Chapter 6 (Part 5)

Anthus, looking neat, opened the door to the reception room wide to welcome the two.

“Duke, where is our Lia?”

Matthias asked calmly, his eyes bloodshot.

“Did you really have to bring my sister to the ducal mansion, Duke?”

“It was dangerous to leave Lia alone at the Earl’s mansion because someone was targeting her.”

Anthus said seriously in response to Louis’s words. Matthias and Louis were shocked by his statement.

“What do you mean?”

“Who is targeting my sister?”

“Duke, all the servants at the Earl’s mansion are skilled in combat, and especially Luda is an adept maid in assassination.”

“Didn’t the servants mention anything about yesterday’s visitors?”

“It’s not that they didn’t mention it; they probably didn’t have the timing to say it.”

Matthias and Louis, who had come to the Rockbellion ducal mansion in a hostile mood, realized that the situation was quite serious as they listened to Anthus, who looked even more serious than them.

“It happened in the morning when Young Lord Louis and the Earl were not at the mansion.”

“Who is targeting our Lia!”

Matthias urgently asked Anthus, feeling frustrated.

“It’s Pope Rybid G. Agathaine of the Holy Kingdom.”

“Ah… I feared this…”

Matthias and Louis recalled the tense standoff between Anthus and Rybid at the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet.

“The Pope declared in front of me that he would take Lia as his consort. The position of the Pope’s consort… everyone here knows what that means.”

The Pope’s consort is a woman chosen from among the saints. The Pope’s consort cannot leave the Holy Kingdom’s Vatican until she gives birth to the next Pope’s successor.

“The Pope wants our Lia…”

Earl Loengrin’s face turned pale. His mind was in turmoil, recalling the face of Saint Rosaline, who was a saint of the Holy Kingdom.

“On the day of the hunting competition, while you two were away, Pope Rybid forcefully entered the mansion and declared he would escort Yuliana.”

Louis’s face crumpled like a piece of paper at Anthus’s words.

“What happened? Please tell us, Duke.”

“Nothing significant happened, but… Pope Rybid told me to step aside because he liked Lia.”

“But even in a situation where a new type of monster appeared, the Pope wouldn’t come to the Earl’s mansion again…”

“He will come again.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Pope, who had forcefully entered the Earl’s mansion, might visit again, claiming he is worried about Lia, who fought the monsters. He also said he would soon send a marriage proposal to the Loengrin family.”

Anthus crossed his legs, placing his clasped hands on his knee, and spoke coldly.

“Pope Rybid has been persistently following Lia, asking to test if she has divine power.”

“Is that true, Duke?!”

“You can ask Lady Selenia. I did not bring Lia to the ducal mansion because I underestimated the combat abilities of the servants at the Earl’s mansion. I know they would risk their lives to protect Lia. But the Pope’s power is not something to be taken lightly. No servant at the Earl’s mansion can stop Pope Rybid. If I had left Lia alone at the Earl’s mansion yesterday and the Pope had forcefully entered again, who could have stopped him?”

“Indeed, the Pope… No one at the Earl’s mansion can stop him.”

“I understand. I see why you brought her to the ducal mansion, fearing the Pope might come again.”

Anthus observed the faces of Louis and Matthias. As he wished, their faces were filled with concern.

“Father, and Young Lord Louis.”

Anthus calmed his trembling heart and organized his thoughts.

“I sincerely intend to marry Lia. If you think marriage is too soon, I will at least get engaged first. Earl, you have the engagement and marriage papers I gave you, right?”

“Of course, I have them. But did you get Lia’s consent?”

“I got her consent for the engagement. But I think it’s faster to marry and make Pope Rybid give up on Lia.”

With Pope Rybid as a common enemy, Anthus presented Matthias with two options.

1. Marriage.
2. Engagement.

Naturally, Anthus intended to push for marriage.

“Father, if the Pope forcefully proposes marriage to Lady Yuliana to His Majesty the Emperor, can you handle it? He confidently declared to me that he had chosen Lia as his bride. Think about it, Young Lord Louis. If someone threatened you to break up with Lady Selenia… Could you endure it?”

“Of course, I couldn’t endure it.”

“The Pope threatened me, the Duke of Rockbellion, without blinking an eye.”

Anthus continued with a pained expression.

“Pope Rybid showed an extreme obsession with Lia, repeatedly saying she was the daughter of Saint Rosaline.”

Anthus added a bit more to his account of what happened with Rybid.

“My sister has no divine power. She cannot become the Pope’s consort.”

“It might be because there are things to gain from being the daughter of Saint Rosaline.”

Every word Anthus said was correct, leaving Matthias and Louis speechless and frowning.

“We have no intention of sending Lia to the Holy Kingdom.”

