Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: I've Come to Defeat the Wicked Lady
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The Ban Pellion family labored under a peculiar curse.
It was said that any woman who married into the family would bear a child only to die young.
There was no specific reason for it.
Some died in accidents, others from illness—various causes claimed them all.
Thus, marrying into the Ban Pellion family had always symbolized terror.
Rumors even swirled that the family's bloodline was so robust because it drained the life force from its mothers.
Sisril Ban Pellion.
She was the third wife of the Ban Pellion family head.
Her snow-white hair, reminiscent of Ser Noxia's eyes, was her striking feature.
The two wives before her had perished young, just as the curse foretold.
Through their deaths, Sisril had become the undisputed lady of the house.
Now, the lady of the Ban Pellion house stood before them.
While the onlookers panicked, Ision alone offered her a greeting.
"Greetings, Lady Sisril Ban Pellion."
"You know my name?"
"It would be a failure as an Exclusive Knight if I couldn't even memorize the names of the family members I'll serve."
"Technically speaking, I'm not a member of the Ban Pellion family, am I?"
"How could someone bearing the Ban Pellion name not be a member?"
His opponent was the lady of the house.
One had to choose words with utmost care, yet Ision spoke without hesitation.
He knew from the start that this woman wasn't one to nitpick over mere words.
'The lone survivor of the witch hunt.'
With her two predecessors dead,
any ordinary woman might have succumbed to fear, but Sisril showed no such signs.
Instead, she seized her chance as lady of the house and built her own faction within the family.
In a Ban Pellion household that dismissed women, she pursued change.
This wasn't for her own status.
It was for her daughter, Ser Noxia Ban Pellion.
She had recognized her talent early and worked to send her into the wider world.
That was why Sisril stood tall even amid the witch hunts, conducting herself with the dignity of the lady of the house.
She knew it was the path for her daughter.
Personally, Ision admired her.
No matter how much he cherished the lady, he couldn't match a mother's love.
Sisril was the only one in the Ban Pellion family who truly cared for the lady.
And now,
she had come to see for herself the boy who would become Ser Noxia's Exclusive Knight.
Sisril's gaze fell on Carnokt.
The maids were tending to him hastily, but he showed no signs of regaining consciousness.
"You've made quite the entrance, Ision."
She knew his name.
It meant her background check was already complete.
Had he posed any threat to her daughter, she would have eliminated him without mercy.
But after witnessing his fight with Carnokt, Sisril had decided.
This boy would be Ser Noxia's sturdy shield.
It was a harsh truth for Ision, but from the moment he crushed Carnokt so brutally, life in the Ban Pellion household would grow difficult.
Bullying one person was easy, but tormenting a group was another matter.
This incident would divert at least some of the scrutiny meant for Ser Noxia onto Ision.
Naturally, it would lighten the burden on her.
"I was curious about the man who would serve as my daughter's Exclusive Knight. Seeing he's such an impressive fellow puts my mind at ease."
Sisril was shrewd.
Winning over a mere ten-year-old boy was child's play.
She took Ision's hand and curved her lips upward.
Her beauty worked its charm regardless of age or gender.
Though a mother, Sisril still possessed a radiant allure.
At the late twenties,
she was far from the age where her looks would fade.
Knowing this well, Sisril exploited the boy's youthful shyness.
"It's an honor to serve the lady."
Yet Ision didn't blink. He knelt and pressed his lips to the back of her hand.
"My."
The unexpected response startled Sisril slightly.
Not even a hint of embarrassment.
'Impudence isn't so bad.'
An Exclusive Knight must shoulder his lord's embarrassments as well.
Ision pleased her even more.
"Little gentleman, join my daughter and me for a meal sometime."
"Yes, I'll come running whenever you call."
After the theatrical exchange, Sisril departed with a satisfied smile.
Ision clenched his fist, watching her go.
He had scored points with Sisril.
To win the lady's favor, one had to treat her mother well.
He had handled it perfectly as an Exclusive Knight.
'Now for the rest.'
Ision's eyes turned to the frozen onlookers.
The young Ban Pellion knight aspirants.
Gazing at them, Ision spoke.
"I am Ision Calrad."
Only then did the onlookers finally look back at him.
