Chapter 11: Rampage

Leo deliberately came home a little late.

Creak.

The living room was desolate.

The one waiting for him wasn’t in the living room, but in her room.

His daughter, who used to always sit on the couch and wait for him, was no longer there.

‘How long will this go on?’

It was a worry Leo had every time he came home.

But Leo wasn’t just sitting idle either.

Knock knock.

Just a moment ago, after being ignored by Elizabeth, he immediately bought two theater tickets and knocked on her door.

“Elizabeth. I’m sorry about earlier. Can you come out for a moment?”

“It’ll just take a minute…”

Clack.

The door opened.

Elizabeth held the door and looked up at him quietly.

Her expression said, “If you have something to say, go ahead.”

Leo shyly held out the two theater tickets.

“Uh, well, it’s a play with some famous actors, and I, uh, managed to get them by chance. There were just two tickets. My friends aren’t into this kind of thing… So I thought our Elizabeth might like it…”

The more he spoke, the quieter his voice became.

He just hoped for any kind of reaction.

But her expressionless gaze drained his confidence.

‘Is it not going to work…?’

He had wanted to create some time for just the two of them.

There was no way he got the tickets by luck.

He had bought them at three times the price through a reseller.

And yet, it still might not be enough.

He was turning away in defeat.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh?”

“I said let’s go. The play.”

“Really? Then…!”

Creak. Click.

Elizabeth said that and closed the door again.

But Leo’s heart was already elated.

He left her door with a joyful heart.

Elizabeth lay in bed, trying to sleep.

But her heart was pounding so hard, she couldn’t fall asleep easily.

***

A few days later, on a weekend evening.

Leo had dressed up as best as he could.

Knowing how important this opportunity was, he put in maximum effort to look good.

The reason Elizabeth had ignored him the other day — it was because of how shabby he looked.

He got a clean haircut and wore cologne.

He dressed neatly and went to the meeting place.

“Over here! Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth, who had come straight from school, was still in her uniform.

Her bright blonde hair and white uniform matched well.

She caught many people’s attention.

She walked toward me, and we presented the tickets together and entered the theater.

She hadn’t said a word up to that point either, but Leo considered just sitting beside her a positive sign.

It had been almost half a year since they had been this close together.

“Want to drink this?”

He offered a drink he had bought at the theater.

It was already half drunk.

Elizabeth glanced at it, then took it and drank.

“Hey.”

“I only meant for you to take a sip.”

Elizabeth, looking a little annoyed, handed the juice back.

“No, you already drank from it, so you should finish it.”

“…Are you messing with me?”

“I’m serious.”

After exchanging a few lines, the old, natural rhythm returned.

A few minutes later, the announcement played and the theater darkened.

The audience quietly faced the stage.

I whispered softly.

“It’s your first time seeing a play, right?”

“I’ve seen a few with friends.”

“Still, this must be your first time seeing such a big production.”

Elizabeth was silent — that was her way of agreeing.

The play began.

***

The name of the play was “The Knight King.”

He was the knight who founded Aichenvalt.

His life, once a knight of the empire, was filled with hardship.

Demonic conspiracies, battles with barbarians, schemes by imperial nobles more wicked than demons.

Everything was based on real events.

And since it was a story about the founding of a nation, the audience was deeply immersed.

Elizabeth also focused on the outstanding acting and direction.

The Knight King’s journey was grueling, yet sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking.

When one of his comrades had a testicle stolen by a demon while asleep, the audience roared with laughter.

Without turning my head, I glanced at Elizabeth.

She had her mouth shut, barely holding back her laughter.

When the Knight King’s lover was captured and killed by barbarians—

Everyone was angry and heartbroken.

Elizabeth clenched her fists, trembling, and glared at the actor playing the barbarian with tear-filled eyes.

And when the final villain — the demon — appeared with a terrifying performance—

“Eek!”

She let out a sharp scream and buried her face in my chest.

Having prepared in advance, I gently patted her back.

Elizabeth quietly pulled away.

Her head was down, but I could see her blushing face between her golden hair.

“T-this isn’t because I was scared. It’s just that…”

She knew it was a weak excuse, so her face reddened even more.

Seeing her tomato-red face, I chuckled.

“If you think you’ll be too scared to sleep tonight, just tell me. I’ll sleep with you, like the old days.”

“T-there’s no need for that…!”

Elizabeth sharply turned her head away.

I smiled and focused on the play again.

The play headed toward its finale.

***

The knight who finally defeated the demon was acknowledged by the emperor and allowed to establish his own nation in the empire’s north.

