novelraw Chapter 83
Chapter 83
Chapter 83
Time passed, and before I knew it, the finals were underway.
Roman, who had crushed his competitors with overwhelming momentum, stood proudly in the finals and was on the verge of victory.
His opponent was a mercenary from "Ninetale," and this one had decent skill as well.
In a tournament like this, a high-level knight would usually be enough to secure victory.
But since his opponent was Roman, losing narrowly was something that couldn’t be denied.
Honestly, the fact that someone like Roman was even participating in this competition was unfair.
And to top it off, that guy—maybe because he liked showing off—ended the match by using an Aura Blade.
Thanks to that, the cheers from the spectators grew even louder.
—Roman! Roman! Roman!
The spectators of Haken cheered sincerely for today’s hero.
Well, this side at least was turning into something like a happy ending.
Not only had we confirmed the effectiveness of the newly developed magic tool, but it also drew out the unity of the residents.
‘Troublesome, troublesome.’
Irene was disgusted with Roman, but his talent was undeniably real.
The wall known as Master wasn’t so easily overcome.
To be honest, even I couldn’t guarantee victory if I fought him with a wooden sword in the arena.
That kind of place, where techniques were tested, wasn’t a stage where I could demonstrate my true strength.
—The winner!!! From Haken, the follower of Sir "Apophis" Durek! Roman!!!
The final winner had been decided.
As expected, it was Roman’s victory.
The final match was a little underwhelming, but the mood among the spectators was heated.
It seemed like it was because a servant of Haken had claimed the win.
Well, if someone from Johnson had won in a competition like this, I’d probably react the same way.
“So this is where it begins.”
At the center of the arena, Roman was delivering his victory speech.
There wasn’t anything strange about it.
Most of it was gratitude—toward the Lord of Haken for hosting the tournament, and toward his master, "Apophis" Durek.
If things ended here, it would have been a clean finish. But of course, it wouldn’t end that way.
The most important part still remained: the awarding of the prize to the victor.
—Congratulations, Roman.
The crucial moment had arrived.
The Lord of Haken offered Roman his congratulations and gave him the chance to request whatever he wanted.
And just as I had expected, Roman confidently asked for a duel with Irene.
—Sir Irene? You mean, my daughter Irene?
The crowd erupted in noise when Roman requested a public duel with Irene.
Everyone realized what such a duel meant in this context.
Those from Haken, who all knew Irene’s sharp-edged personality, quickly caught on that the outcome of this match could lead to unforeseen consequences.
As she herself had said before, it seemed the people of Haken knew quite a bit about her.
—Huh, really?
In that moment, I carefully observed the expressions of the Lord of Haken, the First Young Lord, and the Second Young Lord.
I wanted to figure out which side this situation had originated from.
My initial goal of preventing this had already slipped away, but knowing who had set things in motion would make it easier to handle the aftermath.
First, the Lord of Haken.
He was the organizer of this tournament and the one who had summoned Irene to Haken.
He had also likely encouraged Roman to participate in the competition, so he was more than capable of orchestrating this whole matter.
‘Not him.’
But judging from his expression, it clearly wasn’t the case.
As I’d said before, the Lord of Haken wasn’t the scheming type.
Of course, they say age makes everyone a sly fox, but honestly, if that expression of his was acting, then who in this world could ever be trusted?
Although my wariness had risen because of the many ties—organizing the competition, summoning Irene—I never really doubted him much.
As I’d mentioned before, if he had wanted to keep Irene in Haken, he could have prevented her from coming to our territory in the first place.
Irene’s razor-sharp personality was, if anything, half inherited from the Lord of Haken.
Of course, when it came to his children, he still seemed at a loss, but at least in this matter, he didn’t seem involved.
‘Besides, that man didn’t even know Roman had become a Master.’
When Roman pulled out the Aura Blade earlier, the Lord of Haken had looked genuinely surprised.
That meant he hadn’t known about Roman’s advancement.
Still, his expression was a bit amusing. How should I describe it?
A subtle sense of anticipation? A "what a lucky break" kind of look?
It seemed like he didn’t intend to reject this sudden fortune, since he wanted to keep Irene in Haken anyway.
If Roman won, he probably thought he could use that to anchor her here.
‘That man really has no sense.’
—I told you, he’s a petty male.
How on earth was he planning to deal with the aftermath of this?
There was no way Irene would welcome such a situation.
The fact that he still didn’t understand his own daughter was, frankly, absurd.
Then, the First Young Lord.
His expression was that of a man struck by misfortune.
Roman belonged to the Second Young Lord’s side.
If things went wrong, Irene could end up being taken by the Second Young Lord as well, which explained his flustered look.
From that perspective, it was clear this wasn’t his doing.
Unless there was some ridiculous plot twist about Roman secretly being a double spy for the First Young Lord, there was no reason to suspect him.
He was probably inwardly praying that either the Lord of Haken would refuse the request or that Irene would decisively defeat Roman.
But he must have also known that neither of those outcomes was very likely.
If I were in his place, my stomach would be churning too.
Finally, the Second Young Lord.
Since he had been the one to first propose a marriage between Roman and Irene, he was the most likely suspect behind this whole situation.
