The Original Male Lead's Calculations
Caron Hartvalt stood in silence, staring at the three corpses sprawled across the snowfield. Cox, Ged, Kent. They were the knights who had been chattering at his side only moments ago.
Now one lay with his head severed, while the other two had their faces deeply slashed and lay collapsed in the snow.
Wulfran Gecht, was it? Deep within Caron's blue eyes, cold calculations spun rapidly. That attack just now was fast. Yet the movements were economical, clearly aimed at killing the opponent in a single strike.
The duel had not lasted long. In fact, it had been so short it felt almost embarrassing to even call it a duel. And it had not been mere luck. Nor the result of a surprise attack.
Wulfran Gecht was a blind man who could not see. Yet he had read the movements of all three opponents perfectly. Whatever he was using, he had been watching the battlefield.
Skill on par with an upper-grade knight. No, if we're only talking practical combat ability, it might be even higher.
Of course, Cox, Ged, and Kent had only been middle-grade knights in name. Their insides were hollow. Caron had known that. They had accumulated aura. They had learned the forms of swordsmanship.
They had mastered the etiquette and outward appearance expected of noble knights. But they had never experienced real life-or-death battles.
Caron himself had at least walked the battlefields to earn merit. These men, however, had only been drawn to the glamour. Even in Caron's eyes, they had not been particularly useful fighting strength. That's precisely why I kept them close in the first place.
Caron laughed coldly to himself. They were the ideal form sought by the central nobles. They would make it easy for him to be accepted by those same central nobles.
After he became Grand Duke, they would serve as mannequins to help him smoothly enter the central power structure. That was all they had been good for. Not strong blades, but flashy decorations. And decorations were sometimes necessary for power.
Losing three mannequins isn't particularly regrettable.
The problem was the manner of their deaths. It had been too miserable. They had collapsed far too quickly. And far too many eyes had witnessed the scene. His own followers, knights, had been slaughtered by a single blind, retired knight. If he turned his back on them now, unrest would spread within his faction.
In that case, only one thing was needed. I must clean this up.
He had to consider carefully what kind of image he would project, stage the scene properly, and resolve the situation. Caron finished his calculations.
"Sheathe your swords."
His low voice rang across the area. The young knights who had wanted to charge at Wulfran but had been held back by the veteran knights glared with dissatisfaction.
"My lord!"
"But that bastard killed Sir Cox, Sir Ged, and Sir Kent...!"
"It was a legitimate duel."
Caron cut them off and took a step forward. His face was etched with both suppressed grief and firm resolve—an expression that naturally made those who saw it lower their heads.
"It is a regrettable and tragic thing for a knight to lose his life during a duel."
Caron's blue eyes swept over the knights who followed him. A stern light gleamed in his gaze.
"However, to draw your swords because you cannot accept the result of a legitimate knightly duel is to tarnish the honor of the deceased Sir Cox, Sir Ged, and Sir Kent."
At those words, the young knights' faces hardened. Caron did not stop there.
"I understand your anger. It is only natural for your blood to boil after losing comrades."
His voice was gentle yet resolute. "But I will not tolerate any action that drags a knight's honor through the mud."
Power entered his voice. "This is my final warning. Sheathe your swords."
Silence fell. The knights who had been trembling with rage clenched their teeth. But eventually, one by one, they lowered their blades.
Sring. Clack— The swords returned to their scabbards.
After confirming the sight, Caron turned toward Wulfran.
"Sir Wulfran."
Caron bowed his head with courteous grace. "The men who were at my side failed to accept the result of the duel and showed disgraceful behavior. As their comrade-in-arms, I apologize on their behalf."
For a moment, the atmosphere around them shifted subtly. The second son of the Hartvalt Grand Ducal House. The son most cherished by the current Grand Duke. The one many already hailed as the next Grand Duke. Yet such a man had bowed first to a blind, retired knight.
The young knights' eyes wavered. The soldiers swallowed their breath. The veteran knights' expressions were different. They were carefully weighing Caron's words.
