Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 362

Arendt hid in a suitable place near the main palace and waited until there were less people.‘It seems dangerous to go in through the main gate.’

He briefly considered disguising himself as a servant, but it didn’t seem like a good idea since he didn’t know what was going on in the palace at the time.

After thinking about it for a moment, he thought of another way instead.

‘In times like this, it’s best to do things the old-fashioned way.’

The simplest and most surefire way:

Pretend to be a thief and sneak in.

As it was the place where the King resided and carried out official business, there were knights and guards stationed everywhere, but Arendt was able to reach the back entrance safely without being caught.

This place was definitely less crowded than the main entrance.

Two knights standing guard in front of the entrance were glaring at the empty road.

Arendt, hiding in the shadows, fell into light contemplation once again.

It was because there was no place to hide near the back entrance, making it difficult to break in under the cover of darkness.

Moreover, the placement of the knights, only three in total, didn’t help.

It wasn’t that hard to hide his presence, but since the knights were each watching in different directions, there were no blind spots at all.

‘You used your head.’

Arendt frowned slightly.

‘I don’t think the security was this tight when I came here before.’

It seemed that security had been further strengthened because Alois had brought in an assassin during the meeting.

That also seemed to be the reason why there was no place to hide near the building’s entrance.

Additionally, the knights’ morale was heightened by the successive incidents by the Evil Cult.

Of course, it was a great design from a security standpoint, but it was not a very welcome change for Arendt, who was now in the position of an intruder.

“…There’s nothing I can do.”

It wasn’t his job to clean it up anyway.

Arendt pulled the hood of his robe down even further.

!

The knights, who were standing guard with their heads held high, heard a sudden clap.

“Who, who are you!”

The startled knights instinctively turned their heads toward the sound.

Soon they discovered a boy standing suddenly under the moonlight.

The knights’ eyes widened at the incomprehensible situation.

“Where did that come from…”

Before one of the knights could finish speaking, Arendt made his move first. Taking a silent step forward, he approached them in the blink of an eye.

The knights had no time to prepare.

Arendt easily knocked the unconscious knight down by striking the back of his neck, and then pulled the sword out of his waist.

And then the other knight, who realized the situation late, blocked the sword aimed at him.

!

A sharp, clanging sound tore through the air.

“Uh?”

The knight looked dumbfounded as his attack was blocked so easily.

But the price for a moment of carelessness was harsh.

Because he had to take that tightly clenched little fist straight to the face.

!

The refreshing sound of the impact echoed through the clear night sky, and the knight fell to the ground without even being able to scream.

“…”

Arendt lowered his fist and turned his gaze to the one person who remained.

The knight, face to face with the cold eyes beneath the robe, hesitated and stepped back in fright.

“Enemy, the enemy…!”

He was about to scream, but unfortunately he was unable to do so.

It was because, in the next moment, the sheathed sword was rammed straight into his gaping mouth.

“It’s nothing personal.”

Arendt quietly offered some advice to the knight, who had turned pale with fear.

“Still, I think it would be good to practice a little more.”

!

With that, Arendt finally knocked out the last remaining knight.

He didn’t forget to stuff their mouths with the cookies that Laius had given him.

After dragging away the knights who had been unexpectedly taken down and hiding them in a place out of sight, Arendt boldly entered the main palace.

‘The first floor will mostly be office space or reception rooms.’

Duke Middleton was probably staying in the guest room on the second floor.

Arendt, who had roughly figured out the direction, moved forward without hesitation.

“…Prince, doesn’t it suit your taste? Your hand suddenly stopped.”

Llewellyn came to his senses at the sound of Crown Prince Victor’s worried voice.

“Oh no, not at all. The liquor and cheese have such a wonderful aroma. I was just taking a moment to savor them.”

“If that’s the case, that’s great.”

Llewellyn swallowed a sigh inwardly in front of the relieved Crown Prince.

‘Why am I suddenly feeling anxious?’

He had a feeling that somewhere, some damn apprentice knight from the Caerleon Empire had caused an accident.

But since they let that guy run wild in the first place, it was basically like giving up on a peaceful solution.

Feeling a little hungry, Llewellyn picked up a piece of cheese that had been placed as a side dish and ate it. In any case, it was time to focus on his work.

‘I think it’s okay to start slowly.’

Llewellyn put down his half-empty glass and pretended not to know anything and asked.

“By the way… you don’t look too well. Am I wasting your time?”

