Medieval Knight System: Building the Strongest Empire Ever!-Chapter 43: I’m Here to Take Revenge

Vermeer looked back and forth between me and Hilda, his expression somehow conflicted. Like he was troubled yet incredulous—like a younger brother whose beloved older sister had been stolen away.

"You two just met today, right? You seem close, as if you’ve known each other for years."

"Of course. Sir Streit is different from boring men. He said dipping feet in the lake and racing horses are wonderful hobbies. Unlike you and His Highness."

"Haa, those aren’t typical pastimes for a lady. I was only giving you advice."

Aha, so the reason Hilda had warmed to me was mainly that I’d shown appreciation for her hobbies. In truth, this era’s feminine ideal was obedient, demure, and one of demanding one-sided sacrifice. It was a patriarchal society, so women’s rights were abysmal.

At least if a woman’s status was high, or in cases where the husband married into the wife’s family, husbands couldn’t push their weight around. But otherwise, it was all too common to see husbands beating their wives.

Looking at Genesis in the Bible, the first humans Adam and Eve existed, and Eve succumbed to temptation from the devil disguised as a serpent and ate the forbidden fruit, plunging humanity into eternal suffering. This created the belief that women, daughters of Eve, were prone to pleasure and corruption. A clear mistranslation of the original intent.

So patriarchs ruled wives and daughters with authority and violence. The lower the status, the more pronounced this tendency.

Meanwhile, the crown prince was chatting with Count Mainhof’s daughter, struggling mightily against the persistent lady. Lady Mainhof clung to the crown prince with obvious intent, and the crown prince wore an expression that said he regretted ever coming, silently pleading for Vermeer’s help with his eyes.

The crown prince really did suffer a great deal.

I couldn’t fathom why he’d attended such a banquet.

"Please go help Franz. If Lady Hilda is there, the count’s daughter will behave herself. Surely you won’t leave Franz in trouble when you’re friends?"

"I don’t think the count’s daughter will behave just because I’m there. Excuse me, Sir Streit. I’ll go help Fran briefly and come back."

With no other choice, Hilda asked for my understanding and headed to the crown prince’s seat with Vermeer. Bertheim was mingling with other nobles. They didn’t seem like people worth introducing me to, as he made no effort to call me over.

So I had no choice but to look around or watch men and women exchanging whispered conversations while sipping wine, when Eisenach spotted me. He approached with obvious delight.

"Sir Streit? You were invited to the banquet as well? We meet in unexpected places."

"Yes. I was able to attend as the Marquis’s companion. Are you escorting His Highness?"

"I was surveying the surroundings. Found a good match? Everyone’s falling over themselves trying to find one."

"I found a lady I like, but the difference in status is too great."

"Oh my, how unfortunate. I hope you find a good match. By the way, I’m married."

Was he, now?

I’d assumed he was single, but he was actually married. He smiled brightly, a stark contrast to his usual taciturn demeanor, saying he had a son and a daughter so he had no worries about succession. Aside from the guard captain, the rest of the guard had found neither matches nor marriages. If they hadn’t been escorting the crown prince, they’d have rushed over to the ladies with proposals on their lips, but instead they could only look on longingly. Some grumbled as they watched couples who’d succeeded in their courtship.

"Damn, rich guys have it so easy," one guard muttered.

"If I make it big too! Ladies lining up! Is money really the issue?" another complained.

"Why don’t we have any connections? We’re the crown prince’s guard!"

If I were a lady, I’d never marry those men. Those three—Hornst, Haumels, and Bay—were especially ones to steer clear of. Some ladies who’d shown initial interest because they served in the crown prince’s guard took one look at those three and fled in horror. The guard’s reputation probably wouldn’t improve much with those three around.

"I’m the daughter of a Magnet duchy knight. What family are you from?"

"I’m Wolfgang von Streit, current head of the Streit family."

"Ah, the Streit family. I believe it’s a distinguished knight family with a proud military record."

Occasionally ladies approached, drawn by my appearance, but every one of them looked puzzled upon hearing my family name. They’d praise it as a distinguished knight family, as the one just now had, but watching them quickly drift away, I keenly realized how much a family’s reputation affected the marriage market.

Lower noble ladies didn’t see my family as an attractive match.

But a high-ranking young lady had shown interest, so that was enough.

Hiding my bitterness, I stepped out into the garden and suddenly found myself missing Sabine and Daniel—who were no doubt hoping I’d find a good match—and even Bodo picking his nose. The soldiers I’d brought, Hans, Ted, and Oscar, were probably eating decently well in the waiting room.

I was spending some time getting fresh air when someone tapped me on the back.

"Getting some air alone?"

"Since you’re the only lady keeping me company, Fräulein, it felt lonely without you."

"The ladies have no eye for quality. You’re a knight who might become His Highness’s close associate."

"But is it all right leaving His Highness?"

"I slipped away saying I needed air. Fran will understand."

It seemed she’d been quite tormented by Lady Mainhof over there.

From Count Mainhof’s perspective, somehow escaping isolation through the crown prince and securing a path back to relevance was paramount. Though his daughter wouldn’t be selected as crown princess, if she managed to please the crown prince, she could serve as a bargaining chip—not a bad gambit.

Of course, there was no chance the crown prince actually fancied Lady Mainhof.

But then Hilda looked up at me intently.

"Ah, I remember! Didn’t we dance together once before?"

"At Breisburg Cathedral, right?"

"Right, I knew it! I thought you looked familiar."

"May I take our meeting again as a sign of fate?"

I remembered that time. After finishing Mass at Breisburg Cathedral, many people had gathered in the courtyard, singing joyfully and dancing in circles like ring-around-the-rosy. I’d been pulled in by an unknown girl to dance, and the next partner had been Hilda.

As those memories resurfaced, our conversation blossomed, until Hilda said in a serious tone:

"Sir Streit, what if I said I wanted to become your legitimate wife?"

"A tremendous honor, but still, isn’t the difference in status too great?"

"Since I’m the youngest, I don’t care much about status differences. If I pass marriageable age, I’ll only become a burden on my family. Before that happens, if there’s something to convince Father, marrying you might be possible—if we truly are two people bound by the thread of fate."

Hilda, who considered our connection something special, seemed to have made up her mind. The difference in status was indeed enormous, but since she wasn’t the eldest daughter but the youngest of five siblings, perhaps it was possible. Still, the path ahead wouldn’t be easy.

I not only liked Hilda, but the connections and advantages that came with the War Minister were also invaluable, so I wanted to make her my legitimate wife. This was noble marriage in practice. A love match? That was the stuff of fairy tales.

Meeting at a banquet for the first time, weighing conditions, and if both sides saw mutual benefit, notifying both families and pushing forward with the marriage—that was how noble unions worked. Of course, before that came a period of meeting several times to reaffirm the match, and formalizing things with an engagement rather than marrying immediately, so the relationship could be observed over time.

After that, it concluded with a wedding at church.

By the way, divorce was illegal.

"Fräulein, what do you like so much about me?"

"In this narrow noble society, how many men appreciate my hobbies and truly respect them? On top of that, you’re a talented knight who might become the crown prince’s close associate and a brave man who’s seen real combat. I think you’re an appealing choice for me—do you find me burdensome?"

"Not at all. I think it would be an honor for my family. My Maria."

"Hehe, I want to become your Maria too."

For the Streit family, welcoming the War Minister’s daughter would be a tremendous honor and a boost in reputation, incomparable to the Elsheimer son-in-law proposal the Finance Minister had once suggested.

The difference was stark. She would join my family. I harbored ambitions to elevate the Streit family to lord knight status. If I said that now, Hilda would surely laugh—but she wouldn’t dislike it, because ambition was necessary to rise above.

"Lady Hilda! Save me!"

But Vermeer interrupted once again.

The crown prince was calling for Hilda.

"Scheiße."

I distinctly heard Hilda curse under her breath but pretended not to notice. With no other choice, Hilda asked for my understanding again and returned to the crown prince’s side, like a sister looking after her younger brother. Incidentally, Hilda was seventeen—two years older than me. Close to my preferred range, which made me like her even more.

"You’re fortunate that Hilda has taken a liking to you."

"But if she’s the War Minister’s daughter, wouldn’t she have many suitors besides me?"

"Not really. High status brings its own problems. Most men of comparable status and appropriate age are already married, and even the slightly younger ones are engaged, so no one’s gotten around to the youngest daughter, Hilda. So the family has been looking for grooms among those of lower status, but her standards for men are exacting, so that hasn’t been easy either."

Even high-status families didn’t have it easy when it came to marriage? I could sense her determination to marry me—willingly accepting a lower-status match because she genuinely liked me. But if the War Minister didn’t give his consent, it would all be for nothing.

Evaluating this union with cold, noble pragmatism, it was a marriage that could bring me tremendous benefits. But from the War Minister’s perspective, it was a union with no advantage whatsoever. Even as His Highness’s close associate, in the War Minister’s eyes I was merely a hereditary knight.

But if I steadily advanced through the system and became a lord knight, how would the War Minister regard me then? The hypothesis was purely speculative, but if it could come to pass, it would be deeply satisfying.

"Would the War Minister consider me acceptable as a son-in-law?"

"He wouldn’t. But if it’s you, couldn’t you change that judgment?"

"Thank you for the high regard, but that’s no simple feat."

Bertheim simply smiled and headed back into the banquet hall. I’d gotten enough air myself, so I followed. The banquet had already reached its peak. I could easily spot spectacles of men dueling over a single lady. Nobles at the tail end of marriageable age, staking their futures on the marriage market, were desperate.

I couldn’t guarantee whether I’d be able to marry Hilda either, so I couldn’t make any promises, but there were still many opportunities ahead.

As the evening wound down, many nobles were taking their leave. The guards’ vigilance had grown relatively lax compared to the beginning. Count Mainhof and his daughter seemed to have done their utmost entertaining the crown prince, but the ordeal must have been agonizing for him.

Bertheim had definitely hinted that something would happen, but was the evening going to pass without incident? Just as I was thinking that something felt off, a quest suddenly appeared.

[Rose’s Phantom III]

[Protect the crown prince from the Rose Knight]

[Reward — 3,000 points, 30 silver coins (hazard pay)]

[Family Prestige +600]

[Danger Rating ★★★☆☆]

Damn it. Hilda must be beside the crown prince!

Why was that bastard showing up here of all places?

At that moment, I spotted a man approaching the guard. A neatly dressed man with a somewhat sharp, lean bearing—a man I hadn’t seen in the banquet hall. But through the Manager Scouter, I could identify him. Günter von Klugen. The great knight known as the Rose Knight.

He cut down two guardsmen blocking his path in a single stroke.

It happened so quickly that the nobles in the banquet hall didn’t even realize what had occurred. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Kyaaaah!"

Lady Mainhof screamed, and the hall instantly erupted into pandemonium.

Vermeer and Eisenach calmly moved to shield the crown prince, and the guard surrounded Klugen. Eisenach shouted:

"Who are you? Reveal your identity!"

"I’m the Rose’s Phantom, here to exact revenge upon the Altringen royal family."

Klugen’s longsword flashed like lightning.