Chapter 17
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: A Bet with the Marquis (4)
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A Bet with the Marquis (4)
"What is it? Speak."
"Please give me the position of heir."
Hearing my words, the Marquis squeezed his eyes shut. His expression said he'd been expecting this. But I wasn't finished.
"If I were to say that, would you grant my wish?"
"Appointing the heir is within my authority. And I did say I would grant you anything when we made the bet. If that is what you desire, then I must grant it."
The Marquis agreed to grant it, but his expression was far from pleased.
If I were to become the heir now, both the Marquis and I would be caught up in all sorts of troublesome affairs.
"You say you'll grant it, but you look quite uncomfortable."
"Ahem..."
"If I become the heir now, there will be many problems. There will be backlash, your reputation will suffer, and my brothers and your wife will surely raise hell."
"Ahem..."
As if embarrassed to hear the truth, the Marquis kept clearing his throat.
"My greatest wish is the position of heir. But for your sake, I'll concede just this once."
"Th-thank you."
To be honest, I had no intention of asking for it. Becoming the heir meant receiving one-on-one education from the Marquis all day and participating in the knights' training. It was a life without freedom, where I'd need his permission for everything.
I, who needed to raise my proficiency in the Sichuan Tang Clan's arts and travel the world to obtain hidden opportunities, had no time to waste on such things.
If my plans succeed, the Lox Marquisate will naturally become mine anyway, so there's no need to become the heir right now.
"Then what is the wish you desire?"
"First, you acknowledge that I've made a concession for you, right?"
"Of course. Thank you, truly."
By giving up a wish I didn't even want, I made the Marquis indebted to me. It was the best possible outcome.
"I want to make Arin and Klyde my knights."
"What?"
The Marquis cleaned his ear, as if thinking he'd misheard.
"I want to make Arin, who is currently my attendant, and Klyde, the trainee knight I dueled yesterday, my knights."
"That's your wish?"
"Yes."
Yesterday, Arin had mentioned wanting to become a knight. And I decided to claim Klyde as well, who, though just a diamond in the rough now, would become a powerful knight in the future.
"Is that really all you want?"
"Yes."
The Marquis was wondering what I was thinking, making such a wish.
"Please ensure they receive the best education and training. And since they're both my people, make sure no one else can touch them."
"That goes without saying."
The Marquis nodded as if it were obvious.
"This is wonderful, Arin."
"It is all thanks to you, Your Grace. Thank you so much."
Arin bowed deeply to the Marquis, expressing her gratitude.
"No, you should be thanking Yuren. By the way, what will you do for an attendant? There are no available attendants at the moment."
I had, of course, already thought about that.
"There's a fellow named Peru working in the mansion's kitchen. I'd like to have him as my attendant."
"Peru?"
"Yes. However, I would appreciate it if you could make it seem as though you assigned him by chance, not because I requested him."
"Is something going on?"
"Yes. I'll explain once things are sorted out."
"Alright. I'll be waiting."
The Marquis seemed to trust me completely now and didn't ask any more questions. It seemed to be thanks to my greatly increased affinity with him.
Come to think of it, I've never used the Creator's Eye on the Marquis.
Using Creator's Eye.
Name: Willington Lox
Traits: Swift Sword lv4, Aura Adaptation lv4, Sword Emperor ()
Affinity: 74 (Trust)
So that's why he's so receptive to my words. His affinity is at the 'Trust' level.
I don't know what his original affinity was, but that must be a huge increase. When I first woke up, I saw nothing but coldness in the Marquis's eyes.
"Ah, and please let Arin continue to live here."
"That goes without saying."
The Marquis smiled lightly.
"I'll see to the things you've mentioned right away."
"Thank you. I'll be taking my leave now."
"Alright. I don't know exactly what you're planning, but I'll trust you and wait."
In response to the Marquis's show of trust, I gave him a bright smile and left the room.
"Ugh."
Feeling suddenly tired, I threw myself onto the bed as soon as I returned to my room.
"Thank you so much."
