Chapter 87
Chapter 87
Translator: XZY
Chapter 87: Marriage Proposal (4)
***
The pastoral scenery of the Rodelen region was a peaceful and heartwarming sight, but one could also understand why the central nobles did not come here.
The terraced vineyards, built on the hilly terrain adjacent to the outskirts of the Grand Duchy of Beltus, were not of a particularly impressive scale.
He had heard that the territorial residents of the frontier had such strong craftsmanship and were so earnest about the quality control of their wine that they were dead set against expanding the cultivation scale.
“…I thought all noble houses would be luxurious and flashy, but it’s not quite like that.”
Derek had ridden his horse since early morning for nearly half a day to reach the frontier of the Rodelen region.
Felinne, who was patting the horse’s rump next to Derek, showed a surprised reaction upon seeing the noble mansion built next to the small vineyard.
It was an elegant two-story building made of light limestone, but so much time had passed and it had been so unmanaged that it was covered in cobwebs.
The ceilings were high and the floors were marble, so it seemed it could become a decent base if well-maintained, but the labor required for that would not all be free.
“This is decent enough. If you look closely, there’s a stable on the side, and although it’s embarrassing to even call it a garden… there’s a circular garden that’s been cultivated. Even if it is overgrown with weeds.”
Derek dismounted his horse and brushed off his shoulders. Felinne stared at the mansion with indifferent eyes for a moment, then she too dismounted her horse.
“Is it a bit premature to start proper repairs… It’s something that should be done after I receive the title and the authority that comes with it… but still, I wanted to check its condition.”
“Oh my, our dear husband is already excited about receiving a title and making a name for himself… coming all the way to a mansion that’s not even his yet to survey the situation…”
“It’s obvious there’s a lot to do. I can’t manage this mansion alone, so I’ll have to hire servants… I’ll have to look into the situation of the territorial residents… and also, since I have a severe case of wanderlust, I need to establish a system so that the mansion’s affairs run smoothly even while I’m away.”
Derek’s goal had never once changed.
To become a mage of a higher realm.
It was best to quickly take care of the tasks necessary for that.
A noble title might be a lifelong goal for some, but to Derek, it was nothing more than a tool to be used to achieve a greater objective.
He had no intention of brandishing his authority and striking poses by flaunting a title.
“It’s just a ton of things to spend money on.”
“Where are you going to get that kind of money? It’s obvious the maintenance costs will be no joke.”
“When I receive the title, I’ll also be handed over the authority related to taxes, so it won’t be a big problem. However, I don’t know if the local powerful families who have lived without a lord will obediently follow my opinion. It’s one mountain after another.”
Derek sat down on an old wooden bench on one side of the weed-infested garden.
As he sat quietly, he could hear the sound of grasshoppers under the warm, shining sun. It was certainly a good place to come for convalescence after getting old, but it was not a place that a central noble in their prime would covet.
“The location is good.”
“Yeah, sigh.”
Felinne still had an uninterested look in her eyes.
She was playing along because he said he would give her money, but it seemed she held a great aversion to the act of playing noble itself.
She preferred to draw a bowstring on a blood-splattering battlefield rather than maintain her dignity in a well-appointed environment.
“Have you decided on a family name?”
“Ravencrow.”
“…Hmm.”
Derek, who was staring blankly at the sky with one arm draped over the back of the wooden bench, answered without hesitation.
Seeing that there wasn’t even a second of thought, it seemed he had already come to a conclusion.
The surname sounded familiar, so Felinne rested her chin on her hand and fell into thought for a moment. It seemed there had to be a reason for such a familiar feeling.
After being lost in thought for a long while, Felinne was finally able to recall where she had heard that surname.
“…”
While Derek was working hard in the Veldern Mercenary Corps, there were times when he would occasionally head to the slums where he had spent his childhood.
Not very often, just once or twice a year… he would take a walk along the riverbank that cut through the Ebelstein slums and then return.
One day, Felinne, who was curious about what on earth he was going to such a place for, had followed him.
When she actually followed him, it turned out to be nothing special, so she hadn’t placed much meaning on it.
