Chapter 97 – Piling Up.
“Do you know what you did wrong?”
Pavel stiffened at the sound of a hard voice above him. The voice of his father, Gregory, was much firmer than he usually heard. He knew that it was to rebuke his mistakes, but that’s why he wanted to rebel even more. In this situation, if you take your side a little bit, where will it go?
“That guy first!”
“You disappoint me to the end, Pavel.”
Because of this, he impulsively spewed out lies, but what came back was his father’s voice, which became more severe.
“Did you think I was trying to scold you without even knowing if it was true?”
At his words, Pavel shut her mouth. His father was the commander of the Royal Guard. Due to the nature of his work, he went to war less often than other knights, but he often stayed in the castle and was sensitive to news from within the castle. To him, Pavel tried to defuse the situation with an obvious lie.
“No.”
Knowing that, he belatedly admitted his mistake.
“I know most of what you’ve done. I really can’t keep my face up when I hear what you’ve done.”
However, the guilt that I felt a little bit at my father’s words turned into anger.
“Ugh! What did I do wrong?! What does my father know!?”
He was always a strict father. He stood by Aiolos, the owner of this castle, and always respected him as the most trusted and outstanding knight. Pavel wanted to be a son who would not be ashamed of him. So he went through all of his rigorous training, and out of all the children, he did the most work and won every sparring. He was popular because he was better and stronger than any other kid. He liked being looked upon with envy by other children.
It seemed that the more he did, the closer he got to his father. Because he thought that if he was better than anyone, he would be recognized by him. But he had nothing to praise him for. Rather, it was mostly scolding. Even when he won a match between apprentice knights of his age, and when he beat up the guys his father talked about as if it was no big deal. He never uttered a single compliment. He asked me to be more diligent or asked why.
It was questionable whether he, who rarely returned to their room, took any interest in her.
“A woman dating another man asked for a duel because she wanted to steal it.”
At that, Pavel’s first thought was that he knew more than he had been caught.
“You’re not a knight. Even more so, dueling is almost taboo even for knights. But you applied for a duel out of personal desire and without the minimum qualifications. And that too with the gloves I used in the past.”
What he held up was the old glove Pavel was holding. It is a glove that he secretly hid while pretending to throw it away at the word that he, the father, would throw it away.
“And I’ve heard that the bathroom locker room used by female employees is particularly humid.”
Gregory’s words made his body stiffen. It was something he thought no one knew. He thought he wouldn’t be noticed by anyone. But how does his father know about it?
“A maid named Charlotte told me.”
Pavel couldn’t bear to open his mouth at the fact that he had been caught a long time ago by the person he shouldn’t have known. He says he didn’t suspect much at first, she says. However, she said that at some point, the moisture that didn’t fit got on her, and no matter how she looked at her underwear, there was something other than water on her underwear, so she pretended to enter her bathtub and peeped into her dressing room to see what was going on. Pavel couldn’t lift her head when she found out everything.
“…Then why didn’t you scold me then?”
The character of his father, he knew, made it impossible not to scold him. It wouldn’t be strange for him to be beaten until right before his death. But why didn’t he scold himself?
“She originally meant me too, but she asked me not to scold you.”
He thought it couldn’t be. She’d rather think her father blackmailed her into shutting her up. But he already knew the answer.
“She said that you were still young and that you would be curious about women for a long time. I thought it was right and left you alone. I thought you would quit someday.”
That his father would have scolded him unless someone stopped him.
“But this is your fault, no matter what excuses you put on it.”
You challenged the knights to a duel that was taboo and unqualified for the subject of the knight’s honor, and when the opponent did not accept, you arbitrarily judged the opponent and harassed a person in a cowardly and shameless way. I even insulted my opponent. As a result, he fought a duel and was defeated uglierly.
“Follow me. I have work for you to do. Come wearing protective gear and swords.”
And the place he was brought to was the gymnasium. It was already expected. It was because the sparring that my father mainly used to scold him was close to real combat.
“These people…”
However, Logi, who was sparring with Usher, and one of the knights from Paciphenia were standing there waiting for them. Gregory approached the knight.
“Thank you for accepting my request, Lord Shalby.”
“No. If it’s a match between the children, it will be a good experience for each other.”
Pavel seemed to know what Gregory would tell him to do.
“I’ve already talked to that kid. Give me a signal and start.”
It was sparring. He saw this as an opportunity. Usher was unilaterally beaten and defeated by cowardly measures without any time to show off his skills, but the long sword that many knights favored was Pavel’s specialty. Gregory would want to lose to that guy, but he didn’t intend to. He is the best among children. With this, Pavel could prove that he was better than he thought. When the signal rang out like that.
Pavel immediately jumped at Logi and swung his sword. He knew that Rogi was the guy who beat Usher every time, but Usher was no big deal anyway. He could have easily won if he had fought formally and not used cowardly methods. Defeating this guy proves that he is excellent and that fact at the same time. So maybe he was too careless. All he could see the next moment was the tip of Logi’s sword stopped right in front of his nose.
