The Third Son of a Medieval Knight Family Chapter 69

Knight of Ascension (4)

-They say the savior of Radovitz was actually from the family that caused the war!

-It’s a confirmed fact directly revealed and vouched for by the renowned Sir Yelchin!

A rumor struck Radovitz Castle, which was beginning to regain peace.

As if someone had artificially spread it, the rumor quickly propagated to the point where most people in the castle, regardless of their status, came to know of it.

The reactions were varied.

The mercenaries and commoners chattered away daily as if they had found good material, while the knights half-believed and half-doubted while cautiously continuing various conversations.

However, those showing the most heated reactions were the nobles.

“Sir Viktor must take proper responsibility! He deceived people about his family and tried to evade his guilt. What a deceptive person!”

“From what I hear, Sir Viktor’s family was one that ruled a pioneering village. I trust those who understand the meaning of this will all know…”

“It doesn’t seem to be mere groundless rumor… The source being Sir Yelchin, the castle lord’s trusted knight, is something everyone who knows anything is aware of. Indeed, some measures must be taken…”

The eastern lords rushed forward like fish meeting water and began denouncing Viktor in unison.

Watching this sight, the Viscount wore a cold smile.

“Anyone watching can tell it’s our doing—they’re brazenly revealing it. This is why eastern country bumpkins are called crude.”

At the Viscount’s harsh words, Lusimov shook his head awkwardly and carefully opened his mouth.

“However, Your Excellency. The rumors have already spread thickly throughout the castle. Perhaps it would be best to summon Sir Yelchin first and inquire…”

“Mm, summon Sir Yelchin. This time I need to give him some warning. If he gets involved in such petty schemes, I’m worried about the future.”

Unlike the eastern lords’ reaction that burned wildly like wildfire, the Viscount was remarkably calm.

Having experience rolling around in central politics, this level of scheming was cute to him.

While it was unpleasant that his cherished subordinate was involved, the Viscount thought there was no need for him to act personally.

‘I’m curious about the Count’s reaction. He certainly won’t stay still… I don’t know who orchestrated this kind of thing, but they’re definitely an idiot.’

The Viscount sighed.

If they had stayed quiet, they could have preserved at least some power, but the eastern lords had made quite a bad move.

His gaze turned toward where the Count was staying.

He was confident that the Count was growling by now, even without having to see it.

---

Contrary to the Viscount’s expectations, the Count was quite calm.

Count Yakobski was silently savoring the feast laid before him.

Rather, unusually, Mikhail was more restless and spoke to the Count.

“Your Excellency, will this really be alright? The lords’ denunciations are growing fiercer. At this rate…”

The Count moistened his throat with liquor, then quietly asked in return.

“At this rate, what?”

“…Your Excellency?”

“I’m asking what you think will happen at this rate.”

“Well…”

When Mikhail showed difficulty, the Count waved his hand.

“I’m not trying to blame you. I’m asking purely. What do you think will happen at this rate?”

“Mm… wouldn’t Sir Viktor’s position become difficult? He’s someone who left his family, and the fact that his family was already exterminated won’t be very important to people.”

“And then?”

“…Then naturally there will be those who don’t want to follow him, and wouldn’t future plans also be disrupted?”

“Hmm… I didn’t know mercenaries valued loyalty so highly. Aren’t they the type who would follow even a demon as their employer if given enough money?”

“Yo-Your Excellency… even if mercenaries are like that, the knights…”

“Sir Mikhail. Do my knights seem like those who wouldn’t follow Sir Viktor for such reasons?”

Mikhail thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“No, they don’t. From what I could see, most were enchanted by Sir Viktor to a somewhat worrying degree.”

“That’s right. I don’t think that’s necessarily bad either… anyway, for those who have been saved multiple times, such a minor flaw wouldn’t be a problem.”

The Count lifted his wine cup again to moisten his throat, then continued.

“And honestly, calling that a major flaw is also ridiculous. Sir, doesn’t it make no sense to blame someone from an already exterminated family?”

“…That’s also true, but…”

You could find fault if you wanted to find fault, couldn’t you, Mikhail finished as he slowly bowed his head.

