I saw how it was.

According to how Volkwin and Yeager talked about the factions, there was no family with a position more ambiguous than the Weatherwoods family.

First of all, the Weatherwoods family participated in the war, but they did not not receive any benefits afterwards. In addition, since they hadn’t participated in any social affairs for the past 4 years, they could not be classified as either of the Pro-emperor and the Pro-Raphael faction despite being a member of the noble council.

Furthermore, despite boarding the Black Ragel for the noble council meeting, Viscount Weatherwoods had only hung out with members of the upper-class, such as Volkwin and Yeager, and not the aristocracy for three days now.

‘Did I mess up?’

I’d intended to stay out of the radar and not attract any unnecessary attention to myself, but my attempts had turned out to be a complete failure.

‘I failed to consider that moderation on my part and moderation on the part of the Viscount Weatherwoods are viewed completely differently and have very different standards.’

Since playing around was said to be all a noble’s job was, you thought you could just play, huh?

I didn’t know what my expression looked like, but as if to console me, Volkwin spoke in a comforting voice.

“Of course, not all of these people are here to see you just because your stand is ambiguous.”

Yeager slapped me on the shoulder and chuckled.

“Who would expect this guy to be a member of the prestigious aristocracy? You don’t seem like them at all, Gray. Sometimes even I am surprised because of you.”

It’s not that he was just surprised. No, he was confused. As I thought, Yeager was very sharp.

“Does that mean I’m not dignified?”

“No, it means that you’re free-willed and funny.”

Volkwin gave up the game. As if he’d been waiting, Yeager went all in on his stakes.

“You’re funny, Gray.”

“I see. Your face is a little funny, too.”

“I’ve never seen an aristocrat like you who treats everyone equally, regardless of rank or family. Even if they pretend not to, they moderately draw a line between us. ‘This person is on a good enough level for me to be friends with.’ or ‘this person’s status isn’t worth my time.’ they all seem to think like that. Except for you.”

Yeager’s eyes as he smiled held an edge to them. One could see he’d inspected a large amount of people with them.

“By the way, from what I’ve heard, people who are funny lead a tiring life. Especially for someone as good in appearance and position, as you people always have an expectation.”

“Oh, are you speaking from your own personal experience? Did you have an expectation set for me?”

“I will exercise my right to remain silent on that question.”

Then, the doors of the cabin opened again.

The flight attendant, who appeared from behind the door carefully, approached our table without sparing a glance to the side where the others were gathered.

“Look, here comes another visitor.”

With the horse, Yeager completed his deck of cards.

A full house. It was the third best card in Imperial Poker. This would usually guarantee the outcome.

“I suppose so.”

Feeling the abstract energy outside the door, I laid my cards down on the table.

“But this visitor seems to be an annoying one.”

“What?”

“Straight flush.”

If Full House was the third best card, Straight Flush was the best card.

“…no, what? Wait, how is…”

While I was sweeping the stakes on the table, Yeager checked my cards with surprised eyes.

Meanwhile, the flight attendant who approached me whispered in my ears.

“Viscount Weatherwoods. You have a visitor.”

Once again, I could feel the aura outside the cabin, pulling up the corners of my mouth.

I’d been waiting for this for four days. Ever since I’d stepped foot on the Black Ragel.

It was all because of this person that I watched in silence as this gathering became as big as it was now. I wanted them to bite the bait that was Viscount Weatherwoods.

Since my sixth-sense was unusually developed at the moment, I was confident I would be able to recognize it the moment I laid my eyes on them.

Whether they were the client or not.

“Duke Berkeley Gratten?”

The noise in the cabin vanished in an instant.

The widely spread tables were arranged all of a sudden.

His walk was neither slow nor fast. A skilled warrior had their own pace.

In that respect, the 17th guest who visited me was one with an unrivalled momentum.

“I’m embarrassed. It looks like I’ve poured cold water on all of you out of nowhere.”

Sword Master Duke Jurian Berkeley Gratten.

There was no number as meaningless in this world as his age.

The man always maintained his youthful appearance, looking a little over thirty. In a way, he looked younger now than he did 14 years ago. He had a new face in many ways.

‘The sword master I met on the battlefield was like a blaze of fire.’

Now he seemed as calm as a frozen lake in the winter. Even while standing though, his posture was straight, and had no cracks.

His calm green eyes met me with no ripple of hesitance.

He was a swordmaster. An ordinary warrior like me could never gauge out his inner feelings.

