In This Life, I Will Raise You Well, Your Majesty!

“Ha!”

There was a loud shout. The water’s energy and the sword’s mana collided, scattering waves in all directions. Rohan didn’t go easy, and Elisha didn’t hesitate. The battle between the two became rough as time went on.

One of the Knights members especially liked it as the scene that seemed like a rivalry continued instead of opponents with affection.

“Are you Perry?” Shamir, who had followed the 1st Knights to the training ground, checked the other party’s face. Apparently, the other party was also a victim of the bloody atrocities of that man and woman.

Feeling like meeting a colleague, Shamir smiled, and the other knight, who raised his eyes slightly, quickly turned his face away. During the abduction of the 2nd Consort in Syuphl Barony, Shamir was the center of the desert warriors.

Even if the situation had changed, those who were sincerely worried about the disappearance of the 2nd Consort would not be able to view him favorably. It was remarkable that the 2nd Consort herself was able to accept it.

Is it because even the dry land from a prolonged drought is sweeter and wetter than desert sand? Perhaps every person has a soft side, even if one often shows hostility and ignorance.

With a yawn, Shamir turned his gaze toward the center of the battle. The two seemed excited, but Shamir was bored. So, when the sparring was over, he quickly ran to and pestered Elisha, Why don’t we go back?

Ignoring him, Elisha loosened up the overworked muscles, corrected her posture again, and finally left after greeting the 1st Knights.

As Shamir pouted and followed her, Elisha glanced at him. She told him to speak if he had something to say instead of keeping his mouth shut and dragging on, but when he started complaining, Elisha quickly stopped him.

“Straight to the main point.”

He seemed to have something to say, seeing that he had followed her from the 2nd Consort’s Palace through the Great Hall to the 1st Knights’ training grounds. Shamir asked Elisha with particular pair of sparkling golden eyes that blinked quickly, “2nd Consort, what would you do if someone likes you?”

It was out of the blue, but it wasn’t difficult to return the answer.

“Why me?”

“… Can’t someone like you?”

“Because there’s no reason to like me. Oh, you mean something like a knight in need of a master? When I went to the West during the rebels’ subjugation, quite a few people wanted to follow me. Or have you heard that some people want to worship me as a goddess and create a religion?”

Shamir, who opened his mouth a few times, shook his head and said, “I mean a man. A man.”

“Knights are mostly men. It’s hard to find a female knight in Atien. It is said that their number is gradually increasing in the Zeon Empire due to the influence of Duke Katrina, though.”

“I mean what if there’s a man who likes you as a woman?”

Silence ensued and was broken.

“Why me?”

If it had been an obvious question a moment ago, this was a complete reflection.

“Is that such a surprise? There might be a man who likes you enough to give his life for you.”

“Why is that interpreted as equivalent to seeing me as a woman? Sir Dell would risk his life for me. And he is a loyal knight for my child and me.”

“… Even if that man would do anything you want him to do?”

“That’s the same with my Marie. My maid is very competent. In fact, Marie would be better at finding and bringing what I want than anyone else.”

The consort was in the middle of bragging about her maid of honor. Shamir thought this atmosphere wasn’t fitted for such a competition. Thus, he realized the strange identity of this strange feeling. The consort didn’t reflect. She was in complete denial. She was telling him that could never happen.

It was amazing how small the proud woman with the ability to support that pride could be. And didn’t she usually accept whatever came at her firmly without turning a blind eye?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“My consort seems to be someone who’s born to make people worry. You’re a natural flirt.”

“Last time you said I was a fairy, but now I’m a flirt? I wonder if I should keep your tongue, which keeps talking nonsense, intact.”

Shamir shrugged at Elisha’s words.

“I think it’s a very tough road to follow you. Others try to take care of their subordinates, but they order them to do things like kill or assassinate someone, and if they fail, all they have to do is suffer torture and die a few times. But with the 2nd Consort, one must be constantly threatened if they might be fired.”

Then, with a finger, he pointed at the red tongue in his open mouth once, then slowly down and pointed at the center of his pants once. Fortunately, they were already far from the 1st Knights’ training grounds, but if anyone had seen it, they would’ve immediately rushed at him with a sword.

[T/N: Do you remember when Shamir asked Blemir if he would be relieved once he cut off his d*ck or something when he just came to Barossa? ]

Elisha shook her head excitedly.

“I shouldn’t have stopped Marquis Blemir back then.”

“In that case, you’d see the first person ever to become a eunuch under a swordmaster’s mana sword.”

“Marquis Blemir’s mana sword is beautiful. It’s a waste to use it to cut miscellaneous things. I’m glad there’s one good result from stopping him.”

“What do you mean ‘mischellaneous’? Why is mine ‘mischellaneous’!? It’s very good and dignified!”

“That has nothing to do with me, but if you lower your pants more, the water spirit will get dirty instead of mana sword. Then you’ll have to give up drinking clean water for the rest of your life as a grudge of the water spirit,”

“Now it’s downgraded to dirty?”

“Do you hate it?”

The eyes that looked back narrowed. Shamir instinctively felt this was the end of the prank.

“I don’t hate it, so don’t look so scary. Stop scolding me too. Not too long ago, you praised me for doing well and said you would give me a reward. You changed your mind too quickly.”

“That is that, and this is this. In any case, don’t get carried away by rumors. Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter to them. They just want to see how their words affect others. And treating Sir Rohan differently to keep up with the rhythm insults him.”

What she denied was the person’s feelings, not the current situation itself. However, her choices in that situation were based on her absolute trust in Knight Rohan. When would the consort realize that that was the problem?

She might know one day, but it didn’t matter if she didn’t until the end. Either way, it would be the result of her life.

Above all, there was another person who would be the main character of this mess, so it would be fun to watch. Shamir thought of a person who would be more foul-mouthed than himself or the knight named Perry.

