Chapter 145
Chapter 145
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 145
Chapter Title: Hold It—Bottom Dealing?
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“...”
Before departing for the kingdom, Sion sat in the carriage, gazing out the window at the scenery beyond.
To be precise, he was watching Kim Yu-hyun and Eos, the two of them standing face-to-face and chatting away.
‘They’ve gotten pretty close in just a week.
That Kim Yu-hyun guy must’ve put in a ton of effort.
Damn, he looks thrilled. Go on, enjoy it.
...Well, yeah.
But it’s not like I’m in a position to talk, stuck having to get married in a week.’
If asked whether that was a bad thing, the answer was no.
Quite the opposite—it was a great scene.
The Kim Yu-hyun that Sion had seen until now was a rough, parched, and utterly hollow man.
In the novel, Lucia had stuck by his side, soothing that emptiness, but this time, that woman wasn’t around.
Our protagonist, Kim Yu-hyun, whose mental fortitude didn’t quite match his skills.
Sion’s conclusion was that when it came to managing a guy’s headspace, a woman was far better suited than some stinky dude like himself.
“What’ve you been staring at like that?”
After wiping away months of animosity between Karta and Aigior, Zhan approached the carriage as she prepared to return to Karta.
Following Sion’s gaze to Eos and Kim Yu-hyun, she watched them for a moment before letting out a ‘pfft’ of laughter.
“What.
Why’re you laughing.”
“It’s just... weird seeing my little brother make that face and say those things.”
“You weren’t much different.”
Me?
Zhan turned around reflexively to retort, but when her eyes met Sion’s, she cleared her throat with a ‘ahem!’ and spun back around, pretending nothing was amiss.
Of course, Sion had no intention of letting her off that easily.
“Why do you keep dodging my eyes.”
“...Because it’s embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing?
Why?”
“D-Do you really want to hear me say you’ve got a handsome face?”
“Didn’t you used to say it was weird-looking?”
“Th-That was a lie.
I didn’t mean it.”
What was a grown woman getting all shy about?
If you like someone, just say so. If you want to look, just look.
Sion kept staring at her so intently that Zhan finally snapped in self-defense.
“Q-Quit staring!
You’re not teasing me or anything...”
“Bingo.
I’m teasing you right now.”
“Wh-What?”
“Teasing you.
Like you said, I see you as Zhan, not Temuchin. So what reason do I have not to mess with you like this?”
At Sion’s counter, Zhan let out a dazed ‘Uh, uhhh’ before shaking her head.
She must’ve realized how ridiculous she looked overreacting like that.
Still unable to look Sion properly in the face, she cautiously spoke up.
“For some reason, it’s really hard to look you straight in the eyes.”
“Work on it.
You know failing to do that could be grounds for breaking off the engagement, right?”
“That’s dirty.”
“I’m the one handing out all sorts of gifts to you and your tribe. If you can’t even manage that, you’re obviously engagement material no more.”
All sorts of gifts?
All Sion had promised was food supplies until trade with the kingdom resumed. What else had they talked about in the meantime?
“...You sure that’s okay?
It could just end up as baseless suspicion.”
“You might’ve been deceiving them all this time, and you’re calling that rational?”
It was only natural for Sion to be floored by the woman who’d literally smashed the windpipes of a few warriors for badmouthing him saying that.
Of course, Zhan maintained that was one thing, and this was another.
“That was because they insulted my mate right in front of me, so the punishment was justified.
But right now, you’ve got no evidence—just suspicion.
From what I hear, the kingdom’s nobles put a lot of stock in justifications. Aren’t you worried you might end up on the back foot?”
“My name carries enough weight that I won’t lose to those small fries.”
There were no great noble houses in the kingdom’s north comparable to Claussen.
In fact, great noble houses typically stayed near the kingdom’s center by default.
Claussen Margrave Territory was a special case, armed with unwavering loyalty to the kingdom.
A margrave was officially an earl, but their influence rivaled that of a marquis house.