However, the sixth sense, which had crossed the first level of mental and physical control over the body, dug up a single emotion hidden in those highly refined eyes.

This man had been waiting to see me.

He knew Viscount Weatherwoods.

The swordmaster is…

He was the client I was looking for.

“Ahem.”

I swallowed deep.

Wasn’t this simply the worst card I could’ve been dealt?

The assassin-butler was wrong. It was Jurian, not Jean, who was the client and owner of the secret guild <Clone>.

And Jean too had probably been convinced that she had become the true owner of Clone. In truth, she was just a decoy.

The Duke of Berekely Gratten, the sword of the Imperial family, could not hold the private organisation that was the guild under his name due to a treaty with the royal family.

‘He cleverly found a loophole in the treaty and made Jean the guildmaster instead.’

It was truly astonishing.

My past relationships had become connected to my current life in a surprising manner.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, but I’d learned the sword from him and went to the battlefield together, facing life and death.

The nostalgia from that time was so strong that even now, I was glad to meet Jurian.

‘But he is the monster who is currently trying to exterminate us, isn’t he?’

As expected, the life of a maid wasn’t smooth at all.

The duke reached out to me first.

“I am glad to be able to meet you like this, Viscount Weatherwoods. I’m Duke Jurian Berkeley-Gratten. Call me what would be at your convenience, be it Duke Jurian or Duke Berkeley Gratten.”

Standing up from my chair, I quickly checked my posture.

My style of walking. The habit of checking my right hip for my sword. The gently pushed back shoulders – I mustn’t reveal anything of the sort.

I shook his hands with no intention to conceal my nervousness. It would be more natural this way.

“Gray Weatherwoods this side. It is an honour to be able to meet a swordmaster.”

The Duke, who glanced at the table, smiled.

“Straight flush. You won with a nice hand.”

“I was lucky.”

“Humbleness is a great virtue. I’m glad I came after the game was finished. If you don’t mind, could you spare me some time?”

“Indeed, I can make some time. But is the content you wish to discuss not suitable to be discussed here?”

I could see Yeager’s burning gaze.

I don’t know why you’re acting like this, but don’t be a fool and lead him out of here immediately – seemed to be what he was trying to convey.

I ignored his gaze and looked at the silent swordsman for a moment.

“I guess my reaction wasn’t what you expected, was it?”

The Duke was a man who was in no hurry. He answered with a small smile as he looked at me, as if judging me,

“It’s nothing too difficult. My daughter, Jean, wished to have a mock-duel with the Viscount, and if you’re okay with it, Viscount Weatherwoods, I was hoping you could provide some guidance to my daughter, who still lacks a lot.”

The murmur of voices around was growing.

Apart from that, there was a question that came to mind.

‘If it was a simple request to duel, Jean could have come herself. For the duke to come in person…is he the type to pressure his opponent into submission with his power?”

What’s more, with the intention of doing his daughter a simple favour? There was no way.

Yeager, who was quietly listening to our conversation, stepped up when he heard this.

“I think you might’ve gotten something wrong, Duke. Gray is not a knight.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Look at his palms. What knight in the world has such soft-palms? Ha-ha, I think Miss Berkeley Gratten might’ve misunderstood because my friend’s personality is a little weird.”

Yeager, who spread my hand wide, waved it back and forth like a fan. But the duke didn’t seem much interested in whether my hands were soft or rough.

“Viscount Weatherwoods.”

“Yes.”

“What do you think of yourself?”

I answered with a smile.

“If you ask me what I think, I would answer that I can hold a sword even if I am not an actual knight.”

Vplkwin tapped me on the back of my arm in a bewildered voice.

“Gray?”

The duke asked me in a soft, but unwavering voice.

“Do you mean that you are willing to be my daughter’s opponent, even if you have never learned swordplay?”

“Your Excellency. I honestly don’t know why you came to ask me this favor. Isn’t that ridiculous? Ask a non-swordsman to fight a duel with an excellent swordsman. With all due respect, I can’t help but feel that you’re here to mock me.”

Despite my blatant criticism, the duke did not lose his relaxed smile.

“That’s why I tried to take you outside separately and then make the proposition.”

“I understand. Since the Duke has personally come to ask me a favor, I can’t ignore his ‘please.’ No matter how troublesome, absurd and unreasonable that request may be.”

I gave a particularly strong accent to the word please. If it wasn’t my illusion, the duke’s smile deepened.

By this point, he must have noticed the reason why I was doing this.

“If there’s a price you want, you can tell me at once, Viscount Weatherwoods.”

If you say so.