Chapter 140: Living Together

“Right here, right now…?!”

Before I could even answer about the matchmaking, Jessica’s hand pulled me into the carriage.

As soon as I entered, the carriage door slammed shut, and Jessica’s face, more agitated than I’d ever seen, came uncomfortably close to mine.

“Eep…”

While Hori whimpered at the sudden turn of events, Jessica grabbed my collar and asked in a trembling voice:

“Wh-what’s this about a matchmaking session…?”

“What do you mean… You were there when we talked about it, weren’t you?”

“That’s not what I’m talking about!! H-how long have we been dating, and you’re already trying to cheat?!”

Jessica’s angry voice resonated so loudly I thought it might shake the carriage.

I knew exactly how Jessica would feel about what I was trying to do, so I didn’t know how to respond. Instead of words, I expressed my feelings through actions.

“Mmph…!!”

As I caressed Jessica’s cheek and kissed her, she was caught off guard and accepted it.

As we shared our warmth and saliva, it seemed my feelings were conveyed. Jessica’s face, which had been red with anger, now seemed flushed for a different reason.

“Hah…”

Jessica, breathing heavily, looked down at me as she straddled me.

I sat up, causing Jessica to slide off me, and spoke to her as she waited for my words, her hands trembling.

“Listen, Jessica. When it comes to women and swords, the more, the better.”

“…What did you say?”

“I said, the more women and swords, the better. Now, I’m off to that matchmaking session!”

Leaving the stunned Jessica behind, I burst out of the carriage. As I did, I heard Jessica’s resentful voice behind me.

“I’ll get my revenge when you’re old!!! Just you wait until we’re married!!!”

“Haha!!!”

What foolish words. As if I’d give up the Baldo I could do now for fear of revenge decades later.

Besides, the children raised under my tutelage in Baldo techniques would surely be upright individuals who wouldn’t stand by and watch their mother’s unreasonable violence.

“…It sounds like some strange things were said. What exactly happened?”

“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, where’s the future Sword Saint? Since you asked me to fight here, they must be nearby, right?”

“Yes, my sister is near the horses…”

“I’m right here.”

Hearing a voice from below rather than beside or behind me, I looked down to see a young girl with a face somewhat resembling Rain’s, standing there blankly.

The girl, shorter than even Hori who was around 140cm, had blue hair tied in two braids like Rain’s. As Rain had once mentioned, despite her small stature, she had an unbalanced figure with certain areas well-developed.

If she had been an ordinary girl, I might have paid more attention to her beauty, but right now, I was more interested in her incredibly stable stance.

‘There are no openings.’

To the casual observer, she was just standing there, but anyone skilled in swordsmanship could see that her entire body was in a state of extreme tension, ready to respond to an attack from any direction at any time.

She had four swords strapped to her waist, and I was intrigued about how she might use all four of them.

“…Your name?”

“…Elaine Von Lionheart. You look good. I think I’m going to have a lot of fun.”

It seemed she had the same thoughts as me, as I could sense a warrior’s aura in her expressionless eyes.

I wanted to test how this girl, over 40cm shorter than me, would handle my sword, but I couldn’t fight her right now.

“Sorry, but I can’t fight now.”

“…Why?”

“The sword I use for duels broke… So I can’t fight right now because of that.”

“Don’t you have another sword at your waist?”

Elaine pointed at Wolffang strapped to my waist, but I couldn’t draw Wolffang against her.

“If I fight you with Wolffang, I’m not confident I can end it without killing you.”

“…”

Holding back to avoid killing is only possible when there’s a significant difference in skill.

Although I hadn’t crossed swords with Elaine yet, judging by the power I sensed from her, her skill was on par with or slightly below Baek Jeong-nam’s.

Against such an opponent, if I held back even in a duel, I might end up being the one in trouble.

“Hmm…”

Being skilled herself, Elaine understood that my words were no exaggeration. She nodded, seemingly accepting that there was no other choice.

“…So when you get a new sword, we’ll fight then?”

