Chapter 71

Chapter Forty-Four: Perceval Defeated in an Instant

“Guest?” Lady Catherine’s expression darkened. “Is it Mr. Carlos?”

The voice of the maid outside was quite anxious. “Yes, Mr. Carlos seems to have something to discuss with the Duke Lord, but he’s been stopped by the young master. They are now at the gate. My lady, you should go and see! I’m afraid they might end up fighting…”

“Fighting?” Lady Catherine’s anger flared up immediately. Her eyebrows shot up as she stood abruptly. “What nonsense! What could be so urgent that it leads to a fight?! What is that little scoundrel thinking? He doesn’t even remember the etiquette of Winter Moon! How disgraceful.”

Lady Catherine was still quite intimidating when she got angry. After shouting through the door, there was a moment of silence from the maid outside, clearly frightened. After a while, the maid stammered, “My lady, we can’t stop the young master… The hunters are still egging him on…”

“How troublesome…”

I watched her as she stretched out her index finger and thumb, gently rubbing her temples, understanding her headache.

Carlos was a knight of the Pope, and his relationship with the Duke was fairly good. If something small like this ruined his relationship with Santel Castle, Perceval would probably not just get beaten up.

Lady Catherine didn’t speak for a long time, but her attention was finally off me. I quickly grabbed the long robe by the bedside and put it back on.

Then I smelled the earthy scent.

Because of the sweat, the fragrance of cloves on the robe was very strong, mixing with the earthy smell in a strange way. It wasn’t noticeable before, but now, suddenly realizing it, I felt uncomfortable all over.

… I’ll just take a bath in my room.

“Alright, I understand. You go on with your work.”

When Lady Catherine spoke again, her voice sounded somewhat weary.

“Yes, my lady.”

The maid outside gradually walked away. Lady Catherine took a deep breath, turned around, and tidied my hair.

“Miss Sylvieja, do you know what’s going on?”

“I don’t know!” I shook my head hastily.

What kind of joke is this? How could I admit anything at such a time? I’m not stupid.

Originally, Lady Catherine had been frustrated due to the morning’s events. The Duke sensed the danger and left, and I was behaving obediently, leaving her with no outlet for her anger. And then Perceval chose this moment to cause trouble…

I silently mourned him for three seconds.

Sympathy aside, there’s no way I’d share the blame with him. I knew nothing; I was just a hungry little cutie.

Thinking of this, I gently rubbed my small stomach, then quickly rubbed my cheeks while Lady Catherine put the bandage back in the cabinet.

“My lady, you should go and check. I’ll go back, take a bath, and change clothes.”

As I spoke, I blinked my eyes sweetly, my voice as sugary as honey.

I naturally lifted my foot and headed toward the door.

“Hmm, go ahead.”

Lady Catherine responded absentmindedly. After I took two steps, she suddenly reached out and stopped me. “Wait.”

My whole body tensed up. “Wh-what?”

Lady Catherine looked at me oddly.

“I just asked you to take the medicine back. Why are you so nervous?” She shook the bottle in her hand and tossed it to me. “Here, this is the juice of the Eku tree. It works well for bruises. Remember to apply it again tonight.”

I fumbled to catch it.

Actually, I didn’t need this… Now isn’t the time for this. I need to leave quickly. As long as I step out of this room and out of Lady Catherine’s sight, the rest will have nothing to do with me.

“Thank you.” I forced a smile and walked toward the door again.

Suddenly, Lady Catherine seemed to remember something and narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Wait a moment.”

I paused, stunned for a few seconds.

I turned my head sideways and completed the action seamlessly.

“Swollen… What’s wrong, my lady?”

Oh! I bit my tongue, it hurts.

Lady Catherine’s eyes narrowed even more. “You’re coming with me.”

“Uh, no… I think, I want to take a bath…”

While speaking, I sidestepped quietly toward the door, glancing out of the corner of my eye, about five steps away from leaving.

If I used my Order Power, I could jump to the door instantly, and then open it and run away before Lady Catherine caught me…

There’s still time!

But Lady Catherine had already seen through my thoughts.

She quickly stepped in front of me and grabbed my hand, then smiled at me kindly.

“I thought about it. You know Carlos best, so talking to him might be more effective than me. You heard what the maid said; if things turn violent, your uncle the Duke won’t be here, and the only one who could stop Mr. Carlos might be you. So please, let’s go together.”

As Lady Catherine spoke, she pulled me out the door. I didn’t react at first, but after taking two steps, I suddenly felt alarmed.

Then my legs bent, and I instinctively stopped, pushing down hard with my bottom to resist Lady Catherine pulling me away.

“My lady, I haven’t changed clothes yet.

