If I Disobey the Duke

“A person is stuck!” The assistant swatted his hand and squeaked. Uncomfortable with harsh breathing and foggy eyes, he coughed and stepped back.

There was a commotion everywhere. Those who were lined up in the front and back trembled at the fact that there was a crowd. Eventually, the gate guards approached in the commotion.

The gate guards were toiling to rescue the wretched coachman and dismount the horses. Fortunately, the coachman survived, but his face was crushed and his shins were pale and sharp bones protruded.

In a horrendous way, the aide covered his mouth with his handkerchief and vomited in disgust. His stomach was churning.

A knight with a group of soldiers approached him next to him. He was the captain of the Western Gate Guard.

“What are you doing!”

“Yes?” The assistant asked, putting a handkerchief in his inner pocket. The eyes of the guard captain with his rich beard were bitter.

“I saw you do things with that old coachman! I thought you were fixing the wagon… If you dare commit a murder in front of the guards, don’t think about escaping gracefully.”

“No, not like that! Why would you say that?”

The guard’s eyebrows twitched as the assistant waved his hand. “Arrest them now!”

“Oh no, there…!”

“It was what I ordered. If you want to hold someone accountable, hold me.”

The commander of the guard turned around at the chilly voice. The soldiers who rushed towards the aide and the mercenaries also stopped standing tall.

There stood a snake-like man with his silver hair curled so that his head was exposed.

Everyone knew who he was. The slitted eyes were fixed as if they were shooting at the captain of the guard.

“This old man is called Shylock Isles. Sir Edgar Lewis, Captain of the Guard at the Western Gateway to Arcadia.”

Edgar visibly flinched. Realizing that he was already under his momentum, he folded his arms and looked at Shylock. “Shylock Isles. I know who you are. From here on, it’s Arcadia. You’d better stop thinking about going out with a bribe.”

Shylock tapped the floor with a black wand gilded on his handle. He slowly turned his head to scan the crowd around him.

Except for some curiosity, it was a look of contempt. In particular, this was the case with knights whose bloodline seemed to be quite precious.

Shylock looked back at Edgar.

“How is the improvement of the lady’s lung disease?”

“…”

“Once she starts bleeding, there will be no other way no matter what you do… It’s really unfortunate that the disease is only getting worse.”

Edgar’s eyes fluttered open. He held a breath as if he had been strangled by Shylock. Shylock wasn’t going to miss that gap.

“My daughter also lost her mother to the same illness a long time ago. Lily… no.” Shylock’s expression turned cold. He stared at Edgar unblinkingly. “The Duchess of Winter, too.”

A tense silence descended.

The assistant’s heart raced with exciting anticipation. With just that one word, the momentum completely was on his boss’s side.

Even the captain of the guard wouldn’t have known that Shylock Isles was the monarch’s in-law. He pushed that fact in front of his eyes and looked away. It was already a victory for Shylock.

“I was curious about how competent the people responsible for my daughter’s safety were. Would you like a favor, Captain?”

Edgar’s eyebrows twitched incessantly. After hesitating for a while, he muttered, “…I will listen and decide.”

“The de Winter Knights are adept at gunpowder, so compared to the ‘real’ knights, it is said that they have no power. Is it true?”

The faces of the soldiers around them, including the commander of the guard, were wrinkled.

“What rude…”

“Prove to me it’s not true.”

Shylock slowly raised his cane. Then, he pointed to the two soldiers in front of him in turn.

“The two of you can make fist fights with each other. Until one of them falls. Can’t you check all your stamina and strength?”

In the end, a bulge of veins stood on the guard captain’s forehead. No one could have noticed what he was going to do. However, Shylock’s remarks were one beat faster than his words.

“100 million for the winner. 50 million for the loser. Also, to the captain of the guard who calmed the curiosity and anxiety of this insignificant old man…” Shylock lowered his cane slowly. “I will give you medicine to prevent the worsening of lung disease. Until your young daughter is healed. Keep going.”

“…”

While the first soldier hesitated, the second soldier raised his voice, “How dare a lowly tradesman try to trick people with money! That cheeky man who doesn’t know the subject must be arrested, Captain!”

“…”

“B-boss. Why don’t you say anything, no way…”

Edgar’s eyes belonged to those whose souls had already been slain.

He had lost his wife a long time ago, and his only daughter had recently started suffering from lung disease. He was spending a lot of money on medical expenses, which he couldn’t afford even with his salary.

Edgar’s chest trembled as the breath he had been holding back slowly returned. Taking an irregular breath, he finally broke. “…Make room.”

“Leader!”

“It is an order.”

“… ”

“Hurry!”

A cruel wind blew. A crowd gathered in a circle in the empty lot next to the long line.

So Shylock Isles made the western gateway of Arcadia into a fighting arena. After a gruesome due, he awarded the prize in cash on the spot through his aide.

Shylock Isles, watching the three men accept the prize, was the king who ruled them at that moment.