Geum Taeyang's Scheme Shakes the Emperor, Sword Empress, and Guard Captain Evelyn's Hearts
“Aah…!!”
Samuel stared blankly at Geum Taeyang, who had endured his Thunderquake as if possessed by a ghost. Only belatedly did he realize the tip of the Dark Knight’s sword now rested against his throat.
“X-Master Samuel, do you acknowledge your defeat?”
Geum Taeyang spoke with the polished manners of a gentleman, nothing like the way he had treated O’Connell, and demanded Samuel’s surrender.
“I have lost. My defeat is clear, Sir Dark Knight…”
—Clang!
Samuel lowered his dwarven axe, still crackling with residual Thunderquake energy, and admitted defeat.
“The victor is Sir Dark Knight! With this, the semifinals bracket is complete!”
Harold the Sword Dance Emperor’s booming declaration echoed through the colosseum.
“Uwaaaah!!! No way!!! Sir Samuel lost?! The strongest favorite to win?!”
“What the hell happened at the end?! He looked like he was dying!”
“What do you mean?! He endured it with sheer willpower and grit, then swung his sword! That’s what a swordsman does!”
The stands erupted into chaos. It had been a match worthy of the Yulisis Sword Dance Tournament. The crowd savored every detail of Geum Taeyang’s final performance.
“Sword Empress, you felt it too, didn’t you?! The power Sir Samuel unleashed in that final moment was truly immense! Yet that Dark Knight endured it!”
Emperor Antoinette could not hide her astonishment. Though distance had prevented her from sensing Samuel gather energy, the sheer force of the explosion had been unmistakable. His last attack had carried enough power to challenge even a tanker-class fighter. Yet a swordsman had withstood it.
“I suspect he possesses a unique constitution—one that counters Sir Samuel’s electric mana,” the Sword Empress offered.
“Hmm… Logically, that would explain it…”
She maintained the story of the Dark Knight’s special constitution. The disguised Celendis armor only looked like high-grade equipment at best; even heroic armor would not have allowed a counterattack of that magnitude.
‘Haaah…! Thank goodness…! I don’t know how, but Sir Dark Knight managed to endure it!’
Guard Captain Evelyn, whose face had gone deathly pale, finally caught her breath and looked relieved.
‘Heh heh! Everyone’s making such a fuss.’
Geum Taeyang, the shameless man, thoroughly enjoyed the uproar from both the stands and the VIP seats. And he had no intention of stopping there.
—Thud!!
Suddenly, the victorious Geum Taeyang collapsed to one knee as though his strength had given out.
‘Watch closely, everyone. I didn’t endure it perfectly—I barely held on through sheer stubbornness and then counterattacked. Got it? I won with a warrior’s grit and tenacity!’
He was lying through his teeth. The man who had simply overpowered Samuel’s devastating attack with raw strength was now spinning a tale of indomitable spirit and unyielding will. It was a truly despicable performance, and the first person it hooked was none other than—
‘Oh no! Sir Dark Knight!!!’
Evelyn, who had only just begun to relax after his victory.
“Master! Master, are you hurt?!”
—Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Next came Bianca, Geum Taeyang’s slave and staff member. She rushed onto the colosseum stage to support him.
“Not too badly, just a little damage. Looks like our Bianca will have to help her master.”
“Understood, Master! Please lean on my shoulder!”
Watching Bianca sprint toward him, Geum Taeyang could already picture everyone else’s reactions. He suppressed the satisfied smirk tugging at his lips and put on a dramatic show of bravado.
“That was a remarkable duel, Sword Empress. From the middle rounds onward it defied expectations, and in the end it overturned common sense entirely.”
“It only proves there are still many formidable warriors across the continent. Perhaps Your Majesty has been too generous in bestowing the title of Sword Empress upon me.”
“Hohoho! That is merely your excessive humility, Sword Empress.”
Emperor Antoinette rose from her seat, watching Geum Taeyang being supported by Bianca as he left the stage.
“What do you think, Evelyn? It’s truly unfortunate. The Samuel Count you so admire has once again failed to claim the championship this year.”
After exchanging words with the Sword Empress, Antoinette turned to Evelyn behind her, offering both a question and words of sympathy.
“Oh my!”
When Antoinette looked at Evelyn, she was genuinely shocked.
“Why is your face so pale, Guard Captain? And what is with all this cold sweat pouring down like rain?”
Evelyn’s expression was that of someone whose soul had fled her body; she looked utterly lost.
“My… The early elimination of someone she respects must have been a heavy blow… I wonder how best to console her…”
“It’s rare to see one’s idol in distress. That’s why I always strive never to show weakness to my own disciple, Your Majesty.”
“You’re right… Even now I can still see my grandfather’s weakened appearance before he passed…”
Antoinette assumed Evelyn’s current state was simply the mental shock of Samuel’s defeat. Marianne agreed, and when her current idol voiced the same sentiment, the Emperor recalled the image of her own past idol, Yulisis, departing.
“Leave the remaining schedule to the head of security and take some rest, Guard Captain.”
“Ah, no… I can still handle the rest—”
“Nonsense! To me, the Guard Captain’s well-being is far more important.”
“Understood… Then, with my apologies, I shall take my leave, Your Majesty…”
“Yes. Rest well, my friend.”
Thus moved, the Emperor granted Evelyn permission to step away for a while.
‘I’ve been watching the matches since the round of sixteen…’
Geum Taeyang descended from the stage and entered the colosseum’s entrance tunnel. A blonde female swordsman in the front row of the stands watched him go. It was Arthur, who had already secured her spot in the semifinals after competing the day before.
