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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Teottry
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“I don’t care who you meet. Just don’t hide it from me.”
Anya’s reaction was surprisingly nonchalant, despite having gained two rivals in love, Fiore and Usebia, in a single day.
Was it thanks to the “training” I had given her since she was a child? Honestly, it was unexpected.
Even Fiore, who had promised to be content as my mistress, had become jealous of Anya.
“Aren’t you worried?”
“Worried? Why would I be?”
Anya tilted her head, as if I had said something strange. This time, I was the one feeling unsatisfied. Jealousy too, was an expression of love.
“The number of my women will only increase. They might even take your place.”
Despite my warning, Anya simply smiled.
“No one can separate us. Can’t you feel it, Brother? The threads of fate that bind us together?”
Anya’s eyes, reflecting the firelight, gleamed red. She placed my hand on her chest and her hand on mine.
-Thump. Thump.
Beyond the soft sensation, I could feel the beating of Anya’s heart. It beat in sync with mine, as if we were a matched pair from the start.
I chuckled.
“I thought you had gained some weight, but it seems this hasn’t changed since we last parted.”
Anya’s seductive smile vanished, replaced by a frown. The alluring woman, radiating a dangerous charm, transformed back into a naive young girl.
“B-Breasts are the last to develop! And these are average!”
“Hmm, Fiore’s seem to be twice, no, three times bigger.”
“Then she’s a breast monster! They’re probably saggy and ugly, like a grandma’s!”
“On the contrary, they’re quite shapely.”
Perhaps it was thanks to her knight training. Fiore’s breasts defied gravity, a testament to the wonders of the human body, and their shape was exquisite.
Anya, finally pouting at my continued comparisons and praises of Fiore, pushed against my chest.
“Brother! That’s mean!”
I caught Anya before she could escape and pulled her into my embrace. With her head reaching my chest, I could feel how much she had grown.
“So, show some jealousy from time to time. Let me know you love me.”
“Do I have to tell or show it for you to understand?”
“Love is meant to be expressed.”
I stole a kiss before Anya could respond. It was a light kiss, a brief brush of my lips against hers, yet Anya’s sharp gaze softened instantly.
“Would you prefer it if I believed I only loved you secretly and didn’t kiss you?”
“I wouldn’t like that!”
Anya shook her head and pulled my head down for a kiss. As if my previous kiss hadn’t been enough, she eagerly pushed her tongue into my mouth.
The atmosphere quickly heated up. If it weren’t for the church bells signaling early evening, we would have made love then and there.
-Ding. Ding. Ding.
“Ah, I have to have dinner with the Lord…”
Anya, finally breaking the kiss, fidgeted restlessly. I kissed her lightly again and said,
“We can continue after dinner.”
Andrei had given me the names of those I could eliminate, with one condition: I had to obtain the Lord’s permission first. after all, They were her vassals.
“You’re lewd.”
“I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”
“Who said I didn’t want you to?”
Anya, her face crimson, averted her gaze and left the room.
“Hurry up! It’s time!”
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There was a single long table in the dining hall, large enough to seat a dozen people. Eleanor, the Lord and Princess, was seated at the head of the table.
She was a beautiful woman with snow-white silver hair and blue-violet eyes, dressed in a high-necked black dress.
Her skin, as pale as the women of the Rasino family, contrasted sharply with her black dress.
“You’re not surprised.”
Eleanor’s voice was so soft that I could barely hear her. The fact that we were seated at opposite ends of the long table didn’t help.
“Should I be?”
“Everyone who meets me for the first time is surprised. Their reactions are usually one of two things. They either revere me as a child of the stars or fear me as a witch.”
“No one calls a dark-skinned Easterner inhuman. Skin color and hair color aren’t what defines humanity.”
I already knew from my past life’s memories that Eleanor was an albino. And I also knew how much she had suffered because of it.
A small smile finally graced Eleanor’s usually expressionless face. It seemed I had made a good first impression. However, it was fleeting.
“Is Brother alright? I told you, he’s not like other people.”
Eleanor’s face hardened as Anya, bringing food from the kitchen, joined the conversation. She looked at me with renewed suspicion.
