Episode 13.
“Want to bet? Whether Elisa Shooter accepts Adrian’s dance request or not?”
“I’m in for 30 gold on her accepting.”
“Hey, no matter what, she must know her place. An illegitimate child with the successor of the Grand House? I’m in for 50 gold on her not accepting.”
“Aren’t you all being too small-time? I’m betting that Elisa Shooter accepts, and Adrian Oberon plays with her before throwing her away.”
“How much are you betting?”
“Well, 20 gold?”
They did not notice Elisa until their vulgar, snickering laughter faded into the distance. Was that fortunate, or unfortunate?
Elisa truly did not want Adrian to be that much of a worst-case scenario. The Elisa Shooter of that time was just that foolish and stupid.
However, Elisa’s expectations were brilliantly shattered, and Adrian was exactly that much of a worst-case scenario.
A few days later, Adrian truly did request a dance from Elisa.
“Elisa Shooter, I have something to say.”
Elisa did not even pretend to hear. She just went on her way as if she heard nothing. She no longer wanted to be entangled with Adrian Oberon.
“Elisa, I told you to stop.”
As if feeling that she, who used to listen to him like a doll, was rebelling, Adrian snatched her arm.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Fine, go ahead.”
“Not here right now, if you become my partner at the ball, everything—”
The words following that were no longer heard. The moment the words ‘ball’ and ‘partner’ came out of Adrian Oberon’s mouth, Elisa felt the blood in her entire body turn cold.
Only then did she know. Just how foolish a delusion she had been under.
She wasn’t even angry anymore. Even the feeling of victimization—wondering why she had to suffer such a thing—vanished.
Simply, Adrian Oberon was this kind of human being all along. Elisa Shooter had only suffered because she was stupid.
“So, how much did you bet?”
“What on earth do you mean by that? Bet what? I’m requesting a dance from you right now.”
“Adrian Oberon. It seems you think that because I was born an illegitimate child, even my brain is that of a moron. Do you really think I wouldn’t know about the money bet you made with me as the stake?”
“W-What on earth are you talking about.”
“How much more detailed do I have to explain? Should I recite the names of that filthy pack of yours one by one? Should I recite the surnames of those great noble lords?”
“…….”
“Are you telling me to explain with my own mouth the filthy thing you did, making a money bet over me? Just tell me which side you bet on. If you’re that crazed for money, fine. I’ll let you win that money. That is, if you promise to give half of your share of the dividend to me as well.”
“Elisa Shooter. Explain properly so I can understand what is going—”
“Stop making excuses, and just tell me which side you bet on!”
Unable to endure Adrian Oberon’s sleek face any longer, Elisa grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
The stiff white shirt crumpled instantly in Elisa’s grip. Simultaneously, a crack began to appear in Adrian Oberon’s picture-perfect expression.
“What on earth is this behavior, suddenly and without explanation?”
“I explained everything just now, so what more should I say? What a filthy bastard you are?”
Elisa spoke and let go of Adrian roughly as if she had touched something foul. And Elisa went ahead and slapped Adrian Oberon across the cheek.
With a sharp crack, everyone’s attention was focused.
The place where Elisa and Adrian had caused that commotion was the hallway during lunch hour.
Since curiosity about who Adrian’s ball partner would be had already spread throughout the school, there were far too many people following him around.
The rumor was that fast.
Everyone at the military academy came to know the fact that Adrian and several of his followers had made a bet over a single illegitimate child.
Because of that, an untimely disciplinary hearing was held.
Most of those who participated in the matter were expelled.
Furthermore, under the charge of insulting a military academy cadet who would become a soldier of Sepia, they were barred from entering the Royal Palace for life and stripped of their rights to inherit titles.
Most of the nobles, excluding Elisa, whispered among themselves that this treatment was excessive.
Blocking a title inheritance just for insulting an illegitimate child? Just who exactly is behind Elisa Shooter?
That tag followed Elisa until she graduated from the military academy.
However, Adrian, who was at the center of the incident, faced no disciplinary action, nor was he tagged with any stigma.
Because he was the successor of that great Grand Duke Oberon.
The sound of a ship’s horn, as if it would tear one’s ears, echoed through the port.
The midday sun reflected off the seawater, stabbing mercilessly at the eyes.
However, Elisa, standing at the very front of the naval procession, held her position without a single movement. She felt the gaze of Adrian, who held the status of Vice Admiral half a step behind her, fixed upon her.
She barely suppressed the urge to demand whether he hadn’t babbled everything he wanted to say that day, and just what exactly was left.
Once the anchor was lowered and the ship was completely moored at the port, the red mast painted with a black horse, the symbol of Shulid, was folded up.
