[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 78
"A-Angelina!"
Catherine rushed to the bed in surprise.
Angelina's skin, which had been covered in foul-smelling pus, was now clean.
Catherine shed tears of joy at the sight of Angelina's thick, lustrous golden hair.
"Angelina! Are you, are you alright?"
Angelina slowly opened her eyes, sat up, and looked at Catherine.
"Mother, what happened?"
Catherine hugged Angelina, who had regained consciousness, and sobbed.
"My daughter! Our Angelina!"
The Duke, hearing the news, also rushed into the room.
He, too, was surprised to see Angelina healed and burst into tears.
Zeke quietly left the room, watching Catherine and the Duke.
'With this, I can consider the Graham clan secured.'
***
Early the next morning, Catherine visited Zeke's room.
"Sir Zeke, how can I ever repay this kindness..."
Catherine's attitude towards Zeke, who had lifted the curse on Angelina, had completely changed.
Zeke grinned at Catherine.
"Can you help me with the martial arts tournament?"
Catherine smiled and said, "Oh, Sir Zeke, is that all? I will do everything I can for you in the name of the Graham clan."
Farel couldn't believe Catherine, who reigned with absolute charisma in social circles, was acting like this.
After Catherine left, Farel approached Zeke and asked,
"Did you really lift the curse on Lady Angelina?"
Zeke smiled faintly, made the sign of the cross, and said,
"It was all the will of the Sun God."
The central and eastern regions of the Central Continent were deeply rooted in the influence of the Holy Empire.
Most of the nobles were believers in the Sun God, and Farel was also a devout believer.
'Not only does he have outstanding skills, but he also has such devout faith that he can even dispel curses. He is a role model for all knights.'
Farel's respect for Zeke grew even greater.
Later, Zeke and his party were invited to lunch by Catherine.
Farel and Felix, upon entering the dining hall, almost had their hearts stop at the sight of an unfamiliar beauty.
Golden hair cascading like the twilight, fair and smooth skin like porcelain, and mystical purple eyes that seemed to hold stars.
She looked like a beautiful goddess from mythology come to life.
"Oh, God..."
Farel unconsciously called out to God at the sight of her breathtaking beauty.
As Farel was expressing his admiration, Felix was equally shocked.
His mind was filled with dozens, hundreds of verses to praise her beauty.
'No, such words cannot express her beauty!'
Unlike Felix, who was in despair, Zeke simply bowed his head slightly in greeting without any change in expression.
Then, she approached Zeke.
"Sir Zeke Draker, Angelina Graham expresses her gratitude to you."
The shockingly beautiful woman was none other than Angelina.
Completely freed from the curse by Zeke's power, she had regained her original appearance and her stunning beauty.
Zeke looked at her and said,
"I'm glad to see you in good health."
Farel and Felix looked at Zeke with disbelief.
'To remain so calm in front of a woman who is like the reincarnation of the Goddess of Beauty. Sir Zeke is truly a knight among knights.'
Felix had a slightly different thought from Farel.
'Master, could he be impotent?'
Just then, the Duke, Catherine, and the other members of the Graham clan gathered.
They approached Zeke, kissed the back of his hand, and expressed their gratitude.
Zeke and his party were treated with the utmost hospitality as the most honored guests of the Graham clan.
After the meal, Angelina asked Zeke to take a walk with her in the garden.
He accepted without much thought and walked with Angelina in the garden.
Even just walking with Angelina made the surroundings seem brighter, but Zeke didn't have any particular thoughts.
'I don't see any side effects of the curse.'
He was only worried that there might be remnants of the curse that could cause problems with the deal.
As they walked through the garden, Zeke observed Angelina for any signs of discomfort, and she said to him,
"How old are you this year, Sir Zeke?"
"Seventeen."
Angelina was inwardly pleased to know that there wasn't much age difference between her and Zeke.
'Two years apart is nothing insurmountable.'
To her, Zeke looked like a prince charming on a white horse.
A knight among knights who saved her from a curse with his divine power.
Moreover, he had a good clan background, was the best on the continent in terms of skill, and was handsome to boot.
Angelina, with a shy expression, calmed her pounding heart and started walking again next to Zeke.
Just then, Zeke looked at Angelina and said,
"Do you have any idea who it might be?"
Angelina was taken aback by the sudden question.
"Yes?"
Zeke said with a cold expression,
"The person who might have cursed you."
Angelina was startled by Zeke's cold gaze.
Then, she was lost in her own thoughts, her heart fluttering with excitement.
'Could it be... that Sir Zeke is angry at the scoundrel who cursed me?'
Angelina, who had been sick since childhood and had little experience with the world, had a limited understanding of relationships between men and women, confined to the stories of knights and princesses in fairy tales.
Therefore, she completely misunderstood Zeke's intentions, who was solely focused on finding the person who cast the curse and bringing the Graham clan completely to his side.
Angelina, completely misinterpreting Zeke's words, looked at him and said,
"Sir Zeke, I'm fine. It's all in the past. Your feelings for me are enough."
Zeke was surprised and asked,
"Yes? You're not going to take revenge?"
Angelina said with a calm smile,
"Revenge only breeds more revenge."
She thought she was giving a benevolent and beautiful smile, but it actually lost her points with Zeke.
'Seriously, she almost died from a curse, and she's saying such carefree things.'
To others, Angelina might be the most beautiful person in the world, but to Zeke, she was nothing more than a victim of a curse who had been screaming in pain.
