Chapter 22

At Marquis Leon’s words, the medic stepped forward in protest.

“Marquis, even if you are the marquis, to ask us to leave while we are treating a patient right now…”

“Do my words really sound like a request to you?”

The medic froze at Leon’s answer. The bald instructor glared at the escort knight standing behind Leon and the monocle-wearing man with fierce eyes.

“Marquis, those words…”

“Don’t make me say it twice, medic.”

Leon’s voice suddenly turned icy cold.

“I said to make a place for me to talk with Maxim Apart for a moment. Is that young man going to die if you don’t treat him right now?”

The medic shook his head heavily.

“No, Marquis.”

“I understand well. Instructor, leave with him. It won’t take long.”

“What do you intend to do?”

Those words came from the bald instructor. Leon looked at the bald instructor with languid eyes.

“You see, instructor, that’s not your duty. You seem to be worried that I might harm Maxim Apart, am I right?”

The bald instructor couldn’t answer and just stayed still. Watching such an instructor, Leon spat out a careless laugh and waved his hand.

“Enough. Both of you, leave quickly. I won’t do anything harmful to that cadet.”

The marquis’s escort knight approached and almost drove the two out of the hospital room. The escort knight who got rid of the medic and instructor didn’t return to the hospital room. The hospital room door was firmly closed, and the escort knight who wouldn’t come in seemed to be standing in front of it to control access.

“They’re out.”

Leon muttered while looking at the closed door.

Maxim was lost in all sorts of thoughts while grasping the scar area. He wondered why the marquis, who should be at the villa right now, was at the academy, how he knew Maxim was here and came to find him, why he came to see him then, and what the matter was with him.

Maxim’s fingertips were trembling. Maxim couldn’t even imagine what would happen to him right now. The marquis was sitting arrogantly on the medic’s seat with his legs crossed. He looked at Maxim silently for a long time and then opened his mouth in a dry voice.

“Maxim Apart.”

When his name came out of that mouth, Maxim suddenly felt like he was suffocating. Leon was tapping his temples with his fingers.

“From the third son of the Apart Viscount family. Although a branch of a prestigious family, you’re practically unrelated to the main family since you split off too long ago… Just a petty nobleman who received a territory given by the main family and lives self-sufficiently while acting as a local magistrate.”

He knows. This man knows everything.

Maxim’s eyes grew cold.

“But you are a genius who learned swordsmanship from a wandering swordsman and passed the academy with that swordsmanship that isn’t even a proper form. But I heard your talent in mana isn’t outstanding?”

Every sense in his body was telling him to be wary of Leon. Maxim tensed his muscles while sharpening his nerves.

“Anything else? Ah, and…”

The corners of Leon’s mouth rose up.

“You’re the lover of my daughter, Theodora. Isn’t that right?”

Maxim didn’t answer. Leon looked at Maxim’s attitude and shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, that’s not important to you right now.”

“What is going on here.”

Maxim opened his mouth for the first time. After unfolding his crossed legs, Leon pulled the chair closer to Maxim’s hospital bed.

“Well, why don’t you tell me? What happened.”

Leon rolls his eyes downward and looks at the wound area Maxim is grasping.

“Why it became inconvenient to circulate mana, why you can’t activate aura, why the guardian under the dungeon was that strong. Why it was set to target Theodora, what the fog that gushed out before entering the last room of that dungeon was.”

It was as if a cold wind had rushed into the hospital room.

Maxim exuded killing intent. The color of his golden eyes had lost their light and looked dead. The monocle-wearing man caught by Maxim’s killing intent took a step back with a startled expression. Still, Leon received Maxim’s killing intent with an indifferent look.

Thud.

The sound of the monocle-wearing man falling was heard. Leon glanced sideways in that direction and then looked at Maxim again.

“You’re exuding killing intent well in that state.”

Leon rubbed his hands together.

“I did really well cutting off the bud.”

Leon leaned back on the chair with a satisfied expression.

“The Magic Tower and our family… have maintained an intimate relationship for quite a long time. I also have quite a significant influence on the academy. So… for example, it’s possible to be somewhat involved in the academy’s exams that the Magic Tower cooperated with.”

Leon sighed.

“Our family’s finances have been quite damaged because of you. Money to manufacture a Living Armor, money needed for dungeon construction, money to lobby the academy… I never thought Theodora would have someone to whom she would open her heart… You were someone who deviated from my expectations a lot.”

Maxim’s face when looking at Leon became even more ferocious.

“That potion too. Actually, that potion was the most expensive after the Living Armor.”

