Chapter 16 – The Beast, the Thief, and the Swordsman

On the morning of the fifth day after Regina Bayer was born.

Lucas frowned at the words of the palace staff member.

“Today as well…?”

“Ah… my apologies. However, if things go as they have been, you should be able to see them this afternoon.”

Seeing the staff member sweating profusely as he answered, Lucas nodded and rose from his seat.

A meeting with the Pope.

It was no easy feat for ordinary believers, but for Lucas—the Sword Saint of the Heavens and a close friend of the Pope—it was a simple matter that required only a single request for an audience.

And yet, even for someone like Lucas, he had been unable to meet with the Pope—with Yuder—for five long days.

“Seriously, what kind of beasts are they? How can they stay holed up in their bedroom for five days?”

At the complaint from Kaisa, the Sailun Kingdom’s officially recognized beast-girl, a cascade of thoughts flooded Scarlett’s mind, from Are you one to talk? to Well, I suppose Pink Bomb is a beast, isn’t she? But she didn’t bother to voice any of them.

“Anyway… they said we can see them in the afternoon. Why don’t we just say our hellos then and leave tomorrow morning?”

Their schedule was a bit delayed, but it wasn’t yet a serious problem.

Lucas nodded at Scarlett’s words. Kaisa, who had been grumbling, let out a long sigh and reluctantly agreed with a frown.

“It’s so hard to get a glimpse of them, seriously.”

“She’s the Goddess’s Avatar and a Saintess, isn’t she? It’s only natural she’d be hard to meet.”

“Yeah, I know, but… damn it, why are you being like this today? Can’t you just complain with me?”

“Nope, can’t do that. And Kaisa, didn’t I tell you to watch your mouth? When are you going to stop cursing at the drop of a hat? Huh? You’re about to become a Countess. You need to have some refinement. Are you planning on bringing shame to Lucas, his father, and his mother?”

“Ah, n-no… that’s not it… and, besides, I’m already a Marquess’s daughter, you know?”

“Are you looking down on Lucas’s family just because yours is a Marquessate? Is that it? Are you saying a Marquess is better than a Count?”

“No, how did you even get that from what I said?”

“Because that’s how you said it. Wasn’t it?”

“Ugh…”

Kaisa was confident in a physical fight, but a battle of words was another story.
Especially since her opponent was none other than Scarlett, it was a fight she could never win.

And so, Kaisa hunched her shoulders and flinched, shooting Lucas a look that pleaded for help.

But at that same moment, Scarlett also turned to Lucas. Caught between the two women’s opposing gazes—one asking for help, the other telling him to stay out of it—Lucas, with a face full of apology, chose the latter.

Just as Scarlett said, Kaisa did need to be more careful with her words and actions. But more importantly, Scarlett, as the eldest, was the current leader of their trio.

Besides, Scarlett had a point.

Countess Hresvelg.

In half a year, Kaisa Orphend, daughter of the Orphend Marquisate, was scheduled to marry Lucas Hresvelg, the Sword Saint of the Heavens, and become ‘Kaisa Hresvelg.’

This decision had been made about six months ago, just before the Holy Nation of Yudelia was founded.

*

“First, marry Kaisa. Then, marry me. Kaisa will be the first wife, and I’ll be the second.”

“What?”

It was a bright, sunny morning with fresh air.

Lucas’s eyes widened in astonishment at the words Scarlett suddenly uttered as they faced each other, swords in hand, in the training grounds.

What did I just hear? Did I mishear her?

But he hadn’t.

Kaisa, who had been sitting on the training ground floor watching their spar, added her own two cents.

“It’s just as she said. Marry me first, then marry her.”

“K-Kaisa?”

“We decided between ourselves. We figured if we waited for you to choose, Lucas, we’d both be old and gray.”

Lucas flinched as Scarlett spoke again. Kaisa, looking as if she’d just made a brilliant point, placed her hands on her hips and chimed in once more.

“You don’t have a choice anymore, Lucas. We’ve taken it away. We’re going to do as we please.”