And for good reason—they held autonomous command rights for constant border defense and could conscript from surrounding nobles’ lands in emergencies.
The north, which at best treated viscounts as top dogs, was in a whole different class.
‘On top of that, my reputation has skyrocketed like crazy.’
The war hero who led victory against Nudia.
The true noble who never lorded it up despite being the star of the royal banquet.
The powerhouse who checkmated the Chess King into surrender.
And beyond that, the man who drew favorable eyes from countless kingdom figures—that was Sion Claussen himself.
Even King Edgar IV of Hispania and Princess Vanessa, now vying with her brother for the throne, were highly likely to back him.
“You’d know better since it’s kingdom business.
Still, I pray it goes smoothly for you.”
“If your worries turn out true.”
“...”
For a split second, a fierce blue glint flashed in Zhan’s eyes.
That dark, lingering light was pure killing intent—a burning resolve to snap someone’s spine in half.
“...It’s kingdom business, so I’ll leave it to the kingdom’s people.”
But the words from Zhan’s mouth weren’t what you’d expect from the villain once called ‘Khan.’
As Sion inwardly marveled, she slowly unclenched her tightly gripped fist.
“If I’d heard that while still set on warring with the kingdom, I’d have mounted up without a second thought and ridden straight to lop off those smug northern nobles’ heads.”
Sion shivered, half-convinced she’d do it right then.
Not even a clean blade cut—she looked ready to rip them out with her bare hands!
“But I’ve made my resolve, my decision, and acted on it.
Trusting you with this now is the right call.
Though it sucks feeling like I’m just racking up debts to you again.”
“I already told you about that, remember?
This isn’t free charity—it’s part of a deal, so I’ll collect what’s owed later.”
“You did say that.
But I just don’t get it.
What could you possibly want from me and my tribe down the line?
Even now, you shine brighter than us, seem nobler, more honorable.”
Zhan wasn’t wrong.
Comparing his own position to that of the northern barbarian tribes, they were in no shape to pay up—their situation was that dire.
‘But when it comes to combat power... that’s another story.’
You couldn’t keep throwing named elites into a war of attrition forever.
No matter how strong, they were living, breathing beings.
Meaning they needed proper rest to stay at peak condition.
And to buy them that time, you needed solid mid-tier fighters who could move as one—a powerful mercenary force.
In Sion’s eyes, the northern barbarian tribes weren’t just a wall holding the north; they were a mercenary unit that could shine even against the angelic races.
“I’ll explain it all later.
Not now.”
“Fine.
I’ll hear the reasons when the time comes.
More importantly, when do you plan to visit the north?”
“What’s this?
You were embarrassed to look at me, but now you’re sulking that I’m leaving?”
“Wh-What are you talking about!
I’m just trying to nail down the wedding date!”
Ah, yes.
Sure you are.
Sion made an exaggerated face like he was humoring her, and Zhan glared at him, trembling, before whipping her head away with a sharp swish.
The ‘Khan’ herself pouting like that—and not some other woman.
Unthinkable in the original novel.
‘In the novel, she skewered warriors on spikes for defying her fate.’
Sion sincerely hoped that fury would turn toward those pointy-eared annoying elves and the extinction-pervert angelic races cosplaying as good guys.
“I’ll head back to the capital first and report in.
Finish up with the northern nobles before that.
Even rushing, it’ll be hard to return within a month.”
“...You’re making the woman you promised a future with wait that long?”
“Don’t throw a tantrum—understand.
I’m insanely busy too.
You know that.”
“Exactly because I know that, I want to hold onto you even more. That’s the honest truth.”
She couldn’t look him in the face from embarrassment, yet she tossed out lines like that without missing a beat.
Sion hesitated on whether to say it, then figured she wouldn’t actually do it and tested the waters.
“If—and I mean if—you get tired of waiting, come to the kingdom as a guest.
It’d be a headache if you came in loud, but if you slip in quietly, the royals would surely welcome you.”
“...You really mean that?”
“Of course.
