Chapter 08

Grida’s lifelong dream, having grown up in a martial household, had been to become someone’s dependable shield.

But her husband was a Sword Master.

Her daughter was a Sword Master.

And now, apparently, even her son-in-law was a Sword Master.

As Grida continued wiping away her tears, Leon awkwardly offered her a few words of comfort.

“Countess, don’t worry. In a year, you’ll be able to see a different son-in-law.”

“Sniff… Really? You promise?”

Grida wiped her tears and looked up at Leon.

“Of course. I’ll take good care of her for exactly one year without laying a finger on her, then I’ll return her to you safe and sound.”

“Huh? Husband, are you really confident you can go a whole year without laying a finger on me?”

Tamia asked with her eyes wide in disbelief.

“You said you’d spar with me from time to time. And you’re not even better with a sword than I am. Where do you get that confidence?”

“Tamia! He’s His Highness the Imperial Prince! What kind of way is that to speak?”

Theodore was startled by his daughter’s rude tone and immediately scolded her.

“Oh, come on. What’s the big deal between us? Husband said I could speak casually with him.”

“Oh, that hopeless girl… Your Highness, I sincerely apologize.”

Seeing the Count repeatedly bowing his head, Leon felt complicated.

You don’t have to apologize so much.

It was true that Tamia had initially approached Leon with questionable intentions.

But Leon himself was the one who had ultimately held on to her and placed her in the position of Imperial Princess.

When I saw her slicing through monsters so fearlessly, I felt like I couldn’t let her get away.

Tamia was strong.

Stronger than anyone Leon had ever met.

If she joined the Griffin Corps, the reputation of the Griffin Corps would rise even further.

And if Leon learned swordsmanship from Tamia, he would become an even more formidable fighter.

In fact, he wouldn’t even mind if she simply stayed by his side without doing anything at all…

No. What am I thinking right now?

After endlessly seeing young ladies dramatically drop handkerchiefs or pretend to faint from anemia, perhaps his mind had simply short-circuited upon meeting a young lady of a count’s house who boldly swung a sword around.

While Leon desperately tried to shake off these unnecessary thoughts, Theodore continued apologizing.

“Our family’s duty is to hunt monsters, so I wasn’t able to educate my daughter properly. She spent far more time accompanying me to hunt the monsters that appeared one after another than she did studying…”

Those experiences must have shaped the Tamia she was today.

“Fortunately, His Highness established the Griffin Corps and brought some order to monster subjugation. That gave me some breathing room, so I thought I would move to the capital with my daughter…”

“That is enough. You don’t need to apologize any further.”

Leon firmly cut Theodore off.

“I heard that your family is in debt.”

“…Tamia told you about that as well?”

“If you want, I’ll pay it off for you. And…”

Leon was just about to say that he would find and punish the people who had dared to scam the Arderin family when—

“Husband, what are you talking about?”

Tamia glared at Leon with a cold expression he had never seen on her face before.

“Why would you pay off our family’s debt for us?”

Leon’s mouth fell slightly open at the unexpected reaction.

“I only want to receive what I’m rightfully entitled to. This is our family’s debt, not yours.”

“That may be true, but…”

“We’re going to part ways in a year anyway. I don’t want to take such a huge amount of money from you and become indebted to you, too.”

“Tamia is right. We can’t simply accept money from a son-in-law we’ll only have for a year.”

Grida nodded as though it were obvious, and Theodore also looked relieved.

“Actually, Tamia, while you were briefly out, we received a marriage proposal.”

“What? A marriage proposal? From whom?”

“Duke DuPont asked whether we would consider marrying you to Chris if he paid off all our debts.”

“Ugh… That stingy, stuffy boy? I don’t like him.”

“My goodness. Did the Duke really come here and say such a thing? I don’t particularly like having a Sword Master as a son-in-law either, but that young duke is even worse. He’s about as far from a beautiful young man as you can get. You rejected him, of course, didn’t you?”

