Chapter 18

Or at least, that was what everyone believed.

The emperor always made sure to credit Louis’s achievements to other knights.

“So, with different weapons, no one could predict the outcome. Yet in the end, you were the one who refused the duel, Marquis.”

“That’s…”

“How disappointing.”

I rose as if there was nothing left worth hearing. Diego couldn’t bring himself to stop me. Instead, he just tapped the table lightly with a troubled expression.

That was something he always did when he had an important decision to make.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

The duel I had worked so hard to arrange went exactly as expected, with Louis’s victory. Even with Louis using a wooden sword and Diego wielding a real blade, Diego couldn’t so much as lay a finger on him.

“How dull.”

“…I’ll kill you! I’ll f*****g kill you!”

Diego, seething with anger, ground his teeth, but it was nothing more than the desperate thrashing of a defeated man.

“Are you alright, Your Grace?”

I walked up to Louis, making sure everyone could see.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine.”

As I straightened the buttons on Louis’s disheveled uniform, I shot a quick look at Diego to see how he was handling the loss.

‘He got beaten so badly, he probably can’t even move a muscle.’

At this rate, he probably wouldn’t be able to walk properly for at least a week. Still, since there weren’t any permanent injuries, and since he was the one who asked for the duel in the first place, the emperor couldn’t really say anything. Proof of that was the fact that the emperor didn’t even come to watch the duel.

‘He went through all the trouble of dragging in Marquis Branto to clean up Diego’s mess, and this is how it turned out. He must be furious.’

Marquis Branto must be quite frustrated as well, having gone so far as to kneel, only for things to end up like this.

‘Well, I’ve gotten everything I wanted out of this.’

Now, it was time to move on to the next step.

“…Leonia Bellasi, are you really not going to regret this?”

Diego’s voice, hoarse and cracked, cut through the air.

“Are you really going to marry that madman?”

I was about to turn my head and see what nonsense he would spout next, but Louis stopped me.

“I don’t think you should be saying anything, not while you’re lying there looking so pathetic.”

He wrapped his arms around me, keeping me from turning my head, and reproached him in a gentle voice.

“I think the Marquis needs to learn his place first. Don’t you agree, Leonia?”

I was a bit taken aback.

Was it really necessary to trample on Diego’s pride even more? We had already gotten everything we wanted out of this, and Louis had toyed with Diego enough to vent his frustrations.

‘…There’s no need to provoke him any further.’

If Diego stirred unnecessary trouble now, it would only complicate things.

“You should answer, Leni.”

At that moment, Louis let slip a familiar nickname, likely remembering how Alice had used it offhandedly before.

‘The timing couldn’t be worse.’

From Diego’s perspective, it probably looked like I only allowed Louis to use that nickname. And sure enough, when I glanced at him, Diego’s expression had completely hardened.

‘What a ridiculous man.’

He had never even asked me about nicknames or anything like that, yet he acted like I had betrayed him.

“…Fine. So that’s your choice?”

Diego muttered like he’d lost his mind, pounding the floor with his fist.

“Fine, go ahead and get married! Let’s see how far you make it. Let’s see you push it all the way!”

“I can’t listen to this pathetic act anymore.”

Louis summoned knights to carry Diego away.

By the emperor’s orders, Diego would now be confined to his estate for ten days.

“I’m going to ruin everything for you! Mark my words, just you wait!”

As Diego was dragged away, still kicking and screaming to the very end, I couldn’t help but sigh. Somehow, I had a feeling he was going to be even more troublesome than he was in the original story.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

The carriage ride back to the duke’s mansion with Louis was laced with strange tension. More accurately, it was just me who was nervous, while Louis seemed completely fine.

‘The one who stirred up all this trouble is totally at ease, and I’m the only one feeling anxious.’

Today was the day I officially entered the duke’s mansion. Normally, I would’ve tried to rest and conserve my energy, but not this time.

‘Since I don’t know what Diego will try next, I need to figure out how to handle him first.’

Judging by the way he was dragged out earlier, kicking and screaming, he’d definitely cause trouble the moment his confinement ended.

“Why do you look like that?”

Louis set aside the paperwork he had been reading and looked at me.

“I thought you’d achieved everything you wanted.”

I shook my head.

“No, I did get what I wanted. The duel, the confinement, everything went just like I planned…”

“Leonia.”

Louis pushed the papers off his lap and continued.

“Just now, it sounded like you didn’t want Marquis Regen to receive a harsher punishment.”

A knowing smile curved his lips, daring me to explain.

‘As expected, he really is quick to catch on.’