***

On the day that the duel between Rohan and Prince Raymond Cherkah’s substitute knight was to take place, the capital buzzed from the morning.

“They said Knight Novanstein is someone who’s almost a swordmaster. There may be a miracle in the bay.”

“Hey, is that possible? This is Sir Rohan. That Sir Rohan. Unless his opponent is Marquis Blemir, he will not lose.”

The nobles flocked to the arena with their opinions. To ensure fairness, the duel was set up in the capital’s mansion of a count, a subordinate of the neutral Fontana Duchy.

The arena was made by modifying the count’s small banquet hall, and it was a round shape well over 20 meters wide. Novanstein, who had been designated as the substitute duelist by Prince Cherkah, was standing in the middle of it. The nobles, witnesses and onlookers of the duel, surrounded the outside of the circle in several layers and stamped their feet.

“Why isn’t he coming?”

“Ah, there he comes!”

At that time, the entrance of the count’s mansion became noisy.

“Sir Rohan! Sir Rohan is here!”

Everyone’s attention was focused on him, as he was a person whose face was hard to see unless they entered Barossa.

“Even Countess Jaylene came with him!”

Everyone’s eyes widened. She was usually as invisible as Sir Rohan! Those who could not attend the social gathering cheered as if they had resolved their resentment.

***

“You’re not feeling well. Are you okay with being here?” Rohan asked, and Jaylene squeezed his long, firm fingers that supported her little hand.

“I must be where you are, don’t you think?”

“Then do as you please.”

When Rohan offered no more, Jaylene looked at him. It was a shame. She wished to talk to him more, but he didn’t look at her anymore.

The eyes that had been glued since the two couples got off the carriage became more and more blatant as they got closer to the arena. Jaylene hugged Rohan warmly, accepting the greetings towards her.

“This way, Countess.”

Count Cahill led the two into a space where the people who had surrounded the circular arena consciously left a gap between them. The gap widened as she approached, and Count Cahill had his servants bring tents and chairs to shelter from the sun. As soon as her place was made, Jaylene approached the things prepared for her as if it were natural.

A few more tables and chairs were prepared for those with difficulty standing, but they did not dare to sit down without the princess’ permission. It was natural to greet first, but it was challenging to come and talk and ask for permission.

It was strange. Princess Jaylene was said to be angel-like and sweet, but why was it hard to approach her?

Amidst the crowd, Rohan waited until Jaylene sat down before heading to the arena.

“Please, don’t get hurt. A princess has to take the lead in the crisis of the empire, but since I couldn’t do that, I went to the place to comfort the knights who had worked hard, not expecting such a terrible story. Maybe I should’ve stopped you when you said you’d pick me up that day. I don’t believe in such rumors at all, so you don’t have to worry.”

At Jaylene’s words, the people around her nodded with an ahh. It was confirmed that Rohan’s unexpected action was not only for the honor of the 2nd Consort but also for Jaylene, his wife and princess.

With this, the love story of the two people, which had been infrequent for a while, would light up the empire again. The sense of alienation from Jaylene must’ve been due to her concern for her husband.

Rohan silently listened to her story. None of what she said was true, but he doesn’t deny it. He bowed to her as she sat down. Then he stretched his body and turned away from her before she could give him the so-called kiss for victory.

“Please wait a while,” he said and entered the arena. Jaylene smiled softly as she naturally raised the hand she had reached out to him on the table.

Rohan didn’t stop anything Jaylene was doing. He would play any external role as a husband, but he couldn’t even step into her room. He didn’t accept any of her.

Still, Jaylene was the one woman allowed for him. She was the only one who deserved to watch him walk into the duel!

As Jaylene bit her teeth, she felt more commotion than when the couple came. Her mouth trembled as she turned her head toward the entrance.

“How could the 2nd Consort come here?”

As Elisha approached, Jaylene stood from her seat and tried to keep her raised mouth from collapsing.

“It’s a duel for me, of course I have to come for the knight who stood up for me.”

Elisha turned her gaze toward Rohan, who was halfway into the arena. His brown eyes, always unwavering, widened slightly.

Rohan seemed a little surprised by this sudden appearance. Well, he probably hadn’t expected Elisha to come in person to a place where everyone’s attention was focused and noisy with all sorts of rumors.

“Sir, since you accepted the duel, can I wish you victory this time?”

After a while, Rohan, who had been silent at Elisha’s question, slowly walked out of the arena and stood before her.

As he bent down on one knee… Not Elisha, but Leon, who had been invisible since he was in the back with Shamir, suddenly appeared. Leon jumped up and grabbed Rohan’s neck with both arms.

“Sir Rohan will win, won’t he? Will you protect my mother and I?”

Because he was lowering his body, he was at eye level with Leon. Rohan replied to the 3rd Prince in a friendly tone.

“Yes.”

He hugged Leon once with a careful hand, then backed off. All the while, Shamir glanced around and stopped at the woman over Rohan’s shoulder.

“That’s it,” he murmured. It must be frustrating to be confronted by someone she couldn’t use tricks on. Countess Jaylene’s main character-like look matched this mess, so Shamir could instantly recognize her. Of course, Jaylene would stop here because she was the main character.

[T/N: So it’s final that the so-called romance interests are only Rohan and Blemir from Shamir’s dialogue. However, I still think this story won’t have any explicit romance despite the romance tag from kkp, and I believe everyone agrees Elisha doesn’t need a man. I have this comical thought that the emperor is that one wealthy bully you meet in high school, Rohan is the friendly neighborhood brother who has difficulties that cause him to depend on the bully, Blemir is the bratty younger cousin who received all sorts of the wrong signal from his older sister, and Shamir is the older brother whose sole life purpose is to annoy the shit out of you ]