Chapter 166

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – Prototype]

Chapter 166

As Karl left the southern Empire with the new holy relic, heading to another destination,

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Mother!”

Eloise was having tea with none other than Countess Ceylon.

The relationship between these two was quite peculiar.

One was a former member of the Elven Special Forces, and the other was a former Imperial secret agent who had literally ‘dismantled’ elves.

Although they hadn’t clashed directly, due to the nature of their professions, they couldn’t be unaware of each other.

It was fortunate that Eloise had never targeted humans.

If they had been in a position to kill each other, the situation would have been even more awkward.

“Aren’t you scared of me?”

The countess had even asked that directly when they first met.

It was a story, half-rumored, half-true, among the family’s servants that she had given Friedrich an elf’s head as a gift when they were dating.

“Not at all! Why would I be scared of Karl’s mother?!”

Of course, for Eloise, who preferred humans over her own kind, there was no reason to be afraid.

Instead, her goal was to score points here, widen the gap with other women, and conversely, narrow the distance with Selena.

‘According to the information I’ve gathered, Karl cherishes his family. Especially his sister, Rikata, who he’s very close to. And Rikata is said to be the spitting image of their mother...’

In other words, winning over the countess would naturally bring her closer to Karl.

Besides, isn’t it said that a wife should win over her in-laws to have a comfortable future?

‘This is the right thing to do for our future child.’

Eloise was well aware of her biggest weakness.

Race.

Yes, that’s the problem, being an elf. Karl had been hurt too much by those damn Kanfras.

And that pain likely extended to his parents, the count and countess.

Honestly, what parent would like the people who hurt their child?

Even Eloise would chase down and kill anyone who hurt her future child.

Anyway, there were two ways to overcome this weakness.

One was to win Karl’s heart, and the other was to make everyone around Karl accept her.

So, it made sense to start by winning over the countess, who had fought the most with the elves.

If she could overcome the most difficult mountain, the rest would naturally follow!

“I could pour the tea for you, Mother.”

“No, dear. If you’ve fought alongside Karl even once, you’re a friend of our family. It’s no trouble at all to pour tea for a friend.”

‘Thank goodness.‘

She was truly grateful that she had been on that train. If she hadn’t, it might have been difficult to score points like this.

“And you also served alongside the Crown Princess on a mission.”

“That’s right. Although she wasn’t such an esteemed person back then.”

“Surely, you’ll keep what you saw of our Crown Princess back then to yourself, won’t you?”

‘Ah, that.‘

Eloise smiled brightly and decided to answer tactfully.

“I’ve never heard that before!”

“Is that so?”

While the other servants were impressed, the head butler alone seemed a bit flustered.

It was understandable.

Unlike the others, he knew Karl’s peculiar secret.

‘The young master’s shooting skills are so bad that anyone would... Sigh.’

How could Karl, with such skills, have taught Lavrenti to become the Empire’s best sharpshooter?

The head butler muttered to himself that this was the greatest mystery of all time as he followed Lavrenti.

* * *

“Hahaha. That sounds like Karl. That rascal, pretending to be uninterested while charming all these beautiful women.”

“Th-that’s not true! Count! Karl is just—”

“I’m just kidding. Don’t take it too seriously, Princess... ahem, Lady Lefia.”

When Count Friedrich first met Lefia, he was secretly worried.

Even though it was an unavoidable and unique situation of war, it was the count himself who had destroyed Lefia’s maternal family.

Few people died, but their influence had greatly diminished. They almost collapsed right after the war.

Lefia was now face to face with that monster, the Baba Yaga they spoke of.

And she wasn’t just meeting him and leaving, she had come to stay as a guest in the monster’s home.

The reason was Karl, but he would be gone for a month, leaving her to face his parents.

Count Friedrich was worried that Lefia might be uncomfortable, but...

“Both my grandfather and uncles, though they met Baba Yaga as enemies, remember him as a fellow warrior. They said all those who crossed swords with him were honorable knights, and they would like to share a drink and a laugh with him someday.”

She was forgiving, and although not entirely fearless, she had the courage to overcome it.

As a woman of Lasker, she certainly had backbone.

By their standards, she might be considered delicate, but from this side, she was more than enough.

Thanks to her, the count was able to talk about the past without much worry.

Beside him, Lefia responded with smiles and appropriate interjections.

“So, Lady Lefia.”

“Yes, Count?”

“How much do you like my son?”

“...Eh?”

“If you didn’t, there would be no reason for you to come to our house, would there?”

Was the question too direct? Lefia, momentarily unable to process the conversation, let out a confused sound.

Then, finally regaining her composure, she asked if she had heard him correctly.

“C-Count, I’m so sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment—”

“You heard correctly, Lady Lefia. Do you like my son?”

“Th-that...”

“For your information, there’s already the daughter of the Marquis of Nafplion by his side, and there are others as well. I’m asking if you’re truly okay with that.”

That was Count Friedrich’s way of looking out for her. Lefia knew that.

So, after a brief moment of contemplation, she lowered her head and nodded slightly.

“Hahaha!”

“P-Please don’t laugh, Count! Hmph!”

[Translator – Angel Dust]

[Proofreader – Prototype]