Chapter 317 - Unqualified

Rowan had arrived just in time to see the Silvaria entourage depart from the inn. He immediately chased after them and was able to get onto Cecil's wagon.

When he heard about the good news from Fatima, he naturally congratulated Cecil. He also asked him whether he'd be willing to help cure his father's illness while he was at it.

"My father also wanted to thank you for sparing my brother's life..."

"Oh..." Cecil felt a little guilty.

Right about now, Armano should be dead...or at least brain dead. He had ordered Quinn to lace some poison into the prince's wounds. This poison wasn't something that any healing magic could cure. If it was Cecil's healing arts that used Ki, then that was a different matter.

The prince's bloodstream would then deliver the poison to his brain and essentially 'kill' him off. So although his heart was still beating, he was essentially dead. No healing spell or prayer could save Armano now. He'd 'live' the rest of his days as a living corpse. This was the same method of punishment that Cecil had delivered to the Machina Empire Duke who had tried to pull the same sort of stunt that Armano did. It was too late now, but at least Cecil did leave behind a 'living' Armano.

"I don't mind healing your father. I noticed that he was poisoned, but how is it that the healers you've hired are as incompetent as to not be able to notice this?"

"P-Poisoned?"

"You should look into the people who are close to the king. Since he's a king, I find it hard to believe that anyone could just poison him."

"... I'll inform father about this..."

"You better not. If you want the culprit to run away and not be caught, then be my guest."

"..."

"If you want to capture the culprit, then you should let me cure your father first. After that, monitor the king carefully and take note of whatever he eats and drinks. I'll leave behind a small portion of my mana that will react to the food he eats if he ingests one that's been laced with poison. Once you see signs of him throwing up, lock down the castle and question the ones who prepared the food... if you have to, use the carrot and stick method to try and get the truth out of them."

"Carrot and stick?"

"You threaten by saying you'll hang or execute their family, after that you promise them some kind of reward for telling the truth. If they're just servants, I'm sure they'll feel more inclined to speak the truth because they wouldn't want to offend you."

"O-Okay..." Rowan replied to Cecil's somewhat radical suggestion before asking, "When can you come, Cecil?"

"When I feel like I wanna come. Your father's life is inconsequential to me. Right now, I have other things to worry about."

"Alright then... whenever you're free, please inform me."

"Don't worry. We can just head over by teleporting. It's a trivial matter for me..."

Cecil ended his conversation with Rowan and immediately walked to his room inside the wagon. Serilla was inside resting. She had just informed him about her pregnancy earlier just after the duel.

It came as a happy surprise, however, Cecil was expecting it to some degree. He had already promised Serilla that once he found his family, he'd immediately start his own family with her and during the past few days, they had been getting it on a lot and he had noticed that the contraceptive magic array that was on Serilla's body was no longer present.

He figured that Lucia had removed it for Serilla, but he didn't expect her to immediately become pregnant after a few days.

"Hey, Seri...I've been thinking, but shouldn't we inform your parents about this?"

"Hm? Of course darling! I'll tell my mom!"

"Does she still not approve of me?"

"I dunno, but she'll have to if she wants to see her grandchild!"

"...I feel really bad..."

"Don't be darling, it's not like I'm her favorite or anything!"

"It doesn't sound like that when your mother threatened to fight with me..."

"Hmph, just so darling knows, my mother gets pregnant easily! I'm only one of her many children! Also, since I'm her daughter, I'm probably the same. Honestly, darling, if we didn't use the magic array, this would have already been our third child!"

"..."

Seeing his blank reaction, Serilla laughed and pulled him into her embrace.

"I had Lulu dispel the magic formation when we got back to your family's kingdom. That's why I soon became pregnant~"

"Hmmm... did you want to have kids sooner?"

"Well... if darling wasn't against it, I really wanted a family right after we got married!"

"...S-sorry..."

"I know you mean well, darling. If something happened to our kids during our journey... well, let's not imagine that. We've found your family now so we can start our own, right?"

"Of course," Cecil replied.

