“Now, come at me at once! Sien of the Nightwalker Family!”
the voice of a fearless man echoed loudly.
“I, Eric Charles! Before I am a prince, I am an honorable knight, and before I am a knight, I am a man! I hereby formally challenge Sien of the Nightwalker Family to a duel, staking my love, Lady Marin!”
“I am truly sorry, Prince,” Shadow Master Hyde responded politely.
“Unfortunately, the Grand Duke of Nightwalker and Don Sien are currently absent.”
He remained calm, unfazed by the sudden appearance of the visitor.
“Hmm, did they tuck their tails and run because they were afraid of me?”
The Third Prince, Eric Charles, grinned and shouted. He showed off his brilliant white teeth over his manly, square jaw.
“So, where should I go now?”
***
At dawn that day.
“The Third Prince of the Charlemagne Kingdom is scheduled to arrive in the capital, Veneto, within a few days.”
“What is the level of the protocol?”
“It is not high. According to the protocol ranking, it is about fifteenth.”
“Fifteenth?”
Laila, who had heard the report from the eyes and ears of the Shadow Knights, blinked her eyes in surprise.
Officially, a prince’s protocol ranking was third. In reality, a prince moving across the continent should cause enough commotion to stir the entire land. However, a fifteenth-rank protocol was essentially the same scale as the arrival of a minor noble.
“It seems the Third Prince acted on his own, ignoring the wishes of the royal family. I heard he intends to challenge Lord Sien to a duel directly, without even a champion.”
“Directly, without even a champion?”
‘This worked out better than expected.’
Sien, who had been silent, finally spoke.
“Let us welcome the Prince grandly and accept the duel.”
It was literally a stroke of luck that had rolled right into his lap.
“In front of everyone in this country.”
***
The nobles of this continent were accustomed to being served. This was especially true for those of royal blood. To them, receiving hospitality was nothing more than a formal ritual where they were treated with the respect they felt they deserved.
However, the hospitality of the Republic of Veneto was different.
It was a display of wealth and luxury that made even those who thought they had enjoyed every luxury imaginable gape in wonder. This was the very power of this nation.
“We welcome the esteemed Third Prince of the Charlemagne Kingdom, His Highness Eric Charles!”
The Governor who officially ruled the country and the members of the Supreme Council, accompanied by the grandeur of golden trumpets, greeted the man with due respect.
“Oh, oh-ho… I did not expect to be welcomed so warmly.”
“It is an honor to meet you, Don Eric.”
Sien also made an appearance in the procession welcoming the prince.
“I am Sien of the Nightwalker Family.”
“Sien Nightwalker!”
The moment Eric saw him, his already square jaw set with a fierce, chilling edge.
“I heard you have business with me.”
This was the heart of the Republic of Veneto, the Great Plaza of the capital. Sien spoke in the very place where practically everyone in the city was watching—a scale that couldn’t possibly be for welcoming a mere prince.
“Indeed, I do!”
No matter how low the protocol rank, it was still a royal arrival. The Master-class royal knights escorting the prince immediately placed their hands on their sword hilts the moment they saw Sien.
They knew the name and infamy of the heir to the Nightwalker Family all too well.
“What are you doing! Take your hands off your hilts at once!”
“But…”
“And listen!”
It was then.
“—I, Eric Charles, am the proud Third Prince of the Charlemagne Kingdom!”
The man spoke, ignoring his wary knights. He declared the name of the Third Prince of the Charlemagne Kingdom, Eric Charles.
“But before I am a prince, I am truly a knight who pursues honor and nobility!”
“Ah, I see,” Sien replied with a look of absurdity, playing along as if acknowledging a royal from a kingdom famous for its chivalry.
“But before I am a knight!”
“Before that?”
“I am a man in love!”
A man in love. Eric spoke while flashing his brilliant white teeth.
“You villain of the despicable Nightwalker Family!”
