Chương 22: Royal Flirting...?

"That's good. I came to see how strong your knights were too." Noa's lips curved slowly—not into a warm smile, but something that glinted like polished steel catching the sun. A faint shimmer woke in his eyes, as if a distant star had decided to burn behind his pupils. Valric blinked, confusion carving creases into his face.

"What are you talkin—Khuek!" Noa vanished from his spot and materialized right in front of Valric, burying his fist into the duke's stomach. The impact wasn't a mere punch; it was a heavy thud that disrupted the courtyard's quiet like a massive boulder dropped into still water. Staggering backward, Valric's boots dragged harshly against the dirt. A line of dark red blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, standing out against his pale skin.

"Pretty tanky for an old man," Noa said, looking down to flex his fist. Rose watched from the sidelines, her eyes widening before she lunged toward his side.

"What are you doing?!" she shouted. Across the scene, the clashing of practice weapons went dead silent the moment the sound echoed out. The training knights stared at the scene, entirely lacking the context to understand what was happening—but they grasped one truth: Their lord had been struck. They waited only for a command.

"That was payment," Noa said, shifting his gaze toward Rose, "for not looking after your own children." He told me that he isn't the type to let things slide when someone touches what belongs to him... Is he seriously still pissed about that earring?! Rose pressed her palms against the sides of her head, her teeth gritting in irritation.... This is fine, right? I won't get fired for this, right? Despite the sudden political tension in the air, Rose's greatest fear at the time was sudden unemployment.

Absorbing the brunt of the blow, Valric pressed a hand firmly over his stomach and slowly forced his head up. The confusion had vanished from his eyes, replaced by a burning glare. My son? Did he do something to Lucien too? The thought surfaced, but a wave of noble pride drowned it out before it could take a breath. You little… I will show you the power of a duke! His voice trembled with a heavy, contained fury as he opened his mouth.

"Knights… attack him… all of you!" The moment the command tore through the air, steel sang across the courtyard as swords cleared their scabbards. One by one, the knights stepped forward, forming a wall of iron. The report from Kenar said he slaughtered those three monsters… but there's no way he can fight all of us alone. And this— This was Noa's second reason for striking Valric. After seeing the number of soldiers gathered here, he hadn't just wanted a brief spar. He wanted a storm.

"Just don't break it completely," Rose muttered, already extending her sword toward Noa's grip.

"[Aura Blade] won't work well without a weapon." Noa reached out, pushing the offered blade away.

"Bruh, it's not like I'm going to kill them. I don't need a sword." Who said anything about killing them?! Rose clicked her tongue internally. She had offered the weapon because the opposing forces were fully armed, and [Aura Blade] required steel to reach its full potential. But unknown to her, Noa held something far greater than [Aura Blade]. His left hand slowly darkened as a purple-black energy began to crawl over his skin.

The energy looked visually similar to his aura, but it felt incomparably deeper, denser, and more suffocating. [Echo Reclamation]"Heheheh~ I didn't get to use it on that Cassion guy," Noa chuckled, his smile curving upward as sharp as a crescent moon.

"This is the first time I'm using this. So be honored." The knights rushed forward, their weapons blazing as aura infused the steel. Their disciplined march accelerated into a sprint, which quickly dissolved into a full-on charge. Noa planted a foot forward as his fist wound back. For the very first test, he threw nothing more than a casual punch. THOOM!! The ground fifty meters ahead completely detonated.

Stone flooring ruptured outward in jagged shards, and a massive plume of dust exploded high into the sky, the shockwave ripping through the courtyard like sudden thunder. Nearly a tenth of the charging knights were blasted straight backward, their heavy armor ringing loudly as they crashed and skidded across the stone floor. Some managed to land on one knee, gasping for air, though none were knocked unconscious. Even so, the remaining forces didn't falter—they kept pushing forward.

"Oho?" Noa tilted his head, genuinely intrigued by the results.

"Did I get stronger or something? Whatever… for the next test, let's add a bit more energy." This time, he drew deeper from the source—channeling the anger, the thick hostility, and the atmosphere of wounded pride swirling through the arena.

"Alright, you conveniently raged NPCs placed here to be punching bags, take th—" This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"HAHAHAHA! So you've come here… straight to your own grave!" A loud, arrogant laugh from behind cut off Noa's words. The voice echoed across the training grounds, causing the advancing knights to halt their march and prompting both Noa and Rose to snap their heads toward the source. It was Lucien, standing right near the entrance with a wide, triumphant grin.

"It was you? The hell, I completely forgot about you," Noa said, blinking in genuine surprise.

"If it weren't for those monsters showing up, I would've killed you back then." Lucien smirked.

"That was just a surprise attack. Now, you will die by my han—Huh?" His voice trailed off as he finally looked around the arena, realizing his father was bleeding and a portion of the knights were scattered across the ground or kneeling in pain. But— It's fine. I have 'them' with me. He will surely be executed here. From the shadows behind Lucien, several figures stepped forward into the clearing. It was the counts of Blackmoor, the military marshal, and the chancellor. And then, the final figure stepped into view.

"I knew you would cause trouble."

"!!?" Valric and the surrounding knights stared at the figure. Despite his injuries, the duke immediately dropped to his knees, and the rest of the soldiers instantly followed suit. Shining white hair fell beautifully over a stark black outfit, her piercing crimson eyes revealing themselves fully as she stepped into the light. Why is she here? Valric thought, a sweat forming on his face. Is it because of him?

"Young man, kneel before Her Maje—""I just wanted to see my current strength," Noa said lightly, cutting off the chancellor.

