Violant of the Silver

2 Comments

Translator: mii

editors: sleepchaser, ASplashofMusic

It was the second day of the crown prince’s birthday party.

Early in the morning, Legion visited the Royal Knights’ training ground. Gathered there were the knights who weren’t assigned to guard the party today. They were all focused on their training, but the moment they caught sight of Legion, they immediately lowered their swords and surrounded him.

“If it isn’t Legion!”

“Great to see you looking healthy.”

“Senior, you’re still alive!”

Legion let out a strained laugh. Why did they look so happy to know that he was alive? “Hey… Can you please not just consider me dead like that?”

One of his seniors shook his head. “We were being serious. After all, you said you’d go serve the Lesserhain family. They’re infamous for discarding anyone they don’t like.”

Since that rumor wasn’t necessarily wrong, Legion didn’t respond, his expression growing ambiguous. Another senior then asked, “But is it okay for you to come here? Did you sneak away?”

“It’s okay, I’ve gotten permission from my master,” answered Legion, the conversation reminding him of Vio’s condition. Vio hadn’t been feeling well since this morning. It seemed like the stress from yesterday’s greetings had caught up to him. The fatigue from their long trip probably didn’t help either.

That same senior of his arched a brow. “You say that, yet you look troubled.”

“…No, I’m really okay.”

Naturally, Legion wouldn’t be so tactless as telling them he wanted to return to Vio’s side. Not when they were so excited to see him. That would be quite rude of him. Besides, Vio had been anxious for Legion since continuing to attend to Vio meant that he wouldn’t be able to leave the room. Thus, he had told Legion to go out on his own, his complexion pallid. And Legion was unable to refuse his master’s wish.

At the sight of Legion awkwardly averting his eyes, the members of Royal Knights exchanged glances with one another at once.

“Senior, you actually snuck out to see us, didn’t you? So the rumor about how Lord Violant selfishly forced you to be his knight is true?”

“You sure have it hard, huh? You must have accumulated a lot of resentment after all you’ve experienced, right? How about having a match? It’s been a long time. I’m sure it’s hard to train in the countryside, isn’t it?”

“Let’s have Legi have a match with the newcomer over there. Teach him the might of our team!”

With that, the match was quickly agreed upon by the knights. Not given any time to refuse, Legion cut a shocked figure. As they pushed Legion toward the training area, he scratched his head. Then, upon noticing the baton hanging from Legion’s waist, the knights burst into an uproar.

“What’s that? Your master doesn’t even let you carry a sword, Legion?”

“Isn’t that too much? Just what kind of master is that?”

Their words brought a frown to Legion’s lips. “It’s not that. Lord Violant dislikes swords, so I have this instead.”

In the midst of speaking, Legion cursed himself for his mistake in his heart. Because he had already gotten used to the baton, he hadn’t thought twice before equipping it on his waist. He should’ve replaced it with a sword before coming here.

The knights clearly didn’t believe him.

“We all know how ridiculously devoted you are to your master. You don’t have to cover for him when he’s this strict.”

“That’s right, senior. The Lesserhains are a famous military family, you know? Isn’t it strange for the second son of that family to hate the sword?”

Legion breathed out a sigh. Arguing with them would be fruitless. He then pulled out his baton and got into a battle stance, staring at them provocatively. “I understand what you’re trying to say. Then should I also make you understand that just this baton is enough for me to defeat you all?”

The knights’ expressions completely changed, shifting into those of agitation.

“Well isn’t that an interesting challenge? Since you’re that confident, then let’s fight and see if you can.”

“Don’t regret your cheeky words later.”

Legion’s words had grated on their nerves. But he was enraged at how they had made fun of his master.

And so, the one-on-one match between a knight wielding a dull sword and Legion holding a baton commenced.

A few minutes later, the knights were all sprawled on the ground, drenched in sweat. 

“Fucking hell! I lost!”

“Unbelievable! How did we lose against an iron rod?”

“He’s crazy. Even though we had five people fight him, he still defeated us in an instant.”

“I really hate this guy.”

Meanwhile, Legion stood in the middle of their collapsed figures with a nonchalant expression.

Legion looked at them, head tilted to the side. “That’s it? Aren’t you all a bit lacking in your training?”

The faces of the knights stiffened.

One of them whispered to the others, “Hey, who made him angry?”

“How would I know?” responded another knight, also in a hushed voice. He turned to yet another of their bunch. “Wasn’t it you, senior?”

“Huh?! Didn’t we only say nice things to him? We only talked about how strict his master is for not letting him even carry a sword.”

With that last sentence, Legion’s gaze turned icy once again. This sight sent shivers running through the knights’ spines. Legion’s devotion to his master seemed to have gotten worse.

 At that moment, claps resounded in the training ground. It was Prince Ars, clad in blue. “Hahaha, you’re amazing, Legion. Your skill in the sword hasn’t dulled one bit. On the contrary, you’ve improved, haven’t you?”

