By the time Lloyd wanted to employ his award-winning strategy, he found a host of issues preventing him from doing so. Not only had the Countess assigned him two maids, but she had also given him his own room in the manor.
Initially, Lloyd didn't consider Gareth a threat. While he might have failed to get rid of him, the chances of the Countess actually taking a liking to the guy were abysmally low.
It wasn't as if there hadn't been lovers before him. One of the reasons Lloyd was able to gain so much of her favor was the fact that she always quickly got tired of them. She would have fun with them for a while before tossing them away like used goods and moving on to the next.
Even without him doing anything, the same scene would repeat itself.
At least, that was what he thought. However, contrary to his expectations, the new guy seemed to be here to stay. Not only had he been given his own room, but the maids who served him previously were also assigned to him permanently.
To top it all off, the Countess personally brought him to the Commander and asked him to train him—a privilege even Lloyd had yet to receive. Having the Commander, an Ardent, personally train you was a very big deal.
Usually, Ardents wouldn't waste their time training ordinary individuals. The only ones they would train, or be tasked to train, were future Ardents. Going by that logic, did that mean the Countess intended to make this young man an Ardent?
As that question flashed through his mind, a cold sweat drenched Lloyd's back. It seemed his worst fears were finally coming true. He had thought—hoped desperately—that this wasn't the case.
However, every single day Gareth appeared on the training grounds seemed to cement the truth. The truth being that the Countess had a new favorite.
But yesterday brought him a ray of hope. The Countess had summoned him, and he was ecstatic, thinking she hadn't forgotten him yet.
He resolved to perform exceptionally well that night—to use his dick to remind her that he was still here, still worthy of being her favorite.
He had even taken some questionable drugs that would make him last long in bed. However, before they could even start, the Countess suddenly chased him out of her room.
He was barely given time to put on his clothes before she shoved him out the door. He was perplexed about the reason she suddenly wanted him gone, but he didn't know the cause.
He knew she was an Ardent and that they had mystical powers. Perhaps there was something she sensed, or something she needed to do?
His mind spun with questions as he was kicked out of the room, confused. However, just as he stepped outside, he saw his rival being escorted by the head maid.
Judging by their direction, they were heading straight toward the Countess's room. The very room he had just been kicked out of! That meant the Countess had kicked him out because of another man.
At that moment, the feelings he held for Gareth morphed into hatred. Hatred for the one who was seemingly taking everything from him. It was one thing for Gareth to be trained by the Commander, but to have the Countess toss him outside and leave him blue-balled?
No—Gareth was now an enemy. One he had to get rid of at all costs. But first, he had to deal with his dick, which was threatening to rip through his pants.
Because of the drugs he had taken, his dick had become painfully hard, and no matter how many times he tried to calm it down, it refused to soften. He spent the entire night in constant agony and couldn't sleep a wink.
And now, when he stepped onto the training grounds, he found the one responsible for his predicament casually chatting with his fellow knights.
At that point, seeing Gareth laughing so carefree infuriated him, and without so much as a plan, he marched toward the gathered individuals.
He had learned that Gareth was a slave and wanted to use that knowledge to humiliate him. However, who would have thought that his fellow knights would not only refuse to side with him, but would even insult him—all because of that bloody slave?
Where was the brotherhood he was promised when he joined the knights' order? Right now, these knights were not acting very brotherly.
Worse still, the fucking slave he planned to belittle had actually revealed what happened last night, humiliating him instead. Right now, his face was a mask of fury, and the veins on his forehead were threatening to pop.
"You—you!" That was all he could mutter, as the laughter of the three in front of him grew louder.
"You dare slander me, you filthy slave?!" he finally croaked out, pointing a shaky finger at Gareth.
"It's only slander if it's not true," Gareth quipped.
"Yeah! If it isn't true, you can simply report it to the Countess. I'm sure the Countess would find justice for you," Corvin added, joining the fun.
His words seemed supportive, but in actuality, they backed Lloyd into a corner. He couldn't report Gareth to the Countess—because Gareth was actually right.
Plus, the Countess wouldn't even entertain such an issue and would dismiss him before he had time to explain. However, if he admitted he couldn't report him, wouldn't that basically confirm Gareth was telling the truth?
His mind raced with different thoughts as he tried to find a way out of this predicament. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head. With a smirk, he resorted to his last trick.
"You think you're funny, huh? Let's see if your skills match your sense of humor.
You've been training with the Commander for quite a while, haven't you?
Why don't we have a friendly spar to see how good you've gotten?"