The End of Your Arrogance - Chapter 9.1

“What’s all this noise?”

Ilya, who had arrived at the gate, took off his robe. He glared at the invaders. The knights also looked at them coldly.

The invaders’ faces turned pale by the smell of blood that reeked from the knights as they had just returned from a monster conquest.

“Who are you?”

The man on the white horse slowly approached the knights. He dismounted and kneeled respectfully.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I am Odin Maduse, the heir of Marquis Maduse. I give my rather late congratulations for your inheritance as Archduke.”

There was a strong tension between the two. Ilya jumped down from his horse and helped Odin up. Ilya smiled at the man; his youthful eyes reminded him of Evelyn.

“Sir Odin, or should I call you brother-in-law? Anyways, welcome to Aujantice.”

The men in the religious habits looked on cautiously because of the unexpected greeting.

“You’re the only blood-related brother of my wife. I have been negligent.” Ilya laughed out loud as he extended a hand. Odin, after hesitating, accepted the handshake. Odin looked troubled after Ilya did not let go of his hand.

“I heard that you, my brother-in-law, have come all this way to take my lovely wife away. Is that right?” His gentle tone turned cold as ice.

“That’s right. I came to take back that which belongs to the Maduse.”

Schwing. The Black Forest knights drew their swords all at once and surrounded the two men. The guards at the walls aimed their arrow at the group. Odin’s knights also drew their weapons.

Ilya pulled Odin towards him by the hand. Odin’s was pulled helplessly towards Ilya. Ilya whispered when the two of them were close enough to feel each other’s breath.

“If you were going to take back your precious princess, you shouldn’t have given her to someone like me in the first place, you son of a b*tch.”

Odin scowled. Ilya hopped on his horse and ordered the guardsman.

“Open the gates.”

Creak. The gates opened and Ilya and the knights behind him rushed inside. Ilya looked back and yelled, “I hope we get along during your stay in the North, brother-in-law.”

His ecstatic blue-gray eyes sharpened as he looked at the Maduse’s flag flapping.

* * *

Ilya threw his thick robe to the floor after he entered his bedroom. He took off his heavy armor that had been strangling his body and placed it on the desk. The maids’ cheeks flushed as they filled the tub with hot water.

“I don’t need you all to attend my bath. Leave.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

He threw off his clothes that were covered with blood, sweat, and dust. He then entered the tub. He noticed drops of water dripping from his hair and recalled the night before.

“Two whales.”

He smirked as he thought of the silly woman. Then her bright face turned into that of the arrogant man. That which belongs to the Maduse. His eyes, which had calmed down, darkened again.

He rested his body in the warm water. His head, which had been resting on the edge of the tub, steadily disappeared into the water. His eyelids became heavy as he looked at the bubbles which gathered and dispersed.

“Are you going to stay in there forever?”

Ilya’s eyes opened to the familiar voice. The door burst open, and someone rushed inside.

“His Majesty is taking a bath right now. This is inappropriate!”

“Inappropriate?! In case you forgot, I bathed the two of you when you were children.”

“You woman! You just casted a couple of cleaning spells.”

Ilya let out a deep sigh. His relaxing bath was now over now that the two people had entered the room.

“Let’s talk after I put on some clothes.”

“Oh my, I’m good at talking just like this. Let my eyes have some fun.”

“What in the world are you talking about!”

They moved to the dining room and sat across from each other at the tea table. Ilya looked at Rene with nostalgia. He poured some tea into Rene’s cup.

“Rene, it’s been a long time.”

Rene filled her teacup with sugar cubes. “Hmm, we last met at Tatar, so… it’s been well over a year.”

Rene. She did not have a last name as she was from a family of slaves. She was a wizard who guarded the castle of Ajauntice from the time of Ilya’s father. Rene’s lab was Ilya and Nazz’s playground when they were kids. That was fifteen years ago before she had disappeared from their lives.

“The two of you have grown so much. You both have grown up to be handsome young men.”

“You are one to talk, Rene. You haven’t changed at all. You look exactly like the time we first met!”

She looked the same age as Ilya and Nazz with black hair and smooth skin. She hadn’t aged at all.