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Death’s Daughter Chapter 118

Author: “FoodLovingPanda”

CHAPTER 118: AGAINST MY WILL

“If you want me to hand over Nao-chan you will ensure that she will officially become part of my family and not just have my backing. She will be given noble rank of a Duchess as fitting of her status in my family. Since she will become a high noble her little group Dragon’s Descent will become an official clan, but will reply to my house. Moreover you will not be allowed to touch her or force her to do anything against her will, aside from the wedding ceremony. Also you can only proceed with the engagement after she reaches the A-rank at the adventurer’s guild.”

What the hell? Is he trying to give me a way to escape? If that is so, then I just need to stop at B-rank and make sure to never take on an A-rank request and never get another promotion. But why would he propose that in the first place and not decline the offer completely? Also why is he so concerned about my group becoming a clan and answering to him? I thought most of them don’t have much power in the first place and only a select few can enjoy privileges from the royalty.

“Tsk, how can I know that he will become an A-rank adventurer? She can quit the guild and never become one that way. Also a single clan under your name means very little to me, much less one that was only recently formed.”

“You won’t have to worry. I will make sure she will never stop advancing in her ranks. Now that we have that cleared up time to say my real demand, since we are changing the original deal then it is only natural for me to change something. You see what I really want is a piece of land since I can do so with my title. It was only according to the original deal that I do not have any property under my name. Now that my family has grown, I want to one special piece of land.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I immediately tried to shut down all the negotiation, but wasn’t able to as there was something blocking my voice. I was helpless in front of this man whose power was immeasurable and whom I thought to be on my side. I can’t believe that I actually like this money-grubbing traitor. He is literally trying to sell me for some land. I turned to look at Vitou who was my last hope since he was also against our marriage, but instead of refusal of such an idea he looked amused and anticipating the outcome of negotiations.

Bleh, men are pigs. I should have known better, even if he was against the marriage with me, it was only because of the Archduke. Now that there was no danger of angering him of course he would be excited. It was him that proposed to me in the first place and the king only became interested later on.

I really wanted to beat up everyone present in this room. I tried to struggle and break free from the binds keeping me silent and well behaved but all I did was spend all my mana and exhausted myself without much progress. However that will not stop me, even if I have to stake it all, I will do it.

“That can be arranged easily. Since you have something in mind I can hear out what land you want, but I cannot give you any important industrial or agricultural areas. You have to understand those lands are important to me.”

“That will not be a problem, what I want is the mountains on the southeast border. Giving me the Icefire Mountains would not be a problem, would it?”

I looked at him in shock. The faces of everyone in the room were the same. The area that he just mentioned is considered the least habitable area of the continent. The terrain was unfriendly and many strong monsters have their nests there. Also since the mountain range has several active volcanoes it is impossible to develop cities and towns nearby.

“I must say that is an odd request, I can’t help but wonder what you are planning by gaining that area. I sent several scouts to explore that area but none of them were able to find anything valuable in that place. Some even lost their lives in that place.”

“There is nothing there, but if I stay there, I know that nobody will bother me and appear uninvited since there is nothing to see there. I could remain living in peace. Also there are some good practice targets in that area and they can relieve my boredom.”

He sounded rather convincing as he said that to a point that I almost believed his reasoning. But something was telling me there was something more to this story than what he was letting on. Moreover, he would not be shutting me up like this if that is the only reason for doing this. However, it doesn’t make him any less of a jerk for doing this to me.

“Very well, it seems we have ourselves a deal. I proclaim this as the King of Elicia, from this moment on Viscountess Maeda shall enter the house of the Archduke and claim the title of Duchess with official title coming into power with public proclaim. The territory of Icefire Mountains shall from this moment on be a Dukedom of the Archduke’s family for generations to come under the rule of the kingdom of Elicia. Tomorrow the official document will be sent to all provinces.”

I actually had tears swelling up in my eyes, without even having a say in all this, I was sold to the royal family for some meager benefits. And the worse thing is that I have become a bride-to-be and will be forced to marry a man I didn’t love. Well it is not like Vitou is all bad, and aside from the longing in his eyes, I could sense that the Archduke was also doing something to him. But all in all, I never thought of marrying him, that is why I escaped Kapitalia in the first place.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you Your Majesty.”

“Now as for Naoko-chan’s engagement announcement, I will wait patiently. I can assure you that Vitou will be a perfect match for her. I hope you will ensure your part of the deal and make her an A-rank adventurer soon.”

“She will not lag behind. Now I have to have a small talk with my cute little sister who seems to want to throw a fit. Most likely she will not return for a few days so there is no need to wait for her. Later you can find her in Orzak easily.”

The Archduke got up and lifted me in his arms leaving the room. I tried to break free from him but that was impossible as I was still under that weird curse. His immense mana was simply too strong for me to break away from.

I knew that forcefully trying to break away will only make me lose all the mana that I recovered so in a moment of desperation I willed the mana that bound me to be swallowed by me. Almost immediately my head felt dizzy and a wave of nausea swept me. I felt my outside senses blurring but i could see the words in front of my eyes. I was left in this weird state until my head banged on the door as the Archduke was carrying me out and another magic hit me making me lose consicousness.

[Due to unexpected actions INT and WIS were raised by 30 points]
[SKILL: Poison Resistance LV7]
[TITLE: Desperate has been acquired]