Chapter 74
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: My Precious Son
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Before entering Argent territory, there was just one thing I asked of Family Head Alain.
To make me seem like someone the Argents couldn't touch recklessly.
Like a gem too precious to shatter, too valuable to hand off to anyone else.
The method was simple.
Family Head Alain would step up as my guardian and casually leak my connection to Evelyn.
Not officially announced, but close enough to raise eyebrows.
In exchange, we agreed not to spill everything.
Especially my medical knowledge—I'd keep that locked tight forever.
Mixing lies into the truth.
That was the approach I chose.
'With Agram's personality, if everyone's coveting some bastard child like a prized possession, he'll want to claim it for himself all the way.'
Agram Argent lived up to his reputation as the head of a shadowy house—he was greed incarnate.
Even lines like 'if I can't have it, I'll destroy it' didn't suit him.
That was loser's logic.
He took it a step further.
When he wanted something, he'd seize it by any means necessary. Even if he already had it all, he'd grab more if he needed to.
And people like that all shared one trait.
Things they ignored when I had them suddenly drove them into a frenzy the moment others started eyeing them.
Not because they didn't want to lose them, but because they couldn't stand the idea of them going to someone else.
I was banking on that nature of his.
So I set the stage this way.
That's why I was standing here now.
But... why had things spiraled this far out of control?
Honestly, I hadn't planned for it to go this deep.
"Hahaha!"
Family Head Alain's laughter echoed through the reception hall.
"Our little Misha, you know—she can't even sleep these days without Lucas around!"
"...Family Head Alain?"
"How much does she like him, right!"
He barreled on, all excited.
"She took that teddy bear in her room—you know, the keepsake from her late mother? Stuck 'Lucas' on it! Every night, she hugs it tight, whispering, 'Lord Lucas~ Lord Lucas~' as she drifts off!"
......What?
I was grateful he was packaging me as something priceless, sure—but I hadn't asked for this level of detail.
All I'd wanted was a casual leak that the Raltos family wanted me as a ward—
So why was I suddenly being treated like Misha's fiancé?
Of course, lately I'd been giving Misha plenty of massages, and her condition had improved noticeably.
So yeah, she'd been smiling at me whenever we met.
But that was just because she felt better.
For that alone to turn into naming her comfort toy after me and cuddling it to sleep?
That didn't add up.
As I mulled that over, Family Head Alain's so-called 'Lucas hype train' was only just getting started.
"And get this! With Princess Evelyn, too—in my opinion, they've already gone all the way!"
"...Gone all the way where?"
I genuinely wanted to know.
"The other day, Princess Evelyn was watching Misha and Lucas chatting side by side—"
He waggled his eyebrows meaningfully.
"And she tried to wedge herself right between them with this venomous glare!"
...Ah.
Princess Evelyn did give me venomous looks sometimes.
I'll own that.
But it wasn't cute jealousy or anything like that—it was her going into full alert mode because I'd poked her first, in all sorts of ways.
And the face she made around Misha? Same deal.
She was just glaring daggers to keep an eye on her childhood friend, making sure I didn't pull anything.
Not even a little.
Not a speck.
No love involved whatsoever?
So why, in everyone around me's heads, had I become this dangerous guy tangled up with both a princess and an heir at the same time?
"And at such a young age already. Seeing him with a beautiful elf and a beastkin in tow? That's when I knew."
Alain let out an admiring chuckle.
"This kid's got big things ahead of him!"
"......"
At least with Piel and Ira sticking around because they wanted to—it was true, I had to admit that much.
"Those two seemed totally smitten with Lucas's charm. The second their lord stepped away even a little, their faces would freeze up—like the world was ending!"
...No, scratch what I said earlier.
Family Head Alain—no, this uncle was straight-up writing fiction, not just exaggerating.
Sure, I'd been a major turning point in both their lives.
Lifesaver, protector, master—we were tied together in various ways, that much was fact.
So some fondness or goodwill? I got that.
But framing it like some dangerous obsession? That was a whole different story.
What he was spinning wasn't fondness—it was full-on romance novel material.
'Can't live without their master,' 'freaks out when separated'... No two ways about it.
"It's not like that."
