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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The nobles’ attitudes were quite submissive.
The fact that many nobles were still contemplating whether to side with Yuria played a significant role.
After all, by this point, there were a fair number of people contacting me as well, so those who couldn’t clearly grasp the general trend would have a lot to consider.
“I hope Robert becomes the family head.”
“It’s not common to hear such words.”
The noble who approached me whispered quietly, as if sharing a secret.
“In fact, many nobles besides me think the same. If Lady Yuria becomes the family head, what follows is probably as clear as day.”
“In what sense?”
“We love peace. Actually, that’s why we opposed the subjugation of the South. Many wars bring blood, so we hope this family head competition ends as moderately as possible… but that’s probably difficult, isn’t it?”
“That’s uncertain. It might end more easily than expected.”
Their talk of loving peace was nonsense.
They simply didn’t want to commit their private soldiers to war.
It was already widely known that I had connections with the imperial family, so they probably wanted to delay the subjugation of the South as much as possible.
Well, there was no need for me to answer that I wouldn’t do it.
I grasped the noble’s hand and shook it firmly.
“I’ll try to move in the direction you desire. Of course, that’s if I become the family head.”
“I’ll help as much as I can. For the prosperity of the Taylors.”
Whether they really meant it for prosperity or not, such words certainly gave me strength.
Not everyone approached so submissively.
Some were adamantly against cooperating with me until the end.
There were times when I had to draw the sword at my waist.
“Are, are you threatening me with a sword?”
“No, I dislike threats. The Duke knows this well.”
“Then why are you holding a sword? Even the young lady didn’t go this far!”
“Yuria? Surely not.”
Yuria was more intense than me, if anything she wasn’t a woman to be taken lightly.
The noble’s face turned pale as I swung the sword around.
As I smiled at his whitening complexion as the distance closed, the noble finally lowered his tail and shouted his answer.
“Al-alright! I’ll cooperate!”
“You should have said so earlier. There was no need for this to become so troublesome.”
He tore up the contract he had signed with Yuria before my eyes and only gasped for breath after the sword disappeared.
There was no need to be moderate with everyone.
Among the nobles, there were malicious ones, and most of them tended not to follow obediently.
They were people I would have to deal with later anyway, being kind to such people might be seen unfavorably by others.
“Didn’t you say you disliked threats?”
When Arwen, who was staring at me blankly, asked this, I smiled slightly and shook my head.
Dislike threats?
Well, I thought it was better to use them if necessary.
I had said that just to scare him, it didn’t hold much meaning beyond that.
“I like them.”
“…Well, you were similar when we first met.”
“I don’t think I made any particular threats then.”
“I wish you’d consider the emotions I felt in that situation a bit more. Do you know how surprised I was?”
When I first met Arwen, I remember it was after I killed some assassins and was covered in blood.
She probably didn’t think about it because Adele was below, but if I were in Arwen’s position… I would have been quite surprised.
Come to think of it, she might have fainted once then.
Looking back, it was a situation similar to a threat.
Suddenly saying I was going to kill the Crown Prince, it would be natural to think I’d kill her if she refused.
I smiled awkwardly, and Arwen sighed deeply and turned her head abruptly.
We were now heading towards the last noble.
If we could recruit this one, many things would be resolved, but it was a place I was reluctant to go.
I looked at the paper with the name Yugress written on it and then quietly let out a sigh.
“Are you alright?”
Renold’s voice was heard.
Renold probably knew why I was acting this way.
As a butler who had been with me since childhood, he would know well why I reacted to this name.
Arwen looked puzzled, but she wasn’t insensitive and seemed to know there was something going on.
“This is the most important one anyway. I’ll have to endure it.”
At those words, Arwen’s expression wavered slightly.
She seemed uncertain about the name Yugress, but it looked like she had recalled what it meant.
Wasn’t Yugress the family my mother was born into?
Perhaps it was a family that had to be recruited, and at the same time, could be considered the most important.
Yugress wasn’t a family with great power.
They were far from the center in terms of distance, and couldn’t be said to have much influence in politics.
But that was only their current situation, during the time when Father became the family head, it had been quite prosperous.
In the end, their fortunes had declined after Mother’s death.
“This is it. The Yugress Count’s residence.”
As I raised my head at Renold’s words, a building that looked somewhat shabby compared to the duke’s residence came into view.
It used to be prosperous and splendid, but now it had a slightly dull appearance.
As I entered, a sigh escaped me involuntarily.
It was a place I had deliberately avoided visiting even through repeated regressions.
Coming here weakened my heart as it reminded me of Mother.
Now I had to overcome that.
With that mindset, as I walked forward, someone even more aged than Renold approached and bowed his head.