Even though it was a sword, the tip that looked sharp was aiming fiercely at his eyes. I wondered how this had happened, and Logi grabbed his sword with one hand and the other with one hand and aimed at his eyes.
“No, that’s nonsense! This is invalid!”
There was no way he could hold a sword like that in real combat. It was an act that was possible because it was a sword. However, it was none other than Gregory who refuted him.
“It’s actually possible. So, are you going to admit defeat or will you continue?”
“Ugh, out of my guard! It’s because I’m out of my guard!”
Pavel backed away, this time carefully watching the opportunity. It was certainly similar to what Pavel knew, but Logi’s posture and swordsmanship were somewhat different from those he was accustomed to. Even though it is the same posture, there is a difference in the following posture or stride length. So when he tried to attack Logi once again, thinking that it was just an unfamiliar technique.
“What?”
Logi, who moved first by a short distance, pushed the sword between the protective gear he was wearing and pressed it as it was, making him look at the ground. The pointy part of the cross guard touched the back of his neck, and it looked as if it would stab him at any moment. Even after that, he did not admit defeat and ran again and again, but the result was the same. He was thrown to the ground without a single successful attack, or he was targeted for a vital point or suppressed. It was a crushing defeat.
Eventually, when he ran out of stamina to challenge again, Gregory had a conversation with Shalby.
“Pasiphenia’s swordsmanship is more flexible when dealing with people.”
“Rantua’s swordsmanship seems to be more focused on dealing with monsters than people.”
“Yes, since all the neighboring countries are members of the alliance.”
So they were having a conversation.
“Hey, are you very busy?”
Pavel raised his head at the familiar voice he had heard many times. There Charlotte, whom he often peeped at, had approached with her little basket. She made eye contact with him for a moment, but she pretended not to know and avoided her gaze and looked at her shalby. It was her mercy he would never have known if Gregory had not taught him.
“Oh no, this is it.”
“Then let’s go back. Have a good time.”
Shalvi tried to say more, but Gregory took Pavel with him as if his business was over. He stared blankly at Charlotte, who was dragged by Gregory, but with her hands behind her back, looking up at Shalby, and at the bewildered Shalby. Why? Her heart ached It just hurt. Then when he came to his senses, he was back in Gregory’s office.
“You are no longer my son.”
One after another, his cold sentence weighs him down.
“I’ll guarantee you food, clothing, and shelter until you grow up. But don’t think of calling me father until you repent of your mistakes and realize what a proper knight is. This is your punishment.”
At the same time, Pavel is robbed of his father’s old gloves, which he treasured, and thrown out the door. In doing so, it seems that she ran into Hiss, who was in a similar position to his father, but Pavel had no choice but to walk absently and return to his room. Gregory never came in anyway, so he was alone in the room most of the time, but he didn’t know how to describe the feeling that something was missing. Hiss watched Pavel’s back and went into Gregory’s office.
“Isn’t the punishment excessive?”
“Don’t talk like that.”
Heath asked as if to reprimand himself, and Gregory shook his head bitterly.
“For a knight, a duel is a taboo act.
Being a knight is definitely a job that requires strength and skill. However, what would happen if such a knight went around using his strength for self-interest without knowing a sense of duty and honor?
“Do you remember, too? What this territory was like before Aiolos-nim ascended the throne.”
“…”
Heath silently accepted the tea he handed him and drank it.
“I heard you called me.”
A girl came in through the crack in the door, her red hair flowing. Aiolus closed his eyes, but wanted to cover his nose at the nostalgic scent that had grown thicker.
“No, please leave for a moment.”
He let her maid, who had been guarding his side, out of her. He was silent for a while to calm her mind. He knew the girl was waiting, but he couldn’t calm her upset stomach. Having barely calmed down, he opened his eyes and looked at the girl once more. Even after making her wait for a long time, she watched him with a white face that didn’t come to mind. The girl who really resembled her so fiercely was poison.
A deadly poison you don’t want to deny. I was addicted to the poison to my heart’s content, coveted the girl, and wanted to satisfy my burning thirst and longing. He looked at the cage he had saved this time. There, a little bird chirping, unaware of his future fate. He took the pendant out of his pocket.
“You know what this is?”
“That…”
The girl checked the pendant he was carrying and trembled. If it was a witch, there would be no way she wouldn’t know. The identity of this. Most of all, Aeolus had heard of his wife and had known him, but he never thought he would be able to meet him in person.
“The red witch was orange, the black witch was light blue, and the white witch was light green.”
But there were three exceptions. According to each color.
“Red, blue, green.”
As he continued to speak, the girl shuddered. It was natural. All three of these were colors that only appeared when meeting a special witch.
“I want to make a deal.”
The pendant was glowing red.