"The Ban Pellion Ducal Family values strength above all. I love that about it.
If the chance arises, I'd love to test my skills against you all anytime, so don't hesitate to challenge me."
I'm going to crush you all, so keep that in mind.
That was the roundabout declaration of war, and the knight aspirants' faces twisted in anger.
"What a cocky brat."
"You'll regret those words soon enough."
They would've come at him anyway, even without the provocation.
Still, he had proposed it gentlemanly on the surface.
Appearances mattered greatly to knights.
Since he had acted the gentleman, they couldn't resort to dirty tricks.
"Lord Ision."
"Ah, right."
Marina relayed that it was time to meet the lady.
He left leisurely, ignoring the onlookers' glares.
That brazen face never lost its provocative smirk the entire way.
* * *
Ser Noxia Ban Pellion.
She sat in the garden chair, quietly staring at her cooled teacup.
'He's late.'
Today was the day her Exclusive Knight, Ision Calrad, was to arrive.
She had heard the carriage pull up, yet he still hadn't come.
'I even asked Silly to bake cookies for him.'
The head chef Silly specialized in cookies.
The first time Ser Noxia tasted them, it felt like stars burst before her eyes.
She wanted to share them with Ision too, but
they had cooled because he was taking so long.
The best moment had passed.
"My lady, you seem to have forgotten one thing: for Ision to become your Exclusive Knight, he must win the challenge."
At that moment, her butler Bor Gang quietly reminded her.
Ser Noxia's shoulders twitched.
She hadn't truly forgotten.
But that promise could never come to pass.
Ser Noxia's swordsmanship grew more genius-like with each passing day.
Even before, Ision had stood no chance against her.
After a full year, the gap must have widened even further.
No matter how diligently Ision chased, Ser Noxia's strides were far greater.
"It seems you fancy him a great deal."
"……."
Ser Noxia fell silent.
Just as he said, since that first meeting, Ision had lingered in her thoughts.
No one had ever treated her that way before.
Ever since her older brother Carnokt, just a year her senior, had fallen behind,
no peer could match her.
Even knights several years older began avoiding her,
fearful of awakening their own talents through crushing defeat at her hands.
"……Will it be the same this time?"
Ser Noxia didn't hate her own genius.
Yet apart from that, she felt profound loneliness.
In the Ban Pellion household, aside from her mother, she had nowhere to lean.
Her siblings shared her blood but showed no interest, nor did her father, the family head.
An isolated island.
Ser Noxia was an island adrift with no place to anchor.
That was why, upon seeing Ision, she had unconsciously pinned her hopes on him.
Hoping there might be someone out there who wouldn't flee from her genius.
"I don't know."
Bor Gang couldn't offer her certainty.
"But we can hold out hope."
Even so, Bor Gang had seen potential in Ision that day.
The young knight who just might save the lady lost to solitude at such an early age.
Tap-tap-
Footsteps echoed then.
When Ser Noxia looked up, a gray-haired boy stood there.
The moment she saw him, her face lit up.
But anxiety soon crept in, uncertainty over what he might say.
She feared the worst might come true.
Perhaps that's why she hesitated to speak first.
Before such a Ser Noxia,
Ision approached with unwavering steps and dropped to one knee.
His black eyes filled with sincerity as he spoke.
"Lady Ser Noxia."
Hearing her name, Ser Noxia cautiously looked down at him.
To the girl with uneasy eyes, Ision voiced their long-standing promise.
"I've kept you waiting. Will you accept my challenge?"
A challenge declared upon arrival.
Ser Noxia's eyes widened in shock.
It was hardly romantic, yet for some reason,
in that moment, her heart skipped a beat.
Was it anticipation for the battle ahead?
Or something else?
Ser Noxia didn't know, but her face had brightened nonetheless.
"Ah, of course, no need to hold back."
He preempted any concern for his opponent's condition.
"I'll be the victor today anyway."
Two years since his return.
He had trained relentlessly, sparing no means, all for this day.
To defeat the genius, Ser Noxia Ban Pellion.
To become her rival.
Exclusive Knight Ision Calrad had poured in every effort.
And today was the fruition of it all.
The day he would prove the conviction of an Exclusive Knight carried from his previous loops.