A Mercenary’s Rebirth Among Nobles

The defeat that Gaemon suffered at Felicia’s hands in his childhood did not end as a mere passing humiliation.

That defeat caused the collapse of his authority and pushed him back in the competition for succession, leaving him behind his other brothers.

Young talents began to bring up that incident and chose to swear loyalty to other brothers rather than to Gaemon.

Even his own father, Marquis Bernhardt, began to look at him with growing distrust.

To Gaemon, Felicia was little short of the enemy who had ruined his entire life.

‘This is all your fault!’

Furious at the sudden reversal of his position, Gaemon poured all of his resentment onto Felicia.

His other brothers also harassed her, but Gaemon’s malice was particularly persistent and cruel.

So much so that, if not for the eyes of the public, he would have been capable of killing her without hesitation.

It was something anyone could perceive.

‘That bitch disappeared?’

‘And Philip came back safe and sound?’

‘Magnificent!’

When he later heard that Felicia had disappeared after following his younger brother Philip, Gaemon was the one who rejoiced the most.

Unlike Philip, the third son of the Marquis of Roglan, Felicia was nothing more than a mere maid.

A woman of such low origin, who had dared to enrage a grand duke, could not possibly have survived.

They said she had been beaten until she lost consciousness and dragged off somewhere; she was surely tortured, had trivial information wrung out of her, and then was killed.

Gaemon felt so satisfied that he even had the urge to raise a cup to celebrate.

But it was not long before news arrived that mocked his expectations.

‘What?’

‘The adopted daughter of the Swordmaster?’

‘Eisen Brightner presented her as his successor?’

He was left speechless by how absurd it seemed.

It was already rare enough to find even a woman knight outside of fairy tales, and now a female Swordmaster?

And not the daughter of a great noble house, but a bastard of vile origin.

Gaemon felt the blood rush to his throat. Why was he, sunk in the mud, while that woman seemed to rise as if she had been blessed by the Eight Gods?

Even after the arrival of the chaotic era, far from falling into despair, her presence only grew stronger with each passing day.

‘This can’t be!’

‘This can’t be!’

‘Oh, Eight Gods! Why do you favor trash like that so much?’

Each time Felicia gained fame in the north, Gaemon’s attacks became more intense.

Each time he fell back in the competition for succession, he shouted that it was all that trash’s fault.

If Lucian had not come to the house of the Marquis of Roglan, Gaemon might have ended up losing his sanity completely.

But the situation changed when Felicia returned together with Lucian.

Regaining his composure, Gaemon immediately gathered the few vassals he still had and convened a meeting.

“I heard that Felicia has returned together with the usurper. I intend to go see her right now and refresh her memories of the past.”

“W-what?! My lord! Felicia—no, that woman is now the Swordmaster and the duke’s right hand! A catastrophe could be unleashed!”

“Do not worry. That will not happen. And this is not just to satisfy a personal grudge. It is a strategy to get ahead in the struggle for succession.”

At the absurd words of their lord, the vassals shuddered, but Gaemon continued explaining with unexpected calm.

The madness he had shown until then seemed to have vanished; his eyes shone with clarity.

“It is shameful even to say it, but we are being humiliated unilaterally by that usurper. Not even when Father intervened could the situation be reversed.”

“Hmm…”

“As a result, our house is full of the usurper’s troops, and mere soldiers are strutting around as if they own the place. But the usurper also does not want a war. Starting a conflict here would be practically suicide.”

“That is true, but what does that have to do with insulting the Swordmaster?”

When one of the vassals raised a perfectly reasonable doubt, Gaemon burst into laughter, as if he could not believe they still did not understand.

“What we desperately need right now is authority and prestige. And for them, the Swordmaster is the figure of authority immediately after the usurper. If we trample on that authority, what do you think will happen?”

“That would be…”

The vassals, who were about to say that it was dangerous, fell silent.

It was risky, yes, but it also seemed viable.

Marquis Bernhardt, humiliated repeatedly by Lucian, urgently needed to recover his dignity.

If Gaemon managed to ease that resentment, he would immediately catch his attention.

Moreover, the bad blood between Gaemon and Felicia was known to everyone within the Roglan house.

If it was a personal dispute, there was always room to downplay it, unlike an insult between factions.

‘And as our lord said, the usurper will not want to turn this into a war either. As long as there is no blood, he will likely let it pass.’

With the marquis’s favor fading day by day, the vassals felt the pressure bearing down on them.

Although it was a risky gamble, their lord’s plan seemed convincing enough to tempt them.

“I think it’s worth trying.”

“I think so too. As long as we don’t cross the line, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Receiving the support of his vassals, Gaemon raised his voice confidently.

“Good! I will go right now to confront that trash and restore the dignity of House Roglan!”

No matter how much the enemy held the advantage, a war would only bring losses.

