In the meantime, somewhere in the Imperial Palace of Avalon, Icarus was having a hard time believing her eyes.
âSir Cain!â she shouted. âI told you to clear your room more often!â
âOh, hi.â Cain waved his hand, and rolled over in his bed.
âNow is not exactly the time to say hi! This is a pigsty, not a human room! This is why you canât get married, Sir Cain. No one likes a man who is filthy.â
That finally got Cain up from the bed. âWhy are you nagging me as soon as you get here?â
âWeâre living under the same roof, so you need to have common courtesy. Common!â
âGosh, someone might have a wrong idea if they heard you right now. Weâre living together in this enormous palaceâthere are at least a hundred roofs in this place, not one. Besides, youâre not the one responsible for cleaning!â
âItâs difficult for servants to work.â
âYouâre quite a saint,â Cain grumbled.
âThat is why I call you sheltered. Youâve never cleaned up a room yourself.â Icarus set an example herself by picking up the trash in front of her one piece at a time.
âLeave them be.â Cain waved his hand around.
âForget it. Iâll do it myself instead of waiting and getting frustrated.â
âMy family is greatly honored that Miss Icarus, the new power in the Imperial Palace, is personally cleaning up my room,â Cain said dramatically.
Icarus snorted. âI was born a peasant.â
While the two bickered, a teenage girl stuck out her head through the gap in the opened door.
âAmel?â Icarus said.
âMiss Icarus, I was ordered to escort you to the council chamber right away,â Amel reported.
âHuh? By whom?â
âThe Lord Steward. He said His Majesty returnedâŠâ Amel cautiously informed her.
Cain and Icarusâs eyes widened.
âHis Majesty has returned?â
âJust a moment ago. From what Iâve heard, heâs going to send you, Miss Icarus, to support the feudal conflict of the Pontier Family,â Amel said.
âWhat? A feudal conflict?â
âI ran into Miss Iceline the Ice Archmage, and she told me about it.â
âHuhâŠ!â Cain gasped. A sparkle came to his eyes. âHe said he was going to travel alone for several days and yet he returned with Miss Iceline.â
Icarus immediately gave Cain a death glare. âWhat do you mean it shouldnât? Whose life are you trying to ruin right now? I wonât let our master meet the same future as you, Sir Cain.â
ââŠWell, Iâm going to get married as soon as I meet someone!â Cain confidently claimed.
âThe problem is that there is no someone,â Icarus shot back..
The two were not worried in the slightest about this feudal conflict because they were certain that nothing bad could happen after their master had gotten involved.
âSo why is Lady Charles always looking for you when a problem rises?â Cain asked Icarus.
âIâm talented.â
âTo be honest, youâre only book-smart.â Cain looked away.
Icarus scowled at him. âWhat?â
âEveryone calls you a heaven-sent mind, but Iâve never seen you make a brilliant exploit.â
âI didnât have a chance to make one in the first place! Our master takes care of everything on his own, so what more can I do?â
âWow, that is a great excuse. Hmm~ Shall I use our master as an excuse as well? âIâm talented, but I never had a chance to use my talent.â Something along those lines?â
âDidnât you always receive help from our master? You werenât really his guard.â Icarus smirked.
âCome on.â Cain puffed up his chest. ââCain de Harry, the Black Lionâ means something in the continent.â
Icarus frowned. âForget it. Get ready to leave.â
âHuh?â
âWhat do you mean, âhuh?â Youâre coming with me.â
Cain gaped blankly at her. âWhat are you talking about?â
âAmel mentioned a feudal conflict.â
âSo?â
âHis Majesty already knows what is going on in that place, but heâs only sending me. Canât you see what he wants me to do? There is only one way to stop the feudal conflict from turning into an armed conflict and save Lady Charlesâs face, and itâs a knightâs tournament.â
Icarus had analyzed the situation perfectly.
âA k-knightâs tournament?â Cainâs eyes widened. âDoes the Pontier family have a knightâs order? I thought their order was annihilated by the war against Marquess Crombell.â
Icarus shrugged. âWell, there is. She said she recently created several knightâs orders.â
âShe must have made them at the last minute by recruiting a few free knights.â Cain snorted.
âAs you already know, a knightâs combat power isnât the deciding factor in winning a tournament. Tactics, mobilizing and leading their fellow knights⊠A knightâs order in bad shape can often turn the tables due to many other factors.â
âSo you mean the leader of a knight order is the most important one, but the Pontier family doesnât have such a knight.â
Icarus stared at Cain without saying anything.
âWhat? Me?â
âThen who else is there?â Icarus said with a thin smile.
âWhy meâŠ?â Cain muttered in confusion.
âWhat do you mean, âwhy?â Cain and Icarus are always a set.â
ââŠYouâre ridiculous,â Cain saidâbut he was already heading to the council chamber.
