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Volume 3 Chapter 1 Part 8

「I will not. I promise. 」

Theo nodded his head eagerly.

「Well, I am starting to get a little bit cold, so how about we go back to the main hall and have one more dance to warm ourselves up? 」

Theo offered Siluca his elbow.

「With pleasure. 」

And Siluca put her arm around his elbow.

「But please, change back into formal wear. Otherwise, everyone will laugh at us even more once we return to the ballroom. 」

「Will do! 」

Theo said hurriedly. He only now realized that he still had his sword and his shield with him.

When they were passing by the main hall, the music still echoed from it, so Siluca thought that this night is definitely going to be a long one.

Even though the proper banquet has already come to an end, there were still guests who had the will and energy to keep the party going, so the servants continued to serve drinks and food to them.

In the meantime, Margaret, the main star of today of the banquet, was invited to the private room of Vilar, the Earl of Artuk. They were only two people in the room, and a strong liquor distilled from wine was poured into the expensive-looking glasses that were handed to them, giving off a unique aroma.

「Thank you for the wonderful feast… 」

Margaret in a crimson dress thanked Villar.

「And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for serving me so faithfully for the past seven years. 」

Villar said so and clanked glasses with Margaret. He did not know how it was made, but the sound they made was clearly metallic.

「To be honest, I wanted to serve you for much longer. 」

「I am happy to hear that. However, as a ruler of the realm, I do not want to make any exceptions that would allow people to think that I am giving anyone preferential treatment. 」

Villar said apologetically.

「I know. I heard about it from Siluca. 」

Margaret smiled.

「As a Lord, it is important to stick to your own rules and beliefs, but I think that if the reasons for doing so are justifiable enough, it is okay to make exceptions. Unfortunately though, it would seem that my case was not worthy of doing that. 」

「You are a shrine maiden of a cult that worships the fire. If I continued to hold onto you due to my personal desires, I would have gotten myself into trouble with the governor of Dartania. And to be honest with you, just the other day I have received a letter from the Mages Association that wa surging me to cancel your contract already. 」

「So what about this party to celebrate my birthday then? 」

「I just wanted to properly celebrate it after remembering that I have forgotten about them. 」

「And I thought you were someone who never forgets about important events, Lord Vilar. 」

Margaret sighed.

「So I would be happy if we could leave that matter as it is… 」

「Yes, let us forget about it. It is going to be better for the both of us that way. 」

Villar shrugged his shoulders.

「Nothing will last forever, but if it is alright with you, then I would like to borrow a little more of your wisdom for a while longer. Lately, it seems that my cousin is making various peculiar moves. 」

「I guess Marine Kraische is doing everything she can to rebuild the tarnished reputation of the Factory Alliance, but I heard that different members of the Alliance have already started making their moves in order to become independent from the Alliance itself. At this rate it should be entirely possible that some of these Lords might even try to defect to the Fantasia Union. 」

「I also heard that the current King of Selvis, Lord Lassic, seems desperate to invade Folvis and Clovis after he conquered Selvis. Sensing this, the Lords of both countries seem to be divided on whether to remain in the Factory Alliance or join the Fantasia Union. 」

「He wants to do it right before the Fantasia Union’s Lord’s Conference? Has he not heard of the concept such as expanding your power too much? 」

「That might be true, but you have to admit that if there was ever a time where he could take action, then the sooner the better. 」

After Villar leaned forward and said that, he smiled wryly as if he came to his senses.

「I am sorry. I have already canceled your contract with me, and yet here I am discussing plans for the future with you… but you are the only one in the entire Magic Division with whom I can talk about this kind of things so openly, so I just could not help myself… 」

「I would be very happy if you could not help yourself like that more often. 」

Margaret said with a smile.

「I think that when it comes to the matters of military and diplomatic affairs, you can rely on Siluca. Laura, the current Head Mage, should do just fine when it comes to internal affairs. 」

「You seem to be forgetting that Siluca is Theo’s contracted Mage, not mine. 」

「That might be the case, but once the Forest of Eternal Darkness has calmed down to an extent where the other Lords should be able to govern it, I think it would do you well to bring Theo and Siluca back to Castle Unicorn. If it would be a reward for his faithful service, then I think the he would not voice any complaints even if you only increased his peerage for a little and allowed him to stay in the castle without actually giving him any new territory. 」

The only territory that Theo and Siluca want and care about is Sistina, an island which is currently suffering from an overabundance of Demonic Nests and the monsters that are emerging out of them, so it would actually be more convenient for the both of them if they were not tied to any other territories if the opportunity to take Sistina back arose sooner rather than later.

「Since he has welcomed an excellent Mage of mine as his wife, then maybe I should leave it to Baron Eugen Niklae? 」

「I think that would be a good idea as well. Now that Deadri has become the Baron’s wife, she will also do anything to support her husband. Her timid personality would normally not allow her to stand out too much, but now that things have changed, she will have to change as well. 」

「It was the right decision to entrust her to the baron. That was also your suggestion, if I remember correctly. 」

「Because she would only wither away if she remained close to you, my Lord. 」

「Was she really that afraid of me? 」

Villar frowned.

「But I do not that there is any other man in this world who values women as much as I do. 」

「I am afraid that I have to disagree with that opinion of yours, Lord Vilar. 」

Margaret said with a completely straight face.

「So you are of the opinion that I do not cherish them then? 」

「It is not that you do not cherish them… but is it not more accurate to say that you are trying to not get yourself seriously involved with them as much as possible? 」

Margaret looked at Villar and made her statement.

Behind Vilar, a portrait of his mother, Floria, was hanged, so naturally, her gaze shifted there. She was the daughter of Iron Blooded Earl Jürgen Kraische, the founder of the Factory Alliance, and the aunt of Marine Kraische. She was married off to the Constance family so that the Kraische family could join with the ones who ruled over Artuk. However, her hisband, the previous Earl of Artuk Richuan suddenly decided to betray Jurgen, and in the middle of what was supposed to be the decisive battle between the Factory Alliance and Fantasia Union he invaded the castle of the Kraische family and laid siege to it. The only ones present in the castle were just a handful of soldiers and Matthias Kraische, who was still young at the time.

Upon hearing the news, Jürgen became horrified and immediately ordered the entire Factory Alliance army to withdraw from the battlefield. However, one of his subordinate Lords who was angry at abandoning the perfect opportunity to stop the Fantasia Union once and for all, killed Jürgen in his anger at his supposed cowardice. Jürgen’s Crest was then entrusted to Waldrind’s royal guard, and was safely inherited by Matthias, but the Factory Alliance was greatly weakened as a result of that event.