Chapter 18
—
The dining table was surrounded by the mercenaries, Deruna, Rihana, Gawain, Elenien, Serupe, and his younger sister, Seria.
“So, how did you meet our Serupe?”
“Well, um… Mother, you see… Serupe had fainted. So, I gave him—uh, I mean, I performed artificial respiration…”
“Our son has always been a bit frail.”
Gawain nodded in agreement.
What?
The mercenaries and Deruna were so taken aback that they wished they could detach and reattach their ears.
Rihana clapped her hands.
“It’s fate! It’s destiny. How could it be anything else? Serupe, you must treat someone this wonderful well, okay? Haha, our son will surely become a great man in front of the woman he loves, right? Or am I meddling unnecessarily?”
“Yes? Y-yes… Yes…”
“Goodness, is that the face you’re going to show her, my son?”
“Hahaha, of course! I—I’ll protect her… properly…”
Serupe’s voice trailed off into a mumble as Gawain gave his son a doubtful look.
‘Because I don’t want Lady Deruna to get hurt!’
Deruna recalled the image of Serupe standing in front of her.
Cowardly and weak most of the time, yet showing courage to protect—it was… admirable?
Deruna shook her head slightly at her own ridiculous thoughts.
Watching her, Seria suddenly shouted,
“There’s no way any girl would like my brother!”
All eyes turned to Seria.
Standing up abruptly and meeting their gazes, Seria hesitated for a moment before glaring at her brother.
Serupe looked back at her with a face full of indignation.
Seeing his expression, Seria snapped.
“First of all, my brother is ugly!”
“Ugh.”
“And he’s a coward! He’s not even good at anything, yet he acts all high and mighty! And he’s always so slow and annoying! How could someone like him ever have a girlfriend? Stop lying!”
“Seria, how can you speak to your brother like that? And Serupe is very handsome—don’t you agree?”
“I don’t care! It doesn’t make sense, Mom! I bet he begged someone to pretend to be his girlfriend because he knew you’d act like this!”
Seria yelled.
At her brutal honesty, Serupe slumped forward, burying his head into the table.
As if her gears had malfunctioned, Elenien, who had been eating quietly with a lifeless look, suddenly stammered and shouted,
“I—I like Serupe!”
Hearing the sincerity in her voice, Seria, as a fellow girl, stared at Elenien in disbelief.
This beautiful Half-Elf really liked her brother?
Even with the fiery-haired and impressive-looking woman, it was hard to tell if she was acting or being genuine… But Elenien?
“Waaah!”
——The world must be ending!
Seria ran off to her room, slamming the door behind her.
“Oh my, Serupe…”
Rihana looked at her son with a serious expression.
Though a bit hurt by his sister’s words, Serupe wondered if his mother had finally realized something important about him.
But then, the words that came out of her mouth were…
“Two of them?!”
“How did my son…?!”
Why, Elenien… why start acting now?
The situation had only gotten worse.
***
“This will be your room. Hmm, there might not be enough, so maybe you can share Serupe’s room?”
“N-no, Mother. Elenien and I can share a room.”
“Oh my, how wonderful. I’m so glad you two get along. I was worried you might be fighting.”
“Y-yes… Um, that is…”
“Please feel at home. Our son is so lucky. Haha, I guess I don’t need to worry about him anymore…”
After assigning the remaining rooms to Elenien and Deruna, and arranging for the mercenaries to stay at the hall, Rihana left to attend to her duties.
Finally having a moment to breathe, Deruna let out a long sigh.
Even though she had spent most of the wagon ride trying to calm her nerves with sleep, it seemed like she wouldn’t get proper rest here either.
Deruna wanted to escape, but there was no good excuse…
On top of that, a mere 1,000 gold coins felt so trivial now, but she had formally signed a contract!
And with the honor of the Archil Family at stake, she couldn’t just run away.
“Sigh… Ugh… Hah…”
Deruna sighed deeply, drawing Elenien’s gaze.
Noticing her stare, Deruna looked back, only for Elenien to retreat into the blankets prepared by the Spirits, hiding completely.
“Sigh…”
Deruna leaned against the wall, feeling like crying.
How did things end up like this…?
Finding it absurd to keep worrying, she eventually laid down and covered herself with a blanket.
It would all pass eventually anyway…
But for some reason, she couldn’t sleep that night.
Maybe she shouldn’t have slept so much on the wagon…
After tossing and turning for a long time, Deruna finally fell asleep, only to wake up again in the middle of the night, unable to truly rest.
