Duke Pendragon

Chapter 371

“Sir Vincent.”

“I greet the regent.”

People greeted Vincent as he walked through the wide passage of Conrad Castle, which was filled with warm sunlight. However, he reacted differently from usual. Under normal circumstances, he would return each greeting with a warm smile and a nod, but today, he quickly crossed the hallway with a rather serious expression, barely acknowledging the people he passed.

“What is going on?”

A nobleman of the castle muttered after he disappeared around the corner like the wind. A gatekeeper standing next to the noble spoke while clicking his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk! How could you be so clueless? Is it not obviously due to the eldest lady’s, or rather, Princess Irene’s marriage with His Highness Ian?”

“What about it? Since the babies were born healthy, the princess will go to the imperial castle and become wed to His Highness the Crown Prince, right? What is the problem?”

“Haa! How could you not know? Is it not because His Highness Ian wants to get married in Conrad Castle? He is being stubborn about the issue.”

“What? Is that true?”

“That is why the imperial castle of Aragon Empire was thrown into chaos. What kind of a.. Who in the world would get married in his soon-to-be wife’s house? He’s the crown prince, no less!”

He quickly stopped himself from referring to the crown prince with a negative term, then spoke while looking around his surroundings.

“Huh! Although it is dictated by imperial law to hold two ceremonies for all members of the royal family, I have never heard of such an occasion. The prince is wanting to hold a ceremony at his lady’s house first…”

The nobleman shook his head.

As he said, all members of the imperial family held two weddings.

The first was unconditionally held in the imperial castle.

In the case of an imperial prince, the first would be considered the ‘real’ wedding. The second ceremony would be held to allow the prince to greet his in-laws and to express his gratitude. It was customary to go about it in order.

In the case of an imperial princess, the first ceremony would be held in the imperial castle to allow the noble family to greet the imperial family. The ‘real’ wedding would be held afterwards in the man’s castle.

Regardless of whether they were a prince or a princess, there were no exceptions to the rule. The first ceremony would be organized by the imperial castle.

In addition, Ian wasn’t just a regular prince. He was a crown prince, and he held the noblest of status in the entire empire after the emperor, but he was stating that he would hold the first ceremony in another kingdom, which was no longer affiliated with the emperor. There were no questions as to why that would cause such a huge stir in the imperial castle.

“This could quickly turn into a diplomatic issue.”

“That’s what I am saying. Phew! I hope the regent can figure out a reasonable solution…”

The eyes of the concerned nobles were fixated on a corner of the castle, where Vincent had long disappeared off to.

“Regent of the Pendragon Kingdom, His Highness the Crown Prince Ian…”

Thud!

Vincent pushed wide open both doors with his hands before the servant could finish his words.

“Sir Vincent.”

Irene greeted him with a smile. She had been drinking tea with a straight, modest posture.

“Ah, raccoon mask. What’s going on?”

Ian also greeted him with a bright smile. He sat opposite Irene in a comfortable position.

“I greet the crown prince and the princess. Your Highness Ian, do you have a moment?”

Vincent quickly greeted the two, then looked sideways at those who were standing by. His eyes were twitching, as if he was angry for some reason.

“For sure.”

The maids left the room at Ian’s gesture, and only Vincent, Ian, Irene, and two royal knights were left in the room.

“Phew…”

Vincent took a deep breath with closed eyes. It looked as if he were trying to calm his anger. Then, he opened his eyes and shouted.

“Your Highness Ian!”

“Yeah…”

Ian flinched at his vigorous shout. Vincent was no longer the advisor of the Pendragon Duchy, but the regent of the Pendragon Kingdom. Of course, Ian did not flinch because he was afraid of Vincent, but because he had a guilty conscience.

However, Vincent, who appeared angry, showed an unexpected behavior.

“Your grace is truly like the sun. Thank you for your generosity!”

He bowed deeply towards Ian.

“Hmm?”

Ian had been preparing himself to be reprimanded and hear some bitter words, regardless of his status. When Vincent suddenly thanked him, he became astonished and turned towards his fiancée for an answer.

However, Irene only tilted her teacup with a knowing smile.

“I cannot believe how considerate you are, your highness. To think you would postpone the marriage until the children were born, and even this… I, Vincent, am truly grateful for Your Highness’ grace. As the regent of the Pendragon Kingdom, I would like to express my gratitude.”

