Chapter 240 Become the Forgotten
The Boldenville residence had its own indoor training ground. Residing within this space, a symphony of rhythmic clashes and resonating swordplay filled the air. For onlookers such as Lady Ayde and her son Michael, these harmonious sounds were akin to music, captivating their attention as they observed the sparring before them.
Sparring for sword practice was conducted by Allen and one of the off-duty soldiers. The soldier was seen desperately swinging his sword at Allen, while Allen could easily ward off his attacks.
"Hey! Hurry up and lose!" shouted the soldiers surrounding them, who laughed together after, indicating that this was not the first time the sparring partner had fought Allen.
"A-amazing," said Michael in his mother's arms.
"Of course, he's your sister's knight," Ayde replied.
It wasn't just Allen's moves that amazed Michael, but also the fact that he still didn't look tired even after fighting the fifth person. He also hadn't taken a single hit from his opponent so far.
'Ooooh my, Lady Ayde is looking this way!' thought the soldier who fought Allen.
Ayde was well aware of Allen's strength, but she never anticipated that her soldier would be defeated so swiftly and effortlessly, without even inflicting a scratch on the opponent. The shocking outcome left Ayde with a cold and annoyed expression as doubt started to creep into her mind regarding the capabilities of the Boldenville soldiers.
Meanwhile, Allen couldn't shake off the feeling that he was engaged in this fight without any intentional purpose. As a result, worry began to consume him, primarily for the safety of the house.
'I just realized that this world has a lot of strong people, like the one who attacked Felicia in the castle, then the leader of the Servus. Lord Reynold seems to know that; maybe that's why he relies on numbers rather than quality, their pay may be low.'
As Allen emerged victorious in his battle against the 10th opponent, a hush fell over the arena. Suddenly, a slow and deliberate applause broke through the silence, sending chills down everyone's spine. All eyes turned towards the sound, searching for its source. It was then that they noticed a yellow-haired girl standing tall with an air of authority, accompanied by a loyal knight at her side.
"Excellent..." resonated in the voice of the yellow-haired girl, her tone exuding both admiration and intimidation.
"Princess Margareth, my respects to you," Lady Ayde said, bowing her head to Margareth, followed by Michael, Allen, and all the soldiers.
"Allen, you've gotten a little bigger and more handsome."
"What? Did Princess know Allen?" muttered the soldier.nove)lb-In
"I don't know! Maybe they met once in the castle?"
Margareth continued, "I hate it so much; I wish you'd stay small because I less hate small people; they are easy to crush."
Allen had only lowered his head because he was following the others, but since the girl mentioned his name, Allen cautiously lifted his head, stealing a quick glance at Margareth, who stood before him. However, Margareth gently tilted Allen's chin upward before he could fully make eye contact.
"Ah, you really are that Allen; you have a different way of gazing, so I thought that I was mistaken."
Their faces were very close, only a few centimeters apart, and Margareth observed every inch of Allen's face.
"H-have we met before?" asked Allen.
Margareth was a little surprised by Allen's reaction, and then she pushed Allen's head back.
"Haha that's funny. All my life, I've always been known by the whole kingdom, and I'm always on the side of people who often forget other people's faces. I didn't expect that there would be a chance for me to be the forgotten one."
Allen's expression turned into one of confusion as he furrowed his brows, attempting to recall the identity of the girl standing before him. Given the circumstances, he felt a pressing need to recognize this person adequately, especially if they held significance or importance in his life. Considering any potential previous encounters or connections that might have occurred between them, Allen pondered whether there could have been any unresolved issues that happened in the past. He should know if he had anything wrong with her in the past.
Lady Ayde approached them and then told Allen, "Allen, this person is the tenth prince of Wildenhall Kingdom, Princess Magareth Albreda Wildenhall. You've already danced with her once at Francis' birthday party."
"EEH?!"
"Allen..."
"Danced with the princess?"
"Is Allen perhaps connected to the royal family?!"
"But why?"
The soldiers immediately whispered excitedly in the back once they knew that fact. Allen who used to be just a peasant, knew there was no way the princess would give her hand to a peasant. And moreover, what excites them more is,
"I heard that Lady Felicia had a dance with Prince Francis that was supposed to be with Allen."
"But Lady must dance with Francis because of duty."
"Then, does it mean Lady saw Allen dancing with Princess Margareth?!"
They started gossiping like girls, excited at the thought of how jealous their Lady's faces were when she saw Allen dancing with someone else.
Of course, it's all just their fantasy; they like imagining a pure love triangle of children.
"You do not even remember our intense dancing; you've really failed as a man, Allen. We have talked about many things together. About you and about my brother," Margareth said.
"So-sorry, I will try my best in the future. I just don't remember things from the past very well, let alone insignificant things like dancing-"
Allen then realized everyone looked at him strangely, including Lady Ayde, who saw him with a very shocked face.
"H...hmmm... not important, huh? What the hell was that..."
Allen immediately closed his mouth, realizing he had probably once again let loose with a taboo subject he didn't understand.
Margareth raised her face and looked at Allen with a murderous gaze that gave Allen goosebumps.
"I hate that. That is the sentence I hate the most in this world."
Allen could feel that the gaze given by Margareth was not ordinary hate.
She had only said a few words, but the hatred on her face was almost the same as that of the people whose families had been killed.
"Your Highness! Please forgive Allen's presumptuous behavior; I will definitely punish him later. For now, please calm your anger-"
"No need."
lightsnοvεl Margareth let out a long sigh; then her face turned back to her usual self; She seemed to dispel her hateful aura in just a moment.
"I'm used to hearing that from my own mother." even so, her face was still full of hatred.
'What's with this girl? She's the weirdest type of human I've met,'
"Bertoph, what's your judgment on this kid? You're good at judging people, right? If you fought him, who would win?"
"I don't know."
"Being uncertain means he was strong enough to make you doubt your own judgment.
Try harder, you useless knight; you're just too lazy to appraise him."
"Aaaargh, fine. As you wish, my Lady." Bertoph walked closely to Allen and observed him.
"With that body's flexibility and the precision of his every move, I would have a hard time defending myself. I have a lot of things to prepare if I want to fight this kid."
"So you will lose?"
"Probably."
"What about a fight to the death? What are the odds that you can win against him now?"
"A fight to the death? Of course, 90 percent I'll win."
The knight then looked at Allen with murderous lust, making Allen take a few steps back and immediately take out both his swords.
"Why are you asking? Do you want me to kill him?"
"That would be good, but..."
Margareth looked at Lady Ayde's face, which seemed to have turned pale and troubled,
'From her reaction and how she defended Allen, he seems important in this house,' Margareth thought.
"Not so, I still want to be on good terms with Earl Boldenville."
Margareth looked at Ayde, then she said "But of course I still have the right to punish him, right? Ayde."
Ayde could only nod
"Of course, but please don't destroy him."
"No worries," Margareth said as she walked over to Allen, "This kid was doomed from the start. At the moment I first met him, I could tell just by the look in his eyes that he couldn't be saved anymore."
Margareth again held Allen's face and looked deeply into Allen's red eyes.
"Aaah, you are indeed the same boy I met back then. But where did that hateful look go?" Margareth murmured. Allen could feel Margareth's breath near him, so he pushed Margareth's shoulders as gently as possible to get them away from his body.
"Your Highness, please forgive me for what I said earlier, I didn't mean to break your heart at all."
"I know... That's why I hate you. The way you said it so naturally without a single negative emotion inside, made me hate it even more.
As punishment, you must accompany me while I'm here."
"Accompany you?"
"Today and tomorrow, until I leave this residence, you will become my servant."