Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“Ah.”

It means that Danae and the prince could unite these two families by marrying.

‘I don’t think so, but I don’t know.’

“In that sense, I’ll give you homework to memorize the imperial family tree. The social season is coming soon, so it would be good to know the basics of it.”

“The social season?”

“The aristocracy has various businesses in the capital, and September is usually the social season because that is when the Founding Festival is held. There is also a party hosted by the imperial family.”

September would be after the successor problem had been resolved.

“Then will I also participate?”

“The royal family will send an invitation. I don’t know if the Grand Duke will accept the invitation.”

“Can you refuse an invitation from the imperial family?”

“If you’re from the Asinov family.”

It was a simple and clear answer.

“Then I’ll stop today’s class. Don’t forget to do your homework.”

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​The royal family tree was simpler than expected, so the homework Jaydin assigned could be done without much difficulty.

The emperor had two sons and one daughter.

The First Prince Dilton, Second Prince Roaz, and Princess Ella.

Officially, all of them are the children of the Empress, but it seemed to be an open secret that the Second Prince was an illegitimate child that was born to a dancer.

Jaydin said that there was a boy around her age, it seemed to be the Second Prince. Prince Roaz was fifteen years old, two years older than Danae.

‘The age was just right.’

Moreover, he had been pushed away from the throne early on by his brother, the Crown Prince. Going to the countryside with a suitable title or becoming the son-in-law of a decent family would be the best path for his future.

When the family he could possibly marry would be Asinov, it would be a jackpot, and isn’t the social season in September?

Danae asked Marina secretly because she was wondering if the Grand Duke would accept the Emperor’s invitation, but she said there had been nothing told to the servants yet.

‘Then I’ll ask.’

She put down the royal family tree she was looking at and headed for the Grand Duke’s office.

On the way to the office of the Grand Duke, there was a training camp where the Knights of the Mist trained. It was usually empty, but for some reason it was noisy today.  Haydin told her what was happening as she snooped around due to her curiosity.

“I think a training match is happening.”

“A training match?”

“Yeah. During the social season, there’s a tournament in the capital. The knights of each family come out to determine who is the strongest.”

“But we don’t know if we’re going to the capital yet.”

“Yes, but regardless of Asinov’s decision, the Knights will participate in the tournament. The Knights of the Mist have never missed a championship since they first participated in the tournament.”

As Haydin proudly puffed his chest, Danae quietly stepped closer to the noise. Seeing that Haydin’s did not stop her, it did not seem that it would be a problem for her to watch.

As she got closer to the training grounds, the noise became louder. The knights sat down on both sides, whistling or pouring out encouragement to the side that they were cheering for.

‘But the result seems to be obvious.’

It would have been difficult to grasp in the past, but it was easy to recognize now because she had recovered some of her strength after taking the pills.The brown-haired knight on the left looked more likely to win. His movement was lighter and his concentration was good.

“Ugh!”

It was just as Danae expected.

The brown-haired knight smacked the opponent’s sword and aimed his sword at the others neck, and the opponent raised both hands and surrendered.

Cheers erupted from the side cheering for the brown-haired knight.

“Good job!”

“Let’s go with that spirit!”

However, the next opponent of the brown-haired knight was tough.

“Huh? It’s Theon?”

“Yes, the leader can join the contest.”

“…… Leader?”

It was the first time she had heard this.

When she asked back with an absurd face, Haydin was surprised and opened his eyes wide.

“You didn’t know? Theon is the leader of the Knights of the Mist.”

“I had no idea…”

“So what did you think he was doing?”

“I thought he just liked to play and eat?”

“……It may look like that.”

Haydin nodded with a face that he couldn’t refute, so she turned back to the training field.

“But Theon is a Sword Master. Isn’t it unfair if he joins the contest?”

“Tournaments don’t allow us to use Aura. To prevent injury, we compete purely with physical ability and swordsmanship, so it’s not cheating.”

But even if you don’t use Aura, isn’t it a Sword Master still a Sword Master? It was obvious even without watching that the victory would be Baratheons.

“By the way, Haydin isn’t participating?”

Danae turned her head and looked at Haydin.

He was not a Sword Master, but from what she’s seen so far, Haydin was definitely strong enough. Isn’t he on the stage right before one could become a Sword Master? This stage was the most difficult but if Haydin could break through, his strength and power would grow significantly, however this was not an easy task. Most people gave up here because they couldn’t endure how long it took.

