Chapter 85
Soon after, thunderous cheers shook the training ground.
Lucas let out the breath he had been holding.
Varkas pulled the halberd from the man’s chest and turned his horse’s head.
When the blazing firelight clearly illuminated his handsome features, the crowd’s cheers grew even stronger. Lucas looked around at the faces of the warriors flushed red with excitement, then turned his gaze back to Varkas.
Even amid all that commotion, the man looked infinitely calm.
With an expressionless face that even seemed touched by weariness, Varkas crossed the training ground and lightly jumped down from the saddle.
“Find out whether House Gutvan has another useful man.”
Varkas handed his weapon to a servant who had hurried over, then gave Daren an order.
“If there is no suitable successor, it is fine to look among the retainers for another qualified person to entrust the southeastern region to.”
“…Among his half-siblings, there is a fairly capable warrior.”
Daren answered in a trembling voice.
“He was originally supposed to join the Wolfram Lancers… but I hear he also attended the academy in the capital, so he should be able to handle the role of lord as well.”
Varkas removed his metal glove, handed it to a servant, and lightly touched his mouth with a thoughtful expression.
“Bring him before me as soon as possible. If I judge him to be suitable, we will hold the appointment ceremony immediately.”
Just then, two servants removed the heavy plate armor from his chest. With his body lightened, Varkas immediately crossed the crowd and approached him.
Lucas unconsciously took a step backward. Then, when the woman he was holding seemed about to stagger and fall, he reflexively grabbed her waist.
At that moment, heat rushed to his head.
The woman’s waist was so slender that even his still-growing hands could easily grasp it. Moreover, from her skin, shining white even in the darkness, came a sweet scent he had never smelled in his life.
What on earth is this smell?
Without realizing it, he tilted his face toward the nape of her neck and sniffed, when a sharp slap rang out and his cheek caught fire.
Lucas held his face with a blank expression.
The woman shoved him away and shouted at him with eyes full of anger.
“What are you doing! You perverted brat!”
“P-perverted?”
He opened his mouth with a flustered face.
“I was just trying to catch you because you were about to fall…!”
“If you were catching me because I was falling, why were you smelling me?”
Lucas’s face turned bright red.
When she made a contemptuous expression, an intense shame he had never felt before flooded over him.
With an aggrieved face, he burst out in a loud voice.
“I only did it because there was a strange smell coming from your body…!”
Then, this time, a burning heat spread across his other cheek.
Lucas stepped backward.
What kind of woman is this?
He had often ended up covered in bruises from harsh training, but never in his life had he been struck in the face like this by anyone.
He glared at the woman with an expression of humiliation. Just as he was about to snap something at her, Raina, who had rushed over, shoved the woman away roughly.
“How dare you lay a hand on anyone’s face, you witch!”
By the strength of her powerful arms trained through horseback riding, the woman’s body fell backward like a sheet of paper.
Lucas, who had been fuming, reflexively reached out.
Just as he was about to catch her, a long arm snatched the woman away.
Lucas flinched and raised his head.
Varkas had come right in front of him before he knew it, holding her in his arms and looking down at him with cool eyes.
“…It seems everyone needs to relearn the basic rules first.”
Varkas muttered coldly, then turned to Raina, whose face had turned blue, and added,
“Both of you are forbidden from riding horses for the time being.”
“Y-you can’t…!”
Varkas turned his back coldly on Raina as she tried to protest, and gave Daren an order.
“Assign those two a strict tutor. Until they can show proper manners, do not let them take a single step outside the castle.”
Then, without even listening to Daren’s answer, he took a step toward the main castle.
Behind his retreating back, the warriors’ fervent cheers continued. Most of the easterners, who worshiped strength, seemed completely captivated by him.
On the other hand, the servants seemed frightened by the extraordinary force he had shown, murmuring prayers or crossing themselves over their chests. The nobles, too, were engaged in heated debate over the future leader’s drastic conduct.
Leaving all that commotion behind, the man leisurely left the hall.
Raina, who had been watching his back in silence, belatedly let out a protest.
“This is too unfair!”
She looked around as if seeking agreement.
“The cause of this commotion is that woman! So why are we the ones being punished!”
Leaving behind his younger sister, who was on the verge of bursting into tears, Lucas approached the middle of the ruined training ground.
The soldiers removing Alek Gutvan’s corpse naturally stepped aside.
Lucas bent one knee beside the blackened body and carefully examined his brother’s work.
The man seemed to have had his heart pierced in a single blow. Thick blood was flowing from inside the crushed breastplate, and brain matter was slowly leaking from the head that seemed to have been smashed when it struck the ground.
When the soldiers completely removed the dented helmet, eyes bulging white and thick lips frothing with blood were revealed.
The end of the man who had been praised as the strongest greatswordsman in the East until that very morning was truly miserable.
“He was only big. I guess his skills were terrible.”
“There is no way that is true.”
Tyrone, who had approached his side, shook his head with a hollow laugh.
“In his teenage years, he killed a troll with his bare fists, without even a weapon. Despite that monstrous strength, he was a warrior with excellent technique as well. No one would have imagined this man would meet such an empty end.”
Lucas looked up at Tyrone with worried eyes.
“Won’t this become a problem?”
“It was a duel accepted by both sides. If they make a problem of it, House Gutvan will become a laughingstock to everyone.”
He answered indifferently.
“Moreover, although the Young Master proposed the duel, it was this man who first challenged his authority. No one will be able to criticize House Siarkan over this result.”
The man answered firmly, then looked thoughtfully toward the place where the nobles had gathered.
“But there may be some discord among the lords.”
Lucas followed his gaze toward the seat of honor. The provincial nobles seemed flustered by the fact that the administrator of the southeastern region had changed overnight.
Tyrone added with a sigh.
“The succession ceremony may be moved up. To settle all this chaos, a powerful Grand Duke will be needed.”
***
“Why are you the one getting angry?”
Thalia, who had been sitting curled up on one side of the bed with a sullen expression, finally could not hold back and demanded an answer.
Varkas gave no reply and walked to the shelf, rummaging through the display cabinet. He looked as calm as usual. But Thalia could easily tell that his mood had hit rock bottom. On the way back to the room, he had maintained silence the entire time and had not even looked at her.
It was absurd. She was the one who should be angry. Had he not gone off to fight without even pretending to listen to her?
Thalia glared at him with fierce eyes.
When she remembered the sight of that monstrous man charging at Varkas, chills ran through her entire body and her stomach twisted painfully.
The scene that had happened afterward had not shocked her at all. She had only felt grateful to God that he was safe.
At the same time, she wanted to beat this man for making her so anxious. If her legs had not been trembling to the point of collapse, she would have run over and acted on that impulse at once.
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