At her almost threatening demeanor, Lucas looked back at Scarlett.

“Scarlett?”

“It’s as Kaisa said. We tried to respect your choice, Lucas… but our patience is starting to wear thin.”

More than friends, less than lovers.

No, they were certainly more than friends, but it had been well over a year that they had maintained a relationship far too ambiguous to be called anything less than lovers.

“We know you well, Lucas. Not just in this life… but because we’ve been together several times.”

When Scarlett herself had become demonized, Kaisa had been there for her. When Kaisa had become demonized, Scarlett had been there for her.

“We held back from forcing the issue, afraid you’d insist on staying single because you couldn’t choose between us. But at this point, we figured it would be better to just share you.”

“Sh-Share me?”

Lucas’s face flushed bright red at the unexpected and frankly embarrassing remark.

In truth, Scarlett’s face was flushed, too.

She had steeled herself to say it brazenly, but actually voicing the words made her feel like she was losing her mind.

But she had started it, and this was a story that needed an ending one way or another.

It was something she and Kaisa had already discussed for days.

“Let’s be honest, Kaisa’s family status is a factor. I’m from the Empire, whereas Kaisa is from the Sailun Kingdom. So we decided Kaisa will be the first wife. It looks better that way and will likely cause less gossip later on.”

Frankly, the Hresvelg family itself supported Scarlett over Kaisa.
For the Hresvelg County, seated in the North and acting as the leader of the twelve northern families, a union with the Orphend Marquisate in the South wasn’t particularly appealing.

If the Hresvelgs had been involved in commerce and finance like the Crossbell or Pikers families, a union with the South could have created significant value. But alas, the Hresvelgs were a martial family.

As the border counts protecting the North, they had little to gain from an alliance with the South.

Of course, the leader of the North and the leader of the South joining forces would have a significant political effect, but this too was not something the Hresvelg family particularly welcomed.

It was the kind of move that would draw scrutiny not only from the royal family but from various other houses as well.

The current Count Hresvelg was a warrior to the bone.

His only son, Lucas, was the same.

For two men with no political ambitions, the political influence gained from a union with the Orphend Marquisate was nothing but a heavy burden.

Scarlett, on the other hand, was different.

The fact that she was from the Empire was a slight concern, but because of it, there was no need to consider the political influence or the scrutiny from surrounding families that would come with a union between houses.

Of course, if Scarlett had been a high-ranking noble of the Empire, the story would be different, but her family, the Viper Barony, was just an ordinary rural noble house.

And Scarlett was a sword genius.

Not just Count Hresvelg, but most of the Hresvelg family members were focused on that fact.

—The young master is a sword genius, so if he marries another genius, won’t an absolutely incredible genius be born?

It wasn’t just their hopes for a second generation.

To put it bluntly, for the Hresvelg family, a clan of sword-wielders, the sword genius Scarlett was naturally more appealing than Kaisa, a martial artist of monstrous strength.

And there was one more thing.

—Lucas needs a smart, sharp wife.

Countess Hresvelg was Lucas’s mother, and so she knew him better than anyone.

Lucas was undoubtedly a kind and sincere boy, but he had an indecisive side.

Therefore, Lucas needed a wife who was smart and sharp—in a word, someone who could lead him.

In that respect, Countess Hresvelg was even more fond of Scarlett.

She even liked the fact that Scarlett was older than Lucas.

‘But…’

All of that was based on the assumption that only one of them would marry Lucas.

‘If both of us marry Lucas, it makes more sense for Kaisa to be the first wife.’

First, there was the matter of the Orphend Marquisate.

As the leaders of the South, the men of the Orphend family—a beastly lot who took after Kaisa—would surely never accept a situation where Kaisa became the second wife.

It wasn’t just them; there would undoubtedly be talk from all around.

‘Plus, I’m from the Empire.’

Lucas was, for all intents and purposes, a man of the Sailun Kingdom.

