Chapter 2: Kidnapped (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 2: Kidnapped (2)
They say life’s changes always come without warning, often with sudden violence.
Even so, for a change of this magnitude to happen overnight was absurd.
He’d been dragged here under the guise of “living together,” forced to “pretend” to be her husband with no right to refuse. The “request” was, of course, accompanied by a subtle threat: comply, or the evidence of his crimes would find its way to the police.
His various attempts at resistance and escape had been effortlessly thwarted by Dame Noel’s impenetrable, gentle smile. The only consideration she’d shown him was allowing him to leave a single letter for his family, claiming he had somewhere else to be…
“You will be using this room starting today.”
Inside, the knight assigned as his guide spoke in a businesslike tone, her silver armor clanking softly.
Dame Stella, he’d heard her called. Apparently, she was Dame Noel’s closest confidante.
Along with Dame Noel, she was one of only two people who knew about the sham marriage Aiden had been forced into.
“I will assign an orderly to you. If you require anything, simply let them know, and it will be prepared promptly.”
“…Yes.”
“You will soon be entering the Imperial Palace. Please prepare yourself accordingly.”
The words tangled in his dazed mind, but he managed to seize upon one question.
“…The Imperial Palace?”
“Dame Noel is a national hero and a symbol of the Imperial Military. His Majesty the Emperor takes a keen interest in her marital affairs, so an audience is unavoidable.”
“Do I absolutely have to—”
Aiden snapped his mouth shut the moment he saw Dame Stella’s expression.
Right, he thought. If they were going to let me off easy, they wouldn’t have dragged me here without asking my opinion in the first place.
Instead, he decided to voice a slightly different question.
“Is it really alright to entrust such an important task to someone like me?”
It was a question that also carried his doubt about whether they should be asking someone like him to pull off this insane sham marriage.
“It is a decision made by Dame Noel. It will be fine.”
“…”
“Dame Noel has never made a wrong decision.”
At her words, which dripped with almost blind trust, Aiden fell silent. She seemed to be rebuking him for daring to question Dame Noel’s judgment.
His next thought was only natural.
Is she insane?
He could sense the makings of a fanatic. The kind of fanatic who, if Dame Noel declared the sun rose in the west, would wake up the next morning and curse the sun for rising in the east.
“Well then, please rest comfortably.”
With those words, Dame Stella closed the door and left. Aiden let out a quiet sigh.
Everything was incredibly sudden, but first, he needed to organize his thoughts.
Sitting in a chair, he stared into empty space. A window that always responded to his thoughts immediately opened before his eyes.
— Skill Info
◈ Weaver of Fate
Only you know the truth of this world. Build bonds with key figures of the main story to obtain new rewards!
【Noel Astria Seimurs】
— Bond: Level 1
— You can copy 1 skill.
This was absurd.
Never mind the grandiose name “Weaver of Fate.”
Bond Level 1 with Dame Noel?
What kind of twisted “bond” could possibly exist between a kidnapper and her hostage, forced to play the part of her husband? Even if he wanted to develop Stockholm syndrome, they hadn’t exchanged more than a few words.
Still, beneath that bizarre term, there was a silver lining.
Copying a skill…
This meant he could replicate one of Dame Noel’s abilities. Considering Dame Noel’s status in this world, that option would be a massive help right now.
Because…
— Quest Info
▶ Failure to complete the events listed in this category will result in a massive penalty!
◈ Sham Marriage
— You have been chosen as Dame Noel’s spouse. Maintain the contract with your partner until the end!
— Additional information will be updated as events related to the main story approach!
Aiden stared at the windows with narrowed eyes.
Just reading the words “Sham Marriage” gave him heartburn, but the bigger issue was the text below it.
What exactly was the “main story”?
Grand, heroic battles against world-threatening evil. A crucible of schemes and conspiracies swirling around heroes on a continent teetering on the brink of war.
The great stories of great people.
In other words…
If I get involved, I’ll die.
The problem was that, like it or not, he was already entangled.
What should he do?
More precisely, how could he ditch all of this and run away right now?
As Aiden agonized over this, the sound of a door bursting open shattered his thoughts.
Dame Stella had mentioned assigning an orderly, so it was likely them.
Aiden immediately straightened his posture and composed his expression. As long as he was stuck here, he had to play the part of Dame Noel’s spouse.
“A pleasure to meet you. I am—”
Slam!
Before he could even finish his greeting, the person who had kicked the door open spoke in a cold growl.
“I am Gale Oslon, a longtime friend of Dame Noel and heir to the Oslon Marquisate. Draw your sword.”
