“Fortunately, the child had no significant injuries at the time of discovery, perhaps because he was in his arms when he fell from the cliff.”

“Hmm, is that really fortunate?”

Duke Martins placed a hand on the shoulder of his shadow knight, Sir Rolf, and asked.

“Pardon?”

“I wonder if surviving is really fortunate considering the child’s future life.”

“Duke, what do you intend to do with the child if that mercenary knight does not wake up and dies…?”

“Why, would you, Sir Rolf, like to raise him?”

At Duke Martins’ question, Sir Rolf scratched his head and smiled, and the Duke clicked his tongue in a contemptuous expression.

“Oh, have you grown attached?”

Sir Rolf, the Duke’s escort knight, was his opponent in the first knight squadron test.

The Duke was brutally beaten in the match by Rolf, who was of lower rank, and also failed the knight squadron test.

Afterwards, the Duke summoned him to the ducal residence and made him his sparring partner.

Despite consistent practice, the Duke gave up on fencing due to Rolf’s lack of improvement, and instead made him his subordinate.

Though loyal, his only flaw was his overly tender heart.

“You may withdraw for today. Ah, Sir Rolf. I have one question.”

“Please speak.”

“What business does a man have going to a woman at this hour? And that too at a very brisk pace.”

“Do you know what kind of relationship those two have?”

It was not at all the kind of question Duke Martins would usually ask, so Sir Rolf looked at him strangely but was curious.

“A couple, so far.”

“Then it seems there’s only one possibility, isn’t there?”

“One possibility, what?”

Duke Martins’ sharp face distorted.

“He’s in a hurry as a husband.”

“What’s the rush?”

“Well, isn’t there. Going to share a passionate moment……”

“Huh? That coldhearted one?”

“Don’t even the coldblooded have sexual desires?”

“I heard the Emperor does not approach women, so why…”

“Duke! Did you just say Emperor? Ah, already busy with the harem at night?”

Sir Rolf, who was feeling grumpy at Duke Martins’ question a moment ago, suddenly asked with a voice full of curiosity.

“Not a harem, Zelda Von Trova.”

“Huh, Her Majesty the Empress?!”

“Hey, you seem to say ‘Her Majesty the Empress’ very naturally?”

“Well, isn’t it true. Until they get divorced.”

“Well, you’re right.”

The Duke nodded, agreeing with Sir Rolf’s words.

“I never expected this. The seemingly finicky Emperor Rinel Gideon Edipa would fancy the Empress.”

“It seems the Emperor has quite an eye. I didn’t see it that way……”

The two men’s opinions diverged.

“What did you just say? The Emperor has an eye? That sounds like the Empress is quite attractive, doesn’t it?”

Am I the only one who’s late to know?

Duke Martins thought to himself, while outwardly pushing Sir Rolf’s chest with his fist.

“I’m hesitant to say this, but when I was in the kingdom, I saw Her Majesty the Empress from a distance a few times.”

Sir Rolf reminisced about the moment he saw Zelda, as if recalling a woman he was in love with.

“Look at this? Is this not a joke but a serious matter? When and in what state did you see the Empress that you have such an expression now?”

The Duke stared at Sir Rolf’s face as if observing it.

“At the training ground.”

“Where?”

“I’ve seen her training with a sword alone at the training ground several times.”

“What? The Empress knows how to use a sword?!”

The Duke doubted his own ears.

“Yes, when you see Her Majesty displaying her swordsmanship, it is not just beautiful but mesmerizing.”

“You don’t mean to say that the Empress is more skilled than you?”

“Oh my, I should die by biting a sword right away compared to her.”

“The Empress…… knows how to swordfight?”

As Duke Martins stroked his chin and muttered, Sir Rolf quickly added.

“And very well, to the point of cursing. Very well.”

If Sir Rolf said so with such a look of admiration, it wasn’t an ordinary skill.

So the Empress knew I failed the knight squadron test?

How much would she have laughed at me internally?

“Damn it.”

Upon hearing that the Empress was skilled in swordsmanship, Duke Martins inadvertently cursed.

Regardless of the Duke’s deep grief, Sir Rolf continued to speak as if in praise.

“You know what? When we see a swordsman better than us, we feel something similar to falling in love. That’s how knights are. Of course, it’s a feeling you wouldn’t understand, Duke.”

Rolf, the Duke, didn’t mean to mock the Archduke, who consistently failed his swordsmanship test, but occasionally he would leave his tact in his sheath like this.

“……Hmm, enough. Go away now.”

“Yes, Archduke. I hesitated because this is not yet confirmed, but I thought it would be better for you to know.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the mercenary named Norton, his origin is unknown, but he might not be of low birth.”

“Your basis?”

“The jewel embedded in the hilt of the sword he had has broken, and there was something like a seal inside.”

“A seal?”

“Yes, it was not a seal used in the kingdom of Shat O’Neil.”

“How did that seal look to you?”