"It's nothing. In fact, I'm sorry you got this opportunity later than you should have because of my reckless behavior."
Arin shook her head vehemently, as if to say that wasn't true.
"I don't know if it's alright for me to become a knight. I'm..."
"But you still want to, don't you?"
"...I do. I'm happiest when I'm holding a sword."
With her increased affinity, Arin was showing a bit of her true feelings.
"Good. That's all that matters."
"But there is one thing I'm curious about."
"What is it?"
"Why did you choose someone named Peru as your attendant?"
"Ah, him."
"I need to hand over my duties to him, so I think I should know who he is."
"That makes sense."
I wondered what to do before deciding to be honest.
"He's a spy."
"...What?"
She must have been quite surprised, as she leaned her face close to mine.
"What do you mean by that?"
"He's a spy sent by Karox and Kaina to kill me."
"Karox? Do you mean the captain of the Silver Eagle Knights?"
"That's right."
"And Lady Kaina is the current Marchioness..."
"Exactly."
Arin stared at me with confused eyes.
"How did you know he was a spy? No, more importantly, why would you hire him as your attendant if you know he's a spy? It's dangerous."
"It's fine. I've already made it so he only listens to my orders."
"What do you mean by that...?"
"Let's just say there's a way. And there's a lot to gain by using him against Kaina and Karox."
Arin, naturally, couldn't understand what I was saying and just stared blankly.
"You'll understand everything later."
I said with a grin.
"Oh, and you should be the one to wake me up every morning."
"I'll still be living in the mansion, so it won't be difficult, but why?"
"Imagine waking up to your face every day and then suddenly having to wake up to some dark-faced man. It would ruin my morning right from the start."
Arin didn't say anything. But for a fleeting moment, I felt like the corners of her lips had turned up.
"Did you just smile?"
"No."
"I think you did."
"Not at all."
After sending Arin off, I left my room around the time the servants were preparing to leave for the day.
"Grand Prince, is there anything you need?"
"No, I'm fine."
A servant who saw me spoke to me first.
Come to think of it, this was the first time a servant had initiated a conversation with me.
"Yes, sir. In that case."
"Alright, good work."
"Thank you."
The servants had always just bowed with fearful eyes and disappeared as if fleeing. This kind of reaction was a first.
Come to think of it, I was even cheered on yesterday. My image is finally starting to change!
"The Grand Prince is over there again."
"I know. What's he doing?"
Two maids sweeping the first floor were quietly talking about me. They spoke in whispers, but my hearing had already surpassed that of a normal human, and I could hear their entire conversation.
"Before, I was so scared I'd tremble just from him passing by, but now..."
"Now?"
"Honestly, isn't he handsome? I thought the second young master was the most handsome, but the Grand Prince is the best."
The maids continued their conversation, occasionally glancing my way.
"You used to say you hated working at the mansion because you were scared of the Grand Prince."
"Hey! That was then, and this is now. The Grand Prince has changed. His looks, his personality, everything's different, so my feelings have changed too."
"My, my, is that why you shouted 'Go, Grand Prince!' yesterday?"
So you were the one who cheered for me yesterday. Thank you so much.
"Gasp! How did you know that? You couldn't go yesterday because you were working."
"The rumor's already spread, that Tiren has a crush on the Grand Prince."
So her name is 'Tiren'. I'll be sure to remember it.
"Ugh."
"But well, a face like that is definitely cheating."
"I know, right? He's so handsome."
My face now is worlds apart from what it used to be. I can understand why they'd say that.
I never knew being acknowledged by others felt this good.
Just as the maids finished sweeping the floor and were putting away their tools, the guy I was looking for appeared in the lobby.
There he is.
Seeing him, I used a new technique I'd learned.
Using Voice Transmission ().
Voice Transmission, or just Transmission for short, is a martial art for secretly conveying one's voice. It allows me to send my voice to a specific person so that no one else can hear it.
Hey.
"Hah!"
The target of my Voice Transmission was, of course, Peru. He clutched his ear, startled.