Before heading out to work, he would wake up early in the morning and buy steaming buttered bread from a grocery store or bakery in the commercial district.
Then he would go to the slum river, to a modest grave marked by an old plank under a shabby bridge, pile up the bread, and then just sit by the riverbank, quietly watching the water flow before coming back.
There was no sign of him being emotionally moved; he would just sit there quietly from time to time before returning.
She didn’t know what was so meaningful about quietly staring at the river scenery in the early morning air, but…
She did remember the old letters carved on the grave in the spot Derek had left.
The name carved there was ‘Ravencrow.’
A crow that tears at corpses.
When walking through the slums, one would often see those unpleasant birds clinging to the corpses of those who had starved to death in the corners of the alleys.
To think that he had come so far from those bottom-of-the-barrel days, honing his skills as a mage… did Derek still think of himself as nothing more than such a crow?
Or was there some other meaning… from Felinne’s perspective, there was no way to know.
“The weather is nice, though.”
She could only let out a deep sigh through her nose, next to Derek who was muttering that name and staring blankly up at the sky.
The sky was high and blue.
Even as the years flow by, the turning seasons do not change.
It is the natural order of things for spring to come after winter ends.
That order never changes, always remaining the same.
In the end, it was always people who left.
<><><>
“I was so worried about what I would do if Lady Aiseline was upset that I was tossing and turning, unable to sleep. In truth, it was an indispensable choice to maintain the authority of the Rosea Salon, but from Lady Aiseline’s perspective, there must have been parts that were somewhat difficult to accept.”
Lady Trisha of the Renuel viscounty was the person who had most actively tried to oust Duplein from the three great families.
In fact, she was in a position where just showing her face in front of Aiseline should have been awkward, yet she appeared with a confident demeanor and sympathized with her.
The emotion of sympathy has a clearly established hierarchical relationship. It is the natural order for the one who is higher to sympathize with the one who is lower.
On the surface, she would look like a kind-hearted person worried about the young lady of the declining Duplein, but in reality, the intention to define that hierarchical relationship was more blatant.
Her inner thoughts were so sinister that Elente, who was watching from the side, was frowning.
‘How should I intervene in this…’
Denise was sipping her black tea as if it didn’t matter to her, but Elente was rolling up her sleeves, showing her will to do something.
However, Trisha’s words and actions were so insidious that, on the surface, she wasn’t doing anything that could be immediately called into question. Such was the power struggle between the women of the noble world.
“I heard that you went all the way to the north to secure funds to help your family…”
“Yes. I went to the Rochest territory.”
“Oh dear… you must have gone through so much trouble. It’s certainly not an easy thing for a young lady of a noble family to run around herself to earn money, but I really have to acknowledge Lady Aiseline’s drive.”
“You praise me too much, haha…”
The grace of a noble young lady is revealed when she appears like a single flower, detached from the mundane world.
The sight of her running around frantically to secure a single extra coin could not be called graceful, even with empty words.
Trisha’s words were subtly pointing out that frivolous side of Aiseline.
Those who were unperceptive would just laugh it off, but to the three members of the Rosea Salon who knew what was what, it was keenly felt that there was a bone in her words.
Was she trying to feel a sense of superiority by scratching away at Aiseline’s pride like that?
Lady Trisha was already smiling with satisfaction as she took a cake from the dessert tray and placed it in front of herself.
“The only thing I can do for you is to treat you to some delicious dessert. I brought things that go well with black tea. You probably don’t get to eat them very often now, so it’s good to have your fill at times like this.”
‘You’re really something else, Lady Trisha.’
A small vein popped on Elente’s forehead.
She knew well that the Renuel viscounty had been gaining power recently, but that was the merit of the family, not Trisha’s own strength.
It was natural for a noble young lady to be backed by her family’s prestige, but that didn’t mean she could be rude.
It was then, as Elente was contemplating if there was anything she could use to find fault.
“Thank you, Lady Trisha. I’ll enjoy it.”
Aiseline smiled sweetly and picked up a plate with a small cookie from the dessert tray.
On the outside, she looked completely unfazed.
