CHAPTER 07……………………………….
“Alright. A handshake… wait, what? Why are you suddenly kneeling?”
“You said I should propose. Can’t hurt to do it.”
“Forget it. I mean, you know who I am, right? You’ll actually get me hooked like this.”
She waved her hands to dismiss it as a joke between comrades.
Despite Adamas’s protests, Sapeiros didn’t let go of her hand, gripping it firmly.
“Lady Mano Adamas, I, Mano Sapeiros, pledge my vow to you.”
“H-Hey, stop! Since when do knights make vows so casually?”
Why is he so strong when he’s so slender? He doesn’t budge an inch.
“Even if a lowly knight perishes as dew on the battlefield, my soul shall always return to your side…”
“Enough! Please stop! We’ve only just met—why the kneeling?”
It was supposed to be a joke, Adamas said in a trembling voice.
“I may die beside you so you won’t be lonely, but what does that matter? I’ll make a thousand vows if I must.”
The words were tender yet cold.
“…So if you try to run, I’ll make sure you can’t get away.”
“You have a sense of tact. I thought someone who talks so easily about restoring the Marquisate might lack realism.”
“You’re really annoying, you know that?”
“…”
Right. This man is always ready to fall in battle.
Being with him ultimately means…
“I tried once. I can’t do it twice.”
Even if the path you walk is endless thorns and mud.
“Wherever it is, I’ll walk it with you.”
Adamas inhaled deeply. At her words, a small corner of Sapeiros’s mouth curved upward.
He slowly bowed his head and pressed his lips to the back of her hand.
“To the endlessly beloved, my honor.”
His voice was soft, whispering near her ear.
The warmth creeping along her hand set her whole body ablaze.
Even the crickets fell silent in the night.
Her chest swelled strangely, and tears came.
Just looking at the man in front of her…
Avoiding the eyes of others, Adamas and Sapeiros entered Sapeiros’s office, attached to the training grounds of the Marquis’s estate.
“Hmm. Sit here.”
Sapeiros gestured to a small sofa prepared for guests.
“Ah, thanks. The office smells nice… like the perfume young knights wear when they try to woo rich ladies.”
What am I saying… get a grip!
Perched nervously on the edge of the sofa, Adamas fidgeted and bit her lips.
“It’s probably sandalwood. Maybe…”
“It’s from the bookshelf,” Sapeiros replied quietly, his voice barely audible through the awkward silence.
“Isn’t the fireplace too bare?”
“Uh, well… it’s summer?”
“Haha, right. That map must be of the Empire. Let’s take a look.”
Adamas sprang up nervously and approached the old map hanging above the fireplace.
“…Whoa!”
The Mano Marquisate, within the Francis Empire’s territory.
“Anything wrong?”
“Ah, no. Nothing. The map’s well drawn.”
…This really is the past.
Right. Now is not the time to be embarrassed! Focus!
Adamas slapped her own cheeks a few times to snap herself out of it, making quite a loud noise.
Sapeiros, next to her, was startled.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Good. Sapeiros, let’s talk about our future.”
“Y-Yeah.”
“I have something I want to ask.”
“What is it?”
Adamas’s serious voice made Sapeiros nod gravely.
“When did things go bad with Onyx Romel?”
“‘Things were ever good’—that’s an unpleasant way to phrase it,” Sapeiros frowned.
“You said he’d regret not holding my hand. What did you mean?”
“He asked me if I would marry his daughter.”
“You mean Onyx Privetina?”
“Right. The head of the Onyx family has only one daughter.”
Onyx Privetina—the woman rumored to have been Mano Sapeiros’s lover.
“And you refused?”
“Of course.”
So that’s why Onyx Romel looked at me so angrily. He must have thought I was some unexpected obstacle to marrying off his daughter. But Sapeiros had already refused him, right?
From Sapeiros’s explanation, it seemed it didn’t matter whether I existed or not.
Adamas frowned, recalling Onyx Romel’s face.
“Why did he glare at me so unpleasantly?”
“Probably because he plotted and even stole a ring, but I evaded his plan, so he was frustrated.”
“Stole it? The ring?”
“Yes. The beetle ring.”
Sapeiros nodded, pointing at the ring on Adamas’s right hand.
“When did the rumor start that you gave the ring to your lover?”
“I don’t know. By the time I realized, such a rumor already existed.”
Rumors often arise without the person knowing. Sapeiros suspected the missing ring was with the Onyx family.
I see. So that’s why he got mad at me, thinking I was the hidden daughter of the Onyx family!
“If Onyx Romel stole the ring, and it’s a Marquisate ring, he should have faced proper punishment!”
