Chapter 241 The One Standing Next To Me
That day, Sara overslept. To be exact, Scott and Blaze also overslept, and the 3 of them ended up having a leisurely brunch together.
"I overslept... I wanted to take care of some things at the Sophia Merchant Guild today."
"It can't be helped. We stayed up too late."
"I don't even remember getting into bed."
"You fell asleep right after you climbed the stairs, so your father carried you."
"Yeah. Blaze was out cold halfway up. I'm glad I didn't fall down. You didn't have to wait for me."
"Well, I was worried because you got called by the royal family... I thought they might take you away."
"I see. Sorry for making you worry."
The 3 of them chatted happily while munching on their food.
"So, are you going to become Sophia and head out now?"
"I have a lot of meetings scheduled for this afternoon. Well, I did announce it, so it's expected."
"Are nobles coming?"
"More like their servants. Nobles rarely come in person. I hear some lower nobles casually shop at stores, though."
"Hmm. It seems like the higher up you are, the harder it is to shop casually. I'm fine not being a noble."
"I totally get that. Plus, being important means dealing with security and all that."
Scott looked at Sara with a serious expression.
"We don't participate in the hunting tournaments or tea parties, but..."
"Wait, did you want to join, Scott?"
"That's not what I mean. I think Sara probably stands out a lot when we're not around."
"...I won't deny that."
"Sophia probably stands out just as much."
"Yeah, that might be the worse kind of attention."
"Sara, you're really a beautiful girl."
"I'm not suddenly realizing it. It's not like I'm unaware. I appreciate my dad and mom. But Scott and Blaze are also beautiful boys who can't really say anything about others."
"I'm not saying I'm unaware either. In terms of impact, I can't compare to Mister Thomas. That aside, I think Sara will get a lot of marriage proposals from now on."
"That's probably how it will be. Right now, I'm the granddaughter of Marquis Grandchester, and it's already decided that I'll become a Viscount's daughter."
"And anyone who has seen both sides can easily understand the connection with the Sophia Merchant Guild."
At that moment, Blaze jumped in.
"Even without the title of Viscount's daughter, I think a lot of boys would fall for you just by looking at you, Sara!"
"I think so too. The noble boys are probably already eyeing her."
"But I'm totally ready to refuse them."
"What if it's someone you can't refuse? Like a prince or someone we can't compete with?"
Looking at them, Sara could see Scott and Blaze's eyes were shaking. It seemed that the royal summons from last night had really shaken them up.
"If that happens, I'll leave this place."
"Leave this place? The Grandchester territory?"
"If the person making unreasonable demands is the royal family of this country, then it would be Avalon."
"No way! Are you planning to leave us behind? Do you think we're nothing to you, Sara?"
Scott slammed his hand on the table and stood up.
"That's not it, Scott. Sara is saying she'll leave for our sake."
"Why?!"
"I'm sure it's because we're weak and powerless! I know because I was in a mercenary group. Unlike knights, mercenaries don't hesitate to use 'underhanded tactics.' Surviving is way more important than honor, so they wouldn't think twice about taking enemy families hostage, and they would even burn down unrelated villages just to lure out the enemy."
"What?!"
"If the royal family took forceful measures against Sara, they would probably make a lot of unfair demands on the Grandchester family. If they don't want that, they might say to hand over Sara. If Sara is kept safe in Grandchester, that would be an effective method, right?"
"That's impossible. The honorable King Avalon wouldn't do something like that..."
"Can you say for sure they won't?"
"...I can't."
Scott grimaced as if he had drunk something bitter.
"But if Sara leaves here, we can use the excuse that 'we can't hand over a Sara who isn't here.'."
"But that might be a way to lure her out, right?"
Sara took over the conversation.
"Yes, that possibility does exist. But they can't just throw away the face of the 'honorable royal family' for the sake of a mere girl."
"What do you mean?"
"I think putting unfair pressure on Grandchester to make me surrender would be pushing it for the royal family. If they do that for a long time, they would face backlash from other nobles. Plus, Grandchester is the food storehouse of Avalon. Continuing to apply pressure would be like tightening the noose around their own necks."
"Then there's no need for Sara to leave Avalon!"
Scott shouted angrily.
"Maybe they want to marry me into the royal family, right?"
"Yeah."
"But there's an 'appropriate age' for marriage. It has to be a young woman. And it also has to be a maiden, you know?"
The two boys quickly turned red.
'Oh my, these boys understand the meaning. Well, it's not surprising. Scott is going through puberty, and Blaze comes from a mercenary group.'
"Right now, I'm 8 years old, and well, I'll be 9 next month, but it will still take a bit longer for me to be able to get married. Even if I can marry before adulthood with my parents' permission, my father would never allow it, so it will take at least 7 more years. During that time, the royal family can't keep pressuring Grandchester. Even if they suggest an engagement, I can just dodge it for a few years."
"What if they start pressuring you as you get closer to adulthood?"
