Chapter 22
The victory celebration banquet hosted by Count Karognar.
A banquet held to honor the hero who liberated the city occupied by fiends and rescued his beloved subjects.
Even if one gave him the benefit of the doubt regarding the former, no one believed the latter was the count’s true intention.
[I’m nervous.]
Inside the carriage heading toward the count’s mansion.
Today, Rex sent the two-hundredth message to his vassals.
However, Duke had long since disabled the messaging function, while Ari was already so besotted with Rex that she comforted him whenever that happened.
“It’s all right, Lord Rex. I’ll take the lead.”
Duke did not even pay attention to the two of them flaunting their affection and fell into meditation inside the carriage.
‘I wonder what sort of party dress Hana will wear this time.’
Although his head was filled with somewhat impure stray thoughts, it was meditation nonetheless.
The carriage carrying their different dreams soon arrived at the count’s mansion.
After their identities and invitations were checked, the group tried to enter the ballroom.
However, an unexpected person was stopped at the entrance···
“Sir. Please comply with the dress code.”
The knight guarding the entrance stopped Duke.
There was a separate reason why Duke alone among the group had been stopped.
While everyone else was wearing party attire, Duke was dressed in his usual helmet and uniform.
His appearance made it look as though he had hidden at least one weapon beneath his cloak, so even Rex, who was with him, could not defend Duke.
“Duke. I told you you’d get caught.”
“How dare you doubt Sir? If he had meant to do such a thing, people like you— Mmph!”
Rex covered Ari’s mouth, which had lately begun saying strange things, and gauged Duke’s reaction.
The Duke Rex knew was somewhat excessive, but fundamentally respected common sense.
Even Rex found it difficult to understand why he would enter a party dressed like that.
However, Duke had a reasonable explanation of his own.
“I understand that a soldier’s uniform is not restricted by location. The same goes for a sword. Has this domain’s common sense changed without my noticing?”
At Duke’s counterquestion, the knight at the entrance looked flustered and signaled to his colleague.
His colleague shook his head to indicate that he did not know.
Knights were basically just strong bullies, but that did not mean they were ignorant of etiquette.
It was simply that, in this group overflowing with foolish knights who could not even count money properly, there were few exemplary knights who also studied etiquette.
Thus, even if Duke claimed that his uniform did not violate etiquette, no one could determine whether he was telling the truth.
However, in this case, the knights’ judgment was correct.
Duke was closer to throwing an unreasonable tantrum.
But etiquette was ultimately an agreement and a matter of perception between people, and such things ultimately depended on the authority of the person speaking.
In an absolute monarchy, if the king declared something to be noble etiquette, then it became etiquette,
and if a knight straight out of a fairy tale declared something to be etiquette, then it was etiquette.
Duke gauged the situation for a moment, then brought out the line he had prepared in case his unreasonable demand was rejected.
“The Empire held banquets for knights who had just returned from war. And out of respect for them, it allowed them to wear their uniforms in the banquet hall. Am I mistaken?”
Once Duke invoked Imperial etiquette as well, the knights had nothing to say.
Of course, the country they were in was not the Empire but the Kingdom of Esiric, and more specifically, Karognar Domain.
It seemed odd to invoke Imperial etiquette there, but one could not simply ignore etiquette in a culture that followed Imperial customs and discriminated against beastkin.
In the end, the knights had no choice but to submit to Duke’s logic.
“Understood, Sir. However, may I discuss this matter with the lord?”
Duke readily agreed.
The knights immediately returned to the count and reported the matter, and the count added one condition.
“Excuse me, Sir. If you happen to be carrying any weapons, please hand them over.”
Duke was not currently carrying any weapons on his person.
Even so, asking him to hand over his weapons meant that the count knew about Duke’s subspace magic.
Depending on the person, asking him to take out even the weapons in his subspace could easily be interpreted as provocation.
The knight who had followed the count’s orders seemed well aware of that fact and even broke into a cold sweat as he watched Duke’s reaction.
Duke could not help feeling sorry for the knight.
‘As expected, middle management is miserable.’
That was why it was much better to become a second-in-command who answered to only one person than to become an inconsequential middle-management knight.
With that thought, Duke handed his greatsword to the poor knight.
‘There are plenty of other weapons in my subspace anyway.’
Urgh!
As Duke’s massive greatsword landed in his hands, the knight toppled forward.
Duke caught him with telekinesis before he landed on his chin.
“My apologies. I was inconsiderate.”
It was a lie.
He had deliberately handed it to the knight who looked the most heavily built.
When there was an opportunity to indirectly advertise his strength like this, Duke had no reason to pass it up.
Duke watched the knights straining to carry his greatsword and smiled in satisfaction.
***
Duke’s group had a brief altercation at the entrance.
“Wow···”
Rex, who had come from a commoner background, looked around curiously as though he had never been to a place like this before,
“Hmm···”
while Ari surveyed the ballroom with a dissatisfied look,
and Duke···
“Hmm.”