He was a hero of the kingdom who held the top position among the Ten Sword Masters. If he took an Imperial citizen as his first wife over one of his own countrywomen, public opinion within the kingdom would surely turn sour.

“So that’s the conclusion we reached. Kaisa will be the first wife, and I’ll be the second.”

Lucas wore a complicated expression at Scarlett’s clearly articulated words, and Kaisa added her own.

“You’re the Sword Saint of the Heavens, right? His Majesty the King had three wives. Two wives should be fine. No problem.”

Kaisa said it so breezily, but there was no way it wouldn’t be a problem.

After all, the example she had used was none other than ‘the King.’

And—

Was it really okay? To be with both of them like this? Setting his own feelings aside, were the two of them truly okay with it?

“It’s okay,” Scarlett said.

She knew better than anyone what Lucas was thinking and why he looked so conflicted.

That was why she looked him straight in the eye and said, “This is our one and only life. There are no do-overs. So… I don’t want to give up.”

There would be no next chance.

Time would no longer repeat itself.

Scarlett couldn’t give up.

Neither could Kaisa.

And the two of them understood that about each other.

Their bond wasn’t one forged just in this life; it was a truly complex connection formed over several repeated lifetimes, where they had been at times enemies, at times lovers, and at times friends.

Lucas swallowed dryly at Scarlett’s words.

After Yuder and Cordelia, it was Lucas who possessed the most memories of the past regressions.

In fact, though he had never expressed it, his heart had been churning with emotion more than anyone’s.

Scarlett smiled. She reached out and caressed the cheek of her lover, who was so foolishly earnest that she couldn’t help but love him.

“It’s okay. Just think of yourself as the lucky one, Lucas. Accept it gladly. Honestly, it’s an incredible luxury, isn’t it?”

As Scarlett spoke with a wink, Lucas bit his lip slightly. Kaisa strode forward and said, “She’s right. You just have to become a two-timing piece of trash, Lucas. Then everyone can be happy.”

“A… what?”

Lucas asked back without thinking, wondering what he had just heard, but Kaisa merely laughed.

Scarlett did, too.

“Yep, that’s right. Lucas just has to become a two-timing, shameless, scum-of-the-earth piece of trash. A lecher, perhaps?”

“The rumors will say you’re a terrible person.”

“But deep down, everyone will be jealous.”

“And when we show up at social events, one of us on each of your arms, everyone will whisper, won’t they?”

“Yep, they will. Definitely. But it’s all your karma, Lucas, so it can’t be helped. You have to pay that price for getting two kind and beautiful wives.”

Caught between Scarlett and Kaisa’s back-and-forth, Lucas bit his lip again, and Scarlett knew exactly why.

So she caressed his cheek again and smiled.

“You can smile. You can be happy. This was our choice.”

At Scarlett’s warm gaze, Lucas took a deep breath.

He looked from Scarlett to Kaisa, then said with the most serious expression in the world, “I promise you won’t regret this.”

He didn’t know if it was the right thing to say. He felt like he had become a piece of trash, just as Kaisa said, but he still said it with conviction.

“Yes. I believe in you.”

“I feel like I’m being relegated to a supporting role here, but I believe in you, too.”

As Kaisa said this, she threw her arms around Lucas from behind. Scarlett giggled and hugged him from the front.

Sandwiched between them, Lucas seemed to bite his lip one last time before his face turned red and he hugged them both back.

*

“Lucas was incredible after that day.”

“I know, right? He went into full ‘Lucas doesn’t hold back anymore’ mode.”

At the freshly recalled memory, Kaisa and Scarlett snickered. Lucas let out a few embarrassed coughs.

“Anyway, let’s meet Black Cloak and Cordelia this afternoon and leave tomorrow morning.”

At the words of their leader, Scarlett, Lucas and Kaisa nodded in agreement.

However, the three of them wouldn’t meet Yuder and Cordelia in the afternoon, but very late that night, well past dinnertime.

---

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

Please do consider subscribing to my Patreon or donate to my Ko-fi if you like this work or to get early access to chapters