Aiseline had lived as the most noble flower in the Ebelstein social circle for a long time.
The most effective way to deal with such an insolent manner of speaking was to simply ignore it. She knew that well, so she didn’t even show any reaction.
Perhaps not liking that skillful response, Trisha’s lips twisted for a moment.
The reason she was trying to show off her superiority in front of Aiseline was not just because Trisha had a bad personality, but also because she needed a symbolic scene where she had crushed Aiseline before the full-scale competition for family prestige began.
A person who could make even Duplein’s Aiseline flounder, unable to say a word.
If she could occupy that position, she would be able to hold her chin up and maintain a noble posture in front of the other noble young ladies.
Therefore, she would want to commit rudeness to Aiseline and expose her flustered appearance, unable to say a single word, as often as possible.
Because in the noble world, a show of power was power itself.
To do that, she needed to push the boundaries as much as possible and provoke Aiseline.
She had to be prepared to break her, the very model of a noble young lady who never lost her grace and dignity no matter what happened.
A teenage girl obsessed with honor, power, and a good marriage proposal sometimes crosses the line like that.
Drip, drip, drip—
──Just like that, lukewarm tea was flowing down Aiseline’s head.
It happened in an instant.
“Oh my, I’m sorry. Lady Aiseline.”
“──”
It happened so suddenly that even Elente and Denise, who were sitting next to her, could not react.
Drip, drip, drip—
The tea that flowed down Aiseline’s slender chin was dripping onto the table.
It was before Aiseline, who had not yet fully grasped what had just happened, could react. Elente, who was next to her, slammed the table and stood up.
“Lady Trisha!”
“I’m sorry. I wanted to offer you some good black tea from the eastern part of the continent, but my hand slipped.”
Even Aiseline, who had handled all sorts of situations appropriately, was wearing a flustered expression.
If she got angry, she would be playing into Trisha’s pace. But if she endured it, that too would go according to her intentions.
What was the appropriate response? In this situation, where not only the servants of each family but also the passersby on the street were watching with sidelong glances, it was difficult to react rashly.
The terrace of a teahouse, located right next to the central square of the noble district, frequented by nobles and the wealthy.
Watching the silently bowing Aiseline, Trisha whispers with a satisfied smile.
“Are you alright? What should I do…”
She was a girl who looked so sorry she didn’t know what to do with herself.
But the people gathered around all knew. Trisha was trying to establish the hierarchy right now.
It was the moment Aiseline finally looked up with bewildered eyes and tried to say something.
“─What are you doing right now?”
Saying those words, there was a girl who approached from beyond the terrace, accompanied by a servant.
She looked as if she had come across them while walking through the square on some business.
Her voluminous blonde hair seemed to embrace her body, and the frilled dress clinging to her petite frame looked expensive at a glance.
Her eyes, as she strode forward, were sharply slanted upwards, revealing through her appearance that she was not a person of good character. The gap with her cute physique was starkly felt.
Trisha was momentarily flustered by the sudden intervention, but after confirming the face, she smiled again.
It was just the right person.
“Oh my, Lady Diella was here too. I’m sorry. I’ve committed a discourtesy to Lady Aiseline.”
Diella Catherine Duplein.
She was the younger sister of the girl who was now covered in black tea.
Rumors of her being the young lioness harbored by the Duplein family were rampant, and even after the family’s great decline, her spirit and charisma remained, causing many young ladies to watch her cautiously.
However, Trisha already knew well.
In the last salon meeting, Diella had already backed down to Trisha once.
Even in a situation where she was openly insulted, she had acknowledged the family’s decline and taken a step back.
At that time, Trisha couldn’t say anything more due to the aura she exuded, but upon reflection, she could sense that the atmosphere had already shifted in her favor.
No matter how much of a lioness of Duplein Diella was, she could do nothing about the declining trend.
Even the insolent Diella must have had no choice but to realize it.
Therefore, Trisha raised the corners of her mouth and said.
“I accidentally spilled black tea on Lady Aiseline. I’d like to wipe it off for her, would you help me as well, Lady Diella?”
“…”
“I’m worried that if I wipe it myself, the tea might get on the hem of my dress.”
