CHAPTER 127
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***
Translator: Rae
As Elysia moved toward Iker, Dustin roughly seized her wrist, yanking her body sharply backward.
“Ugh…!”
Elysia turned her head in haste out of surprise, only to find Dustin’s face right before her. Her wrist was clamped tightly in his grip.
"What do you think you’re doing?!”
Elysia tried to wrench her wrist free with a frown on her face, but he did not budge.
Instead, he pulled her in and held her tight, whispering in her ear. His voice was sinister, like a predator snarling in rage after losing its prey.
“Did you really think I’d let you go so easily? If you did, you were gravely mistaken, Elly.”
"Let go of me!”
Gritting her teeth, Elysia shoved hard against his chest with both hands to break free, but the arms wrapped around her waist showed no sign of loosening.
As confusion tinged Elysia’s expression, a deep, commanding voice resonated through the sanctuary.
“Release the Marquess Camellia, Your Highness. She has made it clear she does not wish this.”
Iker?
When Elysia turned her head, she saw Iker rising from his seat.
His gaze and expression were no different from usual, yet somehow she could feel it. He was furious.
Suddenly, Rashian’s words from the birthday banquet came back to her.
[“It’s hard to explain in words. Once you spend more time with my master, you’ll understand naturally. I only realized it myself not long ago.”]
[“Don’t worry, Marquess. You won’t fall for it that easily. I guarantee it.”]
At the time, she had half-doubted it. She believed five years was too great a gap for her to bridge.
Yet astonishingly, now she was reading his emotions. Before even a year had passed.
Feeling an inexplicable joy, Elysia looked at Iker striding toward her.
That was when it happened. With a sharp click, something cold snapped around her wrist.
Startled, she turned her head and saw a red bracelet fastened around her wrist. The vile smile also curled at Dustin’s lips.
"What is this...!”
As Elysia reached for the bracelet in panic, the Duke of Russet’s voice thundered through the chapel.
"Stop right there, Duke Deimos.”
Elysia turned her head toward the Duke of Russet.
Iker also halted his steps and looked at the Duke of Russet.
A suffocating tension flowed between Iker and Duke Lasset.
‘What else is he planning now?’
As all eyes turned toward them, the Duke of Russet slowly rose with the Imperial Consort, and Elysia’s gaze narrowed.
***
With a sharp clang, Charles staggered back a step, disbelief written all over his face.
Pressing him back with an easy smile was Havel. The very Havel Robert who had always lost to him in sparring.
‘This is impossible…’
Charles looked down at his subtly trembling hand, shaken by the clash moments earlier. Strength, speed, and everything else was different from what he once believed about Havel.
It eventually dawned on him that Havel had deceived him.
“...You dare make a fool of me?!”
As an enraged Charles lunged and thrust his sword, Havel sidestepped lightly, knocked the blade aside, and flashed a smile.
“Hardly. It seems Sir Katia’s skills have simply declined. Mine, however, haven’t changed, back then or now.”
“Nonsense! I’ll never let you get away with this!”
Humiliated by the mockery, Charles bared his teeth and began swinging his sword like a madman.
Casually parrying each blow, Havel clicked his tongue, just as Charles once had.
“I’d heard the Lasset knights were exceptional, but judging by Sir Katia’s skill, that doesn’t seem entirely true. So many openings.”
"You…!”
Overcome by humiliation, Charles trembled violently.
The words Havel spoke now were the very ones Charles had once thrown at him.
What enraged him even more was Havel’s unfazed and easy smile.
He had thought Havel smiled because he lacked pride, but that was wrong. It was simply his nature.
‘Is that why they paired him with me? To blind and deafen me?’
Grinding his teeth in rage, Charles bristled at Havel’s lighthearted voice.
“I can’t believe you have thought of facing the commander with such skill. You must have several lives, Sir Katia.”
“Shut up!”
Blinded by the taunting mockery, Charles brought his sword down in a wild strike. However, it was his blade that flew from his hand with a violent recoil.
Staring at the sword on the ground in shock, he backed away bewilderingly and turned his now wary attention to Havel.
