Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 478: Not The Hero She Needed, But The One She Deserved

A servant bowed to the Saintess as she reported that the First Years of Frieden Academy had safely arrived at the Soleil Hotel.

”Is he also there?” Lady Celestria asked.

”Yes.”

”Thank you.” Lady Celestria nodded. ”You may take your leave.”

The servant bowed even more deeply before leaving the room.

At the moment, Celestria was under house arrest and forbidden from taking a step out of her family’s estate. Of course, it wasn’t entirely against her will. After all, if she truly wished to leave, no one would be able to stop her.

Not even her father.

She simply followed the flow to avoid complicating the situation further.

Lady Celestria worried that if she were to meet with Renard, she would be painting an even bigger target on him. The last thing he needed was to attract more ire from the nobles. They might even set their pride aside and target him using underhanded means.

Such a situation was preventable by merely staying put, so she decided to leave the estate only on the day of the duel.

She wondered if Alex had already passed the letter of apology that she had written to Renard.

The Saintess told the young man that it was her fault that things spiraled out of control. She said more things in the letter, even asking Renard if he was interested in becoming a Sun Knight who served directly under her.

All Sun Knights in Solara were treated like nobles, for they were the private army of the Temple of the Sun, the Patron Deity of Solara.

Renard’s commoner background had shackled him on more than one occasion. He had wanted to rid himself of the label ”commoner,” which was why Lady Celeste asked him if he was interested in taking her offer.

Back then, Renard had stayed in the academy because he felt that if he were to follow her to the Kingdom of Solara, he might forever think that he had run away from Alex.

He had been treating the silver-haired young man as his rival all this time. Had he left, a seed of doubt might have sprouted in his heart, which would continuously make him feel inferior and develop something akin to a heart demon.

So, he decided to stay and vowed to become stronger than ever.

Lady Celestria looked at the teardrop necklace resting on the palm of her hand.

This was the gift Renard had given her before her return to Solara.

He had bought it after aggressively saving his stipend for many months.

The teardrop pendant made from polished amber shimmered faintly, as if holding a living flame inside of it.

Lady Celestria always wore it even if she was prudent enough to hide it under her dress.

It was an unspoken promise that one day she would need that person’s strength and when that time came, he would be one of the shining lights standing with her against the destruction of their world.

The prophecy implied that something catastrophic would happen in the future and that she would need the help of that person to overcome the calamity.

When she had arrived at Frieden Academy, she had thought Alex was that person.

Then Renard had appeared, causing her to forget how to breathe.

She had stood rooted to the spot and had to force herself to snap out of it, unwilling to embarrass herself before him.

Lady Celestria hadn’t been able to confirm if Renard was ”the one”.

He might not be the Hero she needed, but the one she deserved.

Truth be told, Lady Celestria didn’t want to marry a noble.

She could choose anyone among her circle to marry and he would be over the moon.

But she wasn’t someone who wished to spend her life in ball rooms, opera houses, or hunting parties.

She would rather be with someone who gave her peace of mind and the space to show her true self without worrying about being criticized.

Lady Celestria was far from perfect—she knew this perfectly.

But among everyone she had met, only Renard spotted her imperfections. He never treated her as the Saintess everyone respected and adored, but as Celestria, a normal girl.

———

Inside the Soleil Hotel...

”Argh! I lost again!” Chuck sighed as he threw his cards on the table, making Vaan giggle.

”You’re pretty bad at this, Chuck,” Vaan commented. ”Your face shows everything. If you get a good card, you look confident. If you get a bad one, you look frustrated. How can you win when we can read you like a book?”

Dim Dim happily took its winnings, carefully piling up the little chips by its side.

They were all playing poker, and Vaan was the dealer.

So far, the little bun had almost bankrupted its competitors.

”It’s best if you give up, Chuck,” Alex suggested. ”You’re out of pocket money.”

”I’m not giving up,” Chuck declared like a true gambling addict. ”I’m going to win this round for sure.

Vaan blinked. ”With what money?”

”With my clothes.”

Vaan blinked again. ”This is not strip poker.”

”Why are you getting so worried when only my dignity is on the line?” Chuck retorted. ”My clothes are expensive, you know? And expensive things can be exchanged for money. In fact, they can usually be exchanged for a whole lot of money!”

Unsure of how to respond, Vaan turned to the others.

Dim Dim blinked. Charles shrugged. Alex chuckled.

”Since he wants to use his clothes as collateral, then we should just let him do it.” Alex smirked before glancing at Princess Xenia and Mary, who were having tea with the ladies of their club.

”I’m just going to say this, but any indecency is not allowed,” Princess Xenia declared. ”If you no longer have money, then stop gambling. You’re going to be a ruined noble if you don’t rein in your impulses.”

”Besides, we don’t like looking at your scrawny body,” Mary added.

”Scrawny?” Chuck arched an eyebrow. ”That’s not what you said when we d—”

Mary’s gaze instantly turned murderous.

Smelling gossip, Alex and Vaan tried to pry some details from Chuck.

However, Chuck had decided that it was foolish to keep digging after finding himself in a hole. No, he would play it safe and do as Xenia suggested.

As none of the girls was interested in taking his place at the table, the rest decided to call it quits as well.

”Alex, what do you think of Renard’s chances of winning the duels?” Chuck asked.

”Is it still a duel?” Charles commented. ”I heard that they have changed it to a tournament-style setting.”

”Indeed.” Alex nodded. ”The Headmaster and I smoothed out the details. For visitors, it will cost twenty gold coins to enter the academy. If they want to enter the Colosseum, that will cost an additional one hundred gold coins.

”Don’t worry. The students of Frieden Academy are exempt from paying. I even reserved our seats in the Colosseum. According to the Headmaster, it can easily fit over fifty thousand people. The gambling houses have also joined the money train, and I will also get a cut from it.”

”Doesn’t that mean that we’re rich?” Chuck flashed a devilish smile.

”Only me,” Alex replied. ”I’m not giving you anything.”

”Oh, come on!”

”Get away, you leech!”

The other members could only smile or shake their heads helplessly at the antics of the two troublemakers.

”By the way, where is Renard?” Vaan asked. ”Did he leave his room?”

”No,” Chuck answered. ”He is meditating in his room. It seems that he doesn’t want to leave the hotel lest the nobles of Solara target him.”

”A wise decision.” Princess Xenia nodded. ”Since the duel—errr, tournament starts in three days, he can rest. He’s been training nonstop, after all. Vaan, please look after Renard and ensure he won’t do anything that might hurt himself or the prestige of our academy.”

Vaan glanced at Alex. For him, Alex’s orders superseded those of Princess Xenia even if Xenia technically outranked Alex.

”Please look after him, Vaan,” Alex stated.

Vaan smiled, relieved he didn’t have to offend anyone. ”Understood.”

This subtle exchange between the two caught everyone’s attention.

They were not aware that Vaan had pledged himself to Alex and recognized him as his liege.

As the young man’s first knight and an Apostle Candidate, Vaan would be fighting alongside Alex in the many battles to come.