Chapter 15
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 15 - The Daughter of the Grand Duke of the North
'Nataliya Lyudmila'
She was the only daughter of the Grand Duke of the North, the Lady of the Lyudmila Grand Duchy, and also the captain of the 7th Unit of the 'Volkov Knight Order', the Grand Duke's direct knight order.
Her becoming a captain of the knight order was not simply because of the Grand Duke's backing.
She was also a true powerhouse like the prince.
According to the rules of the North where the weak cannot survive, even women in the North learn self-defense martial arts such as swordsmanship or spearmanship.
But her talent was not just at that level.
Having killed a 'Gray Wolf', a monster of the North, all by herself at the mere age of 7, she awakened to her talent in the sword, and with the support of the Grand Duke of the North, her skills improved by leaps and bounds until she even rose to the position of captain.
Having become a captain like that, she makes a single vow.
That she would not become the wife of someone weaker than herself.
So, having heard the rumors of the scoundrel prince, she confidently challenges the prince to a duel.
It was a remark that could easily become an insult to the prince, but the prince accepts her challenge.
The problem was what happened next.
The scoundrel prince, who was a genius of swordsmanship, completely destroys Nataliya.
Having humiliatedly destroyed Nataliya with an overwhelming skill that left no room for excuses, the prince even insults her with patriarchal remarks.
Due to that incident, her mentality shattered.
Due to the shock, she developed a passive personality, took off her armor herself, and prepared to assist the prince as his wife.
Even while doing so, she somehow tried to bring the prince, who was to be her husband, back to his senses, but the prince considered her meddling as nagging, rejected her, fell for the Saintess, and eventually even broke off their engagement.
Having been dumped by the prince and returning to the North, she returned to the knight order as if nothing happened, but in fact, she had a typical iron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove [strong on the outside, weak on the inside] personality, and her inside was already in tatters.
Due to stress, she forced herself to participate in a subjugation that was practically suicide, and there she was saved and comforted by the protagonist, the barbarian king, and came to a realization.
That she did not want a strong man, but a man who understood her.
This was her story up to the point I knew.
The scene where she gets completely destroyed by the prince was a famous scene in a different sense, to the extent I even heard people say it made them awaken to the wrong sexual preferences.
Such a she was looking at me, or precisely, at me and the prince.
And she was glaring with axe eyes [fierce glare], at that.
What is it? Why is she glaring again?
I've been glared at so much lately that I've become numb to it, but it still didn't feel good.
Seriously, why is she glaring like that?
Nataliya welcomed the prince's inspection team as a captain of the knight order.
Nataliya quietly watched the procession of the inspection team walking from afar among the knights.
Her gaze naturally fixated on the center of the procession, Prince Leopold.
'He is different from the rumors.'
The rumors about the prince coming from the capital were polar opposites.
Polar opposite rumors were heard, ranging from him being the greatest scoundrel in the world to being the sage king of the empire.
Facing him directly, there was definitely brilliance dwelling in the prince's eyes.
The rumor of him being a scoundrel seemed to be false.
And when her gaze shifted slightly to the side, she locked eyes with a man with red hair.
'Is that man Edric Noel.'
Many rumors about him had also been heard.
She had heard everything from him being the greatest loyal subject who resolved the Southern peasant rebellion as the prince's closest aide, to being a sycophant who was corrupting the prince.
First of all, in Nataliya's eyes, looking only at his exterior, it was the face of a typical sycophant.
Narrowly slit eyes like a snake and an expression whose inner thoughts could not be known; since his eyes couldn't be seen in the first place, she couldn't even tell if there was brilliance in them.
'No, I must not let my guard down.'
However, her father had always said.
That the wolves of the North prove their value not by their appearance, but by their hunting ability.
Figuring out a person by their appearance was a dangerous thing.
There was no knowing what kind of blade he was hiding while making people let their guard down like that.
If he was aiming for such carelessness, he was a truly shrewd person, Nataliya thought as she glared at Edric.
'Indeed, does he have the ability to become my husband?'
Nataliya thought as she looked at the prince.
If he was the one to become her husband, no, the one to be called the master of the empire, he had to be at least stronger than her.
She gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist tightly.
"I will serve the man who defeats me as my husband!"
That was a phrase she had always said like a habit since she was young.
The North where only the strong can survive; because her father was the strongest, he became the Grand Duke responsible for the North, and she was the daughter of such a Grand Duke.
So she tried to become strong, and so she swore to marry a strong person.
That was her pride, born and raised in the North.
And she was the biggest headache for Sergei, the Grand Duke of the North.
"Your Highness the Prince, this is the Iron Wall that protects the northern end of the empire."
Having arrived in the North, we inspected the North guided by the Grand Duke of the North.
The Grand Duke of the North, Sergei, personally guided the prince and toured the city walls.
The sharp wind raging over the massive stone walls that easily looked to be dozens of meters high was truly bloody.
Was this the sight my friends who served in the DMZ in my past life saw?
The Iron Wall was desolate and bloody enough to make me think such thoughts.
Meanwhile, listening to the Grand Duke's explanation, Leopold looked at the barren land beyond the walls and nodded.
