AMLSL 8

Chapter 8

The Live-In Son-in-Law**

For nearly a week after the tea party with Whitney—which had been surprising in many ways—Merdia had been enduring days of frayed nerves filled with irritation and displeasure.

It wasn’t just because of the incomprehensible proposal from Whitney. Another incident had arisen that gnawed at her insides.

That was why, even just a few minutes ago when she had personally visited the Count’s estate, Merdia had been radiating such thick killing intent that the maids who greeted her couldn’t even properly pour the tea.

“It’s been a week since we met in person like this, Princess.”

But just as she was about to bring the barely-poured tea to her lips, Whitney entered the garden with leisurely steps, wearing that characteristic smile of unknown intent, and sat down before Merdia.

“If you had informed me of your visit in advance, I would have prepared a more hospitable reception.”

“Hah.”

And right beside him, a girl took her place standing as if it were the most natural thing—Merdia couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh, forgetting even to be angry.

“What a clever trick.”

Though she was wearing a rather convincing maid’s uniform, the face of the girl who had followed Whitney closely from the mansion was familiar to Merdia as well.

Luniel Mistilane. The youngest gold-rank knight trainee, and the winner of the 83rd Imperial Youth Swordsmanship Tournament, where numerous formidable candidates—including the prince and the eldest son of the Embergreen Duke’s household—had competed.

However, due to that unfortunate incident at the knighting ceremony, she had been reduced overnight to imperial gossip—the pitiful heroine of a tragedy.

But the girl standing beside Whitney now showed none of the despairing aura visible in the photographs published in the imperial newspapers.

“I thought you had some gloomy hobby of buying fallen nobles and using them as slaves, but it seems you were doing something even worse.”

From a distance, she had been uncertain, but now that the distance had closed, it was unmistakably clear that the two’s mana was resonating.

She wasn’t sure how many other rituals had been performed, but the intensity of the resonance was so strong—anyway, what mattered was that Luniel’s mana, who had been called a prodigy of the sword, had been restored.

And what deserved even more attention was that she was genuinely loyal to Whitney.

Since ‘Oaths’ couldn’t be circumvented through tricks or coercion, the one who had restored her mana was probably Whitney himself.

“I acknowledge it. Whitney Lingard, you are indeed quite capable.”

Once her thoughts reached that point, Merdia’s irritation that had accumulated over the past week’s worries began to be painted over with curiosity.

She was originally the type to feel interest rather than annoyance at things that defied her expectations—as long as they didn’t cross the line like a marriage proposal.

“As I said last time, if we communicate well, we can be good partners.”

Moreover, once she determined that such unexpected events could benefit her, Merdia tended to become considerably generous.

“However, I cannot let this situation slide.”

“Pardon?”

But Merdia’s judgment regarding whether the man before her would be beneficial to her was not yet complete.

“I clearly requested a private audience.”

“Ah, that’s…”

“And yet you dared to bring a guard—a female guard bound by oath, no less?”

The very reason she had come to the Count’s estate without prior notice was to determine exactly that.

“After submitting a marriage proposal to me just a week ago, no less?”

In an instant, a suffocating sense of helplessness descended upon Whitney and Luniel.

-Ku ku ku ku…

From Merdia’s perspective, she had merely slightly released the mana she had been suppressing, but already at that point, no one in the garden was properly standing on their feet.

“Um, I think there seems to be some misunderstanding here…”

“No, that’s not what’s important.”

Only Whitney, who was sitting before her, maintained his balance with a troubled expression.

“What’s important is the fact that I felt insulted, isn’t it?”

“Ahaha…”

When Merdia glared and whispered coldly, even he could only close his mouth with an awkward smile.

“So…”

While inwardly slightly raising her assessment of Whitney, who was directly withstanding her pressure in such a situation, Merdia was about to raise her intensity further to grasp the intent he was hiding until the end.

-Kkadeuk…

It was then that Luniel, who had been faltering beside Whitney, suddenly gritted her teeth and began glaring at Merdia with a look of awe.

