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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Confrontation
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***
*Clang—.*
Two swords clashed fiercely.
The silver blades glinted menacingly, as if ready to pierce their opponent's throat at any moment.
Judging by their swordsmanship alone, one might mistake them for knights decorated for valor on the battlefield.
But the two sparring were mere boys, not yet men.
A training ground spacious enough to easily hold five hundred people.
The knights of the Dark Moon Order, sworn to Duke Heart, stood at a distance, watching the boys with expressions of weary astonishment.
“How long have they been at it?”
“Over an hour, at least. I got here an hour ago.”
“I saw them two hours ago. They were sparring then, too.”
Even the most seasoned knight would tire after a certain amount of time.
And yet, these young boys were sparring without a break.
Even the renowned Dark Moon knights couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
“Maybe it's because he's back home after a while. He's really pushing it.”
“His stamina is monstrous. I think it's gotten even better.”
“I get the Young Master, but that Ash kid is something else, too. He's actually keeping up with him.”
To call them monstrous was not, in fact, an exaggeration.
One of them was as good as a monster.
For he was Karayan, the flesh and blood of Lucius and a Legion.
As the knights dared not approach,
Karayan spoke to his sparring partner.
“Ash, show a little more passion.”
A tremor ran through their locked blades. To an outsider, it looked like a deadly serious duel.
In reality, it was all for show, a half-hearted effort. It couldn't have been more careless.
“The same goes for you, Young Master.”
Ash, who was the same age as Karayan, replied bluntly.
Short-cropped red hair.
Ash-gray eyes and dark skin, characteristic of a small nomadic tribe.
And a build so robust for his age that he almost resembled a bear.
Ash was a prodigy, the youngest ever to be inducted into the Dark Moon Order.
He was also the son of Duke Heart's adjutant and a close childhood friend of Karayan.
Given his credentials, one might suspect he'd earned his title through powerful connections and shady means.
But anyone who sparred with Ash even once could not deny the boy's skill.
He didn't possess the overwhelming power of a Legion, but by human standards, he was an anomaly.
*Clang—.*
Their real swords clashed once more.
Just as Ash was about to fluidly deflect Karayan's sword,
he suddenly flinched, froze in place, and turned his head.
“What is it?”
“For a moment, I felt like my mother was watching…”
“Olivia?”
Karayan relaxed his stance and followed Ash's gaze.
But there was no one in sight.
“You must be imagining things.”
“It was definitely my mother. I got the same chill down my spine as that time.”
“That time?”
“I was so hungry in the middle of the night that I couldn't wait until morning, so I snuck down to the kitchen. That's when I saw the meat my mother had said was for breakfast.”
Ash, usually a boy of few words, muttered with a deadpan expression.
“The moment I took it out and had a bite, I felt a chilling gaze, just like now. When I turned my head, there she was…”
He didn't need to finish. It was easy to guess what came next. His mother, Olivia, must have been there.
Ash shivered, the memory apparently more terrifying than any ghost story.
Wondering if Ash's mother was truly there, Karayan briefly lowered his sword.
He scanned the area carefully.
But Olivia was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a servant of the duchy was rushing toward them.
“Young Master, I have urgent news for you.”
“What is it?”
“Princess Arabelle has…”
“Enough. I already heard about it from another servant.”
Karayan cut the servant off, as if he couldn't bear to hear even the first syllable of Arabelle's name.
He had already been told that Princess Arabelle had come looking for him.
Princess Arabelle. A fellow Legion and a woman who had been relentlessly proposing to him since childhood.
Her constant advances, despite his rejections, made him recoil at the mere mention of her name.
He'd already declared he wouldn't see her after she tried to force her way in today. Why bring it up again?
Annoyed at having to hear the same unwelcome news twice and give the same answer, he was about to send the servant away.
Had he not heard what came next.
“The young lady of Lanshuss is currently attending to the Princess.”
“…What?”
Hearing something so unexpected, Karayan wore a dumbfounded expression for a moment.
“That little potato?”
“Potato?”
Ash tilted his head.
“She hasn't been mashed, has she?”
“Mashed?”
*Is Princess Arabelle cooking or something?*
Karayan's sudden talk of potatoes made Ash crave a creamy mashed potato salad. With milk bread.
He imagined piling a generous, overflowing amount of potato salad on freshly baked bread.
Topping it with another slice of milk bread would make a perfect sandwich in an instant.
*That sounds delicious.*
While Ash was licking his lips, Karayan was completely serious.
*Why is she with Princess Arabelle?*
He didn't know how she got involved, but in Karayan's eyes, Lumina was now facing an unavoidable, colossal disaster.
Her opponent was none other than the imperial family's treasured only daughter.
