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Vol 02 Chapter 48: Secret Meeting

「Julia. It’s been a while.」

「Yes, it has. Thank you for coming.」

「You’re the one who called me here.」

The letter Julia had handed to me at the venue said,

「Meet me by the lake on the night of the full moon.」

So, I followed her instructions and came here.

「I never thought… I’d get to meet you like this again. Last time, you called me Almus Aris-dono, as if we were strangers.」

「And you called me Princess Julia, like a retainer, didn’t you?」

Julia said this with a smile.

「Shall we talk for a bit?」

◇

「Do you remember the first time we met?」

「Yes, I remember. You lured me out with a butterfly, right?」

「Exactly!」

We sat by the lakeside, reminiscing about old times.

「You’ve seen me naked before, haven’t you?」

「That feels like it was quite recent. I believe we met King Rosais afterwards, right?」

「Who did you think was prettier, me or Tetra?」

Julia asked with a mischievous smile.

「Well, I guess you have the bigger chest.」

When I said that, Julia’s face turned bright red as she covered her chest.

「Stop it…」

Julia laughed happily, though it seemed like she was trying to sound annoyed.

「Hey, Almus…」

Julia looked straight into my eyes.

「I love you.」

「Yeah, I know.」

Of course, I knew. There was no way I wouldn’t.

「Do you love me?」

「Of course, I do.」

As I said that, Julia pressed her lips against mine. Her tongue made its way into my mouth.

I accepted it, intertwining my tongue with hers, stirring inside her mouth. Our tongues entwined repeatedly.

「Mm!」

I moved my tongue to find Julia’s sensitive spots and focused on caressing them. I aggressively sucked on her tongue, swallowing her saliva.

As we parted for air, a bridge of saliva connected us.

「You’ve gotten really good at this, haven’t you?」

Julia, catching her breath, said this before pressing her lips against mine again. I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down. And then…

◇

「That was close.」

I was on the verge of breaking my promise to King Rosais.

「It’s only been a year since you got married… It’s not right to nearly cheat.」

「You’re the one who tried to make me cheat.」

It’s probably safe since it was just a kiss. Probably…

「Almus.」

Julia looked at me seriously.

Then she knelt down on the spot, bowing her head deeply.

「Please, will you marry me?」

「I can’t answer that.」

As I said this, Julia looked like she was about to cry.

「Why? Do you dislike me?」

「No, that’s not it. I love you. As much as Tetra… maybe even more.」

What am I saying when I already have a wife…

「Then why? Because it would be unfair to Tetra?」

「That’s part of it. But the main reason is not that.」

As I said this, Julia began to cry out, tears streaming from her eyes.

「Why? If you marry me, you can do whatever you want with me. I will do things even Tetra won’t do! Plus, marrying me would also give you a claim to the throne of King Rosais’ Country!」

「That’s exactly the problem!!」

I raised my voice without meaning to.

「Let’s say, hypothetically, I marry you. Then how many people would acknowledge my claim to the throne? Only my Aris Family, the Rosais Family, the families allied with it, and a very small faction opposed to the Dibel Family, centered around Bartolo. And they don’t want me as their king because they admire me; they just don’t want a king from the Dibel family. And would Rigal Dibel quietly accept it? No way. It would lead to a civil war.」

The fight against King Ferme was out of necessity. Our life was in danger, so I had no choice but to take the risk and eliminate King Ferme. But this civil war can be avoided if I don’t marry Julia. She will probably suffer for a while… but it’s not like she’s going to die.

Moreover, in the event of a civil war, I wouldn’t be a third party; I’d be at the heart of it. Who would get hurt then? Wouldn’t it be Ron and the others?

I can’t do such a thing. But…

「However, I don’t want to hand you over to that Rigal bastard. So… could you wait just a little longer for my answer?」

I really should refuse right away, as a leader, as a lord.

But I can’t bring myself to do that…

「Alright. I’ll wait another five months. Please come to a conclusion by then. If not…」

Julia said, hugging me.

「I’ll have to marry Rigal.」

◇

「Hey, where have you been?」

「With Julia.」

When I honestly told her, Tetra looked a bit surprised.

「Isn’t that something you should hide?」

「I don’t have the confidence to keep it hidden. You’re too smart.」

Any poorly crafted lie would be immediately seen through. It’s better to be honest.

「She asked you to marry her?」

「You’re quite perceptive.」

「Women’s intuition.」

Tetra’s intuition isn’t always accurate, but… this time she guessed right.

「Are you going to accept?」

「I’m thinking about it. I got a five-month reprieve.」

Really, what am I discussing with my wife?

「You don’t have to worry about me.」

「That’s not how it works. If I marry Julia, you’d be treated as a concubine.」

Is Tetra okay with that?

「That bothers me a little, but I’m not concerned with my status. As long as I can be your wife, that’s enough for me.」

Tetra said, her cheeks turning red.

「Besides, I feel sorry for Julia. If I were in Julia’s position, I’d want to die. I wouldn’t care if she was a stranger, but…」

Tetra paused for a moment.

「Julia is a friend. So, I want to help her. Well, first Julia has to sincerely apologize to me.」

Hmm, women are hard to understand. But maybe Tetra is just special in this regard? That must be it.

