Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 139

Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. There’s nothing to be gained by getting angry for no reason.“Hah…”

But for some reason, his insides kept bubbling with anger.

He didn’t care what the Crown Prince did with his money. It was good to have a team to help him out before the fight really started.

But in that appointment, he could sense the Crown Prince’s malicious intent to somehow screw him over.

It was also quite possible to guess the intention behind sending the news directly through a letter after the work had already been done.

The thought of seeing Arcus’ eyes again, looking at him with such sadness like a lost dog, made him feel angry.

‘It would have been better if he had behaved without any shame.’

The bastard’s demands were not for money, nor for him to return to the Count’s household.

And now he was risking his life to get involved in this.

“Hoooo…”

First of all, he should stay calm, because professional actors shouldn’t be swayed by personal feelings.

As Arendt, who had calmed down, unfolded the crumpled paper and put it neatly in his pocket, the seniors who had been watching him anxiously approached him little by little.

“What? What’s going on?”

“I heard that the eldest son of a count family is starting a new business, and His Highness the Crown Prince took time out of his schedule to tell me about it. I am truly grateful.”

In those sentences, the knights seemed to perfectly understand why Arendt was so upset.

“If you have nothing else to do, why don’t you go to the training ground and swing your sword one more time?”

“Go, go. You shameless little bastard.”

Arendt, who had been looking at his seniors grumbling and walking away, clicked his tongue and turned away.

Enoch and Seton had heard that the two had recently held separate talks with the Crown Prince.

‘Union…’

Aside from his frustration, it wasn’t a bad choice, maybe even a pretty good one.

Since they couldn’t completely trust the people in the palace, it would be easier to handle things if they set up a separate headquarters outside.

In fact, there was no one else who could take on the job besides Henry and Arcus.

As the Crown Prince said, the capable allies within the palace were already suffering from overwork. If the Union began to play its role, the burden on Arendt himself and those who were busy with no time to breathe would be reduced.

But in return, the Crown Prince’s workload would increase significantly, as he would take on about half of the work that Arendt had been doing.

‘Was he telling me not to show off alone?’

There was no need to stop him from having a hard time.

But it would be a shame to just let it pass…

Arendt was determined to give him a good fight next time.

It wasn’t just the Khan Union that Cantares promoted.

A few days later, Arendt heard the news from Jereon, who visited the dormitory.

“A meeting?”

“Yes, I heard that the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Lucain has requested a meeting. His Highness the Crown Prince will attend in His Majesty the Emperor’s stead.”

It was impossible for the Kingdom of Lucain to order the Crown Prince of the Caerleon Empire to come and go, so it must have been done with the Crown Prince’s influence.

“His Highness the Crown Prince has already ordered that a document containing the same content be delivered to the captains and that it be conveyed verbally to Lord Arendt.”

“Are you saying… that I should prepare too?”

It was originally unimaginable for an apprentice knight to attend such a function, but it seemed that the Crown Prince had already taken action in that regard.

Jereon nodded slightly at Arendt’s question.

“Yes, I will inform you of the detailed schedule soon. The entire Third Imperial Knights Division will accompany His Highness the Crown Prince on his overseas expedition as his escort, so I think it would be best to prepare in advance.”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

It didn’t give him pleasure to leave the empire empty for long periods of time, but it was necessary at times.

When Arendt answered like that, Jereon smiled once and left the dormitory.

‘Things are moving faster than expected.’

It seems that the Crown Prince remembered Arendt’s words that the Empire should not be the only one to take on this task, but that other countries should also be involved. In addition, the fact that some of the diplomatic authority that the Emperor had been in charge of was transferred to the Crown Prince was a development that he quite liked.

In the novel, it was as if the emperor, who had been standing back, had decided to get involved in this matter.

The extras who had been hiding behind the curtains began to reveal their presence one by one and come out onto the stage.

This was definitely a good sign.

Ultimately, the heads of eight countries expressed their intention to attend.

All but one of these countries had god Luce as the state religion.

“Gasp, gasp… Three of these places are where riots occurred… Cough, cough. The rest probably want to know the exact situation going on right now… Gasp, gasp! There’s less than I thought.”

“I guess there’s no choice. If you wanted to gather people, wouldn’t it have been better to hold a meeting within the Empire?”

As Cantares grumbled, Arendt slung his wooden sword over his shoulder and responded indifferently.

Unbefitting of the Crown Prince’s dignity and all, Cantares, who was lying on the floor, gasping for breath, glared at him with unkind eyes.

“Whew… You were the one who told me to leave it to the other side too.”

“I didn’t say that.”

The reason why they insisted on holding the meeting in the Kingdom of Lucain was to emphasize that this situation was not limited to the Caerleon Empire.

“Stop joking around and get up. Time is running out.”

“You little punk… I’m going to hit you one day.”

Taking advantage of the spare time they had after a long time, the two faced each other with swords in the Crown Prince’s private training ground.

Of course, it was a duel, but it was a very unreasonable scene where only one side got beaten up.

As the Crown Prince, barely able to raise his body using his sword as a cane, growled fiercely, Arendt twisted the corners of his mouth as if he found it amusing.

“If you can, try it. But it looks like Your Highness needs to learn to walk first. Your legs are shaking like a newborn deer.”

“Do you want to die?”

“I’m just giving you some advice. If you’re so weak, could you even swing your sword once when the enemy comes?”