At the same time, words that could never be tolerated in this country poured from his mouth like a bolt from the blue. A bone-chilling silence descended upon the area. But Eric did not care.
After all, he was truly a knight and a man who pursued honor and nobility.
“I have long known that you played a ‘trick’ on my love, Lady Marin, you coward!”
“A trick? What kind of trick are you talking about?” Sien asked back, dumbfounded.
“Lady Marin and I love each other and have promised to marry! Can you expect me to accept the fact that my love changed her mind overnight?”
“I know her true love better than anyone! My love, Lady Marin’s love, that is!”
Sien fell silent in disbelief.
“And you snatched Lady Marin away from me!”
‘Especially since I’d rather turn into sea foam than be with that greasy, nauseating prince who’s like butter.’
Sien struggled to bury those words—which he remembered not necessarily for Marin’s sake, but for the Prince’s—deep within his heart.
“Therefore, as a proud prince and an honorable knight! And finally, as a true man! I have come here to judge you, the villain of the Nightwalker Family!”
“Uh, well. It seems there has been a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?”
“She, Lady Marin, loves me,” Sien replied with a shrug. The words were somewhat embarrassing to say out loud.
“Sincerely, that is.”
“Then why isn’t she here?”
“She doesn’t really like being on land,” Sien replied with a despicable, villainous smile. At least, that was how it must have looked in Eric’s eyes.
“I cannot believe your words until I hear it from the mouth of my love, Lady Marin!”
“Well, whether you believe it or not is your choice, Prince.”
Sien did not back down and maintained his smile.
“So, what will you do?”
“I will hear the answer directly from Lady Marin’s mouth.”
Eric answered.
“And before that, I will strike down the villain of the Nightwalker Family who stands in my way!”
“Is that so?”
Eric removed a black leather glove from his hand and threw it toward Sien.
In the world of nobles, that act meant only one thing.
A challenge to a duel.
“Right now, in this very place?”
“Is there any reason why it shouldn’t be right now, in this very place?” Eric asked back. He was right.
*Shring.*
The Prince drew his sword right in front of Sien before the knights guarding him could even stop him.
“Do you intend to tuck your tail and run like a coward from my challenge?”
“No, I don’t particularly intend to run away…”
“Then it is a duel!”
Sien didn’t even have a chance to respond. He was simply flustered because he hadn’t expected the Prince to agree so easily before he could even properly provoke him.
The Prince raised his voice.
“Fight me like a man, staking the love of my Lady Marin!”
A duel between two knights over a lady’s love.
Nevertheless, as if they had known this would happen from the start, the plaza began to be organized with military precision.
“Hmm, by the way.”
Standing on the dueling grounds that had been set up—leaving the waves of people behind like a Colosseum—Sien spoke.
“Prince Eric, you were born as a high-ranking prince of the royal family and have been cherished like a flower in a greenhouse your entire life.”
It was a provocation so obvious that even an idiot could understand its meaning.
“Are you truly prepared to risk your life and fight an ‘Assassin of the Nightwalker Family’?”
“Hah.”
At those words, Eric burst into laughter.
“A flower in a greenhouse… you are right.”
After laughing, he continued without denial.
“I, Eric Charles, am indeed a flower in a greenhouse.”
“As you said, I have grown up being cherished and pampered among those who bow their heads, never knowing the hardships of the world or the pain of hunger!”
Sien blinked his eyes in surprise at the unexpected response.
“So, what of it?”
“…Excuse me?”
“Just because I grew up as a flower in a greenhouse, is there some law that says I cannot fight an assassin of the Nightwalker Family?”
“No, well, there isn’t exactly a law against it.”
‘It’ll just be a dog’s death.’
“Indeed!”
Ignoring Sien, who swallowed his last words, Eric continued. His brave, square jaw and white teeth shone.
“My origins can never be an obstacle in the face of my love for Lady Marin!”
