Chapter 169. Beggar Siblings – Permission to Go Out
An administrative officer grumbled in the office of the Guards, where papers were flying about.
“Again? Sir Noel, aren’t your outings too frequent?”
Leo stood in front of the administrative officer. He smiled awkwardly and asked again.
“…I’m sorry. But I have something important to do next week. Isn’t there any way?”
However, no matter how handsome Leo was, another man’s smile had no effect on this man. The administrative officer, in his early thirties, tapped his desk in frustration.
“Hah… Who doesn’t have situations like that. Even if you’re off duty, it’s troubling if you keep requesting like this. At least thirty guards must be present in the palace. And you’re not even married…”
After reviewing the entire schedule and duty roster of the Guards again, the administrative officer finally snapped.
“I’m sorry, but it’s not possible. No matter how much I try to adjust, there isn’t any free spot. Besides, Sir Noel, you’ve already gone out quite a lot. In my over ten years of service, I haven’t seen a new recruit go out this much.”
“Hey, don’t get too angry. There must be a reason.”
At that moment, Leo’s senior officer intervened. He winked and calmed the administrative officer down; the two were of the same rank.
Strictly speaking, they weren’t just colleagues; they were friends who navigated through their cadet days together.
One became a knight, and the other did not, hence the required honorifics. But between friends, such things don’t matter much.
They were still on good terms.
“I’ll stay in the palace that day. Will that work?”
“That would make it possible, but… Do you really have to do that, sir? Honestly, although the disciplinary action is over, the Count of Forte still…”
“Ahem.”
The senior Guard covered the administrative officer’s mouth. But it was too late; Leo had already heard it.
“Thank you for your help. But… Count Forte? What happened?”
“It’s nothing. Just go now. Your shift is about to start.”
He walked out of the office, and Leo persistently followed.
“Senior, please tell me. What happened?”
“Tsk. That guy shouldn’t have said anything… Now that you know, be careful for a while. Count Forte has been sending memos to get your personal information for some reason.”
He mumbled, “The Guards must seem very insignificant…” and advised Leo not to go near the east side of the palace, where Count Herman Forte’s office was located.
Leo was dumbfounded. A Sword Master, why? Of course, I did wrong. A Guards member barged into the prince’s office, so Count Herman Forte must have found it ridiculous.
Even though he was the head of a faction opposing the royal family, it was a trivial matter for a chief of the guards to pursue. ‘…Could he have noticed my ID is fake?’ Leo groaned.
With everything seemingly going wrong, he hurried toward the ‘Corridor of Abundance.’
Anyway, by next week, I will be gone from Orville. Feeling complicated, he suddenly remembered some good news. The day after tomorrow was payday. He would finally be able to repay Xenia for all the meals and buy Lena a set of clothes, which lightened his mood.
* * *
The Orville palace became bustling. As the news of a prince from the Kingdom of Astin visiting spread, the head maids started scolding the maids, and unused sections of the palace were opened.
A few days later, with a cool autumn breeze, Prince Arnold de Klaus arrived. Riding a spotless black horse and with navy blue hair flowing, the prince led a procession of hundreds of elite soldiers, attendants, and maids into the Orville palace.
Leo watched the grand procession curiously.
I’ve seen this parade only twice before. Buried in the crowd, I had envied that prince’s status, feeling insignificant as a mere gangster.
Leo, in his crisp uniform, stepped out of the line. As the youngest knight in the Kingdom of Belita, he accompanied the Captain of the Guards to greet the prince.
“It is an honor to meet the nobleman from the north. I am Hamlet, the Captain of the Guards of the House of Tartalia.”
Nobleman. A man from a noble house. Though not incorrect, it was a bit inadequate.
But since they were in the Kingdom of Belita, which looked down on the north as barbaric lands, Prince Arnold de Klaus responded calmly.
“Nice to meet you. I am Arnold de Klaus. Can you introduce the person beside you?”
Oops! Lost in thought, Leo was startled as if drenched in a cold shower. If he could, he would have shut the Captain’s mouth, but the captain mercilessly introduced Leo’s alias. “This is ‘Noel.’ He’s the youngest knight of our Belita Kingdom. Amazingly, he just came of age this year.”
“…Noel?”
Naturally, Prince Klaus was surprised.
Noel Dexter. Engagement Scenario Leo’s father. Why did I use his name? Leo felt like hitting the ground in frustration but there was no turning back.
The prince spoke.
“How curious. We also had a very famous knight named Noel Dexter in our kingdom. From what I know, he was the youngest knight in our kingdom… truly a coincidence.”
“Is that so? If the prince can remember him, then he must be an extraordinary knight.”
“Yes, during the Nine-Day War, he showed great bravery in Bernouli. Every citizen in Bernouli knows of that knight. Haha. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir Noel.”
[Achievement: First Meeting with the Prince – Gained slight favor from all princes.]
[Achievement: Met Arnold de Klaus – Gained slight favor from all nobles serving the Klaus royal family. Gained slight favor from Arnold de Klaus.]
The prince extended his hand for a handshake. But the more he spoke, the more Leo felt his heart tightening.
‘What if they find out my name is fake?’ he was worried, but luckily the captain of the royal guard didn’t seem to care much.
He seemed to interpret the prince’s effort to not be outdone as showing off that “We have such a young and promising knight among us!” He let Leo enter and the ceremony proceeded.
