Resolve

"Now, what did I tell you, huh? I told you to stay down and don't mess around like this, right?" I asked as I pointed that sword towards Kenneth.

"You did not say that, my Lord." Kenneth, who looked frantically towards his bodyguards, spoke. Although, I don't get what he's expecting from those bodyguards of his. I mean, is he expecting them to stop me? Do they really have the guts to do something like that?

"Oh, I didn't? My bad, I guess. But did I ask you to reply there?" I asked.

"No, my Lord." He replied.

"Then why did you give me an answer?" I asked.

I could see Jerome's face at that point. He was this close to getting annoyed by everything that was happening in front of him. First of all, Kenneth had already managed to annoy him and couple that with me talking like this sure had made him pretty mad. But it wasn't like he could express his displeasure at that point.

"My Lord, I…" Kenneth was dumbfounded. He knew that I was in my annoying phase. He was well aware that no matter what he said, I would talk some kinda shit about that, so he was well on his way to stay silent.

"Grand Duke Albius, even though Viscount Kenneth had indeed overstepped his boundaries by giving out a response when he wasn't asked to give out a response, he is indeed speaking the truth." Jerome, who had enough of the banter at that point, decided to speak away.

"What are you talking about?" I turned towards my dear friend and asked.

"Well, you didn't say what you claim to have said, my Lord. You outright ignored him instead." He replied.

I couldn't help but sigh at that point. Jerome was such a spoil sport. But I guess he's getting more and more annoyed about Kenneth's presence to the point that he might actually consider slashing him up if not stopped. So, maybe I should put a stop to it after all.

"Is that so? Then let me ask you a question, Viscount Kenneth." I spoke.

"Yes, my Lord?" Kenneth looked a bit surprised at that point.

"Can't you take a hint?" I asked. "Clearly, I didn't want to see you today and yet you made this off-putting spectacle right in front of my residence. So, let me ask you this. Are you simply trying to grab my attention or are you trying to get my wrath?"

I could literally hear him gulp at that point. He was afraid. I could sense it. Even though my hold on the sword I picked up was weak and it could probably not cause him a major injury or anything, he was intimidated. And when someone is intimidated like that, it is fairly easy to basically stomp them into the ground.

"I apologize, my Lord." He spoke.

"What I need is not your apology. If I don't see you and your little troop leave in the next ten minutes, then I'll make sure that you experience my wrath." I spoke. And not surprisingly, Kenneth got to work straight up.

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"This is bad." I sighed as I stared at my hand.

"What is?" Jerome, who heard me sighing out loud like that, asked.

"The way I handled the situation with Kenneth." I spoke.

"Well, anyone who saw how you handled the situation with him would say that you did a relatively great job with it. Or is it that you wanted to handle it peacefully or something?" He asked.

"Are you freaking kidding me? Why would I want to handle things peacefully with that bastard?" I couldn't help but think how absurd his claim was.

"Then what is it? Why are you disappointed about how you handled it then?" He asked.

"Well, I could've done it way better. Like, when I held that sword against his throat. I felt it, you know?" I mumbled.

"You felt what?" He asked again.

"That he wasn't afraid of that sword in his throat at that point. He didn't bow down in front of me because of that. He was simply afraid of my words and my social standing." I replied.

"Well, you gotta have a certain amount of swag if you gotta make people fear your words, right?" Jerome shrugged as he said that.

"Ha, you don't get it. He's only afraid of my words because of my social standing. So, that basically means that he was simply afraid of me because I am the Grand Duke; nothing else. And that feels a bit iffy, you know? What if I was a normal person? My words would've been just thrown aside like nothing, right? I don't like the thought of that." I replied.

"But you are not. You are not some common person. You are the Grand Duke. And you will always be the Grand Duke, that is until Myghell and your family try to screw you over or something." He spoke.

"Yea, nice way to uplift a person, by saying that his position in society is only stable for a certain period of time." I scoffed as I said that.

"I mean, it's kinda like the truth. The moment Myghell covets your position, you're gonna have a really tough time." He replied. "Anyhow, that wasn't the point that I was trying to make. What I was trying to say was, it's totally fine if people are simply afraid of you because of the status you hold. Because being born into an influential family needs a certain amount of luck as well." He spoke.

"And I don't want to continue living just by relying on that luck I got from being born. I want to show people that I'm a person, not just a position, you know?" I shrugged as I said that.

"Is that so? Fine then. What are you planning to do to show people your resolve?" Jerome asked.

"Bring in the elite squad. I'm gonna need to have a long talk with them now." I spoke.

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