“Oh? No, not at all. It was I who requested this meeting first. I’m truly enjoying myself. As I’ve heard, the prince indeed has a very charming way with words.”

Victor forced a smile and waved his hand.

Still, perhaps because they had a long chat, he seemed to be a lot more relaxed than before.

Llewellyn raised an eyebrow, as if genuinely concerned.

“If that’s the case, I’m relieved. It’s just that you seemed to have some other worries on your mind.”

“…”

Victor was unable to answer right away and was silent for a while. Instead of urging him, Llewellyn simply waited quietly.

‘Since you were the one who requested this meeting first, you must have a purpose.’

Since he hadn’t shown any signs of intending to harm him until now, Victor’s goal was likely to persuade Llewellyn, an outsider to the royal palace, to join his side.

In that case, it might be better for him to give some leeway and take the initiative to address the main issue.

“Earlier, I mentioned in passing that it seemed peaceful, but somehow the atmosphere now feels a bit tense.”

Of course it was a lie.

The inside and outside of the palace looked strangely peaceful. However, it was quite possible that someone who was this anxious had lost his ability to make objective judgments.

“Is that so?”

Sure enough, Victor’s expression stiffened slightly as he replied. Reading the change in his demeanor, Llewellyn took a step back and made an embarrassed expression.

“This may be meddling on my part, but honestly, having lived a wandering life for so long, I’m not well-versed in political matters. If I’ve caused any misunderstanding, I apologize. I had no intention of upsetting you, brother.”

Of course, that was also a lie. When it came to reading the room, no one was better than him.

But it seemed to sound quite convincing to Victor.

“It upset me? Not at all. It’s quite all right. Rather, I’m grateful for your care.”

Victor answered hurriedly, as if the topic that Llewellyn had brought up first might end.

Llewellyn tilted his head worriedly.

“Then is there really something going on? I am an outsider, so it is not my place to meddle, but since you have been so kind to me, I would like to help you out in some small way. I also owe you a favour for treating my errand boy.”

Victor seemed to waver more and more at the gentle coaxing. Llewellyn decided to be a bit bold.

“Even without that, the entire continent is in turmoil these days. I recently stayed in the Caerleon Empire and watched the battle against the Evil Cult up close… it was really brutal.”

“…”

“You heard about what happened in the Nephele Kingdom a while ago, right? The Lucain Kingdom was also attacked by them a while ago. It was when the Holy Sword chose Captain Laius.”

At that time, the Everan and Lucain Kingdoms were attacked almost simultaneously. The reason he brought up the story then was to elicit a sense of kinship from Crown Prince Victor.

“I was also on the front lines at that time, and it was really hard. The Caerleon Empire’s Great Temple was trampled…”

Llewellyn paused for a moment after speaking up to that point.

It was because the words that would normally have come out naturally somehow got stuck in the back of his throat.

“…Thanks to Lord Luce’s grace, we were able to overcome it without a hitch.”

But Llewellyn was able to continue naturally before Victor could suspect anything.

“I heard that the Lucain Kingdom is also preparing countermeasures. I understand that Duke Middleton, who was guarding the border, was called in to prepare for the battle against the Evil Cult.”hat slightly twisted what Arendt had said earlier.

Llewellyn was sure that the meaning contained therein had been conveyed to Victor as well.

Though it was a brief moment, he noticed a flicker of surprise in Victor’s eyes as he looked at him.

‘As expected.’

It may seem paradoxical, but telling someone not to trust anyone was actually revealing the trust you had in them.

On the one hand, it was also a subtle signal to believe in oneself.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to give advice like asking people to be suspicious of everything around them.

It would sound even more meaningful to the Crown Prince, who felt isolated in his own palace.

“…”

Victor stayed silent, as if he was in a deep conflict.

Now the only choice was up to Victor. A tense silence hung in the room for a while.

After some time, Victor finally began to speak.

“…Prince Llewellyn, you have close ties to the Holy Empire, right? You must have seen the hero’s exploits firsthand.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Llewellyn gave Victor the answer he wanted. Victor clenched his fists without realizing it. The Crown Prince hesitated for a while again and opened his mouth in anguish.

“If that’s the case, though it’s pitiful for a Crown Prince of a kingdom…I beg you.”

Victor lowered his head.

“…Please help me. If this continues, the kingdom will be torn apart by my uncle and the Evil Cult.”

A voice that seemed on the verge of tears escaped.

Faced with the worst possible answer he had anticipated, Llewellyn’s face briefly hardened.