On the day of the duel, early in the morning, Dominic stared dumbfoundedly at Ciel and Erin, who were perched on the branches of the large maple tree.
If not for Ciel's persistent knocks, he wouldn't have noticed them at all.
"Since when did you two get here? And what's with those uniforms? They're not the Fatalite issued ones."
Ciel laughed.
"We borrowed some knight trainee's uniforms on our way here. Don't worry about Fatalite, Jadiel knows we're coming to the duel with you."
"...Come in."
Then, he watched the two smoothly jump into his office like two cats on a stroll in their backyard.
'...When I solidify my position, I need to do a thorough cleanout of the palace personnel and strengthen the security. And get those two access tokens.'
Ciel stood up, shaking off the leaves in his hair.
"By the way, why is your office next to such a climbable tree? You're not afraid of assassins?"
Dominic looked down, at the bottom of the tall tree, was an empty garden. The guards that should have been patrolling the palace were nowhere to be seen.
"What did you do to the knights?"
Ciel was confused.
"There were knights?"
…It was no use asking this one, Dominic smoothly looked at Erin.
Erin thought for a bit.
"When we were in the barracks for the uniforms, there were a few trainees still rushing out to see the upcoming duel."
There was nothing else to say, the rest of the knights must have also gone to watch the upcoming duel.
Dominic sighed, grabbing his hair.
"It seems that no one is taking my crown prince's position seriously."
Ciel agreed, remembering that time when a certain crown prince was so easily kidnapped.
"Your state of affairs is terrible. Why? You're young, but wasn't your mother also a noble? The older princes' mothers are also dead, other than your age, shouldn't you guys all be on even standing?"
Dominic looked at him.
"You really don't know?"
Ciel was confused, turning to Erin.
"Did I miss something?"
Erin was also confused, shaking his head.
Looking at their expressions, Dominic was incredulous.
"Ha! You two are like two stones that rolled in out of nowhere. Were you two living under a rock before?"
Ciel nodded.
"How did you know?"
The tower really was indeed made out of rocks.
Erin, who had been living in his underground cave before being poached and shipped over to Anatol, also nodded.
Looking at their truthful faces, Dominic didn't know whether to laugh or to get a headache.
Considering how he needed to go out soon, he chose the former.
"Hahaha, I've made some impressive friends haven't I?"
Ciel grinned, ignoring his sarcasm.
"Glad you know. Now, shouldn't we get going? A crown prince should stand by his knight's side."
It didn't matter if Dominic had something that held him back from the throne. He was the only child remaining of the royal family and no matter what the nobles plotted, he would become king.
And if that wasn't the case, it wasn't like he and Erin didn't have experience putting someone in power.
…
Standing before the loud spectators in the royal stands, Dominic felt that he had indeed made some impressive friends.
As Cedric made his way down to the arena, Ciel and Erin stood on each of his sides, taking up the empty positions usually given to the royal family's guardian knights.
"You know that by doing this, you're declaring to the world that you're on my side, right?"
Ciel smiled.
"That's strange, aren't you and Fatalite on the same side?"
"No no no, that's different. This is a public duel, you know? Nobles and commoners alike are watching."
By standing here, weren't they declaring that their loyalties are equal to Cedric's?
Especially with the reputation this particular duel had. Anyone who wanted to mess with him, would also try to mess with them. He had known these two for at most a few months, were they really willing to do this?
Ciel also knew his thoughts, but he didn't really care.
In the future, Fatalite's support of Dominic was basically an open secret. Additionally, their current security was watertight, with most of their connections being outside the kingdom. Even if the people targeting the crown prince tried to investigate him and Erin, they would only find two orphans taken under the crown prince's wing.
Besides, Ciel grinned, after this, there should be no more dissenters to Dominic's position as crown prince. There really weren't any disadvantages in doing this.
Also, both he and Erin were quite clear about their own positions in this world.
On the other side of the seat, Erin spoke quietly.
"Fatalite is considered your business partner, but it is still founded by commoners and eves, it's also aiming to have close contact with beings most people in this kingdom would consider dirty savages. But you, not only did you accept us, but you're also working hard to erase that kind of racism from your kingdom. My prince, you might not know, but to swear allegiance to someone like you is a chance hard to come by."
Ciel nodded in agreement. In his past life, it was all because his family pledged themselves to the wrong people that they ended up like that.
Dominic, hearing the sincerity in Erin's voice, looked away. His ears were turning as red as his hair.
"I–is that so? Then..you better not regret it. I'll be firmly planting your roots in Anatol as soon as this duel is over! You won't be able to leave even if you want to!"
Ciel laughed happily.
"Then we'll have to thank you in advance."
…
Unfortunately, the good atmosphere didn't last.
"Archduchess Athne, what is the meaning of this?"
The dark green hair of the older woman was coiled up in an elegant bun, and her high heels made her appear twice as tall as the four children before her.
"Your highness, I mean what I say. Since young, my daughters have never done anything apart. I don't expect this duel to be anything different."
Dominic's smile lowered and he resisted the urge to swear.
"Are you suggesting a teamfight in a duel?"
Which trash can did you throw your dignity in?
The archduchess sneered.
