How to Survive as a Knight’s Son – Chapter 69

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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Anya’s face lit up, her blossoming beauty illuminating her surroundings like a flower in full bloom.

“Brother…”

Anya, gazing at me with adoring eyes, couldn’t resist any longer and stole a kiss, showering me with pecks as if marking her territory.

Fiore wasn’t one to stand idly by during such a display of affection. Tightening her grip on my arm, she said,

“Wasn’t my father have stepped in?”

Andrei would have no choice but to help Anya, for the sake of his daughter, who was under my protection.

Anya, still holding my face, smirked, as if this wasn’t over.

“Oh, didn’t you know? Lord Andrei is struggling to even protect himself.”

Fiore, her face a mask of disbelief, pulled away from me and sat up abruptly.

“My father is?!”

“Lord Andrei’s influence has diminished significantly. Because of you, Brother.”

Fiore’s gaze turned to me. I clicked my tongue. I had a suspicion.

“Because of the fishing rights, I presume.”

The harbor I had seen on my way to the castle was filled with sailing ships, an unusual sight for such a small city. It suggested that the herring fishing grounds had shifted permanently from Dressten to Quaran.

This naturally put Andrei, who had brokered the shared fishing rights agreement, in a difficult position.

After all, he had inadvertently caused losses to his own lord for the sake of me, his acquaintance.

“Correct! I sensed something was amiss from the moment I arrived at the castle, and now, they’re practically treating him like a traitor. They’re saying he shouldn’t have brokered the fishing rights at such a low price.”

“Lord Andrei said that the prevailing opinion within the vassal council at the time had been pessimistic.”

“They’re just looking for an excuse. An excuse to attack him. At yesterday’s advisory council, they even suggested pressuring him to sell the fishing rights using his paternal relationship with you. Well, Lord Andrei dismissed it as nonsense and refused.”

He couldn’t have done otherwise, not for Fiore’s sake. Fiore seemed to realize this, biting her lip. I intertwined my fingers with hers.

“I’ve inadvertently caused him trouble. But Lord Andrei will be fine.”

“I know. He’s strong.”

After a moment of hesitation, Fiore buried her face in my chest again. I wasn’t sure if she was expressing her faith in Andrei or her anxiety over Anya, who was clinging to me.

“Is that really Brother’s fault? In the political arena, it’s normal to undermine each other and exploit weaknesses for the sake of power.”

Anya, defending me, looked up at me with a strange expression and continued,

“It’s actually stranger that the vassals have been so unanimously supportive of the princess, who has no connections here, since she became Lord. Don’t you think so, Brother?”

She was right. Normally, they would have either ostracized the Lord or turned her into a puppet, just as Josephine and Joang had done with Ailgar.

However, the reality was different. They hadn’t ostracized her; they had been overly compliant. It was due to the Lord’s ability.

And the fact that Andrei was under attack meant that ability wasn’t functioning.

‘Because Anya is at the center of the issue.’

Witches’ abilities didn’t affect each other. This applied to beneficial effects as well.

I looked at Anya, who seemed to be implying she knew something. She had spoken as if she had personally attended the advisory council. She wasn’t the Anya I knew.

And I found that quite satisfying. After all, in the future that would no longer be, Anya, known as a beauty capable of toppling nations, wasn’t just armed with her looks.

I had sent Anya to the Lord hoping she would not only be safe but also learn from the Lord, and it seemed to have been quite successful.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Well, I have become incredibly beautiful, haven’t I? What? Can’t resist me now?”

Anya grinned and climbed on top of me, rubbing her face against my chest, then tilting her head back and smiling coquettishly as she subtly ground her hips against my groin. It was a seductive display.

“W-Wait! Siblings shouldn’t do that!”

Fiore tried to push Anya away again. Anya wasn’t foolish enough to fall for the same trick twice. Clinging to me tightly, she counterattacked.

“You’ve done it too, so stop acting so innocent.”

“I-I haven’t done anything!”

“Sex. I’m talking about sex.”

Fiore’s face turned crimson, and Anya grinned mischievously. It was hard to tell who was the older sister.

“I-I haven’t!”

Fiore denied it, but her delayed response was telling.

Moreover, Anya knew I wouldn’t leave a beauty like Fiore alone. Anya grinned and said,

“Then you can just keep not doing it. I’ll take care of Brother.”

“You…!”

Fiore, speechless, fumed for a moment, then abruptly stood up and left. Anya, her fists clenched, looked pleased. Then, she glanced at me and asked,

“Are you sure you don’t want to go after her?”

“Fiore promised to be content simply by staying by my side. She’ll recover soon enough. And you’re more important to me.”

“Hmm, you’ve become smoother, Brother.”

“You dislike it?”

Anya shook her head and stood up, offering me her hand. I took it and stood up, and Anya pushed me towards the door.

“Go after her.”

“What about you?”

“As the first wife, I should be generous, shouldn’t I? It’s not like waiting another day will cause any problems.”

Anya, subtly confirming her position as the first wife, kissed me lightly and continued,

“But don’t make her wait too long. She might actually get angry.”

