A Marriage of Convenience /The Marriage Business

Ch.90

It was as if his black, blue, and shining eyes were laughing at him as if he were a fool. Jacob agonized inside but struggled to calm his mind. His pride was hurt by the fact that he was provoked by the person he was trying to provoke. Jacob straightened his lips and smiled once more. However, his smile that made his cheeks tremble was not as confident as before.

"Well, it's an advantage for me if your weaknesses are exposed even if you're affected by wrong emotions."

"...The prince is too talkative for a knight. Maybe it's because he lacks enough experience to be a knight."

It wasn't familiar for Zachary to be sarcastic, so Jacob and Robert were left with their mouths open. Zachary was always the type of person who showed actions instead of words, and for that reason, how difficult was it for Robert and the other vassals to read his intentions from the smallest amount of comments?

Jacob later realized that Zachary had quoted the words he had previously directed at Robert. Jacob's face twitched.

Even after giving Jacob a chance, Zachary's face remained unchanged. Zachary blinked and looked at Jacob. His voice was as calm as a whisper in his ear but at least as clear as Jacob's.

"Without faith, without thought, without resentment. The knight speaks only with the tip of his lance."

Yes, the knight must show everything in actions. It was the same with love. Zachary had no talent for elegantly speaking with poison on the tip of his tongue or for expressing himself sweetly as if bathed in honey. He only does everything he can for her.

There was no point in arguing with Jacob. Zachary led directly to the arena. Robert, who quickly realized the situation, smiled and squinted at Jacob, then took the lance and followed Zachary.

Jacob's face hardened.
Unlike his characteristic gentle attitude, the expression on his face was unusually serious. He felt frustrated because nothing went well. Most annoying of all was that his chances of defeating Zachary in the next match were almost nil.

Of course, he had taken into account from the beginning that he would be defeated by Zachary, but immediately after hearing what Zachary said, he became even more excited.

There were many reasons why Jacob had to participate in the tournament.

To show himself in front of his father and try to create a positive image, and to give a rose to Bianca and thus implicitly confess his feelings...

Having reached the semifinals, the intention to appeal to the king was fully achieved, and the king also seemed delighted with his performance. But Bianca didn't like his rose very much. Maybe she was shy, he thought. From what he observed, she doesn't seem to have the kind of personality that would visibly appreciate the approach of a stranger.

Still, there is no tree that does not fall after receiving ten blows. Even if he loses today, there is still the banquet...

Once he gets close enough to her in the tournament, he can cut down the tree even at the banquet. If he brings her down like that, he will be able to repay today's humiliation...

After staring at Zachary for a long time, Jacob spurred his horse while gritting his teeth. His blue eyes filled with malice shone deeply.

-----

The results of the match between Zachary and Jacob were disastrous. Perhaps he forgot that his opponent was a prince, because Zachary threw Jacob to the ground. It was such a visible defeat that it didn't even need to be played twice.

No matter how much he cares less than Gautier, Jacob is also the king's son.

The fact that his son had been ridiculed made the king feel a little uncomfortable. It was an act of dropping not only his son's face but also his own face. If Zachary had thought about the king's face, he would have won in moderation...