It took us two days to reach Margrave Thosen’s territory.

  His lands stretched from the borders of my own domain, across rolling green plains and mountainous forests, all the way to the southern sea. By all accounts, Thosen was a successful lord in every sense of the word.

  Unfortunately, his lack of male heirs had turned him into a fool, jeopardizing everything he had built. Including his territory, where farmers had now begun to openly rebel.

  Luckily, that situation worked well for Valen.

  Whether it worked well for me, or for the reputation I was trying to salvage, remained to be seen.

  I will have time to figure that out later.

  “Lord Valen,” Elowen spoke up as we drew to within an hour of our destination. “Are we not late? It did take us two days, after all.”

  “We’re fine,” I shook my head. “We departed within the agreed week, which keeps us clear under the terms of the deal. I also sent a letter ahead of time, informing him of our approximate arrival.”

  She raised an eyebrow at that. Perhaps she had expected a dismissive "Let him complain if he wants," the sort of response Valen would’ve given. Instead, I chose to endure the familiar headache and explained the situation properly.

  “Quite meticulous,” she remarked, nodding faintly.

  I shrugged and turned my gaze toward the carriage window. “I’m done doing things the old way.”

  “The old way?” she asked. “And what way is that?”

  She didn’t need an answer. She knew exactly what I meant.

  So instead, I changed the subject.

  “And you, Lady Elowen? How are things in the Capital? How is Lady Elena faring?”

  Lady Elena, Elowen’s mother and the Archbishop’s wife, suffered from a disease of the lungs. The Gray Cleanser, as it was known here.

  Tuberculosis.

  No spell, potion, or remedy could cure it. At best, they slowed its advance, keeping her confined indoors and carefully monitored.

  Judging by the way Elowen’s expression tightened, she hated that I’d asked.

  “Never mind,” I said quickly, raising my hands in surrender. “I apologize. I meant no offense.”

  Unfortunately for Elowen, I knew how her mother’s story ended.

  And perhaps, if I were being honest, the villain in me had asked that question deliberately. To draw her closer to me. To push the plan forward.

  Gods...

  Valen truly was a piece of shit.

  And worse, he was rubbing it off on me.

  I turned back to the window, trying to gauge how much longer we had left.

  But unexpectedly, Elowen spoke.

  “Mother is… stable,” she said quietly. “Nothing helps her condition, but it isn’t worsening.”

  The fact that she replied was tremendous progress.

  “The Capital is as chaotic as ever,” she continued. “As for me…” Her lips thinned. “Here I am. Escorting a future husband I never asked for to meet another woman who must be equally thrilled about the arrangement.”

  Miss, if you fail to remember, you were the one wanting to come, weren’t you?

  Still, something about her tone made me chuckle.

  “What?” she frowned.

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  “Nothing,” I replied honestly. “Just the way you said it.”

  “Is it amusing to torment people, my Lord?” she asked, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes.

  Even the Angel drifted a few inches closer.

  In response, Myrsky lifted her head from my shoulder, glaring at the floating eyeball with such intensity that it halted mid-air.

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” I said quickly, before things escalated. “I only found it… cute. That’s all.”

  “…Cute?” Elowen blinked. “Is suffering cute?”

  She knew I hadn’t meant it that way. And yet, she pressed on with the play, feigning ignorance.

  A habit I had despised in both lives.

  A habit that made me sigh. “Would breaking the engagement satisfy you, then?”

  That only soured her mood further.

  If the engagement were broken, it wouldn’t just ruin Elowen politically, it would devastate the Arch-bishop as well. Worse still, it would likely end any hope of her finding a suitable husband afterward.

  The rules were ironclad.

  Unless one of us died or unless very specific conditions were met, we were bound together.

  That applied to every fiancée Valen grabbed for himself.

  But all the more so for Elowen.

  After all, it was the Arch-bishop himself who had enacted those rules when he rose to power.

  And the daughter of the rule-maker couldn’t very well defy them, now could she?

  So Elowen didn’t answer.

  She simply turned away, remaining silent for the rest of the journey.

  When we arrived at the estate of the Margrave, we stopped at the iron gates surrounding it and walked out of the carriage.