“…”
What on earth was this guy talking about?
That wasn’t something an orderly would say, and the man who’d just entered certainly didn’t look like one. Clad in full armor with a sword at his side, he looked like he’d come prepared for a battle.
Worse, he was radiating waves of undisguised murderous intent.
Aiden barely managed to keep his cheek from twitching as he spoke.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand what you—”
“I heard you are Dame Noel’s fiancé. I want to see what you’re made of.”
“…Why?”
No, seriously.
Why?
Was everyone around Dame Noel like this?
“I have never heard Dame Noel mention you. I only learned today that a sudden engagement had been decided.”
Saying so, Gale Oslon drew his longsword with a sharp shriing.
“I cannot rest easy until I’ve tested the mettle of the man my friend is taking as her husband. The only way to truly know a person’s character is to cross blades. Come at me.”
“…”
Aiden came to one certain conclusion: There were a lot of crazy people around Dame Noel.
At the sight of the knight actually drawing his sword and striding toward him, Aiden’s gaze frantically darted back to the system window.
If he just stood there, he might actually get stabbed. He had to find a way out of this, fast!
— System Message
▶ Activating the skill copying ability of ‘Skill: Weaver of Fate’.
▶ Analyzing the skill list of target ‘Noel Astria Seimurs’.
▶ Displaying the highest-value skills starting from the top—
He chose the very first one on the list without a second thought. He didn’t care what it was; he just needed something to get him out of this mess right now!
— System Message
▶ Copying ‘Unique Ability: Pure White Heart’.
▶ This is an ability possessed by only one person in the entire world.
▶ Target Noel’s interest in you may increase!
A rather concerning phrase flashed across his vision, but he had no time to worry about it.
“I shall take the first strike.”
“…”
So much for chivalry. Shouldn’t he at least offer the first strike?
“Stand straight and show me your strength!”
With those words, Aiden squeezed his eyes shut as the blade came plunging down toward him.
* * *
“How does he look?”
At the question delivered in a soft voice, Stella barely suppressed a sigh. She couldn’t commit such a discourtesy in front of her revered Dame Noel.
“He is utterly terrified.”
“To what extent?”
“It’s glaringly obvious that he feels in over his head. He’s like a puppy caught in the rain, utterly dejected.”
A laugh escaped Dame Noel’s lips at the blunt remarks. She must have found it quite amusing, as she even lowered the wooden sword she had been swinging.
“That’s only natural, Stella. If he had adapted to this situation quickly, I would have been the one taken aback.”
“…”
Noel Astria Seimurs—the knight known as the ‘Lionheart’—held an absolute position within the military.
Stella herself was one of the people who fostered that atmosphere, but hearing Noel’s reasoning, she couldn’t help but question it.
“May I ask you one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Why, of all people, him?”
Dame Noel’s red eyes, as she wiped away her sweat, slowly turned toward Stella. They were eyes devoid of any emotion or intent, yet the moment Stella met that transparent gaze, she had to consciously steady the breath that had caught in her throat.
Even just sharing the same space, the sheer weight of Noel’s presence was on another level entirely.
It was as if… the entire world had been designed to revolve around her.
Thus, it was inevitable that her next words came out slightly choked.
“…If it was a marriage proposal, there were plenty of other candidates. Anyone would have been better than that man—”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Before she could finish, Noel cut her off with a firm voice.
“In the current situation, whoever I marry will cause an uproar. You know that too, don’t you, Stella?”
Indeed, she did.
The Alliance War, which had plunged the entire continent into a pit of warfare for decades, had ended just a year ago. In such a fragile state, for a national hero whose prestige was second only to the Emperor to align with any single faction carried an extremely high risk of triggering a butterfly effect that would shatter the barely maintained peace.
“Then wouldn’t it be better to simply reject them all?”
“I can brush off the others, but it’s difficult even for me when the Imperial Prince himself comes charging in.”
Stella had no choice but to remain silent. No matter how legendary a knight Dame Noel was, she was ultimately a soldier of the Imperial Military. The direct imperial family pushing a marriage proposal was a dizzying prospect, especially for anyone who knew the rumors surrounding that particular Imperial Prince.
“Exactly. I don’t want that kind of marriage either. So, he is the alternative.”
To Stella, whose face had turned pale, Noel chuckled and continued.
“A third party with absolutely no political background who suddenly appears out of nowhere. If we claim we married out of mutual affection, even His Highness the Imperial Prince won’t be able to find fault with it, right?”
“…Even within that category, there would have been more than enough alternatives to that man, Aiden.”
At Stella’s still-stiff words, Noel tilted her head.
