Chapter 575 – 575. Trial of the Lioness (1)
He wants to learn ‘Olivion swordsmanship,’ which is the symbol of the Duke of Olivion.
The weight it means is never light.
As a member of the Duke of Olivion’s family, it was no different than wanting to succeed him.
“… You probably don’t know what that means, do you?”
Riod narrowed his eyes and glared at Cha Hanseong.
Riod’s fierce gaze, which was pierced at the top of the head of Cha Han-seong, who was lowering his head, was very sharp and sharp.
He inadvertently shuddered at the pressure of thinking that if he could kill a person with just his gaze, he would do so right away, but Cha Han-seong did not withdraw his remarks.
No matter how much he was a commoner rather than an aristocrat, Cha Hanseong knew the meaning of his words.
He lowered his head and bit his lip in response.
“… I know.”
“You know how rude it is for you to come to me alone and make such a request, right?”
No matter how noble or royalty of the Kingdom of Pernias, they would not come alone like this and ask for swordsmanship to be taught recklessly.
The reason why Cha Han-seong, who was no different from a commoner, was able to visit Riod’s mansion by himself and have a private meeting like this is because he is a member of Artia, to which Riod belongs, and came to this mansion often for training through Eira’s mediation.
No matter how much Eira requested him to go through his basic training, it was not the same as saying that he would formally learn his own swordsmanship.
“… Yes.”
That’s why Cha Han-seong was convinced that this place was the place to win, even if he had the awareness that he had committed something stupid like eating rice or rolled rice.
“I was wrong. I thought you were different.”
Riod’s sharp voice was full of disappointment.
The reason why Riod allowed Cha Han-seong, a commoner but of unknown origin, to join the Knights of Artia was the result of reflecting his values that valued only skill and character.
“Did you end up approaching me aiming for my position and family?”
The number of young nobles who have requested to learn Olivion’s swordsmanship is still too many to count with ten fingers.
If only he could inherit his swordsmanship as a duke of the kingdom, if he could become a member of that duke’s family, it would be natural for him to have great status and honor within the kingdom.
However, even if Riode said so, he already knew that Cha Han-seong was different from his family.
This was the pressure to find out his intentions.
“That is absolutely not the case!”
His lowered head lifted, and Cha Han-sung answered in a loud voice.
Contrary to the continuous positive response to Riod’s question, the negative was shown for the first time.
Riode, who finally met Cha Han-sung’s gaze, quietly waited for him to continue his words.
“I don’t want status or prestige.”
Nor was he ambitious enough to presumptuously dream of such a thing.
Cha Han-seong was a man who knew his job well, and he had no particular desire for success.
Just by joining the Knights of Artia and gaining experience, Cha Han-seong was confident that he was able to achieve the best career in his life.
What he wants is very simple.
“I am… I want to be strong.”
Cha Han-seong’s voice with clenched fists is full of trembling.
“When Eira-senpai was in danger. I couldn’t do anything.”
When some members of the knights were recruited and went to support under Mograf.
In the process of rescuing the isolated Eira and her platoon members, Cha Han-seong did nothing.
The thought of saving Ayla asked for help from her superiors and her temple, but she was blocked by realistic constraints and couldn’t make it all happen.
It was none other than Erin who solved all the problems and rescued Eira.
Even though Aiesra had the help of the archbishop of the temple and a hero of her class, like Riod, her Erin’s ability to safely rescue and restore her Eira was her humble strength and her own. It was too much of a comparison.
She even played a big role in the fight against the undead and monsters that followed.
Cha Han-seong had to feel helpless at the enormous gap that existed between himself and Erin.
Anger and resentment at himself for not doing anything.
“If the same thing happens next time…”
And even then, anxiety about not being able to do anything.
“At that time, I really want to protect Eira-senpai by her side.”
“…”
Hearing Cha Han-seong’s words, Lyode frowned and did not readily answer.
‘Who is this guy talking about like this in front of? Am I out of my mind?’
Cha Han-seong was not properly aware of who he was talking to.