Comrade-in-arms. Sir Curtis narrowed his eyes.
Caron had not called them his subordinates or his knights. He had called them comrades-in-arms. It was a deliberate choice to avoid giving the impression that he was already treating specific knights as his private soldiers when he was neither Grand Duke nor the official heir. A clever turn of phrase.
Wulfran, too, sensed that cunning. His unfocused eyes turned toward Caron. Through the Blood Source Mind Image Scripture, the aura he perceived from Caron differed from the man's outward appearance. It was as if something ferocious was hidden beneath.
A man whose exterior and interior do not match.
Wulfran roughly finished his assessment of Caron. It stood in contrast to his own lord, Kyle, who did not bother hiding his true nature. Still, Wulfran gave a polite bow on the surface.
"Since the second young master of the great Hartvalt Grand Ducal House speaks so, I shall accept the apology."
"Thank you."
Caron nodded. Then he walked toward the corpses of the three knights lying on the snowfield.
Crunch. Crunch. His military boots sank into the ground mixed with snow and blood.
Caron knelt on one knee before Cox's body. The hem of his expensive coat touched the bloodstained snow. He paid it no mind. With his bare hand, he gently closed Cox's wide-open eyes. He showed the same respect to Ged and Kent's corpses.
Deep mourning colored his face.
"I will never forget you who ended your lives honorably as knights in a honorable duel."
His voice scattered across the surroundings. His words reached the knights around him fully.
"My lord..."
"Khk..."
The eyes of the knights who followed Caron reddened. They were moved. Their lord who treated their comrades with honor until the very end. The noble young master who rebuked the angry knights to protect the dead men's honor and personally closed their eyes. The ideal lord they had longed for stood right before them.
Of course, Caron's inner thoughts were completely different. Cox, Ged, Kent. I'd better memorize them quickly or I'll forget. He etched the three names into his mind. I should check their family backgrounds again too. It would be troublesome if I couldn't remember when my subordinates mention them later.
That was all. He simply needed to remember. People were easily moved by the names of the dead if they believed those names had been cherished. Showing that one did not forget those names at appropriate moments became political capital.
Using corpses can sometimes be useful. Caron knew such things well.
Hoo. Still, these useless bastards are causing me trouble even in death. But since I learned the capabilities of Kyle's subordinate through their deaths, I'll consider it a useful sacrifice.
What showed on the outside, however, was genuine sorrow for his subordinates' deaths. The knights following Caron were completely immersed in his performance. Their anger was shifting from murderous intent toward Wulfran into loyalty toward Caron.
Wulfran watched the scene and quietly exhaled. To show such loyalty to someone who is neither the Grand Duke nor the official heir yet.
He recalled what Kyle had said back at the Northern Duke's Castle. That there were far too many who received the Grand Ducal salary yet regarded a specific person as their true lord, and felt no shame in it.
Now I understand why my lord called them traitors.
The veteran knights also wore uncomfortable expressions. But they could not move. Caron had cleverly avoided crossing any lines. There was nothing to criticize under military law or etiquette.
Having thus resolved the situation, Caron slowly rose to his feet. He took out a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from his hands. Then he approached Wulfran again.
"Sir Wulfran."
His voice was gentle. "I heard that my older brother Kyle's conduct at the main castle in the past was not very good. It seems he has changed quite a bit recently."
It was a light tone, as if casually asking for family news after a long time. But Wulfran was not unaware of the true meaning behind the question. He was trying to dig for information about Kyle. At the same time, he was testing Wulfran himself.
Caron's blue eyes smiled softly. But inside them, calculations were moving. That kind of blade is useful.
Caron thought as he looked at Wulfran. He cut people down without hesitation. He knew how to attach justification to a duel. Despite being blind, he displayed combat strength on par with an upper-grade knight.
He was far more useful than those foolish knights Caron had to keep close for political reasons. He would be good for dirty work. He could be used to quietly remove someone on the battlefield. As a hunting dog to be used in the shadows without tarnishing Caron's noble image, he was perfect.
