“…”
“…”
A strange confrontation ensued between Crown Prince Victor and Arendt.
In reality, it was only Victor who was extrely nervous, but in any case, it appeared that way on the surface.
Victor asked hesitantly.
“What… what does that an? You don’t know anything?”
“It’s exactly as I said. I don’t know anything, and I have nothing to say.”
Victor was left speechless by the sharp retort.
“We encountered the enemy and the scene was sowhat damaged during the battle, but there was nothing there originally.”
“Say sothing that makes sense, Sir Arendt. There’s absolutely no evidence of combat at the ruins.”
Eventually, Edgar, unable to listen any longer, began to press him.
“All that remained at the ruins was ice. Prince Llewellyn himself confird this.”
“I wouldn’t dare underestimate Llewellyn, no, Prince Llewellyn’s, discernnt.”
A cold glance was cast in Llewellyn’s direction.
“It seems the prince has misunderstood sothing.”
It was an attitude that outright refused any conversation. As a result, Edgar was left speechless.
A heavy silence fell over the conference room once again. Arendt’s response was sharper than expected, leaving him at a loss as to where to begin.
Arendt, seeing Victor frozen in place, inwardly let out a sigh.
And after a while.
“Ugh!”
Llewellyn barely managed to swallow the scream that almost escaped. The room was silent when he was suddenly kicked in the shin under the table.
Victor looked back at him in surprise.
“Prince Llewellyn, are you alright?”
“…Oh, damn it, no, nevermind, brother.”
Llewellyn, who had to swallow the pain, glared at Arendt.
“You think I was mistaken? Don’t make laugh. There’s no room for confusion. Anyone can tell just by looking at what’s left at the scene.”
“What do you know?”
Arendt glared, his face noticeably scrunched.
“After all, I was the only one there, and if you don’t believe my testimony, then that’s the end of it. Or what, are you going to scold for not reporting everything straight just because I’m a re apprentice knight?”
Suddenly, the atmosphere turned tense. Victor, flustered, tried to deescalate.
“Wait a minute… Calm down. There’s no need to react emotionally.”
“As always, I’m calm and just stating the facts. It’s you, not , who’s feeling emotional right now.”
However, the answer he received was, unsurprisingly, nothing but a cold retort.
Llewellyn, who had been glaring at Arendt, let out a short sigh.
“So that’s how you’re going to be.”
The next mont, Laius, who was sitting next to Llewellyn, flinched.
Llewellyn was poking him in the ribs in a place the others couldn’t see.
The ssage was that it was too much to handle alone, so he should jump into the fight soon.
Under his persistent urging, Laius awkwardly spoke up.
“…Is there sothing you can’t say?”
“There is no such thing.”
Arendt responded bluntly.
Only then did Laius begin to get a sense of what he should do.
“I have no intention of blaming you, but I’d appreciate it if you could answer honestly.”
The dialogue flowed a little more naturally than before.
“In the middle of a fierce battle, the dragons suddenly stopped fighting and the enemy suddenly began retreating. I figured it had sothing to do with you. Are you really unaware?”
“How would I know?”
Even under Laius’ interrogation, the apprentice knight still acted prickly.
“They must have withdrawn for so reason, or perhaps they had a good reason to withdraw. After all, that dragon nad Nikephoros is just soone’s puppet.”
Then Laius’ face hardened.
“…Arendt. Are you sure what you just said is correct?”
“Have you ever seen talk nonsense?”
Arendt looked straight at Laius and replied.
“Or are you suddenly starting to doubt my words now? You clearly know how much trouble I’ve gone through with useless people like them…”
A controlled fury started to seep through in his icy voice.
“If you claim you no longer trust my testimony at this point, what else am I expected to do here?”
Victor got up awkwardly as the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
“Wait, Sir Arendt. Calm down. I’m not doubting you. I know better than anyone that you’ve worked hard for the kingdom.”
“I’m extrely calm and rational. But it’s a bit annoying to have to repeat the sa thing over and over again.”
“Sir Arendt. Be polite. You are in the presence of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
Edgar, unable to bear it any longer, offered a polite warning. But Arendt simply laughed.
“Yes, I’m in the presence of His Highness the Crown Prince. I’m fully aware of that. That’s precisely why I’m not walking out imdiately. I think that alone is showing my due respect.”
Arendt sank into the sofa with crossed arms.
Edgar was annoyed by that arrogant attitude.
“Then how do you explain what happened to Salem and Rider, who were with you? What about the part they don’t rember?”
“It just happened because the two of them were stupid. Why are you asking about that?”
Arendt responded curtly, as if he had been waiting for this.
Upon hearing that, Edgar’s face contorted even more.
“Sir Arendt, I acknowledge your excellence, but you speak too harshly about your comrades.”
“I always tell the truth, Captain Edgar. It’s true that I’m skilled, and it’s also true that those two were burdens to .”
Llewellyn raised an eyebrow at Arendt’s words.
“They were burdens?”
“Far from being helpful, they only held back. It’s the sa this ti. In the end, those people end up doing nothing…”
Arendt paused as he spoke in a sowhat impulsive tone.
A mont later, he grimaced and touched the corner of his mouth.
“…Please forget what I just said. I made a slip of the tongue.”
“Sir Arendt…”
Victor murmured.
The Crown Prince was well aware of how strong of a person he was.
