Chapter 70

Yelena’s unexpected remark flustered Thomas.

“Ah, th-that’s right. Of course. I made a terrible mistake that time. I’m still reflecting on myself.”

“…Did you know I was so angry that day, I wanted the Duke to kick you out of the castle?”

Thomas’s body stiffened.

Gulp.

She thought she heard the sound of him inhaling.

“However, the Duke stopped me. He said you are an earnest and competent knight.”

“………”

“But rough in the manner of speech.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Well, the Duke did say that it was fine. But I’m not okay with it, so if you want to look good to me, you better fix it.”

“I will definitely correct myself!” Thomas loudly responded.

Yelena looked at Thomas, who was full of spirit, with a puzzled look.

Thomas seemed to have temporarily forgotten where they were right now.

The people passing through the shopping alley glanced at Yelena and Thomas.

‘Well, it’s better than hesitating and not answering properly.’

Yelena, who decided to think positively, nodded.

“Good. Then have a good holiday and work hard when your return.”

“…Thank you.”

Yelena left Thomas and turned around without hesitation.

It was time to achieve the real purpose of coming to the shopping alley.

* * *

Yelena returned to the Duke’s castle feeling slightly unsettled.

It wasn’t because of the gift. She bought a great present.

On the contrary, she was delighted with what she picked that she kept staring at it all the way home.

But there was something else that complicated her mood.

‘Thomas.’

After confirming the possibility that the knight might be a better person than she thought, Yelena began to feel disturbed from that moment forward.

She inquired about Thomas’s reputation in the duchy just in case.

Surprisingly, it was mostly positive.

In particular, the majority of good reviews came from the servants.

It seemed that Thomas often helped the maids and servants he encountered on his way back from training.

‘Huh…’

Yelena became more unsettled when Thomas’s good side was further revealed.

She visited Ben last to hear the opinion of the butler who managed the castle.

“Ben. I want to ask you a question about the knight called Thomas…”

However, Ben’s reaction was unexpectedly intense.

“That son of a bitch?”

Yelena hesitated. “…That son of a bitch?”

“Ah, I made a mistake. Let me correct that. That bastard?”

It got worse.

At this point, asking Ben what he thought about Thomas would be pointless.

Yelena changed the question and asked, “You don’t like Thomas?”

“I would have kicked him out of the castle if I could. I put up with it because it’s beyond my authority. Tsk, if he has any tact, he should leave on his own, but he’s so stubborn…”

“Why do you hate him so much?”

“Why?” Ben’s eyes lit up as if he were waiting for that question.

“You’ll understand when you hear the madman babbling with his crazy mouth.”

Son of a bitch, bastard, and madman.

After silently pondering over Ben’s ferocious three-stage change in Thomas’s title, Yelena asked, “The knight, Thomas…What type of knight is he?”

“It’s very simple. He’s a son of a bitch who has nothing but an inferiority complex toward his master.”

“He has nothing?”

“…No, he doesn’t actually have ‘nothing’.”

After swearing all this time, Ben grudgingly corrected himself in a quiet voice.

Then he let out a sigh, and his resentment and spirit abated.

“I’m sorry. First of all, I would like to apologize for the immature appearance I showed you earlier. As I’ve gotten older, I developed a terrible habit of being emotional whenever I hear certain names, and one of them is Thomas.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you.”

Ben organized his emotions and cleared his throat before continuing.

“Thomas… He joined the Knights of the Duke’s castle last year. His skills are pretty good. No, he’s exceptional. He was originally called a prodigy in the area he was from.”

“Really?”

A prodigy.

Yelena was surprised by the unexpected high evaluation.

‘You said that he was competent…’

Since when did competent skills mean to be called a genius in a region?

Ben continued while Yelena quickly checked her husband’s evaluation criteria.

“Since he had no rivals at a young age, it must have gone to his head. But when he came to the Duke’s castle, that arrogant self-confidence was instantly shattered when he met the master.”