Chapter 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Victory Banquet (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Your Excellency the Marquis. It's an honor to meet you like this.”
“Your Excellency, what do you think of my daughter?”
“If it's not too rude, perhaps a spar sometime soon...”
“I've heard so much about your illustrious reputation, Your Excellency. If it's not presumptuous, might I take a look at your sword...”
“What are your thoughts on a union between our families?”
“Your Excellency, I am Viscount Noir...”
‘Haa...’
I'm sick of this.
At this point, it'd be easier to head to the battlefield and swing my sword around.
As soon as the banquet began, Lucia, who had been with me, excused herself to go meet the Emperor for a moment. And in the meantime, the nobles started approaching me.
‘They see Lucia's absence as their chance, huh.’
An opportunity to speak with Yujin, the empire's rising star. Honestly, if I were a noble, I'd probably try to forge some connection here too.
“Tch...”
“Hm? Your Excellency, is something bothering you...?”
What can I do?
I already drew all the aggro by entering with the princess. Now I have to deal with it all.
Unless I plan to abandon politics and live as a savage, that is.
...Unfortunately, as someone interested in power and honor, I couldn't do that.
He had no choice but to continue conversing with the nobles.
The nobles were quite varied. Some who approached with pure admiration, others with impure motives, those burning with jealousy, and those with genuine rational interest.
Dealing with those harboring impure intentions and the jealous ones was especially tiresome.
Isn't there some way out of this?
As he handled the nobles with an expressionless face, the crowd suddenly parted in two.
And crossing through the gap with elegant steps was a single woman.
Click—
Click—
It was Irene Arkabella, lady of the Arkabella Duke family.
‘...That dress...’
She was wearing the dress she had shown him yesterday.
Naturally, memories of their close contact in the changing room surfaced.
‘Hm.’
Her breasts pressing and squishing against him—they had been so soft—
‘Not the point.’
He shook his head slightly to clear his mind.
As she approached, the other nobles naturally created distance. It wasn't just the difference in status; she exuded an aura, so to speak.
Whispers—
“It's Lady Arkabella.”
“As expected of the genius mage who reached the 6th Circle already...”
“By the way, is it true that Your Excellency the Marquis and Lady Arkabella were together at the salon yesterday?”
“Even a lady is just a woman at heart; she must have fallen for the Marquis's handsome face...”
‘I can hear you all.’
She approached Yujin, flashing a seductive smile as she lifted the wine glass in his hand.
And then.
Gulp—
She took a sip.
‘Ah.’
Both Lucia and Irene—why do they keep drinking from mine? Yujin couldn't understand it.
“Your Excellency.”
“Lady Arkabella.”
Irene shook her head.
“That's not it. You promised to call me by name last time.”
‘...’
This was practically an official occasion. Did she not care how it would look if he called her by name here?
Irene pressed him.
“Your Excellency.”
He let out a small internal sigh.
“...Irene.”
At his words, she smiled in satisfaction and pressed her body closer to him. As if declaring to everyone around that this man was hers.
Several ladies and young lords covered their mouths for various reasons, sending envious glances.
Whispers—
“How did it feel entering with Lucia?”
“...”
“You can be honest. We're close friends, after all.”
It didn't seem fine at all.
‘She must still be hung up on me rejecting her partner offer yesterday.’
But that really had been unavoidable...
“...Friends, you say?”
“Yes. We've known each other since childhood and exchange quite a bit.”
Fair enough, a princess and a duke's lady would naturally be acquainted.
“...I see. When I visited the palace last time, Princess Lucia said something similar.”
“Oh, really? Then you can be even more frank. How was it? Did it feel good as a man?”
Yujin let out another deep sigh at Irene's words. Internally, of course.
Lucia represented a powerful political ally for the future, almost like a patron. Irene, on the other hand, shared a secretive bond akin to mutual assured destruction.
Messing up with either side even slightly seemed like it would lead to immense hassle...
“...”
Sensing his distress, Irene took a step back.
“Hehe, just teasing. Outstanding heroes always have multiple women. I have no intention of binding you, Your Excellency.”
‘...Really?’
He barely swallowed the retort.
She was truly unpredictable.
What exactly did she see in him to act like this? From Yujin's perspective, Irene was just someone he'd met recently who was suddenly showing favor.
...Regardless of Irene's stance.
He was about to ask her point-blank when—
“Irene. That joke seems a bit too sincere, don't you think?”
Lucia, who had gone to meet the Emperor, inserted herself between them. The surrounding nobles had long been hovering at a tantalizing distance, straining to eavesdrop.
Irene replied with a smile that only reached her eyes.
“Oh, Lucia. Where have you been? Your Excellency the Marquis looked so lost without a partner, so I was keeping him company. And after 'somehow' taking the partner spot, isn't it rude to leave him alone for so long?”
At Irene's veiled jab, Lucia faltered slightly before mirroring the expression.
The eye-smiling one, that is.
“Hehe, no, Irene. It didn't take long at all. But perhaps it just feels that way because my bond with the Marquis has deepened to the point of discussing our 'future'?”
Grip—
This time, Irene faltered at Lucia's words and belatedly grabbed Yujin's arm.
His arm sank into her chest. Irene then linked arms with him at an angle visible only to Lucia.
‘...???’
“Hm, I've shared such 'intimate parts' with Your Excellency the Marquis too... What a coincidence, huh?”
“...”
Irene's words carried deeper implications.
A sense of superiority from having shared their bodies, and a question of whether Lucia could do the same.
Lucia froze. Lightning seemed to crackle between them.
‘...’
The peculiar tension flowing between Yujin and the two women increasingly drew the nobles' gazes.
