The Failed Swordmaster - Chapter 56

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 56 25. You’ve Changed a Lot (3)

The Calard Estate has not experienced any significant conflicts for a long time.

The estate is small in scale, and it doesn’t produce any valuable resources. It’s not a transportation hub where logistics are concentrated either.

As a result, there was no reason for neighboring estates to covet it. This meant that military power wasn’t greatly needed.

Therefore.

Swoosh!

Swoosh-!

No one could properly assess the true skill of Lumian Calard, who was vigorously swinging his sword in the training grounds.

“The young master has certainly changed, hasn’t he?”

“That’s right. He’s incredibly fast.”

“He looks strong too. The Knight’s Academy must be good.”

A few guards managing the training grounds expressed their admiration, but it was impossible for them to grasp Lumian’s true capabilities with their eyes.

They simply thought that their young master had changed a lot and left it at that.

Of course, the estate knights would be able to recognize Lumian’s skill, but unfortunately, none were present at the moment.

Only Morghen was there to keep lonely watch beside Lumian as he trained.

After a brief moment passed.

Morghen, who had been sitting with a bored expression the entire time, opened his mouth.

“What are you doing, brother?”

“Huh? Why?”

“If you’re not going to do it properly, why are you swinging your sword around?”

“Huh? That’s not true. I’m working hard.”

“What… It’s not like I don’t know your skill level. Do you have something on your mind?”

“Hmm…”

Lumian looked at his sworn brother with an expression full of worry.

It was true that he wanted to confide this situation to someone. He needed advice too.

But Morghen’s response was predictably obvious.

‘If it’s not just dating but marriage, he’d definitely oppose it.’

This was a guy who had vowed to live as a bachelor for life, wanting to experience the various charms of different women.

He wondered if there was any need to ask such a guy for advice.

“What is it? Why don’t you try talking about it?”

“Ah, I don’t know. Actually…”

In the end, Lumian opened up about his situation.

In fact, there was no one else besides Morghen to talk to about such things.

He briefly explained his situation and finally showed him Lili Calaran’s portrait.

Immediately, Morghen’s response burst out.

“Let’s do it, marriage.”

“Huh?”

“I’m telling you to get married.”

“What? It’s my marriage, so why are you more enthusiastic about it? And even if I do it, it’s not marriage but engagement. I’m only 15 years old.”

“Just get married. To be worrying about such a beauty. Are you crazy, brother?”

“No, wait a minute.”

Lumian frowned.

This guy who had told him dozens of times in his previous life why he wouldn’t get married was now casually talking about his marriage, which felt somewhat unpleasant.

It felt like he was trying to quickly get rid of his bothersome brother.

However, Morghen was sincere.

He lowered his voice and spoke.

“Brother.”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think is the reason I don’t get married and meet this woman and that woman?”

“Well… last time you said you wanted to experience all kinds of different charms…”

“Yes. That’s right. How can a person live eating only one type of food for their entire life? Sometimes roast duck, sometimes seafood, sometimes bread…”

“This bastard, your analogy is too crude.”

“I’m sorry. Anyway, I have a personality that gets bored easily, so I vowed never to get married for life. I thought this way was much better than cheating after marriage.”

Lumian nodded.

He was like a rogue but had strangely moral aspects. Well, if he had been completely bad, he wouldn’t have taken him as his sworn brother.

But his following words were unexpected.

“As of today, my beliefs have been shattered.”

“Hm?”

“If it’s a woman this beautiful, I think marriage would be fine.”

“…She is pretty.”

Lumian nodded.

So far, he had thought there were two greatest beauties.

Queen Amelia, the wife of Knight King Philip III.

And the Academy’s greatest beauty, third-year Leiton Wino.

Of course, he hadn’t seen the latter in person, but anyway, that was how it was.

Even if he lived for decades more, he didn’t think he would see beauties surpassing those two.

But now it was different.

The moment he saw Lili Calaran’s portrait, their ranking dropped to second place.

Her appearance was that shocking.

Of course, the appearance he was referring to included her figure as well.

“If brother had a personality like me, touching this woman and that woman, I wouldn’t have given such a definitive answer. But after talking for a few days, I understand. Brother has a personality more suited for marriage than dating.”

“Hmm…”

“Just like how you devoted your entire life’s loyalty to the Knight King, you’re prepared to love only one woman for life.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Honestly, even I’m going crazy right now and breaking my beliefs, saying I’d be fine marrying this woman, but I know. That my heart will change someday. But brother is different. You’re a knight among knights. You’re different from a mere mercenary like me.”