  Nobody was there to receive us when Elowen and I touched the grass below our feet, a political offense that was looked down upon. One of Valen’s favorites, may I add.

  But thinking of it as some form of payback for what I did to the poor man, I didn’t mind it, and instead turned to Reginald as he approached our side.

  “My Count,” he nodded, getting off his horse with an annoyed expression, “We walked all this way, and they dare show such disrespect?”

  “Who knows what happened, Reginald?” I waved the man off, looking at the iron fence instead. “Leave it at that.”

  The man’s eyes shot wide open, turning from me to Elowen, then back at me as if checking if he was hearing things. But when he realized he was not, he nodded sharply, returning to his horse.

  “But, Reginald, you are coming with us inside,” I added.

  “I am?”

  “You are,” I replied, turning and looking at him, “I wrote in the letter I sent to the Margrave for him to summon his generals for our arrival and explain the rundown of things to you.”

  “As you wish, My Lord,” he blinked, even more surprised. “But may I ask why?”

  “Great question, Reginald,” Elowen muttered, before turning to me. “I want to know what too.”

  However, the second she said that, the doors of the estate opened slowly, revealing a few people near the mansion in the distance as they approached us on foot.

  “Well,” I smiled, looking at each of them in order, “Who knows?”

  And with that, I stepped forth inside the estate with Elowen, her Angel, and Reginald by my sides as I looked at four people before me.

  In the middle of the group stood the first face I’ve seen when arriving in this world.

  Margrave Thosen Morton.

  A middle-aged man who seemed to still have the same frown he had when I first saw him.

  He was decently tall, with a strong build for his age. His hair was a light brown, bordering on blonde, while his eyes were close to silver.

  A pity his brain was the size of a walnut.

  Beside him stood his wife, Ceris.

  A Lady with green eyes and orange-red hair, donning the most cliche noblewoman's clothes I’ve ever seen. However, she was a gorgeous woman, even now, touched by age.

  To her left stood their younger daughter, Paige, barely a teenager, who looked just like her mother in terms of eye and hair color.

  While to their right… was my fiancée. Kaelyn Morton.

  She was a tall woman, just like her father, with the beauty of her mother. She had silver eyes and reddish-brown hair as she stared me down like an eagle.

  Speaking of eagles… she had one. Right on her bloody shoulder.

  The problem, however, was that the eagle in question wasn’t a normal eagle from back on Earth, as was usually the case with Feralium Beasts.

  No… that was an underdeveloped Gryphon. Not a happy sight for my heart.

  Still, I managed to feign a smile as we stopped ten feet away from each other with Reginald and Elowen by my side.

  “Welcome, Count Valen, Lady Elowen,” Margrave Thosen bowed lightly with his family following closely behind, “And thank you for coming to our aid.”

  “Lord Thosen, Lady Ceris, Lady Paige,” I nodded to each of them before turning to the last in line, staying there for a second, watching her eyes, “Lady Kaelyn, we thank you for receiving us.”

  All four people froze for a second at the rather normal introduction I offered. And for some reason, at least in Lady Ceris’s case, that seemed to scare her.

  Perhaps the poor people prepared themselves for a shitshow, as it has always been the case with Valen.

  However, someone else was now running the show bitches, so prepare yourselves for a Valen you have never seen. A Valen you will love!

  That is I!

  Hahahaha.

  …

  Ahem… moving along.

  Slowly, I turned to the side, showing off the man standing on my left, “As per my letter, Margrave, he is my retainer, Reginald. Have him meet your generals and discuss what you need from my men.”

  “C-Certainly,” Thosen stammered, unsure how to react, “Please, while I do that, accompany my wife and daughters to some tea while you get acquainted. And do not worry, My Lord, we have already prepared a settlement for your men to live in and rest for the day.”

  To which I nodded casually, sending Reginald off with a wave before turning to the remaining women before me.

  Their earlier smiles vanished the moment Thosen left them, reminding me of a rather unpleasant fact about the Margrave’s “loving” family.

  Every one of these women was a warrior by birth. Exceptionally skilled, at that.

  And all I could do in this situation was meet their gazes with that same cold expression I always wore, silently praying to whatever Goddess might be listening to grant me strength… and mercy. A lot of mercy, please.