Even Lorist couldn't have predicted that things would turn out this way. Just that morning, he received a report that Knight Hennard had occupied Gildusk City with his troops, and just now during the night, he got wind that Knight Hennard had become a prisoner. That was too drastic a development! And so, Lorist had no choice but to head straight for Gildusk City.
By the time he arrived there, it was already the evening of the next day. Baron Felim who had his troops encircle the duke's manor came forward to receive Lorist and Count Kenmays had one of Knight Hennard's subordinates explain the details of the situation.
It all began because of Gold ranked Knight Tabik's rude mouth. As he had received orders to take control of the duke's manor, when he met with Princess Sylvia, perhaps because he believed that the Second Prince had completely lost and the princess no longer had anyone to rely on, he began to flirt with her. That caused the princess's rage to well up before she challenged the knight to a fight immediately. In an unexpected twist, the princess actually knew how to use Battle Force and was a Gold rank at that. It must be known that Princess Sylvia was only 20 years old that year, and 20-year-olds who had trained up to Gold ranked Battle Force were few and far between. It was something that usually wouldn't be possible even with exceeding talent.
The poor Knight Tabik never would have dreamed that the stunning beauty that was the princess was actually akin to a female dragon in strength, causing him to be caught completely off-guard. Not only was he captured by her, he was pummeled thoroughly first in front of everyone present.
When Hennard heard about it, he instantly rushed over to negotiate with Princess Sylvia for Knight Tabik's release and apologized on his behalf. He also promised that he definitely would not touch the princess's residence and would allow her to roam freely as she wills within the Northlands.
Initially, the talks went well. However, the princess suddenly drew her sword and pointed it at Hennard and said that she would only release Tabik if Hennard defeated her in a duel. Having no other choice, Hennard accepted the duel reluctantly.
As Hennard was an experienced knight that had partaken in many battles with Two Star Gold Battle Force, his techniques were naturally superior to that of the princess, allowing him to gain the upper hand right away. Even though he was fighting at a disadvantage because he was afraid to accidentally wound the princess, he believed that she would eventually give up, so Hennard's family knights merely watched the duel calmly.
But, when Hennard decided that he wanted to knock the princess's sword away with one blow to force her to surrender, his foot suddenly slipped. Not only did his strike miss, he even exposed his chest completely, causing Princess Sylvia to be able to have the chance to put her sword up to his neck.
Seeing that, the other Silver ranked knights immediately drew their swords and rushed forward, only to see Knight Hennard toss his sword away and shout at them to look for Baron Felim and Lorist to come over to solve the problem before being guided into the duke's manor with Princess Sylvia.
When Baron Felim first heard about it, he was greatly shocked and instantly sent his troops to surround the manor and demanded the princess to release the two hostages. However, the princess said that she would only comply if she was defeated in a duel and said that if the baron dared to send his troops into the manor, she would kill off the two knights immediately.
The reason Baron Felim didn't want to confront the princess himself was because he felt that he wouldn't be able to take her on. He was also warned to refrain from doing so by Knight Hennard's subordinates because if he was captured as well, there would no longer be anyone there to take charge of the situation. Additionally, Knight Hennard's loss was a little weird as making a simple mistake like that was unlike the performance of a Gold ranked knight.
"And that's how we arrived at a stalemate here. Princess Sylvia has sent someone to request for some fresh fruits and vegetables and we've satisfied that demand of hers," said Baron Felim as he laughed bitterly.
After patting his attire, Lorist turned to leave and said, "I will head to the duke's manor to take a look."
At that moment, Baron Felim and Count Kenmays hurriedly stopped him and said, "Lord Norton, Locke, don't be hasty. We must discuss this in detail..."
With a mere turn of his body, Lorist evaded Baron Felim's outstretched arm and said, "Don't worry. Princess Sylvia is a Gold ranked swordswoman and she wouldn't go out of her way to cause trouble for an Iron rank like me..."