“…What do you mean.”

Maxim’s killing intent grew stronger. A storm of sharp malice that ripped through space burst out from Maxim. Leon stepped back for a moment. For the first time, a little bit of surprise was tinged in those emotionless eyes.

“You know best.”

“What did you do to my mana.”

The door swung open. It was the marquis’s escort knight. He drew his sword and rushed towards Maxim, who exuded killing intent. Maxim ignored the knight and continued to glare at Leon. The knight thrust the tip of the blade at Maxim’s throat. The tip of the sword tore Maxim’s skin and shed new blood.

“Marquis!”

“It’s nothing, Asula.”

The marquis gestured to the escort knight.

“Marquis, but!”

“I told you to go out and just guard the door, can’t you even do that?”

The marquis’s voice was chilly. The escort knight, pressed down by that voice, put the sword back into the scabbard.

“Get out.”

“I apologize.”

When the escort knight left the hospital room, the marquis faced Maxim.

“Yes, let’s return to the main topic. The potion poured on your wound was cursed.”

The marquis spoke flatly in a nonchalant tone.@@novelbin@@

“That curse reacts to mana. Even if left alone, it will gradually eat away at your body. You’ll be able to live. If you take care of your body as much as possible.”

Maxim’s face was gradually being consumed by shadows.

“But I can’t guarantee your life if you use Aura Blade. If you’re lucky, you’ll be half-paralyzed, and if you’re unlucky, you’ll die.”

Maxim’s wound, his scar began to throb.

“We can’t let Theodora find out, can we?”

Maxim’s clenched fist turned white.

“Are you saying that a marquis did all this just because of my relationship with Theodora?”

Leon burst into laughter at Maxim’s words.

“‘Just!’ Ha… You really know how to make people laugh. How I raised that child. It’s a waste to send her to you.”

“Instead of causing all this trouble, you should have come to me earlier and threatened me. You son of a bitch.”

Leon laughed again. The sight of those eyes that contained no emotion laughing was quite eerie.

“Maxim, contrary to expectations, I am a person who knows how to properly assess the other party. I investigate and find out that much… If I had politely asked you to break up with our daughter, would you have readily agreed? If I had offered you tens of thousands of gold, would you have happily left her? If I had said I would put you in the best knight order of the Royal Palace, would you have agreed? Moreover,”

His eyes flashed. Maxim’s murderous intent and Leon’s momentum clashed.

“If I had drawn my sword and thrust it at your neck, if I had mobilized knights to threaten you, would you have tucked your tail and run away? No, no. You know that well too, don’t you, Maxim Apart? If I had done such things, you would have started to be wary of me instead. On top of that, you’re unnecessarily strong, so I couldn’t eliminate you knowingly or unknowingly.”

Leon tapped his fingers nervously.

“I tell you, I hate it the most when things don’t go according to plan. And you have been knowingly or unknowingly interfering with my plans so far. Now I can say it.”

Maxim didn’t want to hear Leon’s next words.

“Break up with Theodora. In the worst possible way.”

“It’s laughable to hear that from someone who claims to know me so well.”

“How far do you want me to go? If you don’t want to see an even dirtier sight, it’s better not to prolong the conversation.”

Leon called the monocle-wearing man who was standing still in the corner.

“Emil, come here.”

The monocle-wearing man, Emil Bordin, walked over to Leon’s side.

“Emil is the head of the Bening family’s branch family, the Bordin Viscount family, and also an important figure in the court nobility belonging to the secretarial office.”

Leon said while alternately looking at Emil and Maxim.

“I’ll arrange an engagement with Emil’s second daughter. Isn’t this a proposal that’s not bad for your family too?”

Emil spoke while looking at Maxim. His blue eyes reached Maxim like those of a reptile.

“Well, since it’s come to this, please take good care of me, ‘son-in-law.'”

Maxim’s expression distorted like a demon. The killing intent gushed out again, and it was directed at Emil himself, causing him to take a step back.

“You bastards’ way of thinking is worse than a dog.”

“I’ll take that as an agreement.”

Leon gave a bitter smile.

“But I’ll give you time to sort out your feelings. The deadline is until graduation. Inform and make her hate you unilaterally.”

“What the hell do you want from Theodora? What are you trying to do by going this far?”

Maxim’s voice trembled with hatred. Leon shrugged his shoulders.

“Shouldn’t Theodora’s match be at least a royal family member? But if she has no intention of giving you up, and you have no intention of giving up her, shouldn’t we make it happen by force?”