“No, usually it’s the other way around…”
“Now, draw your sword at once!” Eric shouted. Consequently, Sien also stopped thinking.
*Shring.*
He simply revealed the pitch-black blade hidden in his sleeve.
“To reveal a blade from within your clothes!”
“Is there some problem?”
“No! I am merely surprised by the despicableness truly worthy of a villain from the Nightwalker Family!”
“Thank you for the compliment, Prince Eric.”
Sien smiled and bowed his head. It was a smile that was despicable and cunning like a villain—at least, that was how it appeared to Eric.
The distance between them closed.
*Shring.*
Even after Sien’s blade was aimed at the Prince’s head, his opponent did not budge. He literally didn’t even blink.
“Hah.”
In fact, he even laughed leisurely despite having a blade right in front of his eyes.
‘…What is this?’
He was incredibly bold.
‘Was the composure he showed earlier not just a bluff?’
Perhaps he was certain that Sien wouldn’t kill him in the first strike.
“It is your defeat, Sien Nightwalker.”
“?”
“And my victory!”
“?”
Sien blinked in confusion at the following words.
“To launch a cowardly surprise attack in a fair duel over a lady’s love—are you not ashamed before the spirit of chivalry!”
“No, what does that have to do with…”
“State your objection to my legal counsel! Counsel!”
“Yes, Prince!”
As soon as the Prince finished speaking, one of the aides who had been assisting him stepped forward.
“In accordance with the Kingdom’s Code of Law and the Continental Customary Law, as agreed upon regarding dueling trials! Starting a duel by mutual consent and then launching a ‘surprise attack’ is a disqualifying act that gravely violates the laws of dueling and the spirit of chivalry! A surprise attack is defined as a cowardly, fatal act that strikes a vital point at a speed the opponent cannot react to!”
“Furthermore, the fact that the dueling law in question is a customary law widely codified throughout the continent, not just in the Kingdom! And the fact that His Highness Eric, as a prince of the Charlemagne Kingdom, holds a status where extraterritoriality applies in foreign territories according to diplomatic treaties!”
The legal counsel continued confidently before Sien could say a word.
“…Based on the following ordinances and arguments, I solemnly declare His Highness Eric Charles the winner of this duel.”
“Ah, I see.”
Sien replied with a bitter smile.
“I have heard your nonsense… I mean, your complicated legal interpretation quite well.”
He continued with a cold sneer.
“I happen to know a bit about the law myself.”
He calmly readjusted his grip on the sword.
“Good!”
At those words, Eric raised his voice as if he had been waiting.
“Then let us decide before God, through a fair ‘duel,’ which side’s legal argument is correct!”
It had come back to a duel.
However, the nature of the duel itself was different.
It was no longer the Prince’s turn to fight.
“For my loyal subject, the legal counsel, I will gladly personally provide him with a ‘champion’.”
A champion—one who performs a duel on behalf of a weak person who cannot fight directly.
“Oh, I am simply moved by the Prince’s mercy!”
“I will step forward, Prince.”
From among those accompanying the Prince, a figure who had been hiding their identity under a robe stepped forward.
The face slightly visible beneath the robe was familiar.
A half-human, half-vampire knight with skin as white and pale as a corpse.
One of the Twelve Knights of Charlemagne… Sir Theresia, the Pale Lily.
*Grin.*
As she revealed herself, Prince Eric smiled despicably. It was as if he had expected this to happen from the beginning.
Only after seeing that face did Sien realize who was behind this ridiculous stage.
This had never been the Prince’s solo act. Instead, the Prince before him was merely a puppet.
There was someone else controlling this fool, whose head was filled only with chivalry and flowers.
“Roselia Charles.”
The kind and warm-hearted princess who loved her people, but at the same time, a cold-blooded, ambitious woman who was prepared to do anything to protect what she loved.
“I see, that was it.”
In fact, that made it easier to understand.
He understood what she wanted from this ridiculous stage and what she wanted from Sien.