Even if he immediately regretted his unexpected behaviour, it was already spilled water.

Ivan stopped shrugging his shoulders.

His sorrowful figure did look pitiful, but it did not affect those who were gathered in the room.

“What he’s trying to say is…”

At that very moment, it was none other than his stern senior, Duke Omerta who saved the poor Ivan in trouble.

The Duke spoke up suddenly, like he had been doing all this time.

“Since the Ice Dragon’s first appearance, civilian attacks by monsters have fallen below half. I should say it’s a good thing.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the duke.

Duke Omerta gracefully continued his words with both hands clasped, relishing everyone’s gaze on him.

“Although the palace was attacked thanks to someone’s manipulation, the damage caused to other people who were enjoying the festival for the first time in a long time is much more serious than that. I couldn’t believe the scene I saw from the Moon Tower that day. All of us, we still can’t believe it. They’ve never heard of or seen such a strange phenomenon….. However, as a result of examining the circumstances, the Ice Dragon thought that we did not let my daughter-in-law meet it, and then it became chaotic.”

“…….”

“Maybe it’s because it’s still a young dragon, but if it was a mature adult, it wouldn’t have been easily tempted by magic stones. I think it ran out of patience because of the combination of various elements.”

“What do you want to say?”

“This is what I was going to say a while ago. I understand that everyone is excited that they have dealt with the dragons, but Lord Barons and I have had experience dealing with two adult dragons together a long time ago. As such, the dragon’s brilliance and specificity are one step ahead of you.”

Everyone just listened to his tone full of pride with a blank face.

In the meantime, only Lord Barons coughed a little and raised his chin with pride.

“Although the Ice Dragon is strong and incomparable to flame dragons and other dragons, it is the first time I’ve seen it acting so hard against humans. But considering the fact that it has grown up alone without a mother dragon, and the peculiarity of its behaviour, it will benefit everyone for the time being.”

Obviously, it felt like something was skipped in the middle.

If this was the case, why had they been talking about subjugation so far?

Izek only stared at the faces of the elders who watched him closely instead of immediately arguing and angering him.

Then, he let out a sigh.

“What’s up with those faces? I was already going to do that, so please keep a straight face.”

“Are you sure? Sir Izek?”

How did he let go that easily?

“My wife wants me to do this. How can I say no to her? In addition, these days, I think those affection-deficient monsters are more reliable than humans. Of course, I don’t want to let the dragon meet my wife alone, but I don’t think it’ll hurt her no matter what. It became calm as soon as it saw her in the midst of being possessed by the magic stones.”

“By the way, if the Duchess wasn’t sick, I would have discussed it with her earlier. From now on, whenever I want to ask you to do something, I can go talk to her.”

In response to Izek’s response, which felt unexpectedly innocent and sincere, the knight commander seemed to have regained his composure and even to the extent that he made a lame joke.

Duke Omerta, who gave a heated speech, also took a breather and exchanged bitter smiles with the king.

It was clear that Izek didn’t like their ways.

“Your Majesty.”

“What is it, Duke?”

“What are you going to do with Cardinal Valentino? Are you really going to let him get away like this?”

Finally, the atmosphere, which had lightened up a bit, quickly became rigid.

King Feanol looked like he was having a headache again, but he responded with dignity.

“You always had a knack at ruining the mood.”

“The people of the North who enjoyed the festival for the first time in a long time were swept away by hell-like chaos. Regardless of who the opponent is, isn’t it a good thing to investigate suspicious people without excluding a single one?”

“It’s very surprising to see you hold such compassion for others. If you plan to teach me how to rule, you should stop. In your eyes, do you think I’m relaxed?”

“I don’t know.”

“I wish to investigate the background of this incident without holding back as well. However, the more serious the problem is, the more careful we are supposed to be. Especially if the opponent is from another country, and if it’s Romagna, even more so! If we push recklessly without any evidence, it could eventually result in our side being driven back.”

That made sense.

But the minority elites were exchanging weird looks for some reason.

The look in their eyes said that they thought it was obvious.

“What if Cardinal Valentino, who was born and raised in the south his entire life, had run away in fear after hearing the roar of the dragon? We don’t know what happened on their side. Don’t you all know that magic stones are available on the black market as well? Furthermore, his and the Duchess’ bond seem to be very deep, and I personally don’t think there’s any reason to put on such a show.”

“It’s just as His Majesty said, Sir Izek. First of all, I think it’s right to ask why you would suddenly doubt Cardinal Valentino and treat him as an enemy. Do you know anything about it?”

“…..”

“Duke? Why are you silent again?”

It was said that the Borgian family was notorious and everyone knew it, but the Pope was in the palace when it happened. There were not only known nobles from their land, but also other Vatican nobles.

The nobles of other countries were also a random mixture of Borgian alliances and foes.

From a general point of view, it was natural to see that Cardinal Valentino, notorious for his thoroughness and slyness, could not commit such a foolish act without being careful.

Even more so if his beloved sister was in danger.

Izek exchanged his quick gaze with Galar for a while and spoke up again.

“It’s just a personal feeling, Commander. Your Majesty, if we bring clear evidence of who the initiator is, you’re willing to stop holding back. Am I right?”

“You’re asking an obvious question. At this point, I doubt what Sir Izek thinks of me.”

“I’m always grateful for His Majesty’s grace. Anyway, I got it.”

This finally seemed to put an end to the long discussion.

The king waved his hand, and Duke Omerta pushed the pen, which had been rolling all the time, to one side without writing anything yet.

The valiant Paladins, who had been prepared for some punishment, began to relax their shoulders.

The king gave a cautious look to his old comrade once.

And then at Izek, the son of his comrade and the woman he cared a lot about.

While he was thinking about it, the Knight Commander, who had been looking at Izek as well, suddenly blurted out while thinking to himself.

“Oh, you all are on probation.”

“…….”

“And this is my personal question. What was that Popori and Griffin doing?”

* * *

Pain was a familiar sensation.

He was so used to it that he’d become dull to pain.

He was familiar with any physical pain, such as burning thirst, the sense of tearing and drilling raw flesh, the sensation of breaking bones, the sensation of toenails or teeth being pulled out, the sense of blood escaping his body and vision coming back and forth.

It was something he’d been through countless times since he was a boy.

Therefore, Pietro was confident.

Although he was currently tied to a chair after losing to the paladins, who looked somewhat unsatisfied due to his incompetency, Pietro was confident.

This place, where he was tied to a chair, was a dark space without a single sight of light.

The white-looking bars among the darkness, with his well-trained view, familiarised to this, informed him that this was some kind of dungeon.

It was an obvious situation.

He was sure they were going to torture him here.

Try as much as you want, you will never get to hear Master’s name from my mouth.

Having thought that, Pietro waited leisurely.

He couldn’t guess how long time had passed.

He fell asleep, woke up, and fell asleep again. He tried to keep his mind as clear as possible by waking up at the same intervals.

Whenever they came, he had to take advantage of the opportunity to escape at any time.

“…But we’re on probation.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Finally, a slowly approaching light from afar appeared through the long darkness.

Pietro’s agile five senses stood on edge.

“We’re on probation, so doing this is a bit…”

“Oh, you’re such a scaredy-cat. Are you that scared of the Knight Commander?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you were the most intimidated. You even cried, didn’t you?

“When the f*ck did I do that?”

Several loud voices rang simultaneously, and rough footsteps hit his ears.

There seemed to be quite a few people coming.

Okay, the more the merrier.

Pietro gave a gruesome smile.

“We are not working as Paladins right now.”

“What is wrong with this ignorant b*stard?… And so, what are you doing right now?”