Father-in-Law's Son-in-Law Subjugation - 3
When I came to my senses, I was standing alone beneath the vast open sky.
No—not alone. One by one, the people of Valenti appeared around me. Applause began to ring out.
"Congratulations."
"Congratulations."
"Congratulations."
"Well done."
"Congratulations."
A torrent of applause and well-wishes enveloped me.
Yes. I had done it. I had overcome the pain and the trials and reached the ending.
And so I smiled. Free of every chain and every shackle, I smiled—for these people celebrating me, for the people who had become my new family.
"Thank yo—"
"Brother-in-law?"
Ah.
The voice that cut in so abruptly yanked me all the way back to reality. My mind had wandered somewhere ridiculous for a moment there.
When I finally opened my eyes, what greeted me was not the open sky but the Great Chamber—the dining table that followed the truth game with the Iron Blood Duke. Zoning out in a place like this meant I really must have been exhausted.
It was rough, yeah.
I forced my spinning head to settle and turned toward the voice. Margeta's fourth older sister stood there.
"It won't do for the guest of honor to sit there staring into space."
"Ah—my apologies."
Seeing the wine bottle in her hand, I quickly held out my glass. She beamed and poured for me herself.
"Well, I understand. Everyone was like that."
She gave a short little snicker—my fourth sister-in-law now—and turned her gaze on the Iron Blood Duke.
"If you were going to approve him anyway, couldn't you have gone easier on him? Doesn't doing this every time wear you out?"
At her scolding the Iron Blood Duke snorted and answered shortly.
"Nothing happened."
"And yet he looked like he'd left his soul behind?"
Her tone said she didn't buy it for a second. I hurried to speak up. The scolding was lighthearted, but if the Iron Blood Duke took offense the sparks would fly my way next.
And separate from the Duke's track record, I really hadn't suffered anything. Better to cut off any needless misunderstanding.
"It's true. His Grace and I simply had a deep conversation. Nothing else occurred."
"Hmm. If my brother-in-law says so."
Watching her back down so readily told me everything I needed to know. The scolding had never been serious—just teasing.
"Still hard to believe. First time anyone's come through without a single ruckus."
Once my fourth sister-in-law stepped back, Margeta's only older brother—my brother-in-law, from my perspective—joined the fray.
Just what the hell have you been doing?
His words made me glance involuntarily at the Iron Blood Duke. How spectacular must his history be for his own children to react like this?
It had been the same the moment I first walked out of the Room of Truth. I had simply walked out like a normal person and they had all stared at me with wide eyes. For a second I had seriously wondered whether I was supposed to have crawled out on all fours—but looking at their reactions now, even that might not have been enough.
There were signs, though.
There had been every indication I might come out with something broken.
"What matters most to a husband is love for his wife and the strength to protect his family. Until now I have personally tested the latter myself—"
That was what the Iron Blood Duke had said the moment we entered the Room of Truth, deadly serious.
"But there's no need for that with the man who killed the Heaven-Reverser."
At the time I had simply thought, oh, is that so, and moved on. Looking back now, it was a bone-chilling remark.
In other words, if I hadn't had that achievement to my name, we would have sparred right then and there. The limb-shattering I had only imagined would have happened in real time. How much blood and how many tears had Valenti's other sons-in-law shed going through that process?
"Do you have any idea how much Mar cried because of you?"
"I am ashamed…"
"At least you know you were wrong."
"Yes…"
"Then why did you do it if you knew?"
"……."
Since we had skipped the sparring, I had been thoroughly roasted with words instead—but that was still better. Getting chewed out verbally by my father-in-law the Duke was paradise compared to grappling with him.
"Still, seeing you go so far as to kneel, I suppose you were sincere. The ones who put their own pride first won't even do that much."
"Yes, of course."
"Mar kneeling right beside you was unexpected… but I'll take it as proof of how solid the bond between husband and wife is, and let it pass."
And in the end he had even acknowledged us as a married couple. As long as the goal was achieved, what else mattered?
While I was busy claiming that private victory, my brother-in-law spoke again.
"Seems Father has taken a liking to our youngest brother-in-law."
"I only let it slide because Mar likes him."
The Iron Blood Duke snorted once more. My brother-in-law smiled faintly and continued.
"You didn't deny it, though."
At those words I sneaked a glance at the Iron Blood Duke—and our eyes met. Under the look that clearly said what are you staring at, I quietly dropped my gaze.
I may have received his approval, but that stare still terrified me. My status had simply shifted from "the bastard who made my daughter cry" to "the plunderer who stole my youngest."
Fortunately, even I had a savior.
"Dear, don't be so hard on him. If you keep scolding him like that, how heartbroken will Mar be?"
"Ahem."
The quiet woman finally spoke, and the Iron Blood Duke looked away.
"And you, son-in-law—don't take it to heart. He's only acting this way because he's sad that the youngest he doted on is leaving home."
"Yes, of course I understand."
"How fortunate that the son-in-law has the magnanimity the father-in-law lacks."
Big Margeta smiled gently. Or rather—more accurately, Margeta was the small version of this woman.
In any case, with the support of the woman who had kept silent until now—my mother-in-law—I managed to escape the Iron Blood Duke's scorching stare.
Thank goodness Mother-in-law was on my side…
The moment that meal, which I felt like I was inhaling through my nose, finally ended, I bolted for the rear garden. Margeta had signaled for me to come that way, so of course I went straight there.
"Karl. Over here."
As soon as I entered the rear garden, Margeta peeked out from behind a statue.
