CH 201

EPISODE 201 – MERIT CEREMONY (4)

“Father.”

“The two of you are finally here. Have a seat over there.”

Rather than a regular living room, the room they were in seemed to be a place for casual and informal conversation.

Three sofas were arranged in a C-shape around a low table, and Count Bayer, who was sitting by himself at the seat of honor, offered them a seat.

‘Is it across my father?’

Count Chase was sitting in the middle of a long sofa and pointed with his eyes at the opposite seat. Jude and Cordelia then quietly sat on the sofa opposite him.

Cordelia was on the left while Jude was on the right.

It was a very large sofa, so there were a lot of places for them to seat themselves, but the two naturally sat close together.

As if this was completely normal.

“It’s nice to look at.”

“Eh? Uh… yes. Thank you.”

At the words of Count Bayer, Cordelia tilted her head because she didn’t understand what he was talking about, but she immediately replied with a wide smile.

She was a bit curious on what was nice to look at, but since Cordelia and Jude had woken up after a few days, he might have been talking about how the two were awake now were nice to look at.

‘Anyway, since it’s my father-in-law’s words, I have to answer even if I don’t understand what he’s talking about.’

In any case, he had said something nice to them, so it was natural for her to express her thanks.

‘Is that right, Jude?’

‘Uh, probably.’

Even Jude couldn’t immediately figure out what Count Bayer meant by it being nice to look at.

Because for Jude, it was completely natural and reasonable for him to be seated next to Cordelia.

Anyway, Count Bayer’s smile even deepened when Cordelia replied beautifully, while Count Chase snorted like usual.

“Moving on…”

Count Bayer’s words trailed at the end, and he paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before he looked at Jude and Cordelia with warm eyes and saying.

“I’m very glad that the two of you woke up. Both of you had been unconscious for the past few days, so everyone was greatly worried.”

“We apologize for having troubled you.”

“No, no. I apologize. It’s not your fault. You have nothing to apologize for.”

When Cordelia lowered her head, Count Bayer promptly dissuaded her from doing so before he glanced at Count Chase, asking him to say something.

And at that glance, Count Chase responded in his usual manner.

“Hmph, you’re still a weak guy.”

As he looked at Jude, he clicked his tongue and took out a small box from his pocket. And Jude was grateful to him like usual.

“Eat this too. They say it works well for feeble guys like you.”

“Yes, father-in-law. Thank you very much.”

“Thank you, Dad.”

After Jude and Cordelia expressed their thanks, Count Chase turned to the side and spoke quietly.

“Don’t tell Adelia. She’s going to needlessly compare it to what I gave Gaël.”

Because Adelia was always dissatisfied even if they were both given something.

But there was one thing that Count Chase overlooked.

“Dad, what did you give to brother-in-law Gaël? Is it different from Jude? There’s no way that it’s better, right? So what is it?”

The existence of Cordelia who began to react in the same way that Adelia did.

“No, I mean…”

“What?”

Count Chase eventually gave up on making excuses and frowned, and Count Bayer burst into a small laugh.

“Gaël and Jude are really blessed with their fiancées.”

Cordelia who was questioning Count Chase then instantly blushed and lowered her head at Count Bayer’s words.

Because the words ‘blessed with their fiancées’ strangely resonated in her mind.

And it was the same with Jude.

Jude spontaneously looked somewhere else before he coughed with a slightly reddish face.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Ahem, ahem, ahem.

“Look at this little kid coughing.”

Count Bayer chuckled and looked back at Count Chase before he immediately brought up their main topic.

“Jude, and Cordelia. I’m sure you had already heard of it but… the royal palace was not only one that was attacked this time. The entire royal capital was swept into a huge mess.”

Count Bayer’s expression and tone became a bit stiff.

Having already heard some of the situation from Maja and Dahlia, Jude and Cordelia’s faces stiffened, and Count Chase looked straight at them and said.

“Certainly… you two warned me and Count Bayer before this happened. It wasn’t specific, but thanks to that, we were able to resolve this situation.”

Something may happen right after the ball.

We’ll notify you if we’re in danger, so please accept this magic device with tracking magic on it.

This was what Jude and Cordelia told Count Bayer and Count Chase just before the ball.

Several incidents had already happened in the north and the wild lands, so Count Bayer and Count Chase did not lightly take Jude and Cordelia’s words.

They did not drop their guard down even when they attended the ball, so they were able to react immediately.

What would have happened if the two hadn’t warned them?

“We wouldn’t have been able to stop First Sword.”

