Please Vote for Your Knight! Chapter 5

“Pardon?”

“If you and Duke David had reached an understanding, you would have already finished your conversation and left. Rather than hovering around like an unwelcome guest even after a new guest has arrived.”

“N-No, what an incredibly rude thing to say……”

The lord was about to snap back when he heard a faint snicker from somewhere and froze with a blank expression.

It was David who had laughed.

It was clearly a mocking laugh, yet his expression couldn’t have been more courteous.

“I think that’s enough for today, Lord.”

“But, there’s still……”

“The Princess has arrived. Surely I shouldn’t occupy her seat any longer.”

It was a polite warning.

The lord’s face went pale.

What David meant was that he would show greater consideration toward the Imperial Family than toward the lord.

In other words, he had no interest in the new rebellion.

He is more interested in Cartamen, though. Whether it’s the real thing or a fake.

Sitting across from the Princess in the reception room, David quietly watched the girl whose eyes sparkled with excitement.

I became interested in having a private conversation after seeing how she dealt with the lord, but I have no intention of blindly following the Princess’s demands. I should at least find out the true purpose of Cartamen while I’m here.

Though it wouldn’t be easy.

If it was a fake, he would make sure that good people couldn’t participate.

But if it was real—

David stared at Edith.

The girl was still smiling brightly as she sampled the desserts.

The Princess who had been observing him with such cold, calculating eyes now looked like nothing more than a young girl.

She likes sweets.

Only sixteen years old.

Yet she was someone who had made a major contribution to the revolution through her genius-level alchemy skills.

I can’t afford to underestimate her.

He couldn’t let her rabbit-like appearance fool him.

Should I lead her with carefully crafted questions? Or exploit the weaknesses in her logic?

Contrary to what was going through his mind, David leisurely lifted his teacup.

Even the way he drank his tea was impossibly elegant, leaving Edith dumbfounded.

A perfectly straight back, broad shoulders.

A handsome face that looked as though it had been sculpted, with jewel-like blue eyes.

He’s handsome and the very definition of nobility. If he even appears in the competition, it’ll cause an uproar.

I should put him front and center during the early stages, no matter what he does, so everyone can see him.

Something like a figurehead.

Whether he remained merely a figurehead or went further would be up to David.

But—

He’s pretending to be kind, but whenever he looks at me, his eyes turn cold. And yet he invited me in.

“You’re curious about Cartamen, aren’t you? Why we’re doing it, whether this is the real thing. Ask me anything. I’ll answer.”

David, sitting across from her, suddenly coughed.

Edith tilted her head.

“Why are you so surprised? You look like someone who was about to lead me with questions to uncover the truth.”

“You’re quite direct.”

David let out a hollow laugh as though he found the situation absurd.

The expression hidden behind his courteous knightly demeanor finally surfaced.

It was a cold, confident face.

“I’ve been rejected so many times that I don’t have any more time to waste.”

There was a barb hidden in those words.

“Then tell me. Why are you restarting Cartamen after it has been defunct for twenty years?”

His voice was an attractive, deep baritone.

But don’t let that voice fool you and forget the thorns hidden in his words!

This guy suspects me.

Edith smiled sweetly and said,

“To revive the lost traditions of the Empire!”

“……”

“—Would be far too cliché, wouldn’t it?”

“You know that yourself.”

David wasn’t someone who could be swayed by the usual polished platitudes.

Unlike an ignorant knight who blindly upheld chivalry without thinking about anything else, he was quite intelligent.

No, he wasn’t merely intelligent.

David was a genius among knights.

He was not only exceptionally skilled in martial arts, but clever as well.

That was why, when he was young, he had been forcibly knighted by the tyrant and nearly dragged into the blood tournament.

It was famous how his older brother, Hugo, entered the blood tournament in place of the young David.

So she needed to give him a serious answer.

Edith looked straight at David and said,

“I’m opening Cartamen for the unity of the Empire.”

“The unity of the Empire……?”

It was an unexpected answer, and David looked flustered.

No matter how well she disguised it, he had expected her to say that they were recruiting knights to strengthen the Empire’s military power.

But the unity of the Empire?

“Everyone in the Empire will be able to watch Cartamen’s progress, and the results will be decided by the people’s votes.”

Edith explained softly.

“Once Cartamen begins, the people will be able to form a sense of solidarity around a common interest called ‘Cartamen.’ Everyone will have the same topic to talk about.”

The answer was so unexpected that it actually sounded more sincere.

While David was left speechless, Edith quickly continued.

“If you don’t have any more questions, then, as Princess, I formally ask you to participate in Cartamen.”

Unlike her constant bright smile, there was a rather earnest look on her face.

“Do you really need me that badly?”

“If a man known as the ‘Knight among Knights’ doesn’t appear, how could Cartamen be called a knightly competition?”

“It sounds as though you’re saying you’ll use me as a tool to generate buzz at the beginning of the competition.”

