CH 31

4. Confrontation

A lot had changed. The Legendary Lord had gotten back everything that originally belonged to him, this included the one-third of the continent that the royal family had been in charge of.

“Nathaniel, do you need the land?”

When Kyrie asked this, he replied.

[I already said no, didn’t I?]

They both looked at each other and smiled furtively. 

“Right, that’s true.”

[I’m thankful you’re aware of that.]

“I have to thank you for forgiving me that much. Because my life is in your hands.’

Kyrie said bitterly. Nathaniel, who had been staring at her while she spoke, covered his mouth with his gloved hand and chuckled.

[Well said.]

“You still have no idea how cold I can be.”

[I don’t intend to find out.]

Nathaniel’s manner of speaking definitely seemed softer than before. Of course, this was only whenever he was with Kyrie. Because of this, people’s interest in ‘Kyrie Buchanan’ had risen once again, and whether he was aware of that or not, he muttered nonchalantly.

[I don’t really appreciate that, though.]

Will more problems arise in the future?

Nathaniel chuckled.

[Of course]

With the return of the Legendary Lord, Sel Arellano was restless.

* * *

Kyrie’s daily life suddenly became busy. The invitation letters to balls, which had declined considerably after the breakup with Eden, had now grown enough to fill two silver trays. 

People lost interest in Eden and Rubinia’s engagement. It was treated like an old greeting card which had been roughly stuffed into a book. 

The royal family also began to focus on Kyrie Buchanan, and everyone in the social circle wanted to get close to her.

To be more precise, they wanted to get close to the Legendary Lord behind Kyrie and the Patriotic Lord beside him.

After their appearance together at the celebration, which was already impressive in many ways, the Legendary Lord Nathaniel and the Patriotic Lord Lore Leschaux finally made a public appearance. 

It was in a conference hall filled with the Emperor, senior ministers, the giants in the political and business world, and future politicians.

The two didn’t even seem to mind the stares. The Legendary Lord smiled languidly, his cane resting on his lap. The Patriotic Lord sat with straight, proper posture, looking blankly ahead. 

The striking beauty and overwhelming aura of the two men filled the conference hall with the sounds of people swallowing saliva. 

The two then made a declaration in a leisurely and poised manner, as if they had already come to a mutual agreement beforehand.

[ hereby appoint Kyrie Buchanan as my official beneficiary.]

〔Five years from now, I will pass all the authority of my estate down to Kirie Buchanan.〕

Kyrie forgot how to breathe. Confusion swept over the entire conference hall.

“What did the Legendary Lord just say. . .”

“Did I hear that correctly?”

“Kyrie Buchanan had ties with the Patriotic Lord too?”

Even the emperor gripped the arm-rest of her chair tightly with wide eyes. But the two men, who had suddenly uttered some shocking words, only looked at each other, as if to say “not bad”.

The Speaker, who was in charge of the meeting, was barely able to raise a trembling hand.

“I… Sir. That means…”

The Speaker asked the two heroes, who looked at him disinterestedly, unable to control his frantically beating heart.

“The Patriotic Lord will entrust all the estates of the Lore family to Miss Kyrie Buchanan……?”

〔That’s right.〕

The answer was concise. The Speaker looked as if he wanted to faint, but it would take some time before he actually did.

“Well, officially, the real estate of Lore has an average income of over 70 billion per year.. Are you certain that you want to give… all of this, to Miss Kyrie Buchanan?”

〔That’s right.〕

[What about my estate that Orwenbridge held? ]

“Oh, well …”

When Nathaniel interrupted him, the Speaker opened his mouth and glanced toward the Emperor.

“……Your estate generates an average of 50 billion per year.”

[That’s not much.]

Absolutely not. Everyone murmured in their minds.

In the south-east of the continent, in the convenient climatic areas, was the territory of Orwenbridge; in the north-west, in the desolate areas, which was close to the northern continent where trade tariffs were being imposed, was the territory of the Patriotic Lord; in the south-west, in the dry areas, was the territory of the Legendary Lord, which the royal family had recently been exerting a lot of effort to develop. Nathaniel, who was unaware of this, muttered sullenly.

[Let’s just get on with it. If it’s around 120 billion dollars a year then you won’t go hungry.]

His strange sense of money made everyone feel faint. Kyrie felt like her soul was going to fly away.

‘You never told me you’d do something like this!’

If they were in private, she would’ve immediately asked him if he had gone insane, but at that moment, they were in the presence of the emperor. 

Kyrie was unable to intervene, Cesar had to pinch his knees to help stifle his smile, the Legendary  Lord and Patriotic Lord’s ill-conceived plan continued to pan out, like a bird spreading its wings preparing for flight.

〔If that’s not enough, we can just get more land.〕

[How?]

〔What we do best.〕

Nathaniel smiled faintly.

[A war of conquest. Not bad. What’s the plan?]

“No, both of you are being too extreme…”

In the end, Kyrie blurted out a few words. Hearing the voice of the young lady from the Count’s family, whom no one really cared for, caused everyone to turn their heads immediately toward Kyrie.

〔It is a bit excessive〕

[Well, let’s put that on hold for now.]

The quick acceptance from these two people who were incapable of listening to others, once again drained everyone’s spirits. 

Why on earth were they accommodating her so much?

The emperor’s face darkened when she heard she’d have to hand over his well-maintained estates to another person. The Speaker noticed the emperor’s deteriorating mood and began to speak rapidly. It was clear that he wanted this meeting to end as fast as possible.

“Then shall we proceed with what you’ve stated? The decisions made in this meeting cannot be changed…”

[What do you mean by cannot be changed?]

Nathaniel smiled with a strange look on his face when he heard the Speaker’s words.

[That was a pretty funny joke.]

There was no one who would say, ‘Of course it’s not!’ 

Finally the Emperor, who couldn’t bear to watch this silently anymore, opened her mouth with a sour expression.

“The two of you seem to care about young Miss Buchanan very much.”

Right, that was what everyone was curious about as well.

Strangely enough, there was no reply. Nathaniel just smiled elegantly and nonchalantly, tapping the end of the cane on his lap, and Leschaux stared silently ahead. 

People later realised that their silence meant, ‘it’d be better if we talked about something else.’ This was only after the temperature in the conference hall had suddenly dropped.

The Emperor, with a sullen look on her face, hastened to rectify the situation.

“I’m just concerned that Miss Buchanan has not been properly educated to be a successor and, above all, as a weak young lady, it is doubtful whether she will be able to control the military in those various regions.”

Nathaniel’s smile, which had always been close to a meaningless imitation, became a little colder.

[Why would she need the military?]

“To defend the estates…”

[From what?]

“Of course, from enemies…”

[Ah. So Kyrie Buchanan has enemies.]

It was a whisper as cold as an icicle. Nathaniel stroked his cane in a deliberate motion.

[If someone could tell me who they are, I’d be very pleased.]

Everyone’s eyes were focused on the black cane. They had heard that it was the real hero’s cane that cured the illness of hero Glaudios Vermont. 

His gentle words coupled with eerie hand gestures had silenced the audience. The reaction of the Patriotic Lord, who was nodding approvingly beside him fueled it further. 

There was only one person who could overcome this situation easily that no other person could. And of course, it was none other than Kyrie Buchanan.

“What if I tell you?”

Kyrie asked with a slightly complicated look on her face. Nathaniel turned his gaze to her. For a moment his pupils stood out in his eyes like a solar eclipse. 

[Then it would be quite fun.]

No one laughed.