A moment later, as the sound of the horn died down, the shadow of a massive man descended from the Shulid ship first.
The man, who had been hidden in the ship’s shadow, revealed himself.
His blue hair resembled the deep sea of
the Salaway. Like a man who had lived under the sun of Shulid, which had turned a third of the national territory into desert, an angular jawline was revealed beneath his tanned skin.
And his top was a traditional Shulid garment made of a single piece of red cloth draped diagonally. And every time the red cloth fluttered in the sea breeze, the outlines of his thick chest and abdominal muscles were revealed as they were.
Whether because of the unfamiliar attire or the tattoo extending from his left arm to his chest, the nobles in the front cleared their throats. Without any intention of hiding their discomfort, they openly glanced at Schultz Tugrahan.
However, Schultz Tugrahan ignored all their gazes, which treated him like a dangerous person, and stood before the Queen.
“It is an honor to meet you. Queen of Sepia.”
“Sepia sincerely welcomes the visit of the founding King of Shulid.”
After the brief psychological warfare between Queen Anne Marie and Schultz Tugrahan ended, Schultz Tugrahan, having received greetings from the nobles including Duke Roserica, stood before Elisa and Adrian.
“Thank you for trusting us.”
The first words Elisa addressed to Schultz Tugrahan were not a standard welcoming greeting.
“How can you be so sure that I trust Sepia? Admiral Shooter.”
“Is it not a long-standing custom of Shulid? I understand that a top covering the whole body is an attire worn when going to meet someone one does not trust, as it can hide armor. However, has not the Master of Shulid come today wearing clothes that can hide nothing?”
Schultz Tugrahan raised an eyebrow as if impressed while looking at Elisa.
“To know the customs of Shulid so well. Admiral Shooter, may I entrust my guidance to you during my stay in this land?”
Schultz Tugrahan spoke and reached out his hand.
“If you wish, gladly.”
The moment she kissed Schultz Tugrahan’s hand while bending her knees slightly, the gazes of three people flew toward Elisa all at once.
Adrian, who was more than a little flustered; Queen Anne-Marie, with a mix of slight anger and resentment; and even her father, Duke Roserica, who was anxious about losing his power.
It was a bit funny.
The fact that a mere illegitimate child could make three people who move the empire as they please waver like this.
Elisa, slowly straightening her upper body, looked directly into Schultz Tugrahan’s deep blue eyes—almost black—and spoke again.
“However, are you not curious about the Theronya, Tugrahan? I heard you showed great interest in the warships of Roserica…….”
“Of course, I wish to see them. That is why I asked Admiral Shooter for guidance, did I not?”
“The one who was in charge of the practical affairs of the Theronya is not me, but Vice Admiral Adrian Oberon.”
Tugrahan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
However, Elisa did not back down and smiled while facing him with a relaxed expression.
Naturally, it was a lie. To begin with, it hadn’t even been a month since Adrian Oberon was appointed to the Roserica Navy. He had neither the time nor the leisure to be in charge of a massive project like the Theronya.
He had lived his entire life as a Northern knight and was the commander of Crow, the oldest knight order in Sepia.
But Schultz Tugrahan doesn’t know that, does he?
Of course, Elisa had known well since her academy days how great the lofty honor of the Northern knights and their pride in the name of Crow was.
And that pride manifested as a disregard for the incompetent Navy. Until Elisa took office, it was said that all knights disregarded the Navy, but the degree of the Crow was far worse.
Even after the Navy was completely reorganized, they still did not recognize the Navy as being of the same rank as themselves, so speaking of it was just a waste of breath.
So, there was no way Adrian Oberon would know about those achievements she and the Navy had worked hard to accomplish over the past few years.
Well, that great former knight commander will handle it on his own. Since all the Queen wanted from me was to properly keep my distance from Schultz Tugrahan and then reject the marriage proposal.
Haven’t I performed my role excellently to this extent? Therefore, even if this plan goes wrong and Schultz Tugrahan harbors vain expectations, that is not my responsibility but Adrian Oberon’s problem.
Elisa looked up at Adrian with such thoughts. Wasn’t it thrilling just to imagine? Watching from the side as Adrian Oberon gets flustered and troubled because of her.
“Is that not so, Vice Admiral?”
Elisa naturally thought that Adrian’s eyes would hold a mix of fluster, bewilderment, and embarrassment.
Sure enough, at Elisa’s sudden remark, Adrian was staring at Elisa with wide eyes as if surprised.
However, what was contained in those red eyes was…… Moved? Deeply touched?
Why on earth is Adrian Oberon making the kind of expression I give to the kids who come back from wiping out pirate ships, the kind of praise given once in a blue moon?
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