episode_0042

“No, Roang Youngae, what happened earlier?”

Marquis Rajurang Youngae grabbed my arm and shook me, asking.

“What are you talking about?”

“What! Just now, Queen Anne came to the banquet hall with you.”

“That’s right. After His Majesty called for me, the Queen asked to speak with me separately, so a seat was arranged. We had a conversation and then came to the banquet hall.”

“I haven’t even spoken to the Queen yet…!”

Marquis Rajurang Youngae’s face turned red, as if she felt unfairly treated, almost on the verge of tears.

“Well… there might be another chance in the future, so don’t be too disheartened.”

“By the way, it’s quite strange that His Majesty called for Roang Youngae.”

“It’s nothing special.”

“Did he perhaps ask you to join the government?”

“Oh… now that you mention it, I heard he made such a suggestion to you as well.”

“I flatly refused.”

“I already heard that you flatly refused from His Majesty.”

“Did he mention it again?”

As I nodded, Marquis Rajurang Youngae’s face slightly reddened.

“Ugh…!”

She seemed angry and about to say something, but she swallowed it back and calmed herself down.

“There’s nothing to hide, so don’t be too embarrassed.”

“Haha… it’s fine…”

Marquis Rajurang Youngae smiled dejectedly and looked towards the throne.

In the center, Prince Angju, 14 years old, was seated, with Anne beside him.

“The Duke of Buckingham has arrived from Blytham!”

The Duke of Buckingham, the younger brother of King Charles V of Blytham, confidently walked towards the throne where Prince Angju was seated.

“It’s been a while. Your Highness.”

He greeted Prince Angju with impeccable Elancean etiquette.

“It’s been a while, Duke of Buckingham.”

They exchanged greetings, perhaps recognizing each other.

“If I had known you had grown so much, I would have visited sooner. Please forgive my rudeness.”

“It does seem like it’s been a long time.”

“Her Majesty Queen Anne mentioned it was your birthday, so I brought a gift.”

“What did you bring?”

Snap!

As the Duke of Buckingham snapped his fingers, a servant came forward with a box.

He opened the lid of the box, revealing a gold necklace adorned with a large emerald.

“Wow…?!”

“Wow, such a large emerald…”

“If it’s that big, you’d have to sell three territories…”

The nobles started murmuring as they looked at the large emerald on the necklace.

“This is an emerald brought from the New Continent.”

“It’s quite large.”

“Not just in size. I commissioned the dwarves of Helvetika to cut it.”

“From the dwarves of Helvetika?”

With the Duke of Buckingham’s bombshell declaration, the banquet hall became even more agitated.

“This necklace is a gift presented in hopes of peace between Blytham and Elance during the war 30 years ago.”

“Thank you.”

Prince Angju took the necklace gifted by the Duke of Buckingham and approached Anne.

“Your Majesty?”

“Lean your head forward.”

As Anne tilted her head, Prince Angju put the necklace around her neck.

“Wow… it’s really beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Indeed, the gem is quite large.”

Marquis Rajurang Youngae and I watched the scene unfold, exchanging conversation.

“Thank you, Duke of Buckingham. Please convey my regards to King Charles V of Blytham.”

“May there be prosperity for His Majesty and Elance.”

After greeting Prince Angju, the Duke of Buckingham stepped back.

Many others continued to congratulate Anne on her birthday, showering her with gifts.

As the formalities continued, I yawned and watched the exchange of gifts.

“Roang Yeong-ae.”

“Mi-an-hao, neomu jiruhaeseo.”

“Geureohge mak hayumhamyeon eotteokhaeyo?”

“Josimhagess-so.”

I watched as the messengers greeted Angju 14th while scratching the back of my head.

“Next, messengers from Vainlant have arrived.”

“So, you are the ones who came from Vainlant.”

Angju 14th looked at the messengers, stroking his chin.

“We have come to offer a small token of gratitude for the support Elangs provided to Vainlant during the war 30 years ago, by presenting some silk from the east.”

“Vainlant… silk from the east?”

At the mention of silk from the east, I raised my eyebrows.

As far as I remembered, Vainlant was not a wealthy place.

I recalled that even the nobles there couldn’t afford silk clothing, so they made undergarments out of silk.

“What’s so strange about it?”

As I continued to raise my eyebrows, Rajurang and Countess Yeong-ae asked me.

“It just seems odd, based on my memory, that Vainlant wouldn’t have the means to possess silk from the east.”

“Then how were they able to bring something so valuable? Perhaps… they deceived us with a gift…?!”

“We’ll have to see to find out.”

I observed the messengers from Vainlant who brought the silk.

“Alright, bring it here. Your Majesty, have you ever seen silk from the east?”

“I have seen it often.”

“Ah… is that so?”

Being relatively closer to the east than Elangs, Westerburg seemed to have seen silk from the east frequently.

“Anyway, bring it here so I can have a closer look.”

