Chapter 625: Wish (11)
The Duke of Kurten, having invited the guests inside, struggled to suppress his rising anger as he continued explaining the reasoning behind the wager.
“The reason I ask for a price in a bet is merely to confirm the opponent's resolve. It's exhausting dealing with someone who approaches with half-hearted intentions. If I could confirm the resolve in another way, I wouldn’t care about the price at all.”
The bet, after all, was just a hobby for the Duke.
He wasn’t looking to gain anything from it. After all, doing so would tarnish the name of Kurten.
A man like the Duke of Kurten, who respects strength and strives to be someone worthy of respect himself, would never stoop to the petty tricks one might see from someone like Count Newman.
“Prince Cecil even wagered his sword at first. A warrior offering his weapon — I understood what it meant, so I accepted the wager. Later, when I took his clothes, it was merely in fulfillment of Prince Cecil’s own desires.”
It was partly because he was excited to meet a young challenger who brought a sense of thrill, but the true root of the embarrassment lay with Prince Cecil. If the Duke were to rebuke him for it, he would feel unjustly blamed.
“Benedict. How long have you and I fought together on the frontlines, that you would misunderstand me like this? Do you think of me as the kind of trash who enjoys this sort of thing?!”
“I’m sorry! I have no words to say!”
As the Duke raised his voice in rebuke, Benedict bowed deeply, and the others, following suit, apologized as well.
In this room where everyone was watching the Duke, the only one unflinching was Lucy Allen, the one involved in the bet.
“Sigh. How long do you plan to keep acting like this? If you keep it up, I’ll go take a nap.”