The Villainous Noble’s Father - Chapter 19

Beyond the walls that surround the royal capital. There, in a wide-open grassy plain with a great view, I found myself completely at a loss. The moonlight felt strangely bright.

Wait, hold on a sec? Give this old man a minute to think, please. So basically, Leonard is in love with Yulia. And Yulia?

From what I can tell, she seems to like him back. But there’s a problem, she might be connected to a terrorist organization. Worst case, she could be using him as part of a honey trap. Honestly, this is a tricky situation. And to make things even more complicated, Alan is standing right in front of me, surrounded by a white flame.

He looks exactly like some “White Flame Hero” type. It’s like I’ve walked into the final boss battle of a video game.

I did quietly restore the broken barrier spell, but I have no intention of testing my strength against Alan while he’s powered up like that.

Could I take him down if I went all out with the intent to kill? Maybe. But that’s off the table.

Now, back to the real issue, Leonard. He’s looking at me with unwavering, determined eyes. That’s not the innocent kind of “eyes,” that’s the serious kind. If I were thinking purely from my position, getting rid of Yulia would be the cleanest and safest option.

But Leonard doesn’t see it that way.

He’s looking at the bigger picture, not just good and evil, or right and wrong. He’s made his decision as a mature individual who has accepted all of it.

As a parent, that should make me proud.

Not long ago, this same boy was timid, constantly dodging eye contact, and only cared about protecting himself. And now look at him. My son is choosing his own path in life. That’s something to celebrate.

At least, that’s what I want to feel. But the part of me that’s a duke can’t let it go so easily.

Seriously, what am I supposed to do?

“Time out! Let’s call a timeout!”

Yulia’s voice pulled me back to reality after I’d been lost in thought for a few seconds.

She ran toward me, still wearing Leonard’s robe over her shredded nightclothes torn up thanks to my attack trying to cover her bare skin.

“I know you’re overwhelmed by everything happening so suddenly, Lord Duke! But please, hear me out!”

Ah… yeah. That would help, actually. But still… You do realize I nearly killed you just now, right? How are you so calm about this? Are your nerves made of steel?

“So basically, the real problem is that you don’t trust me, right?”

She got straight to the point as we moved a bit away from Leonard and Alan.

“Well, yeah. If we’re being blunt, that’s it exactly.”

“Aha! I knew it!”

Yulia nodded cheerfully. Why are you smiling about that? What part of that makes you happy?

“If you were going to reject me just because I have demon blood, I wouldn’t have stood a chance, so this is actually a relief!”

Oh, that’s what you meant. Well, thanks to memories from my past life, I don’t have a strong bias against that sort of thing.

It’s kind of like being a Japanese-American… or maybe an American-Japanese? Either way.

“Please let me marry Leonard! If it’s a political marriage, wouldn’t that put your mind at ease?”

And just like that, she dropped a bombshell with a smile.

Wait, what? Marry someone you don’t trust? That’s… wait, if it’s a political marriage… From a noble’s perspective, it’s not actually that bad.

It’s common practice to marry off children to former enemies to establish peace. If I think of it as the Finster-Heréol family joining with the Sederholm family, it’s not that strange…

Or is it?

We don’t even have solid proof that the Sederholm family is on the demons’ side. Plus, I don’t know where their current head stands on the matter…

Hmmm…

“Really, I think it’s a good deal for you! I mean, the Finster-Heréol family was formed from two dukedoms after the war, so we’re technically bigger than the royal family now, right?” 

“If Leonard married into another big family, things would get politically messy. But my family is just a count’s house under the Finster faction, and I’m the second daughter. Super affordable, don’t you think?”

“Ah… yeah, I see what you mean…”

Seeing me hesitate, Yulia went in for the kill. She’s not wrong. Our house is too powerful, and it’s been hard finding a suitable bride for Leonard. If he marries into a powerful marquess or frontier family, the combined land and influence would be way too much.

That would cause serious political complications. Right now, the Finster-Heréol merger is being passed off as a temporary postwar measure. Eventually, I plan to split the family back into Finster and Heréol once the kids grow up.

So yeah, marrying into a big house is out. But pulling someone from a baron or viscount family feels underwhelming. Given all that, a second daughter from a supportive count’s house sounds… honestly, pretty solid.

Plus, the name “Sederholm” actually holds some significance among royal circles. All things considered, a marriage between them has a lot of strategic value for a ducal family.

“As for the whole Odim thing, at least from what I know, my family hasn’t officially aligned with them yet. The offer for cooperation came in just a few months ago.”

I see. If that’s true, there’s still a chance to deal with this before it’s too late.

But still…

“A few months ago? That would’ve been right before you came to our house for etiquette training, right? There’s a good chance things have progressed since then.”

Even setting aside whether I trust her or not, she’s just the second daughter. The current head or the heir might have totally different ideas.

“If that happens, we can just split the Sederholm family in two, with me as the figurehead and go to war! Actually, it’d be better that way. At least we’d know exactly who the enemy is!”

What? What is this girl even saying?

“That would mean turning your sword against your parents and sister. You realize that, right?”

“I am a Sederholm woman.”

Yulia cut me off, saying it like it explained everything. Her eyes… had gone cold. The light in them was just gone.

The story of the Sederholm family is famous in its own right. Especially among those close to the royal family.

You see, the previous King’s mistress was a Sederholm.

Back then, the royal family had even less power than they do now, and the King and Queen’s marriage was completely political, there was no love at all.

The Sederholm family head at the time was the one who helped maintain peace between the couple. No one knows all the details of their relationship, but apparently, it wasn’t a bad one.

Honestly, I think the King should’ve just made her a royal consort, but politics probably got in the way. At the time, the Sederholms were only barons, so that probably didn’t help either.

Still, a typical noble would’ve used that connection for political gain. But the Sederholms didn’t. They never hinted at the relationship. Instead, they devoted themselves fully to the King, Queen, and royal family.

It only came to light after the previous King passed away, during the cleanup of his estate. That old man had carefully saved stacks of love letters from the Sederholm head.

I read one of them once. It was overflowing with pure love for that old fool.

The King tried over and over to elevate the Sederholm family in status, as if to make up for not being able to marry her.

But every time, her response was the same.

“I love you. But you don’t need to return that love. I ask for no special treatment. Loving you is my joy, and that is the pride of the Sederholm family.”

Her letters were filled with love, gentle scolding, and even cute comments like “You looked so cool when you took charge.”

It was my uncle, the former King and her half-brother, who finally made the Sederholms counts.

“Sederholm… When you bring up that name, no one close to the royal family can really argue back.”

Yulia smiled softly.

“There is no official connection between our family and the royal family. But still, we are a family that lives and dies for love.”

Her eyes were like those of a martyr or a prophet who’d received divine revelation.

“Sigh… Fine. I’ll approve your engagement to Leonard…”

“…I think there are things we can forgive because we’re family.”

Yulia cut me off again, her eyes suddenly cold as ice.

“Like, say, trying to kill someone without any solid proof. …Right, Father-in-law?”

“…Alright. I surrender. You win. So please, my daughter-in-law, stop looking at me like that.”

And that’s how it all went down.

Today’s lesson: Putting too much faith in your knowledge of the original story can seriously backfire.