Virgin Knight Who Is the Frontier Lord in the Gender Switched World - Chapter 40

In the cemetery, before Claudia von Reckenber’s grave, a sea of flowers lay offered.

A multitude of flowers had been offered at her grave.

Ah, it seemed Reckenber-dono was truly loved throughout the nation.

One could tell by the quality of the flowers.

From the modest single flower that a commoner might buy from a flower girl with their pocket change,

To the extravagant bouquets that a noble might spend a great deal of money on.

Everything was represented.

It was obvious at a glance.

Kneeling in front of the grave of Virendorf’s most distinguished hero, whom I had defeated, I offered a rose stolen from the Anhalt royal palace.

The rose, cherished by Queen Liesenlotte in remembrance of her departed husband, stood out among the most precious offerings here.

Surely, the Reckenber Knight Commander is laughing uproariously in Valhalla.

And that is good.

That is good, but…

I could feel a piercing gaze on me, even from behind.

My superhuman senses rendered it as discernible as if held within my palm.

Nina von Reckenber.

The sole daughter and heir of the Reckenber Knight Commander.

From our audience with Queen Katarina to leading me here, not a word had she spoken.

Likewise, I remained silent.

I didn’t know how to speak to the daughter of the woman I had killed on the battlefield.

I closed my eyes.

Now, I only pray for the Reckenber Knight Commander’s peace in the afterlife.

It might be odd to pray for her peace in Valhalla, where she is surely welcomed as one of the Einherjar.

Perhaps, instead, I should pray for her exploits against the giants as enemies in the fields of Vígríðr.

I closed my eyes and continued my prayer.

Perhaps several minutes had passed when I stood up and addressed the source of the gaze that had been piercing me all this while.

“Shall we go? To Miss Nina’s mansion.”

“Would you like to tour the capital? Queen Katarina suggested it.”

“No, I’d rather not stand out. Given my stature. A man of my height attracts too much attention.”

I had already removed my fluted armor.

Likely, I won’t be wearing it until I return.

Now, dressed in the formal clothes I had prepared, I faced Miss Nina.

“Very well, then I shall guide you to my mansion. Please, get back on the carriage.”

“Understood. Martina, let’s go.”

“Affirmative.”

The Second Princess, Valiere-dono, was not present.

“I don’t want to do anything more today,” she had said with a face worn from exhaustion, leading the Second Princess’s personal guard to Nina’s mansion ahead of us.

Poor thing.

Well, it was my fault for stealing the rose.

The rest was probably due to exhaustion from negotiations with Queen Katarina.

Valiere-sama has grown from her first battle.

Even from my perspective, that was clear.

But as for talent, she was still a commoner at heart.

Perhaps the queen’s attention was too much for her.

With those thoughts, I boarded the carriage.

Inside the carriage were Miss Nina, Martina, and myself, sandwiched between two girls who could still be considered young—a sight indeed, with a man over 2 meters tall and all muscle in between them.

“Martina von Bösel-dono.”

“Yes.”

Ignoring my massive presence.

Miss Nina spoke to Martina.

“Do you bear no hatred?”

The question was abrupt.

But its meaning was understandable.

Did she not hate Faust von Polydoro, the man who killed her mother?

That must be what she meant.

“No.”

Martina answered simply.

“My mother was a traitor to the nation. Unlike your mother, whose death was mourned by the whole country as a hero.”

“But she was your mother.”

“So what?”

Martina responded as if deflecting Nina’s question.

“She was my mother. But a traitor nonetheless.”

“You were there at the audience. You heard Faust von Polydoro’s lament for his mother, Marianne-dono. Did you feel nothing? Did your mother not love you?”

Again, Nina pressed the question, pulling me into the conversation, but I did not interject.

I kept silent, waiting for Martina’s answer.

“My mother, Caroline, indeed loved me.”

“Then why?”

“Yet, I do not hate Lord Faust. It would be utterly misplaced.”

Martina, who had been turning her face away from Nina-dono as if ignoring her, stopped and looked directly into Nina’s eyes.

“Do you hate Lord Faust?”

“Do not insult me! I do not hate him!!”

Nina stood up in the rocking carriage with her small stature.

“Faust-dono fought my mother honorably! He returned her body respectfully and promised never to forget their duel. Throughout the journey to this capital, he accepted every knight’s challenge in her honor as if paying tribute to my mother! How could I, how could I…”

Nina’s voice, filled with emotion, rose but soon faltered, and the carriage driver, likely her attendant, peeked into the carriage, having heard her outcry.

The carriage briefly stopped.

“My apologies. Miss Nina, is everything alright?”

“It’s nothing. Please, keep moving.”

Nina sat back down and closed her mouth. The attendant pulled her head back and started the carriage again.

“There’s nothing to hate. How could there be any reason to hate? If I did, my mother in Valhalla would be furious.”

Nina’s murmured words seemed to serve as her own encouragement.

Ah.

Nina-sama is troubled, isn’t she?

Therefore, I cannot remain silent and must speak up.

“Lady Nina von Reckenber. May I inquire how I should address you?”

“…Just Nina is fine.”

“Then, Nina-sama. Feeling hatred towards me is not inherently wrong.”

As if convincing myself, I murmured.

I do not wish to be hated.

I certainly do not wish to be hated willingly.

This child has every right to hate me.

Therefore.

“Both hatred and love stem from a deep sense of attachment.”

“Attachment?”

“Yes, attachment. For example, I am deeply attached to my domain.”

The ancestral lands.

Polydoro domain.

A land without any significant specialty goods, nothing noteworthy.

A domain where a mere 300 subjects manage to live and export just enough food to earn some money.

But.