“Uh… really? I’m glad you are grateful, but…”

Ian maintained an awkward expression while shrugging. Irene, who was quietly sipping on her tea, suddenly interjected.

“You can stop it now, Your Highness. It’s Sir Vincent. Do you really think he is unaware of your true intentions?”

“Well…”

At Irene’s words, Ian licked his lips and regained his normal expression. A faint light glimmered in his eyes, seemingly reflecting the fact that he would soon become the master of the vast empire.

“It would be much easier to fool a ghost. I guess it is impossible to fool the raccoon mask of Pendragon.”

Ian continued with a grin.

“Although the Pendragon Kingdom has an outstanding regent like yourself and brave, strong knights, it is still unstable. In addition, even though no one is able to voice their opinion because of the circumstance you created, there are still quite a few who possess hostility towards Pendragon.”

“Well spoken, Your Highness.”

Vincent’s smile deepened at Ian’s words. Unbefitting of his status as a crown prince, Ian was still rough-spoken.

“That is why I wanted to give you a little gift. No matter what anyone says, I am doing this for my precious lark.”

“That is also…”

Vincent started to utter an agreement once again, then stiffened. His hands and feet shrivelled up when he processed the word ‘lark’ and saw the expression Ian took while looking at her.

“Oh, my. Your Highness…”

What was even more spectacular was that the ‘lark’ was blushing and responding in a coy manner. It was as if only the two of them were present in this space. Eventually, Vincent had to interject with a cough.

“Ehem! Hmm! Anyways, thanks to the consideration of Your Highness, everyone will once again pay attention to the relationship between the imperial family and our kingdom. Above all, we will be able to inform the rest of the world about the healthy birth of the two babies through the wedding.”

“As expected. They will know for sure by then. That this is the real beginning of the Pendragon Kingdom.”

Ian’s words brought about a bright smile on Vincent’s mouth as well as Irene’s.

‘Thank you…’

The man whom she chose, the man who chose her – he was truly a match made in heaven.

However…

‘Now, him…’

‘That guy…’

All too naturally, one person came to the mind of all three people at the same time.

***

“…..”

Mia’s sparkling, piercing eyes were headed towards a certain place. Her expression was sometimes filled with wonder and awe, while other times filled with love. Lindsay smiled at her.

“Do you like them that much?”

“Yeah. They are so pretty. They are so cute that I could die.”

Mia answered without even looking back at Lindsay. Her gaze remained on the babies, who were being fed by two nannies.

Most babies looked similar when they were less than six months old, but the two babies were even more alike. Even their expression and the color of their eyes were the same.

Although, it would have been rather weird if twins did not resemble each other. However, although the two babies looked strikingly similar, there was one obvious difference between the two.

One child’s hair was dazzling platinum blonde, while the other was dark brown.

“El has the same color of hair as me, but why is Ray’s hair brown? It’s different from yours as well, sister.”

“Well, I wonder…”

Lindsay’s expression darkened.

Siblings often possessed different colors of hair when they were born in different years, but such a case was extremely rare for twins.

“But it’s alright because they are adorable. It’s like I am looking after cute teddy bears.”

Mia broke out into a grin. The brown-haired baby opened their eyes and was smiling at her. Her smile spread to Lindsay as well.

What did it matter if their hair colors were different?

These children would become a prince and princess of Pendragon in the future. They were children born of herself and him, born on the same time on the same day…

‘Ha…!’

Lindsay could not let out a sigh. She suppressed it as the figure of a certain man came into her mind.

***

“This ends today’s training.”

“Sir!”

The men shouted while pounding on the symbol of the dragon on their left chest. They had completed intense training. It was harsh to the extent that steam was coming off their bodies.

“Phew! Today was a hard day as well.”

“Tell me about it. I got another blister on my palm.”

The men took off their helmets and wiped their sweat as they strode forward, conversing with one another. Their eyes naturally gathered towards a single place.

A knight was walking with his shoulders hanging low.

He was Mark Killian, the commander of the Knights of the White Dragon, belonging to the Pendragon Kingdom. He had led their training until just a moment ago.