"It is truly a spectacular sight. It is because there are knights of the North dedicating themselves for the peace of the empire in this barren land that the empire can be peaceful. I pay my respects to the Grand Duke's hard work."
"It is an undeserved compliment, Your Highness the Prince."
The atmosphere between the Grand Duke and the prince was very good.
In the original work, the prince picked fights like crazy, but the current prince was truly in a Super Prince state.
He was responding perfectly according to the script prepared by me and the protocol team, and the Grand Duke also seemed to like the prince's actions.
It was a very good atmosphere. Let's just keep going like this!
Hah-! Hah—! Haat—!
"This place is?"
"This is the training grounds where my family's Volkov Knight Order trains."
Heavy shouts mixed with the sound of metal filled the training grounds.
As soon as the prince entered the training grounds, hundreds of knights stopped their training all at once and knelt on one knee.
Step-! Step-!
[ "We greet Your Highness the Prince!" ]
"It is fine. Everyone may rise."
The 'Volkov Knight Order', the knight order that protects the North.
Muscular Russian bros who looked like they would chew and swallow vodka were training very much like macho men.
It felt more like a fitness club than a training ground, training their bodies by doing exercises like lifting pieces of iron weighing tens of kilos, not just simple swordsmanship.
Is this the style of the North?
"What do you think of the knights of the North? Your Highness the Prince, I dare to pride myself that they are knights who can be compared to the knights of the center."
"They all look strong. It seems they are like steel forged by the harsh winds of the North, just like the Grand Duke."
"Hahahaha! Thank you. Your Highness the Prince."
Leopold and the Grand Duke exchanged pleasantries and continued the good atmosphere.
That sight was truly heartwarming. At least, until she appeared.
Through the ranks of the knights, Nataliya walked out, her blue hair fluttering.
She stood in front of the prince, raised her sword with discipline, and saluted.
Step-! Step-! Clack—!
"Who are you?"
"Nataliya of the Lyudmila family greets Your Highness the Prince."
Taking off her helmet, Nataliya revealed herself.
With her sky-blue hair fluttering, she looked exactly like a goddess of an ice kingdom.
The problem was that this place was a very, very official setting.
The Grand Duke hurriedly added as if flustered.
"Haha, Your Highness the Prince. This is my daughter, Nataliya. The etiquette of the North is quite rough, so please forgive the rudeness."
Wow... In the original work, both the prince and Nataliya acted crazy so there was no problem, but with only Nataliya acting crazy, it was quite a sight to behold.
The Grand Duke could be seen sweating in real-time, flustered by his daughter's abnormal behavior.
The problem was that the greeting, which was Nataliya's goal, wasn't the end.
As soon as she raised her head, she glared into Leopold's eyes and spoke straightforwardly.
"Your Highness the Prince, if it is not a discourtesy, could you grant me a spar? I definitely wish to receive a spar from Your Highness."
In an instant, the air in the training grounds froze.
The expressions on my face and the Grand Duke's face were truly distorted like Edvard Munch's The Scream.
'No, suddenly challenging the prince to a duel here?'
I clutched my head from the side.
In the original work, the prince was so crazy that he shot back with, "Oh, really? Then do you want to roll around once?" and the atmosphere was diluted, but the current Leopold was far too much of a 'normal prince'.
Thanks to that, Nataliya just became an impolite, crazy Grand Duke's daughter.
"Na! Nataliya! What are you saying right now!? I apologize. Your Highness the Prince, it is a rudeness committed because my daughter's competitiveness is too great. Please forgive us."
"It is fine. Grand Duke Sergei, hahaha."
Speaking with a laugh like that, the prince could be seen warming up his body.
I intuited it. The prince intended to accept Nataliya's spar.
If the prince completely destroys Nataliya like in the original work just like this, the 'humiliation route' begins.
If that happened, it was obvious it would plunge into a catastrophe of breaking off the engagement and animosity from the North.
What do I do! How do I resolve this crazy situation!?
Desperately racking my brain for 0.5 seconds with my past life's IQ of 100 and my current life's IQ of 100, a combined IQ of 200, I thought of it.
Right! This is the only way.
Swallowing profanities inwardly, I took a step forward.
"Lady Nataliya. His Highness the Prince has not yet relieved his fatigue from coming a long way. I am lacking, but may I, His Highness's Chancellor Edric, face you instead?"
If you want to feel the prince's skill, get past me, his Chancellor, first.
This was the most appropriate action for me, who was currently cosplaying as a loyal subject while being the prince's Chancellor.
Nataliya looked at such a me with a chilling gaze.
She probably felt like she was being ignored.
Hey, I'm not ignoring you, I'm trying to save you. Lady Battle Maniac.
"I guarantee the skill of my Chancellor, Edric. He will not disappoint the Lady."
With even the prince's guarantee coming out, Nataliya readjusted her grip on her sword as if intrigued.
She stood up and spoke.
"If His Highness the Prince trusts him to that extent... Interesting. I shall learn a thing or two."
Like that, I prepared for the spar and headed to the training grounds.
Hah... What kind of suffering is this, coming all the way to the North...
Engraving not 'patience' but 'fucking bastards' three times, I stepped forward into the center of the training grounds.