"Great! By the way, I want 4 children!"

"...Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves..."

"Hmmm... darling, do you want to do it one more time before my stomach gets too big~?" Serilla said in a lascivious tone. She had already wrapped her arms around Cecil's neck and placed her legs above his lap.

"Huh?"

"Well, we won't be able to do it soon...so this could be the last chance darling will have before darling has to wait until after I give birth~"

"..." Cecil silently began casting a Silencing Barrier and the spell to lock the door.

Serilla only smiled happily at his actions. She bit her lip and seductively called out to him, "Darling~"

******

A few days later, Cecil and the entourage arrived back at the Silvaria Kingdom. When Anastasia heard about the news, she immediately cheered happily in delight and began preparing a small banquet for the couple.

The siblings were all surprised and shocked to hear that their youngest brother was soon going to become a father. Angelia was bawling her eyes out due to a mix of happiness and sadness. As to why it was mixed, Cecil couldn't figure it out.

Another person was also crying due to a mix of sadness and happiness besides Angelia.

"Serilla's pregnant!!! Boohoo..."

"Why the f.u.c.k is this person here?!" Cecil roared in question.

Karen had somehow stowed herself away on another carriage and had successfully arrived at the Silvaria Kingdom. When Rowan found out, he immediately began apologizing, but because she was Rowan's sister and a personal friend of Fatima's, she was permitted to stay in the kingdom with the condition that she had to be beside Fatima or Rowan at all times.

That's why she was currently inside the Silvaria Family's Estate.

"Hey, Cecil!! Hurry up and marry me so I can take care of her as well!!!" Karen whined as she clung onto Cecil's leg.

"Goddamnit, get this idiot out of here!!!"

While they were busy preparing for the banquet, the elders of the family came knocking on their door when they heard about Serilla's pregnancy. Cecil's parents and elders had to gather them all in a different hall while the main hall was being prepared for Cecil's homecoming as well as Serilla's pregnancy celebration.

"What's the meaning of this?!"

"How could the heir be impregnating a woman out of wedlock? How in the world did the family even raise him to be such a rebel?!

"Don't forget, he has 2 partners!"

"This goes against the family's traditions! Aren't the elders the ones who decide who the wife to the successor is?!"

Cecil's grandfather, King, started sighing dramatically when he heard their words.

"Are you seriously going to pin the blame on us? Everyone here knows full well that Cecil hadn't gone through the entire family's teachings when he was separated! Now that he's back, instead of being happy, you all are hounding him for not upholding the family's traditions?! Screw the traditions! My grandson has finally reunited with us after 6 years! Who cares if he's broke a few of our traditions?!"

"Honey, stay calm, you're blood pressure..." Lucidna kindly reminded her husband. King was huffing after saying his piece. It wasn't that he was exhausted but more like he was exasperated. These elders were way too stiff.

"Listen here. We're in a different world so there are things that have to change! Also, Serilla and Lucia have been properly married to Cecil for 3 years already! They have every right to start a family if they wanted to!" King explained.

"Hmph, that's just your excuse! How do we know whether or not that wench is married to—"

Anastasia flared up at the elder who had just spoken, "If you dare insult my daughter-in-law, don't think I'll take that lying down!!"

"H-Honey—"

"Darling, say something! You're the head of our household! Are you seriously going to listen to these old coots insult our daughters-in-law?!"

Just before anyone could argue any further, the door to the room immediately flew open and Cecil walked in nonchalantly.

"Eh? Oh, wrong place. Sorry," Cecil said before backing out of the room.

"Cecil, stay right there!" An Elder called out.

Cecil only looked back at him and c.o.c.ked his head in confusion. "You need something, Elder?"

"What I want to know is why you've married two women without consulting the family?!"

"I had to tell you guys? Why?"

"It's the family's tradition to pick out your bride! We will naturally pick a qualified wife for you, so stop with this foolishness!"

"Really? Well...I don't care?" Cecil replied.

"What?!"