‘Ah, that looks delicious. If I weren’t maintaining Duke’s persona, I’d be stuffing myself.’
Duke drooled.
Maintaining such a massive physique naturally required a great deal of calories.
Moreover, Duke was the sort of person who stayed true to his desires when no one else was watching.
Thus, his appetite was, if anything, greater than other people’s, not less.
Even so, he did not touch any of the food in the ballroom.
‘It’d ruin the whole image if I wolfed down food while wearing a helmet.’
For the sake of perfecting the character known as Duke, he kept suppressing the appetite that repeatedly reared its head.
[Duke, aren’t you eating?]
“You should eat too, Sir.”
Despite their encouragement, Duke solemnly refused to eat.
“I wish to focus on protecting Lord Rex.”
“My apologies, Sir. I was thoughtless···”
“No. Are you not the one escorting Lord Rex? You are simply doing your best at your assigned role, so there is nothing to reproach.”
While Duke merely watched the food the rest of the group brought back, the count sent him some wine.
It was a gesture of consideration for the knight focused on guarding them, offering him wine to wet his throat.
It was also a custom born from the fact that superhumans fundamentally could not get drunk.
Duke looked at the wine.
‘Could it be poisoned?”
He could not tell at a glance.
However, one clear difference from the original story was that the wine Rex should have received had come to him instead.
‘Poison··· I’ll just drink it.’
Thinking it might be amusing to pulverize the count’s composure while he was at it, Duke accepted the wine.
Pop.
The servant poured the opened wine into a glass, and Duke picked it up.
The moment he lifted the glass, everyone’s attention focused on his helmet.
Even Ari stared fixedly at Duke’s face, the veins around her eyes bulging.
‘Come to think of it, she’s never seen my face either.’
He had already been wearing his helmet when he first met her.
However, Duke had no intention of satisfying her expectations—or those of the people in the ballroom.
‘Sorry, but I can’t show my face that easily.’
The helmet had been made with moments like this in mind.
Click.
Responding to Duke’s mana, the lower faceplate of the helmet opened.
A spell applied to the helmet concealed even the lower faceplate in shadow, making it impossible to see.
““Ah···””
Duke swallowed the wine, using the crowd’s sighs as an accompaniment.
‘It’s too early to reveal my face.’
He could not let the mystique surrounding him collapse so pointlessly, could he?
Duke remained conscious of his dignity to the very end and emptied the wineglass without leaving a single drop.
‘Poison··· I can’t tell.’
His tongue had no ability to identify poison, so he could not know.
Besides, he had already consumed elixirs and poisons far more potent than this, rendering the question meaningless.
Duke glanced toward the count, just in case.
- Tsk.
Although it was only for a very brief moment, the count had clearly clicked his tongue.
‘Looks like he put something in it.’
Duke inferred that from the count’s reaction.
Not wanting to let things end there, he sent his thanks to the count through one of the servants.
- “It was an excellent flavor. The wine of Karognar Domain has a charming bitterness on the finish.”
Naturally, it was teabagging.
For a wine’s finish to become bitter, it had to be cheap or have something strange mixed into it.
Either way, there was ample room to interpret it as an insult.
Crack.
After confirming that the count’s glass had shattered, Duke nodded in satisfaction.
‘That should do.’
If he angered him any further, the count might throw a chair.
Having completed his teabagging splendidly, Duke returned to his seat and passed the time with his arms crossed.
As he sat there, music began to play throughout the ballroom.
‘Hm? Is it time to dance?’
When the music began, the count’s vassals started dancing with their lovers or concubines.
Ari rose from her seat as though she was familiar with this atmosphere.
“Master. Let’s go dance together.”
“Huh?”
Rex tried to refuse, but there was no chance he could resist her strength.
Rex was dragged straight to the middle of the ballroom, where he began dancing with her.
Fortunately, Rex had learned something during his academy days and knew a dance suited to the music.
However, having learned it did not mean that he danced well.
“Ah! Sorry.”
Unable to match Ari’s tempo, he repeatedly stepped on her feet.
But she smiled softly as though she found Rex’s appearance adorable and taught him one step at a time.
‘Hmm, how youthful.’
Duke watched the two of them with a pleased look.
Then Duke noticed other vassals sneering at the pair.
Since they could not bring Rex down through physical strength, they were belittling him for his lack of refinement.
Duke’s expression hardened.
‘I’ve memorized all your faces, you bastards.’
Duke began compiling a list of the people he would deal with later, once he conquered this domain.
*
As the youthful love story between the two began to blossom, Duke quietly checked the time.
‘It’s about time Hana arrived.’
As they say, speak of the tiger and it appears; the entrance began to grow noisy.
‘She’s here.’
The count’s vassals could not help being flustered.
They had invited only Rex’s group and the count’s close aides, yet the lord of a neighboring domain had arrived.
However, one could not turn away someone carrying an invitation.
