Chapter 22 - Not All Scoundrels Are the Same (1)

Adelia looked as if she would declare her ambition at any moment, but for some reason, she closed her mouth again.

"If you can't think of it, tell me later."

She seemed to have answered because she had been pushed into it, without thinking about what came next, so I told her to tell me later.

"If I truly become a knight."

But instead of leaving it for another time, she opened the mouth she had closed.

But even this time, she only said the same thing again before shutting her mouth, making even the person watching feel frustrated.

"If I r-really become a knight..."

"So what? If you become a knight, then what?"

At my words, she stammered with her face flushed red.

What is she trying to say now?

"... I will."

After a long while, Adelia opened her mouth with her head deeply bowed.

Her voice was smaller than the sound of a mosquito's wings.

"What?"

At my words, she snapped her head up.

As if she had made some tremendous resolve, her tightly pressed lips looked quite solemn.

"I will become Your Highness's sword."

The moment her words ended, a strange ripple arose.

"Ah..."

I knew what it was.

Some Poems of Martial Deeds begin with the first step across a plain, and some Poems of Martial Deeds begin with the sound of a charge trumpet.

And some Poems of Martial Deeds begin their tale with an oath.

"I will live for Your Highness all my life, and I will dedicate everything I have to Your Highness."

Adelia's Poem of Martial Deeds began like that.

『Adelia Bayern offers [Poem of Subordination].』

And sometimes, a Poem of Martial Deeds affects another person.

『A new [Poem of Martial Deeds] has been generated.』

『The [Ordinary Grade] Poem of Martial Deeds, [Poem of Domination], has been generated.』

Just like now.

"Huh."

I let out a laugh because it was so absurd.

Because I had never even imagined that a descendant of the great Sword Marquis Agnes Bayern would weave a [Poem of Subordination].

Even if she had the [Slave Mentality] trait.

"Agnes would faint if she knew."

I looked at Adelia.

The sight of her squirming in embarrassment after saying it herself was something to behold.

She did not seem to know what had just happened to her.

Cases like this do happen sometimes.

Cases where an unintended action is woven into a poem.

And in such cases, it usually takes the person in question some time to realize their own poetic phrase.

Especially since Adelia's oath had the condition of 「if I truly become a knight」 attached to it.

She would probably realize the existence of Poems of Martial Deeds and poetic phrases only after she actually became a knight.

"Your Highness?"

When I only stared at her in silence, she lowered her head with an embarrassed face.

"Thank you."

"Y-Your Highness. I am unworthy."

"No, I really mean it. Thank you."

Because thanks to you, I gained a great deal.

The new Poem of Martial Deeds was one thing, but the true gain lay elsewhere.

It was the fact that her growth would also work very much in my favor.

The [Poem of Subordination] was a hymn dedicated to a master, and its effects would be the same.

Of course, even I could not know in what way her poem would benefit me.

Because even among the same Poems of Martial Deeds, their effects could differ vastly depending on what interpretation the poem's owner made and what feelings they held.

For now, all I could do was wait.

Until the descendant of the Sword Marquis, who possessed S-rank Swordsmanship aptitude and A-rank Mana Sensitivity aptitude, fully bloomed.

And,

"Ugh, I'm sleepy."

For now, I had to sleep.

I fell asleep as if I had fainted.

* * *

When I woke again, Adelia was still keeping watch by my side.

I watched her dozing off in the chair beside the bed, then quietly rose from my place.

"Hm?"

My physical condition was not as bad as I had expected.

I thought I would suffer from aftereffects for at least a few more days.

"Is it thanks to the Poem of Subordination?"

Of course, I did not think a Poem of Martial Deeds that was probably only [Ordinary Grade] could ease the aftereffects of the [Poem of Slaying Dragons].

If I truly was better thanks to Adelia, then it was probably because my soul had regained vitality through the Poem of Martial Deeds she offered and my newly created Poem of Martial Deeds.

"Your Highness?"

She must have sensed me twisting my body this way and that.

Adelia looked at me with half-open eyes, then hurriedly rose from her seat.

"I will prepare water for washing and a simple meal."

Before I even had time to answer, she disappeared.

"Hmm."

While Adelia was gone, I quietly stood in front of the mirror.

"Oh."

I gave a small exclamation of admiration at the sight reflected in the mirror.

My face, slimmed down from an unintended five-day fast, looked fairly decent.

If there was one flaw in the jade, it was only that my thin lips and narrow eyes looked somewhat mean.

Still, this was something.

At this point, I had basically been born again.

"Well, I really was born again."

Heh heh.

I was laughing at my own pathetic joke when Adelia returned.

But there was a tagalong beside her when she did.

I frowned without realizing it.

An unwelcome guest.

"Ian,"

The Queen, the person I avoided most in the royal palace, was with her.

"Are you unwell somewhere? This will not do. I must call the royal physician."

Watching her display that overflowing motherly affection as soon as she appeared, I smiled awkwardly.

I would rather she looked at me like a stranger, the way the King did, but the Queen always looked at me with warm eyes.

If I acted recklessly toward her the way I did with the King, that was uncomfortable in its own way.

But if I tried to act like a good son, my pride would be hurt.

"Ugh. My head."

So I squeezed my eyes shut and put on a pathetic act.

"Hurry and lie down. Lie down and rest well. Your mother will stay by your side today."

It was a bolt from the blue.

Even now, this was uncomfortable, yet staying with the Queen all day long was dreadful just to imagine.

"I think I might be feeling better."