‘If another Sword Master can teach you and guide you through this phase, Haydin could become a Sword Master.’

However, since each person faced different trials, it wouldn’t be that easy to guide others just because they were a Sword Master.

“I think Haydin can compete with Theon.”

She thought he could put up a good fight since Theon wouldn’t use Aura.

“That’s too much. Besides, I’m your escort. If you go to the capital, I have to stand by you.”

“What? Did you give up participating because of me?” She shouted in surprise.

That’s why you didn’t start preparing!

Haydin smiled awkwardly at her reproachful voice.

“That’s….”

“Huh?”

Haydin wasn’t the only one who responded to her cry.

The sound was quite loud, and even the knights who were concentrating on the match turned their heads towards her.

She waved her hands awkwardly because all the gazes focused on her was embarrassing.

“Oh, hello…”

“Little kid!”

Theon, who was preparing for the match, threw his practice sword on the floor and approached Danae.

“What are you doing here?”

“I was on my way to see grandfather but I stopped by because the training field was noisy. I didn’t mean to interrupt the fight.”

“What interruption?”

Baratheon, who was about to hug her with a big smile, frowned and stopped.

“I can’t because my clothes are covered with dirt.”

“Wow, Theon. When did you become so thoughtful?”

“I know about these kinds of things!”

Danae felt the enormous gaze of the knights behind Baratheon laugh. Everyone was looking at her with twinkling eyes.

‘Ahhhh, it’s too much!’

Quietly avoiding their eyes, Haydin and Danae’s eyes met.

Only then did she recall the fact that she had forgotten.

“That’s right, Theon!”

“Huh?”

“Let Haydin join the contest, too!”

“Huh? But Haydin says as your escort, he can’t participate.”

“It doesn’t matter because I’m in the Winter Mansion. If Haydin is selected, someone else can escort me while he’s in the capital.”

“That’s true.”

Baratheon looked at Haydin as if asking for his opinion. Haydin looked at Danae with a perplexed look.

She flashed her eyes and signaled ‘Participate!’

“……if the lady says so.”

Haydin entered the joint with a slightly heavy face and picked up the training sword that Baratheon had thrown.

“The winner of the two will be my opponent.”

Baratheon made up the condition with the sudden appearance of another participant. As expected, no one in the Knights refuted the fact whether Baratheon was the strongest.

“Shall we get started?”

Haydin nodded at the words of the brown-haired knight and got into position.

That’s how the match started…

‘What is this?’

Danae opened her eyes wide in amazement.

Haydin’s skill was excellent. There was a sense of balance, the speed was not bad, and strength was good. He was also on the flexible side.

‘Wow, you’re so good…’

It felt like he was only using moves according to the textbook.

‘These movements are very obvious.’

Eventually, he defeated the brunette knight, but Haydin himself wasn’t satisfied with the match.

“Is it my turn?”

When Baratheon saw the results, he headed for the training circle.

“Look carefully, kid!”

There was no tension in Baratheon’s face when he shouted confidently at her. And, as if to prove that confidence, he defeated Haydin swiftly. It was less than five minutes after the match began.

“I lost.”

Haydin smiled and surrendered.

‘Did Baratheon look at me?’ but her thoughts were filled with  Haydin.

‘I think I know what the problem is.’

He refuses to break the mold and he sets limitations for himself. In the case of such a person, the possibility of developing beyond what he believed was the limit was endless if he broke the framework.

‘But it’s not easy to break that thought process.”

It was also hard to give him advice since the pride of a Knight would be at stake.

‘Huhm…’

“It’s hard to go against Young Master Baratheon. He’s still a Sword Master even if he doesn’t use his Aura,” Haydin, who came back to her before she knew it, smiled and said.

Of course it would still be hard to beat Baratheon, but he would be able to fight better than now.

‘Uh. I want to help.’

Isn’t Haydin the savior who rescued her from the water?

‘But how can I help you? ‘

After thinking for a while, Danae soon came up with a good idea.

‘I think it will work this way.’

But she needed the help of the Grand Duke.

‘How great that I was just on the way to meet the Grand Duke.’

“Let’s go, Haydin.”

She laughed and dragged Haydin’s arm.