“You are this country’s sword, a hero of the world. I, Lenz of Bornart. Kaisis Hessenia Stella, proclaim this.

To the one who stopped 100,000 barbarians with 30,000 troops in the Alanth Mountains.

To the one who executed the traitor Kerbius Voltinus alone.

To the one who struck down the demon of hellfire, Ignis.

To the one who ended the twilight of the empire—

I bestow this flag.

“Go north, plant the flag, and rule that land.”

The emperor handed a giant flag to the kneeling knight.

A lion was roaring with a sword in its mouth.

The knight went north and planted the flag into the ground.

Many seasons passed afterward.

Though time had flown, the flag the knight planted still fluttered.

Eventually, time moved slowly to the present day.

The curtain came down, and the play ended.

Clap clap clap clap clap!

The audience erupted in applause at the excellent play.

Elizabeth, too, clapped in admiration.

I spoke to her casually.

“Pretty fun, right?”

“W-wasn’t bad.”

Elizabeth’s ears turned red.

***

It was a day in early spring, when she was fifteen.

A cold winter day with heavy snow, Leo took Elizabeth to an empty lot covered in snow.

It was pure and untouched by anyone.

Father and daughter had a snowball fight there.

No — it should be called snow play, it was so childish.

When Elizabeth threw snow, Leo got hit and fell over.

He said she was really good, praised her like that.

That was a lie — he could’ve dodged it.

After a round of snow play, Leo led her to a street lined with shops.

Food, clothes, accessories, toys, books.

Leo was someone who valued memories and affection more than money.

He treasured invisible things more than material ones.

So, without a hint of hesitation, he bought expensive clothes, accessories, and books for Elizabeth.

He didn’t buy anything for himself.

That day, Elizabeth received a full measure of love and affection.

Wrapping a red scarf warmly around her neck, Leo said, “I love you, my daughter.”

“Me too.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

“Truly.”

“Elizabeth, your smile is really pretty.”

“Huh?”

“Just now. You were smiling while looking out the window.”

A girl with a cute squirrel-like face spoke to Elizabeth.

It was Elizabeth’s best friend, Daisy.

She wasn’t a noble.

Just the daughter of a normal family.

Maybe that’s why they got along so well and became close friends.

“Elizabeth’s pretty even without doing anything, but…”

Clang, clatter, clang!

“Ugh!”

“Elizabeth Valentine wins.”

A male student dropped his sword and fell on his butt.

Elizabeth stood in front of him with an expressionless face.

“Wow, she really is amazing.”

“She just defeated her opponent so easily.”

“What on earth has she been learning since she was young?”

The students were impressed.

The nobles of Aichenvalt are taught swordsmanship without exception, regardless of gender.

They all take pride in their skills, but in front of a real talent, their confidence disappeared.

Of course, among the second-year students, there were almost none who could beat Elizabeth in swordsmanship.

Only a very few ever managed to beat her, and they were from Class A.

Those students weren’t just taking elective fencing—they were receiving professional training to become knights.

And they were all male.

It was natural for them to win, but even against them, Elizabeth exchanged several blows and had almost won a few times.

And yet, she hadn’t even received professional training.

“Ha, I’m so jealous. If I were good at everything like her, my parents wouldn’t nag me.”

“You don’t even try. You’re always chasing after girls.”

“Still… she’s pretty, good at everything, and has a nice personality. She really has it all.”

“Except for one important thing—she doesn’t have a title.”

“Ah, I want to marry Elizabeth. I could give her a title.”

Well, you’d gain that through marriage, so it wouldn’t be a big problem.

She’s from Lentz School, so at the very least, she could marry a baron.

“There you go again with that talk. Not just you.”

Elizabeth was already known as everyone’s first love in school.

As the male students were chatting about her, Beatrice approached with a sly smile.

“She might be good as a girlfriend, but not as a wife.”

“Beatrice?”

“What are you talking about?”

Puzzled, the male students asked again.

“I mean what I said. She completely ignores her father—do you think she’d respect her husband? You’d be lucky if she didn’t look down on you.”

Beatrice hadn’t forgotten her recent humiliation.

[Could you shut up?]

‘Did she just say ‘could you shut up’?’

‘How dare the daughter of a laborer insult me, the second daughter of a marcus?’

Even in Lentz School, which emphasized equality strictly, the difference in status couldn’t be completely erased.

What’s more, Elizabeth wasn’t even a noble—just a commoner.

And a laborer’s daughter at that!

‘It’s not like I insulted her ancestors or cursed her!’

