Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Arkabella Duke's Residence
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Arkabella Duke's Residence
The Emperor chuckled softly and helped the bowing Yujin to his feet.
"Why are you bowing so deeply? Raise your head, Marquis."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The Emperor thought to himself.
First, promoting Yujin to Duke is a done deal. So now, what else is needed...
'A territory and army befitting the rank of Duke.'
Yujin already had a territory. It was just that he rarely visited it, making its presence faint, but there was the marquisate that the Banus family had ruled for generations.
'He said he appointed a proxy to govern it.'
A proxy, huh...
If he's using a proxy anyway, wouldn't it be fine to add one or two more territories?
To the Emperor, Yujin looked like the type who would wander around everywhere.
Ah, not in a bad way. Just the face of a hero who seemed destined to resolve major crises personally.
...Of course, he looked a bit too decadently handsome for a typical hero, but anyway.
'...I should give him the grand duchy that's fallen into chaos this time.'
The north was the front lines against the monsters. Thanks to advanced firearms, they could now repel them relatively easily, but compared to other regions, the monsters' momentum was still fierce.
What if he handed such a grand duchy to Yujin?
'He'd have to pay attention to it.'
Whether he sent the Black Knights that the Banus family prided itself on, or went there himself to hold the line, he'd do something.
'Not a bad idea.'
It was beneficial for the imperial family too. Absorbing all the vacant northern territories as direct imperial lands would be too much of a burden.
In that sense, handing over a large portion of the grand duchy to Yujin would lighten the load considerably. The rest could be appointed to lords loyal to the imperial family.
Besides, it wasn't like he was tossing Yujin complete wasteland. The north struggled with food self-sufficiency due to the harsh cold, but as if balanced by design, it was rich in rare resources.
And considering the magic stones dropped from monsters, it was truly a goldmine.
'...The problem is that the grand duchy's capital is completely wrecked, and all the territory folk who lived there are dead.'
Whether that was fortunate or not, the residents of other cities and villages outside the capital were still alive...
But the numbers were a bit ambiguous.
'...Whether to gather the surviving territory folk and rebuild, or send only specialists to turn it into a resource mining operation—that's up to the marquis to decide.'
The Emperor decided to entrust it to Yujin for now.
'Then there's just one issue left.'
That was...
"...So, when do you plan to get engaged?"
The engagement.
Yujin had no heirs. The Emperor didn't want the blood of a genius like Yujin to end.
At the Emperor's words, Yujin racked his brains dutifully.
'Engagement...'
He did need to do it.
He wasn't planning to stay single forever, and whether for himself or for the new ducal house he was building, producing heirs was necessary.
And ideally, someone like Lucia or Irene whose hearts aligned with his.
In that sense, his former fiancée...
'......'
He pushed aside the sudden thought of Sena. He didn't know what she was up to lately, but she seemed pretty quiet.
Of course, strictly speaking, the source of the commotion was the Crown Prince and the Northern Grand Duke.
Come to think of it...
'...I never got a thank you.'
He had saved her from nearly falling to the Northern Grand Duke's beast at the café, but Sena, who had almost been its victim, hadn't said thanks—instead, she'd just given him a look of shock.
'...Tch.'
His heart inexplicably throbbed.
...Whether it was the lingering echo of those briefly happy old memories, or just simple displeasure... he couldn't quite tell.
Squeeze—
"......?"
At that moment, Lucia gently wrapped her arms around Yujin's.
Their eyes met, and Lucia gave him a radiant smile. It helped settle his mind a bit.
...Right, the past is the past.
This was the moment to move toward the future.
"Your Majesty. Could we discuss Yujin's engagement with Irene as well before confirming? We'd need to talk with Irene and even the Arkabella Duke about whether to proceed simultaneously or in sequence."
"Mm. That's true."
The Emperor nodded at her words.
Speaking of the Arkabella Duke...
...He had definitely told him last time at the medal ceremony to visit the duke's residence sometime. He'd forgotten amid all the sudden chaos...
'I should go this time.'
"...I'll meet with the Arkabella Duke directly and discuss it."
At those words, the Emperor stared piercingly at Yujin for a moment. Just as Yujin started wondering why the intense gaze, the Emperor spoke.
"Will you do that?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Hm... Then I'll write a letter expressing consent to this engagement. It should help."
A letter from the Emperor.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
A few days later, Yujin formally scheduled a visit and headed to the Arkabella Duke's residence in the capital.
'Come to think of it, quite a few nobles are in the capital.'
Most imperial nobles, except a few, had territories. Yet many entrusted their lands to proxies and lived in the capital.
