CH 40

“What? He bought another mansion in Howard country?”

“I don’t know if he did or not. To be precise, he said he sent someone.”

“Yes, he sent someone.”

It was my older brother who put a complete period on the question mark floating on the table. Perhaps tired of organizing Leonhard’s gifts, my older brother swallowed the red wine in one gulp with a tired face.

Looking at it earlier, there were still seven carriages left. I moved the big turkey leg that John gave me to my older brother’s plate.

“I just received a call from our country. I hear people from the North have expressed their desire to purchase the entrance to Mount Grover.”

“Entrance to Mount Grover? Maybe a gravel field? Why there?”

“They are going to draw water from the Nasir River, dig a lake, and build a mansion. I didn’t understand why they wanted to build a mansion in our country, which has nothing to see, so I put it off for now.”

The older brother picked up a new knife and cut it into the turkey’s tender thighs, placing it back on my plate.

It wasn’t polite to refuse his sincerity, so I quickly cut the flesh of the thigh with a knife and brought it to my mouth. Ha, this greasy taste. The best.

“It turns out that those people are the nobles of the Ajas, so the mansion they are building is a gift for Nell, right?”

“I knew from seeing those carriages that the barrels weren’t usually big.” 

My Little brother, who hadn’t picked up a fork since the steak had cooled and his arms were crossed, clicked his tongue lightly.

“Looks like he has a lot of money. Are they really giving you the Paul Herbina mansion?”

“The big mansion that even Count Todd, who has a lot of money, gave up on managing?”

“He is a man who can handle a big mansion like Paul Herbina. Maybe the Marquis of Ajas could live with three Paul Herbina mansions with the money he collects in Hermen.” 

Hermen, the city of gold and scales.

It was not far from the castle of Ajas, which was one of the great powers of Ajas, where Blood Horn, the largest auction house in the empire, was right there.

Unlike Golden Brew, which has a luxurious atmosphere where only nobles who have received invitations from the host can enter, the Blood Horn even the lowest class can enter if they have something to sell and money to buy.

Therefore, some nobles denigrate Blood Horn as a dirty and seedy place, but the auction house was at the center of what made Hermen a city of gold and merchants.

“By the way, I have been wondering. You know, the name of the Blood Horn Auction House is called Blood Horn because long ago, Marquis Ajas killed a blood dragon and sold its horn there.”

“There is a legend like that. So why?”

“No, I wonder if dragons really exist.” 

Dragon is like a fantasy dream! 

However, as if it were a dream, I searched the monster book hard, but I couldn’t find anything about dragons. Sometimes in fairy tale books, it comes out as a bad villain who catches a princess.

“It is now known to be extinct, but… If it were somewhere, it would be a disaster in itself. Because dragons are irregular.”

“Irregular?”

“More than the highest level monster.”

For some reason, my little brother’s words sent a shiver down my spine.

One of the highest-level monsters was like a natural disaster such as a typhoon or earthquake. but what does “More than the highest level” mean? Like a nuclear bomb?

“Anyway, I agree.”

“huh? What?”

“What’s what? It’s Nell’s marriage.”

Lily, who answered with a simple answer, poked a ripe grape with a fork and took it to her mouth.

“Two mansions, Odette’s tears, and nine carriages filled with jewels, and all this for a proposal, not a wedding, and I love it. I agree.” 

“He snob! Did you fall for the money now?”

“Yes. What else is there to fall for but money? Good looks, a title, fame, character? Is there something lacking from Marquis Ajas?” 

My little brother’s mouth was closed like a clam.

It was hard to argue with that. Even if I think about it again, Leonhard was a great person. 

“There are many rich men in the world. But there are also a lot of small people who are stingy about spending that money on their families.”

“….”

“Besides, Liv’s already given her permission. She even received a ring, but now you’re going to argue with that? The Marquis Ajas courted Nell while throwing away his pride in a place where countless people were watching. Are you really going to put our Nell reputation in the mud?”

“Threw away his pride?”

