Chapter 93
“The Young Master was called to the Imperial Palace, Duke.”
Duke Agnus paused. He was holding onto a tree branch a bit thicker than two of his fingers combined.
“He did all of this crap as he pleased, then he fled to the imperial palace so eagerly, and now I’m left cleaning after him,” Duke Agnus muttered, but he eventually burst out laughing.
Baron Hed, his secretary, bowed apologetically.
“How do you feel about your master’s action, Cain?”
Duke Agnus shifted his gaze to Cain, who was soaked in sweat.
“Haah, haah, haah…”
Looking at Cain, who kept breathing heavily, Duke Agnerus smiled coldly.
“Don’t get me wrong. This happened because your master asked me to do this.”
Cain sweated buckets when he heard Duke Agnus emphasizing the words, ‘he asked me to do this’.
Cain stumbled and inwardly screamed, ‘Dammit, Master!’
Duke Agnus was clearly venting his fury on him. Alarm bells constantly rang in Cain’s head.
Pak.
As usual, Duke Agnus kicked off the floor and dashed once again.
“Crazy—”
At Duke Agnus’ extreme speed, all Cain could do was lift his two-handed sword.
“Too slow!”
PAK.
“Keugh.”
Cain groaned uncomfortably at the immense force that collided with his abdomen.
It was a completely average branch that the Duke had plucked off a tree, but in the hands of the legendary Duke Agnus himself, it became a legendary weapon.
Flop.
Duke Agnus immediately turned around and directly ignored the unconscious Cain.
“Did the kid do something wrong, Duke?” Baron Hed eyed the unconscious knight. “You’re clearly venting your anger on Cain.”
“We haven’t even started yet. Don’t you think it's too early for him to fall asleep?”
“He—” Baron Hed was dumbfounded.
Duke Agnus asked the dumbfounded Baron Hed, “What are the Twelve Families doing? Especially those who basically got scolded?”
“Nothing much on the two families, but the Villas Family seems to want to send an official complaint since their heir basically got beaten half to death…” Baron Hed trailed off with a troubled look. Everyone knew that what happened would forever be remembered and engraved in the history of the Avalon Imperial Academy.
Veron shen Villas got what he deserved after acting like a villain. He had been going around and doing whatever he wanted without realizing how it would feel to be on the receiving end of it. In the end, he was beaten up and suffered pain as well as mental shock far greater than he could endure.
Of course, there was a slew of undesirable consequences.
“Are you thinking about that? Because I was about to ask if that was your intention—” asked Baron Hed.
Duke Agnus nodded in response. “Yes, it is. If Marquis Villas writes and sends us an official complaint, then we would have to respond in some way to prevent future backlashes.”
A formal complaint bearing the family seal was not something to be taken lightly. Ignoring the complaint was tantamount to ignoring the complaining family as well, and such actions were considered radical. It could even become the reason for a territorial war.
Well, the Marquis would never be crazy enough to confront the Agnus Family…
However, the Marquis would not let the issue pass over just like that. It was pretty much confirmed that what happened to the Villas Family’s heir would be mentioned at the quarterly ‘Noble Conference’. By then, Duke Agnus would have to explain things in front of everyone. Since he would be forced to explain, it could be considered an embarrassment to Duke Agnus. After all, he was one of the continent’s Nine Stars.
However, Duke Agnus smirked and chuckled as if it wasn’t a big deal.
“It’s not my problem.”
“What?” Baron Hed muttered blankly.
At that, Duke Agnus explained, “I’m not the type of father who’s going to wipe his son’s ass. I’m not that compassionate. And I’m also not the type of person to scold someone if they had done something I would have done.”
Baron Hed was about to say something, but he noticed Duke Agnus’ seemingly mischievous smile. At that, he changed his tune.
“That is exactly what I thought as well, my Lord.”
It had been a long time since he started serving Duke Agnus.
‘But I still have no idea just what is going on inside his head…’’
“Hed. “
“Yes, Duke?”
“I’ll take care of Maquis Villas. And if he still has even a smidgeon of conscience, then he will take care of the rest.”
“Yes, Duke.”
“Joshua von Agnus. He has become really busy the moment he arrived at the capital.” Duke Agnus smiled deeply while looking at Cain before walking away.
“Duke!”
Duke Agnus halted in his steps upon hearing Baron Hed’s voice.
Baron Hed continued. “You have a message from the Duchy. Young Master Babel was called to the capital. His Majesty wants to see how the treasure of the Empire is doing. Knight Commander Chiffon is with him, and they are expected to arrive in a few days.”
