The day of the banquet had finally arrived.
The palace beca more bustling than ever before.
Although the Crown Prince did not usually enjoy much luxury, on this day he spared no expense and decorated the palace as splendidly as possible.
The servants moved about frantically, carrying the finest dishes, and lovely music played nonstop in the dazzlingly decorated hall.
The palace was bustling with people.
Guests from all over the Empire flocked to see the famous owner of the Holy Sword for themselves.
“Is Captain Laius still not here?”
“I’m afraid he’s busy, so it might be difficult for him to co out right away.”
The nobles who had gathered in twos and threes with their acquaintances naturally began to talk about the two people who had recently caused the most stir in the empire.
“Is that apprentice knight also coming with Captain Laius? He’s the second son of Count Eckhart.”
“I heard that he has completely cut ties with the Count’s family. There are also rumors that he has not yet recovered from his injuries. His Highness has great insight. He has been paying attention to him since his observation period right after his release.”
“I heard that he has a rather peculiar personality. Is that true?”
Sipping his sweet wine, Duke Lancelot listened to the conversations of those around him.
‘That’s not very desirable.’
It was certainly a good thing that the Holy Sword had moved, but when he thought about the process that went into it, it was not sothing that he could simply be happy about.
Furthermore…
“His personality is a bit unusual.”
The Duke, who was continuing his thoughts, suddenly turned his head when he heard a familiar voice next to him.
Henry, who had co over before he knew it, was standing next to him, muttering in disbelief.
“It’s not just a little bit.”
“Who is this? Isn’t this the leader of the Khan Union?”
Duke Lancelot greeted his son with a welcoming smile.
Arcus, standing next to Henry, also bowed respectfully to the Duke.
“It’s been a long ti, Your Grace.”
“There’s also the vice president of the Union. I heard that an invitation was sent out, but it must not have been easy to leave the Union. Greetings.”
The Duke greeted Arcus with an affectionate smile.
Then Henry added playfully from the side.
“He worked so hard right up until just before departure so that he could be away for a few days without any problems. Arcus was restless and worried about Sir Arendt.”
“Haha, that makes sense. I understand.”
The Duke burst into laughter.
It was Arcus who had just recently visited the palace to see Arendt, who had just woken up from his sickbed.
However, Arendt, who was extrely stressed by the extre reactions of those around him, turned him away and he had no choice but to return to the Union.
Duke Lancelot looked at him with pity.
“Don’t worry too much. I ran into him by chance a while ago, and he was flying around like crazy. He’s giving His Highness the Crown Prince a headache.”
“…My younger brother is in your debt.”
As Arcus silently bowed his head, the Duke waved his hand.
“? Not at all. The ones having a hard ti right now are you and Sir Arendt.”
Duke Lancelot glanced around and whispered in a low voice so that only the two of them could hear.
“And the ones who have to deal with Sir Arendt’s temper are His Highness the Crown Prince and Captain Laius. Sir Arendt doesn’t owe anything. To be honest, it’s fun to watch from the sidelines. It’s a pain in the ass if I get involved.”
Only then did a faint smile appear on Arcus’ face at his playful words.
“I see. Thank you for telling this.”
“Anyway, I’m worried about today. The atmosphere seems to be flowing more strangely than I expected.”
As Henry looked around and muttered anxiously, Duke Lancelot pointed out:
“It’s not that things are going strangely. If we look at it objectively, it’s us who are the strange ones.”
“Yes?”
The two young n looked at Duke Lancelot with puzzled eyes at his unexpected words.
The Duke answered in a relaxed tone.
“Think about it carefully, Henry and Lord Arcus. In fact, there is nothing bad about this. If a person blessed by the gods cos from your family, then it is a great cause for joy. In the Caerleon Holy Empire, there is nothing more glorious than that. However…”
Duke Lancelot, who had paused for a mont, added:
“We know Sir Arendt and Sir Laius.”
Laius was a very strict man in his self-control, and Arendt was a very difficult person to read.
But, having watched their actions from relatively close by, he could naturally tell that it was not this kind of grand honor that they wanted.
Henry, who understood his father’s words, smiled bitterly.
“Sir Arendt just wants to get the things he doesn’t like out of his sight.”
For the sake of God or a cause, these were the words that were most unsuited to speak of Arendt.
Duke Lancelot agreed.
“And Captain Laius is just a man who doesn’t hesitate to beco a hero to protect his people.”
Clearly, soone had to do it, and if there was anyone suitable for the job, it was them.
But as things turned out this way, Duke Lancelot couldn’t shake the feeling that he was using the will of God as an excuse to push the young n into battle.
‘It is certainly a blessing to witness the birth of a hero…’
Duke Lancelot was lost in thought.
‘Is it that no one is born a hero, or is this just growing pains arranged by God?’
Only God Luce knew the correct answer.
‘It would be very unpleasant for a troublemaker apprentice knight to hear that.’
When Duke Lancelot suddenly beca silent, Henry and Arcus looked at each other.
Duke Lancelot noticed the mood and smiled awkwardly.
“Haha, I guess I’m getting older. Seeing as I have a lot of useless thoughts, I think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to step down from the front line.”
“I am sure His Highness the Crown Prince and His Majesty will be very sorry to hear this, Father. If you were to let go of your duties in this situation, the workload for them would increase even more.”
