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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 68
He absolutely hated the idea, but Chris suddenly smirked as a mischievous thought came to mind.
“So that means you’re going to treat me like a little brother from now on?”
“What?”
“Looking forward to it, Jupien noona. I’m so happy to have a cute older sister like you.”
“!!”
Jupien’s expression twisted like she’d just heard a bug whispering in her ear.
“Don’t. You. Dare.”
“Why not? Don’t be shy. I know how you feel. You act like you don’t like me, but deep down, you actually care for me like a younger brother, right?”
“I do not! Don’t talk nonsense.”
With a flushed face, Jupien spun around and stormed off.
Meanwhile, the people around them watched with surprised faces.
They didn’t know what was said, but the two didn’t seem to have a bad relationship after all.
‘Lady Jupien usually doesn’t even bother associating with others.’
‘Did she acknowledge that troublemaker after what happened?’
It was unexpected.
Third prince Mysak, looking slightly surprised, spoke to Jupien as she approached him.
“Jupien, I can’t believe you were talking to that kind of guy. Don’t lower yourself like that.”
“…….”
“I’m saying this because I care about you. That guy’s different from us by birth. Even if he became a prince, he’s just from a collateral line.”
Mysak spoke in a lecturing tone, trying to sound authoritative.
“He’s just a bug meant to be crushed under our feet. If you pay him any attention, it’ll only drag you down.”
But Jupien responded in a completely unexpected way.
“I didn’t say anything to you.”
“…What?”
“You’re noisy. Don’t open that filthy mouth of yours near me. It reeks like a sewer.”
Mysak froze for a moment, dumbfounded.
Of course, they were never really on good terms to begin with.
Far from it, they often glared and growled at each other with open contempt.....but this?
“You… You’re not seriously taking his side, are you?”
“Taking sides? Nope. I don’t like him.”
“Then why?”
“Because your mouth really stinks. You’re always saying disgusting things.”
“…….”
“My ears feel like they’re rotting, so get lost.”
With a cold expression, Jupien walked away.
After snapping back to his senses, Mysak ground his teeth furiously.
‘That damn wench.’
But Jupien wasn’t someone he could touch easily.
Her father had sacrificed his life for the Dark Magus and was a war hero respected by many.
Instead, Mysak’s rage shifted toward someone else.
Chris.
‘That bug… I won’t let him be.’
Mysak took a deep breath.
Then, after calming his expression, he walked toward Christian.
As Mysak approached Christian, a cold tension swept through the banquet hall.
The atmosphere felt like a confrontation could erupt at any moment.
“Hey.”
Chris blankly stared at Mysak for a moment.
Mysak’s brow twitched.
But he didn’t immediately explode in anger.
Considering himself of noble status, he thought it beneath him to lose his temper at someone as lowly as Christian.
“Did I not call you? Can’t you hear me, you wretch?”
Still, there was no response.
Instead, as if to outright ignore him, Chris raised a glass of ginger ale to his lips.
“You…! How dare you…!!”
Just as Mysak finally snapped.....
Christian looked at him calmly.
“Were you calling me?”
“…What?”
“You barked like you were ordering around a servant, so I wasn’t sure you meant me.”
Chris lifted the corners of his mouth.
“Seems like you’re mistaken. I’m not your servant. Or are you someone who doesn’t even know how to show basic respect to a fellow prince? If your blood is so noble, you should at least act like it.”
“!!”
Mysak’s face turned bright red.
“Who would ever consider a mutt like you a prince….”
“So you’re saying you’re disregarding the authority of Marquis Langham, acting head of house, who acknowledged me as a prince? No, since the acting head’s decisions are equivalent to the head’s, are you saying you’re ignoring the will of the head of House, Duke Nordion?”
Mysak’s mouth froze.
If he said the wrong thing here, it would be seen as defying the head’s authority.
“You… you….”
“Not ‘you.’ It’s Prince Christian.”
Christian spoke clearly and deliberately.
“The proper title you should use is Prince Christian. That is, unless you intend to defy the authority of the head of house.”
“…….”
Mysak, his face flushed red, fell completely silent, like a mute with honey on his tongue, and Chris let out a soft chuckle.
“Oh please. After all the years I’ve lived.”
To Chris, a pampered noble brat like Mysak was nothing more than a well-prepared meal on the table.
“I’ll piss him off as much as I can.”
Chris’s goal was to make Mysak lose his temper.
Why?
To make him act recklessly.
And that recklessness would become a huge opportunity for Chris.
An opportunity to win over the hearts of the common dark mages.
“How strange. For someone born of such noble blood, Prince Mysak seems completely ignorant of the most basic manners.”
Christian tilted his head.
Naturally, and in a way that made him seem twice as obnoxious.
Then he whispered softly.
Just loud enough for Mysak to hear.
“Could it be that Prince Mysak wasn’t properly educated by his parents?”
“!!”
Bingo.
Mysak completely lost it.
“You… you….”
Fwoosh.
A sinister aura flared up from Mysak.
A black and red energy.
It was destructive demonic energy tinged with red, mixed into dark demonic energy.
Influenced by his mother, a direct descendant of the head family of the Destruction Demonic House, Mysak had mastered destructive black magic to a very high degree.
Even more than his dark magic energy.
He was at the lower tier of 4-star level.
A skill level befitting the title of prince.
If it were a fight without the help of the Union, even Chris wouldn’t be able to handle him right now.
