Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 107

Arendt, who returned to the dormitory, took out the materials that Priest Lumiel had given him and the map that he had been holding on to for a few days and spread them out.Thud!

A fairly heavy sound shook the floor.

He also contacted Count Stadler through the communication channel and asked for the information.

He said that many of the books in the mine ruins have not yet been fully interpreted. He also said that he would search through all of the books in the count’s personal collection, so it would take quite some time.

‘Let’s leave it there.’

First of all, the priority was to follow Blake’s trail.

‘We have to find out what he was doing there.’

Since he was even accompanying Vincent, there had to be something.

Before he knew it, Arcus’ existence had been completely erased from his mind.

But the very next day.

Arendt momentarily forgot about being in character and felt genuinely annoyed for the first time in a long time.

“…”

A hellish silence flowed through the spacious reception room.

Cantares was struggling to suppress the twitching at the corners of his mouth as he tried to hold back his laughter, while a man he was seeing for the first time awkwardly looked the other way.

Arthur and Richt, who accompanied Arendt, were equally astonished.

And Laius, sandwiched between the scheming Crown Prince and the blatantly displeased Arendt, simply rested his hand on his forehead and sighed deeply.

There was only one person responsible.

“…Is this the first time we’ve met up close? Nice to meet you, Lord Arendt. I’m Henry, the second son of Duke Lancelot. I’ve heard a lot about you from my father.”

Even in the uncomfortable atmosphere, Henry introduced himself proudly.

Arendt glanced at him with cold eyes, then nodded to Arcus, who was standing stubbornly with his back straight behind Henry.

“Who is that person?”

“He is my bodyguard and attendant.”

“Your escort?”

“Yes, escort.”

“A knight belonging to the royal family is accompanying you. Is he your escort?”

“Yes, that’s right. I can’t use the Imperial Knights as my personal bodyguard.”

Henry remained steadfast even as he sweat profusely.

“I see. Escort.”

“….”

“Do you know how to use the sword?”

“As you know, Lord Arendt, Lord Arcus also graduated from a promising academy. He may not be as good as the knight you are, but I can say that he is no less capable.”

“Is that so?”

Arendt answered stiffly and looked at Arcus again.

This was a completely unexpected development.

He never imagined that Henry and Arcus would be friends, and it seemed that the same was true for Cantares and Laius.

‘I guess I understand the general situation.’

Henry must have attached a condition to the Crown Prince’s request to accompany the Knights to the border area to conduct a temple visit. He probably asked for Arcus to accompany him.

Of course, that condition was something that Arcus, who still seemed to have a lingering attachment to his younger brother, had closely requested… The ill-tempered Crown Prince did not miss out on this interesting opportunity.

Cantares, who had been giggling quietly, quickly turned away after receiving Arendt’s cold gaze. Next to him, Jereon was seen smiling awkwardly.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s not like I, a mere apprentice knight, can add anything to it.”

Arendt stood there, looking straight at Arcus.

“I don’t know how much of a role a fool like you, who can’t even tell the difference between public and private things, can play as a bodyguard, but it doesn’t matter.”

“…”

“Still, I’m a little curious. Since you say that your sword skills are outstanding, I’m sure there will come a day when I can experience it.”

A cold air, as if touched by the Frosty Touch, flowed from his pretty, smiling face.

Arthur, who was watching the scene, whispered so that only Richt could hear.

“That guy… Isn’t he saying that he’s going to beat him up sometime under the pretense of testing his skills?”

“No way…”

Richt, who answered like that, didn’t seem very confident either. Beating up his brother seemed like something Arendt could do.

Henry, who was sweating profusely while stuck between the brothers, hurriedly asked to shake Laius’ hand.

“Please take good care of me, Commander Laius.”

“Yes, same to you.”

As expected, Laius quickly calmed his expression and grabbed the young man’s hand.

Henry continued.

“I heard that this was a simple investigation without any particular purpose. The reason the commander personally took charge of the mission is because there have been frequent riots in the country recently.”

This was the reason why Cantares had publicly stated his intention to go on this business trip.

“I heard that there are also solo missions for the Knights in the middle, so I hope you don’t mind me and just do your assigned tasks well.”

But Henry seemed to have already figured out the true meaning.

He had a good impression, but it was proof that he wasn’t all that naive. He seemed to know full well why he was chosen.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Laius came forward as a representative and expressed his gratitude.

In any case, it seemed certain that the second son of the Duke was the right person for this job.

Arendt clicked his tongue in annoyance and glared at Cantares again. The Crown Prince pretended to feel the sting for a moment, but soon gave a playful grin.

“It won’t be a short journey, so I hope you enjoy it as if you were on vacation. Let’s leave tomorrow as soon as we’re ready.”

“Yes, I understand.”

A sharp answer was heard from around him.

Instead of going along with it, Arendt strode closer to where the Crown Prince was sitting.

“Your Highness, would you mind lending me your ear for a moment?”