No matter what Gaemon said, the usurper and that trash would be able to do nothing but stay put and endure it.

***

‘This was supposed to be how it went…!?’

Gaemon, his face pale, looked at Felicia as she approached.

The murderous intent reflected in her eyes made it clear that she had no intention of letting this pass.

Terrified by a situation completely different from what he had anticipated, Gaemon staggered backward.

“W-wait! Stop! Do you really want to provoke a war?”

“His Majesty told me it didn’t matter. That I should do whatever I wanted.”

“…!?”

“Idiot. Did you think everything would go according to your plan? You dared to scheme something that was beyond your station, so now you get to pay the consequences.”

“Stop it! What do you think you’re doing?!”

The two escort knights stepped in front of Felicia, their hands going to their sword hilts as if they were about to draw at any moment.

But Felicia did not even pay them any attention and waved her hand.

Clang!

“Ugh!”

“…!”

With a brief groan, both knights fell face-first to the ground.

No one knew when she had struck them, but the temples of their helmets were crushed inward.

Seeing his escorts neutralized in an instant, Gaemon turned to flee.

Smack!

“Ugh!”

Before he could even take a step, a brutal impact shook his head.

After rolling several times across the ground, Gaemon realized he had been struck on his right cheek.

From the sensation, it was clear it had not come from behind, but a frontal blow with the palm of a hand.

‘She was behind me! When did she get in front of me…!?’

As a metallic taste filled his mouth, a dark shadow fell over him.

“Get up.”

“W-wait a sec—!”

Felicia did not wait for an answer.

She grabbed him by the back of the neck and forced him to stand.

Then she swung her arm again with force and struck his left cheek.

Smack!

“Aaaah!”

The pain was like being lashed with a bundle of whips.

Gaemon clutched his face and rolled across the ground.

The inside of his cheek had burst open and blood was flowing, but all the pain was concentrated at the point where the palm had struck.

The mark burned as if it were being pressed with red-hot iron.

“Get up.”

“P-please! F-forgive me! It was me, it was my fault!”

Terrified by pain he had never experienced before, Gaemon begged with a contorted face.

His teeth were intact, but his swollen cheek and mouth full of blood prevented him from speaking clearly.

His pitiful appearance would have awakened compassion in anyone.

But not in Felicia.

Smack!

“Ghk!”

The blow was even more violent than the last, and the skin of his cheek tore open.

Blood began to gush not only from inside his mouth, but from the outside as well.

Gaemon, drooling saliva mixed with blood, tried to crawl away, but Felicia’s hand reached him once more.

“Where do you think you’re going? Come here. This is far from over.”

“E-enough… aaaaah!”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s the stables!”

Gaemon’s frantic screams drew people from all directions.

Even so, Felicia’s hand did not stop and continued striking him again and again.

The soldiers under Lucian’s command and those of the Marquis of Roglan gathered into opposing groups, murmuring among themselves.

“That brat dared to disrespect lady Felicia?”

“If sir Hugo isn’t stopping her, there must be a reason.”

“I’ve never seen lady Felicia this furious.”

“What the hell is going on here!? Who is the one being beaten?”

I-it’s the third young master! The third young master is being beaten by the Swordmaster!”

“Damn it! Inform the knights! This is an emergency!”

Lucian’s soldiers watched the beating in silence, but those of the Roglan house went pale when they recognized the victim.

The third young master was being beaten like a dog in the yard of his own house!

Hearing the screams, the knights rushed over and pointed their swords at Felicia.

“Step away from the third young master immediately! If you do not retreat, we will cut you down!”

Clang!

“…?”

The knights stood there, mouths agape.

The swords they had pointed at Felicia had been split cleanly in two with a brief metallic sound.

Only when they saw Felicia sheathe her sword did they realize, a second too late, that their weapons had been cut.

“This is madness…”

They had heard stories of the Swordmaster since childhood, but they had never imagined the difference in level would be so overwhelming.

As the knights froze in place, stunned by that inhuman technique, Felicia’s hand cut through the air once more.

Smack!

“Aaah! Aaaah!”

“T-this…”

The knights watched in horror as Gaemon writhed in pain.

His cheeks were practically flayed, yet strangely, his teeth remained intact.

All of the impact had been concentrated exclusively on the skin.

The wounds might not have looked serious in medical terms, but everyone knew the pain was comparable to that of professional torture.

“Sir Dirk! What are you doing?! You must save the third young master!”

“At this rate it will be too late! Help us!”

Disarmed, the knights seized spears from the soldiers and shouted desperately toward Dirk, the only one with the skill sufficient to stop Felicia.

Amid the pleas, Dirk shut his eyes tightly.

Then, a furious roar shook the area.

“Stop this immediately!”

The voice of Marquis Bernhardt rang out with fury, making the air around him tremble.