“Her Excellency Viscountess Sneria! She is entering!”
In the end, the count reluctantly allowed her entry.
‘This ruins even my final plan.’
The count had originally planned to have knights and assassins attack Rex once the atmosphere at the ball had ripened,
but Yuhana’s arrival forced him to abandon that plan immediately.
Even for the count, confronting Rex and her at the same time was an extremely burdensome task.
As proof, the count’s side began growing hectic as vassals and servants hurried back and forth.
‘Now I can enjoy myself without worry, right?’
Duke turned his gaze away from the count and looked toward the entrance through which Hana would arrive.
At last, the Hana he had been waiting for so eagerly entered.
And when Duke saw her outfit···
‘Huh.’
he could not hide his bewilderment.
The Hana Duke knew was the type to wear a uniform to a party.
As a declaration that she would give her heart to no man.
Yet she···
‘Why a party dress?’
had come wearing a party dress, one Duke had never seen before.
Of course, it was not backless or designed to emphasize her cleavage.
Its color was dark, like a crow’s feathers.
But her clothes were definitely a party dress.
If he had to compare it to something···
‘A black swan.’
Perhaps the people in the ballroom had the same impression, because they could hardly take their eyes off her.
That elegant black swan looked around the ballroom with a female knight accompanying her.
Then she spotted Duke and approached him at a brisk pace.
“I apologize. It took me some time because it was my first time putting on makeup.”
Hana was famous for not wearing much makeup and for not keeping a maid.
It was understandable that she had taken this long if she had deliberately set out to do her makeup.
‘I doubt she did her makeup alone. Was this female knight’s handiwork?’
Duke gave a thumbs-up to the female knight proudly standing behind Hana. (Of course, only in his mind.)
As Duke was thinking that, Hana blushed and extended her hand.
“Sir. Would you perhaps dance with me?”
At her girlish appearance, the female knight accompanying her was filled with shock.
‘The Queen!?’
Hana held a party in her domain roughly once during every holiday, but she was famous as the Shadow Queen who sat in her seat and stared out the window even at those parties.
The female knight could never have imagined that Hana would be the one to invite someone to dance first.
Duke quietly looked down at the shyly extended hand.
Then, breaking the silence, he spoke.
“I don’t know how to dance. Would that be all right?”
“I’ll match you.”
Duke quietly nodded, removed his cloak and the coat of his uniform, and tossed them into his subspace.
Hana’s gaze fixed for the briefest moment on the well-built body visible beneath Duke’s white shirt.
Duke, whose attention was entirely focused on her dress, failed to notice her gaze.
“It is my honor.”
“The honor is mine as well.”
Duke took her hand in his and began moving his feet.
He did not know how to dance well to music.
But there was one thing he was confident no one could surpass him in.
Distance control.
Making use of his overwhelming reflexes and combat experience, he knew how to widen the distance without stepping on her feet by the narrowest margin.
Hana was similar.
She did not know much about dancing, but she was accustomed to expressing emotions through her body.
Above all, as someone who had watched and imitated Duke’s battles from afar, she was familiar with his rhythm.
As a result, the two began to dominate the ballroom with their dance.
“Wow···”
At first, their steps merely came and went as they adjusted the distance between them.
Then, once they grew somewhat accustomed to it, they slowly began adding flourishes such as spins.
Before long, their calm movements gradually began to grow passionate,
“Goodness. It reminds me of the Demon King and the Black Swan.”
A vassal had named an opera, and everyone in the ballroom began forming the same impression.
Duke anchored the dance with solemn, disciplined movements.
Hana’s dance was neither flashy nor extraordinary, but honest and straightforward.
That was how the people in the ballroom judged the two of them.
However, despite all the flowery language they attached to it, strictly speaking, the beautiful pair simply turned whatever they did into a beautiful picture.
Even if they had danced modern dance, they probably would have been praised in some way because of their image.
But the opinions of those around them meant little to Duke and Hana.
“Sir.”
“It should be ending soon.”
The two exchanged glances as the music faded.
Trusting Duke, she took a bold action she had never even considered before.
She placed a hand on Duke’s shoulder and leaned her waist back slightly.
Duke lowered the hand he had placed on her back to her waist and supported her.
To be honest, neither of them knew whether this was an ending suited to the music.
But it did not really matter.
What mattered was that they had confirmed each other’s feelings.
After the dance ended, she murmured in a voice only Duke could hear.
“I was merely a grain of sand on the beach, but I longed to shine, gazing at the stars all my life. And today, at last, I was able to make the star aware of my existence.”
Duke mulled over her words, then offered his honest impression on the spot.
“Did you know? When you call that shining presence in the sky a star, the grains of sand in that sky also call you a star.”
A star is relative, after all.
Duke praised himself for managing to squeeze out that line and studied her expression.
However, he could not see her face.
“I apologize, Sir. May we call it a night here?”
She was bowing her head, showing him only the crown of her head.