Lucia Chapter 50

< — Truth & Falsehood — > (5)

TN: I don't think I've ever mentioned it but things in brackets like this: [], are conversations from the past . Brackets like this: () just tells you who is speaking .

The aide assumed a solemn expression as he spoke .

“Your Highness, Crown Prince, Marquis of DeLing sent an official letter of complaint . ”

Kwiz clicked his tongue and skimmed through the document handed to him . In conclusion, the long letter of complaint that went on and on for pages was requesting permission to punish the Knight Krotin who insulted the honor of the Marquis .

A while ago, Knights of Deling jumped Roy and were beaten half-dead so they couldn't move for several months .

“Why do these filthy bastards that attack in groups have so much to say? Is it still a proper knight if it jumps a single opponent with numbers?”

The aide still couldn't adapt to the Crowned Prince spitting out the vulgar jargon of the common people every time it happened .

The aide controlled his expression and continued speaking .

“It is not the duel itself they have an issue with, but Sir Krotin's remarks . ”

“I'm sure what they want to deal with isn't Sir Krotin . ”

Marquis of DeLing was one of the representative figures of the opposing forces against the Crown Prince . If opposing side could use this matter to remove the Knight Krotin from the Crown Prince's side, there were many things to gain from it .

They could make a crack in the authority of the Crown Prince who was unable to protect his escort Knight, they could aim for a gap in the Crown Prince's defenses after he lost a remarkably skilled escort and because the Crown Prince was unable to safeguard the escort handed to him by the Taran Duke, they could make a crack form in the two's relationship .

Kwiz turned his gaze to Roy standing next to him .

Even though Roy obviously knew they were talking about him, his expression didn't change as if he wasn't hearing anything . Sometimes, the aide felt the desire to beat up Roy's brazen face .

“Sir Krotin . Don't say anything after beating those knights . Good going there . It isn't like you killed them yet those jumping bastards have the nerve . But, why did you say that?” (Kwiz)

“Say what?” (Roy)

“It is said you called the knights, dogs of the Marquis . ”

“I didn't say that . I said dogs licking their master's feet . ”

Kwiz groaned .

“That is virtually the same thing . Isn't that why the Knight of the DeLing Marquis jumped you? Saying you insulted the Marquis . ”

“I don't know why that is insulting . I simply spoke the truth . A Knight is their master's dog . Like a dog, all one have to do is wag their tail to their master and listen nicely . I only said my mind since they were going around picking fights with uninvolved people . ”

Not only the Crown Prince, but everyone around was taken aback .

“A knight is their master's dog? Does Sir Krotin think so of yourself?” (Kwiz)

“Oh yes . I am my Lord's dog . If he asks me to bark, I bark . Woof-woof . ”

Kwiz burst out laughing . He grabbed his stomach and smacked the table as he laughed . However the expression of the other escorting knights besides Roy were distorted and they fixed Roy with murderous gazes .

After laughing till tears came to his eyes, Kwiz took a while to calm down then spoke to his aide .

“Did you hear that? Write it well that Sir Krotin did not insult any knight and send back the letter of complaint . ”

“…Yes . ”

Without doubt, the damn man was a lunatic . No, he was a mad dog? The aide made up his mind to never mess around with Knight Krotin if possible . After all, one avoids shit because it's dirty . (1)

“I envy the Taran Duke . To have such a loyal knight . ”

Kwiz glanced over his knights with a meaningful gaze . The knights who met his gaze for a moment turned their gaze to empty air .

“But the Taran Duke has confined himself to the north with no thoughts of coming up to the capital . I thought even if it was the Duchess, one would at least come once . ”

It was nearly a year since the Duke got married and two months had passed since the New Year began . He was fascinated by how the princess who lived in palace was enduring so well in the north .

He thought she would be unable to tolerate the frustration and even if alone, she would drop by the capital . Through the description of the people who had seen Princess Vivian directly, he knew the princess was far from being a lady of unsurpassed beauty . Even so, he couldn't shake off his doubt as to whether that rumor was true or not .

'Is she so beautiful that the Duke is hiding her tightly? Or is it just preference? But looking at his past history with women, something's totally different . '

Kwiz found very little success in digging into Princess Vivian . He learnt the Princess went out of the palace pretending to be a maid but as it cost more time and money to keep digging even further, he simply gave up .

If it was an enemy, he would look into every nook and cranny but there was no need to do so for someone on his side . In any case, they would meet when once she came up to the capital .

'Acting as a maid to go out . You do quite the interesting things . '

Kwiz held a favorable impression towards this younger sister of his he never knew existed .

In the capital where incidents happened without pause, Fabian was working hard today as usual . Today, he was doing his favorite work: the task of gathering the rumors circulating in the capital .

“Hoh, this is new . There's a summoning circle to raise the devil under the Taran Duke's Castle in his fief?”

Fabian snickered and wrote down all the unfiltered rumors in his report to the Duke . Fabian also studied the report from him men . As he looked through the report, his expression stiffened . The report was from his men planted around the female novelist .

As she was the only acquaintance to the princess who became the Duchess, Fabian ordered his men to check up on Norman regularly . This was because someone who chanced upon her relationship with the Duchess might choose to approach her and cause her harm . On the other hand, he was also able to use this to confirm that the female novelist was tight-lipped about the Duchess . So, in a way, it was a form of surveillance and protection .

“Why did the Countess of Falcon go there? And not just once or twice . ”

According at the report, the purpose of the visiting the female novelist was because the countess was a fan of the female writer's novel .

'I don't think that's the only reason though…'

Fabian's sharp sense was telling him so .

'Anyhow, she's a really difficult one . '

Since a long time ago, the Countess always left a bad taste in his mouth . The fact that he disliked her ominous past history of marrying three times with all 3 husbands currently dead, was just secondary . Sometimes one happens to dislike a person for no reason . To Fabian, the Countess of Falcon was such a person .

There was the option of observing the situation over time but Fabian decided to file it in his report . The biggest reason for Fabian's capability was his speedy situational judgements . He judged that he should not carelessly disregard news related to the Duchess .

At this point, he now knew that that the Duke was not playing newly-wed . For the Duke to share a bed with one woman for over 10 months? It was unprecedented . The Duke was not a womanizer . This was how Fabian saw it . The Duke simply satisfied his instinctive desires . He never had the slightest emotional exchanges with women .

Just the thought that such a Duke would possibly be settling down with a woman made Fabian feel like he'd glimpsed into the mysteries of life .

'Truly, the more you live, the more you learn . '

Chapter end