Chapter 28
Theodore’s face drained of all color, and he crawled on his knees to grasp the hem of the Duchess of Strafit’s skirt.
“Please help me, ma’am! Just this once, please!”
He was so desperate that even the address changed from madam to ma’am.
How did she end up entangled with such a fool……. The Duchess of Strafit let out a deep sigh from the bottom of her chest and opened her mouth.
“It seems like he’s reflected enough, so let’s stop there.”
However, she couldn’t help but furrow her brows long at Edenber’s following words.
“I wonder if you would have said to stop even if it was the guardian beast of Strafit that was insulted.”
“……Is that incident still lingering as a grudge?”
“It wouldn’t be, since it’s all in the past. I was just asking out of curiosity.”
“What incident are you talking about?”
Elcai growled at the ominous atmosphere.
But Edenber, not wanting to escalate things unnecessarily, wrapped it up by saying it was nothing.
* * *
As soon as the Duchess of Strafit returned to the ducal residence, she sought out her husband.
“Honey, honey! About that priest I met today, you take responsibility and handle it. Ha, really unbelievable.”
“Why, what happened?”
The duke was puzzled by his wife, who had gone to receive a bribe from the priest, entering while huffing.
As if it was absurd just thinking about it, the duchess fanned herself vigorously.
“Do you know what happened today? I got threatened because of that priest. By no other than the Duke of Munlepe! Ugh……. Just look at how he’s acting out now that he has a guardian beast!”
“What? Threatened?”
That young duke from the weakest family dared to threaten Strafit?
The astonished duke pressed his wife.
“What exactly did he say?”
“I just mediated the fight a bit, and he questioned if I would have said to stop even if it was our guardian beast that was insulted. It seems he’s still holding onto that incident, it’s ridiculous.”
That incident referred to the event around the time Edenber had just become duke.
Edenber had once led the knight order to a certain cave in the desert to exterminate magical beasts.
The imperial family had ordered the Duke of Strafit to provide support to him, who had no guardian beast.
The Duke of Strafit sent a few knights and his own guardian beast.
The problem erupted there.
“The front is blocked!”
“Aaaah! Save me!”
“I can’t breathe!”
In the final process of dealing with the cave’s magical beasts, rocks collapsed and blocked the entrance.
It was because of the flames used by the guardian beast of the Strafit ducal family, the giant firebird ‘Fear.’
At that time, more than half of Munlepe’s knight order ended up trapped in the desert cave.
Those who had survived the battle with the magical beasts were annihilated by the heat emitted by their ally Fear.
In response, Edenber strongly protested to the Duke of Strafit.
“Who sends a firebird guardian beast to the desert? And shooting flames in an enclosed space at that!”
“I went out of my way to help, and now you’re insulting my guardian beast? Tsk, and you don’t even have one.”
The Duke of Strafit shaped public opinion to corner Edenber.
While strongly asserting that without his own guardian beast, Munlepe’s knight order would have been annihilated.
The nobles sided with Strafit.
Since Munlepe had no guardian beast, the claim that they would have been annihilated if not for the firebird gained strength.
In the end, all the credit for exterminating the magical beasts went to the Strafit ducal family.
The matter of Munlepe’s knights dying to the firebird was buried, and Edenber had no choice but to formally apologize to the Strafit ducal family.
“Look at him still clinging to a matter that’s already over.”
“A kid whose blood hasn’t even dried on his head is so narrow-minded.”
The Duke of Strafit clicked his tongue.
The duchess, who had been huffing in indignation, added a word.
“Do you know what’s even more ridiculous? The guardian beast of the Duke of Munrepe, it’s this tiny lizard that’s hardly visible anywhere.”
“What?”
“To think he beat Viante’s sacred beasts with such a lizard, it’s absurd. No matter how desperate he is to save the family, there’s a limit to lying.”
The duchess, who had been gleefully badmouthing Munlepe, suddenly opened her mouth as if something occurred to her.
“Can’t we use our guardian beast to flatten that lizard’s nose?”
“With Fear?”
The Duke of Strafit, who thought for a moment, shook his head.
“The risk is too great.”
“What risk?”
“The Duke of Munlepe isn’t a fool, he wouldn’t spread a rumor about something that would be found out immediately. If it’s true, it would just be making our guardian beasts fight unnecessarily.”
“What’s wrong with that. That lizard can’t even fly anyway. It’s a game we win for sure!”
“But there’s always the what-if.”
The Duke of Strafit was not the type to charge ahead without considering the consequences.
No matter that his own guardian beast was a giant firebird and Munlepe’s was a lizard that couldn’t fly in the sky, if they lost that fight…….
The family’s image would be over. There was too much to lose.
The upset duchess pouted her lips.
“Then you’re just going to leave the Duke of Munlepe as is?”
“No, that’s not it.”
They couldn’t leave Munlepe, who had become arrogant just because they got one guardian beast.
Since Munlepe was the only one under them among the four great ducal families, they had to firmly step on them to prevent them from climbing up.
“There is a way to make the Duke of Munlepe realize his place without using a guardian beast.”
“How…… Ah, no way!”
The duchess, who gained enlightenment, let out a light exclamation.
“Indeed, with that method, the Duke of Munlepe won’t be able to move.”
“That’s right.”
So, you shouldn’t climb up relying only on a guardian beast.
Unaware that he would fall for his own scheme, the Duke of Strafit, who had devised a vain plan, laughed pleasantly.
* * *
“Phew…… What to do.”
“It’s a big problem……”
The lively atmosphere of the knights had turned gloomy since arriving in the capital.
Asil, who had been summoned as usual to observe sparring, tilted her head seeing the knights only sighing deeply.
‘They’re not trying to threaten Asil today.’
It was a good thing, but not doing what they always did made her feel empty instead.
It was especially so because it happened at a time when internal closeness was gradually forming.
Asil fiddled with the diamond ring given to her by Grandpa and waited for them to snap out of it.
However, after waiting a long time and they only kept sighing deeply, she finally asked Dylan, who was the closest to her.
“Piyatpi, piya?” (Knight human, why?)
“It’s like this…… Hoo.”
Dylan, who let out a deep sigh, dry-washed his face a few times and said with a pained expression.
“It seems like we’re going to tarnish the honor of the Munlepe ducal family and Lady Asil.”
Asil, startled, opened her mouth wide.
What? To tarnish the honor of the ferocious dragonkin Asil!
She had worked so hard not to be looked down on by humans, that couldn’t happen.
Asil, who jumped down from the chair, shouted loudly.
“Piiya!” (Whyyy!)
“The Strafit ducal family has requested a friendly match between knight orders.”
“Piya?” (Can’t we just fight?)
She didn’t know what the problem was.
The dragonkin Asil, who was strong by nature, pretended to throw a punch into the air. The diamond ring tightly gripped in her front paw sparkled threateningly.
Dylan gritted his teeth and said something that hurt his pride.
“Our skills are inferior to theirs.”
“Piiya.” (Asil can fight in your place.)
Asil fought really well, look.
Asil, who opened her eyes sharply, took a stance and swung her front paw into the air. She spun her body around and kicked vigorously, puk puk.
It was better to endure a momentary fear and fight with humans than to lose honor.
However, Dylan shook his head.
“A guardian beast cannot participate in a knight order’s friendly match.”
“Piya.” (Asil wants to be a knight too.)
“Haha……. I appreciate the sentiment, but then they would do the same.”
So, in conclusion, there was no way she could participate no matter what.
Asil’s tail, feeling dejected, drooped down below her ankles.
However, at the thought that soon came to mind, she flicked her tail straight up.
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By Anna 💓
