Chapter 81
Baron Logan
“Good morning again, Baron Logan.”
“Mm, good morning.”
“Were you swinging your sword since dawn again today? I’ll prepare water for you to wash up.”
About two months had passed.
Isaac, who had been swinging his sword in his mansion’s yard since early morning, awkwardly greeted Karen, the maid who had come to work under him.
The title ‘Baron Logan’ that she used to address him still felt strange in his ears.
As he watched the maid’s figure entering the house, he took in the sight of his mansion.
It was too shabby for a mansion, especially compared to the Helmont Mansion, but it was a little big for him to live here by himself.
This showed how much care Princess Clarisse gave in taking care of Isaac.
“Phew.”
These days, for him, morning exercise was no longer a choice, but a necessity.
If he didn’t do it, his body would feel all stiff, so he pushed himself to continue this routine.
Some people asked him if it wasn’t tiring if he were to do this every day, but…
In this way, he built up his swordsmanship.
He couldn’t stand doing nothing even for a day, he felt like it was a waste of time.
After all, this was a newly given chance for him.
Having seen the swords of numerous formidable opponents…
He wanted to make the most of this opportunity and reach the limits of what he could do.
After finishing his morning training, washing up with the water the maid had prepared, and sitting at the dining table.
Looking at the simply prepared meal, a smile spread across his face.
“Thank you, Karen.”
“Hehehe, no need! If anything, it feels rewarding to serve you, my lord!”
Karen let out a smile and went off to do her other work.
At first, she had been a little flustered by the way he treated her.
She insisted that there was no need for him to be so polite to her, that she was just doing her job.
But, Isaac couldn’t just do that.
He wanted to treat her as well as possible.
Isaac pushed through, using the excuse that he too, was of commoner origin, but…
In truth…
There was someone else…
That he had wanted to treat this way.
Someone whose place he had prepared.
But that someone wasn’t here.
I should go and pay my respects today.
This morning, I especially miss your voice, Milly…
* * *
Having a mansion in Evergard—the capital—was certainly convenient. There was a separate training ground, he could quickly go to Milly’s grave to pay his respects, and he could obtain most things here.
The blacksmith, in particular, was excellent.
Although, if Antonio, the irritable blacksmith from the North, had heard this, he’d definitely lash out at him.
Regardless, here, not only were the blacksmiths themselves skilled, the equipment they used was also state-of-the-art.
They didn’t just make practical items like back in the frontlines, they also made decorative items that nobles would buy.
Hence why they could learn how to make tachi much faster and easier than in the North.
Although, if there was one bad thing to nitpick, it would be speed.
They were still unable to do things as quickly as Antonio, who lived through the pressure of the frontlines.
After placing a separate order at the blacksmith and paying respects to Milly…
He went back to his mansion. In front of his mansion stood a man that made him chuckle involuntarily.
“Hello, Lord Heyrad. You’ve come again.”
“Sir Isaac, please say something to her… Her court etiquette teacher says if she skips class again, she’s going to kill me…”
“Well, there’s not much I can do about that.”
“Haa, seriously… Not attending classes and just going out leisurely like this…”
Passing by Heyrad, who let out a sigh of resignation, Isaac entered his mansion.
In the garden, there was Clarisse, looking around the place. Accompanying her was the Grandmaster, hiding her ears under a bread-shaped hat.
“Isaac! Where did you go?”
“Sniff sniff… To the grave, it seems. The scent clings to his body.”
“You could have told us! We would have waited before we came here!”
“Well, you didn’t tell me you’d come, Princess.”
“I couldn’t help it. I ran away from classes, but then I realized I had nowhere to go.”
Karen, the maid, quickly brewed tea and brought it outside, to the embarrassingly small garden.
She began setting them up at a small table and chairs placed in the corner.
The three naturally walked towards it while conversing.
“You shouldn’t go out too much, Princess. Lord Heyrad begged me to say this to you.”
“Going out? Haa… Heyrad’s head is too stiff with knightly way of thinking, that’s the problem.”
Clarisse grumbled as she sat down.
“Does it look like I’m going out for fun? My presence has a significant impact on the state affairs, you know?”
This personality of hers hasn’t changed at all.
At that moment, Isaac noticed how Karen looked uncomfortable pouring tea into the princess’ cup, so he took the teapot from her hand.
Karen, momentarily surprised, bowed her head, thanking him before withdrawing.
“…What? Are you trying to seduce the maid too?”
“Pfft.”
Hearing the princess’ words, the Grandmaster laughed as she put a snack in her mouth. She seemed to find this situation amusing.
