Chapter 13
When the Duke opened his palm, the coral brooch that had been there disappeared. Instead, the spherical light that hit Karina was there. Karina instinctively backed away.
The Duke seemed calm now, but he was almost killed by that light not long ago. She wouldn’t be able to keep her composure. Karina even considered running away, but curiosity suppressed her instincts.
‘I want to see it closer.’
The sphere on the Duke’s hand got longer and longer and became one meter long.
“I gave you this kind of thing?”
Wilder murmured in astonishment.
The Duke was in no condition to answer. He quickly murmured a spell that Karina couldn’t understand and tried to subdue the mass of light.
Bang!
With a huge rupture, acrid smoke fell all over the place.
‘It’s magic!’
Karina looked at the Duke, which was seen through the smoke with her eyes wide open.
“…!”
Karina barely managed to swallow a spontaneous scream that came out of her mouth. Instead of a lump of light, the Duke held a giant sword in his hand she had never seen before.
The sun shone through the dark red day.
“Are you planning to blow up my store?”
When Wilder complained loudly, there were wrinkles between the Duke’s eyebrows.
“Are you doubting my ability?”
“Your Grace makes mistakes once or twice a year!”
“This year’s blunders are over.”
The Duke replied nonchalantly.
“No way…”
Wilder’s face stiffened.
“Yes, I tried the imbalance magic stone Mrs. Bloe found and failed. It destroyed the room entirely.”
“…Your Grace must have been trying to torture Count Python.”
“I repaired it with my own money.”
The Duke turned his sword around and bowed politely to Karina.
“Thank you for your help. If it weren’t for the lady, I would have burst the magic stone His Majesty the Emperor himself gave me. I’d like to do you a favor.”
Karina replied immediately.
“I want to know what this is all about.”
“Is that what the lady wants?”
The Duke asked in a surprised voice. Karina nodded her head. She didn’t want a favor.
In reality, she kind of wanted it, but more than that she wanted to know how this whole situation works.
“Yes.”
Karina replied sternly feeling that he wouldn’t give another alternative.
The Duke stared at her for a moment, then stared into the air as if he was preparing something to say.
The words that finally came out of his mouth completely exceeded Karina’s expectations.
“I’m a magic swordsman.”
Karina couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed. What does he mean by magic swordsman?
For a non-magician, he was well versed in magic. If it was something Karina had never heard of, it must have been a very rare class.
“What’s that?”
The Duke looked at Wilder instead of answering, Wilder sighed and took on the role of explaining.
“A person who pulls out a sword from a magic stone.”
“Can you make something else?”
“No. Only magic swords that have condensed mana can be made from magic stone.”
“Why don’t you use magic instead of a sword…?”
“It’s possible for anyone who has no magic talent or who has fewer magic skills. Of course, it’s only well-trained swordsmen.”
The Duke smiled as if he was helping himself and added a word.
“In other words, it’s like a blacksmith.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
Now Karina frowned. There was a question that couldn’t be resolved by the Duke and Wilder’s explanations on that sword.
“Is there anything else you’re curious about?”
“…That sword. Is that all you got to condense your mana?”
“What do you mean?”
Karina hesitated.
The part that the Duke’s explanation alone didn’t make sense was felt in that sword.
“In there… I can feel the magic. It’s quite a dangerous magic.”
“…!”
The next moment, something incredible happened. The Duke threw his sword on the floor and grabbed one of her hands.
Karina tried to remove it because she was embarrassed, but the Duke didn’t let go of her hand.
“Mrs. Bloe, I think I’ve seen many talented people, but this is the first time I’ve seen a talented person like you.”
“W-Well that’s an honor.”
Karina wanted to back off in moderation but couldn’t under the circumstances. Especially because the Duke hasn’t finished speaking.
“If I miss the chance, my late parents won’t forgive me. I want you to be the vassal of the Duke.”
Karina doubted her ear.
A Duke’s vassal?
A vassal of the Duke family, who shares the same status as the imperial family, should at least be a person with the title of knight.
In the case of a woman, no matter how low her status is, she had to be at least the daughter of a knight. A commoner wasn’t in a position to become one.
‘Come to think of it, the Duke of Tors liked talent, but this isn’t it.’
