I Saved the Villainess (5)
Ortes Duke. He couldn't make sense of this situation right now. No, could anyone?
"Hic... Nanny!"
Estellia de Ortes—the one person he could truly call the love of his life. His daughter.
She was his beloved daughter, but he was the head of the family. The patriarch of the Ortes Ducal House, which had carried on its legacy for a thousand years.
"What do you think of a political marriage?"
"...Very well."
The marriage proposal had come first from the Draken family. Was it okay to accept it? What if someone Estellia truly loved appeared? In the end, he'd accepted it after a full week. He'd done so with blood and tears in his heart. All because he was the family head.
"Father... Hic..."
But seeing Estellia sobbing in his arms now, he regretted that choice a hundred—no, a thousand, ten thousand times over.
Estellia had no feelings whatsoever for that punk Radian. But she did have one fatal flaw.
She was obsessed with her image and honor.
It had been obvious since she was a child, and considering that, accepting the marriage proposal had been the rational choice.
"I'll kill that bastard myself."
He'd heard that the punk Radian had dared to ignore Estellia at the ball and greet Eleysia first. Just a greeting? No. It was tantamount to slapping the Ortes Ducal House right in the face.
Even after the Draken family head sent a personal letter of apology upon hearing the news, his rage hadn't subsided.
"Father... Hic...!"
Twice. Excluding her childhood, she'd cried exactly twice. The first time was the year she turned sixteen, when her nanny—another family member to her—passed away. The second was when Radian tarnished her image and honor.
And now, this was the third. Seeing her third bout of tears, the duke couldn't contain his fury.
She'd rushed to him in tears, supposedly hidden by maids along the way, but her clothes were nothing but rags.
At first, he'd thought some villainy had befallen her and exploded in rage. Spirits scattered in panic, mirroring his wrath.
But no.
"Th-that... This barbarian named Kanahan... H-he's a barbarian, but he's not a bad person at all! He saved me and even..."
Was it a relief? This man called Kanahan didn't seem like a bad guy. He'd even gotten word that she liked soaking in warm water and wanted to stay longer. He knew it was helping her recover both body and mind.
A warrior with compassion to boot, and from what his daughter said, a 6th hierarchy great warrior and renowned grand shaman.
Kanahan, whom he hadn't met yet due to lack of time.
Even factoring all that in, the most important thing remained.
"Do you like him?"
"Y-yes? Wh-what do you...!"
He let out a hollow laugh. Who would've thought a rugged barbarian from the harsh north, not even a proper noble, would capture her heart.
If anything, it was a good thing. Radian? The Draken family? They'd insulted the Ortes family first.
The Ortes lineage might seem insignificant compared to the Draken Ducal House, which had stood since the founding of the empire. But the Ortes ancestors included a high elf blessed by the forest—a comrade of a hero.
He could just break off that stupid marriage alliance.
So he'd thought.
"Then, does he like you back?"
"Wh-why would I... But if you're asking if he has feelings for me..."
"What? He doesn't? That damned..."
It infuriated him. So he proposed a test to his daughter. To probe the man's heart.
"You know the old imperial custom? Women mustn't bare their skin."
It was a ridiculous tradition long gone. The gowns nobles wore to banquets these days were practically whore attire. Some of them actually were whores, no doubt.
Estellia, of course, always covered up tightly, which he approved of. Only her parents and nanny had ever seen her intimate skin, so this was a rightful demand.
And now.
A prank started lightly.
No excuse that he hadn't meant for it to go this far would fly.
Kanahan—a great warrior and grand shaman—was furious.
As he pondered how to resolve it—
Bang!
The door flew open, and in came Estellia, barely composed.
"W-wait! Let me explain, so just hear me out for a moment. Kanahan!"
"...Estellia."
"Hic...!"
Shamans wielded the power of the stars, right? He'd seen auras, mana, spirit power, holy power, and even law power.
But the aura emanating from him now... Yeah. It was alien.
Could law power feel like this? So sinister and sticky?
He'd never met Kanahan, but he'd encountered his father and most grand shamans.
This aura was something he'd never felt before in his life.
"This isn't your place."
Thud...
The moment Kanahan spoke, Ortes Duke was speechless.
