Chapter 78: Gareth Deres
The Second Prince allowed the applause to continue for several moments before raising his hand.
’’Naturally, there will also be a reward,’’ he announced. ’’For every victory, the winner will receive one hundred gold coins.’’
That immediately earned another wave of excited whispers.
It wasn’t necessarily the money that excited most of them. Rather, it was the idea of receiving a reward directly from the Second Prince himself.
Roderic, however, couldn’t have cared less.
’Only a measly one hundred gold,’ he thought, almost scoffing. ’I have several thousand sitting around in the barony.’
The fact that it came from the Second Prince only made the reward less appealing.
After their little exchange earlier, Roderic had absolutely no desire to accept anything from him. Even if the reward had been ten times larger, he probably would’ve refused it out of spite alone.
’I might not always be honorable or act with pride,’ he thought, swirling the wine in his glass. ’But even I have some standards.’
Roderic took another large sip before letting out a deep sigh.
’Just put up with this nonsense for a little longer,’ he thought. ’The ball is almost over.’
His gaze flickered back ahead of him.
The servants had finished clearing the center of the hall, leaving a large open space beneath a set of crystal chandeliers.
A few moments later, the doors opened again.
This time, the personal attendants who had accompanied the young nobles were allowed back inside.
Roderic quickly spotted Edmund amongst them.
Like all the others, he seemed to be heading straight for him, carrying a wooden sparring sword in one hand.
’’Young master,’’ Edmund greeted, bowing respectfully.
’’Edmund,’’ Roderic nodded casually.
Edmund straightened himself again, his gaze immediately landing on the table with empty wine bottles.
’’It seems you’ve been enjoying yourself,’’ he said, smiling slightly.
Roderic let out a scoff before raising the glass of wine in his hand.
’’What’s there not to enjoy when there’s alcohol inside my body?’’ he replied.
Edmund glanced at the glass for a moment.
’’I take it the evening has fully met your awful expectations then.’’
Roderic immediately raised a hand.
’’No, you’re wrong about that,’’ he replied honestly. ’’At the start, it was better than expected.’’
He pointed at the podium. ’’But then those two arrived.’’
Edmund followed his gaze.
A look of understanding immediately appeared on his face.
But that look was quickly replaced by panic as he spun back to Roderic.
’’You didn’t say anything outrageous to the Second Prince, right?’’ he asked desperately.
Roderic shook his head with a smirk.
’’I held back,’’ he replied casually.
Edmund immediately let out a relieved sigh.
Silence fell between them for a moment.
Both stared at the podium, watching servants drag out two large golden chairs for the prince and his fiancée.
Finally, Edmund turned back to Roderic with a smile.
’’Would you like another drink, young master?’’ he asked softly.
Roderic glanced back at him approvingly right away.
’’You really do understand me,’’ he replied with a chuckle.
As Edmund got to work, loud applause suddenly rang out through the hall.
Roderic’s gaze flickered to the front right away.
Two young nobles had already stepped inside, both holding wooden swords surrounded by aura.
The Second Prince slowly raised his hand before waving it down.
Then the fight began.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Several exchanges followed one after another before one of them eventually resigned with a polite smile.
The surrounding nobles instantly applauded.
Roderic, on the other hand, sat down at a table, his cheek resting against one hand.
’How boring.’
Both had awakened their first aura seals just like him, but that was about where the similarities ended.
Neither had any control over their aura, and judging by the way they swung their swords, they barely had any real combat experience either.
’Is this how all nobles are?’ he wondered. ’There’s no way, right?’
He quickly shook his head.
Both his father and elder brother were quite hardworking knights after all. Not to mention, the kingdom probably wouldn’t be standing otherwise.
Unfortunately though, the rest of the duels weren’t much different.
Only two or three people actually seemed to know what they were doing but simply decided against showing it.
As another person raised his sword and applause rang out, Roderic couldn’t help but shake his head.
’These aren’t duels,’ he thought. ’This is just a show.’
It felt like watching professional wrestling... except it wasn’t even entertaining!
Roderic let out another deep sigh.
’Just a little longer. Then I’ll be out of here.’
Unfortunately, fate seemed to have different plans once more.
A shrill, cocky voice suddenly rang out from his side.
’’Well, well, well, still hiding behind a table, Whitemane?’’
Roderic’s eyes slowly shifted toward the speaker.
Three young nobles had approached while he wasn’t paying attention.
The one standing at the front looked to be in his early twenties, with neatly combed brown hair and a rather irritating smile plastered across his face.