It is ironic that the father of the woman he wants to protect is the one who expresses his determined will ahead of mixed feelings of ambition and urgency.
Almost ‘Father! Give me your daughter!’
Due to her busy schedule, Eira had to be thankful that she wasn’t at her current mansion.
‘No. Rather, this is what he came for.’
I can’t help but think that Cha Han-seong also visited for the present, as if he couldn’t bear to say this in front of Eira.
“… Please. Captain. Please teach me swordsmanship.”
Cha Hanseong bowed his head once again as he stared at him without answering anything.
No matter how disapproving he looks, this time he is determined not to back down easily.
“I will ask you one thing.”
Cha Hanseong lowered his head and it took a few seconds before Liode opened his mouth.
“Yes.”
“Why on earth do you want to go so far for my daughter?”
Riod asked, referring to Goodeyira as her ‘daughter’.
It is not that she treats Eira as a member of her order, as one of her knights, but as her father’s question about what feelings she harbors for her daughter.
“I like and respect you. As a person, as a senior, and… Ah.”
For a moment, the words ‘as a woman’ almost came out of the atmosphere, but the word went right in front of Riod, who was exuding a terrifying force.
‘It’s a big deal.’
Cha Han-seong felt his whole body goosebumps at the terrifying pressure coming from the front.
It’s not like you’re going to kill someone just by looking at them, it’s like your heart stops just by looking at them.
“All right, Captain. That’s me…”
He hurriedly opened his mouth and tried to make an excuse, but the voice that came out of Cha Han-seong’s mouth is full of embarrassment, as if the hardened mind he had eaten so far had been released in an instant.
And at that moment, someone who opened the door of the office urgently intervened in the conversation between the two.
“Now! Let’s calm down for a moment!”
The man who quickly intervened between Riode and Cha Han-sung was Eun-hyeon.
Originally, today was a pre-arranged visit to examine Theresia’s body, so Lloyd didn’t show such a surprised reaction.
Rather, it was Cha Han-seong who was surprised.
“Eh, Eunhyun?”
“Long time no see.”
Eunhyun gave a small nod of her head.
“Ah, ahaha… Hello?”
“Erin-sama…”
Cha Han-seong’s embarrassed face hardened when he even confirmed Erin’s hurriedly following Eun-hyeon to say hello.
Outside the office, he sensed that he had heard everything he and Leode had been talking about.
Even her own thoughts about Eira.
“That is… He didn’t mean to listen. I am truly sorry!”
Cha Han-seong, who checked Erin’s face with an awkward smile out of embarrassment, was at a loss for words and put on a blank expression.
“Gwa, it’s okay! I’ll keep it a secret from Eira!”
When Erin is desperately comforting Cha Han-seong.
On the other hand, Eunhyun was desperately persuading Riod.
“… Get out of the way This is not your problem.”
Riod, who usually had a blunt impression, lost his cool in a rare way.
Eun-hyeon smiled bitterly at the fact that she couldn’t help it, perhaps because it was a problem involving her daughter, but now it was first to calm him down a little.
“Let’s loosen that expression for now and talk. A little. You’re ready to make a knife with just your eyes and send someone to the goal.”
“How is that possible with your eyes? If possible, it was right away.”
“You dude! You’re sneakily talking about your true feelings! You shouldn’t have said that here!”
Riod frowned as he looked at Eun-hyeon, who was standing in front of him and interceding.
“… What the hell are you looking at me for?”
“A father with a daughter.”
“You know that. You don’t understand this feeling. Maybe in 20 years I’ll understand.”
If Eun-hyeon’s baby that came out of Illyana’s stomach was her daughter, Liode was sure that Eun-hyeon would react more than he did.
“What are you doing?”
After a long scuffle, when they were mediating between Rio Dea and Cha Han-sung, Eun-hyeon informed Butler Mi-no of this fact, and Theresia, who urgently asked for help, entered her office.
“… Theresia?”
Lyod hardened her face as she saw Theresia, who supported her pregnant belly with her hands and carried her heavy steps, supported by her maid.