“This is our first meeting, but may I ask why you’ve come here?”
“This person is-”
“No, that’s enough.”
I pushed Renold back as he tried to speak first.
I wanted to enter alone from here at least.
Even if I didn’t want to attach meaning to it, it was a matter of courtesy, if anything.
The butler staring at me seemed to have already guessed my identity to some extent, but he smiled quietly and moved his lips.
“Please inform the Count.”
With a slightly nervous heart, I wondered how my maternal grandfather would think of me.
Suddenly, such curiosity arose inside of me.
“Tell him his grandson has come to visit.”
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It was my first time facing my maternal grandfather since birth, that was the meaning of a political marriage from the beginning.
Once married, there wasn’t much connection with the family anymore.
I felt a small sense of guilt for only visiting now.
I wondered if I should have come sooner.
As I frowned with a trace of guilt in my heart, I sensed a faint presence nearby.
“…So you’ve come all the way here.”
“Are you disappointed it’s not your granddaughter?”
“It’s not that. I didn’t want to see you if possible. Your purpose for visiting today isn’t about Serena, is it?”
The old man, who showed quite an obvious dislike of me, slowly sat down.
Though neatly dressed, his desire to leave the seat soon was evident.
After looking for a moment, I carefully opened my mouth.
“I have nothing to say. In many ways.”
“Then may I get up?”
“…Do you dislike me that much? To avoid even exchanging a few words.”
“The problem is that you resemble her too much. It’s been almost 20 years since I last saw my daughter. If someone claiming to be her son suddenly visits, do you think that’s a considerate action?”
Realizing I had been hasty, I shook my head with a bitter smile.
The word “resemble” didn’t sound so bad.
In fact, I wanted to resemble her.
I didn’t know what he saw in me, but the truth was that my complicated feelings had improved with his recent words.
“I came today to ask about your intentions. I heard you were cooperating with Yuria, but you don’t seem like someone who would.”
“That’s just the young lady’s assumption. I don’t even want to participate in that family head fight, so if you’re trying to gain something from me, you’re just wasting time. Moreover.”
A glint appeared in his green eyes.
His aged eyes seemed to pierce my chest, as if trying to read the emotions I harbored, if only for a moment.
The old man swallowed and opened his mouth.
More precisely, Count Yugress moved his lips.
“I’m not sure if you’re fully prepared to become the family head. Do you think someone who had no power just a few months ago can challenge it now and succeed?”
“I think I can.”
“On what basis?”
“Because I haven’t spent these months idly.”
The paper extended on the table bore the seal of the North.
It was a personal letter received directly from Adele, and when I drew out magic, the divine power within it emitted a pure white light and seeing the artifact taken from my bosom, the artifact engraved with Miragen’s seal, the Count let out a small laugh.
“…I see. But have you considered that if these powers intervene, there’s a possibility of damaging the Taylor’s reputation?”
“The reason I recruited these powers is to prepare for after I become the family head. To ensure that the House of Taylor won’t be shaken after I become the family head.”
“Then what about now?”
Instead of answering, I presented papers stamped with the nobles’ seals, and the Count who had been looking at them closely looked at me again.
The gaze that had been emptily staring into space had deepened a bit.
As if interested, the Count’s mouth opened with a small smile.
“You’re better than I knew. Well, it would be natural if you learned from the Duke.”
“I didn’t learn from Father.”
Father wouldn’t have considered recruiting them like this.
He had ruled from above, so he would have chosen to suppress rather than recruit.
Yuria also moved in that way, so I was deliberately moving in the opposite direction of what Yuria did.
Even if I occasionally mixed in threats, I used dialogue as much as possible as a means, and moved towards recruiting instead of intimidating.
If asked who I learned this from, there was only one person I could think of.
“I must have learned it from Mother.”
Trusting people to the point where others might call me a fool was thanks to the teachings I learned from her.
Not giving up until the end, and hesitating to do evil even while deciding to change my thoughts.
All of these were things I learned from Mother.
Although I didn’t think everything was right, I knew that the foundation was close to the correct answer.
I could willingly choose to be a fool.
I was moving to bring out cooperation rather than promote division, embrace rather than force.
I wondered if this old man knew that I was walking a path opposite to the one Yuria was walking.
As I looked at the old man who had been silent for a moment, the Count quietly smiled.
Unlike before, it was a gentle smile.
As if he was watching a child’s antics.
“I think I can listen for a bit longer.”
“It will be quite interesting.”
As I smiled, the Count smiled along with me.
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[I feel like this count is more powerful than he lets on like this dude is like some underground shadow assassin controlling dude or somethin or some big shot]