Even Sena, sandwiched between the Crown Prince and the Northern Grand Duke for some reason, met his eyes, and he quickly looked away.
“...Let's all calm down for now. Drawing attention like this won't do us any good.”
“...You're right. Sorry, Your Excellency.”
“Sorry, Marquis. I lost my composure for a moment.”
“No need.”
He shook his head. They had quickly realized their mistake and apologized; he couldn't press them harshly.
Eventually, they muttered to each other in very low voices.
Whispers—
“Lucia, let's talk—”
“Irene, let's talk—”
“...”
“...”
“...Let's go to the balcony and talk. In a way that's best for everyone.”
“Yes, Irene. We're the best of friends, after all.”
They nodded to each other.
Lucia then looked at Yujin.
“Marquis, we'll head to the balcony for some girl talk. Could you wait just a moment?”
“...Of course.”
Nod—
With that, they headed to the balcony.
Feeling other nobles approaching now that his surroundings had cleared, he chose to slip away.
‘Guess I'll head to the balcony too.’
He entered a different balcony from the one Lucia and Irene had gone to and took a sip of wine when he sensed footsteps approaching.
‘...This is.’
A familiar presence.
None other than...
“...Your Excellency the Marquis, could we talk for a moment?”
His former fiancée, Sena Marilsian.
At Sena's sudden intrusion, Yujin wore a displeased expression.
“What rudeness is this, Lady Marilsian? Surely you know you shouldn't barge into a balcony where someone else is present.”
As a noble, Yujin sharply rebuked her, questioning if she didn't even know basic etiquette.
“Eek... Sorry, no, my apologies.”
“...”
Casual speech?
He let out a deep sigh.
“...Haa... As I told you last time, we're strangers now, so show the respect due between strangers.”
“Sorry... I'm sorry. But I wanted to talk.”
...Haa.
She seemed hopeless.
“Fine, huu... What is it?”
“...By any chance—”
And at that moment,
Bang—
The balcony door flew open as a man with the same imperial features as Lucia burst in.
Looking extremely furious, no less.
“Marquis. What is this rudeness? She is my woman.”
‘...What the hell.’
It was the Crown Prince.
“...Your Highness the Crown Prince. What do you mean by that?”
“Answer straight, Marquis. Lady Marilsian is my woman. What rudeness is this?”
...Is he really an idiot?
There was too much to say.
For one, this was his first meeting with Yujin, and the Crown Prince had been the first to commit rudeness by barging into the balcony.
Even Sena, whom he claimed as his justification, had intruded on a balcony where Yujin was alone. Yujin was the perfect victim here.
In the abruptly unfolding situation, Yujin gave Sena a look that said, ‘As expected.’
Sena tried to say something upon receiving his gaze, but another bomb detonated faster.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince. What do you mean by that?”
It was the leader of the northern nobles and noble faction, Grand Duke Calderon.
“She is not Your Highness's woman. Stop treating her like property. This is a matter where she should have the choice.”
Grand Duke Calderon glared fiercely at both the Crown Prince and Yujin.
‘...Me too?’
“Ha, ridiculous. So the result of giving her that choice is running off to her ex-fiancé ‘of all people’?”
The Crown Prince even dragged Yujin, Sena's former fiancé, into it.
‘..Why?’
What is this...
“Mind your words. As expected of imperial blood— so arrogant...”
“...What did you just say, Grand Duke Calderon?”
“I said nothing.”
‘Both of them are losing it.’
The Crown Prince, blinded by a woman and picking fights with Yujin, one of the empire's top forces; and the Northern Grand Duke jumping in without discerning right from wrong.
Neither seemed fit as nobles or imperial.
Yes, just like the ‘male leads in those romance fantasy novels.’
Arrogant fools drunk on their power and status, believing anything was possible, charging ahead blindly. Narrow-minded types who sacrificed everything for one woman.
Even having met them for the first time today, Yujin felt he understood what kind of people they were.
‘The empire's future looks bleak.’
That as Crown Prince? That as leader of the noble faction?
Your Majesty the Emperor. The future of the empire you built is truly dark...
“Tch.”
Yujin chose to ignore them and leave the balcony. But the Crown Prince and Northern Grand Duke wouldn't let him.
“Where do you think you're going, Marquis?”
“Marquis. You will stay and talk with us.”
“...”
Haa...
These idiots...
In the end, Yujin resolved to commit a ‘slight rudeness’ against the two.
Rumble rumble rumble—
Yujin's mana pressured only Grand Duke Calderon and the Crown Prince.
“….!!!!!”
“..!!”
In an instant, they were crushed, losing control of their bodies.
Though they possessed considerable strength and tried to resist Yujin's aura, it was impossible.
‘Damn...! My body won't move! How dare a bastard touch the Crown Prince's body...!’
‘Marquis Banus...! To dare humiliate me in front of her...!’
Unable to twitch a finger or open their mouths, the Crown Prince and Grand Duke Calderon could only glare at Yujin with bulging eyes.
Even that was laughable to Yujin.
“I have urgent business. May I go?”
No reply was needed.
Tch.
Ignoring the blazing glares from the two behind him and Sena's gaze, he left cleanly.
‘They were monkeys too.’
They weren't worth respecting. The type he despised most—those ignorant of their place, no different from monkeys.
‘...Time to line up with the Second Prince soon.’
The Crown Prince held the title due to the archaic primogeniture, but that didn't mean he'd won the throne race.
There was still a chance to oust him and enthrone a ruler fit for the empire.
Yujin decided to make a connection, thinking, ‘The Second Prince is at least better than the Crown Prince.’
‘Come to think of it, Lucia shares the same mother as the Second Prince.’
He might get her help in removing them.
Or perhaps place Lucia herself on the throne.