It wasn’t because she was displeased with Anya. She didn’t seem to mind Anya, a mere knight’s daughter, speaking to her, a princess, so casually.
In fact, Anya’s easy smile suggested they were closer than I had anticipated.
Eleanor’s sharp gaze remained fixed on me. It intensified as Anya, having finished serving the food, sat beside me. She even bit her lip slightly.
‘Why is she acting like this?’
I whispered to Anya, just loud enough for her to hear, but she simply grinned mischievously and didn’t answer. It was Eleanor who reacted.
“That’s rude. For a guest to whisper secrets in front of their host.”
“My apologies. I was overcome with emotion at seeing my sister after so long.”
“Be more mindful in the future.”
Eleanor’s reprimand was just the beginning.
“Are you missing hands, Sir Allen? Why did you ask your sister to bring you food?”
“I simply asked her because it was out of reach. I also passed dishes to Anya.”
“Aren’t you sitting too close? She’s a woman, even if she’s your sister. You should be more considerate, as her older brother.”
“Oh, it’s alright, Your Highness.”
The more Anya defended me, the more Eleanor frowned. She was acting like a father meeting his daughter’s boyfriend.
‘Is it obsession?’
To Eleanor, who lived a solitary life due to her ability, Anya must have been like rain in a drought.
Still, her affection seemed excessive. Was it a side effect of not encountering multiple witches at once, as I had in the game?
I started to think that obtaining permission to eliminate the vassals who had tried to use Anya as a scapegoat might be more difficult than I had anticipated.
‘No, wait. Perhaps it’s precisely because Anya is involved that I can build rapport with her.’
As the meal neared its end, I set down my utensils and broached the main topic.
“I’ve heard there are many in Quaran’s political circles who wish to use Anya as a sacrifice to resolve the conflict with Earl Dressten.”
“We haven’t finished eating yet. Let’s discuss important matters later.”
Eleanor chided me, even though her own plate was empty. As I stared at her pointedly, she coughed awkwardly and took a large gulp of wine.
I turned to Anya. She had been covering her mouth with her hand, trying to suppress a giggle, but she quickly composed herself and avoided my gaze.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Eleanor finally spoke after the silence became unbearable.
“You don’t need to worry about that, Sir Allen. I’ll protect Anya.”
It was an unreliable claim. Having always relied on her ability, she had never resolved a problem through any other means.
“Can you protect her even if Earl Dressten resorts to force?”
Eleanor didn’t know that Earl Dressten’s schemes against Quaran were already in motion. I intended to exploit this.
“That’s a meaningless assumption. As long as my brother is in his position, the Earl wouldn’t dare invade Quaran. He’ll likely resort to petty schemes at most, and I can handle that.”
“Are you so sure? Aren’t you on bad terms with the King? He’s the one who banished you to this small, insignificant castle.”
“How did you…?”
Eleanor stood up abruptly. She hadn’t considered the possibility of a mere knight knowing about the internal affairs of the royal family.
I wet my dry lips with wine and said,
“Moreover, your ability won’t work on anything related to Anya.”
Eleanor couldn’t help but be shocked. It was an ability she had kept hidden even from her family. Perhaps extreme shock led to calmness? Eleanor quickly regained her composure and asked calmly,
“So, you knew? About this curse.”
“Aren’t you mistaking it for luck?”
“You call this curse, this ability that brings misfortune to everyone around me, luck? Could you say that if you were in my position, Sir Allen? If the person you loved most died because of this ability?”
It seemed I had touched a nerve. Eleanor stepped closer and looked down at me, continuing,
“You’re the first person to ever cause me a loss. And my ability doesn’t work on Anya, your sister. Tell me, how is that possible? Do you perhaps know a way to lift this curse?”
Eleanor acted as though she would reward me handsomely if I could remove her ability. Well, as a princess, she couldn’t possibly have any unfulfilled desires.
“There’s no way. I only know that witches’ abilities don’t affect each other.”
“You’re lying.”
Eleanor refused to accept it. Anya did the same.
“You’re wrong, Brother.”
As our gazes turned to Anya, who had suddenly intervened, she took our hands, one in each of hers, and brought them together.
“…!”