The knights rushed to kneel on one knee, their heads bowed, surprised at Prince Ars’ sudden visit. “Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Behind the crown prince was Princess Liona from the Kingdom of Ruslan, dressed in masculine clothes of deep red. She appeared to be disguising herself as a man. And accompanying her was her knight, Night, dressed in black.

“Your Highness, may I know why you have visited such a filthy place as the training ground?” asked one of the knights. 

Ars pointed at Liona. “Ah, Princess Liona wanted to see how the knights train. So I accompanied her to watch you all for a while.”

Following that, Ars crossed the training ground at a quick pace and helped Legion up from his kneeling position.

“Legion, your resignation was a huge blow to the team. To be able to defeat this many people all at once, and with that cool expression to boot,  is just as I expected from you.”

“You flatter me, Your Highness. I still have a long way to go.”

“You’re still so humble,” Ars replied, a bright smile on his face. He patted Legion’s shoulder, after which he turned to Liona, boasting, “So how was he? He’s our kingdom’s prided knight.”

Liona chuckled. “I admit that he’s very skilled, but my prided knight doesn’t lose to him either.”

She tugged at Night’s arm from behind her, then pushed him forward. Night staggered before catching his balance. When his gaze met with Legion’s similarly conflicted one, he awkwardly scratched his head. Meanwhile, Ars and Liona glared at each other, not paying the two any mind. 

Liona gestured toward Night. “How about having them compete with each other?”

Night turned around. “Princess, why would you make me do such a troublesome…” he said, faltering upon being greeted with Liona’s sharp glare. He swallowed his words. “No, it’s nothing.” Whirled back. 

Ars let loose a bold laugh. “How interesting. Why not?”

But just as the words left Ars’ lips, Legion raised a hand. “Forgive me, Your Highness, but I wish to decline. I’m unable to consent to that without prior permission from my master.”

“Even though the command came from me?”

“I’m aware of the rudeness of my actions. But if I get hurt and become crippled, there will be no one to protect my master.”

Puzzlement swept over Night’s face. “Hey, your master is the second son of a big-shot noble in this kingdom. He has other escorts, right? You can simply entrust the job of protecting your master to them.”

“Only one butler and one maid are presently attending to him.”

Stirs of confusion filled the area. Liona asked, “By the way, how many servants did your master bring?”

“There are four servants, including me and the coachman.”

Ars refused to believe him. “That’s silly. Surely the Lesserhain family would’ve sent more servants than that?” he said, laughing scornfully.

But Legion shook his head. “No. As far as I know, aside from the four of us, there is the gardener, who remained in the mansion at Leca town. His Highness, haven’t you heard of this from Cheval?”

Ars grew silent. He had received Cheval’s report, but he didn’t bother reading it. After Cheval had mentioned how cute the maid was, Ars had assumed that the maid had beguiled Cheval to her side, thus rendering his words unreliable.

“His Highness, please don’t let the rumors mislead you and take a look at Lord Violant’s actual situation. That’s all I can say.”

Even if Legion attempted to mend Vio’s reputation, it was impossible for him to eliminate the bad rumors, which had widely spread among the people. On the contrary, defending him might worsen the situation.

As such, Legion restrained himself from voicing out the things he wanted to say, only telling Ars this much. 

Ars sank into silence, his expression sullen, before reluctantly nodding. “Then let’s get permission from him. You don’t mind if we go meet him after this, right?”

“No, but that’s…”

“Is there a problem?”

“Lord Violant has been sick since this morning. He told me to go outside on my own since he couldn’t leave the room. That’s why I came here.”

One of the knights said, “You didn’t sneak your way here?”

“I never said anything of the sort.”

“But you seem restless for some reason. Like you’re anxious…”

“Isn’t being restless natural since my master is unwell?”

Murmurs of confusion rang in the air. Everyone couldn’t quite process the things Legion had said. Liona clapped once, causing everyone to quiet.

“Lord Violant’s story sounds rather complicated, so much so that I find it hard to understand without further context. Since this is the case, we should meet him in person. How about it, Ars? Although he’s your cousin, you rarely talk to him, correct? You should visit him.”

Following that, Liona declared that the match would be postponed until this matter was settled.

Ars said, “It’s just as Liona said. Now that I think about it, I’ve never had a proper conversation with Violant.”

“Then let’s go see him now. For a case like this, it’s better to do things at an earlier date. I’ll accompany you. I also want to see this young man, said to be beautiful and naturally charming, with my own eyes.”

Ars shot Liona an astonished glance before nodding with a sigh.

“Setting aside your wicked intentions, I think that’s a good idea. Plus, I have quite a bit of free time before tonight’s evening ball.”

“But—”

“I’ll just give him a brief visit,” said Ars, raising his right hand. “Then I’ll leave. That much should be fine, right? Rarely do I have as much free time as today.”

Pressed by Ars, Legion helplessly nodded. “I understand. Then I shall guide you to his room.”