Ch.9797. Flowers Always Attract Bees.

“Ah, Father!! Why are you doing this to me? You said you would forget about that day!”

“Can’t you be a little quieter?”

Deep within the secret passage hidden in the basement of the Alphonse family mansion, there exists a spacious room created by Baron Byron.

This place was an emergency shelter built in case monster waves reached the mansion.

Leonard, who had been confined in the emergency shelter with his father without knowing why, wore an extremely irritated expression.

“Father! I’m about to proceed with the marriage to the Familia family. Where in the world does a future husband get imprisoned like this!?”

“Here, I am the law.”

“I admit that my behavior at the Familia mansion was wrong. But I’ve agreed to take responsibility, and I even received Baron René’s permission. As your son, I don’t understand why you’re making my life so difficult.”

“Haah…”

“And the fact that you’ve voluntarily confined yourself as well… I simply cannot comprehend any of this.”

Baron Byron, seemingly deciding it was time to explain, pulled a small letter from his pocket and thrust it toward Leonard.

“Read this.”

“What is this letter?”

“A few days ago, someone left it in my bedroom.”

Leonard tilted his head once in confusion before slowly reading through the letter.

As time passed, his hands began to tremble.

He immediately looked up at Baron Byron.

“They’re threatening to kill you and me…?”

“Yes, it’s a dangerous individual. You can tell just by the fact that they penetrated the Alphonse family’s strict security and entered my bedroom.”

“What kind of person would send a letter threatening to poison us both…?”

Unlike his earlier bravado, Leonard trembled violently.

This was his first assassination threat.

And the boldness of someone infiltrating the Alphonse mansion and leaving a letter in Baron Byron’s bedroom was terrifying.

Baron Byron gave a gentle smile as if to comfort Leonard.

“I’ve set up tight security and we’re investigating the letter, so don’t worry.”

“But according to the letter, shouldn’t we avoid eating food?”

“All the food I’ve given you so far was prepared by me, with ingredients I personally bought from the market and cooked myself.”

So that’s why the food tasted so terrible…

Since this had been one of his main complaints about being confined, Leonard’s eyes welled up with tears as he learned the truth behind it.

“I didn’t understand Father’s intentions… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine as long as you understand now.”

“Huff!! Who on earth would be so bold as to do something like this?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I think it’s most likely one of the butlers or knights from the Familia household.”

“A butler or knight!?”

Baron Byron pointed to the letter he had just handed over.

“Doesn’t it say there, ‘Especially if Seri Familia visits the Alphonse mansion, I will not miss that opportunity’?”

“Y-yes, it does.”

“That means it could be someone who would accompany Seri Familia when she visits the Alphonse mansion.”

“Then what am I supposed to do now? Are you saying I have to live in constant danger with my life being targeted every day?”

Baron Byron crossed his arms heavily as he continued speaking.

“Once the marriage proceeds, Seri Familia will belong to our family, and that person will have no choice but to give up.”

“What if they don’t give up and continue their assassination attempts even after the marriage is complete?”

“Once we live together, Seri Familia will eat the same food as us. Would someone really poison the food when their loved one might die as well?”

“B-but still…”

Leonard stammered.

He understood Baron Byron’s logic intellectually, but it didn’t completely alleviate his anxiety.

“Do you want to cancel the marriage?”

How could he possibly say he wanted to cancel it?

Though he couldn’t remember exactly what had happened, something had occurred between him and Seri Familia in the bedroom, and both Baron Byron and Baron René had witnessed it.

“How could I go back on my word?”

“Even if you wanted to cancel it, you absolutely cannot. The rumors have already spread throughout the Eastern Continent.”

“…I know.”

“Now there’s even a rumor going around that Seri Familia is carrying your child.”

“M-my child?”

“Yes, since you’ve been in the shelter all this time, you probably didn’t know how much the rumors have been exaggerated.”

Leonard wore a dumbfounded expression.

What if he might have to live under threat for the rest of his life?

