Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 121

The dignitaries from other countries also arrived one by one, and a small banquet was held in the palace to relieve their fatigue.However, Llewellyn, who was not particularly interested in such things, chose to sneak out of the palace in the middle of the night.

Here, he was treated as a mere prince, but in the Everan Royal Palace, he was more often called an adventurer than the third prince.

A body that prides itself on having been through all kinds of hardships. Even the young knights of his own country could not defeat Llewellyn anymore, so it was not difficult for him to sneak out of the palace, which had people busy preparing for the banquet.

‘Who would be stuck in a stuffy palace?’

Llewellyn, who escaped through the hole, ran straight towards the downtown area.

Soon, a loud noise and the sound of music could be faintly heard, and then a colorful night market appeared under the dark night sky.

“Wow, I want to travel for this taste!”

As soon as the cheers started, he mingled with the festival crowd.

Those who were already very drunk were singing along to the sound of the instruments and the tables lining the street were full of people.

The smell of alcohol, the noise of people talking, and even the occasional drunken person grabbing someone by the collar and being dragged away by the police were all elements that added to the excitement of the festival.

That’s why no one noticed the foreign prince who had blended in with the crowd. Llewellyn, dressed in plain clothes and wandering around, just looked like a common tourist.

‘This body is the best!’

It was worth preparing it without telling the chamberlain.

If he snuck into any table like this and ate and drank to his heart’s content, morning would come, and when he returned to the palace, he could sneak in with the delegation of his country that would be leaving the palace for official business.

Llewellyn began to look around in earnest while eating a skewer of grilled meat sold at a tent.

Even before the main festival began, the atmosphere seemed to have already become quite heated. Forgetting about dragons and all, Llewellyn simply immersed himself in the atmosphere of the place.

No, he was trying to immerse himself.

“…He killed the dragon?”

“They said it was already dead? I heard it came out along with monsters made from the corpses of beasts and monsters.”

An annoying topic was brought up.

Llewellyn turned his head reflexively.

While the drinking party was in full swing, the travelers who had gathered together were chatting away.

“They said it was the first time they’d seen a monster like that in their lives. Why, they said it was made by fanatics who believe in an evil god and such.”

“Made it? Is that possible?”

“So that’s why they’re an evil cult. I heard this when I went to other territories to do business, but they’re really bad guys who lure the weak into opposing the royal family.”

The story that started with a dragon quickly turned into one about the evil cult.

‘An evil god?’

It was a word that appeared only in old tales.

Llewellyn’s ears perked up.

‘Come to think of it, I heard that rebels have begun to act within the empire.’

So he had to listen to his family constantly, telling him to be more careful and not to do anything dangerous. It seems like those rioters were followers of the evil god.

Even more absurd than the word dragon were the words evil god.

His interest grew and he listened more attentively. Because of that, he didn’t notice the drunken, staggering figure approaching him.

Phew!

The half-eaten skewer fell to the floor with a loud crash as his shoulder was hit hard.

He widened his eyes and raised his head, and a vicious man with a red face was looking down at him with a crumpled face.

“What is this bastard doing?”

“…Bastard?”

Llewellyn frowned at the offensive words. Then, the large man strode closer and growled fiercely.

“Hey, if you bumped into me, you should apologize. From the looks of it, you look like a rich kid…”

“Aren’t you the one who came and bumped into me out of the blue? You should be the one apologizing, not me.”

“Your speech is strange. Are you a foreigner?”

The large man tilted his head. As the atmosphere became more serious, the people around him began to murmur.

Llewellyn smiled crookedly and provoked him more.

“Then?”

“It seems like you never learned manners in your country, so I’m going to teach you a lesson.”

The man who declared so approached with brisk strides, cracking his knuckles viciously.

“Hey, stop it! Isn’t he still young?”

“You’re too drunk!”

“Let go of this!”

People tried to stop him, but the man pushed him away with force.

Only then did he notice the thick sword tucked into the bastard’s waistband, but that didn’t change anything.

It would be a piece of cake to beat up a big guy like that.

As his opponent grabbed the hilt of his sword, Llewellyn also grabbed his sword as if he was going to draw it.

At that moment, the noise behind him grew louder and people started to retreat in panic.

“Tsk, why are you blocking the road and making a fuss? It’s annoying.”

A voice burrowed into his ear.

The man who had been harassing Llewellyn turned toward the voice.

“What is this?”

When he turned around, he noticed that for some reason the people who had been trying to stop them just a moment ago were far away.

The person didn’t look that threatening. He was of average build and even looked more like a brat than the guy he had been fighting just now.

So the man stamped his feet even more fiercely.

“These kids are really going to… Eek!!”

“Oh, shit. If you were drunk, you should just go in and sleep.”

But the moment the man saw the young man’s face properly, he started hiccuping without realizing it.

Under the lights that brightened up the night, pure white hair was revealed, slightly sharp eyes and golden eyes full of irritation, and a beautiful face that you could never forget if you met it even once.

