30

As a member of the Royal Knights, Barhen slowly raises his level and is recognized for his skills.

After that, it was only after becoming the king’s direct escort knight that he would become entangled in an arranged marriage with the royal family.

“The person who received the letter should personally check it. Do not divulge what is written inside. Then let’s go.”

The herald lowered his head and quickly disappeared.

Yenid seemed to observe Shion, but soon disappeared with the ladies-in-waiting.

Left alone, Shion looks down at the letter.

“Whoa…”

Shion came to his senses belatedly and opened the envelope.

Then, the wax with the seal of the royal palace splits open to reveal the inside.

On the finely folded light blue paper was written in black ink.

It is revealed in advance that the letter was handwritten by the 17th Royal Knight Commander, Gloone Eilike.

Deliver this to Shion Reggiard, one of the children of the Marquis of Reggiard.

According to the king’s order, I want to test you.

Please visit the Royal Knight Commander’s Office within the designated period.

If you break this, you will be severely punished for disobeying the king’s command.

Shion checks the contents of the letter again and shakes his head.

The handwriting was quite fluent, and at the top of the letter was the seal of the Royal Knight Commander.

It was easy to understand the intention just by looking at the sentence to test.

‘He’s probably trying to see if he can use sword skills.’

If it is a king’s name, it means that the king himself came forward.

Originally, the royal knight commander would go first and then the king would decide whether or not to join, but this time the order was changed.

If the king made up his mind and pushed through, he would be semi-forced to join the royal knights.

‘I don’t want to ruin my life.’

Nobles could benefit from being members of the Royal Knights, but it was just a waste of time for them.

If he joined the Royal Knights, he would face direct royalty and high-ranking officials every day.

According to the laws of the royal palace, they had to learn unique ceremonies and were forced to act according to the rules.

Above all, because you can’t move freely, if you look at various possibilities, you have no choice but to lose.

‘How am I supposed to refuse this?’

Shion closed the letter in agony.

For ordinary reasons, the will of the king could not be broken.

Shouldn’t we use something special as an excuse, like a goal that must be achieved?

‘Um… Shall we try this?’

Shion unexpectedly found the answer in a nearby place.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was realistic and inevitable.

‘I’ll have to make an excuse for my fiancé.’

Shion put the letter in her arms and headed for the next room.

If you want to use the harness, you had to be prepared.

‘If this is the case, I will accept the debt. It’s a fair deal.’

* * *

The mansion of the Duke of Adelaira, the family head’s room.

Robbins was listening to Yenid about what happened today.

It was not uncommon for a messenger from the royal palace to come with a letter.

It must have been that someone from the royal family or a high-ranking official showed interest in Shion.

“I can’t ask about the correspondence.”

The letter brought by the direct messenger of the palace could never be confirmed by anyone other than the person concerned.

Although it is possible to know that it was sent from the palace, who wrote what and what is strictly kept secret.

Of course, the person concerned could secretly inform a close person, but from the moment the information spreads widely, the royal palace will ask for responsibility for maintaining the secret.

“…But, won’t you tell Hanette?”

Yenid carefully guessed as he put down the teacup.

Currently, the person with the closest relationship to Zion in this mansion was Hanette.

Considering that we’ve gotten closer compared to our first meeting, wouldn’t we be sure to tell you about the contents of the correspondence?

“That’s something you don’t know. Do you know what will be written?”

“What can you hide from the person you love?”

“Hmm… I’m not saying it’s wrong, but isn’t the premise wrong? I don’t think we’ve gotten that close yet.”

Robbins tries to touch his chin, but then hesitates.

There was no reason for the royal palace to send a letter to Zion.

Rather, it would have been more natural to try to make contact with the eldest or second son of the Marquis of Reggiard.

Maybe it was because of something that happened recently that he started paying attention to Zion.

“I think the royal knight commander sent a letter.”

“Why is the Royal Knight Commander sending me a letter?”

“Shouldn’t we be brought into the Royal Knights soon?”

“… ah.”

Yenid then suddenly remembered the fact that Shion used a sword technique.

I knew that the implementation of the sword technique was amazing, but it didn’t really touch me because I had only heard about it.

However, if he had such outstanding qualities, the royal knights could not help but show interest.

“Then something good happened to the head of the household.”

“… not necessarily.”

“Yes? Isn’t that so?”

“If the ransom price of Shion goes up, how will the Marquis of Reggiard come out?”

At some point, Yenid’s complexion darkened.

He was briefly happy to hear that a member of the Royal Knights became his son-in-law, but behind that was a trap.

As Shion proves his worth, the arranged marriage between the two families will be shaken.

Marquis Regard would not want to hand over his son, who had outstanding qualities, to a spoiled young lady.

“It doesn’t matter as long as the marriage is over. But didn’t they just have an engagement ceremony? That’s enough to take the damage.”

“So you’re saying you’re joining the Ternane side?”

“… There’s nothing good about hanging out with Ternane right now. If I’m careful, it won’t break the engagement.”

This arranged marriage was an issue that was carried out with a view to the distant future.

It was a choice for both families to benefit, and if one suffered a loss, the other would not be safe either.

Of course, if faced with an extreme situation, the Marquis of Reggiard could have made a decision as well.

“What is the head of the household going to do?”

