Duke Pendragon

The guard captain was unable to hide shock after hearing the shocking news. There were two direct royal descendants in the carriage.

However, he quickly realized why Isla had whispered. He responded with care.

“I understand. I will have a soldier guide you to a quiet place. Fortunately, only a few people actually know the faces of the princess and the prince, as well as Your Highness. There should not be any issues.”

“Well, thank you. Keep up the good work. Lose some weight.”

“Ah! Yes…”

The guard captain awkwardly scratched his head, then called a soldier to guide the delegation.

***

Isla and the group arrived at a quiet house in the village under the guidance of the soldier.

“This is the place.”

“Good work.”

One of the escorting knights handed the soldier a silver coin.

“Oh, my. You shouldn’t have. Thank you, sir! Then, please rest comfortably.”

The soldier politely received the silver coin while bowing. Then, he turned around.

‘Who are they?’

Although the captain had ordered him to simply guide the group without asking any questions, he was burning with curiosity. He stole glances at those who were coming down from the carriage.

There were three people. Although he could not see her face because of a white cover, there was a noblewoman, a boy who looked to be about 7 or 8 years old, as well as a brown-skinned knight with a good physique.

‘Well, it’s none of my business anyways. I got a silver coin to boot.’

The soldier returned with a grin, excited at the prospect of getting a drink at the bar after sunset.

“You’re still lacking. You should not use silver or gold randomly in places like this, especially under the current circumstances.”

“Yes? Ah, yes!”

The knight responsible for handing the soldier a silver coin instantly stood at attention. Although he only stopped by once or twice a year, Isla was still an official knight of the Pendragon Kingdom. Along with Killian, he always fought on the front lines with King Alan Pendragon. He was a hero.

The escorting knights of Mia and Raymond were young men who practiced their swordsmanship after hearing about Isla’s heroic deeds.

Although their priority was to escort Mia and Raymond, they could not help but pay attention to the Knight King of Valvas, who was also a legendary figure of the Pendragon family.

Since he was giving advice, the young knight focused all his attention onto Isla. It wasn’t just him either, but all of the escorting knights.

Their eyes were filled with tension and expectations.

“That soldier will head to a pub and have a drink with the silver coin he received from Sir Pilsi. The monthly salary of guards at a village like this is ten silver coins a month at best. Since the young man was lucky enough to earn such a nice bonus, he could share a drink with some of his colleagues or buy drinks for others.”

“Yes…”

“Then someone will ask: What’s going on? How do you think the drunk soldier will answer?”

“Hmm…”

The escort knight’s expression changed after finally understanding Isla’s words.

It was obvious what would happen afterwards.

The soldier would excitedly recite the story of how he obtained the silver.

“Do you understand? I know that all of you are from noble families and have only served in the royal castle, but from now on, we need to be more careful. Pay attention to every single word and action.”

“Yes, I will definitely keep that in mind.”

The escorting knights answered while bowing.

They were excellent swordsmen but somewhat ignorant of life outside the royal castle. On the other hand, Isla had achieved great things by feigning to be mercenaries alongside King Alan Pendragon in Sisak in the past. His words served as invaluable lessons.

Soon, the group headed into the residence.

“We will stay here for today, then depart early tomorrow morning.”

“Yes!” Raymond replied vigorously.

Then he began diligently unpacking his things from a bag with his small hands. However, none of the escorting knights helped him. Mia also headed into her room.

No one was helping a child, who was also the prince of a country.

It was what Elena and Lindsay wanted. They did not have any servants accompany Raymond on the trip. After all, the purpose of this trip was to broaden his horizons as the successor of the Pendragon Kingdom and have him experience various things. He would familiarize himself with the nobles from other territories and nations as well.

The essence of the Pendragon royal family was struggle and independence. As such, even though he was a royal prince, the two ladies had to let go of their terribly cherished child.

“There is no need for you to take out all of your things since we are only staying here for a day, Prince Raymond.”

“Ah! I see.” Raymond’s face heated up.

Isla smiled and patted him on the head, “But I am proud of you. It appears you only brought along things that you need.”

“Hehe! My mom packed for me.”

“Well, is that so?”

Isla silently nodded.

About ten years had passed since Baroness Conrad became partners with his lord. Although the Pendragon family was never the ones for living splendid, luxurious lives, they still could not be compared to the general public. Even regular noble families could not hold a candle.

Even so, Lindsay was still frugal, humble, and thoughtful even after living as a member of the royal family for many years.

It was reflected in Raymond’s luggage.

‘Well, it makes sense. It was said that Baroness Conrad even participated in an expedition as the lord’s personal maid.’

That was likely the reason. That was the reason why she was able to pack only essential items in her son’s bag.

‘You have not changed at all, Baroness Conrad.’

A pleased smile appeared around Isla’s mouth.

***

“Hahaha! Now, now, let’s drink up!”

“All right~!”

The customers of the pub raised their mugs at the words of the young man.

