Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: All is Well in the Family Home (2)
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“Young Master, you mustn’t drink alcohol from now on!”
“It’s true that alcohol helps the Belverk clan, but getting drunk is still the same!”
“If you’re using it to replenish mana, just smash it on the floor…”
The moment the alcohol wore off and I climbed down from Uriel sis’s back, the maid sisters dragged me straight to a room in the villa and unleashed a barrage of scolding.
‘What the hell does this main quest even mean…?’
But even as the nagging continued until late into the night, my nerves were entirely focused elsewhere.
‘Family affection maxes out at 80, but it wants me to hit 100 favorability…?’
Even right now, all three sisters adored me to bits, yet their favorability wasn’t even at the max yet.
So what would happen if I filled it up all the way?
‘I should follow the system’s guidance for now…’
A chill ran down my spine for some reason, but I still had to do what needed doing.
‘Getting closer to my sisters won’t hurt anyway…’
And on second thought, maxing out intimacy to make my sisters my eternal allies didn’t seem like a bad idea.
“Hello!”
“……”
“Lilien sis!”
With my mind made up, I slipped away from the nagging maid sisters and headed to Lilien sis’s room.
“My cold’s all better, so I came to play… Huh?”
But my cheerful greeting didn’t last long before I froze, staring blankly.
“What are you all doing here?”
Anyone would’ve reacted the same after seeing the scene inside the room where Lilien sis was supposed to be staying.
A few hours earlier, before Kairen opened the door to Lilien’s room.
“I have something to say to you three.”
Astridje had gathered her three daughters in the villa secretly while Kairen was recovering from his drunken stupor, and the three listened intently.
“If any of you still aiming for the next family head position, raise your hand.”
A topic that would normally be quite sensitive, but Astridje brought it up bluntly. The three sisters exchanged glances for a moment.
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“What exactly does the family head do?”
The first to raise her hand was the eldest daughter, Edelasia.
“Crush invaders when they come, smash up any climbing families. Discipline the knight orders. Once a year, go mad with frenzy and smash everything.”
Astridje listed the family head’s duties with a sullen expression in response to her question.
“Hmm…?”
“And…”
Edelasia seemed subtly intrigued up to that point, her face showing some interest.
“Flatter the emperor. Endless paperwork that doesn’t finish even after signing all day, every day of the year. Forced into marriage by retainers’ nagging, have kids, start a successor competition…”
But as Astridje’s cold complaints continued with narrowed eyes, Edelasia’s body began to tremble.
“I don’t wanna be family head…”
“Hehe…”
Before the words even finished, Edelasia declared her refusal and hid behind Uriel.
Of course, with such a size difference that it was blatantly obvious, the action meant little.
“Uriel. What do you think?”
“Family head? Hmm…”
But it succeeded in shifting Astridje’s attention, and now all eyes turned to Uriel.
“…I did go crazy chasing the family head position back in the day.”
In that moment, Uriel, who had been wearing her usual sly smile, sighed and shook her head.
“But my goal was forcibly achieved already, so I’m less interested than before.”
“……”
“I’m the type who prefers scheming from the shadows over leading from the front anyway.”
Her already narrow eyes narrowed further with a smile, but the true meaning came through clearly.
“Lilien. What about you?”
“…The newbie suits it better than me.”
“Is that so…”
Astridje, briefly surprised, finished checking with Lilien and stood with a resolved expression.
“Then I have something to tell you all.”
What followed was a declaration that would etch itself into Belverk history.
“On Kairen’s 13th birthday, I plan to officially announce him as Belverk’s successor.”
“……”
“I originally intended to do it at 15 during his debutant, but if your intentions are clear, there’s no reason to delay.”
Normally—or even just two years ago—this would’ve sparked life-or-death opposition.
“Belverk’s first peaceful power transition in history.”
“Never dreamed it’d happen in our generation…”
But Uriel and Lilien, who had once staked their lives on the position, just chatted nonchalantly.
“Hold on.”
Surprisingly, the one to object was Edelasia, who’d never cared much for the role.
“Then does that mean little bro has to get forced into marriage too?”