Matthias knew he had no choice but to give that answer, but it was hard to speak. Seeing Matthias hesitate, Anthus smiled and offered a sweet proposal.

“If I marry her, I can teleport to and from the Earl Loengrin’s mansion as much as I want. And as you mentioned before, I can live at the Earl’s mansion. Think about the adorable grandchildren that will be born after the marriage.”

Matthias swallowed hard at Anthus’s words.

“I love Lia very much.”

He had come to find his daughter, but suddenly he was about to arrange her marriage, causing cold sweat to continuously run down Matthias’s forehead. But there was no other way.

Knock, knock.

With a knock, the door to the reception room opened, and Yuliana peeked her head in and entered. Matthias’s face brightened up.

“Father, I’m sorry. Brother, you must have been very worried too?”

Matthias jumped up and ran to Yuliana, checking her body all over.

“Lia… Are you alright?”

Seeing Matthias’s worried face, Yuliana reflected on her own anxiety about being scolded for spending the night out.

“Father… I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. The Duke explained everything. Lia, why didn’t you tell us that Pope Rybid came to the mansion on the day of the hunting competition?”

At the mention of the Pope, Yuliana frowned and said,

“There was no time to tell. And the Duke was there to protect me when the Pope came.”

“Thank you for protecting my daughter.”

Louis and Matthias relaxed their furrowed brows and bowed to Anthus in gratitude.

“Lia, let me see your face.”

Louis also approached Yuliana and checked her complexion. She looked very tired, likely because she had used a lot of mana yesterday.

“You don’t look well. Are you sick?”

“I’m just tired from using a lot of mana.”

“You did well yesterday, Lia.”

“Thank you for worrying about me, Brother.”

“Now that Lia is here, Father, and Young Lord Louis, shall we continue our conversation?”

“What were you talking about?”

Yuliana asked, looking back and forth between Louis and Matthias.

“We were discussing my marriage with you, Lia.”

“Yan… Don’t tell me? Did you talk about last night?”

About last night? That beautiful time we spent together, taking responsibility for each other? 

Anthus, seeing Yuliana’s thoughts so clearly, tilted his head and smiled, looking like he was about to go crazy from how cute she was.

“I told Father that I want to get married.”

Anthus approached the blushing, flustered Yuliana and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

“I will prepare a wonderful proposal, Lia.”

Anthus kissed Yuliana lightly on the temple, radiating a smile as bright as a blooming flower.

Yuliana’s face turned redder and redder, remembering that they had already done something that required taking responsibility last night.

However, she thought that Selenia and Louis should get married first. They had been together for a long time… If their marriage was delayed because of her and Anthus, she would feel too sorry for Selenia.

“Lia, wouldn’t an engagement be better than marriage?”

Yuliana, her face still red, lowered her head.

“Let’s go back home first and have a serious talk about your engagement with the Duke.”

Anthus noticed Matthias’s obvious attempt to push for an engagement instead of marriage. But he was a Rockbellion. There was no giving up when aiming for a goal.

“Duke, we will be leaving now. Lia, let’s go.”

As Louis and Matthias were taking Yuliana back, Anthus threw out one last remark.

“Lia, we will start the investigation team’s work from tomorrow. It would be good if you could come to the Duke’s mansion in the morning.”

At those words, Matthias from Loengrin flared up slightly.

“Duke! Look at our daughter’s face. Doesn’t she look exhausted? I will let her rest for a few days before sending her.”

“Of course, that’s necessary, but the fact that the monsters that can’t be killed by divine power have been exposed to people is critical. We also need to find out how they infiltrated the imperial palace. It’s urgent, and we need to make plans to ensure Lia doesn’t have to go out on expeditions.”

“Expeditions? What do you mean by that?”

“The Emperor saw Lia burn the monster with her fire spirit. Every time a new type of monster appears in the Sirius Empire, Lia might be sent out. But I can’t let Lia face such dangerous monsters again.”

If monsters appear and an expedition is necessary, Alchemist Anton and Mage Tower’s Wizard Erzen should be sent. Cloud can be persuaded with the words ‘You must protect the capital.’

“The sooner we investigate the monsters, the less likely it is that Lia will have to go out on expeditions.”

Matthias became mute, as if he had eaten honey. There was only one answer. Anthus had hit the point where parents couldn’t bear to see their child suffer.

“Father, let’s talk at home first.”

“Alright.”

Matthias’s steps were heavy.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Yan.”

“Understood, Lia.”

Anthus didn’t want to let Yuliana go. But he knew he had to.

For a moment, Anthus’s heart was filled with emptiness. Watching Lia get into the carriage, Anthus whispered quietly to Ferrell.

“Prepare to go to the imperial palace.”

“Yes, Master.”