The Count was right.

If it had been an enormous problem from the beginning, that would be different, but the two of them had already employed Viktor knowing which family he was from.

They could pick at it if they wanted to, but wasn’t it a family that had already paid the price through extermination?

‘But the reason such rumors are spreading now can only be one thing.’

As if reading Mikhail’s thoughts, the Count uttered the exact same words.

“That’s right. Unless there are those who want to make an issue of this, there’s no reason for rumors to spread.”

“Your Excellency, then indeed…”

“Well, I hear it’s a story directly confirmed and vouched for by Sir Yelchin, the castle lord’s knight…”

The Count’s eyes began to gleam coldly.

“There seem to be those who consider me quite an idiot. Did they think I wouldn’t notice when they’re so blatantly trying to sow discord?”

Crash!

He threw down his empty wine cup and stood up.

Mikhail bowed his head even lower.

Though the Count seemed calm, he was extremely angry.

He knew well that when his lord was extremely angry, he actually became colder.

‘If not the castle lord, there’s only one group that could orchestrate this level of scheme. The eastern lords were too greedy…’

To provoke the future heir to the principality—they truly lacked political sense.

Even he, a mere knight, could figure it out, so what were they thinking when they orchestrated this? That was the only mystery, Mikhail thought as he quietly offered his condolences.

They probably wouldn’t even be guaranteed the full rights they should enjoy in the future.

‘Speaking of which, what is Sir Viktor doing…’

Mikhail quickly forgot about the poor souls whose fate was decided and began wondering what Viktor was doing by now.

---

Thud!

A heavy sound echoed.

Viktor looked down with a calm expression at the person kneeling before him.

“Sir, I swear by my lord that I have never revealed this matter. But with rumors already spread throughout the castle, it would be foolish to think you would easily believe my words.”

“…”

The kneeling knight, Yelchin, contorted his thick eyebrows and cried out desperately.

“You may cut me down, Sir! If that can prove my innocence, this Knight Yelchin will humbly accept it!”

He bowed his head just like that.

Those who knew Sir Yelchin’s usual temperament well would have found it hard to believe.

That someone with such a violent and hot-tempered nature would bow his head to another!

However, those who knew Yelchin even better would have nodded heavily.

Though Yelchin had a quick temper, he was a knight who tried hard to keep loyalty and knightly oaths—the kind rarely found these days.

Silence flowed between the two men.

Viktor, who had been watching Yelchin with his head bowed for a moment, quietly opened his mouth.

“Sir, raise your head. Telling me to cut you down—you say terrifying things so casually.”

“…But!”

“Hmm… let me make this clear. I never suspected you in the slightest from the beginning.”

“…!”

At Viktor’s words, Yelchin quickly raised his head.

“Aren’t we comrades who stood back to back on the battlefield? Knights can read each other through their swords. I already knew that a knight like you wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“No… but… Sir… such…”

“Perhaps someone eavesdropped on our conversation. That person must be the culprit.”

“…I was thinking the same thing. But I was too ashamed to bring it up myself, so I just kept it to myself…”

Yelchin’s face turned bright red.

His eyebrows began shaking up and down wildly.

“Sir…! You believe me! You believe in my innocence!”

“Ah, I believe you. You were merely played by someone’s ill intentions.”

At Viktor’s benevolent smile, Yelchin couldn’t say anything and bit his lips tightly.

Seeing him clearly struggling to hold back rising emotions, Viktor felt sorry for no reason and tried to smile even more.

‘If he finds out I knew someone was eavesdropping, he’ll probably try to kill me.’

Yelchin raised his head, gulped, then shouted in an even louder voice than before.

“You’re right, Sir! This is definitely a scheme to divide us!”

‘Us…’

Viktor’s smile began to feel slightly awkward, but Yelchin didn’t care.

“I’ve made up my mind. I swear by my god that I’ll catch the bastard who planned this and make him neither dead nor alive! And I’ll clear my name!”

“Yes, yes. I hope you do just that.”

At Viktor’s response, flames appeared in Yelchin’s eyes.