In the novel she read in her previous life, even the Duke of Tors had a weakness for talent. It was because of that that he had a conflict with Roland as an adult.
Because Archwizard was a talent anyone would yearn for.
The Duke of Tors went a bit too far to recruit Roland and soon became a bitter opponent after failing. But the situation between her and Roland in the novel was completely different.
At that time, Roland was the baron’s maternal nephew and heir to the title, but she’s nothing more than a commoner widow whose origin is unclear.
How can she be the vassal of a Duke? The Duke spoke in a softer tone.
“I’m not lying or trying to make fun of you. I truly want you to be my…”
“How can I be a vassal?”
Karina couldn’t stand the absurdity and interrupted the Duke’s words. She knew it was disrespectful, but she’s sure he’ll forgive her for saving him.
“Why not?”
“A commoner like me…”
“Were you worried about that?”
One of the Duke’s eyebrows went up.
“You said you weren’t from Tors, but you must have come from a very remote place. Half of my vassals are commoners.”
“…”
“There are few aristocrats in Tors. If they want to live a little, they all go to the capital. They use this place as a vacation spot.”
“Ah…”
“If I didn’t make you a vassal just because you are a commoner, the Dukedom would have been ruined long ago.”
“…I see.”
“Look here, Wilder was a vassal even though he didn’t have a knight rank. Are you ready to take my proposal seriously now?”
Karina didn’t know whether to be surprised that Wilder was a commoner who treated the Duke casually, or that the Duke’s proposal wasn’t a joke.
“Now, I’m a little surprised…”
“It won’t change what you do when you’re here. But it’ll be a better environment to raise children. Because the pay will be different.”
“But I’m going to be very busy, right?”
“You know exactly.”
The trouble didn’t take long. Karina bent her knees slightly.
“Your Grace, I can’t be the vassal of the Duke.”
Surprisingly, the Duke looked shocked as if he had never heard of a word of refusal in his life.
He spilled a word out of his mouth with a blank expression on his face.
“Why…?”
“I can’t be truly loyal to the Duke.”
“Is it because of the children?”
Karina shook her head.
It was simply because she didn’t want to live in an aristocratic mansion and live a life of serving someone. Of course, she’s more likely to receive than to serve if she’s a vassal.
However, the environment was worse than that of a maid in terms of loyalty to the Duke in some ways. Karina wanted to live only for herself and the children’s safety.
Karina simply glossed over these circumstances, it’ll be a waste of her life to tell them honestly.
“It’s too much for me. I’d appreciate it if you could pass it on.”
“…I see. It’s a heavy burden…”
The Duke looked up into the air for a moment and moved his eyes.
“I- if you’ll excuse me…”
“No, thank you for being so honest. Rather, I thought it was a relief that it wasn’t for any other reason.”
“What reason?”
“You don’t like me.”
“…!”
The Duke looked at Karina’s blank face for a moment and burst into laughter. The ice looked like it was shining brightly under the sunlight on a winter day.
Karina had no choice but to stare at the Duke even more blankly.
“Just kidding. By the way, are the children adjusting well?”
“Yes.”
“How was school?”
“What?”
Karina looked at Wilder with a look of assistance.
School all of a sudden? What nonsense is he talking about?
Fortunately, Wilder didn’t leave Karina alone.
“Your Grace, Mrs. Bloe said she originally lived in a mountain valley. She doesn’t know much about Tors.”
It wasn’t technically a mountain valley, but Karina didn’t correct Wilder’s words. Well, it was true that she lived in a place farther away than a mountain valley from people.
“But it’s mandatory to send them to school.”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to trust the officials too much?”
Wilder grunted and explained to Karina.
“Children who can’t afford a tutor can go to school for a basic education.”
“Ah…”
Karina only then noticed that the ‘school’ they were talking about wasn’t much different from the school she attended in her previous life.
“I went to school too, so it’s been a while since this system was established in Tors.”
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“What do you learn?”
Of course, Karina and her acquaintances never attended school, but Karina in her previous life went to before.
If Roland and Melissa could go to the right school, nothing could be better.
* * *
(T/N: This chapter was a bit hard for me to translate so sorry it took a while. The Duke was trying his best to appeal to Karina, it’s hilarious (ﾉ’ヮ’)ﾉ)