Though even she wasn’t objecting to Kairen’s succession itself.
“For the record, I won’t forgive anyone pressuring him or eyeing my little brother.”
“Ufufu… I get it. Can’t guarantee he won’t become my nutrients on a dark night, though.”
No one gathered there had opposed Kairen’s succession from the start.
“Speaking of which, that Imperial Princess… You’re really okay with her as Kairen’s match?”
They were far more concerned with which vixen would snatch their cute, precious baby brother.
“If she were just an Imperial Princess, fine, but now she’s a top candidate for next emperor?”
“……”
“That means… if Kairen marries her, he’d have to leave Belverk.”
Lilien analyzed seriously while glancing at their mother, and Astridje’s eyes widened as she listened.
“…Ah.”
She blanked out for a moment, then let out a short gasp.
“Mother, you hadn’t thought of that?”
“…We can’t let our little brother get taken by the imperial family.”
“R-right. So, about that…”
Seizing the chance, the sisters began voicing opposition, and Lilien raised her hand again, glancing around before speaking.
“I-I have an idea.”
All eyes focused on her once more.
“…A perfect solution where Kairen doesn’t have to leave, avoids marriage pressure, and stabilizes the power structure.”
Her two older sisters and Astridje leaned in, intrigued.
“What is it?”
“It’s…”
Lilien, not expecting such attention, hesitated, swallowed hard, squeezed her eyes shut, and shouted.
“M-me marrying him!”
Silence fell.
“……”
As the three gazes turned crimson all at once, Lilien waved her hands frantically, sweating.
“I-I mean, haha, just a joke…”
But before her frantic excuse finished, her two sisters, eyes red, suddenly frowned.
“Hmm…”
“Hehe…”
They tilted their heads, then grew serious and spoke in unison.
“Then I can just marry little bro too, right?”
“…Now that I think about it, that’s a solution.”
As they glared at Lilien with expressions of realization, mulling it over—
“Enough.”
“……”
“Jokes end here.”
Astridje’s chilling voice, her eyes still crimson alone, echoed through the room.
“…We’ll continue this talk later.”
With that unilateral dismissal, the three sisters turned and filed out.
“““……”””
But their faces were now more serious than ever.
“What are you all doing here?”
Back to the present.
“Little brother.”
“Little brother dear.”
“Newbie.”
The three sisters sitting side by side on Lilien’s bed spoke up at Kairen’s arrival.
“I’ll speak as representative.”
“No, I’ll say it.”
“…Stop.”
And so the two-year peace began to creak.
“I’m the oldest, so I’ll speak.”
In the tense atmosphere, Edelasia cut off her younger sisters with an uncharacteristically icy, serious expression.
“That’s not logical?”
“Since when did big sis care about age hierarchy?”
“…Insolent.”
Immediate backlash like two years ago, and the eldest’s eyes slowly turned red.
“Time to restore discipline?”
“Hehe, true… It’s been too peaceful lately.”
“I’m confident I can take one down, no matter who.”
Uriel and Lilien were no different.
“You wanna go?”
“Wanna go?”
“Let’s go?”
A split second later.
- Rrrrrumble…
Red aura coiled around Edelasia’s hands, black fangs emerged behind Uriel and circled the air, and a knife from Lilien’s bosom began to glow…
“Um, excuse me…!”
Facing his sisters’ imminent slaughter for the first time right in front of him, Kairen spoke up urgently.
“What’s going on?”
Finally regaining their senses at his words, the three turned glowing red eyes to Kairen.
“I have a question.”
“One question.”
“Just one question.”
Then they posed the world’s hardest question to Kairen in unison.
“Who do you like most among us?”
“Who’s the best sister?”
“Who do you like best here, newbie?”
Realizing the weight too late, Kairen froze and stammered.
“Uh… M-Mother…”
But grasping the meaning, the three dismissed it coldly.
“Mother’s excluded.”
“Exclude Mother.”
“No Mother.”
And right then, another glowing gaze appeared through the door crack in Kairen’s view.
“……”
Realizing it was their mother secretly watching from behind the door, Kairen shrank and started hiccupping.
“…Hic.”