"Mmph... Hic... Haa... Hwaaaaaang!"
His daughter cried. The fourth time.
And it was because of him. The duke himself.
'What the hell. Why's she crying?'
I'm the pissed one here—I should be the one crying. But suddenly Estellia collapses and starts bawling.
The duke's staring blankly too, looking pretty flustered.
In the end, all I could do was wait until she calmed down.
"...Sniff... Sniff."
"So, you were just testing me?"
"...Yeah. I'm really sorry about this."
"Then what was with that spirit power? It was sharp as hell."
When I asked, the family head finally confessed everything.
He had two top-grade spirits under contract: wind and fire. Perfectly complementary, so naturally powerful.
The recent one was the wind spirit. Even with his exceptional spirit affinity and control, taming a top-grade wind spirit wasn't easy.
To avoid accidents, he'd schemed with the top-grade fire spirit.
The scheme? Pretend it went berserk.
Ortes family head loses control in rage. Fire spirit attacks Estellia.
Of course, Estellia had defenses against it, so no real worry.
"You caused all this just to see if I'd protect Estellia?"
"Just?! Don't you know how noble and vital it is to protect your woman?!"
"Nah, Estellia's not my woman."
"Urgh...!"
In the end, Estellia likes me. And as a father, he wanted to test me.
But he hadn't expected it to turn out like this.
Sorry. This is the end of it.
"...But defying fate? You mean my daughter was fated to die no matter what?"
"Yeah. To put it precisely, she was someone who had to die."
At my words, Estellia's face went pale.
She looks like a normal girl up close. Makes you doubt that political marriage, the one where she's called the Ice Rose in high society.
As I thought that, the Ortes family head spoke up.
"Then tell me who's behind it. Consider this a commission from Grand Shaman Kanahan. I'll shoulder that karma too."
"Can't do it."
"Why not!"
He'd struck such a dignified pose, only for me to say impossible, and now he's pissed.
But impossible is impossible.
"You can't bear the karma. No one can."
Thud.
"You're mad... Mad. Is a god really trying to take my daughter by any means?!"
Ortes despaired.
"I think you misheard... I said I twisted fate—what's there to worry about?"
"You of all people... From what I know, fate doesn't bend that easily. It comes back..."
"That's for regular schmucks. I'm Kanahan. Even that 300-year-old hag grand shaman shows me respect."
Whoosh.
His face lit up instantly. Estellia, listening beside him, let out a sigh of relief too.
My words meant no more inevitable death for her.
"Phew... First, let me give you your reward. We've dragged this out too long. You wanted money and cursed items, right?"
"Oh yeah, finally talking sense!"
At the Ortes family head's words, Jarvis brought in a box.
What he gave me: one silver card and three items that screamed "sealed."
"What? Three? How do you even have three?"
"I pulled some strings. My fault too, so I added extra cash."
Cursed items are cursed items. Just possessing one can shatter a family. There's even a record of a prince who collected them as a hobby, and his kingdom fell.
And here are three. The kind the imperial family monitors and destroys ruthlessly.
"The money... Card, so I can't check."
"No worries. Enough to buy three houses in the capital."
"What."
For reference, houses in the capital are insanely expensive—nothing like Seoul apartments maxing at 5 billion won. A basic shack here costs 500 trillion in Earth money. A space only nobles can afford.
Three houses? No way he means shacks... This card must hold an astronomical sum.
"Ahem. For my family head's sake, I forgive it all."
"Hahaha! Look at this guy. I like you. You're heading to the Academy, right? Why bother? You're plenty strong without it."
"Well..."
"Tell me. What's your reason for the Academy?"
Damn... He's already picturing me as some selfless hero sacrificing for my tribe.
In reality, my parents beat me until I agreed to go! I'm 6th hierarchy, Mom's a whopping 8th hierarchy great warrior. How do you survive someone treated as a living legend? Ten Swordmasters couldn't beat her.
'How do I explain this...?'
As I pondered, my savior appeared. Quiet Luca.
"Hold up. There's something we gotta clear first."
For reference, Luca's used banmal with me since forever. Why didn't I stop her? 'Cause she's my little sister, duh. No one batted an eye.
"Estellia and Kanahan. You two getting married?"