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Adopted Daughter Role Gone Too Well 049

“It would be best not to do that, Young Master.”

At those words, Jeremy even flinched in surprise.

Such a response wasn’t one a commoner could give to a noble.

A commoner could only respond like that when there was ‘very justifiable reason.’

‘Very… justifiable reason.’

Jeremy felt there was no such reason at all.

For a commoner to answer like that required a considerable justification.

To Jeremy, it seemed like quite a dangerous situation.

‘If that shopkeeper’s finger gets cut off…’

Then this delicious egg tart would be gone.

‘This is Princess Viola’s favorite place, right?’

Most people gathered here were commoners.

It couldn’t be helped.

This world had an overwhelmingly higher proportion of commoners than nobles.

Wherever one went, there were always more commoners than nobles.

‘No one is going to stop that guy.’

This place was to his liking.

He would be willing to come again.

So it was better if this place didn’t go under.

The noble boy said.

“Getting too cocky just because you’re inside Winter Castle is pretty pitiful.”

“I apologize if I appeared that way, but rules are rules.”

“Stop talking about principles.”

The boy boldly marched over and slapped the shopkeeper.

Smack!

It seemed mana wasn’t in use.

Nonetheless, perhaps from training, the shopkeeper’s cheek immediately swelled up.

“One last chance. Bring out everything you have left.”

“I’m sorry. You might not know, but this is a place the Iron-Blooded Princess frequently visits.”

“And?”

“She waits in line and buys only two. If I sell more than that to you, it would mean disregarding her.”

The boy laughed as if he found it absurd.

“You sure can chatter with that open mouth.”

The shopkeeper mentioning the Iron-Blooded Princess was understood well.

It felt like he was subtly threatening by hinting that he had the famous Bellatu family’s princess backing him.

“How dare you threaten me, you piece of trash?”

“That’s not a threat. I seek your understanding, Young Master.”

“Shut it. By tonight, you will be found cold and lifeless.”

Jeremy sensed a presence outside the door.

It seemed Princess Viola’s group was still outside.

‘Hmm. In that case.’

He liked this place, and he also liked Viola.

‘Should I score some points?’

If the day came when he would formally greet her, he could leave a good impression as the kind swordsman who helped the shopkeeper. That would be enough.

Jeremy stepped forward.

“Let’s leave it at that.”

*

Zelton, the eldest son of the Seaal Viscount House, was genuinely angry at the age of sixteen.

Those he could barely even meet eyes with in his territory were now staring right back at him and retorting sharply.

“What are you again?”

By appearance, he didn’t look like a noble.

While he had a worn-out sword, he could be a noble, but he definitely wasn’t a scion of a reputable house with a title.

“I’m Jeremy, an aspiring squire.”

“Jeremy?”

Jeremy didn’t hide his real name.

That name wasn’t particularly rare anyway.

“How ridiculous, it’s all just nonsense.”

Jeremy grinned brightly.

His bright smile, hidden beneath his ragged attire, rose like the sun.

“Does that not hurt when getting hit by something so trivial?”

“What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Jeremy didn’t use the Storm Blade.

He simply drew his sword.

Swish!

The clear blade clashing with the old sword rang out.

The tip of his sword pressed against Zelton’s neck.

It was just barely.

If it had gone in a bit deeper, there would have been blood.

“Impudent!”

Zelton’s knight behind him drew his sword as well.

However, that sword could no longer be considered a sword.

The knight’s eyes widened.

‘Huh, when did that happen?’

His sword was severed in half and fell to the ground.

The knight looked at the severed end.

‘The cut is clean.’

He hadn’t even seen the sword swing.

Yet, here he was with his sword cut off, cleanly severed as if it had been done by a master.

He swallowed hard.

‘Damn it. I picked the wrong fight.’

Though ragged in appearance, this person was definitely not of ordinary status.

He was at least a knight of 9th rank or higher.

Such things occasionally happened.

Talented knights sometimes wandered around in such beggar-like appearances.