“I can’t interfere now. Even if you interfere, the Marquis Reggiard won’t like it.”

“… Didn’t the eldest son also say he would join the Royal Knights?”

“Um, yes. He must be going through the screening process at the royal palace.”

“Should we try to bring in nobles from the same family at the same time?”

“…”

Robens looked at Yenid with his mouth shut.

Yenid quietly accepts that gaze, wondering if he may have said something wrong.

“You are right. There are probably no cases where two nobles from the same family were brought in.”

“Then only one of the two will go in?”

“The king or the head of the royal knights might want to join, but the bureaucrats will oppose it.

Because it looks like it’s pushing one side.”

Roberns belatedly relieved and lifts the cooled teacup.

The Marquis Reggiard had no choice but to choose the eldest son unconditionally.

I was already watching the screening first, and I had more experience accumulated during that time.

Perhaps, after being persuaded, Shion would have no choice but to give up joining the Royal Knights.

‘Parents expect a lot from their first child.’

In any family, the firstborn bears special significance.

I was born first, I have seen you for a long time, and I trust you more than anyone else.

Maybe that’s why he, too, has been obsessed with Hanette.

‘Although my greed is involved… It was also necessary for Hanette.’

Of course, it was close to narrow-minded self-justification.

It could have been that he was trying to hide his greed, or that he was pushing Hannett to take responsibility as a member of the family.

But even so, one fact has not changed.

‘Wouldn’t it make me a little happier if I take him with me, even if he’s handsome and decent?’

* * *

The Royal Palace, the Royal Knight Commander’s Office.

Glonet entrusted the escort of the king to the deputy knight commander and was waiting for someone to come.

I had already sent a letter, and even if I didn’t want to come here, I had no choice but to come.

It was an order issued directly by the king, and the knight commander of the royal family acted as his acting agent.

‘… Just because I use sword skills doesn’t necessarily mean I’m strong.’

Among the incumbent knights, there weren’t that many swordsmen who could use swordsmanship.

If I had to look for them, it would be limited to the sub-captains of large knights, the leaders and vice-captains of small and medium-sized knights, or a few secretive swordsmen.

However, no one could surpass one of the Cetinos quasars, the golden swordsman.

‘Since I’m young, I should take good care of that part.’

Normally, a prosecutor had to pass the age of at least 30 to reach the level of swordsmanship.

Of course, there were swordsmen who created sword skills before reaching 30, but in fact, they were called geniuses.

He was also one of those geniuses, but he was helpless in front of the golden swordsman.

‘His Majesty, as soon as he turned 20 years old, he implemented the sword technique. Faster than that…’

Hearing a knock on the door, Glonet slowly raises her head.

A young man whom he had never seen before along with a member of the Royal Knights was coming inside.

“Go out and do your business.”

The Royal Knights greeted politely and then disappeared first.

Glonet watched the young man and rose slowly from his chair.

I’ve definitely met a son of an aristocrat with a similar impression.

“You look like your brother.”

“Are you talking about Barhen-nii?”

“hit. We met before.”

“… You must have been tested for membership in the Royal Knights, right?”

Shion answered calmly and met Glorane’s gaze.

There seemed to be bright red flames on the other side of the eyes.

The swordsman, who was said to be the strongest after the golden swordsman, was looking at him.

“Do you know why you came here?”

“I will see the review. But I have no intention of joining.”

“…it’s not something you can decide.”

It was as expected.

The king must have given an order to the royal knight commander to test himself.

I wondered if I should meet the king in person and convince him.

“Follow me. I will judge myself.”

Glonet took the first step, fluttering the hem of her black uniform.

It was a uniform that only members of the Royal Knights could wear.

Shion quietly follows him with a mixed feeling.

“Let’s do a review here.”

Glonet came out of the barracks and stopped on a nearby gymnasium.

Shion showed a calm look and headed in the opposite direction.

There were no knights, soldiers, or maids around.

“Blow the sword at me. If you do not use it with all your might, I will consider Your Majesty to be deceived.”

Glonet drew her sword from the scabbard on her waist and discharged her magical energy.

Then, a stream of crimson air flowed out and began to envelop the blade.

Shion looked at that figure and condensed mana into his right hand.

‘I have no choice but to use my best anyway…’

Shion grabbed the jet-black hilt and straightened her stance.

Black-purple mana was already gathering in the blade of the acid rain.

“Then I will write.”

Shion responded and swung the acid rain at the same time.

Dark magic power poured out from the blade.

Eventually, the dark purple magic draws a curve and then flies towards Gloone.

Glonet felt strange anticipation and faced Shion’s swordsmanship.

From the outside, it was a sword with a high level of perfection.

Of course, there were deficiencies in posture and magic release, but this alone was a great talent.

“Hmm?”

Glonet, realizing that her body was being pushed out, hurriedly poured out her mana.

He deliberately adjusted the amount of magic power, but did he know that such a strong sword force would come?

‘I didn’t think it would be this much…’

Glonet draws an oblique line while being covered in crimson magic.

Then, the black-purple sword is cut and engulfed in crimson sword strikes.

At some point, a shiver rose from both shoulders, and at some point it seemed like it was digging into my head.

‘Your Majesty will be pleased. He has more talent than me.’