NOVEL NEXT chapter 80 - Second succession, husband Lancel. (5)
“Please teach me a move, Lord Ransell.”
There was an intimidating aura from Marigold as she raised her wooden sword, different from before.
“...I’ll go at you seriously.”
“You’re scary, Mary.”
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— Imperial Year 820, August 4th, evening. Clear weather.
— Marigold has achieved 32% mastery of advanced swordsmanship.
※ Part-time job interview list has been updated. Newly added are: S-rank adventurer, general, imperial knight commander, rebel leader, dragon hunter, pilgrim, demon hunter, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) ancient ruins explorer, dragon rider.
‘Kyle had no chance to resist.’
Even by the lowest estimate, Marigold’s rank was two levels above Kyle’s.
Being on the part-time interview list didn’t mean immediate eligibility, but it proved she was at a comparable level.
For Kyle Dante, who still had a long way to go before becoming a knight commander, Marigold must have been like a wall.
“Whoever drops their sword first or lets the other land a blow loses.”
The voice of Viscount Dante.
Ransell and Marigold looked at each other.
“Please understand if I can’t control my strength, Mary.”
“That’s exactly what I was going to say, Lord Ransell.”
Between their smiling faces, sparks flew. Viscount Dante raised his hand.
“Begin.”
Both charged forward simultaneously. Their wooden swords were drawn long and flew toward each other.
“You’re saying the two of you will travel without escort?”
“Yes.”
Ransell’s mother.
Lady Dante raised her eyebrows sharply.
“Are you out of your mind?”
“...It’s just a trip. We’re simply taking a longer route to the Capital, Mother.”
“Haa... I don’t understand why you like going outside so much. I thought you’d change once you got a spouse, but now you’re even dragging your fiancée along? What’s going on? Why can’t you just stay put like your brothers and live quietly somewhere?”
Lady Dante’s nagging continued until Viscount Dante interrupted.
“Madam, just leave them be. Young knights need to suffer a bit in harsh places. Once he joins the knights, he won’t be able to do this anymore, so let him enjoy it now.”
“Haa, really...”
Trying to soothe the sighing lady, Viscount Dante asked Ransell:
“So, Ransell, when did you say you’d leave?”
“Not immediately. I’m planning to depart in spring next year.”
“Then there’s still time. Prepare well from now.”
“Of course.”
Rumors spread among all the Dante family members from yesterday that Ransell and Marigold were leaving.
Since Ransell often ran away from home, the family’s reaction was lukewarm.
But Marigold was different.
“Do you really have to go...?”
“It’d be nice if you stayed with us in the Dante territory...”
“Maybe you could come call us from the Capital, Lady Mary Mary...”
“The Capital! I want to go too! I want to go too!”
The maids clamored.
Ransell felt a little conflicted.
‘Have they ever said that to me?’
He wasn’t exactly hurt, but—
It felt a bit awkward.
Not hurt, though.
“If you tell me to go alone...”
‘Hey, that’s not right.’
That would have been too much.
He was starting to suspect that he was just the live-in son-in-law of the house and Marigold was the real daughter.
“Ahem.”
Ransell made a sound and approached.
The maids who were tidying Marigold’s hair shot sharp looks at him.
“Lord Ransell, you should knock before entering.”
“...”
Hesty’s sharp gaze.
“Ah, sorry.”
No choice. Even if it were the emperor, she’d insist on knocking. Ransell turned around, knocked properly, and entered again.
This time, the reaction wasn’t any kinder.
“You gave the lady a bruise. That’s too much, Lord Ransell.”
“And it’s in such a visible place...”
The maids pointed to Marigold’s swollen left eye socket.
It had been slightly torn and bruised from the wooden sword strike.
“It’s okay, it’ll heal soon.”
Marigold smiled as she answered, but the maids’ looks didn’t soften. The swelling was indeed quite bad.
But Ransell decided to be shameless.
“A knight’s duel wounds like that are nothing. What do you maids know? Stop nagging and quietly bring some tea.”
“We’re busy now. We’ll bring it later.”
‘If that’s how it is...’
Ransell stroked his chin and spoke in a sly tone.
“To settle in the Capital, we’ll need some servants... Who should we take from among you...?”
“We’ll bring them right away!”
The maids rushed out, competing.
For those who had lived their entire lives in the frontier, a chance to enter the Capital was extremely rare.
In those days, if you were born in the provinces, you were expected to live there until death.
Without being invited, it was nearly impossible to head toward Capital Rodnis.
“I’m first!”
“Don’t push!”
Watching the backs of the young maids, Ransell only chuckled bitterly.
“How are you feeling?”
“Better after lying down. Maybe my head was just a little dizzy.”
Marigold answered with a smirk. Her swollen eye made the muscles of her face seem sluggish.
“I wanted to win against Lord Ransell once...”
“You’re still ten years away.”
Centuries of accumulated know-how.
‘Losing would be more surprising.’
Even if she had lived this round like a lazy bum, she wasn’t at the level to lose to Marigold.
“Begin.”
That day.
The match ended one minute after Viscount Dante’s signal.
Marigold tried to find an opening while Ransell parried and stepped back.
“What’s going on?”
“Lord Ransell is blocking better than expected...”
The next moment.
Ransell, who had been retreating, suddenly changed the direction of his wooden sword.
“Ah...!”