“Huh? Uh-huh.”

Although he felt an ominous premonition, Cantares nodded his head.

Arendt bowed his head and whispered something in his ear.

“…”

“…”

The Crown Prince’s face, which had been smiling brightly the whole time, distorted slightly.

Arendt straightened his posture again after saying just one sentence, nodded his head in goodbye, and walked to where Laius was waiting.

“Then I will see you tomorrow after we have finished preparing to leave, Your Highness.”

Laius said goodbye calmly, but a little hastily, as he was anxious about what else Arendt would say.

After the commander of the Third Knights led his men out of the reception room, Henry and Arcus also paid their respects to the Crown Prince and left.

When only the two were left, Jereon asked quietly.

“What did Lord Arendt say?”

“It’s truly wonderful that you were born as the direct descendant of the royal family of the Caerleon Empire.”

“Wow…”

An exclamation burst from Jereon’s mouth.

If that statement were to be roughly translated, it would be something like, ‘

“Is it okay? I’m a little worried that you might be making a fuss by provoking him for nothing…”

“No matter how much I provoke him, nothing will come of it.”

If you manage to provoke that person, it won’t just end with a scratch.

Cantares, who had been silent for a moment, smiled brightly.

“But Lord Arcus seems to have changed his mind a bit. I think it’s right to give him a chance at least once.”

“You’re not just doing it because it’s fun?”

“Hum, hum.”

Jereon’s gaze towards the Crown Prince became slightly bitter.

He wasn’t originally a very quiet person.

‘I feel like your personality has been getting worse lately…’

He was certain that there must have been a great influence from the apprentice knight who was doing whatever he wanted to do.

When acting, he tended not to let his personal feelings get involved.

Even when he was at an extreme, he was praised by his colleagues for his unwavering immersion, but for some reason, the presence of Arcus felt strangely unpleasant.

‘It must really be Arendt’s influence.’

Just like when you encounter food you dislike, the remaining aversion in his body kept raising its head. In addition, the fact that the bastard was more persistent than he thought also seemed to play a part.

Clop, clop.

Even while riding leisurely, Arcus kept circling around Arendt. He kept looking at him, as if he didn’t have the courage to speak to him.

In the midst of all this, Arendt didn’t pay him any attention, so the people around him who were watching were left dizzy.

Finally, Arthur, unable to stand it any longer, quietly approached Arendt.

“Hey, your brother has been staring at you like crazy for a while now.”

“Leave him alone. No matter how much he looks at me, it won’t change that I’m handsome.”

“…”

There was never a day when his nonsense stopped.

“And where is my brother? He used to be there, but he doesn’t exist anymore.”

“You really…”

But that feeling wasn’t completely incomprehensible.

Because he broke off relations with the Count while all the nobles and even the Crown Prince watched.

“And now the one who should be feeling sorry is not me, but that person. I don’t even know what his intention is.”

“His intention?”

“Can you say with certainty that there is absolutely no possibility that the Count’s family bribed him to do something and follow us?”

“…”

Arthur shut his mouth tightly at those words.

Arendt of today had a lot on his plate.

The other nobles had branded him a madman and avoided approaching him since he had suffered a major blow the other day, but the story was a little different for Count Eckhart, who still had blood ties to him.

With his close friendship with the Neumann group and now acting as the Crown Prince’s confidant, the Count might later regret letting Arendt go.

But…

“I don’t think His Highness the Crown Prince didn’t think about that.”

Arendt’s eyebrows furrowed at the words he blurted out without thinking.

Arthur slowly distanced himself from the ominous atmosphere.

Arendt glared at his senior with unkind eyes, then spurred his horse and moved further away from him.

Count Eckhart was a useless network.

There weren’t many people he could trust right now.

In “The Blue Knight of the Holy Sword”, he showed his definite faith, and in the novel, he was an enemy but completely turned to their side.

In the current situation, it was not very appealing to have other humans close to him.

‘It’s annoying.’

Even if he assumed that Arcus was approaching without any selfish intentions, the presence of Count Eckhart behind him could not be ignored.

He had barely managed to get rid of the nobles, but if the Count, who did not have favourable thoughts about the Crown Prince, rose up again, it was obvious that troublesome things would happen.

Arendt glanced toward the carriage Henry was riding in.

A coachman, several servants to accompany Henry, and three knights, including Laius and Arcus.

That was all for the party.

‘You insolent traitor. What do you think?’

He thought that the other person must have mistaken who to apologize to, but he couldn’t tell him that directly.

He shook his head slightly to shake off the thoughts.

If the annoying feeling that kept coming up was Arendt’s feelings, then it was also his job to deal with it. Avoiding it was also not like Arendt, so he thought it would be easier to just face it.

‘If you keep harassing someone to death, they’ll definitely change their attitude.’

The moment Arendt made up his mind, Arcus had to tremble with a sense of unnecessary eeriness.

Their destination was the border mountain range.