Besides, it would be easy to isolate him.
Wulfran was a blind, retired knight. His body was broken, and the existing noble knights would not fully accept him. If Caron extended a hand, Wulfran would have to be grateful. And the more he was ostracized among the existing knights, the more he would depend on Caron.
The structure of recruitment was already drawn in Caron's mind.
However, Wulfran quietly laughed.
"Heh heh."
The laugh carried a strange mixture of loneliness and resolve. "It is not for someone like me to dare speak of what kind of person the former Young Master Kyle was."
Wulfran looked at Caron with unfocused eyes. "However, my current lord is the one who gave this broken man the chance to live as a human being again."
Caron's eyes narrowed slightly. Wulfran continued.
"He gave me, who had ended as a martial artist and ended as a man, the possibility to hold a sword once more. I have received a grace I could never repay even if I devoted my entire life."
There was no wavering in those words. "With such a person as my lord, there is no reason for me to look elsewhere."
It was a firm refusal. Caron maintained his smile. But inside, he quickly revised his judgment. No room for recruitment.
Regret flickered past. Yet that regret soon transformed into murderous intent. If the man could not become his tool, he was merely the enemy's weapon. And a sharp blade held in the enemy's hand should be broken as quickly as possible.
It's not good to have a hunting dog like that constantly at Kyle's side.
His wariness toward Kyle rose another level. With Grandfather's protection, even Reina as a subordinate, and now this hunting dog on top of that. He was more dangerous than I thought.
In Caron's mind, the danger level of the name Kyle continued to rise.
It was then.
"Wulfran."
Kyle's voice came from one side of the square.
Crunch. Crunch. Kyle, clad in Black Ice Iron armor, was walking across the snowfield. Behind him, Reina Garyen followed silently.
"I'll take a look at your sword for a bit, so stop playing around and come."
With that single sentence, the atmosphere twisted once again. Just moments ago, Caron had been mourning the dead knights. The young knights had been moved, and the veteran knights had remained silent despite their discomfort. A heavy mood had settled over the square.
Yet Kyle had trampled on all of it with one phrase. Stop playing around and come. The duel that had killed three knights. Caron's mourning. The followers' anger and tears. He had treated it all as nothing more than a game.
The faces of the knights in Caron's faction reddened. However, mindful of the veteran knights' reactions, they did not dare open their mouths recklessly.
Wulfran immediately turned toward Kyle. There was not the slightest hesitation.
"Yes. I apologize, my lord."
He bowed deeply with respect. "It took longer than I expected."
"It's fine."
Kyle let out a short laugh. "It was fun, wasn't it?"
"A little, yes."
A faint smile hung on Wulfran's lips. A few of the veteran knights showed interest upon seeing that smile. A polite, blind, retired knight. Yet the man who had just cut down three opponents was smiling like that. The strange dissonance sent a chill down the spines of those watching.
Some of the young knights began to think that perhaps a man suited to the North had finally appeared.
Kyle turned away. "Follow me."
"Yes."
Wulfran immediately followed behind Kyle. Kyle did not spare Caron even a single glance until the end. Reina, too, followed silently in their wake.
The three of them walked toward the barracks just like that.
As they moved away, the suppressed discontent of Caron's faction flowed out in low voices.
"That damn fool... to disregard a knight's honor like this!"
"If only the veteran knights weren't here..."
"That Wulfran bastard is the same kind. How can he call such filth his lord..."
The voices were quiet. Because of the attitude Sir Curtis and the veteran knights had shown earlier, they swallowed any overt curses. But the hatred did not disappear.
Caron listened to their complaints but did not stop them. He simply watched Kyle's receding back. An icy coldness spread through his blue eyes.
It's a shame, but it can't be helped.
Wulfran had been a useful blade. But he was already a blade in Kyle's hand. For Elena's sake as well.
Caron's hand quietly rested on his sword hilt. I need to eliminate that blind bastard and Kyle quickly.
Murderous intent surged from within. If they are lord and knight, it would be fitting to bury them together.