"I was separated from the family for a good 6 years. I journeyed through 2 continents and carved my way through numerous battles to find you guys and they stuck with me through all those years. They left behind their families and homes just to stay with me. Through thick and thin they stayed by my side. Even when I was frightened at the thought that I might never see my family anymore, they were there to console and support me. In the end, I was able to find my way to you guys with their help. They've long since have become my family and I'm sure they're more than qualified to be my life companions..."

"Oh, Cecil..." Anastasia came over and hugged her son.

Cecil smiled at his mother and turned his attention back to the family elders.

"If you can't accept that, I don't mind abandoning my title as heir. There's still Matty, Luc, and Gabe, but I'm sure they wouldn't want to be forced into the position. They've already declined years ago anyways... also, don't think you can bring in a candidate from the branch families, they aren't qualified."

"Y-You—"

"You can either accept things as the way they are, or I can simply force you into submission. I have more than enough power for that. Unlike on Earth, here on Alterna, the ones with the biggest fists are the ones with true power," Cecil smilingly said while looking at the elders in the room. "You all can either submit while I'm still being nice, or we can go down the more forceful path and—"

Cecil immediately released his Weapon Intent and began pressuring all the elders in the room.

"—I'll make you all submit."

Cecil only retracted his Weapon Intent after seeing that his point got through.

"Well, we can also do this more civilly. If you guys have someone in mind that's a better fit than me to be the next family head, bring them to me and we'll fight it out for the right of the successor," Cecil said before turning around and leaving the room.

All of the elders in the room scowled after they saw that Cecil had left. They were indignant at the fact that they have all been threatened by a mere youngster. Some of the more neutral elders were now leaning towards letting Cecil do whatever he wanted.

It wasn't like any of their interests were being touched so it didn't matter to them. This 'feud' was mostly instigated by the faction of elders that were opposing the main family. The neutral elders only jumped on the bandwagon because they were promised benefits, benefits that were now rendered useless. After all, Cecil had just threatened to force them into submission.

This was an unthinkable approach if they were back on Earth since the law enforcers could step in, but as of now, the main family was the ones that created the laws. Times have changed and the neutral elders could only sigh at it. The opposing elders were still unsatisfied and were wracking their brains on how to oppose Cecil's 'tyranny'.

Just before Kaiser could dismiss the elders from the room, Serilla had suddenly peaked her head inside.

"Darling~? Oh? Please excuse me, I've wandered into the wrong room!" Serilla apologized before she began backing away.

"Stay right there, Missy!" One elder called out after recognizing who Serilla was.

The other elders of the opposing faction saw this as the perfect opportunity to try and intimidate the woman who was Cecil's rumored spouse. If they were able to force her away from Cecil then it would be for the best.

"Huh? Y-yes?"

"Seri, honey, it's alright, you can—"

"Anastasia, don't interfere! As part of the elder council of the family, it's only natural that I demand to see the successor's wife!"

Anastasia was about to say something, but Serilla already walked into the room. She was a little happy at being called the 'successor's wife'. She already knew who the successor was and it was none other than her husband, Cecil.

"Is there something that you need, senior?" Serilla politely asked.

Seeing how polite she was, the elder was a little stumped. The elder was hoping she was going to be a rude and uncultured woman or something. However, this lady before them was a little too polite and there was no way they could say Serilla was uncultured with the way she was carrying herself. Also, the bright smile on her face was a little too blinding at the moment.

This fact only served to irk the opposing elders. What more, the lady in front of them didn't even seem to be worried about anything. The elders didn't believe for a second that this woman didn't know that there were people inside this room that were against her being Cecil's wife.

The leading elder who was most opposed to the main family immediately stood up and said, "What is your name, child?"

"Senior, my name is Serilla Silvaria," Serilla replied politely.

Hearing the 'Silvaria' attached to the end of her name caused the elder's brow to twitch in annoyance.

The elder cleared his throat before saying, "Well, Serilla, this will be simple and quick. I want you to divorce Cecil and stay far away from him. Also, take back that other woman who's always buzzing around him. You two aren't qualified to be by his side."