A sound of awe escaped Marigold’s lips. The wooden sword pierced at an angle that caught her off guard.
“Good spirit, Mary.”
The two wooden swords clashed.
It was the moment Ransell’s sword tip struck Marigold hard.
Clack!
“Keng!”
Marigold’s head snapped sharply backward. Blood sprayed from a torn spot on her forehead.
Her knees gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.
“Miss Mary!”
“Blood!”
“Ahhh! Lady Mary!”
The Dante family members rushed to the unconscious Marigold, eyes closed.
Suffering a mild concussion, Marigold had to lie down for half a day afterward.
That was why Ransell was being scolded fiercely by the women of the house — for nearly killing the fiancée he had just rescued.
‘She simply wasn’t an easy opponent.’
Marigold had trained enough to deliver a single powerful blow if Ransell let his guard down. She just couldn’t control her strength against him.
Though she wasn’t at Ransell’s level, now she was on par or even above some of the empire’s famous genius knights.
Even putting her against Rio Dante, the heir and knight commander of the Dante house, she wouldn’t easily lose.
“I worked so hard resisting the urge to play and train, ugh, frustrating, frustrating...!”
“Is that so? I played all I wanted.”
“...”
Marigold’s expression pouted.
“Is that the winner’s arrogance?”
“Maybe.”
Still, quite a few believed that ‘Mary Mary only let Ransell win by easing up!’ among them was especially Kyle Dante.
-There’s no way Ransell purely won with skill! I’ve never seen him swing a sword since he became an adult! This must be some kind of conspiracy!
He was clearly in cognitive dissonance. The Ransell he remembered wasn’t an outstanding swordsman.
If he were still here, he’d be jumping around shouting for a duel against Ransell.
-Just wait until he comes back, Ransell!
But ironically, both Kyle Dante and Rio Dante, who had received urgent telegrams from the knights, had left the mansion.
The news was that they’d caught word of remaining rebel forces, so they probably wouldn’t meet again in this round.
‘If he’d challenged him, Ransell would’ve knocked him out in one hit.’
Kyle Dante was lucky.
.
.
On a morning in March when spring’s warmth was budding.
That day was the day nineteen-year-old Marigold left Viscount Dante’s domain.
The people of the Dante house, who had grown fond of her over time, shed tears as they sent her off.
“It’s not like we won’t see each other again, so why are you all like this?”
Calming the sobbing maids, Marigold got on the carriage.
The purpose of the journey was one: to search for the existence of the ‘Demon King.’
“What if we don’t find anything?”
That was Ransell’s worry.
He had never really considered the existence of the Demon King in the hundreds of years he’d lived.
He doubted whether it was even possible to find such a being, said only in legends.
Moreover, they had only six years—neither short nor very long.
“It’ll be fine. We’ll find it.”
Marigold answered with a confident voice.
“And even if we don’t...”
Suddenly, Ransell stopped speaking.
A brief silence. Then he smiled.
“No. It’s nothing.”
“How anticlimactic.”
Knock, knock.
“This is Rio Dante.”
“Come in.”
Opening the large door revealed a room carpeted in red velvet.
Rio Dante approached the man standing at the end and bent one knee.
“Rio Dante pays respects to His Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“Raise your head.”
Delphy Aron Frigia, the first prince and second in command of the empire, was staring at Rio Dante.
“Commander of the Budnia Knights, heir of the Dante family... You’ve endured hardship at the distant frontier at a young age.”
“It is but a proper duty of a great empire’s knight.”
“You already know why I’m here, don’t you?”
“Yes. I heard that you’re here to hunt down and punish the remnants opposing the empire, Your Highness.”
The first prince lifted a glass beside him.
He drained the remaining drink in one gulp.
Letting out a long sigh from the harsh liquor, he spoke again.
“No. It’s even simpler than that. You just have to find one person and bring them here.”
“I understand. If you tell me who, I will certainly bring them before you.”
“I’ll tell you only once, so listen carefully.”
The first prince’s eyes curved like a crescent moon.
“A woman who just came of age... with blue or green eyes and blonde hair.”
His answer came after a playful smile. Rio Dante barely managed to keep his expression from twisting in disbelief.
“Did you get that clearly?”
“...”
Rio Dante couldn’t speak easily. Was that really all? It was too vague a description to pinpoint.
But soon the prince’s gaze darkened. He was serious.
“From now on, in the regions I will mention, if you find any woman matching that description, capture and bring them all.”
“Bring all of them, Your Highness?”
“Yes. Noble or tycoon, commoner or bandit, prostitute or housewife, whatever. Just bring them before me.”
“I understand.”
“If among the women you bring, there’s one I want, the imperial family will bestow great rewards upon you.”
The first prince smiled again, playfully.
“I will bring your family to the imperial court to live. You know what that means, don’t you?”
“...!”
A chill ran down Rio Dante’s spine.
The whole family admitted to the imperial court?
That was a treatment befitting an ‘Empire Hero.’ A glory enough to raise the Viscount Dante family above many duke families.
Before the overwhelming honor, Rio Dante felt all his previous doubts vanish.
“There are many mercenaries and knights given the same mission as you. Don’t miss this opportunity.”
Rio Dante narrowed his sharp eyes.
“Obtaining this honor is also a knight’s virtue. I will mobilize all knights and retainers under me... and find the one His Highness desires.”