"You cannot blame me for it." The entire courtyard froze solid at the sight of Noa casually smiling at her instead of dropping to his knees. Vionette's eyebrow twitched as she stepped closer to him.

"So destroying an entire dukedom was how you wanted to test your strength?"

"I wasn't going to destroy the whole thing~" Noa whistled casually, looking up at the sky in the exact same way he had avoided looking at Rose earlier.

"I was… just going to punch one or two of them." Vionette stepped even closer, leaning her face up toward Noa from below, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. Something's off… Why do they talk like they're so close? Valric, having calmed his breathing, tried to piece the clues together.

"He isn't of royal blood, right…?" one of the knights whispered quietly to another.

"He must be, you idiot! Or he wouldn't talk to her like that," another replied under his breath. Behind Vionette, Lucien stood with his jaw dropped low. The aristocrats of Blackmoor who had arrived alongside him stared blankly at their duke, before turning to look back at the pair with the exact same stunned expression written across Valric's face.

"What about beating the duke's son, then, eh?" she pressed further, raising an eyebrow.

"I just beat up the guy who tried to steal my gift for you," Noa said, turning his gaze away again to avoid her eyes.

"And he just happened to be the duke's son."

"My… gift?" Vionette blinked, tilting her head in confusion. Noticing that she was finished questioning him, Noa brightened up immediately and looked directly into her eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the earring, the crimson gem in the center catching the reflection of Vionette's own eyes.

"Yes! This earring!" He extended it toward her.

"Wow… it's beautiful," she murmured, looking at the gemstone from different angles. Wait! A gift for me?! As a faint crimson blush spread across her cheeks, Noa suddenly reached out, catching her by the hand and spinning her around so that her back met his chest.

"Stay still. I'm putting it on," his voice murmured right next to her ear. He gently swept the strands of white hair away from her left ear. After touching the edge of her ear for a moment longer than necessary, he used his other hand to carefully fasten the earring in place. The movement was quiet, careful—almost ceremonial. For a fleeting second, the training grounds seemed to disappear around them; it felt less like a simple piece of jewelry and more like a silent vow placed without any witnesses.

Vionette turned her head over her shoulder to look up at him, the faint blush still coloring her face, her crimson eyes half-lidded with affection.

"You're good at this, Blackie~" She reached up to touch the gemstone.

"I'll keep this on from now on, then." While the two were lost in their own world, the surrounding audience watched in absolute bewilderment.

"Hey, why are they doing this here?" a female knight whispered.

"Don't ask me, who the hell knows?" Then, another knight opened his mouth, completely forgetting to keep his voice down.

"I think we just witnessed royal flirting." Noa and Vionette instantly froze. They immediately looked, suddenly remembering the duke, the nobles, and the entire army of knights who were still kneeling on the dirt, watching them with a wild mix of expressions.

"Ahem! Everyone, get up," Vionette commanded loudly, quickly clearing her throat and creating a bit of distance between herself and Noa.

"By your will!" the crowd shouted, rising in unison.

"Knights, return to training," she ordered, pointing a finger toward the arena before turning back to face Valric.

"Nobles, we're all going to the Private Garden for a meeting."

"By your will!" the knights chorused automatically. Do you fuckers only have one line to say?! Vionette thought, snapping internally.

"Wait," Noa called out, his eyes narrowing as a sudden realization hit him.

"Did you… secretly run away from Seliora?"

"EEEK!" Vionette froze the next second. Then, she spun toward Noa in a flash, slamming her hand over his mouth.

"SHH! Don't say that name out loud! It'll become a jinx! What if… just what if Seliora actually comes here too?" The mere thought sent a shiver running down her spine. Noa pulled her hand off his face and rolled his eyes.

"... So you did run away from her. How did you even get here faster than we did anyway? It's not like you traveled here the same day as us."

"Oh, you idiot~" Vionette smiled mischievously.

"If we have teleportation circles from a kingdom to another, you think we don't have them in our own dukedoms?" Noa stared at her, his jaw tightening as he gritted his teeth.

"…Then why the hell didn't you tell me?!"

"Tehee~ I didn't want you having all the fun yourself while I'm locked in the office. So I made your tour a little longer." She gave him a playful wink along with a bratty smile.

"I was looking at you through [A Match Made in Hell] from time to time. You looked like you were having character de-development—ouch!" Noa shot his hand out and pinched her cheek tightly, stretching her face sideways.

"You little—I'm snitching on you to Seliora!" Vionette's face instantly drained of all color yet again. She looked up at Noa with an expression of dead-serious panic.

"…You wouldn't."

"I would."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"I absolutely would!"

"No, no, no—you can't!" she grabbed tightly onto his sleeve as dramatic tears began to shimmer in the corners of her eyes.

"You can't!"

Meanwhile, behind them, the group of knights who had been ordered back to training just stood in place, blankly staring at the shattered ground that rippled outward for a full fifty meters from that single punch.

"Was that really a normal punch with his bare hands?"

"Alright, I'm done with this!" one knight shouted, stabbing his sword into the dirt.

"From now on, I'm requesting hazard pay from the duke!"

Valric approached the two teenagers, wiping away the blood near his mouth. While his outer expression remained entirely calm, his mind was racing behind his eyes. I think I kind of understand what is going on between these two now…

"Your Majesty," he interjected carefully, offering a firm, polite bow.

"The Private Garden has been prepared."... Seems that man somehow got involved with Lucien before, and attacked him. Then after Lucien met Her Majesty, he brought her here, thinking of executing Noa. But now seems they like each other. Valric concluded internally. Whatever it is, I need to collect more information.

"Ah! Right…" Vionette forcefully composed herself, smoothing down her outfit.

"Let's go to the Private Garden first."