“…”

“It would be good if you could at least escape properly, but what are you going to do with such a weak and worn-out lower body? I wonder if you’ll be able to see your successor properly later.”

“…”

Cantares really wanted to squeeze that annoying mouth over and over again if he could, but it was frustrating that none of what he said was wrong.

Let’s not talk about successors.

He called Arendt here briefly to tell him some things, and that was the cause of the trouble. He should have known this would happen when they decided to meet at the training ground.

Cantares, who was physically at his limit, had no choice but to let out petty remarks.

“You… Are you being selfish right now? Are you seeking revenge?”

“No? Why? Did you do something wrong to me?”

There was not even the slightest hint of an effort to hide his selfish intentions in the way his lips curled.

“You, I will one day arrest you and put you in jail for insulting the royal family.”

“Don’t make me say the same thing over and over again. If you can, try it once.”

“Fuck, get out of here!”

Eventually, the Crown Prince threw down his wooden sword and wiped the sweat off his handsome face with a grimace.

The fact that the insolent apprentice knight was still fine and staring at him with such obvious pity only made the Crown Prince even more angry.

“Rather than that, please finish the story you were talking about. If you’re not going to talk, let’s spar one more time. I’m a busy person.”

“You’re really…”

As if he didn’t have the strength to get angry anymore, Cantares just sighed deeply and slumped down on the spot.

“Since they are all countries that have friendly relations with the Caerleon Empire, it will be easy to talk. Even if there is an apprentice knight there, it won’t be a big deal, so you should join the meeting.”

“Hmm.”

Arendt tilted his head, pretending to think carefully.

“I guess you want something from me since you called me out like this to talk to me?”

“I told you, you’re really quick on the uptake.”

There was only one thing the Crown Prince wanted from the cocky apprentice knight.

Something that Laius and the other confidants could not do.

Cantares, who had once again wiped away the sweat, spoke.

“Do you know the Nephele Kingdom?”

“No, this is the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“It’s just a random kingdom in the coastal region, but I heard it’s attending this conference. It’s a quiet, remote country that has adopted Luceism as its state religion and isn’t very active in diplomacy.”

There was nothing particularly unusual up to this point.

Cantares, who was slowly catching his breath, added seriously.

“But the successor there is quite ambitious.”

“Ambitious, how?”

“A few years ago, at a meeting of successors, he said that he intended to be remembered as the greatest monarch in the history of the kingdom. So when I asked him, jokingly, if he intended to wage a war of conquest, he just laughed.”

Before the Chernion religion emerged, the world was at peace for a very long time. Wars of conquest between nations had long since ceased, and non-human races had maintained their distance, respecting each other’s territories without any major conflicts.

In the meantime, the successor to the Nephele Kingdom had revealed his ambitions to the successor to the Caerleon Empire.

“Why did he bother to tell Your Highness that? Isn’t it usually the case that such ambitions should be kept hidden?”

“Well, I guess he was testing the waters. He would have to consider how the Empire would react when he actually did something.”

“So what did Your Highness say?”

“ That’s what I said. But I don’t know if he really understood that advice.”

It was already quite a while ago.

He kept an eye on that side just in case, but up until now, the Nephele Kingdom had not shown any movement.

“I heard that the King is a moderate person and has been working hard to correct the Crown Prince’s temperament. However, a few days ago, I heard that the King suddenly collapsed.”

“Then the Crown Prince there holds the real power now?”

“That’s right. It was the Crown Prince, not the king, who informed us that he would attend this meeting. Given the timing, it seems like the Crown Prince made the decision after the king collapsed.”

“It’s definitely suspicious.”

Arendt, who had been listening quietly, nodded.

“So that’s why Your Highness, who has avoided me until now, made a place for me. You only come to me when you are in need, and you will become a truly great monarch. Ah, the future of this empire is truly bright.”

“…You already beat me up so badly, please forgive me.”

“People would misunderstand if they heard that? When did I say that?”

“I said it with words, with words.”

Cantares grumbled briefly and waved his hand.

“Anyway, I feel a little uneasy. It seems like the king of that country didn’t really want to attend. It’s a country on the outskirts. Well, he might just be curious about the story of the evil cult…”

“I think that would be better.”

The reason the Crown Prince remained obedient until now was because the king was alive and well and the empire was firmly established.

With the King absent and news of the empire being in turmoil, he might have thought that now was his chance.

Arendt thought for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders.

“If it’s an internal strife within the kingdom, or if they’re going to start a war of conquest like you said, I won’t get involved. It’s not something I can do anything about.”

“I know. I wouldn’t expect that from a mere apprentice knight.”

“Okay, I understand. I’ll tell the captain about it too.”

The worst case scenario would be that the evil cult had already reached out to them, but it was not something that could be said out loud in a situation where nothing was certain.

Arendt hummed and glanced at Cantares again.

“Let’s leave that aside, aren’t you going to get up? You said you wanted to beat me up. You’re not giving up already, are you? So how are you going to deal with your enemies and lead this empire?”

“…Damn it, I give up, just do as you please!”

Eventually, Cantares picked up the wooden sword that was rolling around and threw it away, but it was a meaningless struggle.

Arendt caught the flying wooden sword and handed it back to him.

“Shouldn’t you get up?”

“…”

The Crown Prince, seeing the handsome face smiling brightly and the hand reaching out as if telling him to get up… felt truly scared for the first time in a long time.