He inwardly clicked his tongue as he looked at Angelina, who seemed oblivious to the world.
'Tsk tsk. How is she going to survive in this harsh world with that attitude? Oh, I guess it doesn't matter since her clan is rich.'
Angelina, unaware of Zeke's thoughts, was dreaming of a rosy future with him.
***
"Javelin throw?"
Farel was surprised by the unexpected choice of event as he listened to Catherine's explanation of the tournament preliminaries.
Zeke, who was sitting next to him, asked Farel,
"Sir Farel, is it strange that javelin throw was chosen as a preliminary event?"
Farel shook his head.
"No, it's just that I was surprised because it's such an ordinary and simple event."
Although most knights used swords, spears were also one of the basic weapons they learned.
Moreover, javelin throw was a popular sport among the central region nobles.
However, it was a common event that wasn't particularly advantageous to anyone, so it was rarely seen in the Draker Martial Arts Tournament.
Catherine, hearing Farel's words, nodded and said,
"As Sir Farel predicted, it's not just a simple javelin throw."
Farel was surprised by Catherine's words and asked back,
"If it's not a simple javelin throw... is it a mounted competition?"
Catherine shook her head.
"It's a javelin throw, but the distance is different from the usual case. You have to throw it incredibly far."
"Incredibly far?"
Catherine nodded and replied,
"Yes. From what I've heard, the target will be placed beyond the mountain."
"Beyond the mountain?"
"Beyond the mountain?"
Farel and Felix exclaimed simultaneously at the absurd event.
Zeke nodded as he listened to Catherine's words.
"You wouldn't even be able to reach the target without considerable strength and accuracy."
Farel's expression darkened at those words.
He said to Zeke,
"Sir Zeke, just by looking at the preliminary event, I think I know which clan has secured the majority of the committee votes."
"Which clan is it, Sir Farel?"
He said with a serious expression,
"It's highly likely to be the Siemens clan."
Zeke nodded at Farel's words.
"Siemens. That's certainly possible. Their main clan trait is Aura control."
"That's right. Moreover, Edward Siemens, the second son of the Siemens clan participating in this tournament, is a spear knight who primarily uses a spear."
"Edward Siemens..."
Zeke remembered that knight.
In his past life, Edward was one of those who led the Imperial army alongside the Butcher Knight, Abel Draker, and drenched the continent in blood.
Unlike his older brother, William Siemens, Edward was known for his cruel nature and eagerness to take the lead.
'That madman is entering the tournament, huh?'
Then something flashed through Zeke's mind.
'Edward Siemens and javelin throw...?'
Zeke asked Catherine,
"Catherine, could you tell me who gave you this information?"
"I heard it from the Bronze clan. One of their elders was selected as a member of the Tournament Preparation Committee this time."
'Information directly from a committee member, and it's the Bronze clan...'
Zeke also knew about the Bronze clan.
They had close ties with the Siemens clan.
Zeke got up from his seat.
Farel asked him,
"What's the matter, Sir Zeke?"
"Now that we've heard about the preliminary event, shouldn't we practice?"
At Zeke's words, Catherine immediately had the servants set up a javelin throw target on a nearby mountain.
As soon as the setup was complete, Zeke, Farel, and Felix prepared their javelins, stood in the open field, and threw them towards the target beyond the mountain.
Whoosh!
Felix's javelin didn't even reach the mountain, let alone the target, and Farel's reached the mountain but landed far from the target.
Finally, Zeke threw his javelin.
Whoosh!
The javelin soared high into the sky and landed near the target.
Unfortunately, it landed just in front of the target.
Farel said to Zeke with an excited expression,
"Sir Zeke! With this, I think we can prepare for the preliminaries in time."
However, Zeke only examined the javelin with a serious expression.
After a while, he asked Farel,
"Sir Farel, the other participants who learned about this preliminary event in advance must have started practicing earlier, right?"
Farel nodded.
"Of course. The other participants must have already finished their practice, focusing solely on javelin throwing."
"Are there any restrictions on weapons?"
"You use the weapon you registered before the preliminary match."
"You can't change it in the middle?"
"Usually, that's the case. But why do you ask?"
Zeke looked at the javelin and said,
"If this javelin could be made longer, with a shape more suitable for throwing, and a form that could accurately hit the target, what would you do, Sir Farel?"
Farel looked as if he had been struck on the head.
"Oh my god, I didn't think of that. To prepare a javelin suitable for long-distance throwing in advance. That's something the Siemens clan would do."
In throwing events, the shape of the weapon could significantly affect the outcome.
If someone prepared a javelin specifically for throwing, they would have an advantage in achieving a good score.
Ordinary knights would likely focus on throwing the javelin and not think about modifying its shape to improve its performance.
Zeke examined the javelin and nodded.
Then he approached Catherine, who was sitting in the shade, fanning herself.
"I have a favor to ask."
"Ho ho, I'll gladly grant any request from Sir Zeke."
Zeke showed Catherine the javelin and explained how he wanted it modified.
Catherine tilted her head after hearing Zeke's explanation.
"Are you sure you want to modify it into that shape? I don't know as much about weapons as you do, but still, this is..."
"Please, I must ask you this favor."
Catherine reluctantly agreed at Zeke's firm request.
"If that's what Sir Zeke wants..."
"Thank you."
Zeke turned and looked at the target beyond the mountain.
'With this, all preparations for the preliminaries are complete.'
Zeke thought of the Siemens clan and smiled coldly.
'No matter what you do, you're still within my grasp.'
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]