novelraw Chapter 164: Beggar Siblings - Portrait
Chapter 164: Beggar Siblings - Portrait
164. Beggar Siblings - Portrait
"Congratulations."
Katrina spoke with a sullen expression.
"On becoming a stuffy Royal Guard."
"...It doesn’t sound like you’re congratulating me."
"It wasn’t even difficult, was it? With your skills, it’s a given result."
"Well, that’s true."
Leo flicked the badge he had just received from the captain of the Royal Guard. The brass emblem spun five times in the air before falling back into his hand, bearing the Tatalia royal family's symbol and his name.
- Noel
Katrina’s red eyebrows furrowed, her face clearly showing how annoyed she was. Leo grinned.Katrina didn’t know. Without her recommendation, he wouldn’t have been able to become a Royal Guard.
The verification process for Royal Guards was strict.
In a society not as meticulously documented as the modern era, no matter how rare knights were, the royal family wouldn’t randomly select someone to protect them.
First, the candidates had to prove their skills. Then, they had to disclose their identity in detail, and any suspicious elements led to a thorough investigation by the Royal Guard.
It was a tricky situation. Starting as a beggar, Leo de Yeriel had no way to prove his identity. All he had was a white metal necklace, which was a prince’s insignia that shouldn’t be revealed.
So, he had given Ober all his remaining {initial funds} and asked for help to create an ID under the name ‘Noel’.
The Rauno family, who also acted as information brokers, handled such tasks.
However, a fake ID alone couldn’t completely fool the Royal Guard. Any investigation would have been disastrous, so Leo desperately needed Katrina’s recommendation.
A recommendation from a knight of the kingdom’s second knight order.
With that, he could enter almost any government office. With her recommendation, the Royal Guard wouldn’t bother tracking his background.
"An annoying bastard. If your skills were mediocre... ugh, why do I always get these types around me?"
Grumbling, Katrina thought about how nice it would be if her diligent but dumb junior, Deros, had half of this guy’s talent as she left the royal castle.
This guy was indeed a genius.
Noel often came to her for meals, claiming he couldn’t afford food, and they would spar each time.
She could feel it. He was growing stronger at an incredible pace.
When they first met, she could still win. But within a few weeks, he had caught up. Recently, she even felt like he was holding back.
A monstrous guy.
Though it hurt her pride, Katrina was someone who acknowledged what needed to be acknowledged.
Helping a potential Swordmaster might be the greatest achievement of her life.
"But sister, buy me dinner. I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten all day."
Ugh, why does he get on my nerves so much?
Katrina glared at Leo and said,
"Alright. Let’s go eat. Ellen wants to see you anyway. Now that you’re a Royal Guard, let’s eat at my place."
The two of them soon arrived at Rosalyn Avenue.
A two-story house with a blue roof.
Every time Leo visited, he thought of Katrina fighting Irene, but it didn’t complicate his feelings like meeting Cassia did.
Katrina had once been the enemy who killed Lena and later became the benefactor who saved his life, but he had experienced all of this indirectly.
He had read in the ending text that Lena, who had gone to war alone, had died at Katrina’s hands. He also knew through a quest message that she had died fighting Irene.
Since he hadn’t directly experienced all of this, it was easier to deal with. He had even avenged Lena once.
However...
[ Quest: Katrina's Life - Help Katrina break free from her shackles. ]
‘What does it mean to help her break free?’
It was frustrating for Leo, or rather, Minseo.
He knew what a shackle quest was from Cassia and her hunter father. The goal was to fulfill the character's deepest desire.
Cassia wanted to embrace her beloved, and the quest was resolved when that happened.
For the hunter father, Dof Bizaine, it was a bit surprising but understandable.
His shackle quest was completed when he killed Sir Corin. If killing Sir Corin was his true desire, it made sense. After all, he had left his son and wandered away.
The hunter father hated the Crusaders, especially the Holy Church.
This was clear. Judging by the thoughts of Barbatos felt by Rev, who became an apostle, the god hated the Holy Church that massacred his followers.
Dof Bizaine was undoubtedly a survivor of the massacred barbarian tribe.
Moreover, Sir Corin had said in the third childhood friend scenario when Rev asked him to join the Holy Church,
- "This young man believes in a false god. I have seen that tattoo during my thirty years of service in the South."
A Crusader who served thirty years in the South. If he had seen Barbatos' tattoo, it was obvious.
Sir Corrin had participated in the massacre of the Bizaine tribe, and the surviving Dof Bizaine remembered him.
Anyway, those issues were already resolved. Leo turned his attention back to Katrina.
‘What does this woman want?’
This was the problem. The always confident Katrina didn’t seem to want anything. The only thing she might wish for was for him to replace the dull Deros as her junior.
Even so, granting such a trivial wish didn’t seem like it would break her shackles. Cassia’s wish had been modest too, but considering her life, it made sense.
"Sister."
Leo called out to Katrina, who was about to open the door.
"What’s your wish? Do you have something you really want to achieve in life?"
"Oh? Are you trying to repay me? Forget it. Just live well."
"So, you do have something?"
"Oh, yes. There’s one."
Katrina turned around and looked at Leo with meaningful eyes.
"That you live diligently. How can you always mooch off your girlfriend and me for food? I would have been out working in shame. No matter how talented you are, it’s useless if you’re lazy."
She gave him a piece of her mind and went inside.
Leo's face turned red.
In his defense, he couldn’t find a job because his hands were clumsy, and he spent time secretly meeting Jenia and maintaining his body.
But it was true that he had been relying on women for the past few weeks, so Leo rubbed his neck in embarrassment.
It was shameful, but in this beggar siblings scenario, women seemed to flock to him more than in other scenarios.