Amel, who was watching them from behind, giggled and mumbled, âTheyâre always like that.â
âLet me ask you one more question,â Cain said. âYou ask me to do stuff, but why do you always treat me so roughly?â
âThink about it positively. That is how comfortable I feel around you.â Icarusâ smile deepened.
âSo is it me or our master?â Cain asked.
Icarus frowned slightly. ââŠWhat part of the conversation led you to ask this question?â
âWhat? Youâre worried about our master not getting married but not me? You can âsaveâ me, you know.â
Icarus smiled. âSir Cain?â
âHmm?â
âDo you have a conscience?â
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âWhat?â
âIâm a year older than His Majesty.â
âSo?â
âHow much older are you than His Majesty?â
âLetâs see⊠When our master was nine, I was in my mid-twentiesâŠâ
âYouâre at least twelve years older than me, right?â
âCome on, there is no age nor nationality in love.â
âI told you that you arenât my type, Sir Cain.â
âSo what? Are you trying to become a queen consort?â
After some time, Cain and Icarus arrived at the council chamber. Although the chamber should have been empty, someone was already here, leaning casually against the throne. That person was Cain and Icarusâs one and only master.
âSir Cain! Icarus!â Iceline delightedly waved her hand at them from afar.
Cain beamed and waved his hand back at her. âMiss Iceline! Youâve become more beautiful.â
However, Icarusâ eyes were glued elsewhere, so Cain nudged Icarusâs waist. âWeâre meeting our friend for the first time in a while, so the least you can do is to say hello too.â
ââŠAh, you were here too, Miss Iceline,â Icarus quietly said .
âWhat theâŠâ Cain muttered.
Icarus smiled faintly and turned to look at the throne without saying anything else. She noted that their master was nodding off on the throne, so she figured that his journey must have been tiring. After a moment, Icarus turned away.
âI saw him, so Iâm good. Letâs go.â
ââŠWhat? Youâre leaving like that?â Cain asked in disbelief.
âA strategistâs virtue is to know what their master wants even without receiving orders.â
âBut this is the first time weâve seen him in ages, so why donât we say hello before we go?â
âForget it.â Icarus shook her head. âWeâre talking out loud, but he hasnât shown the slightest sign of waking up.â
Cain raised an eyebrow. âHuh, so youâre really going to die working?â
âThat is the mark of a true strategist.â
Cain pouted like an absolute child. He didnât definitely didnât want to leave like this, so Cain turned and shouted at the top of his lungs:
âMaaaaassssstttteeeerrrr! Your fangirl is going to go on a business tripppppppp!â
* * *
Using a warp gate, Cain and Icarus arrived at the Pontier Dukedom in less than a day.
âWelcome!â Charles, who had been waiting by the warp gate to welcome the two, hugged Icarus, beaming.
âLady Charles!â Icarus happily shouted.
âMy.â Charles gasped dramatically. âYouâre also here, Sir Cain?â
ââŠYouâve gotten good at pretending, Lady Charles. You look like you knew I was going to come,â Cain grumbled.
âHehe, you got me.â Charles winked. âIt was the only way because I added the condition that I wouldnât involve the Imperial Knights regarding the tournament.â
Cain nodded. âWell, Iâm technically not an Imperial Knight.â
It was known across the continent that Cain de Harry was only loyal to Joshua Sanders and was his first knight.
âOn top of that, youâre the one leading free knights right now, right?â Charles asked Cain.
Cain had officially become a free knight after the end of the war because he wanted to help his master outside of the framework of the empire that Joshua ruled. Since anyone talented enough could become a free knight, the job was perfect for Cain.
ââŠDo you really need to bother with other peopleâs help? Iâll smash everything on my own if anything goes wrong.â
âI knew I could count on you,â Charles said. âI know itâs shameless of me, but is it okay if I entrust you with this matter? Iâll repay this favor handsomely later.â
âWell, I guess Iâll have to do it.â Cain shrugged and took a step forward. âThen I would like to be rewarded with an opportunity to have a date with you, Lady Charles.â
ââŠPardon?â
âHmm? Iâm helping you at the risk of my life, so you arenât seriously going to say no, are you?â Cain asked dramatically.
âSir Cain! Stop talking nonsense! By the way, is it true, Lady Charles?â Icarus stared intently at Charles, but the noblewoman only smiled enigmatically.
âOh my god, I feel betrayed,â Icarus moaned as she collapsed to the ground. ââŠIâm going to go back.â
âWhat?â Cain asked.
âI want to date my master and get engaged to him! Sir Cain, you said youâd smash everything on your own, right? Then please take charge of this tournament matter. I changed my mind. Itâs really unfair for me to only work until I die.â
Charles and Cain stared vacantly as Icarus revealed a new side.