“Oh, I bet you haven’t heard yet. How eloquently Marquis Ajas made the confession.”

“What?”

“They said He quoted verses to make his confession. Oh, I wish I had been there.”

I secretly giggled as Lily sighed heavily in regret. As expected, the confession I heard today will be engraved in my heart until the day I die. 

When I have a child later, I have to tell my child too. ‘A long time ago, your father confessed to your mother like this.’

“Brother, what do you think…?”

“You don’t have to ask, Alex. I’ve already answered that I give my permission to Nell to marry the Marquis of Ajas, no, Leonhard.”

“Leonhard?!”

“Since we will be a family now, we should call him by his first name.”

My little brother’s face looked quite complicated as he muttered, “I never thought I’d hear you say that”

Still, it was a little comforting because I didn’t think He was in a bad mood.

“Besides, I…secretly think he’s a good match for Nell.”

“What? why?”

“Really?”

This was a bit surprising to me too.

When I opened my eyes wide in surprise and looked at my older brother, my older brother nodded.

“Do you remember the other day when he said he was going to send someone to talk to me about something?”

“Oh, yeah. Come to think of it, what was he talking about?” 

“It was about the second princess.” 

“The second princess?”

“He had met with The second princess once before. They say it was His Majesty’s arrangement.”

My Older brother rinsed his mouth once with cold water and then continued. 

“If Leonhard refuses the Emperor’s offer, there are few families left worthy of the Second Princess’s hand in marriage, and Of course, I thought it was impossible, but I thought it was very high that the Emperor will choose me as the Second Princess’s partner.”

The reason Leonhard was able to refuse the emperor’s arrangement was that he was ‘Ajas’.

If the emperor introduces a marriage to our family, we dare not refuse it. For what reason would a powerless Count refuse the emperor’s offer of marriage?

“How honorable it would be for Count to become a lord. But Leonhard was worried about something else: If you have a separate partner, it would be better to announce the relationship as soon as possible.”

“Ah…If that was the case, it would make sense to send someone else.”

“It’s not something to talk about in the palace, either, because it has a lot of ears to listen to.”

“I see…”

‘Could it be that it was in that context that Duke Daphnen arranged for my brother?’

I can’t jump to conclusions, but if that’s the case, I thought he was a very good person. The marriage between my older brother and the second princess should be stopped for everyone’s sake.

“Honor becomes a lord, the benefits our family can get…I thought that anyone who cares about people’s hearts first would not hurt my sister with such a problem. That’s why I didn’t refuse this marriage.”

My older brother glanced at my little brother, urging him to speak up if he had any further objections.

My little brother pursed his lips a few times before finally sighing.

“If my brother and sister agreed, it would be useless for me to oppose it. Take care of it.”

“Don’t do that, brother Alex. Do you hate Leon? hm?” 

“Whether I like it or not, You’re going to go ahead with this wedding, right? So what does my opinion mean?”

“Of course it’s meaningful! Because if you oppose it, I’m going to be uncomfortable the whole time.”

“You don’t even think about my feelings being uncomfortable, do you?”

“If you really don’t like it, I’ll go to Leon and ask him to step down. You really don’t like it?”

I wondered if he could feel me staring at him. My little brother looked at me with a slightly annoyed expression on his face.

“Always, always! You always make an accident by yourself…! Doesn’t Marquis ajas know you’re such a troublemaker?”

Oh. The title is back as Marquis Aias! 

I was so happy that I couldn’t help laughing. 

“Of course, he doesn’t know! I was so good at pretending.”

“If you’ve broken up with and come back later. I’ll kick your ass and kick you out.”

“Hehe, I’ll never get kicked out, I’ll live well! Don’t worry, brother!”

That day, that’s how my marriage was decided. There was a little bit of grumbling mixed in but fortunately, with the permission of the whole family.

I was very happy about that. One of the many futures I wanted to change. Not getting permission to marry, not saying goodbye properly.

A future in the original story where I ran away to the north like I was driving a stake through my family’s heart, and it did not become a reality now.