Returning to the formation, Leo sighed in relief.
It had been a long-standing habit to use the alias Noel in the Beggar Siblings scenario.
When he first met Katrina in that old Beggar Siblings scenario, she had said,
“Is your name also Leo?”
She had suspected him because his name was the same as Leo from the Engagement Scenario, so he had introduced himself as ‘Noel’ to her since then.
He had never expected that it would lead to such a crisis in this way.
As his startled heart calmed down and he realized he had almost gotten into big trouble over such a small alias, Leo couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.
He felt like he had aged ten years.
* * *
The ceremony to welcome Prince Arnold de Klaus ended quickly.
The prince who had traveled for several months from the far north needed rest, so on the first day, they planned to lightly tour the Orville Royal Palace.
They needed a royal guard to guide them, and although Klaus Prince pointed out ‘Noel’, fortunately or unfortunately, his wish did not come true.
Leo had left as soon as the ceremony ended.
Today was the day of the play.
With his wages filling his pockets, Leo headed to the market.
‘What should I buy that she’d like…’
He couldn’t afford anything too expensive.
While he wanted to give an expensive gift to Xenia, who had fed him and taken care of his sister all this time, this money was for the travel expenses to the Conrad Kingdom.
All knights, including royal guards, didn’t receive that much money.
To ordinary citizens, it was a huge amount of money, but considering the rarity of knights, it was actually a terribly low pay.
Being a knight was an honorary position without even a life allowance because significant martial prowess like an expert’s had no use except in national situations like wars.
Delving into the shadows could earn a lot of money. But that would also be using an ox knife to kill a chicken, and a highly skilled person operating in the shadows would eventually meet a noble.
The marketplace was bustling due to the prince’s arrival. After looking around for a long time, Leo finally decided on some clothes.
He couldn’t afford anything as expensive as a dress, and since they would be leaving for Conrad Kingdom soon, he chose a few simple yet functional outer garments.
This is for Lena, this is for Xenia, and the last one is for me.
Leo had no doubt that Xenia would travel with him if he asked her to. Instead, he was more curious about how she would react when she found out he was a prince.
‘No way, she wouldn’t react like Cassia…’
His heart sank.
He remembered Cassia kneeling with a pale face, begging for forgiveness for her rude behavior when she found out he was a prince, and it made him feel short of breath.
Love? No, it was pity.
Even though he had never repaid anything, the beloved and hated person who had left him hanged on him like shackles.
‘…It will get better gradually.’
At that moment, he noticed a violet gown.
Leo, captivated, paid for the cotton fabric that could be worn draped over.
Now that it’s autumn and getting colder… it would suit Cassia perfectly…
He had many excuses, but Leo took the gown and headed to Cassia’s store.
“Oh? Aren’t you Xenia’s boyfriend?” she acknowledged him as he pretended to look at shoes in her store and left the gown behind.
He ran without looking back.
Determined never to return there again, Leo headed to the Orange Theater.
However, the theater, which should have been buzzing with an influx of spectators, was quiet. He entered the theater and found Xenia, only to learn the reason.
“It got postponed to tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? …Why?”
“Didn’t you know? The prince of the Astin Kingdom is here today. They said all the citizens would be mobilized, so I postponed everything. I also didn’t know when he would arrive… If I had known they would finish this early, I wouldn’t have postponed it. Changing tickets and re-announcing everything was a real mess.”
“…”
“…Can you come tomorrow?”
Seeing Leo’s serious expression, Xenia asked cautiously. Leo could only let out a deep sigh.
“…I’m sorry. I have something really important tomorrow. I don’t think I can make time.”
It wasn’t a lie.
Tomorrow evening. A ball was being held.
At that ball, Princess Chloe de Tatalia would share a passionate kiss with Gilbert Forte, and Prince Arnold de Klaus, humiliated in front of everyone, would immediately return to the Astin Kingdom.
He couldn’t miss this.
For the scenario with his childhood friend, he needed to stop Gilbert Forte from going to the cathedral, and for the engagement scenario without complications, he had to try preventing the war ahead of time.
Anyway, he planned to leave with or without the help of Count Gustav Peter, so he could just kill Gilbert Forte, but he had put too much effort into preparing for tomorrow.
“Your sister will be disappointed…”
Leo felt downhearted. As he mumbled with guilt, Xenia cheerfully spoke to lighten the mood.
“It’s okay. Tomorrow’s performance isn’t the last one, there will be more. I’ll just tell Lena you can’t make it. She’ll understand.”
“…I guess so. Oh, here, take this. It’s a gift.”
Leo handed over some clothes.
Xenia smiled widely in delight, and Lena, who was practicing fervently on stage, also chimed in,
“Brother! It’s fine! Hehe. I was worried I might make a mistake, so it’s better this way. Come watch next time.”
She tried to comfort Leo. But his heart sank to the bottom and wouldn’t resurface.
Sorry… but there won’t be a next time.
Since the Swordmaster might have discovered his fake identity, he needed to leave Orville as soon as possible. He couldn’t wait for Lena’s second performance.
Holding Xenia’s hand, Leo sat in the audience watching Lena practice diligently and changed his mind.
He would come tomorrow.
If he ran immediately after the ball, he might catch the last act. He could witness the moment Lena, acting as Reina of [Demonios], became a saint.
That would make his sister happy…
Leo started to figure out how to get permission to go out, and Xenia watched him intently.
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