Chapter 13.2

Unprecedented Debutante Ball (Part 2) – From Cermiane’s Perspective (2)

Several high ranking noblemen’s sons were surrounding one of the daughters and pressuring her about something. I didn’t know the reason, but it was clear from their attire and the way their attendants acted that the high-ranking nobles were bullying the lower-ranking ones. The escort knight and even the young lady’s attendant, and her parents seemed worried but unable to intervene. There must be a significant difference in social status.

The difference in rank between the nobility is such that it is difficult to even argue if they are of the same rank, but if they are of different ranks, it is an absolute difference. If a higher rank sues a lower rank in the imperial court, the lower rank is almost unconditionally deemed to be at fault. That is how big the difference is. That is what aristocratic rank is all about.

It is the same for children. The lower ranks This applies to children as well. The lower-ranking must obey the higher-ranking, and it is a rule and norm in the noble society. In this case, if the higher-ranking person is upset about something, then the lower-ranking person is in the wrong, and the reason is irrelevant. The lower-ranking person can only apologize. Therefore, it is the right decision for a young knight, who is at the lowest rank as a noble, and ordered to be an escort, not to help the young lady he is supposed to protect. After all, even her parents can do nothing but endure their daughter’s crisis.

I also felt uncomfortable, but the common sense of aristocratic society and my self-created frame of being “just a knight” that I created for myself bound me. In this case, even if I were a member of the imperial family, I would not have done anything if the act of young lords bullying young ladies were considered right by the common sense of the noble society. And if I were just a knight, I could do nothing. If I tried anything foolish, I would be punished.

It couldn’t be helped. I thought so and suppressed my emotions.

But I had forgotten that there was a girl who had nothing to do with such ties of aristocratic society. For a moment, I felt as if a light had leaked out of Ralphine’s body. By the time I saw it, it was too late. She was running at the speed of a gale. Fast.

“Hey!!”

Ralphine ran through the hall, making a small sound with her high heels, and jumped as she did. Then, with her left leg outstretched and her skirt flaring, she unleashed a magnificent flying kick.

“How dare you lay a hand on a woman? Shame on you~!”

The young lord did not notice anything until the moment the kick hit his side. He fell in a parabolic trajectory. He bounced on the floor and stopped moving. I turned blue from the quicksand. He wasn’t dead, was he? But Ralphine landed without disturbing her posture and glared arrogantly at her surroundings. Her appearance was like that of a general on the battlefield.

“You guys are cowards for ganging up on someone like this! I’ll take you all on, come at me!!”

Instead of coming at her, they all looked at each other with round eyes and mouths. That’s right. Violence rarely occurs in aristocratic social gatherings. At most, ladies would scratch each other out of jealousy. And I’ve never heard of a noblewoman deciding to jump-kick someone.

When Ralphine saw that everyone was stunned, she released a snort and helped the fallen tormented Young Lady up. She then scolded her in a stern tone.

“You too! Why were you silent? Even a normally docile dog will turn on its fangs if its pride is tarnished!”

“What? I mean, my status is…”

“That’s irrelevant! If you forget your pride, you’ll end up dying while still alive! If your pride is defiled, then fight!!”

The bewildered young lady regained her vigor upon hearing Ralphusine’s words and nodded in agreement. Then, Ralphine turned to the knight who had rushed over and scolded him in an even more commanding tone.

“You are a knight, and yet you refuse to rush to the peril of the woman you are entrusted with protecting!”

“Um, well, it’s just that my social status…”

“Are you choosing your opponent based on social status? In a battle where lives are at stake, your opponent won’t care about your social status!”

… every single word of Ralphine’s had stuck with me.

If you forget your pride, you’ll end up dying while still alive. Yes. My mother taught me to never forget the pride of being the Emperor’s child. But in my insistence on becoming a simple knight rather than a member of the royal family, I wonder if I had forgotten the pride of being the son of my illustrious father. Forgetting my pride has caused me to demean myself, and I’ve lost sight of what it means to be a knight. I can’t even hold onto the pride of being a knight.

And as a knight, you must fulfil your duty with your life on the line. You must fulfil your duty, no matter what it takes, against all odds and obstacles. You must not neglect it out of concern for the status of your opponent. Isn’t that right? On the battlefield, it is not acceptable for a knight to say that he cannot fight because the general he is fighting is a member of the royal family. There is no status involved in carrying out a mission.

What was I so foolishly fixated on? What is truly important? Protecting one’s status? Or constraining oneself to certain limits? It’s not that. What’s really important is standing on one’s own two feet, thinking for oneself, not forgetting one’s pride, and acting in accordance with one’s own sense of justice. Being a knight or having a certain rank is just an excuse. There’s no need to be bound by such things. If they get in the way, one should kick them aside, just like that girl did.