It was surprising and sowhat heartbreaking to see him react this way, despite never showing a hint of nervousness no matter what challenges lay ahead.
It was because Victor realized anew how big and heavy the burden on Arendt’s heart was.
‘He said he’s been fighting on the front lines for a long ti.’
Moreover, he was branded as the main enemy of the Evil Cult along with Captain Laius.
Even the strongest person would have a hard ti enduring it.
“Anyway, that’s all I can say.”
Arendt, avoiding Victor’s gaze, turned away. Llewellyn, who had been lost in thought for a mont, spoke again.
“…Since the battle that took place in the Nephele Kingdom, we’ve gone through a lot. All of it was ultimately to fight against the enemy.”
Llewellyn continued calmly.
“I trusted you and supported you, even personally running around to help you. And now you’re going to stay silent? At such a crucial mont?”
Arendt simply stared at him for a mont. Llewellyn, looking into his friend’s golden eyes, asked him pointedly.
“Are you going to make everything I’ve done so far aningless?”
“It is wise to quickly abandon useless things.”
Arendt responded bluntly.
“If there’s nothing more you can do, it’s better not to waste ti unnecessarily. Especially in a warti situation like this.”
An unusually clear voice continued to speak.
“If you know how to value your life, you should also know how to protect yourself.”
“…”
Llewellyn pressed his lips together tightly, as if he had lost the words he was about to say.
Neither Victor nor Edgar dared to interject with the sharp tone.
After a mont of silence in the conference room, Arendt spoke again.
“I think this is enough.”
Victor lifted his head, doubting his ears.
“…?”
The sharp attitude he had just monts ago vanished, and Arendt leaned back leisurely, crossing his legs.
“Do you want more? I’m getting kind of tired of this.”
The way he spoke so nonchalantly was as if he had swapped his face in an instant.
Victor was completely dumbfounded. Edgar, unable to understand what was going on, just blinked blankly.
Sothing, sothing seed wrong.
But they couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the problem was.
But it was quite familiar for the others.
Laius rubbed his forehead and sighed heavily.
“That will do. You may leave now.”
“Honestly, what a nasty personality…”
Llewellyn also looked displeased and grumbled, as if he had expected it to turn out this way.
Laius asked one last ti.
“Do you need anything?”
“Give back my sword. I’ll watch Salem train.”
“That won’t do. I’ll bring snacks and a book to your room, so go and rest. Rember, you’re still injured.”
“Tch.”
After bowing dryly and rising from his seat, Arendt suddenly looked at Victor.
“Your Highness, you’d do well to be a bit more perceptive. I’ve never seen anyone more oblivious than the Captain. How do you expect to govern like that?”
“…”
“I hope you don’t get scamd sowhere. Anyway, I’m leaving.”
Thud.
The conference room door slamd shut. At the sa ti, Victor realized the truth.
Arendt had been acting all along, and the fact was that he had been completely played.
“…”
It was the first ti in his life he had experienced such disrespect.
The knights and Llewellyn looked at Victor with sympathy as he quietly placed his hand on his forehead to calm his anger.
And Edgar chose to just keep his mouth shut and stare into space.
‘Sir Arendt is like that too.’
The others present didn’t seem normal either.
It was just a sha that no one was aware of that.
“…What on earth is going on?”
Victor, who had his energy sucked out, asked in a dying voice.
“That guy doesn’t tell obvious lies.”
Llewellyn answered, scratching his cheek sheepishly. When Victor raised his pale face, he added:
“If Arendt had deliberately tried to hide it from the beginning, we wouldn’t have even noticed. That’s the kind of person he is.”
“…”
Victor, who was about to say sothing, closed his mouth.
“In other words, he made a blatant declaration from the very beginning. From now on, he’s going to lie…”
Llewellyn, who had been talking for a mont, looked around.
“He said he was silenced by soone.”
“A cover-up… is that what you an?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
As Laius nodded, Victor’s face hardened again.
“Then, could it be that Arendt’s deliberately harsh confession was due to being silenced? Because he couldn’t speak the truth freely?”
“…Well, that might be part of it.”
Llewellyn answered awkwardly and averted his gaze. Laius, too, lowered his eyes slightly to avoid eye contact with Victor.
Victor frowned, noticing their strange expressions.
“Is there another reason?”
But Llewellyn and Laius showed no sign of responding.
At that mont, Arthur, who had been standing quietly until then, intervened.
“Probably… if it were that guy, he could have definitely found another way…”
Arthur, who had been observing the situation, spoke in a small voice.
“I think the reason he went this far was simply to tease Your Highness… As you know, he has quite a nasty personality.”
“…”
Victor, who opened his mouth a few tis, just ended up smacking his forehead loudly.
Richt let out a short sigh and quietly raised his hand, hitting the back of Arthur’s head for his needless honesty.
Regardless of whether Arthur was swallowing his screams and collapsing, Laius remained as calm as ever.
“I have received all the necessary information.”
“…Arendt is one thing, but sotis the Captain seems like the strangest person of all to .”
Llewellyn muttered in a weary voice.
The Crown Prince was stunned, the captain of the Royal Knights refused to interfere, and a minor incident of violence broke out among the knights guarding the door.
But Laius habitually ignored all of that and changed the subject.
“It seems the situation is more serious than we expected.”
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