"In your proposed conditions, you never mentioned anything against having two challengers fight at the same time."
'That's because duels have always been one on one!'
Dominic bit back his words, his mind swirling.
These nobles were becoming more and more shameless!
His hand subconsciously moved towards the longsword tied to his waist. Cedric quickly batted his hand away, shaking his head.
The archduchess opened her fan, covering her widening smile at their actions.
"Your highness can't be thinking of personally participating in the duel right? After all, your highness is one year older than young master Cedric. That would indeed be a breach of the contract. Unless you want to modify the contract now?"
Theresa floated out of Ciel's ring.
/Wow, this lady is almost as shameless as you, Ciel./
The archduchess continued, unaware that she was being evaluated by a spirit as she spoke.
"Of course, I'm not opposed to another knight trainee entering to aid young master Cedric. How about adding in this young one over here?"
Fluttering her fan elegantly, she pointed a slender finger directly at Ciel.
At this time, the thoughts of the children united.
Wow, she was really shameless.
"You—"
"Your grace, that is not impossible."
Ciel smiled harmlessly, blocking Dominic's next words. The prince's eyes went wide at his next words.
"However, just like your daughters, my brother and I have always done things together. Therefore, I hope your grace allows us to replace young master Cedric."
"You two?"
The archduchess scrutinized them.
The curly haired one had a delicate frame, not to mention he seemed to be blind. He looked like he would blow over with just a gust of wind. However, his brother was different. Not only was he taller, but he also seemed to be more sturdy. But…her eyes trailed down to their waists.
Neither had a proper sword with them, nor any proper weapons.
Cedric quickly intervened.
"No! I'm alright! I can do this alone!"
He grabbed the two boys' hands, whispering worriedly.
"The twins are both peak apprentice mages. You two can't handle them!"
Ciel looked at his flustered expression.
"If I recall correctly, aren't you also a peak apprentice mage?"
"Before that, I was a junior swordsman. I'm the only one with dual systems here, I can handle two single mage systems."
Despite that, the worry in his face didn't disappear. Beside him, even Dominic's expression darkened.
Ciel knew the reason.
'Cedric's wound isn't healed completely. Hmph, with that slow healing time, I'm willing to bet a gold coin that the previous challenger did something to their sword to prevent the wound from closing.'
Before they could discuss anything else, the archduchess snapped her fan shut. She had seen enough.
'Just some overconfident brats that even the prince can't trust.'
"Alright. I agree to a contract modification. You two can replace young master Cedric."
With her words, a golden scroll appeared, the conditions for the duel glowing clearly on the paper, the name Cedric faintly flashing on it.
Dominic whipped his head around, glaring at the black haired boys.
Ciel smiled politely at the archduchess.
"Would your grace allow me a quick moment with his highness?"
As soon as she nodded, he dragged the prince out of the room with Erin close behind him.
(Cedric: Are you guys just leaving me alone with this lady here…? QAQ)
The prince threw off his hand angrily the moment the door closed, all his composure gone.
"You–!"
"Listen to me. I know Cedric is in no condition to fight. The potions in the royal family's treasuries were useless right?"
Dominic stayed silent, his angry eyes flickered with color.
"My royal highness, you've seen her methods. If you let Cedric go out like this, there is a high chance he won't come back."
Shing!
A cold light flashed, and Ciel glanced indifferently at Erin's whip blocking the sword to his neck.
Erin sighed, keeping a firm tension in his whip. Why couldn't this guy ever tell him beforehand that he was going to cause trouble?
Ciel smilingly patted Erin's whip away.
It was good that his brother's skills hadn't diminished, but this wasn't a suitable position for his next words.
Erin looked at Ciel.
You sure?
Ciel smiled comfortingly.
It'll be different this time. My eyes are better than yours.
Erin reluctantly retracted his whip. Ciel nodded comfortingly before returning his gaze to Dominic.
He felt sort of bad for saying this, but a line needed to be crossed. Even if Dominic was friendly towards him and Erin now, there wasn't enough time for that trust to surpass Cedric's weight in Dominic's heart. Dominic hadn't had enough time to properly get to know and trust him and Erin. To convince this guy, there needed to be a catalyst.
Ai, it was hard to be friends with a king.
He stared into Dominic's eyes.
"Earlier, Erin mentioned swearing our allegiance to you."
He took a step back, standing side by side with Erin. If Dominic had been an adult, it would have been so much harder to gain his trust like this. Fortunately, most children, unaware of the pain of betrayal, were willing to try trusting others.
"Trust and loyalty is something that goes both ways."
Taking off his blindfold, Ciel knelt down on a knee as Erin did the same.
"We haven't trained as knights, and I know you won't expect us to act like one."
Erin continued his words.
"However, we are willing to swear upon Delmira's name, for as long as you don't betray our trust, you will have our undying loyalty."
Dominic looked down on the brothers. Their matching hair colors blended in with the dark corridor, and the two sets of gemstone-like eyes blinked with sincerity.
Yet, in that oath they had sworn, not once had they mentioned serving him as subordinates.
…They were the ones kneeling, but he couldn't feel the slightest gap between their statuses.
He sighed.
"I lost. Do what you want."