Ch.68Moonlit Night’s End (3)

The night before leaving the Trebache Marquis estate.

A small banquet was held under the name of Marquis Eldelmar. It wasn’t a banquet that attracted outside nobles, but rather a modest gathering filled with the Marquis’s people. However, the scale of the banquet itself was far from modest.

Food filling the hall and brilliant lighting.

A space prepared for dancing.

Performers from a troupe began playing, bowing violins and tapping piano keys. Lively music filled the hall as the atmosphere began to warm. When the mood had sufficiently heated up, the Marquis stepped onto the balcony of the banquet hall.

Marquis Eldelmar, with his hair neatly swept back, recited a toast while swirling the glass in his hand.

“To the two guests who have visited Trebache, cheers.”

As the brief toast ended, the music started again, and one by one, people began moving toward the center of the hall to find dance partners. Children of several noble families belonging to the Cambria Foundation, the Marquis’s people, and……

‘Is this always so uncomfortable?’

-Formal attire is usually like that, isn’t it?

Najin was also preparing to enter the hall.

As he fidgeted with his collar, uncomfortable in the tailcoat he was wearing for the first time, someone placed a hand on his shoulder. When he turned around, Marquis Eldelmar was standing there.

“Tsk, the protagonist of the stage shouldn’t be standing around here. Your lady is waiting, isn’t she?”

“…Pardon?”

The Marquis clicked his tongue and gently pushed Najin’s back. As Najin looked back with a bewildered expression, the Marquis gave him a wink. As if to say, do your best.

‘What’s going on….’

It was unfamiliar. This atmosphere, this lighting.

Feeling awkward, Najin took a step toward the center of the hall. At that moment, he felt gazes turning toward him. Unable to understand why, Najin could only tilt his head in confusion.

…Najin had no way of knowing.

Over the past few days, the escape drama that Najin and Dieta had staged had spread throughout various places, packaged with the Marquis’s influence. The more widely the story spread, the more strength it gave to their “cause.”

The story of a woman imprisoned in a Duke’s household, and a man who dove in alone to rescue her. This romantically packaged tale had brushed past the ears of everyone gathered here at least once. So naturally, all eyes were on him.

With all attention focused on him.

Najin crossed the hall. Presumably toward Dieta, who, according to the Marquis, would be waiting for him.

2.

Music echoed cheerfully.

During this piece, people would find partners, and when the next piece began, they would start dancing. Dieta stood in a corner of the banquet, hands clasped together, stroking the back of her hand.

‘It’s strange, indeed.’

Though she had attended banquets before, no one had ever asked Dieta to dance. It was only natural. Dieta was the abandoned child of the Duke’s family, and asking her to dance meant becoming a laughingstock alongside her.

So she had always watched the banquets from the periphery.

Not once had she gone to the center of the hall to dance. Not once had she been the protagonist of the shining stage. That’s why, when she was young, she had admired those dancing in the center of the hall.

‘That’s all in the past now.’

Dieta let out a faint smile.

She was already of age. She was already twenty. Would it not be embarrassing for someone twenty years old to have their heart flutter at such a ball?

Thump, thump…

Embarrassing, terribly embarrassing.

Thump-thump-thump.

Yet why did her heart beat so loudly? Swallowing dryly, Dieta looked at the hall. Najin would be standing on the opposite side, but would he be able to find her? There were quite a few people; what if he couldn’t see her…?

It was while she was having such trivial thoughts.

Dieta noticed that the banquet participants who had been looking for their partners were stopping one by one. Their gazes were focused on one spot. Looking in that direction, there was someone crossing the center of the hall.

Grayish-white hair neatly tied back.

Eyes resembling the sunset.

And a neatly worn tailcoat.

Belatedly recognizing that man as Najin, Dieta’s eyes widened. He looked so different from usual that she hadn’t recognized him at first. He was already quite handsome, but dressed up like this, he gave off a completely different impression.

Tap.

With all eyes on him, Najin crossed the hall, heading straight toward Dieta. The attention that had been focused on Najin naturally dispersed to Dieta, who stood where he was heading.

And finally, tap.

Najin stopped in front of Dieta.

Then, as Wolfhild had taught him for a day, he extended his hand to Dieta in a formal manner, slightly bowing his waist and head. It was the posture of asking for a dance.

“Would you care for a dance?”

Dieta, who had been staring blankly at Najin, soon nodded with a smile.

“Yes, gladly.”

Dieta took Najin’s hand.

Together with Najin, Dieta moved toward the center of the hall. Since the two of them were undoubtedly the protagonists of this banquet, the participants naturally made way for them.

Where the lights shone brightest.

Dieta stood at the center of the hall.

The current piece was coming to an end, and a new one was about to begin. In the brief silence between, only the sound of her pounding heart echoed in Dieta’s ears. But even the sound of her racing heart was soon buried beneath the music that began.

What echoed in her ears was lively music.

What she saw was Najin holding her hand.

Though her face flushed with heat, Dieta exhaled briefly and carefully took her first step. Neither she nor the man before her had properly learned to dance, so it would surely be a mess. To avoid falling, they would have to move carefully…

That’s what Dieta had thought.

That is… until Najin, who had been stumbling a bit, ‘carefully observed’ the most elegantly dancing couple and suddenly became proficient.

* * *

After the piece ended, it was break time.

At a tea table in a corner of the banquet hall.

Seated in a chair, Dieta caught her breath and glanced at Najin. At first, he had awkwardly tried to match her rhythm, but… at some point, he seemed to have grasped dancing and began leading, which was quite impressive.

‘Or was it really leading…?’

