Chapter 78
Lysfield coming here—it was the worst possible encounter.
Maya bit her lip. She had confidence she could resolve any problem, but she never expected Lysfield to personally show up here.
How did he get here?
She panicked, but the hesitation was brief.
Suspicion and intuition had always been the driving forces that allowed Lysfield to rise to his position.
He must have trusted his instincts again this time.
It seemed likely that Count Baker had reported to the Emperor.
Naturally, that would have revealed that Maya intended to meet the Marquis of Rebour, and then Lysfield must have decided to come down here after that.
“The power of Pendragon is truly remarkable.”
Lysfield smiled with the slyness of a serpent.
He was surely suspecting whether she had deceived him during their last conversation.
I could never have hidden it forever.
It was bound to be revealed someday.
What had already happened couldn’t be undone.
Now that he had seen Maya wield the Pendragon sword, denying it was pointless.
At times like this, brazenness was the best weapon.
“Indeed, I was surprised myself. I never imagined I would awaken so suddenly.”
At Maya’s reply, those around them fell silent. Her mind was racing.
“Yes… truly so, Your Grace. I never dreamed I would witness such a sight. It is an honor.”
Kendrick was the first to jump in.
Conscious of Lysfield’s presence, Kendrick even used the title Your Grace, something he normally would never say, as he echoed Maya’s words.
“Indeed. You must have come here for some other reason, and yet such an extraordinary coincidence.”
Hyden, who had already sized up the situation, chimed in as well, offering his respects to Lysfield.
“It is an honor to meet Your Majesty here in the West.”
At the same time, he did not forget to ask why Lysfield had come down here.
“I heard that the daughter of a favored vassal had run away… and then I heard she fled to the West, which is now swarming with monsters. So I thought I’d tend to affairs in the West as well.”
His words flowed smoothly, as though rehearsed.
Outwardly, it was a respectable reason. Maya, however, seized on the real core.
So it’s true—the Count passed word to him.
He didn’t even consider resolving his daughter’s issue on his own. Truly, he was far beneath Seren in every way.
“But the Count’s daughter is nowhere to be seen. It seems you all had your own reasons for coming here as well.”
Lysfield turned his head.
“When I met the Marquis, he learned that I am a descendant of Pendragon and begged me to slay the monsters.”
“…Support has been lacking. He was desperate, grasping at straws.”
Hyden’s reply subtly pointed out Lysfield’s neglect of the West.
“Ah, it is not as if I was unaware. But there are too many places in need of aid, and our capacity is not limitless.”
Lysfield gracefully brushed off the implied reproach. How many had tried to pick holes in him before?
The Marquis’s little scheme was laughable.
In any case, Lysfield had learned why Maya Pendragon had come.
So it was because of the monsters.
A Pendragon’s blood must indeed boil at the thought of monster hunts.
But there were still questions that remained.
Standing before him, aside from Maya and the Marquis, were a mage and two unfamiliar figures.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
Kendrick bowed with impeccable courtesy.
“The Tower has yet to send me the information I requested. What’s the delay?”
That single remark told Kendrick that the Tower had intended to bury the matter.
They probably hadn’t even tried to look.
Kendrick smiled elegantly.
“I was investigating the matter further, which brought me to the West. I shall report immediately upon my return.”
“I expect a flawless result, given how long you’ve kept me waiting.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Preparing a report was easier than breathing for Kendrick. Work was his calling.
Afterward, Lysfield turned his gaze to Alec and Tristan.
Meeting the Emperor for the first time was more intimidating than expected.
Alec swallowed hard and bowed his head.
“My respects. I am Alec Koreadon, Commander of the Northern Knights. It is an honor to meet Your Majesty.”
“The Northern Commander, is it? For a runaway count’s daughter, you needed to bring along a commander?”
It wasn’t strange for Alec to accompany Maya, the Grand Duchess, but the fact that Lysfield hadn’t been informed of it clearly irked him.
Maya swallowed nervously.
Then Tristan stepped forward.
“This visit was the Northern Knights’ decision alone, Your Majesty. Please consider it the folly of a young knight.”