“You won’t be a ‘tool.’ You’ll be a ‘symbol.’”

The Princess spoke clearly and firmly.

“Of course, that also depends on what you do, but I believe you’ll do well.”

Not a tool, but a symbol.

David mulled over those words before asking,

“I’m curious. The Empire is so vast. How do you intend to make every citizen take an interest?”

“There are ways to do that!”

The Princess replied as though she’d been waiting for him to ask.

It was enough to leave even David, who had thought it would be a difficult question, bewildered.

“How, exactly?”

“You know that by using magic stones, we can create Vision Spheres, right?”

Vision Spheres were magical tools that came in pairs. One would record an image, while the other would broadcast the recorded footage.

“You intend to provide Vision Spheres to every household? That would cost an enormous amount of money.”

“Of course not. Instead, I’ll modify these magical tools and build broadcasting towers in each region.”

“Broadcasting towers?”

“Yes. The towers will display Cartamen on a gigantic screen. It’ll be large enough for even huge crowds of people to see.”

Like a theater screen, in other words.

David’s brows drew tightly together.

“And who is going to make such an incredible magical device?”

The Princess answered as though she had never heard such an absurd question before.

“I am.”

“!”

“I’ve already almost finished making them.”

Come to think of it, this girl was a genius alchemist who had made enormous contributions to the revolution through her alchemy.

The prestige of the name Cartamen.

The technology of a genius alchemist.

‘And excellent performers like me.’

With those three things, Cartamen was bound to succeed.

After hearing all that, he could no longer put off his answer.

“All right.”

“Then you’ll participate?”

“On one condition.”

David rose from his seat.

Then he picked up the sword he had been polishing until it gleamed the entire time.

“This belonged to my late brother.”

He pointed the sword toward the Princess.

No—toward the mysterious knight standing behind her.

Whoosh!

With a light swing, the robe covering Dimitri’s face slipped away.

“If you allow me to cut down the head of the cowardly knight who knelt before the tyrant, I will participate.”

At those words, the Princess shot to her feet.

David paid no attention and continued.

“You know that my brother was dragged into Tyrant Beauvoir’s Bloodbath. He became the final victor, but when he refused to become the tyrant’s dog, he took his own life. Did you bring this man before me to test me?”

“That wasn’t my intention at all.”

The Princess calmly replied as though his words were exactly what she had expected, rather than becoming flustered.

“I can explain Sir Dimitri Cassel’s situation.”

“This is a matter of a knight’s honor. If you intend to protect this traitor, then my participation in Cartamen is off the table.”

“……”

David Bertier would not participate in Cartamen.

He had officially rejected the Princess’s proposal despite being personally invited by her.

If that news spread, Cartamen would be doomed from the very beginning.

The competition would be starting with an enormous setback.

Edith had no idea how to save it.

No—she wasn’t even sure it could be saved.

After making up her mind, Edith finally spoke.

“All right.”

“……”

“Let’s forget it ever happened.”

“!”

“Lower your sword, Sir David.”

When David stood there in surprise, Edith approached him herself and firmly pushed his hand down.

“Your Highness!”

“Be quiet, Sir Dimitri.”

There was authority in Edith’s voice as she silenced Dimitri.

She raised her cold, steady eyes and looked directly at David.

“I have no intention of sacrificing my knight just to get what I want.”

“If it becomes known that I refused, it will be devastating to Cartamen.”

“That is something I’ll have to bear. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Edith turned and left the reception room.

Dimitri followed behind her.

Left alone, David stood there in a daze.

As he turned over the words he had just heard in his mind, his eyes widened.

He had never expected things to turn out this way.

He had assumed that since the Princess intended to use Cartamen to maintain her power, she would have no trouble throwing away one of her own people.

And if that person happened to be Dimitri Cassel, the public enemy of the entire Empire, no one would even blame her.

‘But Her Highness genuinely protected even that knight.’

Perhaps the Princess really was someone capable of holding a ‘true Cartamen.’

David hurried after the Princess.

And the moment he caught up with her, he dropped to one knee.

“Sir David?”

Surprised, Edith stopped walking.

David lowered his head even further.

“Please forgive my rudeness just now. It is merely an excuse, but because of what happened to my brother, I could not be certain that Cartamen would be any different from the Bloodbath. But after seeing you protect your own knight, I am convinced that what Your Highness is preparing is not a Bloodbath, but a true ‘Cartamen.’”

“Then were you testing me?”

“I will gladly accept whatever punishment I deserve.”

“Then your punishment will be participating in Cartamen.”

David raised his head in surprise.

“But I’m going to make full use of you as the ‘symbol.’ So be prepared.”

The warning made David feel strangely uneasy, but he had committed the offense, so he politely answered,

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Get up. First, I need to see how well you can memorize the slogan.”

“The slogan…?”

With an expectant smile, Edith shouted,

“‘Knights of the Empire, choose your knight!’”