* * *
Sunlight seeped through the window.
Rising with disheveled hair, Deruna noticed Elenien sleeping soundly.
She looked angelic.
Watching her for a moment, Deruna sighed as her current predicament came to mind.
——Serupe…!
Just you wait!
She fixed her messy clothes and hair, then stepped outside to launch a surprise raid on Serupe’s room, which she had scoped out earlier.
But Serupe wasn’t there.
It seemed he had sensed trouble and fled somewhere in advance.
“That little…!”
Her sighs kept coming.
Karon, Serupe…
If that brat had decided to hide on purpose, there was no way to find him.
After wandering a bit, she sat on Serupe’s bed and took a look around his room.
“I had to sleep on the floor, and here he is, all cozy in his bed.”
The desk was filled with unknown flasks, and the bookshelf was crammed with books.
It seemed like the room of someone diligent.
“Hm.”
Come to think of it, before Karon taught him swordsmanship, he had no trace of being a swordsman—just a scholar.
Didn’t he say he was selling fertilizer he’d developed himself?
Fertilizer was important, after all.
And now that she thought about it, hadn’t Serupe just recently started selling fertilizer?
But the amount he’d made…
“What on earth has he been up to?”
She recalled how he had yelled about needing to complete his fertilizer research when Karon dragged him off for training.
If he had only started making fertilizer after his duel with Adela…
“No way.”
He had made that much fertilizer in such a short time?
Fertilizer, fertilizer, fertilizer…
Even the Archil Family needed fertilizer.
Fertilizer was directly tied to the food supply for the entire domain.
If he could produce fertilizer at the scale she was imagining…
“It’s not just ‘if.’ He’s already promised to supply fertilizer to the villages regularly, hasn’t he?”
Deruna swallowed hard.
If the Imperial family learned of this, it wouldn’t be strange for them to set their sights on Serupe.
If he continued producing fertilizer and increasing food yields…
He might even be hailed as the saviour of the Empire.
Some fool once said the pen is mightier than the sword, and now she was starting to believe it.
Could the bandits have been targeting Serupe, not her?
The Green Forest Alliance was one of the stronger factions recently, with spies and tacticians at their disposal—enough to have that kind of insight.
‘Of course… Archil was just a bonus.’
Serupe’s future came into focus.
And so did the image of her father yelling, asking where she’d found such a lowly commoner.
‘Even for a family of mercenary origins, do you plan to fuel such comments? You’re the eldest daughter, Deruna!’
He would be furious.
The thought of him ranting so wildly made her feel oddly refreshed.
Imagining her father’s outrage, Deruna couldn’t help but smile.
But, if the Luspe Viscount Family, which was gaining influence in the royal court, solidified its succession, and if Karon, rumoured to be an illegitimate son of that family, became part of it…
Serupe would surely become the first duke.
And her father’s dumbfounded face would be priceless.
——Yes, it’s about time for marriage.
“It’s decided.”
A capable and loving village chief couple who managed to turn a humble settlement into a thriving village.
A swordsman whose talents exceeded what was necessary—overflowing with them, even.
And while clumsy and often timid, he was a scholar with the potential to change the Empire’s fate.
Nerdy charm, lean muscles.
If she had to choose between two oblivious and frustrating men, Serupe, who at least was cute, was the better choice over the sly and infuriating Karon.
She felt a little bad for Elenien, but she was the one who had the true first kiss.
And if Elenien was okay with being a concubine, it wouldn’t be an issue.
After all, Elves don’t care about such things as long as they’re loved.
Besides… if she claimed Serupe before he matured fully, what could anyone do about it?
“Where are you, Serupe? I won’t be mad—just come out. Let’s talk.”
Now that she had made up her mind, she’d treat him well.
She checked the wardrobe.
Empty.
She looked under the bed.
Also empty.
Diligent little brat—he had likely escaped outside already.
Where could her adorable Serupe be?
* * *
Lying in his room, Serupe had felt something was off.
Hiding cleverly under the desk and obscuring himself with a chair, he prayed desperately not to be found.
“Where are you, Serupe? I won’t be mad—just come out. Let’s talk.”
Her voice, pretending to be gentle, was something he could never imagine normally.
How mad was she?
Serupe trembled.
——If she finds me, I’m dead.
As soon as Deruna left the room, Serupe threw himself out the window.
—
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