He had grabbed her waist to correct her posture, pulled her arm, and even twisted his body to compensate when her movements were off. Though Dieta had never properly danced before, being led around by Najin, they received applause when they finished the piece.

Seeing even professional dancers shaking their heads in admiration, it must have been quite impressive…

It was bewildering. Dieta let out a laugh and spoke.

“Say, have you learned to dance separately?”

“I’ve never learned separately.”

“Really? It didn’t seem like the skill of someone who’s danced only once or twice.”

“Today was my first time.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

Looking at Najin nodding, Dieta laughed. His first time, he says. So he claims.

“I’m honored. To be the first dance partner of a future Sword Master. This seems like quite an achievement.”

“…Sword Master?”

“You said you’re engraving stars, right? Since you aim for the highest place, isn’t Sword Master your goal?”

At Dieta’s question, Najin smiled.

“Well, that’s not wrong. Becoming a Sword Master is indeed one of my goals.”

“It seems there’s more to it?”

“Sword Master is the process, not the destination.”

“To say that a realm that takes a lifetime to reach is merely a process, not the goal. Really…”

Though she laughed, Dieta couldn’t deny it. The man before her definitely had something special. He was someone who looked toward and ran toward heights that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine.

“Not the destination but the process…”

Pondering those words, Dieta rested her chin on her hand and stared intently at Najin.

“Then should I dream of a higher place too?”

“It wouldn’t hurt. For example?”

“Originally, my goal was to create a trading company large enough to swallow the Albania Duchy. To reach the peak as a merchant.”

“But,” Dieta murmured.

“If I look higher… there is more.”

A tower built with gold coins.

Sitting atop that tower and looking around, there is still higher to climb. If one has reached the peak with gold coins, then it’s time to scatter those coins to seize power.

“Should I become one of the Empire’s pillars?”

A casually uttered statement.

But that goal is by no means casual. What are the Empire’s pillars? They are powers above even dukes, with only the Emperor above them, wielding absolute authority.

Recognized by the Emperor.

Sometimes purging even imperial family members.

Not having to bow to anyone.

Truly pillars supporting the Empire.

The five pillars of the Empire, known as the Five Seals, are the highest positions a power holder can reach. In some sense, it’s a position comparable to a Sword Master. In fact, the Empire’s first pillar was “Sword Master Gerd,” so it’s not wrong.

“If you become a Sword Master.”

Dieta looked at Najin and smiled.

“I think I’d need to be at least one of the Empire’s Five Seals to see you as an equal.”

“Is that so?”

“I think so.”

She leaned back in her chair.

Then exhaled contentedly.

“It’s still a distant story, but as you said, there’s no harm in dreaming big, right?”

Well, that’s that.

Muttering so, Dieta looked directly at Najin.

“I enjoyed today. It feels like I became a fairy tale protagonist. I never thought I’d dance in the center of the stage; it’s a strange feeling.”

Everything was strange.

Tomorrow she would return to being the Snake that Swallows the Gold Coins, dealing with complicated matters and standing in opposition to the Albania Duchy…

But at least tonight, she could enjoy being Dieta.

That fact made Dieta smile happily. And she also felt a bit of regret. Special times feel special precisely because they must eventually return to the ordinary.

‘But still…’

Dieta glanced at Najin.

Not everything would return to the ordinary. This feeling for him didn’t seem like it would disappear. It seemed like in front of him, she could always be herself.

Thump-thump-thump.

This loudly beating heart, this pounding pulse was entirely her own. And she wouldn’t let anyone take it away. After all, the Snake that Swallows the Gold Coins never lets go of what it has set its eyes on.

3.

As the long incident concluded, Najin and Dieta boarded a carriage bound for Cambria, seeing off by the Marquis. The carriage smoothly cut through the wind, moving forward.

What would follow was simple.

Upon returning to the city, Najin would dye his nameplate red, proudly taking his place as a top-tier adventurer, and Dieta would reclaim her position as the head of the trading company. Despite the many troubles and incidents, everything had concluded well.

Everyone believed this without doubt.

What they didn’t anticipate was that the first child of the Albania Duchy would be more persistent than imagined, and that he didn’t trust the rumors he had heard.

“I challenge you to a duel.”

As soon as they returned to the city, Najin and Dieta were greeted by Prince Ageshio and the knights lined up behind him. Despite orders to return to the duchy, Ageshio had postponed his return date and waited for Najin and Dieta.

He couldn’t accept it. The fact that he had been bested by Dieta, who had been an abandoned child, the fact that all his plans had been ruined because of one adventurer.

Even if he retreated, he had to restore the trampled prestige of his family. That was Ageshio’s thinking, and the wrong answer he had chosen. He didn’t know how to acknowledge defeat or endure humiliation.

He had never been defeated.

He had never endured humiliation.

Of course, Najin didn’t necessarily have to accept the duel Ageshio had proposed. There was no justification or reason.

“You wouldn’t refuse a duel, would you? Someone who dreams of becoming a knight not accepting an honorable duel means they’re not qualified to be a knight. Isn’t that right?”

However.

“If you understand honor and pride.”

The moment Ageshio casually uttered those words, Najin found his justification. His reason.

“I accept the du—”

Before those words could be completed.

Najin drew his sword. The blade, scraping roughly against its scabbard as it emerged, gleamed a cold blue.

It was a sign of accepting the duel.

As one of the five knights stepped forward, Najin let out a hollow laugh and flicked his drawn sword. Having responded to a cheap provocation, Najin in turn directed a cheap provocation toward the knights.

“Is there a need for you to come one by one?”

Najin flung the drawn scabbard to the ground.

“It would be more balanced if you all came at once.”