「But that’s not the issue, is it?」

「That’s right. There’s the possibility of a civil war erupting…」

It’s unacceptable to split the country in two and cause unnecessary deaths just for our personal reasons.

「I think you should do what you like. You’ve been working hard for everyone else until now. Maybe it’s okay this time?」

「I see… I’ll take that into consideration.」

Relying on others for a conclusion isn’t good. I have to decide for myself. It’s an important matter.

◇

「I see. So that’s why he refused.」

King Rosais looked surprised after hearing Julia’s explanation.

「Did you think Almus would accept?」

「No, I thought he would refuse. But the reason was unexpected. I thought he would cite a lack of achievements as his reason.」

Defeating King Ferme was a great accomplishment. But that achievement was offset by Almus taking all of Ferme’s former territory.

Normally, two-thirds of King Ferme’s territory should have gone to the Rosais Family, and the remaining third should have been given to Almus.

Such a reward would normally be considered appropriate. Almus was originally not a person from King Rosais’ Country, and the scale of his village was also small.

However, King Rosais forcefully awarded all the former King Ferme’s territory to Almus. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the reward was too generous.

Almus had not yet achieved any notable accomplishments since becoming a lord. Marrying Julia under these circumstances might make it seem like Almus got to marry Julia, just because he had seduced her. Though, strictly speaking, this wasn’t entirely inaccurate.

Under these circumstances, it would be doubtful whether the anti-Dibel faction would follow him or not.

「If no war happens soon, I was planning to make Almus general and force him to attack a nearby country to create achievements for him…」

With Almus’s subordinates’ military strength, gunpowder, and Bartolo’s assistance, it would be possible to achieve great accomplishments.

If Almus couldn’t accomplish anything noteworthy even with everything set up for him, it would mean that this was his limit, and King Rosais would have given up on him.

「So, even if Almus decides to go through with it, it’s useless without achievements…」

Julia sighed.

「Well, all we can do now is pray. Leave it to fate.」

「Fate, huh… Yeah, that’s right…」

Julia looked disheartened.

◇

In a village on the border between the Dibel and Aris territories, a dispute was happening.

「Hey! This is not enough wheat! What’s the meaning of this?!」

A man shouted, waving his sword.

The man’s name was Gilbert. He is a cousin of Rigal Dibel.

The village head knelt before Gilbert, pleading.

「I’m terribly sorry. We have no more wheat. Could you please wait until next year? I promise to pay this year’s taxes along with next year’s.」

Gilbert kicked the village head’s face in response.

「Don’t mess with me!! You haven’t even paid this year’s fabric taxes, have you?!」

Gilbert yelled. Ignoring the village head’s attempt to stop him, he ordered his soldiers to search the storage hut.

「There’s really nothing… huh?」

Gilbert’s gaze fell to the ground, noticing the soil’s odd color.

Seeing the village head’s complexion change, Gilbert commanded his soldiers.

「Dig here.」

The soldiers began to dig. The ground had become very soft, allowing for easy excavation.

Several pots emerged from beneath. Upon opening them, they found the pots were filled with wheat.

「There it is!!」

「That’s for seeding!! If you take that, next year…」

Gilbert kicked the village head’s face again.

「No problem. Just take a loan on the seeds next year. Now, carry them away!!」

The soldiers began to move the wheat from the pots.

After finishing the transportation of the wheat, Gilbert gathered the villagers and looked at each of their faces.

Gilbert had been in charge of this village for a long time. Even if he didn’t know the names, he would recognize any unfamiliar faces immediately.

Suddenly, Gilbert’s eyes stopped on a woman he had never seen before. She was reasonably attractive.

If she was ugly, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had forgotten her, but it was strange he had forgotten her, as she was attractive.

「Hey, you. You’re not from this village, are you? Where did you come from?」

When Gilbert asked, the woman’s face turned pale as she answered.

「From… the neighboring village…」

「Did you submit a notice of relocation?」

The villagers living in the territories controlled by the Dibel Family were prohibited from moving freely; they had to always submit a notice of relocation. Violators of this law were subjected to punishment.

The woman did not respond to Gilbert’s question.

「I see. So you haven’t submitted a notice, have you?」

Gilbert inferred, and the woman nodded in fear.

「Did you move to this village because of… marriage?」

Gilbert inquired further, and the woman prostrated herself, begging for his forgiveness.

Gilbert sneered.

「Well, fine. Pay both the marriage tax and the first night tax.」

Hearing this, a man beside the woman, who had turned pale, prostrated himself as well.

「I’m sorry. We will definitely pay within a month.」

「That’s not acceptable. It has to be now. However, I’m willing to waive the marriage tax and the notice of relocation if you agree to my terms,」

Gilbert said with a smirk, outlining his condition: he would take the woman’s virginity right there and then.

The right of the first night belonged to the lord, Rigal, and taking the woman’s virginity did not exempt the couple from the marriage tax. The crime of not submitting a notice of relocation also remained unchanged.

However, if they let Gilbert take the woman now and promised not to speak of it, he was willing to overlook the marriage tax and the legal violation.

The couple had no choice in the matter.