“Stella, didn’t you look into his background?”
“I recall there was absolutely nothing special about him.”
A back-alley swindler. A low-life criminal who had never been involved in a single major case. He was such an unremarkable petty thief that he didn’t even have a single arrest record with the public authorities. They probably hadn’t even deemed him worth the effort.
“Exactly. That’s the key point.”
As Stella processed that, Dame Noel’s voice fell softly.
“How did he manage to avoid every single ‘special point’?”
“Pardon?”
At Stella’s blank response, Noel smiled gently.
“He is strangely ordinary. Especially considering his profession.”
Despite making a living as a swindler, a job that easily attracts attention, he had never been investigated by public authorities, let alone arrested.
He was, quite literally, a thorough petty criminal.
Yes, thoroughly.
To the point where it felt almost artificial.
“…I do not quite understand what you mean.”
“Well, there is something. I’ll have a chance to explain soon.”
Saying so, Dame Noel raised her wooden sword once more.
“In any case, he’s certainly someone who seems rather interesting.”
“…”
Thinking of the man named Aiden, Stella found that to be a questionably high evaluation.
However, that doubt was quickly swallowed. She could feel Qi circulating through Dame Noel’s body as she gripped the wooden sword.
Qi. The blessing bestowed upon the Emperor’s subjects by Carva, the patron deity of the Empire and the Goddess of Strife. It was the foundation of the superhuman power wielded by the Empire’s knights, who refined the energy within their bodies through rigorous training and emitted it outward.
The measure of mastery was the color of one’s Qi.
A famous example was the ‘Knight of Dawn,’ who first developed the martial paths and techniques that used Qi. He was the First Knight, a monster said to split mountains and cleave the heavens with a single sword, a legendary figure revered as the ‘Sword Saint.’ He was a man who could compress the Qi rising from his body into just two colors: silver and blue.
And now, right here… was a genius who made even that legend seem like a relic of a bygone era.
“—”
As Noel exhaled deeply, Qi rose from her body like a mist.
Pure white.
Stella swallowed hard without realizing it.
The Qi Noel wielded was pure white, without a single blemish. Purer than anyone else’s, simpler than anyone else’s, and clearer than anyone else’s.
Throughout the long history of the Empire, among the countless talents as numerous as the grains of sand on a beach…
Dame Noel was the only knight who had compressed her Qi into a single color.
“—Dame Noel! Dame Noel!”
The moment she heard a soldier’s voice interrupting this awe-inspiring sight, Stella’s face contorted fiercely. To interrupt such a majestic scene—if this was some trivial matter, she would not forgive it—
“The eldest son of the Oslon Marquisate has just entered your fiancé’s quarters!”
—Actually, this was an emergency too critical to ignore.
Stella and Noel’s faces stiffened simultaneously.
Gale Oslon. Dame Noel’s longtime friend. He wasn’t a bad person, but…
“What kind of trouble is that muscle-brained idiot trying to cause now…!”
“Stella. Your language is too harsh.”
Even as Dame Noel stopped her with a bitter smile, she didn’t seem to deny the sentiment. Just looking at how quickly she threw on her coat, she had clearly decided she needed to intervene personally before he caused an accident.
Knowing Gale’s personality, he would have thrust his sword forward without warning to “test his character,” which was a far more serious problem than it sounded. Although he wasn’t an elite on the level of a formally knighted warrior, he was still the eldest son of a marquis who had received professional combat training for years. Thrown among ordinary soldiers, he would be a lion among sheep.
If I don’t get there quickly, something terrible is really going to happen.
Aiden’s expected capabilities were below even those of an ordinary soldier. It wouldn’t be surprising if something truly disastrous occurred.
Noel took a deep breath and tensed her legs, planning to leap to Aiden’s quarters in a single bound. She would probably break a few windows on her way in, but time was of the essence.
Or so she thought.
Crash!
“Aaaaaargh!”
…until she saw someone screaming as they plummeted from the very window she’d been about to crash through.
The man’s full-body armor was crumpled as if it had been struck by a giant’s fist.
“…”
That…
…isn’t that Gale?
Judging by the fully armed figure, it was definitely the man she knew.
And then, she saw someone hurriedly leaning out of the window the man had just crashed through.
“Hey, hey! Are you okay?!”
Leaning out of the broken window, completely unscathed, was Aiden Kellermain.
“…?”
Wrapped around his body was a Pure White Qi.
It was identical to the Pure White Qi Noel herself had been wielding just moments ago.
“…Huh?”
Without a doubt… it was a sight that could make even Dame Noel let out a dumbfounded gasp.