Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 454

Arendt, blinking slowly, spoke:“…Huh? Why are you here?”

Salem, sitting in the chair next to the bed, said in a bewildered voice.

“Is that something you’d say as soon as you opened your eyes? And after all the care I gave you.”

“Of course I’d react like this when I suddenly make eye contact with an elf brat right after waking up.”

Arendt yawned and sat up groggily.

“Oh, I slept too long. My whole body hurts.”

“Of course you’d feel that way. You were carried here without a single part of your body unscathed. I really thought something serious had happened!”

“You’re so noisy for someone so small, it’s driving me crazy.”

With a sleepy face, Arendt placed his hand on Salem’s small head.

Just as Salem’s eyes widened, a scarred hand ruffled the boy’s hair.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

When Salem, suddenly struck by a calamity, screamed, Arendt responded languidly.

“It’s a good place to place my hands on. How many days have passed since then?”

Salem, who was straightening his messy hair, made a strange expression.

‘Something…’

Perhaps because he had just woken up from a deep sleep, the atmosphere seemed strangely different from usual.

‘’He seems a little refreshed…’

When Salem didn’t answer for a while and just stared blankly, Arendt, who had been yawning repeatedly, frowned slightly.

“What are you looking at? It’s not like me being handsome is something new.”

“…”

Scratch that. He was as shameless as ever.

Salem’s face instantly soured.

“It’s the fifth day exactly today. It’s morning now.”

“And seeing as no one else is around… .”

Arendt yawned once more, half-opening his eyes as he responded leisurely.

“It seems like something happened.”

“…”

Salem, his lips pursed in discontent, changed the subject.

“First, let’s eat. You must have been really hungry.”

“It’s annoying.”

“You usually snack a lot, but why do you find it so hard to eat at times like this?”

Salem was annoyed by the blunt reply.

Salem jumped up from his seat and called the servant outside to bring Arendt some food.

Not long after, a servant came running as if he had been waiting for that and returned with a meal that was easy to digest, including warm bread and soup.

Arendt picked up the bread and asked again.

“Tell me what’s going on. I think something interesting is about to happen.”

“…I don’t want to say this to someone who just woke up. You really are a bad person, don’t you? You already knew what was going on, and yet you’re asking me?”

Salem replied incredulously, watching Arendt nibble away at the bread. Arendt swallowed the piece in his mouth and chuckled.

“Was it a total mess? And the seniors and the captain were running around like headless chickens, trying to somehow manage it?”

“Yes! That’s right! If you know already, why are you asking?”

Finally, Salem, unable to bear it any longer, shouted hysterically.

“No, but why are you so proud in the first place? Everyone’s freaking out. Are you in your right mind? What on earth were you thinking?”

“Hey. So it’s definitely my fault? What if it wasn’t me? It could have been a false accusation.”

“You’re definitely someone who would cause all that and more!”

Salem, who had just shouted, sighed deeply and touched his forehead.

“By saying that, Sir Arendt, you really mean it was you who caused all this, right?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

“Hey! Are you kidding me?”

Arendt, who had been watching Salem burst into fury with amusement, shrugged.

“What’s wrong? Want me to give you a serious face as you wish? Though, I’m not sure that would be all that desirable.”

“…”

Salem was left speechless. Only then did Arendt resume eating.

“If you look at it that way, you shouldn’t be here either. It’s probably better for both of us to take it as a joke. Honestly, when I woke up, I was prepared to find myself locked up in prison.”

“Sir Arendt is really…”

He kept talking like that calmly while continuing his meal, but it wasn’t even funny. The conversation died down, and silence lingered in the room for a while.

And just as Arendt finished eating, Salem spoke again.

“…I still believe that there must be a reason why you did that.”

“I guess so.”

Arendt nodded indifferently.

“Isn’t it because everyone else feels the same way that they’re still treating me like a precious guest?”

“…”

Salem, who had been silent for a long time, mumbled.

“I really don’t know what Sir Arendt is thinking.”

Arendt asked, putting the remaining bread in his mouth at once.

“What if I’m really a bad guy?”

“What are you talking about?”

Salem raised an eyebrow.

“Sir Arendt was a really bad person to begin with. Why are you bringing this up again?”

It was a response so clear it was almost disheartening. Arendt, who had been silent for a moment, burst into laughter.

“…I lived my life to the fullest.”

“Still.”

But Salem wasn’t finished yet. Lowering his gaze, he continued slowly.

“He’s got a bad temper, a prickly person with a bad personality, and his hobby is to make people suffer.”

“Enough with the long introductions, kid.”

“Regardless, Sir Arendt always finds a way that works for everyone.”

Arendt, who had been grumbling briefly, closed his mouth.

