A Mercenary’s Rebirth Among Nobles

Marquis Bernhardt’s eyebrows trembled.

He had never imagined that the day would come when a brat, younger even than his eldest son, would dare to mock him.

Clenching his teeth, with shame and anger mixed together, the marquis spoke.

“A child intoxicated by excessive power, unleashed without control. Not even your father dared to treat me this way.”

“In the same way, you yourself would not have behaved like this in front of my father either. Before pointing out the lack of manners in others, perhaps you should first look at yourself.”

“And who do you think you are to demand etiquette from me? Just because you took the north, do you think you’re an emperor now?”

“No. But I did become a king.”

“Ridiculous! Who recognizes a royal title obtained by intimidating the first prince?”

Lucian let out a soft laugh at Bernhardt’s sarcasm.

“Then you don’t recognize my title of duke either?”

“…”

The blow struck straight at the center. The marquis was left speechless.

Lucian’s title of king had been granted by the first prince, who was acting as imperial regent; its legitimacy could be debated as much as one liked.

But the duchy was different—it had been officially granted while the previous emperor was still alive.

Even Bernhardt could not deny that legitimacy.

The problem was that by acknowledging that duchy, he would have to accept that Lucian stood above him in the hierarchy.

‘Do I really have to address this brat with honorifics?’

The very thought made the marquis shudder.

He had spent decades wallowing in the mire of imperial politics.

He could show superficial courtesy to young people of high rank without any trouble.

But he couldn’t do that with Lucian.

He was the same bastard who had dragged his dignity through the mud again and again, publicly ridiculing him.

Trying to speak to him with respect made his throat seize up.

“You’re not answering. Was my question that difficult?”

“…”

“Fine, then I’ll change the approach. Which do you prefer? Speaking casually to an impudent brat, or being the only one using honorifics in this conversation?”

“Damn bastard…”

Clicking his tongue, Bernhardt no longer replied.

Using honorifics only to receive crude familiarity in return made no sense at all.

Rather than that, it was better to endure Lucian’s vulgarity and speak to him as an equal.

“I thought you were a cunning fox, but it seems you don’t amount to much. Do I really have to explain this step by step?”

Lucian said with disdain.

“Shut up! Drop the nonsense and get to the point.”

With the marquis’s reddened face in front of him, Lucian shrugged.

“I want to sign a non-aggression pact.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear? Non-aggression. A non-aggression pact.”

“…”

Bernhardt blinked, bewildered by the unexpected proposal.

Indeed, a non-aggression pact between great powers was not a bad idea.

When two whales fight to the death, the ones who benefit are the small fish.

Starting a premature war against a formidable rival would only serve to benefit third parties.

Signing a pact, eliminating the weak first, and then deciding was a sensible option.

What was strange was that Lucian was making that proposal precisely now.

“Why?”

“Why do you ask? For you, it’s an excellent offer.”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking. For you, it isn’t.”

Before this confrontation, the proposal would have been reasonable.

But now Lucian had completely crushed Bernhardt’s position.

The marquis’s prestige had fallen, while Lucian’s had skyrocketed.

“If you wanted, you could invade the west in the near future and deal me a serious blow. Many minor lords would surrender without even daring to fight.”

Bernhardt continued.

“Of course. Along the way I took care to sow plenty of terror. If I come back better prepared, they’d even piss themselves.”

“I don’t deny it. But that fear won’t last forever. The more time passes, the more the lords of the west will prepare themselves against an external invasion. And your situation will change as well.”

In chaotic times, the balance of power changed constantly.

The strong were not strong forever, nor did the weak remain weak eternally.

The lords who trembled today would recover their courage over time.

Moreover, the larger a territory, the more internal problems arose to restrain its ruler.

Even if the north seemed stable now, no one knew when conflict might erupt.

For Lucian, this was the ideal moment to attack the west.

“I don’t think you could conquer the entire west in a single campaign. But you would at least secure a solid entry route. So why insist on a non-aggression pact?”

In the marquis’s eyes, such a pact only made sense after fighting at least one war and obtaining everything possible before negotiating a truce.

Yet Lucian was relinquishing his advantage and proposing it first.

“Speak plainly. What are you plotting this time? What hidden plan lies behind this proposal?”

“How suspicious you are. I’m proposing it without ulterior motives, sincerely.”

“Don’t spout nonsense!”

“I’m serious. Strategically, this benefits me more.”

Bernhardt frowned.

How could not going to war be more beneficial, after such an overwhelming display of force?

Lucian explained calmly.

“My second brother seems to be up to his neck lately. He seized the duchy after a rebellion, but now he can’t handle the internal and external problems. I feel so sorry for him that I’m thinking of easing his burden a little.”

“…The ducal house of Valdeck.”

“I had planned to take things slowly, but he keeps looking at me from afar with hope. How am I supposed to endure that? Rather than letting him suffer with empty illusions, it’s better to make him face reality once and for all.”

“Hmm…”

Marquis Bernhardt could understand Lucian’s explanation to a certain extent.

