Chapter 32

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: There Is No Mercy 32

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"Stay in your room and wait until tomorrow. Don't come wandering out and make things even worse than they already are. Just keep a low profile until it's time to go home."

As Piolett Baylor rose from her seat to leave, Richel urgently grabbed the hem of her dress.

Piolett looked down at Richel, who was seated on the floor clutching at her, her brows furrowing.

Richel forced a smile even in that moment, showing no shame or embarrassment at kneeling before another noble of equal standing.

"Lady Baylor... You won't tell the Duke's Daughter, will you...?"

"What the Duke's Daughter wanted went up in smoke, and all we did was hand the other side a golden opportunity. When an important plan fails, someone has to take the blame."

With a sharp thwack, Piolett callously swatted Richel's hand away.

The hand that had gripped Piolett's dress fell limply away, causing Richel's body to pitch forward.

Richel's face, staring up at Piolett from the floor, was filled with anxiety and bewilderment.

Piolett gazed at that face with impassive eyes before turning away.

"That someone doesn't have to be me. So just sit there quietly and wait for whatever judgment the Duke's Daughter hands down. I can already picture what she'll say without even seeing it."

A small house like Richel's family would crumble in high society—not to mention as a family itself—in an instant if they made an enemy of the Bozbon Dukes.

Piolett stared down at Richel's bloodless face for a moment longer, then her gaze dropped away.

Leaving those cold words behind, Piolett hurried out of the room to clean up the mess Richel had made.

In the room after Piolett left, Richel slumped to the floor, staring vacantly at the ground, her face trembling with anxiety and unease.

"This isn't how it was supposed to go... I just... I just didn't want to live like everyone else... I didn't want to be looked down on... It's not my fault. I didn't do anything wrong. It's all that bitch's fault. So the one who gets punished won't be me..."

Richel's mad mutterings were the only sound filling the silent room.

A day passed amid the chaos, and as expected—whether good or bad—the rumors spread like wildfire.

Thanks to Richel dragging all those people to the front of the chaotic room in the dead of night when hardly a soul was around, the gossip took off as if it had wings.

But contrary to fears that wild, twisted rumors might spin out of control, things stayed surprisingly quiet about yesterday's incident.

Instead, the rumors about Aden and me had snowballed wildly.

The story of Aden carrying me off to his room had twisted through layers of speculation into claims that we shared a deep relationship.

Tales swirled of us sharing the same room, crossing into forbidden territory—even jokes about it that bordered on the absurd.

"...Just from seeing that one moment yesterday, and now rumors say Aden and I already have a kid. Gossip really does roll like a snowball."

People were parched for scandal.

In the midst of it all, the affair between Aden and me—now tangled up with Bellieta—was an endless, never-stale snack.

She wouldn't let an opportunity like this slip by easily.

She'd keep spouting baseless stories until she got bored, then flit off to the next bit of gossip.

"I'm sorry. If only I hadn't stepped away yesterday..."

"Don't worry about it. I told you—I sent you off to wash up, and it was all part of the trap. I didn't tell you because I know your upright nature. You never would have gone along with it if you'd known. So there's no need to feel guilty."

Riphert Knight, whom I'd sent off to bathe yesterday, had spent the entire day fretting over it.

Even with the escort knights doubled, he'd cut rest time to eliminate any gaps.

There was no need to go that far, but I knew he'd refuse if I told him to stop, so I let it be.

Trailing a line of knights behind me, I was heading to the upper seats for the scheduled knight tournament when Count Ricardo approached from the opposite side.

"Embarrassing as it is to ask, I hope you had a good night."

"Thanks to your thoughtfulness, I slept comfortably."

"I should have been even more attentive, and I'm truly sorry I wasn't. I'll make sure to watch even closer from now on and prepare the tournament fully to prevent any more incidents."

After the room change, Count Ricardo had stationed over twenty guards around my quarters.

It was a bit noisy because of it, but I was able to sleep without worry.

Count Ricardo kept glancing at me with an apologetic expression.

As I watched his face, something occurred to me, and I let out a short gasp.

"Yesterday's incident won't lead to us pulling sponsorship from the Genoa tournament. Brilloxen will continue our support as before, and I hope this doesn't damage relations between you and Brilloxen."

The worry and shadows lifted from the city lord's face—the man who clearly didn't want to lose his biggest sponsor.

His expression brightened noticeably as he bowed deeply and broke into a broad laugh.

"That's a huge relief—thank you. I'll send an official letter of apology to the Brilloxen Count over this matter. Please continue to favor us. Oh, and we've notified the families of those three who barged into the room yesterday. The Archduke also mentioned he suspects they might have been manipulated, so we've handed their custody over to him."