“What do you think? Shouldn’t you stop your antics now?”

“My birthday is tomorrow, so I’ll let it slide out of goodwill.”

Zelton scoffed and turned around.

He pretended to be unfazed, but his legs were trembling.

‘Who the heck is that?’

His appetite plummeted.

This was the first time he had seen a high-ranking knight.

Seeing the prowess of a high-ranking knight right before his eyes was terrifying.

‘I need to get out of here quickly.’

Outside, he noticed a pretty girl and a boy with golden hair.

Zelton hurriedly arranged his clothing and began to walk with a delinquent air.

With the door closed, it no longer felt scary.

“Step aside.”

It was as if he was strutting like a wild, feral man.

He thought that if he acted brutishly, it would give him a sense of manliness.

This is what sixteen-year-old Zelton believed.

Viola wasn’t particularly angry.

‘Sigh.

There’s always that kind of kid wherever you go.

Kids who think they’re tough.

From Viola’s mental age perspective, this guy was still an immature child.

However.

The eyes of her Partner Sword, Tundra, were blazing.

*

Jeremy thought he had scored points.

“Hehe.”

Although the door was blocking his way, Viola must have sensed everything.

“I just saved the shopkeeper, Princess Viola.”

He was proud to think he left a good impression.

He slowly savored the final egg tart.

‘I did my best to draw my sword.’

It was quite a satisfying draw.

Viola probably found it very pleasing too.

Having shown that level of swordsmanship, she must have thought at least about wanting to be friends.

‘Anyway, that went well.’

Thanks to that idiot who lacked even noble dignity, he thought he had scored considerable points.

Meanwhile, Viola bit her lip as she headed toward the Duke’s Mansion.

‘This truly is a dangerous world.’

She peered through the crack of the door.

She saw Jeremy’s clean sword technique.

‘Too fast.’

It seemed best to maintain some distance.

Carefully, she asked.

“Tundra, did you see Jeremy’s draw?”

“Yes.”

“What did you think?”

“It was fast.”

“Faster than you?”

Tundra thought for a moment.

He understood this was the master’s test and evaluation.

He calmly responded.

“In terms of speed, I think he was faster than me.”

“Right.”

“I’ll work harder.”

No.

That wasn’t what she meant.

Suddenly, Tundra’s eagerness became a bit burdensome.

Viola continued walking toward the Duke’s Mansion, ignoring Tundra’s enthusiasm.

‘Faster movements than Tundra.’

Indeed.

He was too dangerous of a person.

‘It’s dangerous. I need to keep my distance.’

*

Returning to the lodging, Zelton gave his escort knight a stern reprimand.

“What is your duty?”

“It is to escort you, Young Master.”

“And?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you think my father pays you to do that?”

Zelton whipped for a long while, while the escort knight silently endured.

After a while.

Zelton, exhausted, let go of the whip.

“Huff… huff…!”

“I’m sorry, Young Master.”

The fact that his opponent was too tough could not serve as an excuse.

Regardless, he had failed to perform a proper escort, and he considered it his own blunder.

That’s how a knight thinks like a knight.

That night.

Zelton left the lodging with his escort knight.

“You found that brat’s house, right?”

“Yes.”

Zelton had grown up being taught that he was a precious existence.

‘You are a wonderful child.

‘You are better than anyone else.

‘You will do exceptionally well.’

So he learned.

His mother always told him so.

Yet that became poison for Zelton.

“I’m going to capture him.”

“This is Winter Castle, Young Master.”

“I can just kill him outside Winter Castle. Just drag him along.”

The escort knight realized he couldn’t break Zelton’s stubbornness.

Once given an order, he must carry it out.

That was the right way to be a knight.

“Understood.”

However, on one hand, he wanted to ask.

‘Shouldn’t we punish that boy named Jeremy?’

The one who insulted him in front of many commoners was Jeremy.

Wouldn’t it be right to take revenge on Jeremy?

Why did the shopkeeper have to die?

‘He was indeed a bit insolent for a commoner.

