A Mercenary’s Rebirth Among Nobles

“M-mar… marquis!”

With the appearance of the lord of those lands, people hurriedly parted to both sides.

Marquis Bernhardt strode through the crowd, sweeping the area with a sharp gaze.

Before long, his eyes stopped on Gaemon, covered in blood, and on Felicia, who was still gripping him by the neck.

“You…!”

The marquis, his face red as blood, opened and closed his mouth without managing to articulate a single word.

He looked so furious that he could not even speak properly.

Felicia looked at him without any expression.

“What a commotion.”

“Your Majesty!”

Amid the awkward silence, Lucian also appeared.

He briefly took in the scene and, with a calm expression, addressed Hugo.

“Hugo.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What happened here?”

“A madman appeared out of nowhere and started picking a fight with Felicia. He ended up getting beaten up. To be precise, he’s still getting beaten.”

“How dare you!”

The marquis’s gaze, filled with murderous intent, stabbed into Hugo.

He brought his hand to his waist, as if about to draw his sword and cut off Hugo’s head on the spot.

Lucian glanced at him and spoke again.

“Enough joking around. Explain it in detail.”

“It’s no joke. I honestly don’t know why he started provoking her.”

With a sigh, Hugo explained what had happened from the beginning.

How Gaemon suddenly appeared hurling insults, how he rejected the duel and continued provoking shamelessly, and how Felicia finally decided to replace the duel with direct punishment and put him in his place.

“To be honest, he seemed to have something wrong with his head. I don’t know what old grudge he had, but insulting the Swordmaster to her face, no matter how I think about it, looked like he was desperate to embrace the Eight Gods.”

“…!”

The corners of the marquis’s eyes trembled.

More than Hugo’s insult, what truly shamed him was Gaemon’s very existence.

Just by hearing the explanation, he immediately understood how utterly foolish his son’s plan had been.

‘Damn idiot! What were you thinking, acting like that without any information? That brat has the strength to survive even if a war breaks out!’

Gaemon had probably acted under the assumption that “no matter what happened, there wouldn’t be a war.”

He thought that even if Lucian had brought a large army, being deep within western territory he would not dare to start a war that would also put his own life at risk.

He believed that Lucian, being rational, would endure any humiliation in order to avoid conflict, and that he could seize the opportunity to restore the prestige of the Roglan house and gain an advantage in the struggle for succession.

In fact, until not long ago, Marquis Bernhardt himself had thought the same.

But after hearing that Lucian had torn down the Belfor gate by himself, he had been forced to reconsider all his assumptions.

‘That brat is capable of carving a path through an entire army and escaping even if war breaks out! And even so, he dared to provoke trouble in the very heart of my territory!’

If a war erupted here, both sides would suffer losses close to annihilation, but there was one crucial difference between them.

The probability of the commander’s survival.

In a chaotic battle within this castle, both Lucian and the marquis would be risking their lives.

However, in terms of individual strength, Lucian had an overwhelming advantage.

And on Lucian’s side was Felicia, capable of beheading the enemy commander in an instant.

No matter how he thought about it, the odds indicated that the marquis would die and Lucian would survive.

‘Damn it, I hid his strength for fear of affecting the morale of my troops, and now that has turned into a catastrophe…’

Bernhardt clutched his throbbing head.

Of course, Lucian would not start a war over a problem of this level.

If a real conflict broke out, his army would suffer devastating losses, and the consequences would be enormous.

Unless the situation spiraled completely out of control, Lucian would also prefer to avoid war.

But put another way, if things escalated, war would become an option.

And in a direct confrontation between the two, the first to back down would inevitably be the marquis.

“Marquis.”

Lucian’s voice pulled Bernhardt out of his thoughts.

Pressing his lips together, he looked at him with a hardened expression.

“…Speak.”

“It seems your son has a serious problem in his head. Don’t you think?”

The remark, as venomous as Hugo’s, made the marquis’s eyes sharpen.

While the fault lay with Gaemon, this was happening in front of everyone.

“Watch your words. I admit that my son acted wrongly, but that does not give you the right to insult me.”

“Of course I have no right to insult you. But insulting an idiot who doesn’t know his place and provoked the Swordmaster shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“Leave unnecessary words aside and get to the point. What is it that you want?”

The marquis stared at him sternly.

Even though he did not need to hear the answer to know it.

‘He’ll want to say that, since it was Gaemon’s fault, we should just let the matter rest.’

It might seem like an amicable resolution, but in reality it would be a one-sided loss for the marquis.

Lucian had already trampled the prestige of the west.

And now, on top of that, his son had been beaten without him being able to say a single word.

