"It's over."
Palmyr knew it instinctively.
A great deal had changed compared to the past, but the North was still a land of warriors.
No matter what the cause of the duel had been, the weak were destined to be scorned.
All the more so when the defeated opponent was merely a common soldier who, by all common sense, should never have lost.
"Tsk, tsk."
At the sound of the clicking tongue, Palmyr weakly raised his head.
Lucian's eyes, looking down at him, were colder than anything.
"So you lost."
"I—I—"
"Save the excuses. Got anything to say? The duel's over, so if there's something you want to say, say it all now."
Palmyr, who had been opening and closing his mouth, finally bowed his head deeply.
There was plenty he wanted to say, piled as high as a mountain—but what did it matter?
After such a miserable defeat, whatever he said had already lost all weight.
Even if he tried to negotiate, it was obvious he would be dragged along the entire time, with the other side holding the reins of the conversation.
"Such a negotiation would be worse than not negotiating at all."
So he had to turn back here.
After suffering the humiliation of losing to a mere captain of ten, he had gained nothing.
He would have to report the situation and endure his lord's wrath in full.
Grinding his teeth at the wretched reality before his eyes, Palmyr muttered,
"This matter… at the House of Count Calyx—"
"Khk."
"Ah, my apologies. Please, go on."
At Lucian's mocking laugh, Palmyr lowered his head, his face burning red.
He had tried one last time to borrow his lord's authority, but instead of intimidation, he had earned nothing but ridicule.
Realizing that no matter what he said it would only make him look more pathetic, Palmyr turned his back and fled as if escaping.
"What a shallow man."
With a faint chuckle as he watched Palmyr's retreating figure, Lucian shifted his gaze to the other onlookers.
The looks that had been filled with contempt just moments ago instantly turned to respect the moment they met Lucian's eyes.
Faced with such extreme reactions, Lucian felt a sense of satisfaction.
"The maternal grandson of Grimaldi who repelled a knight of the House of Count Calyx—what a splendid composition."
The House of Count Calyx wouldn't be shaken by the disgrace of a single knight.
A family that had taken root in the North for centuries would suffer no more than a slight loss of prestige.
What mattered was that the one who had stripped away that prestige was Lucian himself.
And on top of that, with the name of Grimaldi between them, Lucian had already thrown down the gauntlet.
People could only wait in anticipation to see how the House of Count Calyx would respond.
'The House of Count Calyx would like nothing more than to sweep this under the rug, but the eyes of the people won't allow it.'
If they said nothing at all about today's incident, everyone would assume that Calyx had taken a step back.
Whether they liked it or not, the House of Count Calyx was now in a position where it had no choice but to step forward and deal with this matter.
'I'm looking forward to seeing how those bastards respond.'
Lucian suppressed the upward curl of his lips and turned his gaze back to the guests.
Until Calyx's answer arrived, it was time to begin building allies in earnest.
***
"Heh heh."
A dry chuckle escaped from the mouth of Norbek, the current head of the House of Count Calyx.
After stroking his beard for a long while, he finally spoke in a hollow voice.
"So you're saying you just came back? After losing disgracefully to a mere captain of ten—not even a knight—and without managing to say a single word?"
Palmyr felt a chill run down his spine at the voice steeped in disappointment.
Fearing that if he offered no excuse at all he would simply be cast aside, he cried out in haste.
"He wasn't an ordinary captain of ten. He was someone who had properly mastered sword forms. Judging by his skill, he may have been of fallen noble stock—"
"Sir Palmyr, you know that's not what I mean."
"What matters is that you were utterly defeated, and as a result you couldn't even attempt negotiations—couldn't even speak—before tucking your tail and fleeing. As a bonus, you smeared the name of Calyx in the mud as well."
At the ominous tone, Palmyr's body trembled.
It sounded considerate, but wasn't it really saying that he would never again be entrusted with anything important?
Horrified, Palmyr tried to stammer out further excuses, but when he read the vanished expectations in his lord's eyes, he could only leave the office in defeat.
Click.
"Hoooo…"
The moment the door closed, Norbek let out a deep sigh.
At this rare display of weakness he never showed before his vassals, the person who had been watching quietly at his side cried out in surprise.
"Father, are you all right?"
"How could I be? Things have become complicated. In the worst case, we might truly lose the name of Grimaldi."
At the words of Godfrey, his eldest son and heir, Norbek shook his head.
"That's—!"
Palmyr, about to add something, froze the instant he lifted his head.
Norbek's cold gaze carried not just disappointment, but a killing intent that made his blood run cold.
"If you were going to lose, you shouldn't have fought in the first place. No matter how the other side acted, you should have endured it. Yet you picked a fight without even grasping the gap in strength and brought about this disaster."
"Thanks to you, that bastard made out like a bandit. He'll be happily gathering allies without a single obstacle. Honestly… I sent you to put a bell around his neck, and instead you went and loosened the shackles he already had."
Under the barrage of sarcasm, Palmyr could only bow his head deeply, unable to say a word.
More than anyone, he understood just how much Lucian had gained from this incident.
After watching him in silence for a moment, Norbek clicked his tongue and finally issued a dismissal.
"In any case, you've worked hard until now. Go and get some proper rest."
"…!"
Godfrey blinked at his father's face, which was filled with worry.
"It's true we took a hit from him, but is it really enough to warrant such a reaction from you, Father? At most, he's only just begun to gather a faction, isn't he?"
"The problem isn't his faction. It's that the configuration between him and us has changed."
"Configuration? What do you mean by that?"
"He's a Valdeck. No matter how much he pretends to be a Northerner, at his core he's a Southerner. That fact itself used to be our weapon."