Count Bayer nodded at Count Chase’s words.

If they had not been warned, Count Bayer would not have thought of helping Jude and Cordelia.

“And if you two had lost your lives to First Sword… the Lord Protector… no, that traitor, Duke Antarius, would have succeeded with his plan.”

He had planned to destroy the barrier by massacring the royal family.

But he did not succeed.

Because Jude and Cordelia stopped him.

“You two definitely did well. But I want to ask. How the hell, I mean… how much did you know?”

Count Bayer’s voice was soft, and his tone showed that he was not blaming them.

But Jude did not immediately answer.

As calmly as possible, he spoke smoothly.

“The betrayal of the Lord Protector… of Duke Antarius was something that we didn’t expect.”

His words were reasonable.

The betrayal of the Lord Protector was something unimaginable for most people.

“As I said before, we’ve already proven that the Fairy Queen’s warnings are true. Her words may be uncomfortable to hear, but it can’t be taken lightly because we’ve experienced its veracity in the north.”

As Jude had said, it was a repeat of the story they had already told before.

Because there was no one other than the Fairy Queen whom they could cite as a source of information.

‘And because it’s impossible to use the Guardians of the Holy Cross as an excuse this time.’

It was a big incident where the royal capital was directly attacked.

After the immediate chaos had been settled to a certain extent, the royal family would definitely mobilize all the kingdom’s power to start a war against the demon followers.

If that happened, it would be impossible for the kingdom to not join hands with the Guardians of the Holy Cross, so if they had carelessly used the Guardians of the Holy Cross as an excuse, the two would be in trouble if their stories didn’t match.

‘So we pushed for that excuse.’

To begin with, Jude and Cordelia were the only ones able to call out the Fairy Queen in the royal capital.

Sylvia, the second prettiest woman in the north right after Cordelia, could do it too, but the possibility of her attempting to summon the fairies was close to zero, so as long as Jude and Cordelia did not make a mistake, they wouldn’t be caught.

‘We also did some preparations.’

In preparation for the one in a million possibility, they gave the Fairy Queen a box of chocolates and asked her to match their story.

But she was still a fairy in the end, so it was doubtful if she would really match their words if she got asked.

In any case, Jude used that excuse, and Count Bayer quietly looked at Jude and nodded.

“I see. I understand. We are all greatly indebted to the Fairy Queen.”

Thanks to her, they were able to protect the royal family and the royal capital.

They were able to save the country from the traitor, Duke Antarius.

But Count Bayer thought of Jude and Cordelia before that.

He didn’t openly say it, but he was more thankful that he was able to save the two.

But it was at that moment.

“There is one more thing that I want to ask.”

It was Count Chase.

He looked at Jude and Cordelia, asking in a low voice.

“That bas-… how did you two win?”

He did not say the name of that person.

But Jude and Cordelia knew who Count Chase was talking about.

The Lord Protector and traitor, Duke Antarius, was one of the Ten Great Swordmasters.

Even though he was old and had weakened, he was still one of the best swordsmen in the kingdom.

Jude and Cordelia had defeated such a Lord Protector.

It wasn’t something they could simply believe because the fight had been two against one.

“I’m not doubting you. But I honestly couldn’t understand it well from what I heard from the crown princess.”

Count Bayer also spoke, and the two nodded at the same time.

He would obviously feel like that because it was a fight that was hard to explain in words on how they won.

Cordelia’s idea to use the power of the divine sword, and Jude’s ability to finish the enemy with the power that she had passed on to him.

It was a miracle that could only happen because the two were together.

Jude took a deep breath instead of answering right away again. He quietly held Cordelia’s hand and looked at her.

‘Cordelia.’

‘Yes, Jude.’

‘About this… let’s be honest.’

On how they won.

On why a miracle happened.

At Jude’s gaze, Cordelia nodded and squeezed Jude’s hand.

‘Let’s do that.’

They couldn’t hide it forever.

‘And… it’s not that big of a secret.’

Count Bayer and Count Chase already knew of the fact that Jude was a disciple of Landius and that he had been taught the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors by Landius.

But they had hid the fact that Cordelia had become an angel through Ancestral Regression.

‘I’ll tell them then.’

‘Okay.’

It was about Cordelia herself, but Jude was the one in charge of explaining.

After Cordelia relaxed herself and squeezed Jude’s hand, Jude began explaining to Count Bayer and Count Chase.

And around ten minutes later.

Once they were done listening to all his words, Count Bayer and Count Chase looked at each other with smiles full of surprise.

