A Saint Who Was Adopted by the Grand Duke
chapter-ss16

“I’m glad you both liked the gift. It’s worth the hard work.”

When Noah said that, Judy and Dennis, who had been clinging to the box, flinched and pulled away.

“No matter how much you bring something like this, you can’t trade it for Esther.”

“I’m not interested, take it back.”

However, unlike the words of ‘take it back’, the two men’s hands barely came off the box.

Additionally, they kept glancing at the box, regret dripping from their eyes.

‘It’s already more than half over.’

Noah’s smile deepened as he felt that the initiative was being handed over to him.

“I am not trying to take Esther away from her brothers. You know I love Esther very much. I just want to be able to meet her without interruption.”

To convince the twins, Noah conveyed his feelings honestly.

Esther and Noah met at the age of twelve, and now they were eighteen.

The number of times they met without the interruption from either the twins or Deheen were few and far between.

What Noah wanted now was the freedom for them to meet, not grandiose things like consent to marriage or permission to date.

“Hmm. So, you want to be allowed to meet?”

“If that’s all right… Esther will be an adult soon, and we are close.”

Judy and Dennis quickly exchanged glances at Noah’s proposal, which seemed open to negotiation.

“These gifts he brought are heavy, so it’s a bit awkward to send them back like this.”

“Hmm. He seems extremely sincere, so ignoring it would be disrespectful.”

The twins usually fight without even trying, but in this case, they were in perfect harmony.

Once again, they looked at the box containing their respective gifts and nodded as if determined.

“Father is there anyway.”

“Good. From now on, when you two meet, I won’t intervene without asking.”

Although the gift played a big role, they accepted the offer because the person who brought it was Noah.

Having watched him from the side for several years already, they knew better than anyone else that Noah was sincere with Esther.

Noah’s face brightened at the twin’s words that were no different from permission.

“Thank you, Brothers. I will do really well in the future. Let’s see each other more often.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“That’s right. Be good to Esther.”

After saying that to Noah, the twins started digging through the box in earnest.

“Can I take it now?”

“You can’t ask for it back later.”

“Sure. There are more things outside, so ask the servants to move them.”

The twins, who were grunting while moving the box, paused in front of the door and turned back at Noah.

“Are you going to continue waiting? I don’t know when my father will come.”

“I still have to wait.”

“…Do it yourself. We will go.”

Since Noah was determined, they dragged the box outside without asking further questions.

After confirming that Judy and Dennis had definitely left, Noah burst into cheers, which he had been holding back.

“It’s okay!!”

Noah waved his clenched fists in the air, unable to contain his joy.

It was a permission that took six years.

Palen, who was watching from the corner of the drawing room, also clapped.

“Congratulations. To think a day like this will come.”

“I know. I can’t believe it either.”

“However, two of those weapons were secretly stolen from His Majesty’s collection, and several books were taken from the imperial treasure library, so I’m worried about the future.”

Noah covered his ears, expressing, ‘Please don’t say anything.’

“Ha. It will be tough to fix, but it’s worth it.”

Considering he got the cooperation of the twins, the value was certainly overflowing.

“Are you going to keep waiting? An hour has already passed. Wouldn’t it be better to come back?”

“I’ll wait until you can’t wait. There is no present for the grand duke.”

Unlike the twins, he was a person who would never be appeased even if he brought something.

Noah had been thinking about it for the past week, but he couldn’t think of a way to win Deheen’s heart.

★★★

Kiiiing, kiiiing.

A chilling sound echoed through Deheen’s office, making the back of one’s neck chill just by hearing it.

It was the sound of sharpening a sword.

“Your Grace, it seems sharp enough.”

Ben said anxiously as he looked at Deheen, who had only been sharpening his sword ever since he returned.

“The end doesn’t look perfect.”

“Don’t you only do this just before going to war? Where the hell are you going to use it?”

“It’s like a war.”

“What?”

“No.”

Deheen, who kept sharpening his sword with a cold face, thought that it was enough and held it up to the light.

“How much time has passed?”

“It’s almost three hours. I heard that His Highness is still waiting.”

Deheen put down his sword and crookedly rested his chin on his palm and crossed his legs.

He closed his eyes for a while, as if thinking about something, then opened his eyes with a sigh.

“Let’s go. Bring the papers.”

“Yes. By the way, Y-Your Grace, wouldn’t it be better to leave the sword behind?”

“I worked very hard, why should I leave it behind?”

Picking up the sword, Deheen passed Ben and added, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

He headed for the drawing room, holding the sword without even sheathing it. The edges of the sword was sharp, like blood would spill out just with a graze.

★★★

Delbert felt his lifespan diminishing just by watching Noah sit still in the drawing room for hours.