“Look at this time as well, Sir Arendt, you ended up getting the most injured. Of course, the Everan Kingdom soldiers suffered quite a few casualties, but if you hadn’t taken the lead, the damage would have been even worse.”

Before he knew it, Salem was looking up at Arendt with extremely serious eyes.

“Everyone knows that. At least everyone who has observed you closely knows that.”

“…”

Arendt stared at Salem for a while, his gaze somewhat tense.

“Tsk.”

Arendt clicked his tongue briefly, raised his hand, and then ruffled Salem’s hair once more, as Salem was looking puzzled.

“Oh no! Why are you doing this again?”

“Your eyes are dripping with the most arrogant kind of worry. Got a problem with that?”

Arendt let out a small laugh and took his hand away.

Thanks to that, Salem, who had been about to explode in irritation, suddenly paused. But Arendt didn’t seem to notice it.

“Well, I don’t really know how things will go from here on out.”

“…You don’t know?”

“But if we try, we’ll figure it out somehow.”

Arendt spoke briefly, leaning back against the headboard.

This was also uncharacteristic of his usual thoroughness. He was always thinking ahead, calculating every possible scenario.

‘His atmosphere is a bit different…’

Salem glanced at him, adjusting his hair with a strangely pouty face.

It felt like he had given up on something, but at the same time, he seemed relieved, as if he had put down a burden.

But Salem still couldn’t figure out how to accept this change.

“Don’t just sit there blankly. Go tell the captain that the troublemaker’s awake and to get ready to return.”

“Huh, what?”

Salem, who had been staring blankly, answered in surprise.

“Give me the communication port. I’ll ask Lord Lexion if he can come get us.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“So what if I’m not okay? As things stand, staying in the Everan Kingdom isn’t exactly a good idea.”

When Salem asked cautiously, Arendt answered nonchalantly.

“I think someone is starting to run out of patience.”

The fact that he had waited this long was already the greatest act of goodwill he could show.

Until it was time to depart, Arendt was able to fully soak in the tense atmosphere surrounding him.

The servants were constantly glancing at Arendt and gossiping, and even the soldiers who had fought alongside him on the battlefield just a few days before and the knights of the Everlan Kingdom were slowly avoiding him, lest they even make eye contact.

Some even openly looked at Arendt with contempt.

Ludwin tried to look calm as he saw them off, but he couldn’t hide the nervousness on his face.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen anything like this. It feels like I’m back home.”

“You crazy bastard, are you saying that now?”

Of course, the apprentice knight who was the culprit only said things like this.

Arthur tried to suppress his rising anger.

“I heard Prince Llewellyn is going with us too. I heard Prince Ludwin strongly advised against it.”

“Let him do as he pleases. If he gets himself into trouble, that’s his own problem.”

Arendt shrugged.

It wasn’t just Ludwin. The Crown Prince, the King, and the Queen all contacted Llewellyn separately, trying to dissuade him, but he insisted on going to the Empire with them.

The royal family, who could not break Llewellyn’s will in the end, had no choice but to raise the white flag.

‘That makes sense.’

Arthur looked at Arendt with complicated eyes.

Not only was the empire in turmoil, but even the allied nations were in turmoil.

The culprit was, of course, that damn junior.

“…Hey. Let me ask you something really serious.”

“What?”

“Did you really do that?”

Arthur looked at Arendt with sunken eyes. Arendt nodded readily.

“Yes, that’s right. Honestly, in a situation like this, denying it would sound even less believable, don’t you think?”

“…”

The confident way he answered only made him even more speechless. Arthur, who had moved his lips a few times, simply shut his mouth. He was at a loss as to how to proceed in this situation.

Although he was clearly not the type of person who could not have noticed Arthur’s distress, Arendt remained calm.

“It was late, actually. I thought it would explode at least before I got here.”

It may have been a stroke of luck that they were able to kill Jiklin before anything else happened.

Even the Imperial Knights, who had become accustomed to Arendt’s various antics, were completely taken aback this time.

This was especially true when they realized the reason for the Crown Prince’s hasty order to return.

“…Hey. I don’t know about anything else, but until we get back, try not to go out alone. Stay right by our side.”

Arthur advised seriously.

Of course, Arendt wasn’t one to blink at a frivolous attack, but in a situation where enemies were suddenly everywhere, it was best to avoid even the slightest trouble.

Fortunately for him, Arendt nodded readily instead of responding with his usual sullenness.

“Don’t worry. I don’t plan on causing any more accidents here.”

The root point of all the problems was not the Caerleon Empire, but the noble-born commander of the Everan Kingdom’s soldiers.

The commander, shocked by the urgent communication from his own family, immediately informed Prince Ludwin.

By that time, the rumor had already spread throughout the barracks and even to the Everan Palace.

There wasn’t a single person in the barracks who hadn’t heard the news.