“…”

“Rather than meeting some mediocre woman and getting trapped because of brother’s tremendous sense of responsibility, then somehow ending up married… I think it’s much better to be with such a beauty from the start. Well, ultimately the decision is yours to make, brother.”

Lumian slowly closed his eyes.

Hearing Morghen’s words made his head even more complicated.

He still didn’t know himself well.

Sometimes he wanted to spend his life with one woman as Morghen said, but other times he wanted to touch this woman and that woman.

He would admire Philip III, who loved only one woman his entire life and never took concubines, but he would also envy Teoro, who had been promiscuous from a young age, meeting all kinds of women.

‘What should I do?’

For Lumian, who had never experienced even a proper meeting, let alone a breakup, engagement was too difficult a problem.

He sighed, opened his eyes, and spoke.

“Phew. I should at least see her face first.”

“That’s right. Meeting in person is the most important thing.”

“Why? Ah, right. Our personalities might not match…”

“No. Didn’t you see the portrait? As long as she’s not a murderer, personality doesn’t matter.”

“Then why?”

“The portrait might be a scam.”

“…”

“Of course, I hope it’s not. Really.”

With those words, Morghen returned to the dormitory.

Anxiety began to sprout in Lumian’s heart.

* * *

“Have you been well, Baron Calard?”

“Haha. Of course. Have you been safe as well, Baron Carayan?”

“I’m always the same. It’s good to see you, hahaha!”

A week later. Baron Nack Carayan, who visited the House of Calard as scheduled, laughed heartily.

Though his features weren’t particularly handsome, he was tall with a large frame, giving him a masculine and generous feeling.

His wife was the complete opposite. She had a delicate, flower-like slender figure with beautiful features that were impressive, and in a way, that seemed to make them suit each other even more.

Of course, such things were completely unimportant to Lumian.

His attention was entirely focused on Baron Carayan’s daughter, Lili Calaran.

And most fortunately.

“…!”

Baron Carayan’s eldest daughter possessed the same beauty as in her portrait.

‘No, the portrait was actually lacking?’

It was breathtaking.

Even if someone spoke to him, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to utter a single word properly.

It wasn’t simply that her face was outstanding.

Lumian was someone who looked at figure rather than face, and he was someone who could maintain his composure even in front of Tania, whose face rivaled that of the Queen of Jenas, for the sole reason that her chest was lacking.

Lili Calaran boasted such excellent curves that even such a Lumian couldn’t take his eyes off her.

Even Lumian’s father, Baron Calard, had briefly glanced over Lili Calaran’s figure.

Of course, he was caught immediately.

Thwack!

“Ugh.”

“Don’t make a spectacle of yourself.”

When the Carayan side’s attention was elsewhere, Lady Calard secretly elbowed Baron Calard.

He scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed expression.

Then he grinned and looked at his son.

‘This is no joke, right?’

‘…Yes.’

Watching the father and son conversing with lip movements, Lady Calard let out a small laugh.

Men, she thought to herself.

Of course, she had no complaints either.

If the daughter-in-law’s appearance was outstanding, it would influence the grandchildren as well.

“Well then, shall we go have our meal?”

“Haha, let’s do that. I’m looking forward to this.”

“Please do look forward to it. Our chef’s skills are quite good.”

The people entered with a warm atmosphere.

Among them, Lumian kept glancing at Lili Calaran.

Then their eyes met for a moment. He quickly averted his gaze.

But there was nothing he could do about his already reddened face.

Morghen’s words suddenly came to mind.

‘Let’s get married.’

Should he really say it?

Lumian muttered to himself and followed behind his father.

* * *

“Phew.”

After finishing all the schedule with Baron Carayan’s family, Lumian walked through the garden to organize his thoughts.

Of course, that didn’t clear his head. Rather, Lili Calaran’s appearance kept coming to mind, driving him crazy.

‘How could she change so much in six years?’

He couldn’t understand it.

And what about her figure.

Her age was 16, one year older than himself. It wasn’t a great age.

Nevertheless, she exuded the sultry charm of someone in her late twenties.

Yet she wasn’t lacking in innocence either, making him wonder if it was even possible to express this in words.

Thanks to this, Lumian spent time not knowing whether food was entering his mouth or his nose.

Even when his father tried to promote him with talk of the swordsmanship competition and his achievements, he couldn’t respond properly. He just showed a startled appearance after staring blankly at Lili Calaran.

It was fortunate that Baron Carayan and his wife viewed it favorably, but it could actually be considered quite rude.

“Sigh.”