“Cheers!”

“For Milton’s lucky encounters!”

“Uhahahaha!

The men quickly emptied the ale in their mugs.

“Thanks, Milton!”

“Hey, I hope you always get lucky like you did today! Thanks to you, we’re happy too!”

“You’ll be blessed!”

“Uhahaha! No need to mention it! Now, one more round!”

The young man called Milton waved his hand with a red-hot face and shouted towards the pub owner.

“Did something good happen to you?”

“Gulp, gulp! Hmm?”

Milton turned his head at the voice after taking a large swig of ale.

A man in his mid-30s was sitting with a kind smile.

“Puhaha! Something like that, I suppose.”

It was their first encounter, but the man’s impression was rather good, and Milton was in a good mood. As such, he lowered his guard and responded with a smile.

“Something like that… There are more than 20 customers in this pub right now, so that something must have been quite something for you to serve up a round of drinks for everyone. Did you stumble upon a gold coin or something?”

“Haha! Not a gold coin, but silver. Of course, I didn’t just stumble upon it.”

“Huh! I am quite jealous. How did you manage to come across it?”

“Haha! It’s nothing, really. I only guided a group of nobles who entered the village today, and they gave me a silver coin as a bonus.”

“Hooh? They must be quite amazing, for a guard to serve as their guide.”

“Oh, I was surprised too. In addition, one of the knights seemed to know our guard captain.”

Milton continued blabbering in his drunken fervor. However, Milton did not realize that the other person was already aware of his status as a guard, his judgement clouded by the influence of alcohol.

“Hooh…”

The man’s eyes shone with a strange light. He had been carefully observing Milton ever since he started buying drinks for the customers.

***

“Did you receive any messages?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary, except that Elkin Isla headed to the Pendragon Castle.”

In an old, dark, rusty room of an inn, three men chatted while gambling with crude cards.

“That was probably because the Aragon imperial family is playing matchmaker.”

“Tsk! I’m jealous. The eldest daughter of the Lindegor Duchy and the only daughter of Governor-General Edenfield. And the daughter of Margrave Mirin… It truly pays for a man to be successful and handsome.”

“If you are jealous, then just be of royal blood when you are reborn. Anyways, although you should be jealous because of the first two girls you mentioned, I don’t think it’s true of the last one.”

A furry man wearing old leather armor smiled, revealing his crooked teeth. A young man in his mid-20’s, who looked to be about five or six younger than him, responded with furrowed eyebrows.

“What? Do you happen to know Margrave Mirin’s daughter?”

“Yeah. Naturally, I’ve never seen her personally, but I heard the stories.”

“Really? What kind of a woman is she?”

The young man asked, and the furry man stared intently at his cards while replying.

“Apparently, she’s very unruly.”

“Haha, how is that a problem? Regardless of their personality, a woman only needs to have the looks and the body, wouldn’t you say? Hehe.”

“Even if three knights were beaten by her and became disabled?”

“What?”

The young man’s eyes bulged with shock as he received a card.

“Is that really true? I heard that Mirin’s knights are one of the most terrifying forces beside the imperial army along with the demonic army.”

“That’s right. But three knights of Mirin were crippled because of that woman. Moreover, they could not complain because she’s the daughter of the lord.”

“Whoa! What kind of a woman…”

“According to the rumors, she is taller than a regular man and can freely wield a bastard sword. She learned swordsmanship from her father.”

“Uahh…”

The young man was shocked.

Mirin’s lord, Viscount Deor Mirin.

He was the only margrave of the empire, but he was famous for rarely showing himself in the social circles of the nobles or the imperial castle. However, he was famous for being a powerhouse who prevented eastern barbarians from invading the empire for decades.

He was the subject of awe and fear in the easter part of the empire, famous for wielding a humongous bastard sword to decapitate the heads of the barbarians.

And he had personally guided his daughter in swordsmanship?

Although they had never seen her, she was likely a monstrous woman. They were sure that only a few females in the entire world could match her.

“Then the daughter of Mirin’s lord will be excluded from the list of candidates, right? Even if he is the Knight King of Valvas, a man with balls will receive a beauty as his wife.”

“Who knows? Now! This is the end! Hehe!”

“Agh!”

The young man became dejected after seeing the furry man’s cards.

“Someone is coming.”

The remaining member of the group finally spoke in a quiet voice. He had remained silent while looking at his cards thus far.

The young man quickly pulled out a dagger and approached the door.

Knock! Knock knock!

After hearing the predetermined pattern, he sheathed the dagger and opened the door.

“Oh? You’re here early. Is there something wrong?”

The young man asked, and a man carefully closed the door before greeting the furry and the sharp-eyed man with a simple nod. He spoke.

“This, I think we might have chanced upon an unexpectedly large fish.”

The newcomer quickly explained the situation to the three men with a sly smile. He was the same man who was conversing with Milton in the pub a little while ago.

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