*And a Legion, at that.*
If Arabelle so much as toyed with her, the small and fragile Lumina would probably drop dead.
Although she was also a Legion, Karayan judged Lumina to be even more fragile than an incompetent one.
“Ash. That's enough sparring for today.”
“Potato omelet. Lots of ketchup… Ah, are you running away again?”
“No. I'm going to rescue her from the Princess before she becomes a mashed potato.”
*Why? Karayan never cares about anything related to Princess Arabelle.*
Ash blinked.
Karayan was acting a bit strange today. It was as if he was fixated on one thing.
Ash didn't bother to voice this observation.
But if he had, Karayan would have flinched, as if his innermost thoughts had been laid bare.
Because, in truth, his mind was currently filled with nothing but thoughts of Lumina.
When Lumina had taken his hand, saying she would heal him.
The moment a brilliant light enveloped them, and Lumina had embraced him.
Lumina would insist that she had hugged Karayan, but he couldn't forget the sight of her slender body, which, due to their size difference, had looked more like it was being held.
He knew it sounded perverted and tried to shake the thought, but it wasn't as easy as he'd hoped.
*It's just because she resembles her.*
Though for someone who believed that, he had been anxiously sticking around the estate, waiting for Lumina to wake up.
And though he'd sparred relentlessly with Ash out of irritation upon hearing that she'd met with his father, Lucius, as soon as she awoke.
In any case, Karayan was currently insisting to himself that he wasn't concerned about Lumina at all.
By now, that soft, squishy girl was surely being tormented by Arabelle.
His pace quickened without him realizing it.
And so, Karayan headed straight for the drawing room, where he would witness a scene he could never have imagined.
***
Drenched in tea, Lumina looked up at Arabelle's handmaiden, Eva.
“Oh, my apologies. Lady… Lan… uhm…”
Eva, wearing a spiteful smile, mumbled the name Lanshuss as if she couldn't remember it.
“It was an accident. An accident.”
An accident?
It was obvious Arabelle and Eva were just trying to get rid of Lumina so they could go find Karayan.
It was an excuse that wouldn't fool anyone.
*Princess Arabelle must have ordered this.*
Eva averted her gaze from Lumina and began to berate the duchy's maid.
“What are you doing? Clean this up at once!”
It was unclear whether "this" referred to the teapot or Lumina.
*It's a good thing the tea wasn't that hot. I could have been burned.*
The duchy's maid was flustered, Eva was fuming, and Arabelle was watching as if it had nothing to do with her.
Lumina couldn't just stand by and watch them feign innocence after orchestrating the whole thing.
With the maid's help, Lumina slowly got to her feet. Then she reached out for Eva.
“Agh! What do you think you're doing!”
It happened in an instant.
Lumina grabbed a fistful of Eva's hair and pulled.
Despite her appearance, her grip was surprisingly strong, and Eva was caught completely off guard.
“Let go! I said, let go! Let go of me! Are you insane?!”
“Pardon? What was that? I can't hear you.”
Lumina replied slyly, knocking Eva to the floor before picking up the fallen teapot.
As she raised it high above Eva's head, the handmaiden's face went pale.
“D-don't!”
She was clearly going to smash her head with it!
The terrified Eva screamed, but Lumina, pretending not to hear, tilted the teapot.
And…
*Drip, drip, drip—.*
“It's not too hot, is it?”
She poured the tea with an angelic smile.
More than half had already spilled, but there was still enough tea left to soak Eva thoroughly.
Only when Eva was in the same sorry state as herself did Lumina seem satisfied and let her go.
Her legs gave out, and Eva remained collapsed on the floor, unable to stand.
“What do you think you're doing to my handmaiden!”
Arabelle, who had been watching the scene in a daze, finally intervened.
“Ah, Your Highness.”
Tea dripping from her disheveled clothes. A limping gait.
Looking as if she had just clawed her way out of hell, Lumina was the very picture of terror.
“I saw someone so unqualified presuming to be your handmaiden, and I became so angry I just had to step in.”
“What?”
“A princess's handmaiden is a reflection of the princess herself, is she not? She should be perfect at all times, just like you, Your Highness.”
“…”
“And yet, she's so clumsy she can't even help someone up properly, and she even spilled the teapot. Such behavior is beneath a noble princess like yourself.”
Lumina said with a bright smile.
“And on top of that, her memory is so dreadful she can't even recall a family name she just heard… For such a person to be your handmaiden. It's simply unthinkable.”
Based on looks alone, Lumina seemed so meek she wouldn't make a peep if bullied.
But for a girl like that to grab someone by the hair and shake them.
Arabelle was flabbergasted by this behavior, so contrary to her appearance. She stood with her mouth agape when,
*Creek—.*
The door burst open, and Karayan walked in.