Right now, they just liked me because we were used to each other from when they were kids—comfortable, familiar.
But give it time, let them see more of the world, and they'd naturally go their separate ways.
That's how I'd set it up.
Even if they said stuff like "I like Master," once their bodies grew and options opened up, boundaries would form.
The distance of master and slave, or comrades at most.
Expecting someone to love their enslaver forever? That's pure romantic delusion.
But why was Family Head Alain getting even more pumped, inflating the tales further?
And even—
"Hm... I see. Understood."
The other side was eating it up wholesale.
'Not that I'm one to talk... but at this point, shouldn't anyone spot the exaggeration?'
Yet Agram didn't even blink—just nodded with an 'Ah, I see.'
For the first time, that sharp, shady, paranoid final-boss face showed a sucker expression.
'Fuck. Is this whole thing actually a dream?'
I glanced at his kids behind him—maybe they'd be different?
Nope, same rice, same weeds.
"Lucas Argent...!"
Wolfram was swallowing curses, but his eyes told the truth.
Irritation.
Jealousy.
And this weird sense of masculine defeat.
His face said it all without words.
"...That trash."
Seratina was even blunter beside him.
She wrinkled her nose like she'd seen something filthy and turned away.
'Hey, even by your standards, the misunderstanding I'm getting right now isn't exactly clean.'
"Hiss... B-but it has to be smaller than mine!"
Meanwhile, Walter ground his teeth, muttering nonsense.
No basis, no logic—just self-consolation.
...Yeah.
Ever since Ira got snatched from under him, he'd need mental gymnastics like that just to cope.
But you know what?
You and I will never, ever, ever share a bathhouse again.
Still, one thing I could state with absolute certainty.
Mine was bigger.
And finally—
"......"
Syl said nothing, just hugged her arms around herself like a protective shell and looked away.
That pissed me off the most.
Like she'd decided on her own, 'You're eyeing me next.'
No, I'm not?
Hard pass from my end, too.
Anyway.
At first, when Family Head Alain started spewing his embellished tales, I thought the plan was busted.
Honestly, it was too flashy.
Too perfectly wrapped.
I figured it'd backfire into suspicion.
But.
Surprisingly, the hype actually sold it.
Sold it so well it was becoming a problem now.
First off, Alain Raltos's proposal to become my guardian? Shot down flat by the Argents.
"Family Head Alain."
Agram's voice was calm.
"I understand your intentions, but even for a bastard child—if the Raltos family head officially takes an Argent as a ward—"
He paused briefly, then continued.
"The Empire, no, the entire continent won't stay quiet."
"Mm..."
Alain nodded.
"It would stir up a fuss, certainly."
"So guardianship is off the table."
But Agram didn't stop there.
"Instead."
His gaze flicked to me.
"I'll personally arrange a marriage with your daughter, Misha."
"Oh ho!"
"But keep it off the official record."
He was already plotting ahead.
"Once Lucas graduates the Academy and comes of age. After things settle with Princess Evelyn and all else, we can proceed quietly."
A justification that saved face, minimized noise.
"No point making a racket now—it'd just hassle your side, too."
Alain pondered a moment, then grinned and nodded.
"Fair enough."
He glanced my way.
"As long as my future son-in-law Lucas gets that kind of treatment—no need for formal guardianship."
"No worries."
Agram declared it.
"From now on, Lucas Argent will receive special privileges."
No one in the room missed the implication.
Even as a bastard, it was as good as Raltos backing him.
This wasn't rejection—it was approval in disguise.
So the guardian issue got shelved as 'canceled.'
The real issue came next.
No to guardianship, but marriage talks kicked off like we were picking a date tomorrow.
And Alain bought in fastest.
"Then we're settled."
He even piled on with the special treatment bit.
"Lucas Argent."
Agram called out.
"Come out of that annex now."
"Pardon?"
"Or."
He paused dramatically.
"If you like the annex that much, I'll personally furnish it with whatever you need."
"...Pardon?"
"Father, personally?!"
"Family Head!!"
Suddenly, gasps choked the air around us.
I'd only aimed to be valuable enough they wouldn't scrap me.
Somehow, I'd ended up as someone making even his legitimate kids sweat bullets.