Lumian sighed again.

No matter how much he walked and walked and walked again, his heart wouldn’t calm down. Lumian shook his head and stopped walking.

He turned around to return to his room. He felt like only aura training would calm these explosive emotions.

But then, he felt someone approaching from far away.

Lumian turned his head.

And his eyes widened.

‘Lili Calaran!’

Such a sudden encounter!

Lumian’s heart beat rapidly.

Like he had become a fool, he couldn’t think of anything. He stood there stupidly watching as she and her maid approached.

Is she coming toward me?

To meet me?

Why? Does she have something to say to me?

Dozens of thoughts flashed through his mind.

But the moment he saw Lili Calaran’s eyes as she drew closer, all other miscellaneous thoughts disappeared and only feelings of worry filled him.

Because her eyes looked so sorrowful.

‘Come to think of it, it was the same during the meal.’

Lumian, with his sensitive senses, could feel it.

From the moment she arrived at the Calard Estate until now, she had been in a bad mood the entire time.

Like someone who would burst into tears at the slightest touch, tears were welled up just beneath those large eyes.

He didn’t know the reason.

Lumian just desperately hoped that the reason wasn’t something that originated from him.

By the time he was thinking such thoughts, the baron’s daughter had already approached near him.

The maid was waiting far away. She seemed not to want to interfere with their conversation.

“Hello?”

“Ah… Hello. Lady Calaran. The weather is nice.”

It wasn’t.

Though the moon was bright and the air was clear, it was a gloomy evening with quite a few clouds.

However, Lili Calaran didn’t point this out. She just smiled gently.

But that smile looked so sad. Enough to tear Lumian’s heart apart.

‘…Why on earth?’

What could it be. Had he made some mistake?

Lumian busily racked his brain to find any possible reasons.

And he was able to come up with one hypothesis.

‘Could it be an unwanted engagement?’

It was entirely possible.

If even he, as a man, found it difficult to defy his father’s words, how much more so for a woman.

It seemed like she didn’t want to get engaged.

‘Or perhaps she loves someone else.’

Thinking that way completely deflated him.

Lumian’s expression darkened.

If he had been Morghen, if he had been a mercenary who knew no honor, he might have harbored evil intentions. Regardless of who the other person was, he would have tried his best to steal Lili Calaran away.

But Lumian couldn’t do that. As a knight, he couldn’t do that.

Therefore, if Lady Calaran said she didn’t want to marry, he was prepared to nod obediently.

And his thoughts weren’t wrong.

Lili Calaran’s beautiful lips moved.

“Actually, I came to this place secretly to say something truly apologetic.”

“….”

“I’m sorry, but this engagement cannot happen.”

“I see. I expected as much….”

Lumian smiled bitterly and forlornly.

This was on a completely different level from his blind date rejection. If that pain had been like a needle pricking his chest, this felt like a massive stake being driven through it.

But it was okay.

He could understand it. He could endure it too.

If it was for the beautiful Lady’s happy future….

However, the situation took a slightly different turn.

Lili Calaran looked surprised and said.

“Huh? You expected it?”

“That’s right. You….”

“I see. You had already noticed.”

“….”

“That I, no, that my father had magically altered my appearance… I’m sorry. But I had no intention of hiding it. That’s why I came out to tell you the truth like this….”

“…What?”

Lumian let out a confused voice.

His eyes, wide as a full moon, represented his shock.

Seeing his expression, Lili Calaran made an equally surprised face.

“…Huh?”

“Huh?”

“Huh huh?”

“….”

Lumian drew up his Aura with full force.

His sharpened senses swept over Lili Calaran’s face.

Then he felt the flow of mana subtly distorted.

Moreover, the distorted flow wasn’t limited to just her face. Certain parts of her body were also treated with physical and magical illusions.

It was amazing skill that ordinary knights wouldn’t even notice, something only an archmage could pull off.

‘This can’t be!’

Shocked, he focused his eyes and carefully examined her chest and hip areas.

Soon he was able to realize.

That her face and her figure were both fake.

A single word flowed weakly from Lumian’s mouth.

“Padding….”

“I, I’m sorry! But this really wasn’t my intention… Um, me! Should we go somewhere we can sit and talk? I’ll tell you everything!”

Hearing Lili Calaran’s words, Lumian nodded with a dazed expression.

And slowly began to walk.

Separate from being shocked, he was extremely curious about Lili Calaran’s story.

A short while later, the two found a suitable bench and sat side by side to talk.

“…So that’s how it happened.”

Sympathy showed on Lumian’s face.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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