At Angju 14th’s command, the messengers from Vainlant approached the throne with the silk.

I had a sense of foreboding and grabbed the bronze ewer containing wine that was cooling.

“Yeong-ae?”

At my sudden action, Countess Yeong-ae called out to me.

As the Vainlant messenger began to unfold the silk in front of the throne, a musket pistol hidden there was revealed.

“Ugh?!”

Seeing this, Angju 14th was taken aback and looked at the messenger.

“Die, Angju 14th!!!”

“It was creepy from the start…!”

I poured out the water and ice from the ewer onto the floor.

“Wait… Yeong-ae, that…!”

“I know!”

I hurled the ewer with all my strength at the messenger.

Clang!

With a clear metallic sound, the ewer hit the back of the messenger’s head and bounced off.

The messenger, with a dent in the back of his head, collapsed onto Angju 14th.

“Ahh?!”

“Protect His Majesty!”

The sudden assassination attempt caused the paladins to quickly rush in and surround Angju 14th and Queen Anne.

Whoosh!

A sudden gust of wind blew through the palace, extinguishing all the lights illuminating the banquet hall.

“The lights are out!”

“Hurry, escort His Majesty and the Queen!”

“Ahh!”

Assassins who had infiltrated in the darkness began to kill the paladins.

Swish!

I strapped the sword to my waist and drew my sword, heading towards the assassins.

“Yeong-ae, it’s dangerous!”

As I left to kill the assassins, Countess Yeong-ae called out to stop me.

“If the assassins outnumber us, we don’t know what they might do, so come inside.”

“But…!”

“Hurry!”

At my urging, Countess Yeong-ae hesitated for a moment before starting to flee.

“Kill Angju 14th!!!”

“Protect His Majesty!”

Assassins rushed to kill Angju 14th, while paladins struggled to stop their assassination attempts in the darkness.

“Ugh! Let go of me!”

“Damn it, die…!!!”

I swiftly approached an assassin, sticking close behind a paladin, and sliced the assassin’s back with my sword as he tried to stab the paladin in the neck with a dagger.

“Argh!”

The assassin fell to the ground.

“Ah, thank you.”

The paladin bowed his head in gratitude towards me.

“At the time for greetings, assassins first.”

“Understood.”

Paladin and I began to cut down the assassins with our swords.

Once the assassins in the banquet hall were somewhat taken care of, I left the rest to the Paladins and started chasing after the assassins chasing after the fleeing Angju 14th at a fast pace.

“Kill Angju 14th!!!”

When I got close behind the assassins, one of them pulled out a knife and shouted.

“Kill what to kill!”

I struck the assassin’s head vertically with my sword, and his skull split like a watermelon.

“Darn! They’re on our tail!”

The assassins sent a few skilled individuals to chase after Angju 14th, while the rest rushed towards me.

“These… insignificant pests!”

I swung my sword with a lot of aura towards the assassins.

With the extended reach of the aura, I easily took down all the assassins rushing towards me.

“Like a monster… aura!”

An assassin who glared at me with a fierce look lowered his arm and gasped for breath.

I swung the sword downwards, wiping off the blood from the blade.

In the distance of the palace corridor, I saw Angju 14th and the five assassins chasing after them.

I dashed towards the assassins.

With every step I took, the marble floor echoed with golden footprints.

Thump thump thump thump thump!

The sound of my running with a lot of aura made the assassins turn their heads to look at me.

I leaped high and plunged the sword into the assassin’s head.

“Ugh?!”

The blade stuck in his forehead protruded from his neck.

Squelch!

As I pulled out the sword from his body, blood gushed out like a fountain from his forehead.

“This is why… my dress always gets stained with blood.”

I cleaned the sword and looked at the four assassins facing me.

They exchanged glances and then rushed towards me.

Their swords with aura reached out towards me.

I dodged their attacks and raised my sword to face them.

‘Wow… what’s with my waist?’

I put my hand on my waist to check if it was okay.

I couldn’t believe that I dodged and my waist was fine.

“Indeed, the best.”

I grinned widely and looked at the assassins.

With such flexibility, I felt confident that I could easily dodge their attacks and kill them.

Of course, there was no need to go that far.

I gathered aura in my sword and spun it around, aiming at the assassins.

Swish!

As they rushed towards me, I stopped swinging the sword and slashed horizontally.

They were split in half, turning into piles of flesh.

“Finished.”

I cleaned the blood off the sword and sheathed it.

“Protect His Majesty!!”

After everything was over, the Paladins rushed over.

“Huh?!”

They were startled to see me covered in blood.

It’s just this much, and they’re startled.

I chuckled at the stiffened Paladins.

“The situation is already over.”

I glanced at the completely evacuated Angju 14th and the corridor where Annu had passed, then looked back at the Paladins.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Thank you!”

The Paladins passed by me, expressing their gratitude.