Chapter 4: The Reverse Scale
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 4: The Reverse Scale
In the Craven Holy Kingdom, the royal family held a special kind of power.
Of course, being royalty in one of the most powerful Holy Kingdoms on the continent was special in its own right, but the Cravens were a different breed entirely.
“Lester. Go keep watch.”
To give an idea of just how special, they could order a Paladin—one of the kingdom’s greatest military assets—to perform such a menial task without facing any real backlash.
“…”
Guarding a member of the royal family was, in principle, a noble duty. But when that royal was an idiot like this one, the duty felt less than noble.
The Seventh Royal Prince, Daniel Craven.
He was the prodigal son, widely considered the greatest headache among the Holy Kingdom’s royalty.
He’s been whining about wanting Lionheart for a while now…
The position of Lionheart’s husband was coveted by many of the continent’s most powerful figures. Yet Daniel had long harbored an ugly obsession with the knight hailed as the Empire’s greatest treasure. He was the kind of man you wanted to throttle while screaming, “Know your place.”
Now, seeing that the betrothed she had brought with her was clearly no warrior, Daniel was undoubtedly planning to take his frustrations out on the man.
“Your Highness. No matter the circumstances, that is—”
Lionheart’s betrothed was, by definition, an honored guest. Harassing such a person could easily escalate into a diplomatic incident between the two nations.
Of course, Daniel was clearly not the type to worry about such things.
“To whom did you swear your Vow to receive the Divine Power you wield?”
Daniel’s sharp question instantly silenced Lester.
Right. This was the problem.
Every nation’s warriors wielded different supernatural abilities, each with entirely distinct properties. And the source of all those abilities ultimately traced back to a single origin: the grace bestowed by each nation’s patron deity. Every supernatural ability originated from the divine authorities the gods of the Pantheon had passed down to the mortal realm.
The problem was that in the Holy Kingdom, the vast majority of those divine authorities were concentrated within the royal family.
Even the supernatural ability Lester himself wielded was merely something “borrowed” from this spoiled prince.
And yet, he still got himself exiled all the way to the Empire.
That such a precious asset—the very source of their power—had been shoved off to a distant foreign land spoke volumes. It was practically an exile, a clear message to go to the boondocks and get his head straight. It meant Daniel was such a scoundrel that not even his royal status could shield him from punishment.
“What are you doing? I told you to go keep watch.”
“…”
Seeing Daniel’s determination to cause trouble despite his precarious situation, Lester screamed internally. It wasn’t as if he had the right to refuse in the first place. No matter what a scoundrel the prince was, he was still royalty.
“…I obey.”
To put it another way, the Divine Power the royal family could wield was so immense that even a Paladin, one of the Holy Kingdom’s most powerful figures, had to back down.
Poor bastard.
Lester turned away, silently praying for the soul of the man named Aiden.
* * *
Daniel strode toward Aiden, a menacing ripple of Divine Power spreading across his body.
While Carva, the Goddess of War, gifted her followers methods to manipulate the energy within their bodies, Shea, the Goddess of Purification, bestowed a flame that could burn away anything. As expected of the royal family’s greatest scoundrel, Daniel hadn’t learned a single method to control that Divine Power. It was the very definition of casting pearls before swine.
Still, even a swine’s pearl necklace held value.
Pure, unrefined Divine Power could serve as both a shield and a sword without any special training. A mere touch from it would easily melt an ordinary person’s body.
“…”
Aiden’s expression quickly soured.
It was common knowledge: when a royal from the Holy Kingdom drew upon their Divine Power, it was a clear declaration of their intent to inflict harm. In a way, it was an even greater threat than when Gale had drawn his sword earlier.
“I just don’t get it.”
Daniel crossed his arms, circling Aiden with an air of theatrical arrogance. His steps dripped with sarcasm.
“Why would a woman like Lionheart bother taking a pathetic excuse for a man like you as her spouse? Hmm?”
“…”
“Speak up, commoner. Did you wag your tail for her? Did you use that pretty face of yours to play the whore?”
Lester’s own face burned with second-hand embarrassment. The insult perfectly showcased the prince’s lack of intellect. The surprising part was that, despite looking ready to unleash his Divine Power at any moment, he was only running his mouth.
…Ah, I see.
He was deliberately baiting him. He wanted to provoke Aiden into striking first so he could claim self-defense. It seemed even the prince wasn’t completely oblivious to the consequences; he must fear the pressure from back home. Of course, even though Daniel was the one instigating, a royal of the Holy Kingdom had enough influence to brush aside such minor details. If he was “attacked first,” ruining the other man wouldn’t be difficult at all.
“I actually wish that were the case,” Aiden said.
“…”
“Then I could at least find someone to take my place.”
“…”
This guy is no ordinary fellow.
The blunt reply, delivered without so much as a blink, made the same thought flash through both Lester’s and Daniel’s minds. Of course, to Aiden, who had been practically kidnapped and dragged here, the position of groom was nothing more than a burden.