“Yeah, can you wait until then?”

“Okay…”

Elaine backed down easily, contrary to the aura she had shown just moments ago.

Well, it made sense, since the original purpose wasn’t a duel to the death, but to gauge each other’s abilities for the matchmaking.

As I was about to board the carriage, thinking the matter was settled, Elaine climbed in after me.

“…What’s this? Why are you getting in?”

“Huh? I’m going to wait until you get a new sword…”

“Wait?”

Confused by the situation, I turned to look at Rain, who was rubbing her face with one hand and letting out a deep sigh.

“I’m sorry… Please… take care of my sister for a few days.”

“Hey! Where are you going?!”

Rain left those words and ran off somewhere at a quick pace, without looking back.

Seeing Rain’s retreating figure, looking somewhat tired, I could easily imagine what kind of days the two of them must have had, and it made me feel a bit sad.

“Hmm…”

As Elaine sat down next to me in the carriage, my eyes met Jessica’s, who was sitting opposite us.

Jessica glared at Elaine, forgetting that she was the future Sword Saint, but Elaine responded with an expressionless face as if it were nothing.

The short ride into the mansion felt like an eternity in hell.

When the carriage stopped in the garden, the awkward silence continued, with no one making a move to get out due to the atmosphere inside.

-Grumble…

But that didn’t last long. Like all things, the silence enveloping the carriage was suddenly broken by a rumbling sound.

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah… I haven’t eaten anything for two days. Give me food.”

“Alright, people need to eat after all.”

I escaped the carriage with Elaine, who was clinging to my sleeve.

Hori, who had been on the verge of vomiting from the carriage’s atmosphere, rushed out after us, but Jessica remained inside, continuing to glare at my back until the end.

——

As if by habit, I reached out to the side of the bed upon waking up.

First, I set Wolffang against the wall, then reached for Shadowstrike, but the unfamiliar weight in my hand made me sigh deeply.

“…”

The hilt of Shadowstrike in my hand was cleanly cut at the base of the blade, as if sliced by another sharp blade.

Shadowstrike, once the most suitable sword for Baldo techniques, had now become a failure incapable of being drawn from its scabbard.

The realization was so heartbreaking that I started my morning in tears once again.

After carefully placing the broken Shadowstrike on the side of the bed, I left the room to find Elaine, who had been staying at the mansion for the past few days, waiting for me.

“Were you waiting?”

“Yeah…”

“Let’s go then.”

Since coming to the mansion, Elaine had been joining me for morning training.

Well, “joining” meant we just swung our swords while facing different directions, but having someone nearby made the experience feel somehow different.

“Hah…!!”

After a pleasant sweat in the garden, we headed to the dining room to satisfy our hunger.

Perhaps because we’d been living like this for several days, Elaine, who had seemed awkward at first, was starting to feel more familiar.

However, even though several days had passed since Rain and Elaine first arrived, Hori still seemed unfamiliar with Elaine, glancing at her frequently during meals.

“Are you done eating?”

“Yeah…”

As Elaine got up first after finishing her meal, Hori approached me as if she had been waiting for this moment.

“Ian… Are you really planning to marry her? Jessica won’t stay quiet about this.”

“So what if she doesn’t? It’s not like her torn hymen’s going to grow back.”

“Wow… You’re trash…”

Heh, did someone threaten me at swordpoint to take her virginity? Besides, some high-ranking nobles have dozens of concubines. I’m practically a gentleman in comparison.

“So… should I make some contraceptives or aphrodisiacs for you from now on?”

“Isn’t it a bit early for that? We haven’t even had the matchmaking meeting yet.”

“But you’re already living together, aren’t you? So it’s better to be prepared…”

Now that I think about it, something feels seriously out of order here.

“I wonder where it all went wrong…”

As I was lamenting over this relationship that was more tangled than carelessly stuffed earphone cords, I heard the sound of iron gates being roughly thrown open outside.

I poked my head out the window to see Jessica standing proudly with several maids.

“What now…”

—