That was why I focused on him most carefully.
Unlike the martial-leaning First Young Lord, the Second was better at hiding his expression, though not because he had any special talent for acting.
His emotions tended to leak out anyway.
Perhaps it was because he had been born with everything—he had no need to hide his feelings.
As a direct descendant of the Lord of Haken, he didn’t need to care about how others viewed him.
‘But he’s way too excited, isn’t he?’
Normally calm and composed, the Second Young Lord couldn’t even suppress his smile now.
He was so openly delighted that it actually made it seem unlikely he had orchestrated things from the start.
If this had been his plan from the beginning, it would have made more sense for him to feign ignorance rather than beam with joy.
‘Could it be that he didn’t know either? That Roman had become a Master?’
Judging by the genuine smile breaking out on his face, it seemed like he too had been caught off guard, overwhelmed by unexpected good fortune.
That kind of behavior was the classic pattern of someone who had seized unexpected fortune.
“So you’re saying this was completely unplanned, right?”
—Seems like it, doesn’t it?
When I had first read the message in the Diary, I thought a great conspiracy might be hiding behind this incident.
That was why I analyzed possible reasons Irene might be forced to remain in Haken, and I even racked my brain to figure out who exactly was targeting her.
But it wasn’t that.
This whole thing had been a spur-of-the-moment plan by that bastard Roman.
The Lord of Haken had simply called his daughter here just to see her face, and the First and Second Young Lords—successor candidates—were too focused on making this festival a success and winning the Lord of Haken’s favor to care about Irene, who had already left.
All the time I had wasted agonizing over needless possibilities felt meaningless now.
‘This is just…’
I had considered the possibility, but now that it was right in front of me, I felt strangely hollow.
—So what will you do, Master? Planning to stop it?
‘…I have to, don’t I? Irene can’t fight that guy in her condition.’
Honestly, if that guy could defeat Irene with his own strength and win her over—well, that wasn’t something I had the right to meddle with.
Irene had also made her own promises, so she’d have to keep them, right?
It rubbed me the wrong way, but in the end, that would just be my own personal problem.
The problem was that Irene couldn’t fight right now.
And with this kind of atmosphere, she’d be forced to, whether she wanted to or not.
‘If her injuries get worse, that would be an even bigger problem, wouldn’t it?’
That was why, at the very least to protect her, I couldn’t sit still.
‘Besides, a proposal should be made quietly, between just the two people. Dragging the whole town into it is just too low.’
—Finished rationalizing it, Master? Just admit he pisses you off.
‘Shut up.’
I checked with her one last time.
“What do you think this is supposed to be? Sir Irene, let me ask you one last thing. He looks decent enough—don’t you find him appealing?”
“I hate men who look like playboys.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Besides, that man goes around claiming he wants me, while shamelessly messing with one woman after another. He’s exactly the type I despise.”
“That is rather bad.”
“Right? To be honest, I can understand a man having multiple wives. After all, even my mother is a third wife. But if he has no intention of marrying and still behaves like that, it’s unacceptable.”
“So that was the problem.”
So she was fine with multiple wives, but drew the line at affairs. Was that lenient or strict? Hard to tell.
It was, at the very least, an unusual standard.
Either way, it was clear Irene truly didn’t like him.
Truthfully, I felt the same.
From the way she described it, that guy’s view on relationships was exactly like Rudick’s. And just like her, I hated that kind of style.
How could someone like that possibly suit Irene?
Just imagining him hanging around her made my irritation boil over. Yeah, pretense plus a Rudick-style romance… completely incompatible with me.
“That means we’ll have to cut this off somehow.”
It would’ve been better if Irene handled it herself, but that wasn’t possible now.
So I’d have to step up.
After all, the reason I followed Irene here was to prevent a mess like this.
—It’s fine, Master. Playing the villain suits you.
‘It does not.’
I really was conflicted about whether I should go this far.
That was why I asked her directly again, to confirm her feelings.
And with my last question, she had given me a definite answer: never him.
In that case, fine. It was time to put an end to this.
I’d make sure this kind of nonsense never troubled her again.
—Irene! Irene!
Finally, the Lord of Haken gave Roman his permission.
If he wanted, the duel with Irene would be allowed.
The people cheered, shouting Irene’s name and urging her to take the stage.
Roman, basking in their support, looked this way, waiting for her to step up.
I quietly whispered to the troubled Irene as I rose from my seat.
“Sir, don’t be too surprised. Just play along with me.”
“What?”
I gave her a subtle signal, then poured cold water on the feverish crowd.
“I object!!!”
With Aura flaring, my shout rang out. The surprised crowd stopped their chants and turned to me.
Once I had their attention, I leapt down and sprinted straight into the arena, where Roman was waiting for her.
—I am the Lord of Johnson, Iron Johnson. Irene already belongs to me. By what right do you claim her?!
My enlarged image filled the sky above the arena.
The audience, caught off guard by my sudden appearance, looked utterly bewildered.
‘What, did I say something wrong?’
Irene had already lost to me twice.
Roman, who had done nothing but get beaten by me, had no place putting himself forward now.
And so, Roman’s grand proposal strategy shifted into an entirely new phase with my appearance.