CH:02
On the Matter of Becoming Engaged to the Enemy’s Household
Leonidas Ferdinand and Kaon Ferdinand were siblings who rarely had reason to quarrel.
First of all, Leonidas, the elder, was not the type to treat her younger brother harshly. Kaon, for his part, sincerely respected and followed his sister. The considerable age gap of five years also played a part.
On top of that, the siblings had lost their parents three years ago. Naturally, they had no room in their lives to argue over petty reasons or throw tantrums.
Even when situations arose that could cause anger, they held back for each other’s sake. With no one in the world to trust but one another, it was pointless to get into fights over trivial matters.
“Leo, are you out of your mind?”
But today, Kaon couldn’t just let it go. After thinking ten times over whether he had heard correctly, he asked again.
It was a question filled with the firm belief that either his ears were broken or his sister had lost her mind—one of the two had to be true.
“I wish I were mad; it’d be easier. But unfortunately, I’m completely sane.”
“You want me to marry some Ingellos girl?”
“I said you should get engaged first. If you want to marry her right away, I won’t stop you. Though, of course, you’ll have to wait until you come of age.”
“Leo!”
Kaon shouted. Engagement or marriage—it was just a matter of timing, but in the end, it meant the same thing. He had no interest in playing word games.
“Finished yelling?”
“Ugh, seriously! Are you joking right now?”
But his sister, who had thrown him into this absurd situation, remained utterly calm.
She inspected the documents in front of her with such poise that Kaon briefly wondered whether he was talking to a wall and not to his sister.
It was a quiet spring day like any other. The midday sun was warmer than usual, and Kaon, having finished his morning training early, had been lounging happily on his bed.
“Young Master Kaon, Lady Leo is calling for you.”
“My sister?”
“Yes. She’s waiting in the study.”
Even when the butler, Bronson, came looking for him, Kaon didn’t think much of it. His sister’s summons usually had a clear reason: a lecture or advice.
He assumed, with high probability, that it was a lecture—he had faked being sick to skip marching training just last week. Today seemed like a good day to be scolded.
“Well, I got a day off, so I guess a little scolding’s worth it.”
He decided to accept his fate humbly.
But Leonidas didn’t say a word. Even though her brother sat before her with a solemn face, fully braced for reprimand, she kept her eyes on the documents.
Was this some new form of discipline?
Even thinking that, Kaon stayed quiet. It was boring and awkward, but he had no choice. He was guilty, after all.
Leonidas finally spoke just as Kaon counted thirty-three folders on her desk.
“You’ll be getting engaged to the second child of Ingellos, Kaon.”
And with that, she went silent again, as if that single sentence had been the sole reason she called him.
That was why Kaon, who usually held his sister in deep respect, was now questioning her sanity.
“What do you mean, get engaged to Ingellos? If Mom and Dad heard this from the grave, they’d rise from it!”
“Then maybe we should go tell them. If I’d known that was possible, I wouldn’t have left them buried for three years.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
Kaon snapped. This was seriously insane.
Ingellos—the eternal rival and blood-stained enemy of the Ferdinand family.
In the Kingdom of Gaios, the phrase “like Ferdinand and Ingellos” was commonly used in place of “like cats and dogs” to describe two things that never got along.
As a child of the prestigious knightly family Ferdinand, Kaon had grown up hearing endless insults about the Ingellos family.
Cowardly and selfish mages, cold-blooded monsters who valued a knight’s life less than insects, honorless misfits with not even an ant’s-worth of loyalty…
Just thinking about the name Ingellos brought to mind a torrent of curses. And now they expected him to marry a daughter from that house? Kaon couldn’t wrap his head around it.
Instead of explaining, Leonidas tossed one of the folders toward Kaon.
Thud. He caught it easily and frowned as he opened to the first page. He hated paper and reading, but since his sister wasn’t about to speak, he had no choice but to read.
<Request for Mage Dispatch Salary Increase>
The folder contained a demand and agreement form sent from the Magic Tower.
Ferdinand, blessed with fertile land and a temperate climate, was a wonderful place to live—but unfortunately, it was also home to the kingdom’s largest monster-infested forest.
As a founding family of the kingdom, Ferdinand had been waging war against the monsters for centuries.
As much as they didn’t want to admit it, mages were essential in fighting monsters. Especially because monsters were difficult to engage in close combat. In terms of long-range power, mages were unrivaled.