But… he didn’t say anything wrong.’

Furthermore, even the Iron-Blooded Princess of the Bellatu family upheld the principles of this place.

Zelton couldn’t just break that principle.

Thus, there was no reason for the shopkeeper to die.

“Do I have to follow this command?”

Yet he had to.

He thought it was right as a knight.

Thud thud.

They walked through the night streets.

The night streets of Winter Castle were peaceful and quiet.

Here and there, some drunken people were sprawled about.

“Young Master. The fact that those people are drunk and sprawled out means…”

“It means they’re uncouth buffoons with no dignity or grace.”

That’s not it.

It means the security here is very impressive.

Therefore, you couldn’t just kill the shopkeeper outside Winter Castle.

The guards must be on high alert.

He swallowed those words.

After all, it was someone who needed to see things for himself to feel satisfied.

Toward the outskirts of Winter Castle.

Among the houses where commoners lived, there was a house with a fairly large front door.

“This must be the place, right?”

“That’s correct.”

“Break it down.”

They smashed the wooden door and entered.

“Commoners living in a house with a garden?”

There was a small garden.

“Do the common folks of Winter Castle actually have thoughts or not?”

This was the first time he’d seen a commoner’s house with a garden.

Though small, it was an excessive luxury for a commoner.

“If someone saw this, they’d mistake it for a noble’s house.

That’s why their neck must be so stiff.”

A few steps ahead.

There was a boy sitting on a five-step staircase.

He was a blonde boy.

“You too have a stiff neck.”

“And you are?”

“Me? A mercenary dreaming of being a dog.”

The blonde boy was Tundra.

At the word mercenary, Zelton snickered.

“What nonsense is that?”

“Why are you here?”

“You’ve got a short tongue for a mercenary.”

“You’re short too, stupid.”

Zelton’s face flushed bright red.

To receive such an insult from a mercenary.

He was already on edge, and now it was worse.

“I’ll kill you too.”

“You’re going to kill me? This is Winter Castle, you know?”

“That kind of thing? Do I look like I care?”

Zelton pointed his finger at Tundra.

“Knock him out. Drag him outside Winter Castle and kill him.”

The knight here was a 2nd rank squire.

He was no match for a mere mercenary.

…..

Or so he thought, but reality was the opposite.

Clang!

As if glass shattered, the escort knight’s sword broke.

‘What the—?’

The escort knight felt darkness before his eyes.

Though he had bought the sword in a hurry from a weapon shop, this wasn’t something that should break so easily.

The sword completely shattered.

Pieces flew everywhere.

“You distinctly said you’d kill me first.

This is self-defense.”

Tundra walked over.

He swung the sword.

“How dare you disturb my master’s favorite shop?”

Viola was happiest when eating egg tarts.

This brat was trying to ruin that happiness.

With the edge of his sword, Tundra knocked out Zelton and the escort knight.

Ideally, he would have liked to kill them, but that couldn’t happen.

This was the territory of Winter Castle.

Piece of cake.

Having faced beasts like Bichen every day made handling these guys incredibly easy.

The door opened, and the shopkeeper of Azulegia bowed deeply.

“Thank you so much; I don’t know how to repay this kindness.”

“Not with what you sell in the shop.”

If he gave him what he sold, it would be against the principles.

But if it was something home-baked, that was a different story.

“Ten freshly baked egg tarts from home. That should satisfy the princess.”

“I’ll bake a hundred of them. Thank you so much.”

Tundra barely held back his rising smile.

He was very happy inside.

‘If it’s ten, the master will be pleased, right? I did well, didn’t I?’

Thinking that made him excited.

Seeing Viola enjoy eating, seeing her happy—that was Tundra’s happiness.

“Please make them especially delicious.”

“Of course!”

Two days later,

The only son of the Seaal Viscount House was executed.

His head was hung at the southern gate of Winter Castle.

And astonishing rumors began to spread within Winter Castle.

The rumors were related to the Iron-Blooded Princess, Viola Bellatu.