Chapter 57: A Wager to Determine the Dagger’s Owner

As soon as she opened the door, Bliss hesitated upon seeing Caelan. It was because of her conversation with Echo. Worried that he might discover her feelings, she composed her expression before entering.

“You’re here too.”

“Come here.”

Caelan gestured with his head to the seat beside him. His narrowed eyes felt like a smile, making Bliss’s face slightly flush. She raised her hand to cover her cheeks, afraid the warmth might be noticed.

“Ahem.”

At that moment, a displeased cough made Bliss realize someone else’s presence, and she turned around.

“It’s been a while.”

She had forgotten about Duke Blast because of Caelan. Bliss greeted the Duke as if she had known he was there all along. Then she gracefully sat beside Caelan. She heard a very faint laugh but ignored it.

“Have you been well?”

“Do you want an honest answer, or a false one?”

Since the Duke wasn’t hiding his emotions, Bliss didn’t even attempt an awkward smile.

“I’ll take that as my answer.”

When she indicated he didn’t need to speak, the Duke’s expression grew even more severe, and Caelan subtly covered his mouth.

“Ahem.”

As the Duke cleared his throat again, Bliss secretly glanced at Caelan. Though she no longer claimed to know everything, she knew at least that the Duke thoroughly concealed his thoughts when plotting.

Yet for him to be so shaken by her words, it seemed Caelan must have done something.

“I heard you had lunch with His Majesty the Emperor. Not only becoming Princess Jasmin’s lady-in-waiting but even meeting His Majesty – much has changed for you.”

The Duke produced something resembling a smile. It didn’t feel like a real smile because his eyes remained cold. It seemed his pride had been wounded when he left empty-handed last time after coming to check if she had obtained the dagger.

“Is that so?”

“Don’t you think I deserve considerable credit for making that possible?”

“Yes.”

Bliss acknowledged it as if there was no need to drag things out. As the Duke said, she had gone to the imperial palace to get the dagger and formed a connection with Princess Jasmin. She had obtained the dagger and was now learning knowledge to better understand this world.

“Let me ask one more thing. Since you’ve become so close with Princess Jasmin, I assume you’ve obtained the dagger, haven’t you?”

“She gave it to me willingly.”

“As I thought.”

Duke Blast struck the armrest in delight. While it would have been difficult to obtain if the dagger was in the Princess’s hands, it was different if it was in the Adrian mansion. He had tried to get the dagger through Caelan from the start anyway.

“I’ll be taking that.”

The Duke didn’t mince words. He intended to leave immediately with the dagger. In his mind, he was already calling his son to hand it over to him.

“If you want compensation…”

“Here you go.”

Bliss held out the dagger. She gave a clean answer without hesitation, even saying what the Duke wanted to hear.

The Duke’s eyes scanned the dagger on the table several times. Since he had possessed the original drawing of the dagger’s shape, he knew this wasn’t a fake. While this meant it was truly the item he wanted, he was suspicious of Bliss’s other intentions since she was giving it up too easily.

As Bliss remained silent even as time passed, Duke Blast reached out to take the dagger. Anticipating how this would affect his son, his mouth watered and his eyes gleamed. It was an item – no, a future – that could make the duchy even stronger.

Just as Duke Blast touched the dagger, his eyes lit up and he couldn’t hide his smile. But the moment he tried to grasp it, Caelan stopped him.

“I can’t give it to you just like that.”

“What?”

The Duke’s smile turned grotesque. He filled his gaze toward Caelan with all manner of irritation and displeasure.

“My wife worked hard to obtain this. She earned it by becoming the Princess’s lady-in-waiting.”

“Marquis Adrian.”

“I’m saying my wife sacrificed for this dagger.”

“Ahem, but she also got close to Princess Jasmin and caught His Majesty’s eye. It doesn’t seem right to call that just sacrifice…”

“That’s your opinion, Duke.”

The Duke gritted his teeth at Caelan’s sneer. If not for that, he seemed ready to shout at any moment. Thinking he wouldn’t be able to take the dagger if he lost his temper here, the Duke tried to calm his excitement.

And Bliss, caught between them watching their battle of wills, held her breath.