But mages were rare in any era. Slightly more common than Sword Masters, sure—but considering fewer than five Sword Masters emerged across the entire continent per generation, that comparison was meaningless.
Unless one was born with mana, one couldn’t become a mage. Even with mana, one couldn’t cast magic without mastering magical control. The requirements were extremely strict.
Ferdinand, a family with deep knightly roots, had never produced a single mage in its entire history. That wasn’t strange, since mages usually came from magical bloodlines.
The problem was that Ferdinand had no mages, despite desperately needing them. And that meant they had to source mages from the Magic Tower.
“What the hell? A 30% increase? This is straight-up robbery. Are they bandits or what?”
Holding back his irritation, Kaon scowled as he read. The agreement requesting higher base salaries and better treatment was essentially a ransom note.
“And now they want to build a branch of the Magic Tower in our land? On our eastern territory? Are they insane? They’re asking for autonomy in someone else’s domain!”
Even from an objective standpoint, their demands were outrageous.
Especially since Ferdinand had already accepted their terms last year—and the year before that. They had even increased bonuses multiple times.
These shameless bastards!
“You should keep reading.”
Leonidas tilted her head toward him calmly.
Kaon reluctantly continued. The further he read, the harder his jaw clenched, and the colder his expression became.
“…They’ll support us with royal mages if we station the Royal Knights here? And we have to split the magic stones 50:50?”
This was a proposal directly from the king.
On the surface, it praised Ferdinand’s efforts in protecting the kingdom and suggested they accept royal support. But it was anything but generous.
Stationing Royal Knights in Ferdinand meant officially allowing royal interference. It was like inviting a watchdog into your home.
That alone warranted deep concern—and now they wanted a 50:50 split of the magic stones?
Magic stones were rare gems imbued with mana, sometimes extracted from monster corpses. They were incredibly valuable.
Ferdinand already supplied a portion of these stones to the Magic Tower in exchange for high-level mages. Even the demanding Magic Tower hadn’t dared to ask for a 50:50 split.
“This is just…”
Both the Magic Tower and the Royal Court were coming at Ferdinand from all sides.
It had been three years since their parents died. Leonidas had been doing everything in her power, but filling their shoes was still beyond her reach.
And in that gap, many forces had tried to sink their claws into Ferdinand.
Frustrated, Kaon ruffled his hair and put down the folder.
“Why Ingellos of all people? There are other mage families.”
“Because they’re in a similar situation to ours.”
Kaon started to understand. His sister needed magical manpower that she could rely on—without being manipulated.
Whatever their backstory, if Ingellos was facing similar struggles, they were the ideal ally.
“This is it? There’s no other way?”
He understood her logic—but that didn’t mean he liked it. He already hated Ingellos, and now he had to marry a mage?
He wasn’t dreaming of romance or anything—but marrying someone he’d hated his whole life didn’t seem like a great decision.
“Of course there are other ways.”
“Great! Then let’s—”
“Pick up your sword, Kaon.”
Kaon stopped mid-celebration. His sister’s brown eyes, so much like their father’s, stared directly into his.
There was no trace of humor in them.
“Defeat me and take the position of family head. Uncle would support that, so he won’t oppose you.”
“Leo…”
“Or I could marry the third child of Ingellos. She’s nine this year, wasn’t she? Twelve years difference isn’t too bad. I could wait ten years.”
That wasn’t “not too bad” at all. Political marriages were common, but such an age gap was rare.
“Either way, I have to leave. Until you come of age, Uncle will take over as acting lord—and he’d be thrilled.”
“……”
Kaon said nothing. His sister looked exhausted.
He knew their uncle had been eyeing the family’s seat of power for a long time. And he also knew how hard Leonidas had worked to prevent that.
In Kaon’s mind, she was far more suited to leading Ferdinand than their uncle—or even himself.
Despite strong opposition from the elders, who refused to accept a female head of a knightly family, she had served as acting lord for three years. But Kaon believed no one could govern Ferdinand better than she could.
Responsibility, devotion, broad perspective, and decisiveness—Leonidas had them all. Kaon didn’t want the position. And he wasn’t fit for it either.
Because he…
“…What do I need to do?”
His chaotic thoughts unraveled all at once. With a long sigh, he made his decision.
