what oath is His Majesty presiding over? Wasn't this a war victory banquet?"
A questioning commotion arose. The Emperor smiled broadly, his lips curled up.
"Hahaha. Yes. A Knight must have a Lady to whom he can offer his glory. I am pleased that my Grand Duke is meeting a suitable Lady today, so I will grant him one wish."
A wish granted by the Emperor. There was a commotion on one side of the banquet hall, but the Grand Duke remained indifferent.
The Emperor subtly gestured towards the Princess.
At that moment, everyone understood. In the end, the purpose of this banquet was to bring the Grand Duke under the Imperial Family.
The Emperor laughed heartily.
"What joyful news this is. The Grand Duke, who protects our Franz Empire, is finally swearing a Knight's oath to a Lady. Come, Grand Duke. Take the oath."
The Princess, dressed in a pure white dress, was already holding a large bouquet of flowers. The Princess, who received the glory of all the Knights at every knighting ceremony, turned her body towards the Grand Duke.
The Grand Duke turned around. And scanned the surroundings as if looking for someone. The moment his eyes met Olivia's, the Grand Duke's eyes curved long.
Olivia took a step back. But the Grand Duke was faster.
Each time the Grand Duke walked, the nobles made way. At the end of it, was Olivia.
"Lady Olivia Madelaine."
A seductive voice called Olivia's name. The Grand Duke knelt on one knee in front of Olivia with a fluid motion.
"I am honored to reveal my name. I am Edwin Lowell Vikander."
The expressionless face he had shown to the Emperor was gone, and the red eyes in his elegant eyes twinkled mischievously. The moment the corners of his lips turned up slightly, a gasp was heard from somewhere.
There were also people who immediately understood what the unnecessary self-introduction meant.
"It is the 'most' precious sword, a combination of a treasured sword and a jewel, the only one on the continent."
Only Olivia and the Grand Duke understood what that boastful statement meant.
"Please, will you grant me the honor of becoming your sword?"
The banquet hall was as silent as if cold water had been poured on it. Olivia looked at the Grand Duke.
A dazzling face that took one's breath away, and red eyes full of spring-like affection looked up at Olivia.
It was strange.
When they first met in Ruheirn Street, when she went to the Crown Prince's palace last Monday, or even just before he walked towards her, she had to look up at him for a long time.
A tall man of noble status and glorious honor, whom anyone would have to look up to, knelt on one knee in front of her as if it were natural.
The very act of offering the hilt of a precious sword, as if he would unconditionally follow Olivia's choice, was too unrealistic.
Olivia was about to slowly part her red lips.
"Unfortunately, the oath must be withdrawn. Grand Duke."
It was Leopold. Leopold wrapped his arm around Olivia's shoulder. At the action of declaring her as his, the Grand Duke's eyes flashed for a moment.
"Are you interfering with the oath I am offering to Lady Madelaine?"
A low voice echoed through the banquet hall. A chillingly cold voice headed towards Leopold as if threatening him.
"Even with the approval of His Imperial Majesty?"
The corners of the Grand Duke's lips turned up crookedly.
Daring to, even though he was looking up, the Grand Duke's eyes looked at Leopold as if they were looking down.
The pressure from those red eyes was so absurd that Leopold's hand tightened.
Feeling pain from the force on her shoulder, Olivia involuntarily looked up at Leopold. Leopold didn't even pay attention to Olivia.
"...It would be good to hear why the Crown Prince has stepped in."
The Emperor mediated the tense atmosphere. Leopold bowed to the Emperor and then smiled kindly at Olivia.
But Olivia resented Leopold for only now looking at her. She wished he would at least loosen his grip on her aching shoulder, but Leopold wrapped his arm around her as if to be more intimate.
For the first time, Leopold gave her his side.
But strangely, Leopold felt more distant than ever.
"The Lady is my fiancée. Does the unmarried Grand Duke not think that scandal could be attached to my fiancée if he swears an oath?"
The nobles buzzed at Leopold's stiff voice.
"It doesn't look good, does it? The future Crown Princess Consort, who should be the most chaste."
"Aren't there already one or two rumors that the Lady is spreading?"