All of them were squires of the Knights of the White Dragon, and they were undergoing harsh training every day to become official knights. Kilian personally oversaw their training, despite being the commander of the knights. Even though he was the scariest, the men also respected him the most.

“It’s been like that since he left, right?”

“I know. I feel dejected just watching him.”

“But what could he do? It’s not like he could stay here forever…”

“It’s really a shame…”

At the words of a squire, others smacked their mouths or sighed with disappointed eyes. A bald man had been on his way back from personal training. After overhearing the conversation between the men, he crept up and smacked them in the back of their heads.

Thuck!

“Argh!”

“Keugh!”

The squires stumbled after being struck. The responsible hand was the size of a pot lid. The giant man crossed his arms and spoke, looking over the men as if finding them pathetic.

“You bastards. Hey, if someone overheard you, they would think you were talking about a dead person.”

“Ah! S, sir Lutton…”

The squires hurriedly stood at attention. Lutton was a member of the White Dragon Knights, as well as one of the five captains.

“He came back from the dead once, you bastards. He is someone with a lot of work to do, and he was born different people like us. Do not talk carelessly without knowing. Hurry up. Clean your weapons and get going to your residence.”

‘Ye, yes sir!”

The squire hurriedly moved along at Lutton’s words.

After watching the squires hurry away, Lutton loosened his arms and slowly turned his gaze towards where Killian had disappeared off to.

Soon, a sly smile appeared around his mouth.

“Heu! You must be sad that he left, but it’s very good for us.”

Lutton stopped himself from laughing out loud, fearing that Killian might overhear. Instead, his shoulders heaved up and down silently in an expression of joy. Afterwards, he walked forward with light, cheerful steps unbefitting his large size.

Soon after, however, he stopped walking and scratched his head. His behavior was completely contrasting from before.

“Dammit! Phew…”

He was forced to sigh when he thought about him. He was the one who provided Lutton with an opportunity to become a knight, when Lutton had only known how to fight.

***

“Is that… really necessary?”

“Naturally. Stop asking.”

“I… do not think I am ready. It hasn’t even been that long since he left…”

“It’s already been more than a month. Not ready? Starting when did you prepare yourself for things?”

“Still, to do this so suddenly…”

“Ah, stop chattering on and on! Since when were you so talkative!?”

Karuta raised his voice with a frown. Then, the knight in front of him flinched and looked up with pathetic eyes. His shoulders had been drooping.

But he soon took on a determined expression and spoke proudly.

“Don’t you think this is just too much? I am the head of the knights of the Pendragon Kingdom! I am the COMMANDER! What kind of a commander is beaten and assaulted under the guise of a duel? Where in the world is that justified?”

“Then all you have to do is become stronger and beat me up instead, hmm? Are you also going to say such things in the battlefield? ‘Oh, I’m so sorry for being so weak. I’m a commander scarecrow, so please don’t hit me. Let me go just once, please~’ Hmmm? Is that what you’re going to say?”

“…..”

Killian could not retort.

“The ground be split. Stop bullshitting and get ready starting tomorrow. Since I’m like this, I will not go easy on you.”

Karuta grinned as he lifted his steel, prosthetic hand.

“It hurts more if you hit me with a prosthetic hand.”

“I got it. I’ll go easy on you. Easy. Kuhahaha!”

Killian spoke in a teary voice, and Karuta burst into laugher as he put his arms around the knight. Killian still had a dark expression. As if suddenly remembering something, Karuta asked.

“By the way, when is he coming?”

“He’s probably already heard the news of the birth, so he should be here before the wedding of the princess and the crown prince. Of course, I wish he could come as soon as possible, even tomorrow.”

“But is it okay for the leader of humans to go back and forth so often?”

Karuta asked with his arms still around Killian’s shoulders. The knight gently pushed him away and spoke bluntly.

“Is he a normal human? He’s a human who’s been brought back to life. Moreover, he’s a king. The Knight King of Valvas! He still has to get married again and there are so many things he must accomplish. We should be grateful that he is still serving as a knight in our kingdom.”

“Keugn! Why are you thankful? He’s not coming back because you and I are pretty, is he? It’s because of him.”

“…..”

Killian closed his mouth.

Karuta also flinched with an awkward expression, then scratched his fangs.

‘My lord…’

‘Pendragon…’

The face of a man came to their minds.