Jordi, who currently held control of the ducal house of Valdeck, had come to power through a rebellion, so his legitimacy was weak.

In other words, the other brothers with succession rights could take that position at any time.

It was natural that Jordi would constantly be on guard against his brothers’ movements.

And among all of them, the one he should fear the most was, without a doubt, Lucian.

After all, the only one with the strength to defeat Jordi head-on and tear him from the position of head of the family was Lucian.

“It seems you’re worried that your brother might stab you in the back when you invade the west. Do you fear a war on two fronts?”

“Any commander in his right mind should fear that. Every time you add another front, the required effort increases exponentially.”

“That’s not an incorrect argument. But who guarantees that I wouldn’t make a different decision from your brother’s? If you attack Valdeck first, I could also stab you in the back.”

“Really?”

Lucian exaggeratedly shuddered, as if surprised.

However, Bernhardt immediately saw through it.

That theatrical gesture was nothing more than mockery directed at him.

“…Can’t you speak without mocking people every other sentence?”

“And you can’t feel at ease without testing others. Do you really think that, in this situation, you could stab me in the back?”

“…Tsk.”

Faced with Lucian’s direct challenge, Marquis Bernhardt looked away.

Just as he had said, for the moment he could not afford an external expedition.

Lucian had shaken the west so brutally that the consequences were inevitable.

The ties with allied houses had cracked, and the authority of the house of Marquis Roglan had been seriously damaged.

If, in that state, he launched a military campaign to attack a competitor, those cracks would only widen.

For some time, he would have to focus on repairing that fragile cohesion and restoring his authority.

“Fine. I’ll accept your proposal. After all, it doesn’t seem harmful to either of us.”

“You say that as if you didn’t care at all. But deep down, you must be so happy you feel like dancing.”

“Secret agreements are hard to trust, so it would be better to formalize it through an official treaty. What term do you propose?”

Bernhardt deliberately ignored Lucian’s comment and continued with the matter.

Lucian reflected for a moment before responding with an appropriate figure.

“Two years.”

“Not bad. When will the announcement be made?”

“When I return. That will suffice.”

“Understood. Then I’ll take my leave.”

Seeing the marquis deliberately shorten his words, Lucian showed a faint smile.

He seemed determined to maintain to the end the attitude that this treaty didn’t matter much to him.

However, in Lucian’s eyes, his true feelings were obvious.

He was surely celebrating internally, thinking that he had gained an unexpected benefit and avoided being forced to prepare for war.

Lucian was willing to let Bernhardt enjoy that joy, even if only for a moment.

It wouldn’t be long before it turned into rage.

‘Felicia, everything is ready. Do whatever you want.’

Lucian left the marquis’s study murmuring that to himself, holding back his laughter.

For Bernhardt, this treaty had to be concluded at all costs.

While it had not yet been officially signed, could he really allow Felicia to cause an incident and let the situation spiral out of control?

***

“…”

Felicia was kneeling on one knee in the stables behind the feudal lord’s mansion, her head lowered.

When she took a handful of dirt, the familiar smell of horse manure tickled her nose.

What she had once considered the stench of misery and despair was now nothing more than an insignificant odor.

“Ugh. Why are you smelling dirt mixed with horse manure? That’s disgusting.”

Hugo, who was beside her, frowned at Felicia’s strange behavior.

No matter how thoroughly the stables were cleaned, their nature made it inevitable for the soil to be mixed with manure.

Even so, watching her dig through it was bewildering.

In response to Hugo’s confusion, Felicia answered while continuing to toy with the dirt.

“It’s a smell I used to sense often, so I wanted to check it again. It’s still the same.”

“Did you like horses?”

“No. I worked in the stables doing menial tasks. I fed them fodder and cleaned the manure.”

“…”

“When I grew a little older, I was put in charge of attending to my brothers, but that phase didn’t last long. Not long after, I met His Majesty and stopped doing that. Thinking about it now, I spent most of my life here.”

Bernhardt Roglan, damn bastard.

Hugo managed to swallow the insult that nearly slipped out.

Making her work in the stables was still tolerable.

It wasn’t rare for noble families to treat illegitimate children as mere servants.

But to exploit her without mercy and then, once she became a Swordmaster, try to mend the relationship as if she were his legitimate daughter?

There was no greater shamelessness than that.

“Ahem—by the way, the stables seem quite large, but I don’t see many servants. Could it be that a marquis of his standing even skimps on the money to hire staff?”

Thinking he might have touched on a sensitive memory, Hugo forced a change of subject, slipping in a veiled criticism of Marquis Bernhardt along the way.

Felicia, however, replied with a calm smile.

“No. Normally there are many more. They probably hid before running into me.”

“Huh?”

“There wasn’t even anyone in the stables who treated me kindly. They’re probably afraid of reprisals if we meet again.”

“…”

Hugo decided to shut his mouth and remain silent.

He had the feeling that every time he spoke, the situation only got worse.