With the sense that a blade could reach his throat at any moment, his earlier bravado vanished, indicated by the cold sweat streaming down his back.
But Havel did not attack. Instead, smiling, he gestured toward the fallen sword.
"What are you doing? Aren't you going to pick it up?”
Unsure of Havel’s intent but sensing an opportunity, Charles quickly picked up the fallen sword and reset his stance.
His moment of relief was short-lived. It was because in a span of seconds, his sword fell to the ground once more. His body soon followed.
Looking down at Charles sprawled on the ground, Havel was still smiling brightly.
“A knight shouldn’t drop his sword. Now then, get up and pick it up.”
“…”
Charles felt an inexplicable sense of fear from Havel’s smiling face. It turned out his intuition was correct.
Unable to endure the endless cycle of dropping, rolling, and picking the sword up again, Charles lost consciousness after cursing endlessly in his mind.
That lunatic’s nickname had to be “the smiling madman.”
When Charles passed out, Havel crouched down and lightly tapped his face. When he still didn’t wake, Havel smacked his lips in disappointment.
“He passed out already. That won’t do. We were just getting started. Is there any cold water around?”
Watching Havel glance around, Christine let out a small chuckle.
It had been pure coincidence that she found Havel.
While checking whether things were going well, she happened to witness Havel playing with Charles.
Christine spoke when she noticed Melvin riding toward them.
“I’d heard the House of Camellia’s Order had many skilled and distinctive knights, but seeing it firsthand is an honor, Commander Krauss.”
The Camellia knights’ prowess, which he had known only through rumors, was exceptional. It was hardly inferior to the Imperial Guard.
Melvin responded flatly to Christine's praise.
“You flatter us. The Deimos knight order is impressive enough to surprise me. We’d like to spar someday, if the chance arises.”
“That sounds good. Our knights have grown a bit complacent from facing only the Imperial Guard. Once this is all over, how about a match?”
“All right. Please feel free to contact me anytime.”
Without either prompting, the two extended their hands and shook.
“By the looks of it, this seems to be completely over now.”
As Melvin spoke while scanning the surroundings after the handshake, Christine nodded.
“At this point, I’d call it a complete victory. We should leave only the cleanup crew and move to the temple.”
“Understood. Let’s do that.”
The two commanders turned their horses to select the troops heading for the temple.
As if celebrating their victory, bright sunlight poured dazzlingly over their heads.
***
With all eyes upon them, the Duke of Russet and the Imperial Consort rose from their seats and stepped forward to stand beside Dustin.
Once again, tension swept through the sanctuary. As everyone held their breath, the Duke of Russet looked at Iker.
No, more precisely, his gaze was fixed on what lay behind Iker.
Seeing the nobles loyal to him quietly rise and slip away, the Duke of Russet subtly curled his lips upward.
He had instructed them in advance to slip away from the chapel once he stood and stepped forward during the ceremony.
That way, even if the remaining nobles were caught in an explosion and killed, the minimum number needed to govern the empire would survive.
‘All I need is to buy them enough time to get out. Arrogance is what ruins things in the end.’
With nowhere left to retreat, the Duke of Russet addressed Iker with his usual arrogant expression.
“The parties to this betrothment are His Highness the Second Prince and the Marquess. It hardly seems appropriate for a third party to interfere because of a dispute between them.”
Without waiting for Iker’s response, the Duke of Russet turned his head toward Elysia.
"I've heard that women usually get upset before betrothal ceremony or weddings. Even so, I never thought you would turn up like this, Marquess.”
Seeing the incredulous look appear on Alicia’s face, Duke Lasset continued.
“If you act on a whim before so many people, what becomes of His Highness the Second Prince’s dignity?”
The most natural way he chose to buy time was to provoke Elysia using the current situation.
She had never been obedient even with a leash on, and now that it was gone, there was no way she would stay quiet.
Of course, provoking her would bring up matters of treason, but with everything already twisted beyond repair, the Duke of Russet no longer cared.
After all, everything was going to be blown away, so what difference did it make?
Just as he expected, Elysia was furious.
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