I Am Not The Duke's Evil Son
Chapter 66: Temporary Knight

Chapter 66: Temporary Knight

After carelessly punching Orin, Novarian headed toward the massive stone castle, and on his way, he passed through the quiet town.

Due to the appearance of an unfamiliar face, all the commoners stopped what they were doing and stared at him strangely. Upon seeing his distinct form and beautiful features, everyone was amazed, especially the women. As for the young girls, they were more than shocked by his appearance—his handsomeness and nobility caused the majority of them to be infatuated with him at first sight.

Novarian didn’t care about the looks of admiration and amazement coming from all around. On the contrary, he kept observing his surroundings with extreme caution, as he felt a kind of strangeness.

This was his first time entering a large city; he had never visited a place full of people other than his village.

’This place is disgusting. I thought big cities would be beautiful, but this is disappointing.’ Novarian sighed inwardly, and automatically, a memory from the distant past came to mind when he was small.

...

In a beautiful and clean wooden house, young nine-year-old Novarian sat on a small chair, and behind him sat a woman in her late forties with beautiful golden hair and tanned, worn-out skin due to excessive labor. The woman wasn’t beautiful or uniquely featured; she was very ordinary in every way—but on her wrinkle-filled face was a gaze full of tenderness.

In her hand, she held a black ointment made from charcoal powder, and with great gentleness, she applied it to Novarian’s very beautiful white hair as she sang a soft lullaby.

But Novarian wasn’t listening to her singing, because he felt some itching on his head due to the black ointment, so he kept shaking his head in discomfort, trying to alleviate the itch.

His movements annoyed his mother, and with calmness, she scolded him, "Stay still, I’m almost done."

Upon hearing her gentle voice, he turned and looked at her with his wide, beautiful eyes and pleaded, "But it itches, Mother, and it’s really annoying. Can we not dye my hair this time? Please."

His mother contemplated his face for a moment before sighing and letting out a soft laugh. "Just give up, that lovely face of yours won’t help you." Then she grabbed his head firmly and continued applying the black ointment.

Novarian puffed his cheeks in frustration, and at the same time, he felt a little sad. "Mother, everyone makes fun of me because my hair is always dirty. Why don’t you let me go out with my white hair? Didn’t you say it’s very beautiful? I’m sure they’ll be amazed when they see it."

The small smile disappeared from his mother’s face, replaced by a complicated expression, with some sadness and guilt. Without showing it, she replied to him, "That’s exactly why you shouldn’t let them see your beautiful white hair, my son. They’ll envy it, and they might harm you. Humans sometimes do evil things, so you must be cautious of them."

Novarian wasn’t convinced by what she said or rather, he didn’t understand it. He was too young to comprehend how evil humans could be, so he thought she was lying to him, and he argued, "But Mother, you always stop me from doing anything. You don’t let me accompany you to the town, and you don’t allow me to play with the other children. That’s not nice."

That made her feel even more guilty, but she knew he wasn’t just an ordinary child, and any leniency could lead to a disaster. So she replied to him firmly, "It’s for your own good. When you’re old enough and realize how special you are, then I won’t stop you from playing with others. I’ll allow you to go wherever you want—not just the nearby town, but even the faraway capital."

Novarian’s eyes widened, and he was astonished. He asked with intense curiosity, "The capital? What’s that, Mother?"

His mother smiled gently. "The capital is where the king resides. It’s a very large and incredibly beautiful city, filled with huge buildings, towering spires, and rocks from which clean water flows."

His astonishment grew, and he became excited to see such a place. "Really? There’s a place like that? That’s not possible!"

"Yes, it exists..."

...

The memories quickly passed through Novarian’s mind, and because of them, he felt a bit nostalgic. His indifferent expression vanished, replaced by a gentle smile, and he thought, ’Mother, I hope you’re doing well. Next time we meet, I’ll make sure to thank you for everything you did for me.’

His small smile was enough to make the hearts of the girls watching him explode with admiration—to the point that some of them fainted.

Unaware of the effect he had caused, Novarian continued walking, and within a few minutes, he reached the castle. He looked at it and was amazed by its size and strange shape—he had never seen a structure of this size before.

Suddenly, two recruits blocked his path, pointed their weapons at him, and asked sternly, "Who are you, stranger? And what are you doing here?"