However, Baron Byron knew all too well how to handle Leonard.

“Leonard.”

“…Yes, Father.”

“I hear people are saying something among themselves.”

“What are they saying?”

“They say, ‘Only the fourth young master of the Alphonse family is worthy of possessing the beautiful Seri Familia.’ Everyone is throwing in envious comments.”

“R-really?”

Seeing Leonard’s reaction, Baron Byron adjusted his posture and continued.

“And Seri Familia came to visit.”

“Lady Seri Familia?”

“She was so desperate to see you… The sincerity in her eyes as she begged to see you just once was palpable.”

“So what did you do?”

“I kept quiet about the letter. Instead, when she heard that you were voluntarily accepting punishment, she was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes.”

At that, Leonard hung his head low.

He trembled just as before, but this time it wasn’t out of fear.

Then he suddenly stood up, placed both hands on his waist, and laughed heartily toward Baron Byron.

“Haha!! As flowers attract bees, a true man should be able to endure such things. Your son will overcome this challenge!!”

*

WHACK-!

“Ahnng!!♡”

“Won’t you hurry up and confess the information about the Forest of Death!?”

“I-I can’t tell you…”

“You wench!!”

WHACK-!

“Ahhnng!!”

I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand and sat down on the chair.

Then I placed the leather gloves and whip on the table and let out a long sigh.

“There, is that enough now?”

Evalin sat down in the chair opposite me, narrowing her brow as if her back was stinging.

“I always seem to be indebted to you.”

“If you know that, then stop making me say weird lines. When I had to say ‘Won’t you hurry up and confess?!’ I got goosebumps all over my body!!”

“It was necessary to create a dramatic situation. You work hard and then complain… well, I suppose that’s part of your charm.”

“I’m only doing this because you refuse to give me information unless I do it properly!”

“Why don’t you just accept what you’ve accepted and enjoy it?”

I was about to flare up but took a deep breath to regain my composure.

There was no point in continuing this conversation with Evalin; it would be like preaching to deaf ears.

“Anyway, I kept my promise, so now tell me about the Forest of Death.”

“While you were away recently, I noticed something strange.”

“Something strange?”

“I sensed the monsters in the Forest of Death gradually growing stronger.”

“I didn’t particularly notice anything when I went hunting recently.”

“It’s a phenomenon starting from deep within. It’s gradually spreading wider. And you’re so strong that you might not have felt it.”

This situation clearly indicates an impending monster wave.

It’s time to properly build our defenses.

But still.

I wonder if it will coincide with Seri Familia and Leonard’s wedding?

I really want to see her devastated expression.

Since I’ve already spread the rumors, will things progress faster than the monster wave?

“You’ll have more work to do from now on.”

“That means I can make more demands as well.”

“Haah… just do what I tell you properly. Then you can make whatever demands you want.”

“Understood.”

“Good, thank you for your work.”

After sending Evalin away, I headed from the bedroom to the study.

I placed a map of Lake Territory on the desk.

“Hmm…”

In the original story, Rio Sergang defended the mansion from the monster wave, while Luna protected the village.

The sudden attack resulted in numerous casualties.

Although they ultimately succeeded in stopping it, the losses were tremendous.

Minimal casualties?

No, if my predictions about which direction the monsters will come from and what types they’ll be are correct, I’m confident I can prevent even a single casualty.

Knock knock-!

Just then, there was a knock at the study door.

I carefully folded the map and put it in the drawer, then sat down in the chair and spoke.

“Come in.”

Creak-!

With a clunking sound, Luna Brillhart entered the study.

After her visits to the Imperial Palace and the Familia household, I had been paying attention to her intermittently, and she seemed to have no major complaints.

“Young Master!”

“What is it?”

“I heard you went hunting with Lucien last time. Can I go with you this time?”

I needed to build defenses in preparation for the monster wave anyway.

I stood up and put on my coat.

“We can’t go hunting today. For now, could you gather all the knights?”