‘If His Majesty the Emperor knew about it, there would be an uproar.’

Currently, in the grand ducal family, even Cheese the cat was not ignored, but Noah was unmistakably the crown prince.

Delbert was worried about how rumors would spread if it became known that the crown prince was treated coldly by the grand ducal family.

However, contrary to Delbert’s worries, Noah didn’t have any such thoughts.

If he could get permission just by waiting like this, he could have waited days, not hours.

“She was really cute back then.”

While Noah waited for Deheen, he stared and observed the picture of the grand ducal family hanging on the wall.

When he was young, he never got bored looking at Esther, who had chubby, squishy cheeks.

“You must like the painting.”

Surprised by the voice of Deheen, who came earlier than expected, Noah’s pupils widened as he turned towards the entrance to the drawing room.

It was because the sword, which was sparkling in the reflection of the light from the chandelier, caught his eye first.

‘A real sword?’

Noah swallowed involuntarily as he wondered why the older man was pulling out his sword.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s okay. You came sooner than I thought.”

“So I should come later?”

“No! You don’t have to… I said it out of joy.”

Still unsure if Deheen was joking or not, Noah was startled and hurriedly shook his hand.

“Please be more comfortable with your words.”

“No. It’s not like we’re in a comfortable relationship.”

Noah’s proposal to narrow the distance was rejected by Deheen.

It was because letting go of this line was tantamount to acknowledging Noah.

“Okay.”

Struggling to hide his disappointment, Noah asked cautiously,

“By the way, why are you holding that sword?”

“Oh, I forgot I’m holding it.”

Deheen looked at the sword he was holding too openly for anyone to believe he had forgotten, and said,

“Well, quite by chance, I have a sword in my hand. Would you like to spar with me?”

“Yes?”

Noah asked in a bewildered voice, taken aback for a moment.

Deheen was known as the best swordsman in the empire, to the extent that no one could match him.

No matter how much swordsmanship training Noah had, there was no way he would ever be an opponent for Deheen.

‘If I had known it would be like this, I would have been doing special training for a week.’

Noah regretted belatedly and swallowed his tears.

“All right.”

He knew he was no match, but that didn’t mean he could turn down Deheen’s suggestion.

Following Deheen’s lead, Noah arrived at the garden right in front of the main building of the grand ducal residence.

“Here. It’s nice.”

It was strange to spar in the garden. Noah looked around and saw a familiar window.

‘That’s Esther’s room.’

Glancing at the wide-opened window of Esther’s room, Noah bit his lips.

Noah wondered if Deheen had brought him here to show Esther how he would lose badly.

“What are you looking at?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Use this sword.”

When Noah tried to untie his sword from his waist, Deheen indifferently held out the sword he had sharpened.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“I’m going to use a completely dull and rusty sword. I have to have a penalty like that for it to be considered a spar.”

“Are you sure? I could inadvertently injure you.”

“Can you hurt me?”

Deheen smiled. The corners of his mouth were raised like he was having fun.

“If you inflict even the slightest wound on me, I will fulfill your purpose of coming here today without hesitation.”

“Really? You promised!”

Noah’s eyes changed in an instant at Deheen’s unexpected suggestion.

He quickly accepted the sword he was holding out, fearing he would say something else.

For a moment, he almost dropped the sword, surprised by how it was heavier than expected, but he gripped it with both hands and strengthened his will.

‘If it’s a rusty sword, I have a chance. Let’s aim for gaps as all I have to do is slightly hurt him.’

Determined to use all his strength, Noah positioned the sword.

“Then let’s start right away.”

“Here I come.”

Holding a terrible sword, Deheen ran to Noah with his eyes blazing.

Noah hurried to the side, feeling a chill through his body as Deheen attacked his side.

‘Ha.’

Deheen made a brief analysis.

‘You managed to dodge even though I tried to finish it at once.’

Frankly, he dismissed Noah’s skill, thinking it wouldn’t be as good as a low-ranking knight, but it wasn’t to that extent.

Looking at it now, he could see that his body was strong with well-developed muscles.

While Deheen tested Noah here and there, Noah gritted his teeth and continued dodging.

There was a very clear difference in skills.

However, Noah was not discouraged. Somehow, he took the strikes and told Deheen.

“I know you don’t like me. I’m sure it’s not just me, you won’t like anyone else either.”

“Looks like you still have time to talk, so I’ll speed things up.”

Deheen arrogantly displayed high-level techniques to keep Noah from saying more nonsense.

But shockingly, Noah managed to match Deheen’s sword, parry it, and continued talking.

“I may not meet the standards of Your Grace, but I can guarantee you that I will be better than anyone in the empire.”

Credits goes to Kushi for raw providing and Ame for translating.