On the other hand, Count Kenmays was being restrained by Reidy.
The count shouted angrily, "Are you going to just watch as your lord walks to his death?"
Reidy snickered and said, "Don't worry, Lord Count. My lord has yet to lose a single battle so far. And, Gold ranked Knight Chevany had died because he was defeated in a duel with my lord..."
"Is that true?" Count Kenmays said, shocked. Baron Felim who was beside them also had his interest piqued. Both of them knew that Knight Chevany and Knight Hennard were the ones who were ordered by Duke Loggins to lead the 4000 Northland Army soldiers to invade the Norton Family dominion. In the end, their army was utterly defeated with Knight Chevany dead on the battlefield and Knight Hennard captured. Apart from that, no other detail was made known to anyone else.
Reidy pointed to the guards beside them and said, "It's true. Just look at our guards who are not even nervous in the slightest. That shows the confidence they have in our lord. Before this, our lord led the soldiers himself in every single battle we fought and usually charged at the very front. We're already used to seeing him slaughtering the helpless enemies while not even getting injured himself. That's how we managed to capture Knight Hennard in the first place and that's also why he's thoroughly convinced of his loss."
In a few moments, Lorist arrived at the entrance of the manor and he lightly pushed open the main gate.
Beyond that door was a small courtyard where the guards of the manor trained and changed shifts.
Standing at the gates, Lorist took a deep breath and announced his presence. "I, Count Norton Lorist of the Norton Family, have come to pay Princess Sylvia a visit! Please grace me with your presence!"
Even though Lorist wasn't shouting, his voice was clear as thunder and echoed throughout the skies of the manor.
All of a sudden, a commotion seemed to have occurred within the manor before a large group of guards scrambled out of it to face Lorist as if they were going to fight a formidable enemy.
Not long after, a loud call could be heard. "Princess Sylvia of the Iblia Kingdom has arrived..."
This was Lorist's first encounter with the princess and he finally understood Count Kenmays's obsession with her looks. She did in fact possess beauty that rivaled that of a goddess. Despite the fact that Lorist had lived two lives and met his fair share of beauties, he was still quite impressed when he saw the princess. Only one word popped up within his mind at that moment: fairy.
She did indeed look as beautiful and elegant as the fairies depicted in ancient folklore. Lorist sighed in marvel slightly and calmed his mind to stop focusing his attention on her stunning looks.
Princess Sylvia was also checking Lorist out herself. Ever since she arrived at the Northlands, she was curious about this dominion lord who had yet to show himself publicly and her first impression of Lorist was that he looked really common. He didn't wear the shiny Sid Steel armor that his family soldiers wore and was only dressed in a common grey-colored linen short coat on the outside with a black shirt underneath. He wore a pair of long black pants and a pair of black leather boots. He also donned a layer of silver wire mesh armor on his upper body.
At a height of 1.8 or so meters, Lorist was considered of slightly above average height among the people of the Grindia Continent and his looks didn't stand out at all. He didn't look particularly handsome nor was he any ugly, just normal. Princess Sylvia who has definitely seen her fair share of handsome men would definitely not even be able to recall how Lorist looked like had she met him on the street. He practically looked like a forgettable extra in a movie scene.
However, what made Princess Sylvia feel that Lorist was more than meets the eye were his rich, black eyes that were filled with spirit which inspected herself with perfect clarity, radiating a sense of calm and security, much unlike the glazed stares of other nobles which seemed respectful on the surface but actually gave off a lewd vibe. Lorist's long, black hair was tied up in a ponytail at the back of his head, and his brows seemed to give off a sense of confidence, giving him a unique aura that made others feel that he would never cave from any challenge, which was quite unusual among nobles.
Lorist lowered his head and bowed down slightly with his right hand clutching his chest to make a salute among nobles of equal standing and said, "Your Highness, revered Princess Sylvia, the current head of the Norton Family, Norton Lorist, pays his respects."
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