'A romance fantasy trait?'
...But thinking about it, he himself was living in the capital while leaving his territory behind... though he had an excuse.
'What can I do when incidents keep popping up even if I want to visit?'
He hadn't been back from the war long before one thing after another exploded.
Yujin felt wronged.
...Anyway, he entered the Arkabella Duke's residence with Lucia.
Hm? Why was Lucia coming along?
Well...
'If I go with you, it can reduce the chance of a bad atmosphere.'
'...Isn't that usually the opposite? Wouldn't bringing another woman home anger the father of the girl you love?'
'Hehe. As Irene's longtime friend, I'm like a daughter to the Arkabella Duke too. Just trust me, Yujin.'
That was the reason.
He wasn't sure if it would really work, but Lucia looked so confident that he decided to go with her.
Trusting one's woman was a virtue of manhood.
'If the atmosphere sours... I'll have to turn it around.'
Hide behind a woman like some loser? He absolutely couldn't do that.
If things went south, he'd step up even if it meant taking a slap from the Arkabella Duke.
As they entered the mansion, numerous servants and the duke's family, including Irene, welcomed Yujin and Lucia.
"It's a pleasure to meet again like this, Marquis Banus."
Yujin shook hands with the Arkabella Duke.
"The pleasure's mine, Duke."
'No bad vibes.'
He had informed them of the visit's purpose in advance. As a father with a daughter, he thought there might be anger... but Yujin didn't sense any.
And indeed, the duke wasn't angry. Rather...
'......'
"It's a pleasure to see you too, Your Highness."
"Hehe. It's been a while, Duke."
"Yes, quite a while. Aside from glimpsing you from afar at the last medal ceremony, it's been months since we last met properly."
"I've been too busy with various matters to visit."
"I see."
The two seemed on very good terms. Like an uncle and niece.
Except they used formal speech, making it look just like a real uncle-niece relationship.
Then, a dignified middle-aged woman standing behind the duke stepped forward.
"Pleased to meet you, Marquis Banus. I'm Luini Arkabella, Irene's mother and the lady of the duke's house. Feel free to call me Duchess."
The woman introducing herself as the duchess regarded Yujin with very favorable eyes.
'She really looks like her.'
Irene, waving shyly from behind, was almost her spitting image. Just differing in fine details—Irene would probably look exactly like the duchess before her when she aged.
'...Not that Irene's looks will age.'
At archmage level like a master, aging nearly stopped.
Of course, Irene wasn't an archmage yet... but to Yujin, it was only a matter of time. Same for Lucia.
'Oops.'
Yujin shook off the thought and bowed slightly.
"You're Irene's mother. Pleased to meet you, Duchess."
"Oh my."
The duchess subtly covered her mouth, hiding her rising smile.
She knew her daughter had been meeting a man lately... but to think they'd grown close enough for him to call her by name already.
'Son-in-law approved.'
Great ability, handsome looks, and above all, calling her name so boldly showed he had the right guts for a man.
Of course, the prospective son-in-law had brought another woman...
'But it's Lucia, so it's fine.'
Heroes always had multiple wives and concubines. And bringing longtime family-like Lucia was better than some stranger...
'Hehe.'
The smiling duchess turned to introduce her sons standing behind her.
"These are my sons, Marquis."
The two men receiving Yujin's gaze bowed slightly.
"I'm Carl Arkabella, the eldest son and young duke. It's an honor to meet the renowned master."
"I'm Jay Arkabella, the second son."
"Hehe, both my sons greatly admire the marquis. Especially the second, who's walking the path of the swordsman like you."
"...I see."
Sure enough, the two were looking at him with eyes of respect.
Especially the second son, Jay—fire seemed ready to spark from his eyes.
'...Rivalry, no. Aspiration for higher realms.'
He could feel Jay's desire to learn from him.
Then, the quiet Irene approached Yujin and slyly linked arms with him. His arm settled between her ample, soft breasts.
"Mother. If the introductions are done, may I take Yujin and Lucia?"
At Irene's bold action, the duchess let out repeated "Oh my, oh my"s of admiration.
And then.
"Of course, of course. Sorry for taking your precious time, dear. See you at dinner later?"
The duchess led the Arkabella Duke and her two sons away first.
'...Is the duchess number one in the household hierarchy?'
Probably. The duke seemed whipped by his wife, in that intuitive sense.
'Things are going smoothly.'
For some reason, he'd made a good impression on the duchess. Wasn't this perfect?
"Let's go too, Yujin."
"Sure."