Tristan and Lysfield locked eyes. Apart from nearly crossing paths in the Imperial Library, this was their first meeting.
“Oh? And who might you be?”
Lysfield’s eyes gleamed.
“I offer my respects, Your Majesty. I am called Arthur of the Northern Knights.”
The alias Tristan had used with Kendrick proved useful again, though this time he omitted a surname.
This was to emphasize that he was a commoner.
“A knight, you say.”
For some reason, Lysfield’s gaze lingered on the young knight.
His face still bore traces of youth, but he stood out—not merely because of his looks.
The boy had an aura that drew people in.
…It’s fortunate he’s a commoner.
At least he wasn’t someone with the potential to threaten Lysfield’s position.
Still, Lysfield couldn’t understand the reason for his unease.
“Was there a reason for an ordinary knight to come all this way?”
He had investigated Maya Beardon, and she didn’t keep personal guards.
Arthur responded with a courteous expression.
“Before becoming a knight in the North, I lived in the West and once received the Marquis of Rebour’s favor.”
The Northern Order admitted non-nobles if they had the skill.
That was why the Imperial Knights, composed solely of nobles, disdained and dismissed the Northern Order.
Thus, Tristan’s story—that he had come south to become a knight—was entirely plausible.
Moreover, having left the West for the North made him, for all intents and purposes, a Westerner.
It wasn’t strange for him to know about the region’s circumstances.
“Upon hearing of the West’s plight, I grew conceited, thinking that as a knight I could handle this much, and so…”
“No, I should have persuaded you better… and now you’ve followed us all this way.”
Alec muttered with a pained expression.
“But I couldn’t let you come alone after hearing of the danger…”
Lysfield was sick of the melodrama.
The Northern Order couldn’t even restrain a single rookie knight?
Annoying, but not entirely implausible.
To him, the Northern Knights were a lowly lot.
Such blunders were only to be expected.
But his sharpest suspicions lay elsewhere.
“So you just happened to meet here, is that it?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Pure coincidence.”
It made no sense, but pressing them further would yield nothing for now.
I’ll unravel other questions first.
He would make them talk eventually; for now, he would start with what they might answer.
Lysfield studied Tristan, who had bowed deeply in deference.
Why?
Like Maya, this boy unsettled him.
“Raise your head.”
“How could I dare meet Your Majesty’s gaze?”
“That’s an order.”
Reluctantly, Tristan lifted his head, and Lysfield quickly scrutinized his face.
Despite his meek posture, something about him was offensive.
There was something impure in those eyes as they met his.
An excessive wariness toward the Emperor—why?
“Your Majesty, it is not safe to remain where monsters may still linger.”
Maya, watching anxiously from the side, finally intervened.
“Wouldn’t it be wise to relocate?”
Lysfield gave no reply.
“Relocate, hmm.”
As he turned to Maya, Tristan’s eyes instinctively followed her.
A sigh, almost imperceptible, escaped Lysfield’s lips.
Ah.
Even from a glance, the feeling in that gaze was unmistakable.
A knight who harbors feelings for the Grand Duchess.
Now everything made perfect sense.
He couldn’t have stayed idle upon hearing that the Grand Duchess was coming here.
All that talk of monsters was just a pretext. The real reason was Maya Pendragon.
She seemed oblivious to it, but that too was understandable.
Confessing to the Grand Duchess? Impossible.
She was a married woman.
He simply couldn’t let go.
That look in his eyes—Lysfield hated it. But all doubts were now cleared.
Maya Pendragon… she is magnetic.
Who wouldn’t covet a Grand Duchess like her? He had thought her appearance suited his tastes, but her newfound power only made her more irresistible.
She has awakened her strength. I must have her.
Sending her alone to such a distant, unfamiliar land suggested she was on cold terms with the Grand Duke. That meant he needn’t worry about him.
The greatest honor a descendant of Pendragon could receive…
Lysfield began to ponder what grandest gift he could offer her.
An offer even a Pendragon heir could not refuse.
