kscans

Chapter 147 - The Price of the Duel

Adrian was racking his brain over how to explain this to the king.

She challenged him to a duel and won, and as a result, she’s taking the king’s son, a duke, and the crown prince as her disciples. How was he supposed to report something like that?

He had weathered his share of bloody conflicts and political turmoil, but this time, his stomach ached.

Leonhard and Kyle, the guards riding in the same carriage, also shifted uncomfortably, averting their gazes. It was only natural.

The man famed to surpass even the former supreme commander Darius was dejected after being beaten to a pulp without landing a single blow.

"How did Ariel’s strength feel to you?" Adrian spoke up. Knowing the merciless Ariel of the past, he found it incredible that she had completely shut down Albert this time without laying a hand on him.

(‘If you kill him, you won’t be able to be with him.’ That one line must have worked. It was so close, it sends a chill down my spine.)

On the other hand, he was also shocked that Albert had genuinely tried to kill Ariel. If Ariel were to disappear, this country would collapse. Or perhaps it was already on the verge of collapse.

"Don’t ask. I was no match for her." Leonhard and Kyle drew a sharp breath. No one could ask for more details. It was too terrifying.

"I thought she was nothing special after being crushed by the king and queen, but she was even greater than the rumors," Albert murmured, his words mixed with a sigh.

"I am a fool. To think I must hand over even my son to that woman." Tears welled in his eyes, and he looked down.

"Ah, well, I think Ariel probably intends for you to spend time with your son," Adrian said, recalling the past. Her clumsy kindness. It was something that had been nurtured through raising Mireille, and through the time she spent with Darius.

(I don’t know if she’s still the same now, but there shouldn’t be a need to teach the son in the same place as his father.)

"With all that power she has, why do you think she couldn’t defend against or purify the attacks from the queen or Rainer?" Adrian asked Ariel’s question on her behalf.

Albert was silent for a moment, then shrugged.

"That’s what happens to someone with no self-confidence, but judging by her today, that’s not it either. In any case, that amount of mana… she can’t possibly be a commoner. What country did you pick her up from?" he remarked as if it were someone else’s problem, and crossed his arms.

A cold sweat ran down Leonhard’s back. (I was thinking the same thing. That destroyed village… it probably never existed in the first place.) The Mage Order was already disbanded, so there was no way to investigate. In fact, it might be better not to know.

Eventually, the carriage arrived at the Royal Castle. Depending on the king’s reaction, he would have to tell him everything sooner or later. The Tree Sea and the Magic Furnace were now Ariel’s personal domain.

Adrian had prepared himself.

Upon arriving at the Royal Castle, Crown Prince Elliot rushed out, and he and Albert embraced, breaking down in tears. It was the first time father and son had seen each other in a long while.

When Adrian gave a summarized report of the events, the king’s face turned deathly pale.

"You angered the living weapon?"

"No, we haven’t angered her. She is only angry with herself. However, she seems to want to train Albert and Elliot in magic and alchemy."

"Albert is one thing, but why Elliot as well…" The king’s hesitation was deep. But the political situation was on the brink of collapse. Control over the Magic Furnace was a string of failures, and public criticism was growing by the day.

"Which means we have no right to refuse," King Cedric said, his shoulders slumping.

Adrian seized the opening without missing a beat.

"Your Majesty. I will have Ariel promise the safety of those two. In exchange, I have a proposal from our side."

No, it was less a proposal and more a foregone conclusion.

"I propose that Ariel be made Margrave, with the entirety of the Tree Sea as her domain. And that we welcome Darius, the duke’s second son, as Ariel’s husband."

Adrian, seizing this opportunity, presented the plan he had been cultivating for some time.