Succession Round 2, Lord Ransel. (3)

3.

He dies.

Come to think of it, Lancel had died quite a bit. On the battlefield, in the city, on the execution block, in Marigold’s arms. He had died in so many different ways, when some people barely die once.

Especially after 10 years, Lancel in Marigold’s memory had almost always died.

It was doubtful if he had ever lived to a ripe old age.

“You’re going to die.”

“Is that a curse?”

“You died, didn’t you?”

“…I don’t quite understand what you’re…”

“I said you died!”

“Ugh!”

Marigold hugged him again. There was an ominous sound from his back, like cracking. Lancel calmed her down again, saying, “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.”

“You just have to not die. Just don’t die. Just go somewhere far away and safe in advance.”

Summarizing what she had said, Lancel persuaded her for the time being.

“Evacuate to some island…”

He suddenly stopped talking.

‘But I died on an island too, didn’t I?’

He had died there in the previous iteration.

Marigold’s expression was still tearful.

“But why do you die?”

She was silent for a long time.

She seemed hesitant to say something.

After hesitating for a while, Marigold finally opened her mouth.

“It’s because of the Demon King…”

“……?”

Marigold’s expression looked a little embarrassed. She seemed worried that her credibility was plummeting.

That’s because the word Demon King popping up at this timing was so out of the blue. An average person would have no choice but to react, “What’s that, you weeb?”

But Lancel was different.

He knew.

That the Demon King actually existed in this game.

-So what is the Demon King?

-Something like that being of darkness.

-……?

Even he himself, let alone his sister, didn’t seem to know exactly what it was. But it was certain that it existed.

His sister had stubbornly crammed the existence of the Demon King into the game. When he asked her why she put something like that in, her answer was just one thing.

-Demon King, handsome, villain, it’s kind of cool.

Lancel wasn’t expecting a plausible answer either. He had just become convinced of his sister’s game philosophy ever since.

“Is the Demon King coming to kill me?”

“I, I don’t know that far. It’s what Lancel said. The Lancel from the previous life… not me, Lancel said it!”

“Do you have to emphasize it that much?”

Marigold was quickly passing the subject of the story to Lancel.

Demon King.

Demon King, huh.

What does it mean to die because of the Demon King, when that guy isn’t even killing him?

In dozens of lives, at least as far as Lancel remembered, the Demon King didn’t exist.

Only the fact that the ‘Demon King’ existed in the past wandered around the Empire as a folk tale.

“I’m going to keep Lancel alive. I have so many things I want to do with you, I can’t forgive you for going back first. I will never let you die in this life!”

Marigold said that, and then,

“And I’ll never give you to anyone else.”

She showed a slight hint of resentment.

The arms that wrapped around Lancel’s body tightened.

“…Mine.”

“It’s not like I’m an object. I’m just saying this in case you’ve forgotten, but we’re meeting for the first time today, okay?”

“I’m not!”

Gasp, Lancel quickly stopped Marigold as he started to suffocate again.

“So Lancel, please join me on my way.”

This iteration.

Her companionship with him.

It was just beginning.

“What are you doing?”

“I have to do what I have to do.”

Lancel was losing confidence in his ability to handle it.

4.

“Didn’t you sleep well these days?”

“Yeah, well.”

“Miss Mary is full of energy, so why are you dying?”

“Something happened.”

Thursday.

The Dante Family’s guards and vassals all rode out into the field.

Lady Dante and the maids got into the carriage and packed a lot of lunch boxes.

“We have a new member of the family, so we have to show them how good it is to live in our territory. We’re going to stay here overnight today, so get ready!”

Because the Viscount was shouting that he would stay outside for a day, the whole family was busy preparing for it.

“The weather is nice! Hahaha!”

“The head of the family has already had a drink.”

“He filled the water bottle with only alcohol.”

Hills and fields of the Dante Territory, lush with midsummer greenery.

“Lancel!”

Marigold waved her hand in the distance. The horse she was riding was running across the field under the scorching sun.