Don't be alarmed. It's me, Yuren.
"Hieeek!"
Perhaps it was too stimulating to not be alarmed, as Peru continued to flinch.
"Peru, what's wrong?"
"Ah, it's nothing."
Peru's scream had brought other people out into the lobby.
Come to my room tonight.
Peru groaned and nodded his head.
"He's such a coward."
Having delivered the message to Peru, I returned to my room and began circulating the Myriad Poisons Magnetic Divine Qi. Since reaching the third star, I could sense external energies even while training, so I could practice my internal energy technique at any time.
Knock, knock.
Peru's here.
"Come in."
"Greetings, Grand Prince."
"Have you been well?"
"Yes..."
He doesn't look well at all. Look at those dark circles.
"What have you called me for today?"
"Your job is going to change soon."
"What?"
I got straight to the point.
"The Marquis is going to appoint you as my attendant."
"Eh?"
I told Peru what I had said to the Marquis.
"I-I see."
"There should be no problem with you accepting the role of my attendant. It's a huge opportunity, so refusing it would actually be more suspicious."
"That's true."
"After you become my attendant, Karox and Kaina will give you more orders. They'll tell you to use more poison, or to feed me a greater variety of them."
"I expect they will."
Peru nodded his head eagerly, as if in agreement.
"My performance yesterday must have made them even more anxious. They want to make the second or third son, who share their blood, the heir."
"I saw it yesterday, too. You were truly amazing."
"Thanks. In any case, get a ton of money from them and buy Snake Mind."
"Snake Mind? You mean the poison extracted from a hundred vipers."
"That's the one."
Like a true poison master, Peru knew what it was just by hearing the name.
"Squeeze every last coin out of them and buy the poison."
"Ah, I understand."
"Oh, and do you have any poison left?"
"What? The poison I gave you then..."
"I finished all of that the same day."
"Gasp!"
I could see Peru's pupils dilate. He no longer saw me as human. He seemed to feel a sense of terror towards me.
"Um, Grand Prince, are you perhaps a mage?"
"A mage?"
"Yes. Like that message magic from before."
He seemed to think Voice Transmission was message magic.
"I've heard that unlike poison masters like us who handle poison directly, there are black mages who handle poison with magic."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Considering the paralysis poison you used on me before, I was wondering if you might be a black mage."
The image of black mages isn't bad yet, so it probably wouldn't matter if he thinks I am one. It'll be a long time before they show their true colors.
"I-I've asked a needless question..."
When I didn't say anything, Peru began to tremble in fear.
"Think whatever you like. For now, did you understand everything I said?"
"Yes. So, should I buy only Snake Mind with the money?"
"Hmm, buy about five vials of that for now, and if there's money left over, buy a variety of others. Just not the one you bought before; I don't need that."
Any poison I consume should be helpful.
"Understood. But what will you use them for?"
"For what?"
"Yes. The packaging depends on the intended use."
"Ah, I see. I'm going to consume all of it."
"Gasp..."
Peru was now breaking out in a cold sweat, staring only at the floor.
"You can go now."
"Y-yes, sir! I'll be going! Take care! No, I'm sorry. Good work."
He's excessively scared.
Things progressed quickly.
A few days later, Peru was appointed as my attendant, and after a week of handing over her duties, Arin immediately joined the knight order's training.
She seemed to be adapting well to the training, as the Arin I saw each morning looked a little brighter.
"Grand Prince, it is time to wake up."
"Wow..."
"What is it?"
"Getting woken up by a man after a beauty has been waking me up every day is infuriating."
"Ack!"
Today was the day Arin went for external training, so Peru had to come wake me up, and seeing his face first thing in the morning completely soured my mood.
It really has to be Arin waking me up.
"You really seem to hate it."
"Look at your face. Isn't it obvious?"
"Ugh. Still, I have some news that the Grand Prince will like."
"Oh?"
Peru took a small pouch from his breast pocket.
"That pouch... don't tell me."
"Yes. The items the Grand Prince has been waiting for have finally arrived."