But I’d rather you didn’t.
The royals might be fine, but the nobles subtly look down on northerners.”
“I’ll think it over carefully and decide.
Thanks for the concern, Sion Claussen.”
With that, the two parted ways for now.
Both had too much on their plates to stay tied down in one place.
Truth be told, the marriage alliance idea had come up precisely to cool a powder-keg atmosphere, so Zhan was prepared for it.
“And Zhan, you haven’t forgotten what I said, right?”
“I’ve drilled it into the tribesfolk and warriors firmly.”
“Good.”
“But Sion.
Is it really true that the monsters will suddenly pour out of the Blade Mountains and back down to the land?
Our warriors hounded them so much they fled up there.”
“Don’t worry.
Willing or not, they’ll clash with you eventually.”
When that happened, it wouldn’t be a matter of not having enough—it’d be too many to handle.
At least with Zhan and Eos alive, plus most warriors intact, the odds of the northern tribes getting massacred like in the novel were now very low.
“Master, preparations for departure are complete.”
Timing the end of their talk, Risikida slipped into the carriage.
True to her wish to separate work and personal, she kept a straight face.
“Guess it’s time to go.
I’ll bring good news, so keep your ears open, Zhan Temuchin.”
The shield to hold the north was in place.
Now, it was time to exterminate the rats gnawing at it from behind.
“Vice Captain Schumacher.”
After wrapping up everything with the northern barbarian tribes and heading toward the kingdom border, Sion quietly summoned Vice Captain Schumacher.
The royal knight tilted his head and turned his horse toward the carriage.
“Yes, Young Lord Sion Claussen.
What is it?”
“You said you’re from the northern noble lands.”
“That’s right.”
“Do you know anything about them, even roughly?”
“Well.
It was when I was a kid, so I can’t swear it’s the same now.”
“If you could tell me about the nobles’ tendencies, that’d help.”
At Sion’s polite request, Vice Captain Schumacher hummed and rubbed his chin before speaking.
“As you saw, the north has far fewer farmlands than other regions.
So they mostly profit from trade.
The nobles focus heavily on that.”
“Trade, huh.
So, do they produce a lot of high-value goods?”
“Not really.
It’s just enough for typical noble living.
Look at the land those barbarians live on—barren as can be, right?
The northern noble lands below are about the same.
Not much in valuable goods.”
“Hm.”
“I hear things have improved a lot lately thanks to trade with the northern barbarians starting three years ago.”
Good, okay.
That’s enough.
Sorting his thoughts, Sion pondered the next move.
He’d wrapped up with the northern barbarians, but he was still the king’s ‘proxy,’ able to make decisions in his stead.
That authority held until he returned to the capital, met the king, and reported mission complete in person.
‘If you wear the hat, you ought to make full use of it, right?’
Don’t misunderstand—this wasn’t ‘abuse.’
The king had explicitly appointed him as proxy, meaning final decision-maker, to think, decide, and act for the kingdom.
In other words, any hardline response to threats against the kingdom was authorized by the king himself.
‘Only a top-three marquis could directly harm a kingdom noble.
Even Margrave Lichten can’t injure another noble’s person.
A mere heir like me obviously can’t intimidate northern nobles either.
But...’
As the king’s proxy, everything changed.
Plus, he had the royal knights’ vice captain—higher status than most nobles—for escort.
Royal knights and capital guards accompanied them too.
And crucially, Sion had headed north on Edgar IV’s orders, keeping maximum secrecy.
No point in rumors spreading; they’d disguised as a noble joyride north at first, then as ‘some noble on royal duty’ later.
The nobles might’ve sniffed something and dug around.
He wasn’t too worried.
He’d never tried to hide it outright.
But he’d laid a smokescreen, and the kingdom wouldn’t expect things to wrap this fast.
‘Hang on, folks.
I’m coming with the hammer.’
Hoping his hunch was right.
Hoping to crush those parasitic bastards in one fell swoop.
Heart pounding, Sion hurried back to the kingdom.