Chapter 23
“Ugh, what’s the meaning of this?!”
“What’s the meaning of *you* using stealth magic in the palace?”
When I asked in a wary tone, the mage glared at me, clutching his arm. I glared back just as fiercely.
“I was performing official duties!”
“In the palace?”
Magic is forbidden in the palace except during emergencies or training.
Especially stealth magic, which looks perfect for assassinations.
“It’s a task I have to do outside, but I can’t let my movements be noticed, so I was using stealth from inside the palace!”
I raised an eyebrow and looked at the mage. Purple hair, a gaunt face, and the distinctive dark circles under his eyes typical of mages stood out.
“Then why not use stealth near the gate?”
“If I used stealth from the palace gate, people would think, ‘Oh, that mage must be going on a secret mission!’ Is that a secret? Are you an idiot? This is why knights—!”
The mage shouted sharply. I was starting to feel a bit sorry, but his words irritated me.
In truth, mages and knights didn’t get along.
Mages looked down on us, calling us brainless muscleheads, while knights mocked mages, saying their limbs would snap with a single hit.
‘Sigh… This is annoying. Let’s just move on.’
The old me would’ve challenged him to a duel on the spot.
“Alright, I’m sorry. I’m Marion Krugman, the red-haired knight. May I know your affiliation?”
“What? Marion Krugman?”
I asked to verify, just in case. But as soon as the mage heard my name, his attitude turned arrogant.
“Hah! A delinquent knight like you dares to act cocky without even knowing who I am!”
I suppressed my rising anger and asked,
“And who are you?”
“What?! You dare speak informally to me?! I’m the personal mage of Princess Caroline!”
Knights or mages directly serving royalty are always granted titles.
It’s a position that signifies great skill and immense pride, which explains his arrogance.
“So what?”
I wasn’t particularly impressed. As I scratched my ear with my pinky and blew on it, the mage looked furious.
“Y-You! Insolent! Even if you’re a Swordmaster, you can’t disrespect me like this!”
‘This is annoying.’
Listening to this one-dimensional guy was exhausting. I was about to walk away when,
“Oh, greetings, Lady Marion!”
Knights from the Royal Guard passing by saluted me sharply.
No matter how title-less I was, a Swordmaster was on a different level from ordinary knights. In other words, I was somewhat respected among them.
But then the mage said something he shouldn’t have.
“What are those guys? Hey, delinquent! Kneel and beg for forgiveness, and I’ll let this slide quietly!”
At that, the passing knights all turned their heads sharply.
“What? Kneel?!”
“Even if our Lady Marion is a delinquent, what did you just say?!”
“Not even ‘delinquent knight,’ just ‘delinquent’?! Are mages always this rude?!”
“Exactly! Show some manners!”
Who’s calling me a delinquent?
I noted the ones spouting nonsense, then took off my glove and threw it at the mage’s face.
Slap!
“Ugh! What’s this?!”
The mage, slightly intimidated by the knights’ scolding, grabbed my glove sliding down his face and got angry.
What else could it be?
“A duel challenge. Don’t you know?”
The mage’s face turned pale.
* * *
Kaiden turned around with a shocked expression.
“What? Marion’s dueling a mage?”
Vito said with a pained expression,
“Yes. And that mage is reportedly Princess Caroline’s personal mage.”
“Oh no.”
Kaiden clutched his head. A duel with a princess’s personal mage, of all things.
“That girl still hasn’t fixed her hot-headed habits! Tsk.”
Kaiden’s grandfather, Grand Duke Leopold, clicked his tongue.
Kaiden was staying at the Archduke’s residence in the capital. Since Leopold was also there, they had to face each other daily.
This meant Kaiden was under constant pressure from his grandfather’s matchmaking attempts, draining him day by day.
“I need to go.”
Seizing the opportunity, Kaiden started to rise, but Grand Duke Leopold erupted in anger.
“What about the matchmaking tonight?!”
“Grandfather, you know Marion’s position in the palace.”
At that, Leopold slammed his fist on the armrest.
“She brought it on herself! If that girl hadn’t groveled like a leech to the Crown Prince, lowering herself, others wouldn’t treat her so lightly! A Swordmaster, no less!”
He had a point.
Marion had always taken an excessively subservient stance toward Crown Prince Marius.
As a result, the Crown Prince saw her as insignificant, and that attitude spread to others.
“And how long are you going to keep cleaning up her messes?! You’re both over twenty, an old bachelor and an old maid!”
To Leopold, the most important thing was whether young people were married.
“I’m trying to get you married off and find a decent guy for Marion too! I know you see her as a little sister, but it’s time you both went your separate ways!”
Leopold was telling Kaiden to stop meddling in Marion’s affairs. But Kaiden felt a chill down his spine at those words.
“…You’re arranging a match for Marion?”
“Yes! She needs to get married soon too. Back in my day, a woman over twenty was called an old maid! These days, twenty-two or twenty-three might be the marrying age, but Marion…”
“Marion is young.”
“You fool! Twenty-three isn’t young! Other noblewomen are already married or have a child by then!”
“But…!”
“Your Grace!”
Before Kaiden could protest, Vito called out to him. With an urgent expression, he said,
“The duel between Lady Marion and the mage has escalated into a conflict between knights and mages!”
Kaiden and Leopold clutched their heads simultaneously. Kaiden called out to Leopold in a low voice.
“Grandfather.”
Without asking or arguing, Leopold waved his hand.
“Go.”
“Yes.”
Leopold had no choice but to give up on his grandson’s matchmaking for the day.
* * *
The duel with the mage didn’t even get a chance to start before it ended.
Because it wasn’t just a fight between me and that purple-haired mage—it had escalated into a group conflict.
“What?! You dare insult our delinquent knight by calling her a delinquent?! Let’s go teach those mages a lesson!”
“Uoooh!”
The knights roared in anger, and,
“Those brainless knights think they can overpower us mages with strength? Muscleheads full of nothing but pasta in their brains! Let’s go crush them!”
“Let’s do it!”
The mages roared back.
So the training ground turned into a shouting match between not just me and the purple-haired mage but other knights and mages as well, escalating to the point of nearly using force.
…Actually, a few had already started throwing punches and casting spells.
“You muscle-brained idiots! Fire!”
“My new knight uniform got burned?! Take my sword, you bastards!”
It was a complete mess.
[Why did things get this big?]
Bled was panicking, and so was I. At that moment, the Royal Guard captain passing by saw the scene and was horrified.
“What are you all doing?!”
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By Anna 💓