“What?!”
We instinctively pulled our hands away and stepped back.
I tensed, focusing my mind, preparing for the impending misfortune. Eleanor, clutching Anya, also retreated.
However, the expected misfortune didn’t arrive. Instead, Anya’s laughter echoed through the dining hall.
“I knew it! I’m fine, so there’s no way Brother would be affected! We share the same blood!”
Anya knew about the Lord’s ability. It wasn’t surprising. She had often made remarks that hinted at her knowledge of the Lord’s ability since our first meeting.
Moreover, being the sole exception, she would have been acutely aware of whether the ability was affecting her or not.
“Anya, don’t jump to conclusions. Her ability might not be affecting me because she deems it beneficial to you.”
While I had intended to test Eleanor’s ability, it wasn’t through such a crude method.
Anya simply smiled brightly, ignoring my stern gaze.
“No… It’s fate.”
Anya’s eyes gleamed as she looked at me. Despite being some distance from the candles, a red light flickered in her eyes. I realized then that it wasn’t a reflection of the flickering flames.
“Anya, you…?”
“Hmm? What?”
Anya tilted her head. The red glint in her eyes was gone, as if I had imagined it.
“Anya, that was rude.”
Eleanor, regaining her composure, reprimanded Anya. Anya bowed her head, but the smile on her lips remained.
“But it cleared Your Highness’s doubts, didn’t it? If Brother knew how to lift the curse, he wouldn’t have retreated so hastily.”
“Then how do you explain the two of you?”
Eleanor didn’t believe it, or perhaps she didn’t want to.
“It’s fate! If you don’t believe me, why don’t we test it in a different way?”
“Ha…”
Anya couldn’t offer any logical explanation. She simply repeated the word “fate.” Eleanor, disappointed, sat down heavily.
Anya, sitting beside her, took Eleanor’s hand and insisted on trying another method.
Meanwhile, after giving Eleanor time to compose herself, I returned to the main topic.
“I will resolve all your worries. Grant me permission to use your crest.”
“Why don’t you just sell the fishing rights? The Earl will be satisfied and back down if you just give them to him.”
Eleanor didn’t trust me. Well, how could she entrust such a risky task to someone she had only just met?
“The Earl won’t pay a fair price.”
“I’ll compensate you.”
She also wasn’t concerned about losing the fishing rights. With her ability, this wouldn’t be the last opportunity for such good fortune.
However, there was a flaw in her reasoning.
“Even if he acquires the fishing rights, the Earl won’t give up on Quaran. Why do you think Dressten became the largest port in the southeast?”
It was all because of the herring. Therefore, Quaran, like Dressten, was destined for prosperity. The Earl, having witnessed Dressten’s rise, would undoubtedly covet Quaran.
“Can you relinquish Quaran, Your Highness?”
Eleanor bit her lip. She couldn’t give up Quaran. Abandoned by her family, this small castle city was her only refuge.
“So, you’re asking me to fight the Earl? Even though my ability doesn’t work because of Anya?”
“Is there another way?”
Eleanor hesitated. While she called her ability a curse, she relied on it more than anything.
That’s why she had always taken the easy path. Why wouldn’t she, when her ability paved the way for her?
That was precisely why she didn’t know how to utilize anything else she possessed.
After a long deliberation, Eleanor finally agreed, but with a condition.
“I have a condition. If things go wrong and I have to return to the capital, I’m taking Anya with me. Is that acceptable?”
Eleanor, unaware that I had already made my move to resolve the issue with Earl Dressten, made a condition regarding Anya, my only blood relative, my most precious woman.
I had originally only intended to ask for the heads of those who had tried to sacrifice Anya, but I changed my mind.
To balance the scales, tipped in Anya’s favor, I needed something of equal value on the other side.
“Then I have a condition as well. If I complete the mission, give me the Trollsblade.”
Eleanor was willing to offer Anya in exchange for someone resolving a life-or-death situation. It showed how much Anya meant to her, that she valued Anya as much as her own life.
Therefore, she wouldn’t hesitate to offer the Trollsblade in return.
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All settled… The Sword is fated for Allen 😏
Thank you for the chapter!
Thanks for the chappie!