“I told him I’d ask Tamia first, so I didn’t give him an immediate answer. Looking back, I think I did the right thing. I felt terribly uncomfortable accepting money in exchange for our daughter.”

“Wait. Duke DuPont? You know him?”

Leon asked Theodore in surprise upon hearing the familiar name.

“Ah, yes. About seven years ago, I happened to rescue the Duke and his son from a monster. That connection has lasted until today. The Duke also recommended that we purchase this townhouse.”

“The townhouse… Duke DuPont…”

That old raccoon has extended his reach even here?

It’s not time yet.

Leon decided to put everything concerning the townhouse on hold for now.

“In any case, if that is what you all want, I won’t pay off the debt for you. Instead, I’ll actively help Tamia make sure she receives what is rightfully hers.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Theodore bowed deeply toward Leon.

After saying goodbye to her family, Tamia finally entered the Imperial Palace with Leon.

“Wooooow! It’s really gorgeous!”

Valentis Imperial Palace.

Tamia’s eyes widened as she frantically looked around at her surroundings.

“Husband! How much is that golden lion statue over there? It has an enormous gemstone set in its eyes!”

“It was a tribute sent by the Kingdom of Solea in the south. I’d estimate it’s worth around 100,000 der.”

“One hundred thousand…! Th-Then what about that blue vase?”

“That one’s relatively inexpensive. It’s a vase made by a legendary craftsman from the East over the course of his entire lifetime. We purchased it for 50,000 der.”

“Wow…”

Luxury goods worth enough to pay off the Arderin family’s debts in a single stroke were scattered everywhere.

“By the way, the carpet you’re standing on is made from the hide of a lesser dragon. It’s priceless.”

“What? Then why would you put something so precious on the floor?!”

“Where else would we put a carpet? We can’t hang it from the roof.”

“Geez, this expensive thing…”

Tamia raised her heels and pressed herself tightly against the wall to avoid stepping on the carpet.

Leon chuckled and asked,

“Shall I give you that golden lion statue? As a wedding present.”

“That… You said it was worth 100,000 der, right? Hmm…”

Tamia remained pressed against the wall as she seriously considered the offer.

But in the end, she shook her head.

“No. That’s too much for a wedding present. I’ll be satisfied with just a living allowance.”

At least she isn’t saying she doesn’t want a living allowance either.

Leon smiled and led Tamia toward the Emperor’s audience chamber.

When the massive doors opened, they saw the Emperor seated upon a dazzling throne.

The first thing Tamia noticed was his golden hair, nearly identical to Leon’s.

Beneath it was a gruff expression that seemed to radiate stubbornness.

Other than their hair and eye color, there’s absolutely nothing about him that resembles my husband.

Tamia roughly pushed aside her impolite thoughts and offered an awkward but earnest greeting.

“I greet His Imperial Majesty, the Sun of the Empire!”

“She is my wife, Your Majesty.”

Leon bowed his head slightly, though his posture was somehow crooked and irreverent.

A thunderous roar immediately came down upon him.

“You got married on your own without your father’s permission?”

Whoa! That scared me!

Tamia almost let the exclamation escape from her mouth, but she managed to clamp it shut through sheer superhuman restraint.

“You were the one pressuring me every single day to get married. And now you’re unhappy that I actually got married?”

“Hmph. Why is your manner of speaking so terrible?”

“Because I wasn’t taught properly.”

“What?”

“I never had anyone speak to me nicely, so I never learned.”

What is this? Why is their father-son conversation like this?!

Suddenly caught between the two of them, Tamia could only roll her eyes back and forth.

I thought my husband had a good personality, but now that I see him like this, he’s practically the definition of an unfilial son.

The two men’s voices grew louder and louder.

Judging from the reactions of the attendants around them, this seemed to be an everyday occurrence.

Then Tamia suddenly remembered something her father had taught her.

“Tamia, whenever you find people fighting, you must do your best to stop them.”

“How?”

“There’s nothing you can’t accomplish with strength.”

That’s right. Strength can solve everything.

Tamia’s eyes lit up as though she had finally found the answer.