Roderic’s right eye lit up in a faint golden light.
[Gareth Deres]
Age: 21
Race: Human
Current Rank: One Seal Knight
Knight Talent: Medium
Notable Information: Eldest son and heir of Baron Deres. Formed a group of nobles that trade and take drugs together.
...
Annoyance instantly spread across Roderic’s face.
’Really?’ he thought. ’I have to deal with you as well?’
Roderic quickly let out a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Though his mood might’ve hit a new low, he wasn’t about to lose control for no valid reason.
Unfortunately, Gareth seemed to only be getting started as well.
’’I’ve been hearing quite a few interesting things about you lately,’’ he said. ’’Clearing out bandits, becoming a proper knight. Apparently you’ve become rather impressive.’’
Roderic stared at him for a moment.
Then he simply raised his glass and took another sip.
Gareth’s smile twitched slightly.
’’I was wondering when you’d finally enter the ring,’’ he continued, his voice only growing louder. ’’After everything I’ve heard recently, I expected you to be desperate to show everyone your supposed talent.’’
Roderic simply remained silent.
By now, several other nobles had heard the commotion and started to watch.
’’Or perhaps Lady Ironhart was right,’’ Gareth said, more confident than ever. ’’And we all shouldn’t believe convenient rumors anymore.’’
Roderic stared at him for a moment.
Then he raised his glass once more.
’This is boring,’ he thought. ’If you’re going to provoke me, it’ll have to be better than that.’
Gareth watched him bring the glass up as several chuckles rang out around him at the blatant dismissal.
His face reddened right away.
’’I’m speaking to you, Whitemane.’’
Roderic didn’t even bother looking at him anymore.
But then, just as the glass was about to reach his lips, Gareth suddenly slapped it from his hand.
Crash!
The glass shattered against the floor, sending wine and shards scattering everywhere.
Roderic froze for a moment.
His gaze slowly dropped toward the beautiful red wine beside his chair.
’This motherfucker...’
His carefully contained anger had reached a boiling point.
Still, Roderic forced himself to remain seated.
’No.’
If he was going to get into a fight, it needed to have a proper reason.
And it needed to be good enough so none of the nobles or even the prince could blame him afterward.
Roderic let out a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.
’’Edmund.’’
’’Yes, young master.’’
Edmund immediately stepped forward and grabbed another glass from the table.
Gareth watched as the chubby attendant calmly began pouring Roderic another drink.
His eyes remained on Edmund for several seconds.
Then a grin slowly appeared across his face.
’’I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,’’ Gareth said. ’’The Whitemanes have always been better at raising animals than knights.’’
He paused for a moment.
’’Though I must admit, I thought your family only specialized in horses. When did you start breeding pigs?’’
Roderic’s eyes immediately shifted toward Gareth.
The three nobles had started chuckling, nodding approvingly at each other as if they’d said something great.
Then Gareth turned back to Roderic.
Seeing that he’d finally gotten a reaction, his grin only widened.
He turned his attention fully toward Edmund.
’’Tell me, servant,’’ he continued. ’’Do they keep you inside the manor, or do you sleep in the stables with the rest of the Whitemane livestock?’’
Edmund’s expression stiffened.
He glanced down at his chubby body, feeling his face flush red from embarrassment.
But he said nothing.
He simply finished pouring Roderic’s wine and held out the glass with a trembling hand.
Roderic accepted it silently, his eyes having long since narrowed.
’’Perhaps that was unfair,’’ Gareth added with a laugh. ’’At least the horses are useful.’’
Roderic stared at the fresh glass in his hand.
His thumb slowly moved across its edge.
Then he placed it back onto the table without taking a single sip.
’Alright. That’s it.’
He stood up and spun toward Gareth.
Gareth couldn’t even react.
BAM!
Roderic’s fist buried itself deep into his stomach.
’’UGH!’’
Every bit of air left Gareth’s lungs.
His body folded around the blow before being sent backward, crashing into the two nobles behind him.
THUD!
All three of them collapsed to the ground.
The entire hall turned deathly silent in an instant.
Everyone had been watching the exchange, though none of them had expected this ending.
Roderic slowly pulled his fist back.
’’You have openly insulted House Whitemane and its honor,’’ he said, looking down at Gareth. ’’As a son of House Whitemane, I cannot allow such an insult to go unanswered.’’
He paused, his eyes narrowing.
’’But more importantly, who the fuck gave you permission to insult one of my people?’’