“You may be fine with it, but I’m not! I have to speak with my father, as well as some others, first.”
Cain glanced over at Vice-captain Daim. Daim knew that Cain was already engaged to Telestia and Silk. Cain thought Daim would rescue him…but Daim simply shook his head side to side with a resigned look on his face.
“You’re right. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to decide this on my own. Sorry. Let’s talk to His Majesty, first.”
The king was the last person Cain wanted to know about this. The king had just called him a lady killer the other day. If the king were to learn of this, Cain was definitely in for another scolding.
“I-I have some business to take care of today, so another time. Excuse me…”
“It’ll be fine. This won’t take long.”
“Huh?!”
“Daim, arrange an immediate audience with the king.”
Cain sent Daim a pleading look, but Daim simply sighed, said, “Understood,” and disappeared into the palace.
They were granted an immediate audience with the king. Daim had apparently told the king that “the Captain of the Royal Guard has an urgent matter.” They were led to the usual drawing room, and Cain was once more sitting in a seat that was practically his reserved seat at this point.
Although he sat in this seat often, he usually wasn’t accompanied by anyone. The captain of the Royal Guard, Tifana, was sitting next to him today. Daim was standing behind them.
The king and prime minister, seemingly in a bit of a hurry, entered the room and sat down in their usual seats in the center.
“We came over immediately as Daim said this was an urgent matter, but why are you here? Didn’t you just head over to the Royal Guard to hand over some monster materials?”
The king was confused. He had been told that the captain of the Royal Guard had an urgent matter, yet for some reason, Cain was here.
Cain nodded nervously and answered the king’s question. “Yes…that’s why I went there, and that’s what I did.”
Imperial knight captain Tifana stood up and began to speak.
“Your Majesty. I intend to marry Baron Cain.” Tifana suddenly dropped the bombshell.
Both the king and prime minister Magna were dumbfounded, stunned into silence. Daim, standing behind Tifana, simply sighed. The king tightened his strained expression and cast a cold gaze at Cain.
“Oh, and why is that? Cain. Explain from the beginning.”
“…Yes, well…”
Cain explained how he delivered the monster materials to the knights, how he was challenged to spar, and how he ended up dueling with the captain herself.
“So, in the end, you defeated the captain of the Royal Guard, the strongest person in the entire kingdom? Cain, did you not tell her about Silk and Teles?”
“You told me to keep that a secret, so I haven’t told her.” Cain answered honestly as he sweated under the king’s cold gaze.
“I knew about the captain saying that she wanted to marry someone stronger than her, but I didn’t expect that to be you, Cain…” The king sighed, then continued. “Cain, you should be aware by now that the captain is the daughter of a duke. However, Liebert was once a nation of elves. As you know, elves are elegant beings, which unfortunately made them frequent targets of kidnappings and war. Many sought to enslave them.
“In Esfort, thanks to the decree of the first king, this kind of discrimination is not a huge issue. As a result, Liebert is now under our protection as one of the kingdom’s territories. While it is officially a duchy within our rule, it maintains autonomy and, for all practical purposes, functions as an independent kingdom. You should regard her as you would a princess of a sovereign nation. That princess wishes to marry you. Do you understand, Cain?”
Cain obediently nodded. Confirming Cain’s nod, the king looked over at Tifana.
“Tifana, this is still being kept under wraps, but I’ll inform you about it. Cain is already betrothed to my daughter, Telestia, and Duke Eric’s daughter, Miss Silk. Now that you know that, what will you do?”
Cain stared at the ground as the king spoke. Tifana showed a look of surprise, as she clearly had not expected Cain to already be engaged to a princess and the daughter of a duke. However, she immediately recovered and offered an unusual opinion.
“He’s someone who has won the acknowledgement of both Your Majesty and Duke Eric. I wish to marry him even more now.”
Tifana’s unexpected response left Cain speechless.
“Wait…”
He tried to put a stop to the conversation, but the king continued on.
“Okay, okay. I recognize how you feel. First, write a letter to Lord Laysan. We can talk further after you’ve received his permission. Understood?”
Tifana’s previously tense face burst out into a smile. She must have been happy at receiving the king’s acceptance. “Understood. I’ll write to my father at once. That resolves the urgent matter I needed to speak with you about. I’ll excuse myself now.”
Finished, Tifana rushed out of the drawing room. Daim, after bowing to the king, rushed after her.
“Well, it’s about time I left as well—”
“Oh, don’t be in such a hurry.”
“…Yeah, I figured.”
Cain had tried to leave as well, but the king stopped him.
“We need to talk, don’t we Cain? You weren’t planning on just leaving, were you?” The silent pressure from the king and prime minister bore down on Cain.
“I was surprised as well, and I’m still not sure what I should do,” Cain honestly responded.
“I didn’t expect you to defeat the captain of the Royal Guard. She has the Sword Saint title, you know? Her swordsmanship and blessing from the god of war are both at the highest level of five. She’s the captain simply because she’s the strongest. You understand what I’m getting at, right?”
“…Perhaps Captain Tifana wasn’t in peak condition today?” Cain tried to play it off.
Neither the king nor prime minister were about to let him get away with it. The king responded with the direct approach.
“Cain, just who are you?”
Cain calmed himself down and slowly replied, “I’m Cain von Silford, the third son of Garm…”
“Hmph. I’ll let you off the hook for now. Cain, do you intend to bring harm to this country?”
Cain directed a serious gaze at the king and responded. “No. I have no such intentions. Your Majesty, you granted me an aristocratic title and you recognized my engagement with Princess Telestia and Miss Silk. I intend to do what I can for the betterment of the nation. I haven’t the slightest intention to harm it in any way.”
The king’s expression relaxed at Cain’s words.
“Okay, I understand. I’ll inform Teles and Miss Silk.”
“Okay. Thank you. I’ll be going now, then.”
Cain bowed and left the room. He got in the carriage and was about to head home, but he realized it would probably be a good idea to inform Garm about what happened to preempt future problems. He instructed the driver to head to Garm’s mansion instead.
Cain arrived at Garm’s mansion and headed to the study.
“What’s the matter, Cain? Why are you in such a rush? Did something happen?”
“Well…”
Cain explained, in order, the events that had occurred.
“What?! Captain Tifana proposed to you?!” Garm’s shout reverberated throughout the mansion.
“…Yes. It happened after I sparred with her. The king and prime minister already know about this.”
Garm could only hug his head in exasperation.
Cain was already engaged to a princess and the daughter of a duke. Now, the daughter of the duke in charge of the elven territory—who happened to be the strongest swordswoman in the entire kingdom—also wanted to marry him. The problem already exceeded the scope of what Garm could resolve. Garm was indeed a Margrave, which made him a high-ranking noble. However, the royal family and ducal families were both higher ranking than the Silford family.
On top of everything, Cain was already independent, making him currently nothing more than a low-ranking baron.
“My head hurts. Let’s not discuss this any further today. I’ll go request an audience with the king in a few days,” Garm said, his spirit broken.
“I’ll leave now, then. I’ll come back to report if anything else happens,” Cain said before leaving the room.
“My god…Cain keeps bringing in one problem after another,” Garm lamented, collapsing onto his desk.