Baron Hed stiffened once he was done speaking. It was because he saw Duke Agnus turning around with a look that couldn’t be any stiffer than any other expression Baron Hed had seen from the latter so far.
Duke Agnus’ shaky voice could be heard afterward.
“What…?”
***
"Everyone, pay attention."
Emperor Verona's majestic voice filled the court of the Swallow Empire.
“I hereby declare that the war against the Principality of Thran is postponed indefinitely until further orders.”
“What do you mean, Your Majesty?” Duke Momori’s eyes widened. “No way, Your Majesty! What do you mean by that order? I am worried that the other nations will mock our empire for staying quiet after being attacked just like that!”
“The Duke is correct, Your Majesty! They will look down on us. We cannot let them look down on us!”
“Please consider it once more, Your Majesty!”
Prime Minister Marco noticed Emperor Verona sighing, and it seemed that the latter had expected the nobles’ replies. At that, Prime Minister Marco stepped forward. He decided to alleviate his emperor’s worries even just a bit.
“His Majesty is not suggesting that we stop the war, we have to identify our true enemy first before we take any drastic actions!”
“The culprit has already been revealed by the evidence left on the scene, Prime Minister! What kind of identification are we waiting for?” Duke Momori clenched his fist, clearly irritated.
“Please keep in mind that you’re a nobleman. This is the reason why we are not making any progress. It’s all because you can only think of fighting and nothing else!” a voice interrupted from behind.
“Who is this madman?”
“Who the hell are you?”
As the nobles expressed their surprise, the red-faced Duke Momori turned toward the door.
“How dare you!” he started.
However, Duke Momori’s eyes quickly widened at the sight of the intruder.
“How dare I?”
The man at the court entrance accepted their attention with a wide smile. He appeared to be a young man, perhaps thirty years old. The hair on his head wasn’t fiery red but a dark bloody color. His bloodshot eyes, which were the same color as his hair, deeply unsettled the onlookers. His well-defined features were admirable, but his looks were far from pure, as he exuded decadence all over.
There was only one man like him throughout the vast Swallow Empire.
His real age was much older than what his youthful exterior suggested. At close to fifty years old, He was an Absolute Master, one of the Nine Stars and the husband of the First Princess, Cerona bel Grace.
“Grand Duke Lucifer.”
Grand Duke Lucifer smiled in response to Emperor Verona’s voice before displaying a textbook bow as a show of respect to Emperor Verona, who was staring at him silently.
“I greet the sun of the empire.”
“Well…”
The court became so quiet one could even hear a pin drop.
It seemed as if the nobles in the imperial court had been captivated by his charm as they became as quiet as a mouse, even though they had been shouting at the emperor just a few moments ago.
“Duke Momori, are you a complete moron?” Grand Duke Lucifer directly said.
“W-what…?” Duke Momori stuttered with a puzzled look.
“Who do you think will benefit the most if we made a move?”
“That’s…”
Grand Duke Lucifer continued talking before Duke Momori could finish his sentence.
“Thran? Ulabis had just ascended the throne and is probably preoccupied with stabilizing the country. Under such circumstances, do you really think that he will make such a mistake by attacking us first?”
Grand Duke Lucifer coldly smiled at Duke Momori.
“Please use your head, Duke Momori. Else, I would really start to wonder if that bald spot on your head is infecting your brain as well.”
He then ignored the trembling Duke and swept his gaze across the other nobles.
"Does anyone share the same thoughts as the Duke?"
“...”
Grand Duke Lucifer smirked and chuckled as the nobles remained silent.
"I guess you lot still know how to read the room, at the very least."
The nobles' eyes widened as Grand Duke Lucifer continued. “Many nations will benefit if we exhausted our military might just to deal with Thran, and among them…” Grand Duke Lucifer licked his lips before saying, “Aside from the Hubalt Empire, which is preoccupied with their elections, we can narrow the beneficiaries, and there’s no need to even consider those garbage nations who will never dare to attack us from behind. Setting those countries aside, which nation would benefit the most once we exhausted our resources?”
At that, Grand Duke Lucifer turned to Emperor Verona with a smile and his arms wide open.
“Which nation do you think it is, Your Majesty?”
Emperor Verona grumbled under his breath while looking at the smiling Grand Duke Lucifer, who seemed like he was passing a hot potato over to him.
Prime Minister Marco eventually whispered the name of a particular nation with a stiff look on behalf of the concerned-looking Emperor Verona.
“It’s the Avalon Empire.”
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