"That's right, really. She's maintaining her engagement now thanks to the grace of Her Majesty the Empress."
At some point, the nobles' words stopped. A sharp momentum pierced the nobles. When they felt as if a cold energy was looking down on them.
"How dare you..."
A low word overwhelmed the atmosphere. The Grand Duke's red eyes shone brightly.
"What scandal could be attached to the Lady to whom I am offering my oath?"
"That, that is..."
No noble stepped forward. The Grand Duke changed his expression and smiled at Olivia, saying.
"Would this solve the problem?"
"...If the oath is established, you must dance the first dance, don't you think it would be rude to me, who is accompanying the Lady?"
Olivia's body stiffened imperceptibly at Leopold's dry words.
Leopold, who was closer to Maria Etel than to her, was her escort.
Just as Olivia's gaze was falling to the floor, worried that the fact that she was not being treated as a fiancée would be mentioned.
"Ah, I thought."
At the light voice as if he was disappointed, Olivia raised her head.
"I thought the Lady had come alone for me on purpose."
The corners of the Grand Duke's eyes curved playfully for a moment. Soon, as if nothing had happened, he said to Leopold with a casual expression.
"I thought His Highness the Crown Prince was inevitably accompanying someone else. All of this was my misunderstanding."
"Grand Duke."
Leopold called the Grand Duke as if warning him, but the Grand Duke didn't even look at him.
"His Highness the generous Crown Prince wouldn't be doing this because of the first dance, would he?"
Leopold gritted his teeth. In the meantime, the Grand Duke looked straight at Olivia and added as if joking.
"...Well, unless I proposed marriage to the Lady."
What? Olivia's eyes widened. What was the Grand Duke talking about?
"Grand Duke!"
Leopold shouted sharply. But the Grand Duke rather met Leopold's gaze as if there was a problem.
"Brother. Why don't you talk about the inappropriate attire?"
A sweet voice intervened over the tense atmosphere. It was the Princess.
The Princess, glaring at Olivia with a venomous expression, soon smiled brightly and walked out.
"The Lady who receives the oath must receive the oath in white attire symbolizing the Knight's chastity. Also, as a sign of permission and joy, she must present flowers to the Knight."
The Princess, slurring the end of her words, looked at Olivia and tilted her head. Blue eyes, similar to Leopold's, met Olivia with deep hostility.
"It seems the Lady is not prepared today either."
"That's right. All the Ladies wear white at the knighting ceremony!"
"Now that I think about it. Why didn't we think of that? She wouldn't be trying to break the traditions that have been passed down for generations in this place, would she?"
Laughter was mixed in among the loud voices. Olivia glanced at the place where the laughter came from.
Lady Shamin, Lady Staren, and Lady Liveorn. They were all the Princess's playmates.
"Perhaps because she has never received an oath, she doesn't know much about the attire. Well, I guess it's not the Lady's fault?"
Words that were no different from insults came and went among the laughter. It was a painful word that felt like it was digging into her heart.
As always, her father and Conrad, who were far away, didn't add a word,
"That's right. Grand Duke. What can we do? My fiancée is not prepared."
Even Leopold was agreeing with the Princess's words.
Strangely, that red eye that was looking at her with concern was more troubling than all of that.
It was so cold when she looked at the place where the words came from, but the eyes that treated her, whom she had only seen a few times, were warm.
It was a funny thing. What was it about just that one strand of gaze?
All of this was strangely ticklish. Olivia slowly parted her lips.
"...The first time the Knight's oath appeared in the history books was during Liam Franz, the first Emperor of the Empire, and Empress Olika Franz."
In this situation, Olivia spoke more elegantly and calmly than anyone else. Swept away by the atmosphere, the nobles unknowingly closed their mouths.
Among the nobles who wondered why the history books were coming out here, the eyes of some of them changed.
"The first Emperor, who designated the borders of the Empire and led the Asphalteun War to victory, embraced the first Empress in his blood-stained armor."
Olivia gently took her shoulder out. Leopold gave strength as if to trap Olivia, but Olivia carefully removed Leopold's hand with her gloved hand.