Henry lightened the mood by throwing in a joke.
The Duke also nodded and burst into laughter.
“You are right. I cannot commit such disloyalty.”
At that mont, the entrance started to get a bit noisy.
The three people’s gazes naturally turned to the entrance of the banquet hall.
Amid the crowd of people, the blue uniforms symbolizing the Imperial Knights could be seen here and there.
It was the mont when the apprentice knight, one of the main characters that people had been waiting for with bated breath, appeared.
“…And it would be a sha to miss out on such an interesting sight.”
Duke Lancelot added in a pretended light tone.
Richt appeared at the banquet hall and gave so instructions to the knights.
After a while, the knights of the Third Order who received them dispersed to their respective designated areas.
Of course, apprentice knight Arendt was also among them.
Duke Lancelot quietly watched Arendt standing next to Arthur.
His expression was cold and indifferent, and as always, it was impossible to read what he was thinking.
‘There’s no way he wouldn’t know what the people gathered here want.’
Duke Lancelot, who had been looking at the expressionless face for a mont, just laughed.
For now, it seed more beneficial to put aside such troubleso thoughts and just look forward to how the disobedient apprentice knight would act.
“If this keeps up, I feel like my face is going to get a hole drilled in it.”
Arendt responded indifferently to Arthur’s tired voice.
“Senior, your face isn’t that nice to look at, so wouldn’t it be okay if there were so holes in it?”
“Do you want to get hit? And shouldn’t you be talking about your face, not mine?”
From the mont he entered the hall, gazes were directed at Arendt like never before.
Up until now, they were too cautious to approach him, but if the mood beca more relaxed, it wouldn’t be strange at all if sothing happened.
Arthur was used to hanging out with Arendt and getting all kinds of attention, but this ti it was different.
But Arendt, as always, was at peace.
“I’m handso, so what can I do?”
Arthur gave up everything.
“…Let’s just stop talking.”
For the past few days, Arendt had been remarkably quiet.
He didn’t go out of the dormitory much, and he didn’t necessarily try to get involved in anything.
He simply went back and forth from the Crown Prince’s private training ground to the dormitory and focused on training Salem together with Lexion.
‘It seed that way on the outside.’
Arthur’s expression suddenly beca pale as he glanced at Arendt.
Being with Arendt in this situation felt like holding a powder keg right next to him.
Resentnt toward Richt, who had placed Arendt in the sa group as him as if it were a given, began to slowly rise.
Regardless of what his senior said, Arendt was already stuffing so snacks he had brought from sowhere into his mouth.
Finally, Arthur couldn’t stand it anymore and lashed out.
“Do you even taste the flavour going into your mouth?”
“Yes, it’s good. Standing there like a stone isn’t going to solve anything.”
Arendt shrugged.
Of course, the order given today included, as always, abstaining from drinking alcohol and enjoying the company comfortably.
But in this thorny situation, there was no way he could put food in his mouth.
“Relax your shoulders. After all, sooner or later, no one will even notice soone like .”
Arthur growled fiercely at Arendt, who was speaking leisurely.
“Are your eyes just for decoration? Can’t you see that people have been talking about you all this ti?”
“I don’t think they’re just talking about .”
As he answered, Arendt turned his gaze toward the entrance.
Now that all the invited guests had entered and the knights who were to act as escorts had been deployed, it was ti for the main character to make his appearance.
As expected, not long after, the closed door began to slowly open again.
People began to gather, one by one, their gazes turning towards the door..
“Take good care of yourself, senior.”
Arendt spoke in a pretend light tone.
“You have to be at least that good to be called a main character.”
“What?”
Just as Arthur frowned and turned to look at Arendt again, the door opened completely and soone stepped into the banquet hall.
Thud.
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the suddenly quiet hall.
“…”
The voices suddenly stopped.
Even the musicians who were absorbed in their performance stopped for a mont.
Those who had been watching Arendt with curious eyes, as well as the knights who had been tense and on edge like Arthur, froze for a mont.
“First of all, we have to capture the visual aspect.”
Arendt’s satisfied voice flowed into Arthur’s ear as he was taken aback.
Arthur groaned without realizing it.
“Wow, sir…”
It was a mont when half awe and half pity for Laius arose naturally.
Laius, dressed in a more extravagant attire than usual, was leading the way and entering the banquet hall with pride.
It was a complete contrast to his usual appearance of emphasizing flexibility and insisting on wearing comfortable uniforms.
With his usually ssy bangs tidied up and pulled back, Laius, with his handso face, looked like a true hero of this era, the master of the Holy Sword.
On either side of him walked in Diana and Kendrick, similarly adorned, along with representatives from each elven kingdom and Llewellyn.
“…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
The sight of the beautiful elves, the smiling Llewellyn, and the knight captains entering together with their shoulders held high with pride was just like a painting.
At that mont when everyone was in a state of shock, Laius looked around and soon found Arendt.
And Arthur saw it.
The captain’s eyebrows were twitching.
“Ah.”
A short exclamation escaped Arthur’s lips.
A hint of resentnt and resignation flashed through his blue eyes for a mont.
That was definitely an expression of soone who was so upset that they thought they were going to die.
“It’s just right. He looks like a male peacock.”
Regardless, the damn apprentice knight just kept babbling along happily.
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