“Disgusting!”

“There’s nothing! How could it be disgusting? This is your achievement. Didn’t you have fun this morning?”

The lady had a very strong grip and dragged me forward forcefully, showing no intention of letting go.

I immediately panicked: “I, they, will laugh at me! I’m, a girl, I would feel, ashamed…”

“Rest assured, with me around, they wouldn’t dare laugh at you.” The lady still wore a smile on her face, thought for a moment, and added, “At most, they might just chuckle in their hearts.”

“But I, in short, I don’t want to go over there, ah!”

“Miss Silvija, even though you are a great hero among humans, this behavior is not becoming. Or do you have some hidden agenda?”

“No!”

I immediately refuted loudly.

“Then come with me to see.”

The lady was firm in her attitude, clearly not treating me as a stranger she had only known for two days, and her tone lacked any politeness.

Of course, I could struggle hard to break free, but that would not only make the lady think I was the instigator but might also hurt her… yet my heart really didn’t want to go, struggling endlessly.

So, keeping my eyes tightly closed and pushing my buttocks backward, I was forcibly pulled by the lady all the way to the castle entrance.

From a distance, I heard the hunters’ jeering shouts.

“Perceval!”

“Perceval!”

The shouts grew louder and louder, and with each shout, the lady’s face darkened further.

“Move aside.”

The lady dragged me through the hunters’ encirclement and saw the bearded swordsman in the middle, looking lazy and disheveled.

Carlos held the sword hilt, his eyes drooping lazily as he looked at Perceval, who seemed somewhat nervous. As we entered the crowd, we saw Perceval holding a one-meter-long giant sword high and charging towards Carlos in big strides.

“Ah—!!”

“Stop it! Fool!”

But the giant sword, carrying a fierce wind, swept towards Carlos.

Carlos’ eyes narrowed, and his body lightly leaned sideways while his right hand moved.

Clang—

The unsheathed long sword easily blocked the attack of the giant sword, and Perceval’s powerful strike couldn’t move Carlos an inch.

Then the long sword reversed, deflected the giant sword, and the scabbard struck Perceval’s chest.

“Mm!”

Perceval groaned, his body collapsing softly. At the same time, Carlos’ gaze turned toward us.

“Oh, Lady Catherine, little Silvija, you’ve arrived just in time. Is Duke inside the castle?”

He asked quite naturally, as if the Perceval lying at his feet, clutching his chest and moaning, didn’t exist.

Lady Catherine frowned: “Mr. Carlos, what’s going on?”

“What’s going on?”

Carlos asked first, then seemed to suddenly remember something, revealing a look of realization.

He poked Perceval with the scabbard, scratching his head in distress.

“You mean him? I’m not very clear. This guy is somewhat unreasonable. He suddenly rushed at me when I got here, startling me, so I reacted out of reflex…”

After saying that, he spread his hands to show innocence to the lady.

“You’re lying! Cough cough.” Perceval struggled to get up from the ground. “Am I the kind of unreasonable person? Suddenly rushing up? Who rushed up? If you keep slandering me like this, I’ll fight you!”

“You already did.” Carlos shrugged.

“I… I have so many brothers behind me!”

Perceval proudly looked back, only to find that the hunters had collectively taken a step back.

“Master Perceval, please don’t drag us into this.”

“Yeah, we aren’t as brave as you.”

“Master, bravery is commendable!”

“Hahaha!”

Unrestrained laughter infuriated Perceval instantly.

“You, you bunch of guys! Last night you were all saying you’d help me, now that people are here, you’re all afraid?”

“You said you wanted us to help you against a swordsman, but you didn’t say it was Mr. Carlos.”

“Yes, fighting him was unwise.”

“Enough, stop arguing!”

Lady Catherine’s roar silenced everyone immediately.

“Perceval, what’s going on? What are you doing? Are you not embarrassed enough?”

“Mom, I…”

“What did you call me?”

“…Mother, I, I was just dueling with Mr. Carlos.”

“Dueling?”

Lady Catherine looked at Carlos in puzzlement, who had already returned the long sword to his waist. After meeting her gaze, he spread his hands again, looking innocent.

So, Lady Catherine turned her attention back to Perceval.

“Do you have nothing better to do? You’re being unreasonable!”

Perceval immediately glared.

“Unreasonable? I’m not being unreasonable!” He pointed at Carlos, “Mother, this guy bullied Pepé!”

Lady Catherine frowned.

I saw her glance at me out of the corner of her eye, feeling a surge of tension.

“Bullying Pepé? Who told you that? How could Mr. Carlos do such a thing?”

“Really, don’t believe me, ask her—”

Lady Catherine finally slowly turned her head toward me.

“What’s going on?”