If she looked like a celebrity trying to shake off paparazzi, that was probably just my imagination. No matter how she acted, the servants of the estate would never lose track of a ducal daughter.
Naturally I didn't say that out loud. The sight of her like that was secretly adorable.
"Whew, it feels so much freer out here. Inside I was constantly watching everyone's faces."
"What a coincidence. Same for me."
I approached with a small smile, and Margeta came trotting over and threw herself into my arms. It was a pity her body had grown cold in the meantime, but as she said, there were far too many eyes inside the estate—
"…Mar?"
The Margeta in my arms began patting me down with quick, searching hands.
Not the tight embrace of someone seeking warmth—more like a thorough search for something.
"You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
After a long while of fretting over me, she finally asked, full of worry.
Even Margeta was like this?
"I'm fine. As I said earlier, His Grace and I only talked."
The Iron Blood Duke already had the image of "the father-in-law who beats his sons-in-law" burned into even his beloved youngest daughter's mind. I almost felt a little sorry for him.
"B-but… Big Brother-in-law said he was once thrown out a window."
"Excuse me?"
What was that? He threw a person out a window?
Granted, this world had plenty of people who could get tossed out a window and just get back up like nothing happened. Still—hurling a prospective son-in-law out a window was a bit much.
"And when the other brothers-in-law went into that room… they said they heard the sound of things breaking…"
"……."
I had no answer for that.
If I had heard Margeta's words even a day earlier, I would have assumed her sisters were just teasing the youngest.
"What matters most to a husband is love for his wife and the strength to protect his family."
But I had been right there at the scene of the throwing—right up until the moment before I myself would have been thrown. Right up until the moment I would have had to prove my strength. I could no longer dismiss it as a joke.
And yet it was strange. The Iron Blood Duke had rigorously tested even flawless sons-in-law, so why had he simply let me—who had once abandoned his daughter and made her cry—slide by?
Has he really just gotten old?
In his prime he used to play firecracker games with his sons-in-law, but maybe he no longer had the energy for it. If so, that was a little sad.
Right. Compared to the Magic Lord the Iron Blood Duke was young, but relative to the other dukes he was elderly. You could tell just from how he had handed most of his authority over to his son and was living out his days in leisure.
He must be nearly eighty.
A sudden wave of self-loathing and guilt washed over me. I had actually been thinking things like "my limbs will get broken" or "I'll take a German suplex" about an eighty-year-old gentleman…
And those thoughts had been pure imagination on my part. The Iron Blood Duke had never once said he would lay a physical hand on me. I had simply assumed that because he was the Iron Blood Duke, we would have a "conversation of the flesh."
"It seems Father-in-law's way of thinking has changed with the years. Good for me, of course."
"…Yes. It is a good thing."
I soothed the still-worried Margeta.
Fortunately, calling him "Father-in-law" and flaunting our closeness made her expression brighten a little.
"So don't worry too much either, Mar. If you keep fretting, Father-in-law will be the one who feels hurt."
"R-really?"
He would. Especially after she had knelt right beside me.
"Still, if you told him you're grateful, or that you love him, I bet he'd be happy."
Margeta looked a little reluctant at that, but I persuaded her firmly. It was my small way of repaying my first father-in-law.
First father-in-law…
Even I had to admit it was a slightly insane phrase, but what choice did I have? With multiple wives, the in-laws had to be numbered somehow…
At least there wouldn't be five fathers-in-law. The Magic Lord—
Crazy.
I hastily cut off that train of thought. In an instant I had almost become a flaming blasphemer.
Sorry for even thinking it, Magic Lord.
I looked down at the rear garden through the window. Mar had loved that garden since she was little, so I had wondered—and sure enough, she was hiding there again this time.
And stuck right up against her was that damned brat.
No.
I slowly shook my head. He was no longer that damned brat. He was now my damned youngest son-in-law.
I hated to admit it. I hated to let it go so easily. But I had acknowledged him as my son-in-law with my own mouth. A man could not take back his own words.
"At least try to look less miserable. It's not as if you're going to live with Mar forever."
My wife's words came from beside me, but I simply could not smooth my expression. Separate from my resolve, I had let him pass far too easily.
From the moment Mar was born I had sworn it. Whoever he turned out to be, the thief who took Mar away would be tested more thoroughly than anyone.
But that youngest son-in-law of mine had already been fully tested. He was an unreliable son-in-law who had made his wife cry even before marriage—but his strength was the real thing. Testing someone like that would have been meaningless.
"Father…"
And when I thought of Mar kneeling beside him, I simply could not bring myself to push harder.
At first my eyes had rolled back in my head, but looked at another way—didn't it mean that Mar, a ducal daughter, liked her husband enough to endure even that kind of humiliation?
They say no parent can beat their child.
And so, after all the time I had spent grinding my teeth, I ended up acknowledging him with almost hollow ease. Dragging it out any longer would only have made Mar sad.
"…Feels like only yesterday she was toddling around."
"Don't exaggerate. Mar would get angry if she heard that."
My wife's scolding drained even more of my strength.
Exaggerate? Even now, if I closed my eyes I could still see that day.
"Prepare the wedding gifts properly. You know if you give her something strange, Mar will be the only one who suffers for it."
"Don't worry. As if I would do something so petty."
Wedding gifts were a father's final present to his daughter. Whether the son-in-law liked them or not, they had to be splendid.
First, there was that baronial-scale plot of land near the Imperial Capital. A few buildings in the capital district as well… Since the boy was Audit Department Chief, better to focus on the metropolitan area…
…
"…Feels like only yesterday she first rolled over."
Beside me, my wife let out a long sigh.