It is the land I inherited from my ancestors, from my mother Marianne.

In its cemetery, my mother’s remains rest in peace.

“I recognize and validate that attachment.”

“What do you mean by affirm?”

“If you truly loved your mother, Claudia von Reckenber, with all your heart.”

Taking a moment to breathe.

I continued to whisper.

“You have the right to take my head.”

Ah, I’ve said it.

Words that need not have been said.

“Do you mean to say I should hate Lord Polydoro?”

“At the very least, I am aware that I am in a position that rightly deserves hatred.”

In this country, everyone praises me.

As a knight of honor.

The late Reckenber would be pleased, they say.

But, is that really the case?

Is that truly right?

A beloved mother was killed.

If I were in that position—wouldn’t it be natural to hate such a person?

I consider Nina-sama’s feelings.

Everyone in Virendorf affirms me, Lord Polydoro.

Virendorf’s values do not see me, Lord Polydoro, as someone to be hated.

For Nina-sama, who lost her mother, it must have been unbearable.

Her feelings of hatred were deemed wrong by those around her.

But it’s alright.

I am here, prepared to be hated by the families of those I have killed.

“Should you be prepared, challenge me at your will. While I won’t welcome it joyfully, I shall confront you.”

I spoke gently to Nina-sama.

After a brief silence, Nina-sama said.

“It’s enough. That is enough if my feelings, my hatred, are affirmed as not being wrong. Perhaps there will be no future where Lord Polydoro and I conflict. The peace negotiations for the next ten years will surely be extended.”

Then, she seemed to give up on something quietly.

With that expression, she murmured.

“However, Lord Polydoro. Even if it’s with a sheathed sword and not a fight to the death, could you fight me when I turn 16? I want to show my mother, watching from Valhalla, how much I have grown.”

“Understood.”

I replied briefly.

Well, Nina-sama and I ended up having a deep conversation together.

Martina

A squire, my retainer, calls out to me.

“What is it?”

“I duelled with Martina’s mother, Caroline.”

“I am aware.”

You should be. However, there is something I have yet to tell you.

“As Caroline was on the brink of death, I asked her if she had any last words. The only word she returned was ‘Martina’.”

“…And what of it?”

Martina turns away, looking displeased.

“You are also free to hate me.”

“I owe my life to you, for you bowed your head to the ground to save it. I do not wish to be ungrateful.”

“That was not because I wanted to save you.”

Indeed. Strictly speaking, it was not because I wanted to save Martina as an individual. A desperate bird just happened to fly into my arms. In a time of peace, not on the battlefield, I could not bring myself to take the life of a child, a holdover from the values of my previous life. No matter who it was, I would have pleaded with Queen Liesenlotte to save them.

“It was merely my twisted sense of honor that made me do so. Therefore, Martina does not need to worry herself about it. I will say it as many times as necessary. You are free to hate. I am prepared for that as I live my life taking others.”

“How long do you intend to live this way?”

“Until I die. Likely until someone kills me.”

Indeed, I will not die in my bed. That much I am prepared for. And that is fine. I desire an heir who will inherit my domain and live as a noble lord knight. If I can achieve that, I can die with regrets and be prepared.

“Ah, but still, I wish for a bride.”

Ignoring the two girls, I grumble. When will I ever get married?

“…Lord Polydoro, I presume you have your preferences, but what kind of woman would you take to your bed?”

Nina, the young lady, asks in response. I answer.

“If she’s pure, that’s enough.”

Breast size doesn’t matter. Virgin or not is of no concern. It doesn’t matter who she has loved in the past or how much experience she has with men or women. In fact, widows excite me.

“Pure?”

“Yes, pure. Ah, not in the sense of experience with men or women.”

In the end, if a woman is by my side and can bear my children, that’s all that matters. That’s what I mean by “pure.” My feelings are pure in this sense. My admiration for large breasts. That’s my logic of love.

“Though, it might be too early for Miss Nina.”

“But Lord Faust, you’re a virgin, aren’t you? With zero experience in love. Your advice on love doesn’t quite hold.”

Martina’s pointed remark. Though it’s true, it’s still…

In the Kingdom of Anhalt, my unpopular looks require the virtue of virginity to find a bride. Not being popular means I can’t engage in love. Not understanding love makes me even less popular. And being unpopular means, I have to desperately preserve my virginity to marry. It’s a negative cycle.

“From my view as a Virendorf, it’s hard to understand why Lord Polydoro isn’t popular. I also don’t quite grasp your meaning of ‘pure.’ But, let’s leave it at that.”

Coughing, Miss Nina smiled.

“Lord Polydoro, I have hated you. However, I have not denied your value as a man. When I turn 16, if I win our wager, I will have you grant me your person.”

“That sounds like something a precocious 12-year-old would say.”

I lightly dismiss it. I am not a lolicon. I am a believer in large breasts. In other words, an aficionado. I am a good knight, a brave warrior, a lover of breasts, and a noble lord knight. I hope that is understood. However, if Miss Nina’s underdeveloped breasts were to grow, I might consider her proposal. But as a knight, I would never intentionally lose a contest just for that. Faust von Polydoro must remain undefeated in honor of the Polydoro domain, at least until my heir is born.

“Lady Nina, we have arrived at the mansion.”

The carriage stops. The mansion, as one belonging to a noble of the clergy, is massive, likely large enough to accommodate the 14 members of the Second Princess’s personal guard. It shows how much the royal family valued and loved Claudia von Reckenber. Honestly, it’s the kind of mansion a minister might live in. I have arranged for accommodations at an inn in the capital for my thirty vassals.

“Please, let’s enter the mansion.”

I first followed Miss Nina out of the carriage, taking Martina with me into the mansion.