Though he was the maternal grandson of the previous duke, he was still a greenhorn who knew nothing about the North.
Connected only by blood, he was an outsider with no true Northern identity.
It might have seemed trivial, but there was no better phrase for shaking the hearts of other lords.
"Think about it. No matter how legitimate his claim may be, if his essence is that of a Southerner, would the other lords really want to stand on his side?"
"Of course not. Unless they'd completely lost their minds, who would make such a choice?"
Godfrey shook his head vigorously.
The reason the North was currently in turmoil was fear of the imperial court's movements.
To hand the Grimaldi legacy to someone without a Northern identity—someone even closer to the imperial court?
No Northern lord in his right mind would ever do such a thing.
"Exactly. Even someone who hates our family to the bone would be foolish to side with the imperial court out of spite. That's why I'd been at ease until now."
No matter how much he struggled, there was no way to change one's place of origin.
Even when he heard news of the duel meant to prove himself as a warrior, he had remained indifferent.
After all, the opponent was none other than that 'Wolf Slayer,' Harald.
Even if the other side was only a sixteen-year-old brat, Harald would clearly charge in with the intent to kill, showing no mercy.
"Of course, I did worry that—given his grudge against our family—he might break from his long-held convictions and stage a defeat. That's why I dispatched Sir Palmyr to observe, but this… of all things in this world…"
"Father?"
Booom!
"Why the hell did this pile of dog shit even happen!?"
Norbek sprang to his feet as if spewing flames from his mouth.
He was so furious that even after kicking over the table, he still couldn't vent his anger and ended up stomping the floor.
"Sixteen! He's sixteen! That's the age where you've only just set foot on the battlefield, seen blood, and are still shaking like a leaf! And he beat 'Wolf Slayer' Harald!? Harald who even brought out his heirloom relic!?!"
"F-Father, please calm—"
"Is this something to calm down about!? What do you think everyone else will say when they look at that Southerner now!? They'll call him a hero! A warrior among warriors, a royal descendant carrying the blood of Grimaldi!"
These were people who still harbored a deep nostalgia for the old Northern Kingdom.
With royal bloodline displaying such legendary martial might, they would be falling over themselves proclaiming, As expected of Grimaldi.
For Norbek, it was enough to make his guts twist and blood rise to his throat.
"If that were all, it would be bad enough! But because of that idiot Palmyr, he and we have become equals—rival contenders! He's risen as the perfect counterweight to Calyx! Now the lords will swarm to him like field mice that've found food!"
"At best, he's still a greenhorn. His martial prowess is undeniable, but you can't say he's skilled in politics. As long as he doesn't truly understand the North, he's bound to make a mistake somewhere. Why not wait calmly?"
"Naïve nonsense! This is no time for complacency! Because of failures like Torik, there are already forces grinding their teeth at us—!"
"Father!"
At Godfrey's shout, Norbek flinched.
It seemed he'd let slip things that should never have been said aloud in his agitation.
"Ahem—khm! In any case, the point is that we have far less leeway than we thought. If we don't stop him even for a moment longer, even the foundation we've built up could collapse."
"Then in that case, why don't we proceed head-on?"
"Head-on?"
"I mean we should use tradition ourselves."
Facing the blinking Norbek, Godfrey grinned.
"If he truly respects the North that much, then surely he'll abide by its traditions, won't he?"
Lucian dealt with a steady stream of visitors in the aftermath of his duel with Harald.
As expected, most of them were knights who had come as representatives of their lords.
Such knights generally fell into three categories.
'Those who support me, those who want to remain neutral without making an enemy of me, and those who utterly despise Calyx.'
The first group was easy to read.
They were those who felt uneasy about Calyx's unification of the North but had lacked the means to oppose it and had merely watched in silence.
Since they had disliked Calyx from the start, the moment an alternative in the form of Lucian appeared, they rushed over.
"Our lord respects Prince Lucian's legitimate rights. It is only natural that the name of Grimaldi should return to you."
"Truly a righteous decision. Please convey my thanks to your lord."
"I shall. In truth, it was laughable for Calyx to be using the name of Grimaldi in the first place. What right did they ever have?"
Lucian expressed his gratitude to them, but in truth, beyond their public declarations of support, there was little that could be called concrete help.
In the very heart of the North, where the name of Valdeck carried no weight, what he desperately needed was military strength—making this a somewhat disappointing outcome.
Still, their backing alone was a considerable boon on the political front, so it was undeniably a gain in its own right.
The second group was even more blatant than the first.
"We do not deny Your Excellency's rights, but it cannot be said that Calyx has no claim either. It is a truly difficult matter, so we see no room for ourselves to intervene."
"That almost sounds like you're saying you'll quietly side with the winner once everything's over."
"Ahem! We merely entrust the judgment to the impartial gods. May the Eight Gods of Heaven guide us all onto the righteous path."
Their intentions were painfully transparent, but since most of them were minor territories relatively close to Calyx, it was hardly incomprehensible.
After all, this was a conflict between Calyx—the true power of the North—and the third son of the House of Valdeck.
If things went awry, the fallout could easily reach their own lands and people, leaving them with little choice but to tread carefully.
What Lucian had never expected at all was the third group.
"If you would raise the banner of Grimaldi right now and mete out punishment upon Calyx, then my lord and I shall follow behind you! Just give the order!"
"W-wait—"
"Do you doubt my sincerity? Then as a token of my loyalty, I'll cut off this arm! If it means earning Your Excellency's trust, what's a mere right arm…!"
"No, wait a second!"
READ MORE CHAPTERS HERE : https://shinchan2.podia.com/