The pleasure of being able to trample on the beautiful and noble young ladies of the Duplein family all at once.
As if mesmerized by it, it was the moment Trisha was about to raise her voice even further.
Diella glanced at the tea-drenched Aiseline and then strode toward Trisha.
<><><>
“Now that we’ve checked the situation in the Rodelen region, let’s slowly head back to Ebelstein, Felinne.”
“Is there anything else to do?”
“There are too many restrictions on what I can do before I receive the title… so for now, surveying the situation is enough. I’ll probably have to persuade the Beltus family. Lord Melverot alone will be a bit difficult.”
Saying that, Derek stood up from his seat and strode toward the entrance of the mansion where the horses were tied.
“How are you going to persuade those noble scoundrels?”
“Well, I’ll have to mobilize all the connections I can use to the fullest.”
“Right… you’ve built up a lot of connections with various noble young ladies while working as a magic teacher, Derek. Come to think of it, you must have some influence in the Ebelstein social circle as well.”
“I wonder… how much influence could I possibly have? I just teach a bit of magic.”
“Hmm… I wonder…”
Felinne followed behind Derek and mounted her horse, then let out a sharp huff through her nose and said.
“My thoughts are a bit different…”
Felinne was someone who didn’t particularly like the culture of nobles and had no interest in it.
But even she could be certain to some extent. It was a guess that if the people influenced by Derek began to set foot in the Ebelstein social circle, there would surely be some kind of change.
Of course, she couldn’t know in what direction Derek’s influence would work, and what kind of incident it would cause.
That was not something that could be easily guessed.
<><><>
Slap!
Crash! Clatter—!
An incident incomparably more shocking than Aiseline being drenched in black tea had occurred.
Not only Elente, but even Denise, who was rarely flustered by anything, couldn’t help but have her eyes go wide and her mouth drop open.
It had happened in an instant, but the shockwave of the impact was enormous. It was as if time in the area had stopped.
Diella kicked off the tea table, lunged forward, and slapped Trisha across the face with her palm.
It wasn’t just a simple slap. The blow, imbued with mana, sent Trisha flying and threw her to the ground.
Crash! Bang—!
The chair Trisha had been sitting on went tumbling across the floor.
Because she had been knocked away, the hem of her dress was covered in dirt.
“Huh… ugh…”
Trisha herself couldn’t grasp what had just happened. Suddenly, the world turned upside down, a spark flew, her vision went black, and before she knew it, she was rolling on the ground.
Presently, a sharp pain shot up her cheek. The sense of dissonance created by that time lag further disoriented Trisha.
“Heuk… keok…”
No more words came out.
Trisha clutched her cheek and looked up. There, Diella was just brushing off her fingertips, still looking down with a cold gaze.
She tried to make a sound, but it did not take the form of language.
Only a gurgling sound, ‘keok, keok,’ was caught in her throat and leaked out.
Not only the young ladies sitting at the table, but also the nearby dignitaries and servants all held their breath.
What was this scene that had just unfolded before their eyes… it was not even easy to comprehend.
In a crucible of shock, as if time had stopped, Trisha thought.
When her family was insulted, and when Diella herself was provoked, she hadn't shown a single change in expression.
Naturally, she had expected her to bow her head and acknowledge her family's decline this time as well. However, Trisha did not know well what Diella's trigger was.
Diella had learned to endure, somehow, when she herself was insulted or when her family's name was being tarnished.
But despite that personal growth, there were times when she would not endure.
It was a situation just like the present.
“…”
Winter was already at its end, and the time for cherry blossoms to bloom was near.
However, the chill in Diella’s eyes seemed to freeze the entire area.
Despite not showing any emotional expression, what dwelled in Diella’s eyes was a clear killing intent, the kind one could only see in the eyes of predators.
Presently, the emotion that dwelled in Trisha’s eyes was, more than any other, a primal fear.
At the edge of that frost-like descending anger, the girl spat out a single cold word.
“Stand.”
It was a time long past, so the people of the noble houses seemed to have forgotten.
But in her prime, Diella was the most famous mad dog in the Duplein family.