“Withdraw your aura.”

The very next moment, she grabbed a knife from the tea table and in the blink of an eye pointed it at Merdia’s throat.

Soon, a dead silence descended upon the garden.

“Ho.”

Naturally, at that action—which was nothing short of worsening the situation to its worst—the poor maids who had been attending Merdia turned pale and squeezed their eyes shut.

But Merdia, the person in question, merely drew a curve at the corner of her lips, quietly gazing at Luniel who had a weapon pointed at her.

“You can still move in this state?”

“Kuk…”

“Your body doesn’t seem fully recovered, but you’re quite something.”

When she quietly tilted her head and spoke in a low voice, cold sweat dripped from Luniel’s forehead as she still held the blade to Merdia’s throat.

“When you brutally trampled my brother’s pride at the tournament, it was quite a sight to see.”

Nevertheless, seeing that she wouldn’t release the knife, Merdia smiled even more contentedly and whispered in a soft voice.

“Would you consider becoming my subordinate?”

“I refuse.”

“Hah!”

As Luniel’s immediate answer flew back, her lip corner shot up past her ear.

“You’ll regret it?”

“That’s for me to decide.”

And so, the garden’s atmosphere was heading toward some unknown end when—

“Miss Luniel, and Princess Merdia.”

Whitney, who had been quietly observing the situation until then, suddenly grabbed Luniel’s arm and spoke.

“Let’s stop around about now, shall we?”

At those words, everyone’s attention—including Merdia’s and Luniel’s—focused on him, and soon only dead silence began to circulate in the garden.

“If something happens by accident, it’ll be a big problem, won’t it?”

Only Whitney was admonishing and soothing the two with a lively tone that didn’t suit the situation.

* * *

‘What the hell is this chaos, fuck.’

I managed to open my mouth in an atmosphere that seemed ready to explode at any moment, but I couldn’t help my hands trembling.

‘To think things turned out like this while I was briefly unconscious.’

It would be strange if my hands weren’t shaking—I had briefly fainted from not being able to withstand Merdia’s killing intent, and the moment I opened my eyes, I witnessed a scene that made my spine chill.

I had been desperately reciting white magic incantations to amplify mental strength just in case, but it seemed that wasn’t enough to prevent fainting.

If I had been standing on my feet in that spot, wouldn’t I be sprawled on the ground like the maids by now?

But no matter how critical the situation, I had to prevent things from getting worse.

“Miss Luniel, please go inside the mansion and rest now. I’ll finish my conversation with the Princess before I leave.”

If a needless bloodbath were to unfold in the garden, it would only increase the workload for the innocent maids.

“Understood.”

Fortunately, Luniel—who had been steadfastly pointing the knife at Merdia’s throat even in the suffocating killing intent—withdrew relatively obediently at my words.

Soon, her retreating figure, after giving me a slight bow of the head and quietly walking toward the mansion, looked somehow quite dispirited.

That appearance somehow seemed like a hunting dog dejected from disappointing its master, which was pitiful—but there was nothing to be done, as pointing a dull tea knife at someone’s throat wouldn’t likely be enough to suppress Merdia anyway.

And since the purpose of bringing Luniel here had already been achieved, there was no need to further provoke Merdia.

“Princess, would you also withdraw your killing intent now?”

“Is that an order?”

Now then, it’s time to work my mouth diligently. For someone like me who has nothing, this mouth is the most efficient means of survival.

“How could I dare. It’s simply to clear up unnecessary misunderstandings.”

“Is that so?”

Hearing those words, Merdia quietly tilted her head, and the killing intent that had filled the garden lessened slightly.

“Then, explain it to me.”

Thanks to that, I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with my sleeve while catching my breath, and she whispered commandingly while gazing into my eyes.

Though her expression was utterly chilling, it was at least good news that her eyes—called jewel eyes for their recognized beauty—were faintly shining.

According to the knowledge I had accumulated as a gamer, that was evidence that Merdia was feeling interest rather than irritation or murderous intent.