"It is recorded that the Empress's white dress, who was praying for the Emperor's safe arrival, was stained with blood."
Leaving Leopold behind, Olivia took a step towards the Grand Duke. While looking at the eyes that were facing her until the end, Olivia smiled.
"It is said that the Empress presented the flowers she had offered at the altar to the Emperor with only her gloves remaining pure white."
Everyone confirmed that Olivia's white gloves were sparkling in the light of the splendid chandelier.
The ladies were right. Until I turned twenty, no Knight had ever sworn allegiance to me.
Each time I attended the knighting ceremony in a white dress, Olivia remained still, like a flower on the wall.
I didn't want to go to the banquet, but I had no choice. I was the Crown Prince's fiancée and a Princess.
It was true that I hadn't received any oaths. But that didn't mean I could be told that I didn't know etiquette. My etiquette had always been perfect, and it would continue to be perfect.
Because that was the best Olivia could do as a Madeleine.
"If we follow the etiquette of the ancient texts, there can be no more perfect recreation than my attire right now."
Olivia subtly lifted the hem of her dress. Amidst the sparkling pure white lace gloves, the deeply subdued crimson dress was enough to replace the white dress of the first Empress, said to be soaked in blood.
"Thank you, Your Highness, Crown Prince. And Your Highness, Princess."
Unlike Leopold, who glared coldly at Olivia, Reina's face was flushed red.
"Thanks to the clear arrangement of the two esteemed Highnesses, I was able to receive the oath without any noise."
Half of it was fake, but half of it was sincere. Thanks to them, the controversy was dispelled.
"But, the flower!"
Instead of the Princess, the young lady of Marquess Liveorn shouted.
"I dare not offer a flower that withers in a season to His Grace, Grand Duke's chastity, so I replace my heart with this jewel."
Olivia removed the jeweled pin that had been holding her hair in place. Her splendid silver hair cascaded down softly.
The purple flower and green calyx hairpin, sparkling in the chandelier light, was a gift from Esella for this banquet.
I never imagined that Esella's gift would be used like this. If I asked later, I might be able to exchange the jeweled pin for another jewel. Strangely, the Grand Duke seemed like he would grant my request.
Olivia, who placed the jeweled pin on the Grand Duke's palm, met his gaze.
"Olivia Madeleine."
Olivia took the Grand Duke's sword. As she wrapped her palm around the hilt, which seemed cold, a strange warmth spread throughout her body in an instant.
"I gladly accept His Grace, Grand Duke's glory. May my joy belong to His Grace's glory again."
Embracing the sword, Olivia bowed her head towards the Grand Duke. And from somewhere, a thunderous applause echoed. The Grand Duke smiled brightly and rose from his kneeling position.
And at that moment.
"Ah, excuse me, Princess."
The Grand Duke, as if embracing Olivia's shoulder, fell towards her. Before she could even feel the warmth that rushed over her, the man smiled gently and immediately stepped away. There was a sound similar to astonishment from somewhere, but Olivia didn't care.
"I guess my legs got numb from kneeling for longer than I thought."
The man shrugged as if he couldn't help it.
"I heard you were a great Knight. Your legs seem more fragile than I thought."
"I guess so. By the way. You save this fragile me every time, Miss."
Saving him from almost falling, saving him from almost having his toll stolen.
"So, since you saved me, please save me one more time. Will you give me the honor of having the first dance with you, Miss?"
The Grand Duke held out his hand to Olivia.
"Can someone who says their legs are numb dance right away?"
"I feel better already."
The Grand Duke said shamelessly. Olivia, with a momentarily troubled face, said so that only the Grand Duke could hear.
"...I'm telling you in advance, I have no talent for dancing."
"Sounds good to me?"
The Grand Duke smiled brightly.
"I'm good at everything that involves the body. This time, I might be able to offer a little help."
Olivia slowly took the Grand Duke's hand. As a strange tension and relief spread at the same time, a splendid voice intervened from behind.
"Congratulations, Olivia. My fiancée has finally received the honor from the Empire's best Knight."
It was Leopold.
His eyes, as if to show that it wasn't over yet, met the Grand Duke's.