When I acted awkwardly, the Queen let out a sigh.

"Why do you find your mother so uncomfortable?"

Because I am not your son.

Unable to tell her the truth straight out, I sighed, and she sighed along with me.

"Your Highness. I will help you wash."

During the brief silence from the Queen, Adelia said she would help me wash and held out a silver basin filled with water.

Wiping my face with the cold water, I glanced at the Queen's face.

It looked like she had something to say.

Sure enough.

"Do you perhaps resent your maternal uncle?"

The Queen brought up her business.

"Your maternal uncle surely did not truly mean to harm you. He is simply an awkward and blunt man, and things happened that way by mistake. So do not resent your maternal uncle too much."

The Queen went on for quite some time making excuses for my maternal uncle.

She said he was a man who had spent more time rubbing shoulders with swords than people, a man who had forgotten even how to deal with his own blood kin because he spent his time among rough men.

She went on about his awkward and blunt nature and so on.

In the end, if I summed up the point, she was saying my maternal uncle was socially maladjusted.

"So if there is any lingering resentment, cast it off. That is what makes a man."

"I don't have any resentment."

"How could you not? He handled you so roughly and nagged you at every turn. It would be a lie to say there is no resentment."

"No, I really don't."

It was not a lie.

I did not resent my maternal uncle in the slightest.

No, I had no reason to resent him.

From the beginning, I had never given him my heart or expected anything from him.

My maternal uncle was merely an annoying presence to me.

Besides, in my own way, I had already dealt my maternal uncle a blow.

His sword had been cut apart by the mana of the heart he had looked down on.

On top of that, he had broken the words he himself had spoken, used as many as four circuits, and even used Aura Blade.

His pride had been wounded, and the truth he believed in had been denied.

I could not know for certain, but he must feel as if his world had collapsed.

My maternal uncle was certainly a knight of high martial prowess, but he was also someone who did not possess a soul befitting it.

Since he had merely polished and refined his skill to reach that level, that was only natural, if anything.

It would be hard for him to endure.

My revenge on the knight who nagged me at every turn was 「Inner Demon」.

If he had the ability, he would escape it, and if his ability fell short, that fine martial prowess of his would vanish without a trace.

As far as I was concerned, either outcome did not matter.

Since I had paid back a peck with a bushel, even if I had resentment, it would have been strange for it to remain until now.

But the Queen, who did not know that background, seemed to think I was simply not showing my resentment.

"You should know that your probation was lifted early thanks to your maternal uncle informing His Majesty."

Saying he had seemed quite moved after seeing my diligence during my probation, and that was why he had been greatly disappointed when he heard I was going to that wicked social club, the Queen told me a backstory I had not known.

"Your maternal uncle's position became rather difficult because of that day. He had guaranteed you on his own name, after all, and then something like that happened."

This was another story I had not expected at all, so I ended up a little flustered.

I had never expected that my rigid maternal uncle would have persuaded the King behind the scenes and gotten my probation lifted.

He must have been quite displeased that after he went so far as to guarantee me and worked to have my probation lifted, his nephew went and caused trouble as soon as he was released.

That must have been why he had acted so displeased.

"Though your maternal uncle is bound to His Majesty by the relationship of sovereign and subject, he was not a person His Majesty could treat carelessly either. Because of this incident, he now owes His Majesty a debt, so he will face considerable difficulty in how he conducts himself from now on, and that is not good for you or for me."

At first she told me not to resent him, and now her tone was urging me to feel sorry.

But listening to it, her words were not unreasonable, so I became as mute as if I had honey in my mouth.

"Since you seem to understand, I will say no more."

I barely ate my meal, then went straight to bed.

I hoped that if I kept my eyes closed, the Queen might perhaps leave, but unfortunately, she truly seemed intent on staying by my side all day and showed no sign of leaving.

"About the spouse I mentioned before."

After being quiet for a while, the Queen opened her mouth.

But that subject was something I found extremely uncomfortable.

"I intend to decide at this banquet."

The Queen's voice was gentle, yet strict at the same time.

"There are young ladies I have had my eye on. One of them will be chosen as your spouse."

Her tone seemed to nail down that she would not accept even the slightest objection.

"So keep that in mind."

* * *

The Queen stayed by my side for the whole day before leaving.

But I still could not rest.

Because the guest the Queen had sent kept pestering me.

"No. Absolutely not."

I made a fuss in utter refusal, but the guest, or rather, the old scholar sent by the Queen, did not budge.

"Your Highness will soon be seventeen. Even beginning now feels excessively late."

"No, I mean. Why do I have to study?"

Thanks to the deeply maternal Queen, I had ended up doing studies I had never been destined for.

"If one does not learn, how is one different from beasts?"

"Did you just call me a beast?"

"I said those who have not learned are such. Your Highness has only just begun your studies. Starting is half the task, so Your Highness has already entered the path of learning. Therefore, Your Highness is not a beast."

"I haven't started. And don't play word games."

At my words, the old scholar closed the book.

Then he looked at me with eyes as deep as the wrinkles around them.

"Your Highness, there are things one must do even if one dislikes them. Study is one such thing."

"It's not that I refuse because I dislike it."

"Then what is the reason?"

At the old scholar's question, I answered indifferently.

"Because I don't need to learn."

"And why is that?"

"Because I know enough."

At my words, the old scholar laughed heartily.

"I devoted myself solely to learning for sixty years. Yet even now, I cannot confidently say I know enough. How can Your Highness say such a thing?"