But Mysak didn’t raise his hand directly.
Instead, grinding his teeth, he said this:
“Arrogant bastard. All talk, aren't you? The merit you earned during the artifact expedition.....must’ve been rigged somehow.”
“……”
“I refuse to acknowledge your achievement this time. Especially the nonsense about someone like you defeating a 5-star demonic human.”
“So, what exactly are you trying to say?”
Mysak gave a twisted smile.
“Prove right here and now that you’re truly qualified to be a prince. Let’s see… Sir Usran should do.”
“!!”
The hall broke into a commotion.
Usran.
A 5-star demonic human.
A squad leader-level fighter.
“If you really defeated a 5-star demonic human from the Venomous Demonic House, then you should be able to take on Sir Usran. Prove it here.”
An absurd proposition.
Absolutely impossible.
A 3-star defeating a 4-star is a long shot but not unthinkable.
Because the power gap isn’t absolute. With enough variables, upsets can happen.
But from 5-star onward, it’s different. A lower rank can never stand against a higher one.
More importantly, Chris wasn’t even a 4-star.....he was just a 3-star. And he hadn’t even been one for a full month.
“There’s been a misunderstanding. I was able to take down the 5-star demonic human of the Venomous Demonic House thanks to the combined strength of several comrades. It wasn’t something I achieved on my own.”
“So, you’re saying you’re going to run?”
“That’s not it. Being able to cross swords with someone as great as Sir Usran is an honor for any demonic human, so I have no reason to avoid it regardless of the outcome. However.”
Chris shrugged his shoulders.
“It just bothers me to see someone as important to the House as Sir Usran dragged into something as ridiculous as this farce, rather than a proper duel that upholds the honor of demonic humans.”
“!!”
A farce.
The hall fell silent.
He was exactly right.
This duel wasn’t a true duel between demonic humans.
It was being held at the whim of a high-ranking noble.
More precisely, it was a duel brought on by Mysak’s arrogant caprice.
They might have no choice but to go along with it, but for a proud and powerful demonic human.....especially someone at the level of 5-star.....there was no way it could sit well.
But Mysak didn’t realize any of that. It was because he was so used to being flattered and ordering around his House’s demonic humans like servants.
“You sure talk a lot. Afraid your pathetic weakness will be exposed, aren’t you?”
Christian let out a quiet sigh.
“If you put it like that, I suppose I have no choice. But I have one condition.”
“What is it?”
Chris looked over at Sir Usran, who was standing on one side of the banquet hall with a frown on his face.
Then he bowed his head politely.
“I would like to treat this duel as a lesson, requesting your guidance. Sir Usran, please grant me your instruction.”
A request that elevated Sir Usran’s honor.
For a moment, a flicker of emotion passed through Usran’s eyes.
With that single request, the duel was no longer a farce.....it became a mentorship duel where a prince was being guided.
‘...I’m grateful.’
Usran thought to himself.
Mysak had forced him into similarly humiliating situations multiple times before.
He had complied because he had no choice, but that didn’t mean it ever felt good.
Naturally, compared to Mysak, Chris left a far better impression.
And that feeling wasn’t Usran’s alone.
‘They called him a reckless fool, and yet he acts like this?’
‘He’s not what the rumors say.’
The honor of a demonic human wasn’t about factions or power.
Any demonic human would appreciate the attitude Chris had just shown.
In other words, with just a single statement, Christian had succeeded in leaving a favorable impression on every demonic human present.
‘This isn’t the end.’
Christian stepped into the duel arena.
Banquets for demonic humans always had a duel arena prepared, just in case something like this happened.
‘I need to leave a clear mark.’
In the end, what mattered most to demonic humans was strength.
He had to prove he was worthy of being a prince.
No, that he surpassed every other prince.
‘Victory is impossible.’
Sir Usran’s level was mid-5-star.
At the time, it was higher than that of the masked woman from the Venomous Demonic House.
The higher one rose within a star level, the greater the gap between low, mid, and high tiers became, so it would likely take at least two of that masked woman to defeat Sir Usran.
‘But I don’t necessarily have to win. I’ve already planned for this.’
Exactly.
Chris had predicted that Mysak would act this way.
So he had thoroughly researched the combat styles of the high-ranking demonic humans attending the banquet.
“Thank you for granting me the opportunity to receive your precious guidance.”
Before the duel, Chris offered a respectful greeting, and Sir Usran replied with a softened voice.
“I should be the one thanking you for your consideration, Prince. Since this is a mentorship duel, I’ll yield the first ten seconds.”
“I won’t hold back, then.”
Fwoosh!
Chris charged forward.
What he held wasn’t his holy sword.
Just a regular longsword.
Dark mana surged up.
Clang!
Chris’s sword clashed with Usran’s.
“A clean strike. Impressive.”
“Thank you. I’m continuing.”
Ten swift exchanges followed in rapid succession.
The spectators watched in awe.
“Prince Christian’s movements are remarkable. I heard he’s only at low-3-star right now.”
“Didn’t they say he only came to his senses a few months ago?”
His movements far exceeded expectations, and for a brief moment, a thought passed through everyone’s minds.
.....If only Christian had come to his senses a little earlier.
‘He might’ve even had the potential to surpass Young Master Ashid.’
That’s how outstanding Christian’s movements were.
But at the same time, it also meant there was a limit.
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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