Meanwhile, Isaac let out a sigh as he poured the tea for them.
“What do you mean, seducing?”
“This is the problem with you. You know you’re handsome, so think before you act. Women will turn into fools the moment they fall in love, you know?”
“…”
Even he couldn’t refute those words.
The Grandmaster picked up another cookie and grinned.
“Anyway, now that you’ve become a baron, you got a bunch of marriage proposals, no?”
“Ahem.”
She wasn’t wrong in the slightest.
Now that he was single…
Isaac had become quite a hot topic in social circles.
After all, he was the one who had slain Arandel Helmont. Not only that, he was also the central axis of the next generation, and he had direct connection with the princess.
These days, even his achievements in the Great Colony were being re-evaluated.
From the perspective of other nobles, Isaac was a tempting fruit showing signs of ripening.
In the past, they wouldn’t have even looked at him out of consideration for Helmont.
But now that Helmont’s influence had waned, there were quite a few nobles blatantly showing interest in him.
“This is why I wanted to give you territory; they’re talking about you nonstop. You should have accepted my suggestion to get more than an honorary title.”
“That’s fine. I’m not that great of a person anyway.”
There was a talk about the kingdom giving him a territory, but Isaac refused it.
His reasoning was he didn’t want to become a great noble, he just wanted to become a regular swordsman.
“As for marriage… I really don’t want to get into that again…”
Marriage, huh?
Honestly, I’m not very keen on the idea itself.
There were various complex reasons behind it, but regardless, he didn’t plan to marry anytime soon.
“Hmm, is that so? Speaking of, I’ve been looking into marriage prospects recently. Marriage is a powerful political tool, after all. I need to utilize it when I can.”
Princess Clarisse said nonchalantly, as if she was talking about someone else’s marriage.
“It might look peaceful right now, but this peace won’t last long.”
In fact, fierce conflicts with the Transcendent Race were brewing beneath the surface.
Unlike in Isaac’s past life, they couldn’t just launch a nationwide offensive after Arandel’s death.
But it was obvious they were looking for an opportunity to do so.
“At times like this, things need to be settled clearly. We can’t have an internal problem over petty matters like succession disputes.”
The two smiled bitterly at the princess’ calm words.
Those words were the core reason for Princess Clarisse’s rebellious tendencies.
Currently, the Albion Kingdom only had two princesses.
The eldest daughter, Adeline Seraphia Regardia.
And the second daughter, Clarisse Evangel Regardia.
This made the Regardia Royal Family divided into two factions.
The royal family didn’t have a male successor.
Considering that the king could no longer produce an heir, unless a major issue occurred, the kingdom was expecting a queen to rule after he stepped down.
“I need to prevent nobles who dislike or view my sister unfavorably from gathering around me. That’s why I’m thinking that I should probably marry into another country.”
The underground war with the Transcendent Race was in full swing.
To establish royal authority, Clarisse was compressing the succession structure in advance to foster unity among the nobles.
By giving up herself.
“Oh right, Isaac. There’s a party tomorrow evening. I was going to send you an invitation, but since we’re here, I’ll just tell you directly.”
Clarisse naturally shifted away from the heavy topic.
Party? All of a sudden? Why?
“Well, you never know who might suddenly turn into a Transcendent, so my sister says she’d hold the party to keep the nobles in check.”
“Does that include me too?”
“No, not at all. It’s just, someone you’re looking for will probably attend the party.”
“Someone I’m looking for?”
“Baron Volten.”
A smile formed on Clarisse’s lips.
The Grandmaster tilted her head, wondering what this was about, but Isaac’s eyes slowly widened. Without any hesitation, he nodded his head.
“I’ll attend.”
Volten.
It was a territory that they essentially kept reluctantly; an almost lawless area.
Volten’s residence was uniformly treated with contempt.
The saying to avoid the back alleys of Volten wherever you go didn’t come from nowhere.
And that place was…
Milly’s hometown.
It’s possible.
Milly had said her family went missing, caught up in the Volten revolution.
Isaac intended to look for them, thinking it might be possible that they were still alive.
If they were, he wanted to at least get them to visit her grave.
“Alright, but be careful. Baron Volten rose to his position by suppressing the revolution. It’s similar to you, he earned his title through his ability.”
“…”
“Surviving in the harsh environment of Volten means he has that much potential. You shouldn’t take him lightly—“
Clarisse, who had been speaking, laughed incredulously.
“Wait, who am I saying this to?”
A self-deprecating laugh directed at herself.
And with a smile mixed with trust towards Isaac, she said.
“You’re someone who’s survived Helmont. Jeez.”