And that was precisely the only breakthrough to escape this cold-sweat-inducing situation.

“First of all, I had absolutely no intention of threatening you, Princess. Even if everyone in this estate attacked at once, I’m not sure it would be a threat, anyway.”

“Hm.”

“And I apologize if Luniel was displeasing to you, but if I had other feelings for her, I wouldn’t have shown her to you so openly like this.”

Merdia’s cruel nature was well known. But not many people knew that she was lenient toward unexpected situations or others’ challenges—and actually enjoyed them.

Having lived a life where she could grasp everything she wanted from birth, she rather disliked those who were obvious or whose moves were easy to read, or those who were intimidated by her.

“I simply wanted to show you how capable a piece I could be for you, Princess.”

“……”

“Luniel has already made an oath with me, so she cannot become your sword, but if I join hands with you, she too will become a reliable ally.”

The reason I had deliberately brought Luniel here was precisely for that.

Honestly, I wanted to hide her as much as possible, but if I were to board the same ship as Merdia, Luniel would have to reveal herself before her before long.

And if she was going to reveal herself anyway, using her as a stimulus to redirect Merdia’s attention—who had come full of dissatisfaction—was the best judgment.

Of course, the stimulus was so great that the garden nearly became stained with blood, but that level of risk was par for the course with gambling moves.

“Yet you conveniently leave out the achievement of mana circuit restoration that no one in history has ever accomplished?”

However, it seemed Merdia’s focus had somehow caught on me rather than Luniel.

“Haha, that’s something you could achieve too with just a little research, Princess.”

“Don’t joke excessively. If that fact became known, the magical academic world would be turned upside down immediately.”

I had merely copied the Emperor’s ritual from the game’s setting book.

Therefore, if Merdia—who had been learning the basics of mana studies since age five—were to interrogate me about the ritual, it would only be a matter of time before my true skill level was exposed.

“Yes, I’ll speak directly from now on. I want to join hands with you, and I’m willing to accept your demands within reason.”

“I’m glad we think alike.”

But fortunately for me, it was Merdia who steered the conversation first.

“But really, what on earth is that damned marriage proposal?”

Speaking in a considerably more moderate tone compared to before, she suddenly asked with a genuinely curious expression—and only then could I realize.

“Surely you’re not actually aiming to marry me, are you?”

The biggest reason she had personally come here was to ask that very question.

“Of course, I was so captivated by your beauty at first sight that I proposed…”

-Gooo…

“…That’s not it. I simply thought that would be more convenient for deceiving others’ eyes.”

Since it seemed the conversation was finally entering the main topic, I tried to throw in some flattery to lighten the mood.

But upon witnessing Merdia’s eyes turn cold in an instant, I quickly changed my words and began reciting the explanation I had prepared.

“I heard you’ve been under a lot of stress recently with all this marriage and proposal talk. Of course, for someone like you, any groom would be insufficient, but…”

“Get to the point.”

“…Your goal is to become the head of the family, isn’t it?”

Though I said that, the Princess’s true objective doesn’t properly appear in the game either.

After all, stopping her as the final boss constitutes the ending of most routes, and even if it results in a game over, the events afterward aren’t shown in detail.

“Let’s say that’s the case for now.”

As expected, Merdia gave an ambiguous answer.

That fact was slightly disappointing, but I hadn’t expected to learn her true objective so easily in the first place.

And what was important now wasn’t that either.

“Then I will become your breakwater, Princess.”

“What does that mean?”

For the sake of my family on the verge of ruin, for the future of my promising younger sibling, and above all, for my own safety.

From now on, I was going to propose a completely new route that no player had ever dared to attempt—or more precisely, couldn’t attempt.

“Starting from this moment, until whatever period you desire.”

And that proposal would likely shake not just Merdia’s fate alone, but the fate of the entire world line.

“I will marry you, Princess, and become the Duke household’s live-in son-in-law.”

Of course, provided that Merdia doesn’t kill me after I finish saying this.