Novarian’s brow furrowed, and he looked at the weapons in their hands with a strange gaze, but he didn’t feel any concern. He remembered what Arthur had told him and responded calmly, "Your lord sent me. From today onward, I’m a knight working under him for a temporary period."

The recruits were surprised and looked at each other in confusion. "A temporary knight?"

After a short moment of silence, one of them asked firmly, "Prove it. Do you have any evidence?"

"No, I don’t have any evidence. But he told me that his maid, Octavia, can confirm my words," Novarian replied politely. To him, respect was essential, so he didn’t treat the recruits arrogantly, even if they were just two weak people he could easily defeat.

Upon hearing Octavia’s name, the recruits’ confusion vanished, but they maintained their strict stance. "Alright, wait a moment, please."

One of the recruits quickly left to inform Octavia. After a few minutes, he returned with her.

Like the other girls, Octavia was surprised at Novarian’s handsomeness, but unlike them, her reaction wasn’t exaggerated, so she behaved normally.

She stared at Novarian’s face for a moment not because of his beauty, but because she didn’t know what to say. Arthur hadn’t told her anything when he left, but she thought:

’I don’t know if what he’s saying is true or not, but I don’t think a random stranger would come to us and say he works for the lord... unless he actually does.’

After a short silence, she asked calmly, "When did you meet the lord, and where?"

In truth, she wasn’t the only one surprised. Novarian was also astonished. ’She’s a mage, but a low-level one... or rather, everyone in this place is weak. Maybe that person wasn’t lying when he said he lost most of his strong soldiers to beasts.’

Without thinking much, he replied, "I met him two days ago in the forest. He was fighting some beasts, and I helped him. When he saw how strong I was, he offered me to become a knight under him—even if temporarily.

He told me he lost most of his soldiers because of the beasts, so he needs some strong helpers." Novarian’s answer was precise to explain his position more clearly.

And that’s exactly what happened. Upon hearing his answer, Octavia became certain that Arthur had sent him. She felt some relief and responded politely, "Thank you for clarifying."

Then she looked at the recruits and ordered, "Let him in."

Without hesitation, the recruits lowered their weapons and stepped back in an orderly manner.

At that point, she gestured inside and said, "Come with me. I’ll show you the castle and arrange a room for you to stay in. If you’re hungry, we can visit the hospitality hall first, or if you want to clean yourself, I can order the maids to prepare a bath for you."

Novarian replied politely, "There’s no need for that. Just show me to my room." To him, it was strange to be treated with this level of respect, so he felt a bit awkward and embarrassed. After all, he was just an extremely strong villager.

After Octavia guided him to his room, he entered and locked the door so no one would disturb him. First, he carefully inspected the place to see if there was anything strange, but all he found was a clean and beautiful room, well organized, with some clean clothes placed on his large bed.

Calmly, he headed to the bed and lay on his back. He exhaled deeply and felt great comfort. He had spent the whole past month in the forest, so he usually slept either on the ground or on tree branches—and that wasn’t comfortable.

He stared at the ceiling for several minutes, then sighed with relief, "This isn’t bad."

His eyes began to close gradually, and he started drifting toward sleep—but suddenly, he heard knocking on the door, accompanied by laughter and soft whispers.

He furrowed his brows and got up quietly. He walked toward the door and opened it. There, he saw a maid standing behind the door with a tray filled with several dishes. He was surprised, then looked around her to find the hallway filled with maids who were staring at him with strange looks and gentle smiles.

When they heard that there was someone extremely beautiful and handsome in the castle, they wanted to see him so they ran the moment they found out where his room was.

The maid holding the tray said with a blushing face, "Sir, we brought you some food."

"Ah, alright." Novarian took the tray and said politely, "You can leave now." But the girls remained standing in place.

He felt a bit suspicious and quietly closed the door in their faces and muttered, "That was really strange."

He didn’t realize this was only the beginning he would experience several situations like this.

Until this moment, he still didn’t understand the extent of the effect his handsomeness had on others. In the story, it took him a long time to realize that the girls he thought were weird were actually admiring him.

He shook his head and dismissed some strange thoughts he had, then calmly sat down. He looked at the set of dishes on the tray, and after a short hesitation due to his suspicion, he started eating. As soon as he took the first bite, his taste buds began to sing, enjoying the delicious flavor. He had grown tired of eating bland grilled meat and awful raw herbs.