“…Lionheart would skin you alive if she heard that. Do you have no sense of honor? I would have been a far better match than a bastard like you.”
The irony of Daniel, of all people, lecturing someone on honor was lost on Aiden. Instead of taking offense, his eyes lit up with sudden vigor.
“Do you want to take my place?!”
“…”
The reaction was so utterly baffling that it left Daniel, the provocateur, completely speechless.
…What is wrong with this bastard?
It was as if marrying Lionheart was genuinely nothing more than a nuisance to him—an opportunity any man on the continent would kill for.
“—”
And, inevitably, that in itself was a blow to Daniel’s pride.
The prize he had so desperately yearned for, yet couldn’t even get close to, was being treated by this man as something he’d gladly cast aside. The words he spat through gritted teeth were therefore far more venomous than he’d intended.
“Shut your filthy mouth, you worthless insect! Born of a lowly family, you dare show such insolence to royalty!”
“By the way, let’s leave my family out of this. If you’re royalty, you should at least maintain a shred of dignity.”
Uh-oh.
Wait.
Aiden’s suddenly icy tone sent a jolt through Daniel. He’d struck a genuine nerve. It was a complete one-eighty from his reaction when Lionheart was mentioned.
But a moment later, his expression twisted into a triumphant smirk.
“Dignity? You dare talk to me of dignity?”
If this was what set him off, all Daniel had to do was keep pushing the button.
“An insect who inherited nothing but the filthy blood of a lowly father and a lowly mother. How dare you lecture royalty on nobility?”
“…”
The words were so utterly vulgar that even Lester momentarily forgot his duty and let out a groan.
And once those words were spoken…
All expression vanished from Aiden’s face.
“What’s the matter, commoner? Struck a nerve? Cat got your tongue?”
This time, Aiden didn’t reply. He just scanned Daniel silently from head to toe, as if calculating something, organizing his thoughts.
“…This should be fine,” he muttered to himself.
Then, Aiden’s eyes began to carefully measure the distance between himself and the prince.
“…?”
As an experienced warrior, Lester roughly grasped the meaning behind those movements, and his eyes widened in alarm.
This was… the look of someone unused to fighting, calculating the precise way to strike to inflict the most pain.
Of course, a man who clearly hadn’t trained a day in his life couldn’t possibly do any real damage.
“…??”
But something was wrong. Very wrong. An ominous premonition washed over him—a feeling that something terrible was about to happen, and that he had to stop it.
“Wait, Sir—!”
But before he could intervene, Aiden spoke.
“Your Highness,” he said, flashing a wide grin. It was a bright, white smile that showed off his healthy teeth.
But to Lester, for some reason, it looked terrifying. It was the expression of someone who had completely snapped, filled with a distinct and liberated relief.
“I hope you know a good dentist.”
“…Huh?”
Before Daniel could even process the words, a Pure White Qi erupted before his eyes.
Considering how things had played out, this was technically exactly what Daniel had wanted. He had succeeded in getting under the other man’s skin and baiting him into striking first.
The problem was…
Wait, what…?!
That it had succeeded.
Far, far too well.
A fist tore through Daniel’s high-purity Divine Power as if it were cardboard, slamming violently into his left cheek.
—!
It was a beautiful strike—so spectacular that it sent a dozen white teeth scattering through the air.
* * *
There were too many things to process.
How was this man wielding the Pure White Qi that was Lionheart’s trademark? And why, despite that, did his body look completely untrained, his fighting technique utterly nonexistent?
But more than any of that, the immediate issue was…
“…Sir.”
Lester called out to Aiden in a trembling voice, his head spinning.
Daniel was slumped against a nearby wall, bleeding profusely, but the sheer shock of the situation took precedence over tending to him.
“What on earth have you done…?”
Knocking a person out cold like this meant it wouldn’t end with a simple charge of “assaulting royalty.” This was, at minimum, a diplomatic crisis; at worst, all-out war. The state of the continent was already fragile, with the aftermath of the last war still lingering. And now, an honored guest from the Empire had just beaten a royal of the Holy Kingdom to a pulp?
No matter how you looked at it, this was not something that could be swept under the rug…!
“First of all, drop the ‘Sir.’ I’m not a knight.”
“…”
How could someone who wielded Pure White Qi not be a knight? Lester opened his mouth to voice his bewilderment, but Aiden cut him off.
“More importantly, go call someone. He’s going to die at this rate.”
“What?”
“We need to get this sorted out properly, don’t we?”
“…”
His voice was incredibly calm for someone who had just caused a catastrophe. No, it wasn’t calm—it was chilling. He said “sort things out,” but it sounded more like he was asking for permission to finish the job and crush the prince’s skull.
“This is a very big deal,” Aiden continued, his eyes gleaming. “So we need to make sure everything is sorted out properly, don’t we?”
Staring into those gleaming eyes, Lester realized one thing for certain.
When angered, this man… became someone else entirely.