Chapter 86
Chapter 86
Translator: XZY
Chapter 86: Marriage Proposal (3)
***
“A baron? You’re becoming a baron? Then you’re becoming a noble, Derek? I-I didn’t hear that wrong, did I?”
As Derek nodded his head, Felinne took a step back, pressing her temples as if she were dizzy. The location was a dark alley that one had to go deeper into, behind the tavern ‘Veldern’s Tear.’
After causing a commotion inside the tavern, Derek had brought her out, thinking he would only invite more terrible misunderstandings if they stayed.
Leaving Aiseline and Siern to the escort personnel, he moved his tongue busily to quickly finish his business with Felinne.
“I need a title. As you know, Felinne, I want to become a mage of a higher realm. At this point, to raise my magical realm without future complications, I need to raise my status and standing.”
“You said you were going to work all the way in the north… so this was the picture you were painting?”
“It’s not so much that I intended it, but more that an opportunity came, and I just seized it.”
Felinne leaned against the wall of the gloomy alley and stroked her chin, then said with a hardened expression.
“You know well that my hometown, Radel Village, was wiped out by those damn nobles. I can’t stand hanging out with noble scoundrels, acting all refined and laughing like ‘ohoho’.”
“Don’t worry. You just need to fulfill the formality. Who else but you, Felinne, could I ask for such a favor?”
“No… you’re telling me to play house with you, Derek…?”
Felinne tapped her thigh a few times as if imagining something, then spoke, her face turning pale.
“Derek… it’s a bit difficult, physiologically…”
“Do you think I’m doing this because I want to… It’s difficult for me too… I’ll be lucky if I don’t feel nauseous…”
“…For some reason, hearing you say that makes me feel strangely offended.”
“And you think I… feel good about it?”
Derek and Felinne stared at each other like that for a while.
Those seeing them for the first time might ask why they were so disgusted, but since Derek and Felinne had roamed the mercenary world together since their reckless childhoods, their relationship was closer to family than to members of the opposite sex.
Of course, they didn’t act as affectionately as real family… but at the very least, they had a certain degree of confidence that they would not betray each other.
Felinne stood with her arms crossed for a moment, then finally spoke with a serious expression.
“S-sorry. Derek. I have no intention of living a married life that isn’t in my destiny. I just want to live my life, making ends meet while bickering with Jayden Ahjussi and the other mercenaries.”
“Really, there’s no way, no matter what?”
“Derek.”
Felinne pushed herself off the wall she had been leaning on and, brushing back the hair she had tied up, said in a decisive tone.
“No matter what you say, it’s a no. I’m willing to grant most of your requests, Derek, but no matter what, this isn’t it.”
“…I’ll give you money.”
“Hah… as much of a scrooge as I am, there are things that are possible and things that are not. Just because you’ve made some money hanging out with noble scoundrels, how could you even think of buying a woman’s marriage proposal with money…! I’m a woman too, Derek!”
“…I’ll give you a lot. I know your troubles well, so I’ll make sure you’re not left wanting. And after you get the title, and things seem a bit better, I’ll give you a hefty service fee and make you a free person again… I promise. It will be an amount that is by no means insufficient.”
“How can you say such things! I like money, but I know well that not everything in the world can be solved with money!”
Derek strode forward and, slowly leaning into Felinne’s ear, told her the specific amount.
“…”
Hearing his words, Felinne’s body flinched.
“……”
Presently, Felinne’s eyes shot wide open as she spoke.
“I look forward to working with you…!!! My husband!!!”
“…”
…There was no such thing as an absolute in this world.
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Felinne was a considerably skilled mercenary archer.
She wore a reddish-brown leather blouse with wooden light armor layered over it and had two or three leather belts wrapped around her worn flare skirt.
Attached to them were numerous pockets and pouches.
Black bandages and leather gloves covered her wrists, and a potion holder was on her thigh. The blades fastened to her back presented a rather grim sight, but she used to cover it all up by wearing a reddish-brown hooded cloak.
She had a sharp-looking impression with her platinum-blonde hair tied up.
One could tell at a glance that she was someone who had killed her fair share of magical beasts since she was young. If it weren’t for Derek, the title of the Veldern Mercenary Corps’ rising star would have been hers.
That same girl now entered the tavern with her hair let down, dressed in a solid-colored linen dress, and wearing a hat woven from straw.
It was the result of carefully choosing an outfit that wasn’t too luxurious, but just enough to look like the wife of a baron from some remote countryside.
“…”
Seeing her, Jayden offered his impression.