Her long tied hair fluttered in the air along with her cloak, and the sweat on her forehead scattered and reflected light like crystals each time the hooves hit the ground.

“I’m here, Lancel!”

Bright smile.

“You’re too good a daughter to be tied to you. If my daughter was like that, I would never have sent her to you.”

“How many times have you said that?”

Viscount Dante’s words were sincere.

Lancel didn’t deny it either. He had been living like a good-for-nothing until he met Marigold in this iteration.

Even at this moment, the rumor was spreading that he was just a ‘lucky young master who hooked up with a good woman’.

Not long ago, a young territory resident who was farming seriously asked him for advice, “What’s the secret to hooking up with a good woman, young master?”

“Okay, everyone stop!”

At the entrance of the forest.

Viscount Dante stopped the procession by the river where the lifeline of this area flowed.

“We’ll set up camp here. And Rio, Kyle, Lancel! Everyone, get your tools! We’ve come out for the first time in a while, so let’s do some hunting.”

“I knew you’d say that, so I brought them.”

The second son, Kyle, raised his sword and crossbow with both hands and smiled.

“That’s good. I heard that there’s a pack of wolves around here these days, and the people who raise pigs and sheep are suffering, so we should chase them away.”

The eldest son, Rio, said that and rode his horse forward. He tapped Lancel on the back.

“Lancel, you stick with Miss Mary.”

“There’s a place beyond that field where you can’t see well, so please keep that in mind, young master. Hehehe!”

“……”

Lancel ignored it, but Marigold was strangely memorizing the direction the guard was pointing.

No way, right?

“I’ll borrow you for a second, Lancel.”

“Huh?”

Marigold took the crossbow from Lancel’s back. She aimed at the sky in the distance and waited for a long time, then pulled the trigger.

The crossbow bolt that flew in a gentle curve pierced the body of a bird flapping its wings in an instant.

“Got it!”

Marigold clenched her fist.

Hunting dogs rushed towards the bird that had fallen into the river as if competing with each other. They brought back a plump duck.

“Hoo.”

“This is…!”

“So the knight is a knight after all.”

Viscount Dante came over and patted Marigold on the back.

“Good job, Mary.”

“Am I number one now, Viscount?”

“Huh?”

Marigold’s eyes were shining.

Viscount Dante smiled.

“Are you going to give up first place to Miss Mary in our land, you fools! Go and catch some prey right now!”

.

.

.

“Why do knights like hunting so much?”

Lady Dante, sitting on a mat by the river, raised her teacup.

There were many men in this area running around like crazy, chasing rabbits, wild boars, deer, and the like.

“I caught it!”

“Bullshit! This is my arrow!”

“Three already! I’m going to be number one soon!”

They were making loud noises, bringing their prey one by one and ranking each other.

“Don’t they get tired in this hot weather?”

“Ah! It’s Miss Mary!”

Lady Dante followed the maids’ gaze.

Marigold and Lancel Dante appeared, riding their horses by the river.

As they ran along the water, they were aiming for a deer.

“Lancel!”

Kyle Dante soon cut in next to them.

“I’ll take the prey you’ve weakened!”

Just as he was about to throw his sword at the deer.

Clang-!

Sparks flew.

Kyle Dante’s blade was helplessly deflected.

“Kugh!”

His eyes widened as he felt the recoil running from his wrist to his shoulder. It was like hitting a huge rock.

“Sorry, but we were here first, Kyle.”

Only then did he realize that it was Marigold’s blade that had blocked him.

Bang-!

Meanwhile, Lancel, who had gone ahead, swung his Pommel and smashed the deer’s head.

The deer stopped running, collapsing to the ground.

“Lancel, did you just knock it out?”

“The meat tastes better if you catch it without hurting it. It’s also cleaner.”

“Then are we going to eat this?”

“Why would we catch it if we weren’t going to eat it? Deer tastes good for a wild animal.”

“Heh.”

