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164. Beggar Siblings – Portrait

“Congratulations.”

Katrina said with a sulky expression.

“You’ve become a stuffy Royal Guard.”

“…Your voice doesn’t sound very congratulatory.”

“It wasn’t that hard, was it? With your skills, it was a given.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Leo flicked the emblem he had just received from the Knight Commander of the Royal Guard. The brass emblem spun in the air five times, engraved with the symbol of House Tatalia and his name.

– Noel

Katrina’s red eyebrows twitched in an unpleasant manner. Leo smirked at her with amusement.

Katrina doesn’t know. If it weren’t for her recommendation, I wouldn’t have been able to become a Royal Guard.

Verification for the identity of a Royal Guard is strict.

It’s not a world like modern society where there are meticulous investigations. No matter how precious a Knight might be, they wouldn’t just select someone to protect the Royal Family without thorough checks.

First, verified applicants needed to disclose their identities in detail, and if there were any suspicious points, the Royal Guard would conduct backtracking investigations.

It was a troublesome affair. Leo de Yeriel, starting as a beggar, had no way to prove his identity. All he had was a white metal necklace, an emblem that should never be revealed as a prince’s token.

So, he handed over all the remaining {initial funds} to Oberg and asked him to create an identification with the name ‘Noel.’

The Rauno Family, who were also informants, did such things.

However, a fake identification wouldn’t completely shield him from the scrutiny of the Royal Guard. If an investigation occurred, it could spell disaster, so Leo absolutely needed Katrina’s recommendation.

A knight’s recommendation from the Second Knight Order of the Kingdom.

With that alone, he could freely access most government offices. As long as she was backing him, the Royal Guard wouldn’t bother to track his identity.

“A tasteless guy. If he had mediocre skills… Ugh, why do I keep running into losers like this?”

Muttering to herself, Katrina thought about how great it would have been if her brainless but earnest junior, Deros, and this guy only resembled each other half as much, as she exited the castle.

This guy was indeed a genius.

Noel often came to her to mooch off meals, claiming he had no living expenses, and every time, they would spar.

And she felt it. The guy was getting stronger at an incredible rate.

When they first met, she could still win, but in just a few weeks, he had become her equal. No, recently it even felt like he was going easy on her.

What a monstrous kid.

Her pride was hurt, but Katrina was the type to admit when someone deserved recognition.

Helping a genius who might become a Swordmaster could very well be the greatest achievement of her life.

“By the way, sis, buy me some food. I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten a thing today.”

Ah, but why does that annoy me so much?

Katrina shot a glare at Leo.

“Fine. Let’s go get something to eat. By the way, Ellen wants to see you. You’ve become a Royal Guard now, so let’s eat at my house.”

Soon, the two arrived at Roselyn Avenue.

A two-story house with a blue roof.

Every time Leo came here, he was reminded of the time Katrina had fought Irene, which dampened his mood, but it wasn’t as complicated as when he met Kasia.

Katrina had once been an enemy who killed Lena, but later became the one who saved her life, though he had indirectly experienced all of that.

He read in the ending text that Lena, who went to war alone, had died at Katrina’s hands. He learned through quest messages that she died fighting Irene.

Because he hadn’t directly witnessed all the events like with Kasia, he could treat her much more lightly. He had even avenged once.

However…

[ Quest: Katrina’s Life – Please help Katrina break free from her shackles. ]

‘What exactly do they want me to do?’

It was frustrating for Leo, or rather Minseo.

He had come to understand what the ‘shackles quest’ was through Kasia and his Hunter father. The goal of this quest was to fulfill the desires of the person involved.

Kasia wanted to hug her beloved, and once that was resolved, she was freed from her shackles.

As for the Hunter father, Dop Bijan, his shackles quest was a bit baffling, but it made sense at first glance.

His quest was resolved when he killed Sir Corin, as that was what he truly desired. In fact, he had left behind his son and vanished.

The Hunter father despised Holy Knights and even the Cross Church.

This was certain. Based on Barbatos’s thoughts as revealed to Reb, that father hated the Cross Church that massacred its devotees.

