Grandeur Fantasia

Chapter 71.2 ~ Incident in the Training Ground

AN: A bit of an early chapter today!!! Needed to update this tonight since I'll be at uni all day! Hope you enjoy it XD!!!

"I believe you are the ones who should watch their mouths."

An angelic yet cold and spine chilling voice of a woman silenced the knights from uttering another word.

Everyone turned their eyes towards the source of the voice and immediately bowed and knelt down, including Leon.

Aria walked towards Leon and the three knights, each step containing unpared elegance and dignity. Behind her was Alvis, Iris and the other members of Crimson Lightning.

Her smile was incredibly beautiful and captivating, but there wasn't a speck of kindness, gentleness, or warmth in her eyes. They were filled with anger, disgust, and resentment towards those knights who have dared mock Leon with their filthy mouths.

Alvis wasn't smiling at them, but he also didn't show any other expression. For the crown prince who always had a smile on his face, that expressionless face became that much more frightening.

Freya, Vyra, Charlotte, Lily, Mia, Rafael and Alex were also not hiding their anger to those knights who had mocked and attacked their lover or precious friend. Especially Leon's player assistants, the bloodlust they were exuding was blood curdling to say the least.

"Forgive me for this unsightly behavior, your highness."

Leon bowed towards her and apologized. All of them knew it wasn't his fault. However, for having been a part of this unsightly farce in front of the princess and the prince, even though he wasn't in the wrong, he still needed to apologize formally. The knights who saw this respected him even more than they already were. Not only was he a warrior with outstanding abilities, he also had the etiquette, attitude, and intelligence of a great noble. He was the epitome of their ideals.

"There is no need for you to apologize, Leon."

Aria's voice, although still sounded stern and cold, was really kind and gentle when she spoke to Leon as she tell him to rise.

"Now then, will you three explain what just happened?"

"Y-Y-Your highness! We apologize for causing this scene. However, this adventurer here was the one who instiga-"

"Do not lie to me."

Aria increased the volume of her voice slightly. Although she was incredibly upset, her studies to being a princess, her experiences with handling nobles who would lie to her face, and her own self control, managed to hold back her voice.

The three knights who never saw Aria shouted like that was frozen in surprised and fright.

"My magic eyes allow me to see through your nature and your lies. Now tell me, what happened?"

"T-That's..."

"..."

"..."

"So you can't tell me? Sir Verand."

Verand run towards her quickly and knelt down.

"Yes your highness?"

"Explain to me what happened."

"Yes."

Verand explained what happened chronologically without a hint of bias. And as he did, the knights' complexion got paler and paler.

"I see. Sir Verand, what are the names of these people?"

"They are Zev von Garium, Hans von Luit, and Feron von Oril."

Leon looked at Alex after hearing those names and Alex made a small nod to him. It was as he expected. Their families were all related to the Gerard's house.

"For attempting to hurt an important guess of the royal family, defamatory towards a friend of the royal family and lèse-majesté for trying to lie to a member of the royal family, all of you are hereby stripped off your knighthood, imprisoned until further notice and your families punished. Knights, take them away."

Without even giving them a chance to plea, the other knights who were also disgusted by their conduct dragged them off the training ground into the prison.

As they leave, the tension and animosity also left with them. Aria sighed a little, releasing the tension in her body.

"I'm sorry that you have to experience that, Leon."

"Not at all, your highness. I have encountered too many people like them so I was able to handle them easily. In fact, I want to express my gratitude for defending me."

"Of course I will defend you Leon."

A tinge of pink appeared on Aria's face as she smiled at him. Leon was relieved to see her usual beautiful smile that warmed his heart and smiled back at her.

Verand and Iris also apologized to him since those three knights were disrespectful towards him and for leaving Leon alone causing that to happen. Of course Leon did not think it was their fault. However, they were so adamant about it and made Leon accept their apology no matter what.

After a while, the unpleasant atmosphere disappeared as they chatted with each other relaxedly.

"Ah, that's right. Leon, will you have a spar with me?"

"...Pardon me?"

Everyone immediately turned their gaze towards Alvis who just made a surprising suggestion.

"Hahaha, there's no need to be so surprised. I know I have no chance of winning. However, I wanted to learn how to fight from Leon. Is that too much to ask?"

"...No, not at all. Then are we going to fight bare handed or with swords?"

"With swords. I want to improve my swordsmanship and defend myself."

"I understand."

There wasn't any demerits for Leon to help the crown prince train in swords. He didn't need to use any skills that he wanted to keep secret since it was just training and he would be to understand Alvis's character more.

He had already understand Alvis's personality and character. He even knew about the ones Alvis didn't show anyone since he could notice subtle signs of it, though it wasn't anything that would be considered evil. It was only to the extent of scheming against other scheming nobles which was necessary for a royalty. It would be a different matter if Alvis was scheming against him, in which case he would fight back without holding back, but he was scheming against their common enemy, Pavel, and other corrupt nobles.

However, he might act differently in battles, which what intrigues Leon.

"Hehe, brother have always been in love with swords. Leon, please take care of my brother. Although he is talented with a sword, he would go too far sometimes while training and especially sparing."

"Of course, Aria. I will do my best to take care of his highness during the spar."

"...Are the two of you teasing me?"

Leon and Aria responded solely with their smile without saying a word to deny or confirm Alvis's question. Although he was seen as a great and perfect crown prince by all, in front of his sister and now Leon who got along with him very well, he would sometimes be teased by the two of them. Though it was all instigated by Aria and Leon would just follow her up.

"Well then your highness. Let's start."

"...Alright."

Although he seemed dissatisfied about something, he just let out a sigh and became excited for the spar against the [Dark Hero].