I recalled Aden saying he'd interrogate them personally.

I'd wanted to go along, but he'd warned it'd just be an ugly sight, so I'd held back.

Instead, I'd arranged for Riphert to join in and listen.

At least he was a knight I could trust.

"Understood. I'll ask the Archduke about it directly later. Anyway, the tournament's about to start—shall we head over, Count?"

"Ah, I was meaning to mention that—too late now."

The count let out a sigh, lightly clapping his hands before shaking his head.

"The scheduled knight tournament has been canceled."

"Canceled? Why so suddenly? Because of yesterday?"

"No, nothing like that. The families who sent the knights have withdrawn their proposals. We don't know the reason yet—probably internal matters. We tried filling it with other knights, but without a high level of competition, it wouldn't mean much, so we've decided on just the finals."

Count Ricardo looked just as flustered by the abrupt turn of events.

They'd rushed through to the semifinals yesterday precisely because of today's tournament.

Now, with the crowd gathered for just a single final match, any real excitement was dead in the water.

This tournament had been plagued by one misfortune after another, and though the count's face was grim, he was trying his best to smile.

I offered some words of comfort to Count Ricardo as we moved to the finals venue.

We took our seats in the upper stands like yesterday and waited for the crowd to file in. The first to appear were Piolett and Richel.

Piolett offered brief greetings to the city lord and me before sitting down with an indifferent expression.

Richel, by contrast, was utterly quiet and stiff-faced, staring straight down at the floor—nothing like yesterday.

Disappointed, perhaps, that her plan to drag people in and humiliate me had fallen flat.

Desperate to worm her way into Bellieta's shadow somehow.

How foolish.

If she knew Bellieta cared for no one but herself, she never would have tried.

Tsk tsk. I turned my head away.

As time passed and the finals were about to begin, Aden finally made his appearance.

"Where've you been? I stopped by your room this morning to share breakfast, but you weren't there."

"Had some business to take care of."

Business?

I tilted my head, but remembering how he'd said he was swamped recruiting knights yesterday, I didn't press further.

In the meantime, preparations for the finals wrapped up, and it got underway shortly after.

Jin, who had drawn so much attention with his overwhelming skill, put on a show in the finals without holding back.

Unlike before, it wasn't a total one-sided beatdown, but he dominated the entire match regardless.

His opponent put up a solid fight but couldn't last and eventually collapsed.

The moment Jin's victory was confirmed, cheers and applause erupted. I clapped enthusiastically for the knight who'd soon be mine.

The tournament wrapped up, and we moved to the awards ceremony.

Aden, Piolett, and I—as the top sponsors—ascended to the podium.

Amid the stares of the crowd oblivious to yesterday's events, I prepared the awards and murmured sidelong to Aden beside me.

"It went just like you said."

Aden's gaze rolled slowly toward me.

I lifted my chin just a touch, and he let out a short chuckle.

"The rumors about the incident really have vanished. It's all about you and Aden now. Did you hear? They say we have a kid."

"I heard twins."

"Rumors evolved that fast? Scary stuff."

I gave a hollow laugh and shrugged. Aden just nodded.

I glanced briefly at the city lord, who was droning on about the tournament, then looked away.

"We'll be parting ways soon after this. It was short, but fun. Nice seeing you after so long."

Aden's gaze, fixed ahead, slowly turned my way.

A faint smile tugged at my lips as I tilted my head diagonally. His eyes narrowed.

By then, the four finalists—including Jin—approached us one by one.

Jin stopped in front of me and bowed his head lightly.

"Congratulations on the win. You seemed pretty harassed yesterday—was it tough?"

"Once word got out I'd already chosen my destination, they all backed off without a fuss. A few were persistent, but they scattered the moment I mentioned your name, Lady Sierra."

"Wise choice. Anyway, any plans right after the tournament? No rush to leave, but the formal induction has to happen back in the territory."

Jin paused as if considering, then slowly shook his head.

"I have a place I need to visit briefly. I'll head to Brilloxen territory after that."

"Take your time and handle your business. Just don't up and vanish or break our agreement by going elsewhere. Brilloxen never forgets a favor or a debt—and we don't forget a grudge either. You understand?"

At my pointed tone, Jin nodded without a flicker of expression.

I flashed a bright smile at his response and turned away.

Taking the plaque and trophy from Riphert, I was about to turn back when I spotted Richel approaching Piolett in the same manner.

Richel handed over Piolett's plaque and trophy before stepping back.

Jin's award ceremony kicked off first, followed by the others in turn.

Amid the applause, the tournament drew to its close.

"What is that?"

As Piolett's award ceremony began last, Richel—who had stepped back—slowly approached her again.