Llewellyn was equally dumbfounded.

‘That’s the shameless guy I ran into earlier.’

But why did they all react like that?

Those who had been anxious until just now, wondering if something would happen, now began to look at the man with sorrowful eyes.

The silver-haired young man raised his eyebrows and spoke arrogantly.

“Why? Want to have a go?”

“No, that’s not true! Excuse me, brother! Please take care!!”

The man, with his back bent at a right angle as if the alcohol had worn off in an instant, ran away into the crowd.

What was happening now?

He couldn’t understand it even after seeing it with his own eyes. How could a ferocious beast like that turn around and run away?

At that moment, when he was dumbfounded, a person who seemed to be in a group with the silver-haired young man appeared.

“What? It’s over already?”

Arthur, who arrived a beat late, spoke to the young man, Arendt.

“What did you do to make him run away like that?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

Arendt shrugged.

“Oh, come to think of it… I’ve been in a few fights when I’ve been out lately. I’ve been cleaning up the back alleys a bit, so maybe that’s why?”

“…I told you not to do that outside the palace.”

“Why? I’m getting paid to beat up bad guys anyway. I’m just doing a great job protecting the people of the empire.”

“No!”

Arthur grabbed the back of Arendt’s neck, but he pretended not to hear him.

Llewellyn couldn’t see them because they were covered by the hem of their long coats, but they were both dressed in uniforms. It seemed like they were patrolling the outside of the palace in case of an emergency during the time when many dignitaries were visiting.

‘Oh, that’s not important.’

He had to run away before they discovered his true identity.

“Thank you for your help. Well, I guess I’ll take my leave now…”

“Wait a moment.”

But as he tried to sneak away, he couldn’t help but be stopped by a cold voice.

There was even a hint of irritation in the indifferent gaze directed at him. It seemed that he was quite displeased at Llewellyn, who had created this situation and held him back.

Ironically, Llewellyn was somewhat relieved by this reaction. At least it meant that the knight didn’t recognize him.

Llewellyn smiled stiffly.

“Uh, so. Is there a problem?”

“Don’t you know that word?”

But the answer he got back was an odd question.

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s not that I avoid it because I’m scared, it’s that I avoid it because it’s dirty. It means that you shouldn’t take the arguments of a drunkard like that at face value.”

A gaze full of pity looked the prince up and down.

Although his mood was so blatant that it made him feel a little offended, Llewellyn forced the corners of his mouth to form a smile.

“Haha… I’m a bit of a hothead. Thank you for helping me.”

“No need for gratitude.”

The guy nodded his head absentmindedly.

“If I’m not mistaken, it looks like you were thinking of drawing your sword too.”

“Uh?”

“You weren’t planning on wielding a sword in a place with so many people, were you?”

“Uh, wielding a sword? No way, it was just going to be used for self-defense…”

“It doesn’t look like a sword that was trained for self-defense.”

This time it was Arthur who stepped forward. Before he knew it, he was staring at Llewellyn’s calloused hands.

“You’ve been training for quite some time, haven’t you? I think you could easily beat up that man from before.”

“You don’t seem particularly drunk, and you’re trying to cause trouble. Isn’t that suspicious?”

“That’s suspicious.”

Arthur nodded obediently to the question directed at him.

It’s ruined.

Llewellyn forced the corners of his lips to curl even further.

“I’m not suspicious. I was just passing by and got into trouble.”

“I heard a little while ago that you’re a foreigner? Sorry, but the atmosphere in the empire has been a bit turbulent lately.”

But Arendt seemed unwilling to give in to such lame excuses.

“I wish you could come with me for a moment. It’ll be over soon.”

“No, wait a minute!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll just verify your identity and send you away after.”

Now Arthur was approaching him with long strides and putting pressure on him.

Was it true that the inflexibility of young knights was common all over the world?

Curse words were rising to the top of his throat.

If he had his way, he would have made a fuss and asked if they knew who he was, but that would have put him in trouble.

If it became known that he had come all the way to the Caerleon Empire to cause trouble, his father would certainly not stay still. For now, it was best to just let it go quietly.

‘But I don’t think these guys will let me go that easily.’

In times like this, running away was the best.

The moment he decided to take that step.

“What? Are you trying to leave?”

The emotionless voice was heard again.

“It’s better to run away. Even if you’re surrounded by people dressed in uniform, you’ll just end up talking nonsense. It’s much more fun to play here alone.”

“…”

His body froze.

His foot, which had already moved slightly forward, returned to its original position on its own.

“That…”

“But, you obviously understand that you have to take responsibility for that, right? You’re an adult, not a child.”

A foolish voice was about to flow out, but was interrupted again.

The incredibly handsome face that appeared before his eyes was now covered in a bright smile.

“Am I wrong?”

“…”

Llewellyn was forced to revise his thinking.

That bastard, it’s obvious that he did this even though he already knew everything.