Theresia, who normally doesn’t come out of her bed due to her inconvenient movement, thought about why she had moved her steps to her office, and then turned her head towards Eun-hyeon.
“… Did you call?”
“I didn’t want to call you either, but I thought this was the only thing that would calm you down.”
Despite her uncomfortable behavior, Theresia did not lose her smile.
With the help of the maid, she slowly entered the office and sat down on the sofa in the office.
“Honey. Could you please sit down?”
“… I will.”
Lyod was forced to sit on the center sofa in the highest seat.
She couldn’t bear more of a burden on Theresia, who was carrying her youngest child in her belly.
“I heard a lot about it. She wants to learn her swordsmanship from him?”
“… Yes.”
“Do you even know what that means?”
“… I know.”
“All right.”
Theresia smiled and turned her head to Leo de.
“I agree.”
“… Theresia.”
“Wouldn’t it be okay if I gave you at least a chance?”
“…”
Liod bit his mouth tightly, as if he was not too reluctant.
“At least he’s the man Eira brought to her mansion herself. Trust me.”
Theresia seemed to have made up her mind to trust her daughter’s eyes.
The motive that made her Cha Han-seong resolve to properly learn her sword from Riod was because she couldn’t tolerate her helpless self who couldn’t do anything when Eira was in danger.
That determination and grit seemed to have been imprinted in Theresia’s heart as a good score.
“…”
And the fundamental reason why Riod didn’t like Cha Han-seong was that he vaguely guessed Eira’s inner thoughts.
If he had been a man who did not care about his own daughter, he would have put it away himself without hesitation.
The father of her daughter, who is about to grow up and become an adult at some point and leave her in her arms, is very complicated.
“Did you say Cha Han-seong?”
“Yes yes.”
“As a mother, I am very grateful that you care so much for my daughter.”
It seemed that Theresia was very happy to meet a man who was determined to be strong for her daughter’s sake.
But she soon erased that smile and spoke.
“But this is a completely different matter.”
“… ?”
For a moment, Cha Han-seong did not understand what he was talking about.
Contrary to what he said just before, ‘Isn’t it okay if I give Leo a chance?’
“Neither I nor him have any intention of putting a man weaker than her daughter next to our daughter.”
Her tone and demeanor are extremely gentle and polite, befitting the dignity of a noble duchess.
However, her words, though they were spoken in a roundabout way, contained a very stern meaning.
‘You are weaker than my daughter, Eira.’
‘So she has no qualifications to be by Eira’s side.’
“And I don’t really like this situation, where a member of the lower ranks of the Knights Templar visits the Commander’s mansion alone and has a private conversation like this.”
‘Know the subject.’
Cha Hanseong, who realized the meaning of the word, which contained various meanings, stiffened his body and faced Theresia’s eyes with tension.
She is a very beautiful and elegant lady, but she is also a woman who controlled the social world, which was a battleground for Theresia and aristocratic wives in her youth.
She was able to raise Riod, a baron from an aristocratic family, who had only the honor of a hero, to the rank of count and to the position of knight commander. Closely resembled
“Wow…”
Even Erin, who was watching her grown-ups by her side, was overwhelmed by the atmosphere and shed her admiration.
If Riod is a valiant lion who leads everyone in the herd, Theresia is like a lioness who supports her chief lion and strengthens the core of her herd.
“1 month.”
“Yes… ?”
“I will give you one month. Within that period, if I could even brush my boyfriend’s collar. At that time, I will convince this person to formally learn swordsmanship.”
The conditions that Theresia put forward were enough to make Cha Han-sung stop breathing.
Far from persuading Riod to mediate well, it is no joke to put pressure on him with stronger conditions than Riod.
She lost her time to answer, but Theresia continued her words in a gentle voice.
“I hope that your actions in coming to see my husband like this are not rude or reckless, but spirited and courageous.”
Cha Hanseong swallowed his saliva and could only nod his head.
The gentle lioness’s test began, to prove to herself that she was worth it, enough to cover this disrespect.
“I will do my best to live up to your expectations.”
