Leone moved as soon as General Bede approached Trixie. He walked gracefully and kept a poker face, so no one noticed that Leone was approaching Trixie. Leone tried to be as calm as possible for now. However, he could not keep his calm face when General Bede began to give off a menacing air by waving his hand. There’s no way Leone didn’t know. Hunting, violence, combat, the malice of predators… For Leone, who has the instincts of a beast, everything was an area of expertise. Of course, his beast-like pupils revived. He put out his foot, intending to run as fast as he could and grab the man by the neck and drag him away. As human as possible. Like a human… She thought he was, but he tried to reveal it without knowing it.

“Ah- wait…!”

At that time Trixie, who was being threatened, immediately turned her head to see Leone. She must have been afraid to have a grown man in front of her, but her eyes were firm. He didn’t notice anyone else, but only Trixie did. That Leone’s fluctuating anger was sprouting like thorns in all directions of her.

“No, calm down.”

Due to the distance, her voice could not be heard by Leone. Only Trixie’s gaze, as if telling her to calm down, reached Leone. Just like that, she was splashed with cold water, and her coolness returned to Leone. How could she come back so easily? As if Trixie’s eyes were magical.

“…Knight.”

Leone opened his mouth. Before Adler could even realize that Trixie was threatened, Leone had moved on. Thanks to that, Adler was in the middle of figuring out the situation. However, as befits a faithful knight at all times, he was perplexed but instinctively stood by Leone’s side.

“Yes, Lord Leone.”

People were watching this. To be precise, there were people’s eyes wherever Leone moved. Since no one had seen him up close, they probably wouldn’t have noticed the change in Leone’s expression. The important thing now was over there. It seemed clear from today’s banquet that General Bede was an aide to the Archduke. In that state, if you catch General Bede’s ridiculous fault, Leone’s position would become clear. So it’s good to go now.

‘A prince who intends to fight the Archduke.’

The problem was, there was no reason to focus attention because there was no huge commotion. There seemed to be no problem, but if the prince stepped forward and grabbed the general, it would stand out too much. If he didn’t do it, he might end up going up in the mouth of others with ‘what’s your relationship with that lady-in-waiting, the prince’ instead of ‘I hated the Archduke and reprimanded General Bide’.

Leone needed another reason to hide his feelings that he was angry with Trixie. He liked even the smallest cause. He didn’t mind being small enough to be considered nonsense. No matter what, he had to find a way to keep Trixie out of harm’s way. My patience ran out, and anger soared to the top of his head. Trixie was threatened by anyone, but no one thought to intervene. Even that made him angry. Still, Leone endured.

“Knight, wasn’t your voice quite loud?”

And fortunately it wasn’t difficult.

“Yes? Yes. When I was training, I had to scream, so I practiced and gradually-”

“Go, make noise and come. Adler.”

Leone’s tone was like ‘Go! My loyal dog!’ And the eyes of the loyal knight turned strange. The lord called him by name.

* * *

Meanwhile, after confirming that Leone’s eyes had returned, Trixie was relieved and focused on the general. She looked in the direction the general’s hand was going up and at the right time took a step back. At that moment, his large hand brushed the ends of Trixie’s hair. General Bede’s hand, which was about to press down and threaten Trixie by the shoulder, was floating in the air, trying to grab something. Probably because he had experienced this kind of thing for quite some time, he instinctively noticed the trajectory of his hand and avoided it. That fact made Trixie a bit bitter.

“Why, why are you like this!”

There was no time to be bitter. Trixie trembled and she played her part pretending to be frightened. She wasn’t scared. But if anything happened to her, she had a strong man who would come running, watching her right in front of her. So strangely, her courage rather than her timidity welled up in her. However, she was better off acting frightened than giving up because she felt courageous. To Trixie, the man standing in front of her had a moderately frightened face and said, “Why are you doing this!”

He would have been pissed off for avoiding his hand, but she decided that it would be better to match the rhythm because it was better not to make the judges more twisted.

“…you now. Did you dare to avoid it?”

General Bede’s voice became menacing. The General had a habit of speaking too loud.

‘Servants are nothing but things that were paid for and hired, so if you hit them, you should just get hit. You have to show the right time to the guy who avoids or confronts you. It is the master’s duty to instill fear in the lower ones.’

But Trixie, at first ignoring him and looking elsewhere, now even avoided General Bede’s hand that was trying to grab his hair. The way he was afraid now was also awkward.

“Are you ignoring me now?”

He acted according to the theory he always talked about. This was the grand banquet hall. It wasn’t unusual for him to harass a maid, so no one was paying attention. Because General Bede’s voice was quite loud, the eyes of the people around him gathered. The nobles observed General Bede with interest. The knights next to Trixie were very nervous. However, when they move and block the general, they couldn’t do anything because her identity would be revealed. Four attendants who seem to have been trained too well to protect the maids. Was there anything more suspicious than that?