“It looks like a gorilla wearing a dress.”
“Jayden Ahjussi…”
“…My apologies.”
The tavern had already finished its business for the day and was closed.
Most of the customers had gone home, and only Derek, Aiseline, and Siern were sitting side-by-side at the bar table in the center.
“I gave instructions to pick out the plainest-looking clothes from my mansion in the noble district. At this level… she shouldn’t stand out too much.”
Aiseline looked back and forth between the two with a troubled expression.
Felinne had a vacant look on her face as if she had lost her soul, and Derek, watching her, was propping up his chin and clenching his teeth, maintaining a poker face.
Someone seeing her for the first time would have the impression of a common woman found anywhere, but for those who had known Felinne for a long time, the sight invoked an indescribable sense of revulsion.
One should not be deceived by her slender appearance.
Felinne was a girl who could dismantle four or five goblins at once with a single dagger.
There was a reason Derek always took her along whenever he went to a slightly dangerous site.
“Derek… right now… I’m feeling a sense of doubt about the very life I’ve lived until now…”
“Felinne. Don’t think such pessimistic thoughts… the clothes suit you well…”
“Look me in the eye and say it.”
“Damn it… there’s been dust in my eye for a while now…”
Derek, for his part, was in a situation where he desperately needed Felinne’s help, so he did his best to humor her.
In the midst of it all, Aiseline was observing the two of them when she felt a strange sense of relief welling up.
In reality, Derek and Felinne truly did not see each other as members of the opposite sex in the slightest.
When one had been a mercenary living hand-to-mouth since childhood, the romance of relationships between sexes was bound to have died out at some point.
Dreaming of a prince on a white horse or a handsome northern grand duke who was only warm to you was a privilege of hothouse flowers who had it easy.
As for Aiseline, she had grown up in the unique aristocratic environment of Duplein since her childhood, so she did harbor a certain degree of such romantic fantasies.
However, Felinne was a woman of the world, through and through. She was poking at the hem of her loose linen dress, pointing out its impractical parts, saying things like, ‘I can’t even run in this.’
“Derek… I’m… sleepy…”
Siern, after taking a few sips of the honey drink Jayden had served, was dozing off in Aiseline’s arms.
And there was Felinne, staring at the scene with a frown, and Derek, who was now planning what to do next…
Jayden watched them quietly from the side and thought.
‘I have no idea what in the world happened in the north, but this is a total mess.’
There wasn’t a single part that didn’t feel precarious. He was at the point of wondering if they could really receive a barony like this.
<> <> <>
“Derek… is getting married…?”
The news of the marriage of Derek, the magic teacher active in the southwestern part of Ebelstein, spread after the Rosea Salon meeting the following week.
“Yes…”
“W-well… that’s a bit sudden…”
It was the day Aiseline, who had gone to the north to earn money, was finally returning to the Rosea Salon.
No longer belonging to the three great families, Aiseline, running around here and there as a fallen young lady, must have looked endlessly pitiful.
The followers who had been with her had almost all left to find their own paths, and the few who remained only held feelings of pity.
Therefore, Elente and Denise had intended to ask about her well-being during this meeting, if only for old times’ sake.
Although the rivalry between the three great families had been fierce, Aiseline was someone who had conducted herself maturely and wisely within that difficult relationship.
From Elente and Denise’s perspective, they couldn’t help but feel that Aiseline’s downfall wasn’t entirely welcome.
However, the words Aiseline brought up in their private meeting after the gathering was over were so shocking that, for a moment, the two of them forgot all such feelings of pity.
“He said he met a woman named Felinne of the Veldern Mercenary Corps and will be building a sweet and lovely family, creating a love nest…”
Aiseline didn’t go so far as to convey that it was part of a struggle to receive a title. It would be troublesome if she added unnecessary words and it led to future complications.
Because of this, from Elente and Denise’s perspective, they couldn’t help but have their expressions harden.
In truth, if you were to ask if the two of them saw Derek as a member of the opposite sex, that wasn’t the case either.
He was a good teacher, a trustworthy person, and someone they wanted to hire if the opportunity arose… that was the extent of their feelings. At least, that’s what they themselves thought.
However, for both Elente and Denise, the news of the man’s marriage was more shocking than they had imagined, and they were left completely speechless.
Elente put down the teacup she was about to take a sip from and, breaking into a bit of a cold sweat, asked Aiseline.
“I-is that so..? Th-that woman named Felinne… when did they start seeing each other for the news of their marriage to come so suddenly…?”