Lancel, carrying the deer on his back, and Marigold, following beside him, were all smiles.

Kyle Dante stared blankly at her back.

His blade had been deflected so easily, and his palm had turned red from the shock.

Lancel’s fiancée, who had done that, was disappearing into the distance as if nothing had happened.

“Mary… is she more skilled than she looks?”

Kyle Dante, who belatedly came to his senses, looked for Lancel, but he couldn’t be seen for some reason.

“Hey! Have you seen Lancel?”

“Yes? If you’re talking about the youngest young master…”

The vassals, who were busy hunting, all smiled slyly.

“The two of them went far away to wash up a while ago. Hehe.”

“Hehehe, the engaged couple is trying to do something away from people’s eyes…! I really don’t know! I don’t know even if you beat me to death!”

“Good times!”

Kyle Dante frowned.

‘He’s already making a fuss about kissing and sucking because he has a girlfriend, that bastard.’

Of course, he also had a fiancée.

Unlike the woman named Mary Mary, she was a countess from a thoroughly courtly aristocratic family.

She loved perfume and jewelry more than swords.

She enjoyed tea and snacks more than exercise or horseback riding.

She was a typical court aristocrat who would frown as if she would die if she was exposed to the sun… a well-bred countess.

-Are you visiting me without a gift? Don’t you know the etiquette between nobles yet? What will happen if my father finds out about this? Can you handle it? Go back right now! Right now!

“Haa.”

Kyle Dante sighed deeply, recalling his fiancée’s cold eyes.

5.

Cold water enveloped Lancel.

Even in the summer, the river water in the Dante Territory, which flowed directly from the valley, was still cool.

Splash-!

Lancel caught and lifted Marigold’s body, who had jumped in soon after. Except for their underwear, the two were already naked.

“Puhah!”

“You haven’t swam much, have you?”

“A little, I’ve done it, just the basics… Oop!”

Lancel supported Marigold, who was sinking into the water.

“Walk slowly. Your feet will touch the ground.”

It was a place they had found to cool off for a while.

It started with a simple thought that it would be better to fall in once and come out than just dipping their feet in the water.

But once they got in, the thought of wanting to get out disappeared.

“Haaaah…”

Marigold’s expression melted in the cold river water.

“Haaaah. It’s so cool. Lancel Niiim…”

“Don’t go to the deep places. This way.”

Carefully leading Marigold, who was floating on the water, Lancel’s thoughts suddenly became complicated.

‘How did I end up getting engaged?’

It was the first time in his life.

Starting from the beginning as someone’s partner.

Maybe this is a pretty rare case?

“Lancel?”

The engagement was purely her will.

No matter what Lancel had done in the previous iteration, this relationship would not have been established if it hadn’t been for her. He would never have taken the initiative.

Having lived for hundreds of years and become dull, creating a partner who would one day turn to ashes and disappear was an idea that was difficult to conceive.

But Marigold was different.

Her thoughts were different.

The Regressor Marigold willingly chose Lancel. Without a moment’s hesitation.

“Mary.”

Lancel turned Marigold’s body towards him.

The river and the forest were reflected in her big eyes. It was as if only the two of them were left in this world under the scorching sun.

‘Marriage to the young aristocrat, Lancel Dante’ was clearly a bitter ending. The first ending Lancel had faced when he met Marigold. Lancel still remembered the contents clearly.

[Break up the engagement. It’s a bad ending anyway. Just break up the engagement.]

The trauma of that moment whispered in his head.

Lancel slowly raised his head.

“Mary.”

“Yes, Lancel…”

Marigold’s trembling eyes met his. He could see her wet hair. He could see her neck, where she swallowed nervously.

-I’ll give you my whole life, Lancel.

“If what you gave me is your whole life…”

Lancel put his arms around her shoulders.

“…Once I’ve taken it over, I’ll never give it back.”

Yeah.

“Never.”

Lancel sincerely decided to become Marigold’s partner.

At least for this life.