What was more unfair was questioning whether what she did was even worthy of such an insult.

Elizabeth had been the one to speak poorly of her own father in front of her friends, and when Beatrice said a little something, she glared as if she’d kill her and spat out curses.

Back then, she was too scared to respond, but Beatrice wasn’t the type to let things slide.

Returning what was done to you was only natural.

“I saw her the other day, and she was kind of rude to her father.”

“Elizabeth?”

“Yeah… But I kind of understand why.”

Beatrice paused there to gauge her friends’ attention.

Luckily, they were all very curious about Elizabeth’s family.

Elizabeth was always subtly drawing lines when it came to her family, so not much was known.

It was only natural to be intrigued.

As more friends gathered, Beatrice continued, putting on a sorrowful expression.

“I happened to see her father that day… a bit. Sigh, should I even be saying this…”

“What is it? What is it?”

“You can’t just stop there after saying that!”

When the reaction went as planned, Beatrice spoke as if she really had no choice.

“Looks like he does hard labor. I saw him that time—”

“That’s enough.”

Someone interrupted her.

It was none other than Daisy.

She came over because she saw the crowd gathering—and sure enough, Beatrice was at it again.

“Daisy.”

Beatrice looked at the interrupter with displeasure.

The other students also glared at Daisy for interrupting the story just as it was getting interesting.

“What do you mean, ‘that’s enough’?”

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“I don’t. Care to explain?”

“Do you really want me to?”

“What are you talking about? That Elizabeth’s dad is a laborer?”

Beatrice laughed as she finally said it aloud.

Her words spread like ripples.

Aichenvalt was a particularly conservative society.

In countries like the Empire, Britain, and España, commerce had developed, and bourgeoisie with money held a portion of power.

In such societies, nobles weren’t the absolute elite.

But in Aichenvalt, where chivalry was at its root, honor mattered more than money.

In that kind of society, a laborer who couldn’t even earn decent money, let alone have honor, was the lowest of the low.

“A laborer?”

“Is that true?”

“Now that I think about it… maybe that’s why she never talks about her family.”

The students began to murmur.

“You… seriously!!”

Daisy was furious.

The commotion drew more people.

Even the professor, and Elizabeth herself, who had stopped her duel, came over.

“What’s going on?”

Elizabeth, noticing the attention on her, looked flustered.

Daisy saw Elizabeth and hesitated.

Should she tell her, or not…

“Ah, it was nothing~ Right, everyone?”

Beatrice giggled.

The students nodded awkwardly.

It looked like it might blow over.

But Elizabeth wasn’t letting it go.

“What were you talking about? Were you talking about my dad?”

“Huh?”

Beatrice was a little flustered—she didn’t expect Elizabeth to be so direct.

“So it seems. Were you talking about my dad working at a construction site?”

“S-So what if I was?”

Beatrice had sworn she wouldn’t be intimidated again, but when she saw those piercingly clear eyes, her heart started to race.

“Why do you assume I’ll do something about it?”

“…Because before, you—”

“You’re the one who should be ashamed.”

“What…? I should be ashamed?”

“Yeah.”

No one quite understood what was going on, but everyone could feel that Elizabeth was completely confident.

“I don’t hate my dad. He works hard. For himself and for my happiness. Sure, I don’t like that it’s a job that harms his body, but I respect his will and his sacrifice.”

“B-But it’s just labor work!”

“Yeah, he goes out in the morning. Works at dusty sites. Digs dirt, lays roads, moves wood, and stacks bricks. That’s why his hands are ruined. You might’ve seen it—his finger joints are twisted, his palms rough and calloused.”

“But there’s honesty and sincerity in those hands. Unlike someone, who only has hypocrisy and pettiness.”

“You bitch…”

She was shut down.

Beatrice had been completely defeated by Elizabeth’s speech.

But she wasn’t going to give up—her pride wouldn’t allow her to.

“You think saying all that changes your family’s lowly blood? No way. Honest and sincere, my ass! You really think that kind of life makes anyone happy? No—you just live a hard, painful life and die like that.”

Thunk.

***

The moment Beatrice mentioned Leo, Elizabeth’s face went blank.

Unaware, Beatrice kept running her mouth.

“Guess he didn’t study hard, so he ended up with that kind of job. Lowborn people do lowborn work. Like your dad. Oh, but with a face like that, he could’ve lived off flirting instead. He’s got the kind of looks women love.”

Her words were nothing short of verbal abuse and personal attacks.

The students were stunned, looking away from Elizabeth…