Dop Bijan was undoubtedly a survivor of the massacred Bijan Tribe.

Moreover, Sir Corin had rejected Reb’s request to accompany them to the Monastery Church in the third childhood friend scenario, saying:

– “This young man believes in a false god. I’ve worked in the south for thirty years and have seen that tattoo.”

A Holy Knight who had served in the south for thirty years. If he saw Barbatos’s tattoo during that time, it was obvious.

Sir Corin had contributed to the annihilation of the Bijan Tribe, and the surviving Dop Bijan remembered him.

Regardless, that was all settled, so the two of them were off the hook. Leo turned his attention back to Katrina.

‘What does this woman desire?’

That was the problem. The ever-confident Katrina seemed to have no desires. At most, she might hope I would step in as a junior for the bothersome Deros…

Even so, fulfilling such a trivial desire shouldn’t result in her being freed from her shackles. Kasia’s wish was simple, but reflecting on her life made it understandable.

“Sis.”

Leo called out to Katrina just as she was about to open the door.

“What’s your wish? Is there something you absolutely want to achieve in life?”

“Oh? Trying to repay me? No way. I don’t need anything, just live well yourself.”

“So, you do have something?”

“Ah, right. There is one thing.”

Katrina turned around, looking at him with meaningful eyes.

“That you live a bit more earnestly. How can you go around mooching off meals from me and your girlfriend every day? If I were you, I’d be too embarrassed to not get a job. Being that lazy, even if you have talent, it won’t mean much.”

With that unsolicited advice, she vanished inside.

Leo’s face flushed red.

Honestly, he had no excuse to be doing this. This Leo was so hopeless with his hands that finding a job was hard, and on top of that, he was sneaking off to meet his sister and Ksenia, leaving little time for work.

But he was embarrassed that for the past few weeks, he had really been mooching off the ladies.

It was shameful, but this Beggar Siblings scenario had attracted quite a number of girls compared to other scenarios.

Partly due to his charming achievements, but also because of Leo’s striking looks.

With hair tinted faintly blonde, thick straight eyebrows, golden eyes, a sharp nose, and a clear jawline, he still retained a youthful vitality.

Honestly, it would be a lie to say he hadn’t used this face before. Whenever he met someone, he unconsciously flashed a bright smile, and when he was chased by Marquis Tatian, he had no choice but to seduce a naive girl from a village.

After he fled, he had no idea what happened to those girls. But since he had {Room Charm} and the chase had stopped each time…

Leo shook his head.

That was a thing of the past. It was a bygone era, and he wouldn’t do something like that again.

Feeling somewhat bitter, Leo again licked his lips and followed Katrina inside.

“Ellen! Honey! I’m here. My friend Noel, whom I mentioned before, has come too, so come down and say hi.”

A clattering sound was heard.

The clumsy man who came down said, “I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Ellen.” He extended a paint-stained hand for a handshake.

This was the first time Leo met Ellen, the man who Katrina had proudly talked about endlessly. Leo also greeted him, “Nice to meet you. I’m Noel,” and shook his hand.

However, that face looked familiar.

Leo tilted his head in confusion at first, but he understood why when they all finished eating and entered the art studio on the second floor.

Canvases taller than a person’s height lined the room, with the floor covered in vibrant splashes of paint.

Only three portraits were elegantly framed and hanging on the wall.

One was a portrait of a middle-aged woman against the backdrop of vast meadows, her bright red hair flowing like a morning sun, dressed in a faded violet dress and standing quietly.

The other was that of a young woman with fiery red hair and eyebrows, resembling a blazing sunset.

Dressed in a striking red dress, her flowing attire was Katrina.

The depiction of Katrina in the painting was stunning.

This doesn’t mean the real Katrina was ugly, but in the painting, she exuded a dual charm.

Her hands, firmly clasped together, held a long sword neatly, and her gaze was resolute yet warm as she looked across the green hill towards the sky.

Ellen must have fallen head over heels, judging by the way he portrayed that tough woman.