“Hoh… Ancestral Regression.”

Especially Count Chase who was really surprised.

Unlike Count Bayer who had only heard of the concept of Ancestral Regression today because he was a swordsman in the first place, Count Chase already knew to a certain extent about Ancestral Regression.

“I knew that the blood of an angel flowed in my family, but… I can’t believe that it’s Ancestral Regression.”

Count Bayer asked in curiosity towards Count Chase who appeared to have lost his composure, which was unlike him.

“Arthur, is it possible for you to become an angel with Ancestral Regression?”

If Cordelia had the blood of an angel, it would also flow on her father, Count Chase.

But Count Chase immediately shook his head as if he did not even need to think about it.

“Just because our ancestor is an angel does not mean that it’s possible to regress to our ancestor. You have to be born with a strong enough angelic trait in order for Ancestral Regression to be possible. It’s usually impossible unless it’s atavism.”

“Atavism?”

“It refers to a phenomenon in which the trait of an ancestor suddenly appear strongly in a later generation.”

Having said that, Count Chase looked back at Cordelia and nodded.

“Cordelia, your transcendent beauty may perhaps be the result of atavism.”

“Eh? Uh… yeah.”

At being called a transcendent beauty, Cordelia turned red and bowed her head, while Jude received Count Chase’s words with a very serious face.

“Cordelia is an angel not only in her face but also in her heart.”

“Hmm, indeed. She was born with it.”

“Yes, she was born with it. Holy Angel Lena-nim also praised her a lot.”

“Uh-huh.”

As Count Chase nodded with a happy face, warm smiles also appeared on Jude and Count Bayer’s faces.

And the last person.

There was one person who was struggling in her embarrassment rather than taking part in the current atmosphere.

‘What the heck are you talking about!’

What? My heart is like an angel’s too?

Would you like to die and be an angel now?

Cordelia felt like she wanted to strangle Jude right now, but it was impossible since they were in front of Count Bayer and Count Chase.

So she just bit her lips and fought back her embarrassment.

But it was then.

“So, if you’re usually a human, do you become an angel by transforming into one or something?”

“Yes, she can. Lena-nim said that in order to maintain Angel Mode at all times, her angel rank must be at a certain rank or higher.”

“I see.”

Count Chase nodded as if he was convinced, and he stared at Cordelia while Count Bayer also stared at her and then coughed.

Neither of them said anything, but it was obvious what they were hoping for.

‘Ah, seriously. Why am I the one who’s always being embarrassed? Why?’

Cordelia was a little annoyed, but she couldn’t do much about it, so she decided to just accept her fate.

After she got up from her seat, she revealed her angel wings of light.

“Oooh…”

Count Chase exclaimed in admiration as he saw the wings made of a bright white light. Count Bayer’s eyes also widened and admired the appearance of Cordelia who was emitting a divine aura.

And there was one person who was elated at the response of the two.

“She’s a real angel.”

For reference, she’s my fiancée.

I’m the only one in the world who has a real angel as a fiancée.

Count Bayer had a bitter smile at Jude’s proud words that were conveyed without him even speaking, while Count Chase just hmphed. And lastly, Cordelia covered her face with both hands.

And a few minutes or so later.

When the fuss had subsided, Count Bayer asked again.

“Jude, how is your body now? Are there any side effects from opening the sixth door?”

Count Bayer did not know much about the Ninth Heaven’s Nine Doors.

Jude smiled bitterly at the question full of worry and replied.

“To be honest… my condition now is quite bad. But I’ll be okay after a few days of rest.”

Cordelia was the one who was the most surprised by his answer.

[What? Are you still in pain?!]

[Yeah, it hurts. At least until the day after tomorrow, you can think that the weak Jude of the past is back.]

[R-really? Then will you collapse from just walking?]

[No, it wasn’t… that bad before.]

[Jude?]

[Don’t worry. It’s not that bad. There’s no problem in my daily activities.]

[Really?]

[Really. You checked it yesterday, right?]

[Huh?]

[I mean, what…we did. That incident.]

That was it. Cordelia lowered her head instead of asking him anymore. Her ears that can be seen in between her hair had now turned red.

In any case, Jude’s story was over, so Count Bayer sighed and said as he straightened his posture.

“All right. Then I won’t prolong this conversation for long. I’ll just tell you what we were going to say before you go back.”

Jude and Cordelia weren’t called this morning just to resolve their questions about the incident.

It was because they had to tell the two something too.

“A merit ceremony will be held in five days.”