The royal family. Connections with the Magic Tower. The head of the branch family infiltrated deep into the royal family.

Maxim gritted his teeth.

“You bastards are planning to swallow this kingdom using Theodora.”

“I’m disappointed. My expression about finding a better match, but…”

He gave Maxim a confident smile.

“I acknowledge your insight. But even if you know everything, there’s nothing you can change, right?”

Leon said so and chuckled.

“Maxim, don’t forget that my eyes are always watching you. Don’t even think about quitting as a knight and running away.”

Leon got up from his seat.

“Well, I’ve delivered everything I had to, so I’ll be on my way. Viscount Bordin will soon send an invitation, so discuss the details of the engagement with him separately.”

“I will kill you.”

Maxim said in a low voice.

“If you want to make Theodora even more miserable, do that.”

Leon said so as he opened the door of the hospital room.

“Her ex-lover and father killing each other, and the reason being herself. She’ll really like that.”

==

The few months until the breakup were a series of pain for both Maxim and Theodora. He constantly pushed Theodora away, and she kept approaching him even though she knew he was pushing her away. Maxim kept delaying it. He kept delaying telling her until the graduation ceremony approached.

He reduced the number of times they crossed swords. Because she might become suspicious.

He didn’t respond well to her words. He didn’t actively seek her out first.

When she said she loved him, he avoided answering. He didn’t hug her.

The end was approaching.

“Theodora.”

It was a snowy day. Maxim stopped while exchanging swords with Theodora in the training grounds.

“Don’t say it.”

Theodora cut off Maxim’s words. Tears were welling up in those rain cloud-like eyes.

“Don’t say it, please.”

“Let’s break up.”

“I don’t want to hear it, Maxim. Let’s stop here for today.”

He had to hold on.

Hold on and miserably dump her.

“A few months ago, I got a fiancée.”

Theodora’s footsteps abruptly. Came to a halt.

“No.”

“The Bordin family. The daughter of a court noble.”

“Stop talking.”

“They said they would revive our family and me. They said they would let me live comfortably as a court noble without having to be a knight.”

“I said stop.”

Large teardrops fell from Theodora’s eyes with a thud.

“Why…why are you doing this, Maxim? Why…”

“I originally became a knight to succeed.”

Maxim was surprised by his own voice which was too dry. Theodora was crying. She was hurting and crying right in front of him, and what he had to do was drive a nail into that wound.

“….Then can’t you just come to me? I was joking back then, but you can really stay at our house as a live-in son-in-law. Our family is not some falling family, and we have a lot of money.”

Theodora’s words stabbed Maxim’s heart like a sword. He couldn’t show it. He shouldn’t show it.

“I… I’ll try harder too. I’ll become a knight who can create your success.”

“… I’m sorry.”

His head whipped to the side.

Theodora’s palm slapped Maxim’s cheek. It didn’t hurt, but the emotion in that hand hurt more.

“You…you changed me like this.”

Tears fell endlessly from Theodora’s eyes.

“Letting me know what it means to care for someone, to love someone. Making me unable to look at anyone but you. Telling me to only look at you…”

Theodora’s words blurred as she continued.

“Telling me that I can be loved too…”

Theodora cried. She kept crying.

If only he could speak. If only he could ignore that threat. If only he could hug her and tell her it was a lie.

Snow was falling. It was the cold weather Theodora disliked, but the snow Theodora liked.

==

Maxim opened his closed eyes. The painful memories were still vivid even though a long time had passed.

“Damn it.”

He shouldn’t have thought about it.

Maxim smacked his bitterly stinging mouth.

What happened after that? Maxim was assigned to the frontier, known as a knight who couldn’t use aura and was demoted after being pushed back in factional fights.

The moment he gave up everything was when he was first assigned to the Raven Knight Order. The powerless years had taken away his ambition for the sword, his hatred for the marquis, and the faint thoughts of Theodora.

And…

Knock knock,

There was a sound of knocking on the door. Maxim got up from his seat and approached the door.

“What’s the matter in the middle of the night?”

When Maxim opened the door, in front of it was,

“I can’t fall asleep.”

His junior, wearing pajamas, smiling with those deep and splendid blonde hair hanging down and green eyes.

“Can I come in for a moment?”

Translator’s Corner

I forgot to mention this in the last chapter, but I’ll be switching to the every other day schedule now. You can donate for bonus chapters, but yeah. Too many chapters to do. Also, I’ll be going abroad for a week, so the next chapter will be around then. Unless I somehow find time before the flight.