CH 65

Rupert stared intently at Chloe. Her eyes fluttered for a moment before calming down.

“Of course, it won’t affect Madam.”

“But didn’t you say it’s a drug that slowly kills a person?”

Rupert still looked at Chloe with concern, but Chloe knew clearly that it wasn’t for her.

“It’s not a drug that will kill a healthy person just by taking it once. It’s just medicine that slowly gives rest to the terminally ill.”

Rupert’s face softened at her explanation. Then, he stroked Chloe’s hair, his expression thoughtful.

Chloe rested her head on his shoulder. “What’s on your mind?”

“I thought of the first time we met.”

Chloe looked up at Rupert, and he grinned and muttered, “It’s amazing. That day, I was really fascinated by you.”

“So was I, Rupert.”

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Rupert didn’t respond to that. He paused for a moment, looking pensive, and asked, “Chloe, Baron Verezian was originally a doctor, wasn’t he?”

“…He was.”

“It must have been such a great skill that a doctor was awarded a noble title just for his abilities.”

Chloe smiled bitterly at Rupert’s words. “I don’t know for sure, but I think that’s how it went.”

Chloe, leaning on Rupert, got up from the sofa.

“Chloe?”

“I need to go to my room and rest for a while. I’m tired.”

“Okay, get some rest.”

Even after saying that, Chloe looked back several times as she left. But Rupert leaned back on the sofa, staring blankly at the wall.

Chloe looked regretfully at him, but she had to leave alone in the end. It was surprising that Rupert wouldn’t go to her room with him. What’s more, wasn’t this the room Erin used?

After Chloe left, Rupert slowly turned and looked toward the door where she had left.

And he vividly remembered the time they first met.

It was a day in the prime of their youth.

‘Of all people.’

Rupert looked at Enoch in front of him and tightened his grip on his sword. Enoch stood leisurely and held his sword loosely.

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Today was the last day of the knighthood ceremony examinations. After this tournament, one would officially become a knight if they entered a certain ranking.

The noblemen of the Empire took the compulsory knighthood exam before they reached adulthood. However, not everyone passed, and only a few who excelled in

martial arts as knights passed.

So, not all of them became knights just because they were aristocrats.

Rupert faced Enoch at the final gate of the knighthood ceremony in the individual tournament. As he faced the person he most wanted to avoid, he couldn’t control his expression.

“Wooooh! It’s the Imperial Crown Prince!”

Glancing at the audience, everyone cheered for Crown Prince Enoch. They didn’t care about Rupert.

But Rupert knew that one gaze had been fixed on him the whole time. One girl, wearing a wide-brimmed white hat, watched him in the back seat.

‘Erin Spilet, you came all the way here.’

Power filled Rupert’s shoulders. He straightened himself and looked at Enoch again.

When Enoch caught his gaze, he smiled softly and said, “Good luck, Rupert.”

“I should be the one saying that, Your Highness!”

The two swords collided with a shout.

The sound of metal hitting each other rang out so loud that it was threatening. The speed of the two was so fast that the average human eye couldn’t follow.

Truthfully, the two often sparred and knew each other’s skills quite well.

Truthfully, the two often sparred and knew each other’s skills quite well.

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Thousands of spectators were now cheering for the Crown Prince. Even if Rupert lost here, his standing as a knight was secured thanks to the grades he had already achieved in the previous exam. Even if he let the Crown Prince defeat him, it would be fine. Duke Clifford would like it, too.

Just as he started considering that, he saw the white hat blown away by the wind and fly into the air.

The moment he opened his eyes, he couldn’t stop the sword from coming quickly to his side.

Rupert instinctively turned to the side and raised Enoch’s sword hard from the bottom up. At that moment, Enoch lost his grip on the sword, and it soared into the air before falling to the ground.

Wow!

Rupert stared at Enoch in bewilderment as Enoch took a step back with a sheepish smile.

“Ah…”

Rupert looked at his sword, then the one on the ground. He had fallen amidst the shock of it all, but it was Rupert’s victory.

He was about to lose on purpose, but at a moment’s notice, he gave his all to it. Still, was it enough to disarm Enoch?

Puzzled, he turned back to Enoch, but Enoch went up to him as if he didn’t know anything and said, “You were great, Rupert.”

