Chapter 54: Knights, Imbert And Azer

Chapter 54: Knights, Imbert And Azer"From Abetha, I heard Prince Cian is coming to participate in the summit," Arlan informed Seren, his eyes flashing with mischief.

As expected, the Queen of Megaris showed quite a reaction.

"That means Brother Cian would be coming with us?" She looked at Drayce, "I will get more time to spend with my brother."

From the tone of her voice, it was obvious that she loved the idea of traveling together but same could not be said about certain red eyes man.

Drayce glared at Arlan who threw a teasing smile at his jealous friend. Arlan found it entertaining that Drayce felt threatened by his wife’s affection towards her own brother. His friend was simply an epitome of jealous and possessive husband.

Arlan looked at him as if saying, ’Enough of possessiveness.’

Drayce shot glare as if replying, ’Talk to me after you get your woman.’ To which Arlan simply replied with a playful smirk.

Drayce sighed and moved his attention back to his wife, "Seren, why did you stop eating? You should eat more," Drayce served more food for his wife, distracting her from the conversation.

As he was about to chat with Yorian, something else caught Arlan’s interest.

It was the knights standing in the distance.

Given that the royalty from the two kingdoms had been friends since young, their knights were quite relaxed with each other. Although none of them strayed away from their positions, some of them were chatting amongst themselves.

Imbert was like a lone wolf, standing under the shade of the tree, when a knight wearing the black uniform of Megaris approached him.

"A drink, Sir?"

It was Azer Brayden, the knight Imbert recognized to be the most talkative of the escorts of King Drayce.

Imbert declined. "I’m on duty."

"It is not alcohol, just a refreshment."

In the end, Imbert accepted it, only to focus on watching his liege once more. He thought Azer would get the hint and leave on his own, but the knight continued to linger.

"Sir Loyset, I always see you bringing this all the time." He looked at the sheathed dagger attached on the knight’s belt. From the shape of its cover, one could see it had an unusual blade. "Is this dagger a family heirloom?"

"Hmm," Imbert replied but didn’t even turn to look at the knight trying to make idle talk.

Azer pursed his lips, but his gaze was firm. Though he was younger than Imbert, in fact, he was of a higher position. Azer Brayden was the vice-commander of all the knights serving the royal family, not to mention he directly reported to the King of Megaris himself.

Meanwhile, Imbert Loyset was only the guardian knight of the Crown Prince of Griven. He was the captain of the Order of Thistle, the knighthood that belonged to Arlan and Arlan alone.

However, if an outsider was to see them interact, one would think Azer was a small squire trying to curry favor with Imbert, his sword instructor.

"Can I see it?" Azer tried again.

"No," came a cold response.

"I promise I won’t damage it. The blade looks something special. Since young, I’ve been fond of daggers—"

"No."

This time, Imbert deliberately took a step away from him and resumed his position of standing like a statue.

"How about this? You can see mine, while I see yours. Mine was given to my father by my grandfather, so it’s considered an heirloom as well. Want to see?"

"No."

Azer sighed. "Sir Loyset, I’ve always thought you liked nothing but now I got to know what you like."

Imbert looked at him wordlessly.

An impish smile appeared on Azer’s face, and two dimples accompanied it.

"I mean. you like this word, ’No’.

Imbert sighed and took another step away. "We are on duty, Sir Brayden. Please pay attention to your job."

"Are you implying I am an irresponsible knight, Sir Loyset?"

Imbert merely eyed him before marching towards another spot.

"I always thought Commander Slayer had a short temper, but this man is even worse."

Arlan, who was observing them, could not help but laugh at Azer and Imbert’s interaction. His guardian knight swore fealty to Arlan around four years ago. Back then, Imbert had just received his knighthood and was new in the palace. Imbert had always been taciturn and frigid in his ways, causing the more senior knights to feel a headache towards him. However, Imbert never changed himself.

The Loyset Family are a vassal family of knights. They have a long history of serving the royal family. From young, Imbert had been educated to be Arlan’s future sword. That was why Imbert wished for nothing more than to dedicate his entire life serving as Arlan’s knight.

This stubbornness was something Arlan admired. Not to mention, his strict, taciturn and loyal personality made Imbert the perfect executioner of Arlan’s schemes.

It would be impossible for a mere acquaintance like Azer to affect such a single-minded man.

Arlan sighed and looked at Drayce. "Your knight is going to be heartbroken."

Hearing that cryptic remark, Seren stared at Arlan with a confused look while Yorian just smiled.

Drayce glared at his friend. "Watch your mouth. You should refrain from giving a cultural shock to the innocent people around you."

Sensing Seren’s innocent gaze, Arlan awkwardly cleared his throat.

"The local food of Abetha sure tastes amazing," he changed the subject. "Especially their sweets. These honey biscuits are my favorite..."

His mind somewhat drifted towards a certain foolish village girl, who not-so-innocently assumed Arlan was interested in men.

’That idiot!’ he sighed inwardly.

"What makes you sigh like this?" Drayce asked.

"Certain things that people misunderstand."

"Certain things?"

"You said I should watch my mouth around innocent people," Arlan said meaningfully. "Are you taking back your word?"

Drayce didn’t ask further as his wife was innocent to all these things.

While Arlan thought, ’I should prove her wrong...,’ an evil smirk painted his lips, ’...in the best way possible.’