‘He really gives off the same feeling as Senior Taeyang.’
Arthur had been too preoccupied during the preliminaries and round of thirty-two to properly scout her rivals. Only after reaching the round of sixteen, when the intervals between matches grew longer, had she begun observing likely future opponents. One of them was this Dark Knight. Something about him reminded her of Geum Taeyang—perhaps because she had once crossed swords with him.
‘What an absurd coincidence. They don’t resemble each other at all.’
Yet the combination of mask and Life Water Cloak still created a strong sense of dissonance with Geum Taeyang’s true appearance, so her feelings leaned more toward curiosity than suspicion.
“So the Dark Knight participant has returned to his lodging?”
Though her face remained pale, Evelyn maintained a composed expression as she questioned someone about Geum Taeyang’s condition.
“Yes, Guard Captain. There were no immediate external symptoms, but since the participant himself complained of dizziness, we should observe him for at least a day before making any judgment.”
Evelyn concluded that Geum Taeyang must have visited the infirmary. Her guess proved correct, and she later used her authority over participant management to obtain the diagnosis details.
‘There’s no way there are no external symptoms. Logically, Sir Dark Knight’s own assessment must be accurate.’
After receiving the report from the medical officer, Evelyn headed straight for Geum Taeyang’s lodging. She was far too worried to stay still.
His reaction when struck by Thunderquake had been genuine.
“Who is it?”
Evelyn finally reached his residence, hesitated, then rang the bell. Bianca answered the door.
“I, I mean…”
Bianca did not know that Geum Taeyang and Evelyn had already been intimate. Evelyn faltered, unsure how to explain her sudden visit.
“Ah! You must be the person my master mentioned earlier!”
But the meticulous Geum Taeyang had already anticipated every possibility—including that Evelyn would be unable to resist coming to check on him—and had prepared accordingly.
“Pardon? Y-yes… That’s right…”
Evelyn was momentarily flustered, but quickly grasped the situation and played along.
“Master said the damage isn’t serious and that rest should be enough. He also put a lot of effort into preparing a message for today’s visitor. I hope it reaches you properly.”
Bianca, the obedient youngest slave, carried out her master’s orders flawlessly.
“I see… Well… I’m glad to hear rest will suffice… Thank you for passing that along.”
“Not at all.”
Reassured by Bianca’s bright, trustworthy demeanor, Evelyn felt immediate relief.
“Then I’ll be going…”
“Take care~!”
After Evelyn returned to the imperial palace—
“Who was that lady? She seemed like someone very important, Master.”
Bianca returned to Geum Taeyang and tilted her head curiously.
“Important… Kekeke! Of course she is… That’s why I’m putting in the effort.”
Geum Taeyang answered while lounging in nothing but his underwear in front of the warm fireplace, enjoying a sweet moment of rest. Even though Evelyn was only a supporting heroine, her position was far from insignificant, so he had gone to considerable trouble planting various pieces of bait to reel her in.
‘In just a few more days, I’ll be returning to Grace.’
In the guest room of the imperial palace, Sword Empress Marianne opened the window and gazed at the night sky.
‘It’s the same separation from Josephina that happens once a year, yet I still can’t get used to it. I can’t help worrying about that child.’
Whenever Marianne came to the imperial palace, she would look at the night sky in the evening just like this. The sky in that direction was where Grace lay. The Sword Empress missed and worried about her beloved disciple Josephina, who would be spending time with the few servants at the Nahoja ducal mansion.
‘But now I must try even harder to change myself. Seeing Josephina take a step forward under the Great Khan’s teachings has taught me so much.’
This year, upon arriving here, Marianne had done a great deal of thinking. In the past, she had deliberately left Josephina behind when going on expeditions because her disciple would suffer more. But now she felt it was more valuable to expose her young disciple to a wider range of experiences.
‘The Great Khan’s free-spirited style, and that swordsman called Dark Knight as well…’
Meeting another freestyle swordsman after Geum Taeyang was surprising. Perhaps this was the current trend among top experts. As a master, Marianne felt a sense of responsibility to pass that flow on to Josephina.
While gazing at the night sky lost in thought, Marianne suddenly—
‘Hm?’
She sensed something.
‘Just now, from that wall… I felt something out of place.’
The moment she turned her gaze toward the lower part of the night sky, she detected an anomaly on one section of the palace walls.
‘I want to see him so badly…!’
After finishing all her remaining duties, Evelyn returned to the Guard Captain’s quarters. She took a shower, changed into her nightclothes, and lay on her bed, thinking of someone with desperate intensity.
‘I was worried about Sir Dark Knight! I wanted to nurse him! I should have just gone in without feeling embarrassed, you idiot!’
It was Geum Taeyang. Now that she had somehow returned to the palace, regret flooded her. She hadn’t been able to see his face after all. Self-reproach and pure longing tangled together, and Evelyn thrashed about in frustration.
‘Kuaaaah…!’
—Twitch!
At that moment, Evelyn threw her head back and shuddered.
‘From my…! It’s already coming out…!!’
—Squish…!
She slipped a hand between her legs and grabbed her own sex.
‘It’s gotten so hot…! Just from thinking about Sir Dark Knight…! Kyaaah…!’
—Squish…! Squelch…! Squelch…! Plop…! Squelch…!
From then on, Evelyn’s hand moved in a shameless rhythm—shameless, yet remarkably skilled. Indeed, over the past few days she had developed a taste for pleasuring herself while thinking of Geum Taeyang.