“Yes? I-I never-”

“A lowly woman, being arrogant on the subject! She must learn to serve her master.”

As Trixie trembled and answered, General Bede’s hand moved toward Trixie’s hair this time. He had to grab her hair and drag it around to relieve his annoyance. He seemed to know why the Archduke said he didn’t like her. His eyes widened at the subject of a lowly woman.

“Oh my god-! General Bede!”

The moment when more and more eyes were drawn to this commotion, A booming sound echoed through the banquet hall. It was so loud that it made even those who weren’t paying attention to the commotion look back. General Bede knew this voice. It was the voice he hated the most. Just a few weeks ago, he had to wander the Meto Mountains because of him. A hand came up on the general’s shoulder. The general frowned and looked behind him.

“Nice to see you, nice to see you! Hey!”

“…What is it, Adler?”

It was quite an awkward tone, but it didn’t sound too bad because Adler’s usual tone wasn’t so fluent and friendly. Trixie was a little taken aback, thinking she just knew, but her voice was really loud.

“Long time no see!”

Adler hugged General Bede. General Bede involuntarily pushed him away from the crowd of displeasure. Adler was easily pushed out, even though he was never going to be pushed.

“No, why are you doing this?! I’m sad-. I was just happy to say hello!”

General Bede made an absurd face. It was funny how he acted harder than the Nutcracker with an exaggerated voice.

“What kind of trick-”

“Oh, please… you! Have you still not broken the habit?!”

“Stop the bullshit and step back. Adler. Say good-bye-”

“Hey, how long are you going to live like that?! Isn’t there anything like that even at the welcome ceremony of His Highness the Prince? The captain of the guard?!”

…what?  General Bede could not follow Adler’s words for a moment.

“General Bede! You are a talented person who can become not only the captain of the guards, but also the leader of the imperial knights that I led before! Why are you even doing this at Your Highness’ welcome ceremony!”

It was Adler who caused the commotion, but people’s eyes naturally turned to General Bede. 

When Adler was a young man barely serving as a sergeant in the Knights, General Bede was also there. General Bede, who was brought by the Archduke, was promoted steadily while playing tangja tangja, supported by his back stomach, and Adler silently swung his sword. General Bede was jealous of Adler absorbing the admiration around him and calmly bullied him, but Adler didn’t care. There was no point of contact between the two, and therefore what Adler was saying now was not at all true. However, the only thing people knew was that ‘General Bede and Adler were fellow members of the Imperial Knights’, so Adler’s shouts, who were always so honest, gained strength. Besides, wasn’t the scene like that? The small lady-in-waiting trembling in fright and General Bede’s hand stopped in a position as if trying to grab her hair.

“No, could it be that they even cut their hands at this precious welcome ceremony?! Is that habit erupting anywhere?! Hey, you’ve been drinking. yes?!”

It wasn’t such a big deal for a nobleman to stab a handmaid. But wasn’t Count Adler’s great temper famous? Whether a servant or a commoner. Unreasonable things could never be tolerated. So, it was understandable that they were fighting. Of course, someone was puzzled because they had already witnessed that lady-in-waiting being bullied inside the banquet hall.

‘If you’re going to do that, you should have cracked down earlier.’

“Something seems strange…”

The quick-witted people whispered with their companions. They knew Count Adler’s disposition, but now this was something… It felt like a play. It was General Bede who followed the Archduke unnoticed.

“I heard that lady-in-waiting pisses you off. Isn’t it the maid’s job to treat her guests well?”

“What did she do wrong?”

“Is it important? The lady-in-waiting dared to treat guests of the imperial family, and even generals! She made him angry.”

General Bede knew there was nothing wrong with Adler’s nitpicking. It was also better to respond calmly than to be excited.

“Our great Count of Adler Wickingham still takes care of each and every attendant. So even these lowly things don’t climb easily. You have to manage.”

“Everyone, they are people. How can you say that?”

Adler frowned.

“Isn’t there a class among people? The superior must teach the inferior.” said General Bede with a smirk.

“According to your logic, I am your superior, so can I teach you?”

Adler, who seemed to be genuinely angry at General Bede’s words, uttered: General Bede’s face crumpled mercilessly. Adler was a Count. Adler was right, since he was of a much higher rank than General Bede.

“…You always pretend to be so lofty, huh? Are you making a fuss like this just because you want to take the side of the lady-in-waiting?”

“Well, this commotion is not mine, it is yours that started with you.”

The fight of holding each other’s tail and dragged on became longer. Recognizing that the time had come, Leone stepped out. After taking two steps like that, the face of a cold-hearted monarch had become.

“What is it, Adler?”

A graceful voice resounded in the quiet banquet hall.