“I will never forget this! I won’t forget even in death, Sir! I’ll dedicate everything I can to repaying you for believing in my innocence! Really, really thank you!”

‘I can’t tell if this is gratitude or resentment.’

At words spoken while glaring, Viktor coughed awkwardly for no reason.

Then he waved his hand to calm him down and spoke again.

“This is my speculation, but… to spread rumors this quickly probably required a lot of manpower.”

“That would be right. In just a day or two, there’s no one in the entire castle who doesn’t know.”

When the slightly calmer Yelchin replied, Viktor nodded and continued.

“There aren’t many in this castle with that level of influence. Then it’s easy to deduce the culprit.”

“…His Excellency the Count. Our lord, and… the eastern lords.”

When Yelchin spoke gravely with gleaming eyes, Viktor also quietly nodded.

“Yes, only those three forces have the power to accomplish this. However…”

“First, our lord is absolutely not it! If our lord truly wanted to orchestrate something, he wouldn’t have let my name be mentioned.”

Yelchin passionately defended his lord while clenching his fists.

“Well, even if the castle lord had decided to get rid of you, he wouldn’t have used such an unsophisticated method.”

At Viktor’s subtle joke, Yelchin’s eyes widened as he trembled, but Viktor lightly ignored this and continued.

“His Excellency the Count wouldn’t be it either. If he wanted to get rid of me, there would have been many other good methods. Rather than doing such clumsy work, he could just call me in and feed me poison.”

“…Your jokes get more murderous the more I hear them, Sir.”

“I’m trying to fix that, but it’s not working well. Anyway, thinking coldly, it’s unlikely to be either of those two.”

“Then… what’s left is…!”

Just as the two were looking at each other and nodding.

Slam!

When someone opened the door without warning, Yelchin growled with a murderous expression.

“What rude bastard dares!”

“So-sorry, Sir Yelchin! But there’s something I must urgently inform you of!!”

“Mm, calm down for a moment. What’s the matter, Lukovich? To rush in like this.”

Lukovich, panting and barely catching his breath, opened his mouth with an expression that time was urgent.

“It’s terrible, Lord Viktor! The Count’s knights are occupying the square while criticizing Lord Viktor!”

“…!”

“The Count’s knights?! Hey, servant! Tell us in more detail!”

As Viktor’s expression hardened and Yelchin shouted urgently, Lukovich, though frightened, began accurately conveying what he had seen.

“Th-the young knights gathered and… said that Lord Viktor hiding his origins was unknightly… th-that he should take responsibility…”

“Young knights? Not all of the Count’s knights gathered?”

At Yelchin’s sharp question, Lukovich barely nodded.

“Th-that’s right. The number of knights wasn’t that many, but… so many people gathered in the square… I thought I should inform you!”

Viktor quietly fell into thought.

A conversation he’d had with Mikhail before flashed through his memory.

-It seems the young fellows are harboring jealousy toward you for no reason… I’ll keep a good watch so they can’t do anything foolish.

‘It’s not Sir Mikhail’s fault, but… these guys have caused trouble.’

Viktor felt a slight headache coming on and pressed his temples gently.

In front of him, Yelchin was grilling Lukovich thoroughly, but that didn’t really catch his attention either.

‘Do they even know what they’re doing?’

Viktor felt drained for no reason.

There was no need to think about how to deal with them or anything.

The young knights had not only dug their own graves but were proudly advertising everywhere, asking to have their necks cut.

The cold expressions of the Count and Mikhail flickered before his eyes.

After a moment of silence, Viktor spoke.

“…Let’s go see.”

“Si-Sir? No matter how angry you are, if you hit them or something, the situation will only get worse.”

“Lord Viktor! Please calm down and wouldn’t it be better to visit the count first?”

While still gripping Lukovich’s collar, Yelchin spoke seriously, and Lukovich, who had been gasping continuously, also advised with a worried expression, but Viktor didn’t care.

He looked at them and chuckled, then replied calmly.

“What reason do I have to act? If they’re going to die on their own, let’s just go watch.”

“…?”

When the two saw Viktor stand up with a pitying expression, they began following behind him in confusion, albeit slowly.