An Arranged Marriage with an Enemy - Chapter 6-1

“Leo!” Kaon barged into his sister’s office.

Two familiar figures were in the messy room that had been his deceased father’s. One was Joseph, and the other was, of course, the successor of the room.

“Young Master?” Joseph frowned, displeased that the lord’s younger brother would actually be so rude.

His mother, who was in charge of teaching etiquette, would have fainted if she witnessed this, but he decided not to comment. There was something in Kaon’s fierce expression that made him pause.

“Let’s finish this later.”

“Yes, Master.” Joseph backed away, trying not to make eye contact with the angered beast.

Unfortunately for him, Kaon had a keen eye and enough wisdom to reach the right conclusion—at least in this case.

“What’s with that reaction? Everyone knew except me, right?”

It was truly ridiculous that all those people knew about it beforehand and didn’t bother to tell him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Leo said.

“What do you mean you don’t know? Who else could have given the order for me to share a room with the princess?” Kaon growled, his patience fraying.

“Ah.”

“Ah? Is that the only thing you can say right now?”

Leonida nodded calmly, making his gut twist.

He groaned, running a hand through his hair. It felt like his head would burst if he didn’t relieve the pressure somehow.

“Is there any reason not to do it? You two are engaged, and if nothing extreme happens by the time you come of age, you will get married. It’s a binding agreement between families, and they have already entrusted their princess to us.”

“But that’s just because we need mages and they need money.”

“Exactly. We need mages. We always will.”

“Why are you talking about that again? We’ve discussed this before.”

Ferdinand needed a mage to work for them, and Ingelos needed money to continue with their work. Except for the fact that the two families were mortal enemies, there was no better partner to trade with.

And the transaction was established. Alessia was sent to Ferdinand as proof of that. Kaon couldn’t understand why Leonida was saying this again.

“Didn’t I say you two would be engaged? There are still a few years left before the marriage.”

“That’s because we haven’t come of age yet…”

“With the consent of both families, marriage is still possible. It was the norm until just ten years ago. The process is cumbersome, but indeed, it is not impossible,” Leo replied. “If Duke Aubrey hadn’t done those disgusting things, it wouldn’t even be a problem now.”

Right. Kaon had heard of that. The ugly acts committed by the king’s younger brother led to the sudden halt of marriages involving minors.

“Any more questions?”

Well, what he really wanted to know was why they had to share a room. He was pretty clear on what the difference between an engagement and a marriage was, and he didn’t have the time to rehash that conversation.

Kaon needed to know the reason first before explaining anything to Alessia, especially because he wasn’t about to say that there was a mistake.

Leonida stood and walked to her window, looking out at their territory.

A large number of people lived in Ferdinand, enjoying the fertile land and mild climate. But to their left was the monster forest. Just as people chose to settle down in places where crops grew abundantly, monsters also liked to be near places with a lot of people.

The barrier that many mages had placed around the forest grew progressively weaker as time passed, as evidenced by the soldiers detecting more and more anomalies and calling the Royal Knights more and more frequently.

Countless lives had already been lost. Leonida had vowed not to lose any more loved ones, which meant constantly looking for ways to protect their duchy.

“Ingelos is in need now, and yet they don’t want to make a deal with the king. The reason why they’re being so docile now is that, to some extent, they know their situation.”

They would rather provide mages to an enemy’s family than be leash-bound by the king. There was even a clause in the agreement that stated that if the mage they sent did not faithfully carry out their duties, the responsibility rested with them.

“But won’t they change their tune when they’re no longer in such dire straits?”

That was what magic research was about. If it failed, it was possible to lose billions, but if it succeeded, it became the foundation on which a family could thrive.

People were fascinated by the unknown. The success of a mage was incomparable to the success of a knight.

So, Leo, you mean that I have to share a room with her just in case Ingelos is uncooperative?

‘What kind of headache-inducing sophistry is that?’