“No evidence.”
“And what about circumstantial proof?”
In the short time Adamas had observed him, Sapeiros didn’t seem the type to recklessly suspect someone just because he disliked them.
“A month ago, Onyx Flare was seen leaving my office by Lohasi, a servant of the knights.”
“Onyx Flare?”
“The eldest son of Onyx Romel.”
“Did he just drop by by chance?”
“While I wasn’t there? That someone who despises me as a street orphan just happened to visit my private office? Ridiculous.”
“Okay, calm down.”
“Now the rumor is about giving the ring to a lover, but later it will likely spread that the lover is Onyx Privetina.”
“Impressive.”
“That’s him. He doesn’t care about scandals involving his only daughter. He probably intended to use the rumor to make me part of the Onyx household.”
Indeed. A cunning man. Terrifyingly greedy. No wonder he tried to push his daughter beside the deceased in actual history.
“Marquis… does he have any children?”
“Suddenly asking…”
As expected.
It’s now 620 AE of the Empire. According to history, by the time the Mano Marquisate disappeared in 623 AE, Hidenight had no children.
In other words, the Marquisate has no heir yet.
I see. That explains why Onyx stirred the retainer uprising.
A sickly Marquis with no heir, and a young swordmaster popular with the public. And the swordmaster had the Marquis’s trust enough that the previous Marquis had wanted him as an adopted son…
Romel must have planned to marry off his daughter to Sapeiros, leveraging the swordmaster’s authority to seize the entire Marquisate. But Sapeiros had flatly refused—and in history, he died in battle.
So he wanted at least the halo of the deceased Sapeiros for his daughter…
“Really remarkable. Onyx Romel.”
Only now did Adamas understand why Onyx Romel had glared at her so madly.
He deliberately stole the ring and started a rumor. But another woman appeared with the Marquisate ring.
In the end, Romel was frustrated that he couldn’t properly use the stolen ring.
“I think I’ve been quite helpful to you.”
Adamas held out her right hand, the beetle ring gleaming.
Sapeiros, exhaling a reluctant sigh, softened his expression slightly.
“Good. Now, second question, Sir Sapeiros!”
“Go ahead.”
“What do you think is the Marquisate’s biggest problem?”
Strong retainers, first, right?
Adamas already knew the answer. She came from the future and had studied history. The Mano region had long been the land of the Onyx and Currendum families. The Marquis was the new stone thrown into the pond.
The Marquis of Mano was a powerless new authority appointed by the central government over 100–200 years prior, while retainers like Onyx and Currendum had been the de facto rulers of the region for much longer.
So, start with the powerful retainers…
“Money.”
“Huh? What?”
“The Marquis has no money, so he has no power.”
Sapeiros smiled faintly.
“This area belonged to Onyx and Currendum for a long time. When the first Marquis of Mano arrived from the capital, they blocked the territory entrance and resisted. As a result, the Marquis had to concede some mining rights. Even today, the largest iron mine is Onyx’s, the largest coal mine is Currendum’s.”
“How little money does the Marquis have? Mano is a duty-free region.”
Mano had enjoyed duty-free privileges for generations, maintaining autonomy and a local militia, funded by local taxes.
“They don’t pay taxes to the central government. But the farmers in the Marquisate haven’t been able to properly cultivate their fields for a long time.”
“Because of the Roviana army?”
“What are you talking about? The Roviana army hasn’t crossed the Ushi plains in fifty years.”
Frowning, Sapeiros said,
“Ah, really?”
“What exactly are you? If you’re Mano, you should know this.”
A clear, suspicious glance. No. She was just momentarily confused. Come try living a hundred years back in a daze!
“You doubt your benefactor over this? You could forget things in wartime!”
Adamas shouted defiantly, chin raised. Sapeiros exhaled and shook his head.
“The reason the farmers can’t farm properly is… that thing.”
“That thing?”
“Yes. That thing. It comes from the desert.”
“Comes from the desert?”
A sandstorm, maybe?
Dong—dong—dong.
“What? What’s that sound?”
“Damn it. Don’t come out.”
Thud—dong-dong-dong—Kraaak!!
With the urgent ringing, the ground seemed to shake. Screams could be heard clearly.
Sapeiros dashed from the office.
“Stay close!”
Emphatically warning her not to follow, Sapeiros burst through the door. Staring blankly at his quickly disappearing back, Adamas snapped to attention.
“Damn Marquisate.”
Quietly ignoring Sapeiros’s warning not to go outside, Adamas ran toward the source of the screams.
“How can it be chaos here every single day?!”