“I think Your Highness has more skill.”

Enoch stretched out his hand toward Rupert sitting on the ground. Rupert accepted his assistance and stood, praising his skills. Whatever their feelings, they were still close friends.

“Now, go and stand on the podium. Rupert, you won first place.”

‘First place.’

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Rupert turned to where Enoch had pointed and was overcome with a strange sensation. As he walked to the podium, his gaze drifted to where Erin sat.

But she had already disappeared.

‘Where did you go?’

Even if no one else knew, he wanted her to see.

When such a thought entered his mind, Rupert’s eyes widened and he shook his head violently.

‘What am I thinking?’

He climbed the podium and had the gold medal placed around his neck. Enoch, who had won the silver medal on the lower podium next to him, smiled brightly. But what caught Rupert’s eye was the white hand in the Crown Prince’s hand.

“Your Highness, that hat…”

“Ah, I found it behind here. It’s a pretty hat, isn’t it?” Enoch waved his hat indifferently and handed it to the servant standing next to him.

Rupert muttered to himself, “It is…”

As soon as the awards ceremony ended, Rupert felt something wet on his side. When he touched it, he saw a finely cut garment with blood oozing out of it. And the moment he recognized his wounds, the bitter pain came rushing in.

“Ah, ugh…”

He thought he had dodged Enoch’s attack, but that wasn’t the case. Rupert stopped in his tracks and looked behind him to see Enoch smiling, showing his silver medal to the crowd.

‘It must be a coincidence.’

Enoch also had far superior swordsmanship than ordinary knights, but he was far behind Rupert. Rupert was well aware of this fact when he faced Enoch.

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But maybe since the hat distracted him, Enoch found his chance.

Enoch turned to him, and their eyes met. Enoch waved his hand gently, and Rupert shook his head to shake off his discomposure.

‘I don’t think I’ll have time to treat it properly.’

The sun was about to set.

The Emperor would formally ordain the knights tonight, and a banquet would follow to celebrate it.

Rupert, the heir to the Clifford duchy, was the main character who took the lead today, so he had to attend early.

Rupert roughly threw his shirt off in one of the locker rooms. And he stopped the bleeding by pressing it on his side with a clean towel.

“It looks like a pretty deep cut.”

When he took off his clothes and looked closely, the wound was deeper than expected. Before changing clothes, he tied a cloth around his chest.

There was no time to lose. The person Rupert feared the most was attending the banquet.

Night soon came.

The entrance to the banquet hall of the imperial palace was dazzling with colorful lights that outshone the night sky. The lamps lit with magic stones boasted their own colors illuminated the whole place.

While the banquet hall was open, not everyone was inside. The nobles who arrived early were all outside the entrance, keeping an eye out for those who attended.

Each time someone arrived, close friends approached them, greeted them, and entered the banquet hall together.

Enoch sat near the inconspicuous stone wall by the entrance. Around him were the members supporting the Crown Prince. Of course, Rupert was there too.

They sat together and made idle conversation. Some even had cigars in their mouths.

The way most full-blooded men did, they mostly talked about women.

“I heard that the Earl of Felsix’s daughter is making her debut today. I heard she’s pretty.”

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“Arthur, she’s already in a relationship with Viscount Chelton.”

“Already? Sheesh, that sucks.”

As they exchanged words, they saw someone getting off the carriage.

It was easy to tell that the black undecorated carriage was rented. A middle-aged man and a young woman departed the coach.

“Wow, who is that?”

Rupert looked up at someone’s cry. There was defintely a beauty that would catch anyone’s eye. Count John Batten came to meet the strangers.

“What the, it’s that guy.”

The nobility of the present Empire was divided into two factions. Families that supported the Crown Prince were the so-called Imperial aristocrats.

Only one person became the Emperor from each generation, and the transfer of power from the Emperor to the Crown Prince was perhaps natural.

However, this time, Prince Breiman also manifested magical powers, so some nobles supported him.

They judged that a prince who can be persuaded to their taste is better than a prince with an orthodox support base and ability.

Although Prince Breiman was not the Empress’s son, he was the Emperor’s eldest son, and also had the minimum qualifications of magical powers. For them, that was enough.