‘The authority of the Roglan house will fall even further, and some allies will turn their backs on us. Damn it, restoring this prestige is going to be hell.’

Frustration burned in his stomach, but he had no choice.

The one at a disadvantage was not Lucian, but him.

At the very least, if he could sign the non-aggression pact and buy time, the damage might be repaired.

However, the words that came out of Lucian’s mouth far exceeded any expectation.

“Since it’s come to this, how about your son sincerely apologizes to Felicia and we put the matter to rest? His cheeks are in shambles, but his arms and legs seem intact. Kneeling down and begging for forgiveness should be perfectly possible.”

***

“…What?”

Marquis Bernhardt wondered if he had heard correctly.

The legitimate son of his house, brutally beaten in the front courtyard of his own residence, was now supposed to kneel and beg for forgiveness as well?

“What kind of—!”

“Don’t you want to sign the non-aggression pact?”

“…!”

“Well, if you truly don’t feel like it, do as you please. But remember this—if the pact isn’t signed, it won’t be long before you see me again.”

Crack.

Marquis Bernhardt ground his teeth in humiliation and shame.

He clenched them so hard that a thin line of blood even slipped from the corner of his lips.

Suppressing the rage that threatened to explode, he spoke in a strained voice.

“Do you really intend to take this all the way?”

“If you wish to take it all the way.”

“Fuuuh…”

After hearing Lucian’s reply, the marquis let out a long sigh.

He tried to regain his composure, but the redness in his face did not fade.

Even so, he set aside his emotions and made a decision based on reason.

“Gaemon, apologize to Felicia… to Miss Felicia. Kneel, press your forehead to the ground, and do it sincerely.”

“F-father!”

“Shut up and do as I say!”

Gaemon’s eyes widened, but the marquis cut him off immediately, allowing no reply.

At that order, Gaemon looked at Felicia with eyes filled with tears.

It was a gaze heavy with injustice, as if this could not, and should not, be happening.

“I… I c-can’t…”

“Speak properly. I can’t understand you.”

The complaint vanished the moment he heard Felicia’s cold voice.

At the same time, the pain in his cheeks, which he had forgotten for a moment, surged back all at once.

If he clung to the marquis’s pride and refused, that palm would come crashing down on him again without mercy.

Terrified, Gaemon dropped to his knees, trembling, as if he had never hesitated.

“I—I’m s-sorry!”

“Kh.”

“Pfft.”

Hearing the air escape between his broken teeth, laughter burst out among the soldiers on Lucian’s side.

Felicia pretended not to hear and spoke again.

“What did you say? I can’t hear you well.”

“I—I’m s-sorry! I’m really sorry! I… I was wrong!”

“Pffft!”

“D-don’t laugh… khh…”

“Hu, ha, huhaha.”

With every word Gaemon uttered, the laughter grew louder.

Although the situation was serious and the soldiers tried to restrain themselves, they failed.

Before long, the sound of suppressed laughter filled the area.

Gaemon cried from sheer humiliation, but no one felt any compassion.

Everything was the consequence of his own actions.

What was he complaining about now?

Far from inspiring pity, his tears only fueled the mockery.

“Ahem.”

“Ahem.”

Unlike Lucian’s soldiers, those of the marquis’s house cleared their throats repeatedly and looked away.

No matter how pathetic Gaemon was, he was still the son of the lord they served.

Seeing him beg on his knees like that made them feel ashamed as well.

Felicia swept her gaze over both sides, so starkly contrasted, and then addressed Gaemon.

“I accept your apology, Gaemon.”

“…!”

“Honestly, I still don’t really understand what you said, but you knelt down, so I’ll consider it an apology. That said, regardless of that, I don’t want to see your face for even one more second. Get lost immediately. If you stay here…”

Felicia did not need to finish the sentence.

Before she could even finish speaking, Gaemon bolted and vanished among the soldiers, desperate not to remain in that place for even an instant after such humiliation.

When things finally settled down, the marquis stared fixedly at Lucian.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“It still feels a bit lacking, but I suppose it’s fine.”

“Fine,” after humiliating and trampling the Roglan house like that?

At Lucian’s brazen response, the marquis pressed his lips together and stepped closer to him.

Lowering his voice so that no one else could hear, he whispered.

“Brat, I’ll give you a piece of advice. When you hunt a beast, you should always leave it at least one escape route. If you block every exit, the beast will have no choice but to throw itself at the hunter.”

At that warning—almost a threat—Lucian sneered.

“Of course I know. But if that beast doesn’t even have fangs or claws worth mentioning, is it really necessary to leave it an escape route?”