Chapter 344: Time For You To Die Too

Kaldwin glanced at Claire, whose face was already slightly flushed from Adrian teasing her.

"You guys have your own role," Kaldwin continued. "I’m pretty sure that after two years he must have realized this. He’s probably going through the same thing that I went through all those years ago. I only waited because I wanted to make sure you guys didn’t have to deal with step-siblings. I was born a commoner before I became a Baron, and I saw how other nobles’ kids were raised in environments where they had to fight their own siblings. I didn’t want that for you."

He let out a long breath.

"I’ll talk to him once I get the chance."

Sebastian grinned and shook his head. "Nah. It’s better if we do it in public in front of everyone. I want to embarrass her and I want to see her expression change. It’ll be fun."

The Baron didn’t even get a chance to stop his son.

Sebastian smacked his hand down onto his own thigh. The loud slapping sound immediately drew everyone’s attention towards himself.

Adrian and Draven were still discussing the rules for their upcoming spar. They were right in the middle of figuring out whether they were going to fight barehanded, with weapons, or with a mix of everything including magic.

Sebastian cut right through the chatter.

"Wait," Sebastian called out. "Claire is someone who doesn’t care about appearances when it comes to sparring. It is very unnatural for her to actually tell you that it would be better to not get hurt. This is an ongoing trend in the Knights Academy."

As Claire realized where the conversation was going, she started shaking her head quickly. She hoped against hope that her brother would stop talking right then and there.

She had attended the Knights Academy too. She knew exactly how the girls acted over there. She barely had any close friends, but she did have a few acquaintances she talked to and she knew all about their strategies to act weak in front of men.

But her reasons were completely different.

She didn’t refuse to fight Adrian because she wanted to show him her feminine side. She fought other people right in front of him all the time without holding back.

The real reason was much simpler.

If they fought, they would have to get close.

Physically close.

She didn’t know if she could handle that level of closeness with him. It was one thing to grab his hand and drag him around, but anything could happen during a spar.

Anything.

She didn’t know if she could control herself and she definitely did not wish to do something stupid.

If any of the things she imagined while lying alone in her bed actually happened, there would be no saving her.

Her face went from a faint pink blush to bright red as Sebastian spoke the forbidden words.

He shifted his gaze from Adrian directly to Claire.

"Say, Claire," Sebastian smirked. "Don’t tell me you actually have fallen for Lord Adrian? I mean, he is pretty handsome."

Everyone sitting around the logs smiled as they turned to look at Claire.

She just sat there. She opened her mouth and closed it without making a sound before looking over at Adrian.

Adrian was just as speechless.

He was sitting on his log like a statue. It was almost like he never expected the conversation to take such a sudden turn.

Claire glared at Sebastian. Her whole demeanor shifted from blushing to absolutely pissed in a fraction of a second.

"Seb."

Sebastian immediately shut his mouth. But he couldn’t stop himself from smirking at her like he had just won a war.

Claire huffed and turned to look at Adrian.

"Don’t mind him," she said. "He’s just being an idiot."

"Yeah, don’t worry. I never took it seriously," Adrian replied with a smile and a casual wave of his hand, "I know you’re not really interested in romance anyway, so you don’t have to worry about me misunderstanding anything."

He said it respectfully, but the words still stung.

She had told him in the past that she wasn’t interested in marriage, but that was only because she didn’t want to marry the random men her dad brought around. She just didn’t want to spend her entire life with a man she never even knew. She hated that feeling whether it was a noble obligation or not.

In fact, she hadn’t even told him anything directly. He had just over heard her arguing with her father about marriage during the event where they met for the first time.

It frustrated her that this complete disinterest in arranged blind dates had made Adrian think she wasn’t interested in relationships at all. It was like she had shot herself in the foot before she even really met him.

Her expression dropped. She nodded at Adrian and turned away.

Sebastian saw the exact moment her mood soured. He could easily tell that she was genuinely sad about the fact that Adrian thought she didn’t want a relationship.

He let out a low chuckle.

Claire glared at him again and he finally looked away.

Adrian just turned his attention back to Draven.

"Let’s fight bare-handed first," Adrian suggested. "Then we can do weapons, and then we can do magic. We can do all three."

"Nah, not happening." Draven shook his head. "You have a weirdly sturdy body and you heal really fast. On top of that, I’m much older than you. Have some mercy on this old man. I’m literally just a few years younger than your father."

Adrian stared at him for a second.

"Well, my father died pretty early," Adrian pointed out. "That just means it’s time for you to die too, doesn’t it? Instead of dying naturally, isn’t it better to die by my hands?"

Silence fell over the group.

All of the nobles just stared at the two of them. They wondered how Draven would even react to something like that since Adrian had just casually told the northern warlord that he would kill him.