Anya, rolling her eyes and wiggling her hips seductively, left the room, radiating confidence.

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Fiore was pacing in the hallway not far from the room. She had been waiting for me, as expected.

“Fiore.”

Fiore’s face lit up as she turned at my call. Then, as if realizing she had been too obvious, she frowned and scoffed, turning her head away.

“Fiore.”

I called her name again and embraced her. Fiore didn’t try to escape. Instead, she voiced her displeasure.

“I understand the other women, but not your sister! How could you do that with your own sister?”

“Why not?”

“Because… because God forbids it!”

Fiore’s voice lost its strength as I spoke so confidently. She seemed to think she had misunderstood something. Then, realizing she had been tricked, she glared at me.

I chuckled.

“It’s common practice among noble families to maintain blood purity.”

“No one does that with their own siblings! Cousins, maybe!”

“It’s the same thing.”

“You’ll be exiled!”

“How many noble families have been exiled for such a thing? As long as you have the power to defy the church, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Fiore puffed out her cheeks like a pufferfish. I poked them, and the air escaped with a soft hiss. She frowned.

“I’m not kidding! Can’t you be satisfied with a normal relationship?”

“No. I’ll take any woman I desire, regardless of her status or our relationship. Just as I did with you.”

I grasped Fiore’s butt firmly. Startled, she glanced around. While it was a secluded hallway, someone could still pass by.

“A-Are you insane?”

Despite her words, Fiore pressed herself closer to me, her hands gripping my body tightly, as if I would escape.

“Fiore, I won’t abandon you, no matter what. So, don’t worry.”

Fiore wasn’t concerned about the taboo nature of my relationship with Anya. She was simply insecure, afraid of losing me to a powerful rival.

The time Anya and I had shared, practically a lifetime, was something Fiore couldn’t compete with.

This was evident from the way she clung to me, preventing my escape, even while waiting for me in a public place.

Moreover, she was insecure about her own body. That’s why she constantly sought reassurance during our intimacy.

“You really are the worst kind of womanizer…”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“That wasn’t a compliment!”

Fiore stomped on my foot and escaped my embrace, then strode away. However, it wasn’t a rejection.

After walking some distance, she turned around, beckoned me, and yelled,

“Hurry up! You idiot!”

There were two immediate problems. First, I had to punish those who had used my fishing rights as an excuse to attack Andrei and tried to sell Anya off without my permission.

‘How dare those worthless insects…’

Before the Lord’s arrival, there hadn’t been any notable vassals besides Andrei. That was why Quaran had remained a small, insignificant city.

I had underestimated them, but they had dared to bare their fangs at me. It was likely due to the variable that was Earl Dressten.

Fortunately, dealing with them wouldn’t be difficult.

Anya seemed to be favored by the Lord, and the Lord wouldn’t be pleased with incompetent vassals who were nothing but figureheads. Andrei would also be a strong ally.

‘The real problem is Earl Dressten.’

His resorting to assassination to eliminate me suggested he was at his wit’s end.

Another troublesome aspect was that, unlike the Earl, who had casually ordered the assassination of a Baron’s vassal, I couldn’t act so freely due to our respective positions.

If I seized the barony, Earl Dressten would undoubtedly intervene, and this incident could provide him with a justification.

‘But is that truly the case?’

I shifted my perspective. The Earl wouldn’t relinquish the highly profitable fishing rights. Especially not when he considered them rightfully his.

Moreover, if, as I planned, the Baron’s sons were eliminated, the Earl would definitely intervene. He had the perfect excuse, being Usebia’s maternal grandfather, who would become the sole heir.

Even if I groveled and begged, I couldn’t avoid the Earl’s intervention. If it was unavoidable, it would be more effective to use it to my advantage.

‘Yes… instead…’

Rasino, Debussy, Quaran, Anya, The Princess, The Royal Family, And Earl Dressten. The pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

I looked at the completed picture and thought,

What if I seized not only the Rasino Barony but also the Debussy Barony?

And what if Anya could sway the Lord and secure the support of Quaran and her connections?

Geographically, it would place Earl Dressten’s territory under pressure from all sides. Of course, even combined, we wouldn’t be a match for the Earl’s forces, but it wasn’t entirely impossible.

It was a much faster pace than my original plan, so there were unpredictable variables, but with the Earl already involved, we had already deviated significantly from the established trajectory.

‘The overall picture is actually better than the original plan. Since the Earl made the first move, it would be natural to use him.’

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My confidence was further bolstered after witnessing Andrei’s true strength after our long separation.

Clang!

In the duel arranged after Fiore “informed” him of my strangely increased strength, Andrei effortlessly deflected my full-powered attack and even managed to counterattack.

“Whew, it’s like fighting a giant monster. I can’t hold back anymore.”

Despite his words, Andrei was still holding back. As he finished speaking, a message I hadn’t seen in a while appeared.

Perhaps it was because he had fought me seriously? Despite the difference in the second digit of our levels, Andrei still provided the same amount of experience as before.

Considering his swordsmanship, which wasn’t reflected in his level, he was an incredibly powerful opponent. Far stronger than I remembered.

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Lets polish the skill before the upcoming war~