And the last of the three was a painting of a middle-aged man standing next to a young man with an arm over each other’s shoulders in front of a carriage…

“That’s a portrait of my father and brother. I haven’t seen my brother in a while, but my father visits Orville once a year. He was here just a little while ago.”

Ellen chimed in, but there was no need for further explanation. Leo already knew who this man was.

He was… the merchant from Nevis who had sold Leah and Reb back then.

A snicker escaped him.

This darn game has traps set up everywhere, he thought, unable to suppress a laugh.

If he hadn’t known that merchant was Ellen’s father, and killed him, Katrina would surely be coming for revenge.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave. Now that I’m a Royal Guard, once I get my salary, I’ll treat you all nicely.”

Leo politely said goodbye and left that blue-roofed manor. However, he had no intention of returning there again.

*

Since then, Leo had been a bit busy.

Having become a Royal Guard, he moved his residence from Katrina’s house to the lodging in the Royal Palace, and there was a mountain of training he had to complete. Plus, being a new recruit, he needed to get to know his seniors and was being pulled in all sorts of directions.

Fortunately, Leo easily passed the etiquette training required for Royal Guards.

Thanks to the information on {Noble Society}.

The etiquette for nobles and knights differed, but nobles well-versed in etiquette also understood that of the knights.

If it hadn’t been for that, his probation period might have been extended indefinitely, but with exceptional manners and skills, Leo was immediately assigned a mentor and a squire and began working.

Of course, it wasn’t an important assignment. The tasks assigned to him included patrolling the outskirts of the castle with Royal Guards once in a while or escorting elderly ladies of the Tatalia royal family (who were still princesses).

It wasn’t too tiring or difficult, but as Leo busily spent his days, he carefully observed and put in a request for an outing to the Administrative Knight in charge of him.

An Administrative Knight wasn’t strictly a knight, to be precise.

Knights were a rare resource in a kingdom, numbering maybe only a thousand. And their utility lay solely in their strong combat abilities.

Thus, knights were primarily assigned tasks such as patrolling, escorting, repetitive training, and tactical education, while ordinary administrative duties in the knight order were handled by others, the one responsible for that being the ‘Administrative Knight.’

No need to skirt around the issue due to courtesy. They were essentially squires.

Aspiring knights who served and trained under knights, and who heard stories between training sessions.

Administrative Knights were, among those squires, the ones who had given up on becoming actual knights.

They were the squires who, whether due to lack of talent or sheer bad luck, could not become knights, but grew older instead. They sought various paths, whether as mercenaries or leaders of soldiers.

An Administrative Knight was one of them.

Having spent a long time within the knight order, they understood how things ran and took care of various general administrative tasks on behalf of the honored knights.

That said, did that mean Administrative Knights had no power? Not at all.

Only the Knight Commander and Deputy Commander could issue commands to them. The captains, sitting just below the Deputy Commander, were also careful not to treat them lightly, as Administrative Knights were responsible for distributing and managing the knight order’s resources.

They were also in charge of assigning tasks to the knights.

Moreover, because the Royal Guard to which Leo had joined was special, the power of the Administrative Knights was even stronger.

Due to their managing funds granted by the Royal Family, and their close connections with the Royal Chamberlain.

Therefore, even if he was a knight, being just a rookie, Leo found it hard to urge speed on his request for an outing. If he pressed on, he would inevitably hear, “Noel, if you go out, that spot needs to be filled by another senior,”— resulting in a reprimand.

Either way, thanks to that, Leo was able to go out on his third outing nearly five days later.

It was late, but he hurriedly changed his clothes and exited the castle, keeping an eye out for anyone tailing him, as he headed for the Orange Theater.

– Knock, knock.

“Rena. Ksenia. It’s me.”

“Brother!”

The door swung open. Rena jumped out and hugged him tightly.

“You made it! Perfect timing. I have something to tell you.”

“It’s been a while. Hey, brother’s here. Oh my—my sister, you’ve gotten prettier since I last saw you. Have you been well?”

“Yeah! Brother, but I have something to say.”

With her arms still tightly around him, Rena looked up, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Can I act in a play?”