Chapter 85
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 85
A thunderous roar erupted across the training grounds.
Lucas let out a long, shaky breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.
Barkas wrenched his halberd from the man’s chest and turned his horse around. As the flickering torchlight illuminated his sharp, handsome features, the crowd’s cheers grew even more fervent. Lucas scanned the faces of the warriors, flushed red with adrenaline, before turning his gaze back to Barkas.
Amidst the chaos, the man appeared infinitely calm.
With an expressionless face that bordered on boredom, Barkas crossed the training ground and leaped from his saddle.
“Find out if there are any other capable men left in the Gutvan line.”
Barkas handed his weapon to a servant who had come running in a flurry and gave his instructions to Daren.
“If there is no suitable successor, look for a candidate among the vassals fit to manage the southeastern region.”
“There… there is a fairly capable warrior among his half-brothers,” Daren replied, his voice trembling. “He was originally supposed to join the Wolfram Lancers… but since he attended the academy in the capital, he should be more than capable of fulfilling the role of a lord.”
Barkas removed his gauntlets, handed them to the servant, and lightly brushed his lips, looking thoughtful.
“Bring him before me as soon as possible. If I deem him suitable, we will hold the appointment ceremony immediately.”
Just then, two servants stepped forward and unfastened the heavy iron breastplate from his chest. Feeling lighter, Barkas walked straight through the crowd toward Lucas.
Lucas instinctively took a step back. As he moved, the woman he had been holding onto stumbled. Reflexively, he grabbed her by the waist to steady her.
In an instant, heat rushed to his head.
The woman’s waist was so slender that even his hands, which hadn’t finished growing yet, could easily wrap around it. Furthermore, her skin, which glowed pale even in the darkness, gave off a sweet fragrance unlike anything he had ever smelled before.
What is this scent?
Without realizing it, he leaned his face toward the nape of her neck and inhaled. A sharp smack rang out, and Lucas’s cheek felt like it was on fire.
He clutched his face, dazed.
The woman pushed him away, glaring at him with eyes full of fury.
“What do you think you’re doing?! You little pervert!”
“P-Pervert?”
He gaped at her, his face filled with bewilderment. “I was just trying to catch you because you were falling!”
“If you’re catching someone who’s falling, why are you sniffing them?!”
Lucas’s face turned bright red. As she looked at him with utter contempt, a wave of intense shame—the likes of which he had never felt—washed over him.
He raised his voice in a fit of grievance. “I just… you smelled strange, so I—!”
This time, a stinging heat spread across his other cheek. Lucas stumbled backward.
What kind of woman is this?
He had been bruised all over during harsh training sessions many times, but he had never been struck in the face like this by anyone in his life.
He scowled in humiliation and glared at her. Just as he was about to snap back, Laina came rushing over and violently shoved the woman aside.
“How dare you lay a hand on his face! You witch!”
Driven by the strength of arms hardened by years of riding, the woman fell backward like a sheet of paper. Lucas, who had been huffing in anger, reached out reflexively to stop her fall.
But just as he was about to catch her, a long arm snatched the woman away. Lucas looked up, startled.
Barkas had approached unnoticed. He now held her in his arms, his gaze chilling as he looked down at Lucas.
“…It seems everyone needs to relearn basic discipline.”
Barkas muttered the words coldly before turning to look at Laina, who had turned pale. He added, “Both of you are forbidden from riding horses for the time being.”
“T-That’s not fair…!”
Barkas turned his back heartlessly on Laina’s protest and gave an order to Daren.
“Assign a strict tutor to those two. Do not let them take a single step outside the castle until they have learned proper etiquette.”
Then, without waiting for Daren’s answer, he strode toward the main castle.
Behind his receding back, the enthusiastic cheers of the warriors continued. Most of the Easterners, who revered strength above all else, were completely captivated by him.
On the other hand, the servants, terrified by the extraordinary martial prowess he had displayed, were whispering prayers or crossing themselves. The nobles were already engaged in a heated debate over their new leader’s radical actions.
Leaving the commotion behind, the man leisurely departed the venue.
Laina, who had been watching his back with bated breath, finally spat out a belated protest. “This is so unfair!”
She looked around as if seeking agreement. “That woman is the cause of this whole mess! Why do we have to be the ones punished?!”
Lucas ignored his younger sister, who was on the verge of bursting into tears, and stepped into the middle of the messy training ground.
The soldiers clearing away Alec Gutvan’s corpse naturally made way for him. Kneeling beside the blackened body, Lucas meticulously examined his brother’s handiwork.
The man’s heart had been pierced in a single, decisive strike. Thick blood oozed from the crumpled breastplate, and brain matter leaked slowly from his skull, which had been crushed upon impact with the ground.
As the soldiers removed the dented helmet, they revealed eyes rolled back in a white stare and thick lips flecked with bloody froth.
The end of the man who, until this very morning, had been revered as the strongest spearman in the East was truly miserable.
“All brawn and no skill, I guess.”
“That’s hardly the case.”
Tyron, who had approached his side, let out a hollow laugh and shook his head.
“In his teens, he was a man who beat a troll to death with his bare hands. He was a warrior who possessed excellent technique to match that monstrous strength. No one would have ever imagined this man would meet such a futile end.”
Lucas looked up at Tyron with a worried gaze. “Won’t this cause problems?”
“It was a duel accepted by both parties. If they make an issue of it, House Gutvan will become a laughingstock,” Tyron replied nonchalantly. “Furthermore, while the Young Lord proposed the duel, it was this man who first challenged his authority. No one will be able to blame House Sieorkan for this outcome.”
The man spoke firmly, then gazed thoughtfully toward the gathered nobles.
“However, there might be some discord among the lords.”
Lucas followed his gaze to the high seats. The local nobles seemed flustered by the fact that the administrator of the southeastern region had been replaced overnight.
Watching the murmuring nobles, Tyron added with a sigh, “The succession ceremony might be moved forward. To settle this chaos, a powerful Grand Duke will be needed.”
* * *
“Why are you the one who’s angry?”
Thalia, who had been sitting huddled on the edge of the bed with a sullen expression, finally lost her patience.
Barkas didn’t respond; he simply walked over to the shelf and rummaged through the display case. He appeared as calm as usual, but Thalia could tell his mood was at rock bottom. On the way back to the room, he had maintained a stubborn silence and hadn’t spared her a single glance.
It was absurd. She was the one who should be angry. Wasn’t he the one who went out to fight without even pretending to listen to her?
Thalia glared at him.
The memory of that monster-like man charging at Barkas sent a chill through her entire body, making her stomach twist painfully.
The events that followed hadn’t shocked her. She simply felt like thanking God that he was safe.
At the same time, she wanted to beat this man who had made her heart race with such anxiety. If her legs hadn’t been trembling so much that she felt like she might collapse, she would have run over and acted on that impulse immediately.