Partly due to the favorable achievements, but also because of Leo's good looks.
Leo had light blond hair with a hint of blue, thick and straight eyebrows, golden eyes, a high nose that caught the light, and a sharp jawline. Despite this, his face retained a boyish freshness.
It would be a lie to say he had never taken advantage of his looks. He always subtly smiled when meeting people, and he had even seduced naive girls in rural villages while fleeing from Marquis Tatian.
What happened to those girls after he fled, he didn’t know. But considering he had {Bedroom Skills} and that the chases always seemed to lose momentum after each encounter...
Leo shook his head.
That was a long time ago. The past is gone, and he resolved never to do such things again.
Feeling somewhat bitter, Leo followed Katrina inside.
"Ellen! Honey! I'm back. Noel, the friend I mentioned before, is here too. Come down and say hi."
There was a clatter from upstairs.
A man came down with an awkward gait and extended a paint-covered hand, saying, "I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Ellen."
Leo had heard so much about Ellen from Katrina’s endless praise but had never met him in person. He shook Ellen’s hand and introduced himself, "Nice to meet you. I’m Noel."
But something about Ellen's face seemed familiar.
Leo initially tilted his head in confusion, but after they finished their meal and visited Ellen’s studio on the second floor, he understood why.
The room was filled with canvases larger than a person, and the floor was covered in splashes of paint of various colors.
Only three portraits were framed and hung on the wall.
One was of a middle-aged woman against a wide-open prairie backdrop at dusk. Her bright red hair, like the morning sun, flowed in the wind, and she wore a faded purple dress, standing demurely.
Another was of a young woman with flaming red hair and eyebrows like the evening sky.
Wearing a bold red dress that fluttered lightly, she was clearly Katrina.
In the painting, Katrina looked beautiful.
It wasn’t that she was unattractive in real life, but the portrait captured an intriguing duality.
Her hands were firmly clasped around a long sword, and her eyes, gazing far into the horizon from a grassy hill, were both resolute and gentle.
Ellen must have truly been infatuated with her to depict her so lovingly, even portraying her as a tender warrior.
The third painting was of a middle-aged man and a young man standing side by side in front of a carriage with their arms around each other’s shoulders...
"That's a portrait of my father and brother. I haven't seen my brother in a long time, but my father visits Orville once a year. He was here just recently."
Ellen interjected, but there was no need for an explanation. Leo recognized the man.
He was... the merchant leader who had sold out Lea and Lev in Nevis long ago.
A wry smile spread across Leo’s face.
This damn game had traps laid everywhere, he thought, unable to help but laugh at the irony.
If he had killed the merchant leader without knowing he was Ellen’s father, Katrina might have sought revenge against him.
"Well then, I’ll be going now. Since I’ve become a Royal Guard, once I receive my salary, I’ll treat you to something nice."
Leo politely said his goodbyes and left the blue-roofed house. However, he never visited again.
*
Afterward, Leo became quite busy.
As a newly appointed Royal Guard, he moved from Katrina’s house to the quarters within the royal palace, where he had to undergo extensive training. Being a new recruit, he was also frequently called upon to interact with his seniors.
Fortunately, Leo easily passed the etiquette training required of a Royal Guard.
Thanks to his {Noble Society} information.
Although the etiquette of nobles and knights differed, nobles well-versed in etiquette also knew that of knights.
Had he not had this advantage, his probationary period would have been indefinitely extended. But with his exceptional etiquette and skills, Leo was immediately assigned a mentor and a squire (junior knight) and began his duties.
Of course, these weren’t major tasks. His assignments included patrolling the outskirts of the royal castle with other guards or escorting elderly princesses of the Tatalia royal family.
These duties weren’t particularly exhausting or difficult, but Leo remained busy and eventually applied for leave, cautiously monitoring the administrative knight in charge.
Administrative knights, strictly speaking, weren’t knights.
Knights were a scarce resource, with perhaps a thousand in an entire kingdom, valued for their combat prowess.
Therefore, knights were primarily assigned to patrolling, escorting, training, and tactical education, while other tasks were handled by different individuals – the administrative knights.
In essence, they were squires.
These were individuals who had served knights, training while performing various tasks, but who, due to lack of talent or bad luck, never became knights themselves. As they aged, they sought other paths, becoming mercenaries, commanders, or finding other ways to make a living.
One such path was becoming an administrative knight.
Having spent years in the knight order, they understood its operations well and managed the day-to-day administrative tasks on behalf of the knights.
Despite their non-knight status, they wielded significant influence. Only the knight captain and vice-captain could directly command them. Even the captains right below them treated administrative knights with respect because they managed the knights’ finances.
They were also responsible for assigning the knights’ duties.
Given the unique nature of the Royal Guard, administrative knights held even more power there.
Due to managing the royal finances and closely working with the royal chamberlains, their influence was substantial.
So, even though Leo was a knight, as a mere new recruit, he couldn’t hasten the processing of his leave request. If he did, he’d surely be reprimanded: “Noel, if you go on leave, someone else will have to cover for you.”
As a result, it took nearly five days for Leo to secure his third leave.
Though it was late, he quickly changed and left the castle, cautiously watching for any tails as he headed to the Orange Theater.
- Knock, knock.
"Lena. Jenia. It’s me."
"Brother!"
The door flew open. Lena jumped out and hugged him tightly.
"You’re here? Perfect timing. I have something to tell you."
"It’s been a while. Yes, brother is here. Oh, my little sister. You’ve become even prettier. How have you been?"
"Good! But brother, I have something to say."
Still holding him tightly, Lena looked up with sparkling eyes.
"Can I be in a play?"
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