...

A not-remarkable carriage drove through Wolfsteeth on its way to Leonandra's estate. It was made of medium-grade wood, painted dull, without any crest or symbol, and pulled by simple hog monsters. It was so standardized that if one looked for a specific carriage because of a fugitive, they would immediately be drawn to it as it was too bland to be authentic.

However, the person inside could only be described as noteworthy—Nila O. Nine-Fire. She was wearing a casual dress, with her hair made into a dud, while reading some notes she made while reading Linuel's letters.

Yet, she couldn't concentrate well as puppies were playing around outside, which made her smile since it was adorable to listen to.

"I will use my power of fire, burning you for eternity!"

"No! I will summon my blade, made out of thousands of tornadoes, to slice your fire!"

"Argh!"

"Muhahaha! See this? This is the power of magic I learned under Archmage Alexander! