The Past Life of the Arrogant Archduke - Chapter 19

When the demonstration finally ended and Raymond lowered the sword, the knight commander picked up a sword and began to move.

He repeated the forms twice with his eyes closed. Then, as he opened his eyes again, Raymond was watching him with a smile on his face.

Thump. The knight commander dropped to one knee, pounded his fist to his chest, and offered the highest salute.

“I was able to gain a small insight thanks to Your Highness’s guidance. I am grateful.”

“It’s surely thanks to your own constant hard work as well.”

“And my congratulations. To have become the youngest Sword Master—this is a monumental event that will go down in the history of the Empire!”

“Haha! To think such praise would come from our stone-faced Knight Commander. It feels quite good.”

The Knight Commander looked up at Raymond with admiration and pride filling his face.

“May I ask… how you became a Sword Master?”

Indeed, even in their last sparring match before the wedding, their skills had been evenly matched. The Knight Commander was curious how such enlightenment had come about.

The three well-known Sword Masters had all reached their level during life-or-death duels, while subjugating beasts, or in the midst of intense sword training.

He couldn’t grasp what could’ve happened over just a few days for Raymond’s skill to have improved so drastically.

“After meeting my destined partner and experiencing true ecstasy, it was as if the world embraced me.”

“Ah… I see…”

The Knight Commander suddenly thought of his own wife. He felt ashamed for having used training as an excuse to hardly return home.

“Ah, is that so…? While I failed to properly care for my own household, I arrogantly claimed I was protecting the North.”

The Knight Commander closed his eyes. A small realization had come to him as well. When he opened them again, Raymond was already gone.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

He offered a formal salute in the direction Raymond had left, then returned home for the first time in a long while.

***

Meanwhile, as Raymond moved about busily, people were beginning to gather in the Grand Duke’s private wardrobe room. They included numerous hairdressers, tailors, fashion designers, and perfumers—those responsible for the Grand Duke’s outward appearance.

These were talents who had trained under the capital’s top artisans thanks to the previous Grand Duchess’s patronage, gained renown through their outstanding taste and aesthetic sense, and had even turned down summons from the Imperial Palace to return in time for the heir’s coming-of-age ceremony.

They were all from vassal families of the Grand Duchy and highly skilled, with matching pride.

But today, unease was written all over their faces.

A late-night summons might be ordinary for other noble families, but this was Raymond Arrogance they were serving.

And they had already been burned more than once.

When they first met Raymond as the Young Master, they had screamed with inner joy. They’d heard rumors he was handsome, but in person, he far exceeded expectations.

That wild masculinity that young capital nobles could never match! Hair as black as the midnight sky, and black eyes to match! A towering, well-proportioned physique!

To think they could serve such a figure! Their creative fire blazed with inspiration.

But then, they had to be disappointed… Raymond had absolutely no interest in fashion at all. He dodged them with all sorts of excuses.

A tailor had even been unable to take his measurements and had to secretly measure the spare set of knight uniforms to determine his size. The tailor cried while cutting fabric.

Even on the morning of the coming-of-age ceremony, Raymond had to be dragged from the training grounds by the Grand Duke just to begin dressing. Other nobles began preparations a week in advance, and here they were starting on the day of!

And then he clammed up, radiating a chilling aura that was so intimidating they feared even approaching him.

At the wedding, they’d hoped he would finally care about appearances since he had apparently fallen in love at first sight—but no.

Because of circumstances involving the Grand Duchess-to-be, the wedding had been rushed through.

Despite all the outfits and accessories that had been brought in from across the continent using the Grand Duchy’s vast connections and fortune, Raymond hadn’t spared them a single glance. He’d simply said to do whatever they wanted and disappeared to the outdoor training yard.

Didn’t he know how bad the northern wind was for the skin? And he was the groom, no less!

And at the wedding itself, his sharp, intimidating demeanor had made them too afraid to even perform to their usual standards.