“They said she was someone he worked with as a mercenary since they were young… I met her once on the way back to Ebelstein, and she was certainly a person of strong will and definite skill.”
“…Is that so?”
“She was an archer with platinum-blonde hair tied back. Her skill was close to perfect marksmanship, so various mercenary corps were trying to recruit her.”
Hearing those words, a memory of a woman buried in Elente’s mind suddenly surfaced.
It was the very archer Derek had brought as support personnel when she was rolling through a labyrinth while receiving lessons from him.
She had the impression of being around the same age as Elente, but she was someone already accustomed to the blood-splattering battlefield.
‘Indeed, Derek might be more drawn to an experienced comrade of the battlefield… rather than a noble lady who knows nothing of the world…’
Elente thought as she caressed the rim of her teacup. In fact, that was only natural.
While she was so deeply lost in thought, Denise, who was drinking tea on the other side, had already finished her thinking.
‘──Lady Aiseline is lying.’
Denise was a quick-thinking person.
She was a bit flustered when she first heard the news, but after taking a sip of tea and calmly organizing her thoughts, a picture of how the situation was unfolding quickly formed.
Before Aiseline left for the north, Denise had already noticed that Aiseline harbored unusual feelings for Derek.
There was no way that such an Aiseline, upon hearing the news of Derek’s marriage proposal, would so calmly try to inform those around her.
If Derek’s marriage proposal were real, Aiseline should have been greatly heartbroken or flustered.
She was not the type of person who could leisurely engage in pleasant conversation like this. This was because while Aiseline was smart and skilled in conducting herself, it was obvious she was a prude in this area.
‘A letter about Derek’s title conferment proposal came recently, they said. Having no family at all is a disqualifying reason, so it seems he plans to hold a forced marriage to at least meet the qualifications.’
Denise’s intuition and perceptiveness were unmatched, at least within the Rosea Salon.
If Derek were to really receive a barony, the territory he would be in charge of would be the Rodelen region, which was right next to the Grand Duchy of Beltus.
In a way, it felt like they would become neighbors with the Beltus family. Although the physical distance would be immense… if they got involved in things like tariff agreements or trade route disputes, they might see each other often.
‘It’s a remote barony that everyone avoids, so if he just meets the qualifications, he might really become a noble. His magical skill itself is not lacking… next time we meet, will I have to show him the courtesy due to a noble?’
Thinking that, the image of the man who had been obsessed only with magic suddenly came to mind.
‘He really… intends to aim for a realm of 4-Star or higher.’
His magical achievements were hard to believe even after seeing them with her own two eyes.
To have become a 3-Star at this age meant that he might really reach the realm of 4-Star or 5-Star in the future.
If by some chance he were to reach the 4-Star level in his youth… the entire continent would not leave him alone.
The only known figures who had reached the 4-Star realm at an age without wrinkles were Melverot and Kalimpod. And both of them had also reached the 6-Star realm of magic.
At this point, he was already moving beyond the realm of a magic teacher who was just good at teaching.
‘The old fogies in the imperial capital probably have no idea. They’re probably not even thinking about what will happen the moment Derek really receives a barony and joins the ranks of the nobility.’
Denise thought quietly with her crescent-moon eyes.
It seemed she had a teacher who was, beyond her imagination, a truly tremendous person.
“Oh my, isn’t that Lady Aiseline?”
It was around the time Denise was thinking about the changes in the power structure of the noble world.
In the middle of a pleasant conversation about Derek’s partner, a girl dressed lavishly in a pretty dress interjected from behind them.
The girl who brought a dessert tray full of flower decorations and placed it on the table with a smile was Lady Trisha of the Renuel viscounty.
Her smiling face looked cheerful, but her inner thoughts were obvious.
She was the person who was coveting the seat of the three great families that the Duplein family had vacated.
‘…’
Denise barely suppressed the urge to narrow her brow. In the ice-thin social world of Ebelstein, the skill of managing one’s expression was the most basic of basics.
“Oh my, Lady Trisha. It’s been a while.”
Aiseline greeted the smiling Trisha warmly.
Trisha just stared at Aiseline fixedly, continuing to let out a meaningful smile.
Denise stopped herself just before clicking her tongue.
The reason Lady Trisha had come all the way to a private chat like this was obvious.
The falling Duplein, and the rising Renuel.
She wanted to clearly reveal that gap and somehow seize the real power of the Rosea Salon.
Both Elente and Denise had experienced the sinister and insidious power struggles of noble young ladies to the point of being sick of them. But one never gets used to it.
She had come to crush Aiseline.