"Then I would have to leave here. Of course, I would make it known that I 'couldn't stand the pressure of marriage from the royal family and ran away.'."
"Isn't that dirtying the royal family's name?"
"It would definitely smear it. After all, I'm saying I don't want to marry a prince. Well, I don't even know which prince it is. I just hope it's not Prince Andrew."
"Why not?"
"Well, I've met him, and he doesn't seem like a bad person."
"Sara, do you maybe have a crush on Prince Andrew!?"
"Stop it! He's an annoying prince who gets angry and causes magic to go out of control!"
Sara quickly denied it, but as a result, the boys looked disappointed.
"I'm sorry."
"I started a forest fire..."
'Oh no, both of them have experience with magic going out of control!'
"Ah, sorry. But you two are really working hard on your magic control training, right? But that prince can't control his magic even though he's an adult, which is a problem. It was tough having to set up double defense magic."
"Sara... I think that if you can suppress the royal family's magic rampage, you're definitely being watched."
"I think so too."
"But, if I leave it alone, the whole building would be destroyed, you know? If we're not careful, Crown Prince Gerhart could get involved, and it could turn into an international issue."
"I get that it can't be helped. But you're at a point where you can't make excuses anymore."
"Well, I could say that saving the country from a crisis is something, right?"
"Ugh."
'Scott and Blaze's comebacks are so on point it makes me cry.'
"If you run away, won't they just pressure you to return to Grandchester?"
"If they don't know where I ran away to, I think they would have to make a big public declaration like, 'If you don't want Grandchester to be harmed, come back and get married.' Do you really think the royal family would take that kind of dishonor?"
"Hmm. That's tough. It means not just the nobles in the country but also other countries would know."
"Right. So I think it would be fine if I just pop back when I'm past the right age. And if I happen to not be a maiden by then, that would be perfect."
"Wait, hold on!"
"Who would the partner be?!"
"That's just an example! Why are you reacting to that? Anyway, I'm not abandoning Grandchester. I'm just temporarily taking refuge. Plus, the Sophia Merchant Guild plans to do business not just in Grandchester but in other territories too. I intend to get the other nobles on my side as well."
Sara smiled slyly.
"Don't do things that will attract attention from various people like that. We won't be able to protect you."
"Isn't it fine if Scott doesn't protect me?"
"Huh? But Sara is a girl, so you should be protected, right?"
"Scott, are you still bringing up gender? I guess it's normal to think that way when you grow up among knights..."
As Sara searched for words, looking troubled, Blaze grinned.
"Sara is stronger than me. You're not the type to just be a quiet girl who needs protection. So, I aim to be a guy who can stand by Sara and fight together. It's a pretty high goal, so I have to work really hard, but when you have to run away, I want to be able to go with you, so I'll graduate from the academy as fast as I can!"
"Hey, Blaze, that's harsh. Are you trying to get ahead?"
"Not at all. But Scott should understand Sara better. Don't you know what kind of life Sara wants?"
"A life...?"
"Think about it. There's no way Sara can just become a typical noble lady and be someone's wife, right?"
"...That's true."
"So, if you want to be close to Sara, if you want to be chosen by her, you need to have strength that matches hers. Whether it's intelligence, sword skills, or magic, I don't know, but right now, I'm losing to Sara in everything. I'm going to work my butt off from now on."
At that moment, Scott felt for the first time that he had 'lost' to Blaze. He realized that Blaze understood Sara better than he did. Growing up in a position close to nobility, Scott couldn't help but view women's lives from a noble perspective.
But Blaze had no such assumptions at all. Moreover, he knew very well about the extremely ugly adult men in the mercenary group and the women who had no choice but to obey them. These women were not protected by strong men; instead, they were oppressed because they were weak.
Scott felt a strong desire rising up inside him, thinking, "I don't want to lose like this."
"I see. Then I need to do my best too. In studying, sword fighting, and magic. Sara, can you lend me a magic tool that drains magic power? It sounds expensive, so it would help if I could pay you back later. I want to increase my magic power and name my fairy friend."
"Okay. I'll prepare some for you and Blaze. But can I have the magic water you collect in return? Amelia can make an amazing potion with that."
"Sure, that's fine."
"Then it'll be free in exchange for the magic water. You two seem like you can collect a lot of magic."
'That sounds like blood donation. Wait, blood donation...? Should I create a system in the city to buy magic power?'
If they were buying it, it wouldn't be blood donation but selling blood, but Sara's mind wandered to the blood donation cars and rooms from her past life.
'If I let the kids experience magic depletion, their magic power will increase, but fainting would be a problem...'
"Hey, Sara, are you listening?"
"Sorry. I got lost in thought."
"Mr. Daniel is waiting, so you should become Sophia soon."
"Got it. Thanks."
Sara wiped her mouth with a napkin and stood up to return to the room.
As they watched her back, Scott and Blaze were unknowingly thinking the same thing.
'When Sara leaves Grandchester, I want to go with her.'
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)