‘The dagger would be useless even if the Duke took it…’

She had readily agreed to give it up because she knew who the Duke would give it to and that nothing would happen. But when Caelan blocked it, Bliss looked at his face.

Though she could only see his profile since he was facing the Duke, Bliss decided not to intervene as it seemed he hadn’t blocked it without reason.

“I’ll pay whatever price you want. What do you want? Gold? Jewels? Or shall I provide you with talented people?”

“We have more than enough of those things. What I want is one thing.”

Caelan turned the dagger this way and that.

“A wager.”

“…What?”

As if amused by the Duke’s bewildered question, Caelan, who had been watching, spoke.

“Whoever wins the wager becomes the dagger’s owner. Let’s say whoever wins in the knights’ tournament gets to keep it.”

“You… Caelan!”

Duke Blast, completely dropping his courtesy toward his opponent, shouted in extreme agitation.

“You’re making unreasonable excuses not to give it up!”

“Why do you think that’s unreasonable?”

“Crossing swords with the Imperial Guard Captain – isn’t the outcome obvious?”

Caelan’s swordsmanship was well-known even beyond the empire.

“You don’t have to come yourself, Duke. Send out your duchy’s knights.”

Despite the Duke’s glare, Caelan remained unshaken as he picked up the dagger. Taking it back, he put strength into his voice.

“They just need to come bearing the duchy’s crest. It doesn’t have to be just one person. I don’t mind if dozens of people bearing the duchy’s crest come. If they can defeat me that way, I’ll give it to you.”

“You planned this from the start. You showed the dagger with this in mind.”

Duke Blast muttered.

“This is just a pretext. I understand well your intention to bare your fangs at me, a duke, using this as a starting point.”

“That’s an exaggerated thought.”

Though Caelan flatly denied it, he didn’t correct the Duke’s continuing mistrust. Rather, he deliberately toyed with the dagger, causing the Duke to spring up from his seat.

“We’ll see about that.”

As the Duke strode out quickly, the waiting door opened and the duchy’s knights surrounded him. Like a storm they had rushed in, and just as quickly they left, with the butler tactfully closing the door. Left alone, Bliss immediately turned to Caelan.

“What are you thinking?”

At Bliss’s reproachful question, Caelan answered while looking at the dagger.

“Hmm… I don’t want to give up the dagger.”

“Why?”

“It’s your teacher, isn’t it?”

When Caelan turned his head to meet her eyes, Bliss frowned.

“I was going to give it to the Duke if it meant nothing to you, but since it does, I changed my mind.”

“…Don’t tell me that time when the Duke came before…”

“I had a feeling I shouldn’t give it up.”

Caelan had consistently given Bliss time. Even when she first received the dagger from Princess Jasmin, he had hidden it to buy time, and later when the Duke came, he had sent him away. Yet he himself had never possessed the dagger. All his decisions had been for Bliss.

“But this has soured things with the Duke. And a knights’ tournament? What if all the knights who show up are the Duke’s people?”

Bliss sighed as if frustrated.

“Then I’ll just have to defeat them all.”

“Is it that easy?”

It was astounding that Caelan of all people would act so recklessly. Before even thinking about what a knights’ tournament meant, it made no sense to oppose the Duke just to avoid giving up the dagger.

“Hasn’t everyone who became the dagger’s owner had their life changed?”

“That’s… because they gained different abilities.”

Naturally their futures changed when they became extremely proficient in one area. That’s why the Duke coveted the dagger.

“Then you could change too.”

“Caelan. Even if it’s for me, this is too reckless. I’m worried you’ll get hurt because of this.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

Bliss wished she could call the Duke back now and give him the dagger. She had planned to retrieve it at an appropriate time later anyway, since they wouldn’t be able to gain anything even if they had it. But Caelan had no intention of moving. Rather, he grabbed Bliss’s wrist, preventing her from moving first.

“It’s nice that you’re worried about me, but shouldn’t you say something else first?”

“Something… else?”

Bliss hesitated, not immediately understanding what he meant. Then she realized when Caelan placed the dagger in her hand. For returning to her hand the dagger that would have gone to the Duke…

“Thank you.”

A word of gratitude.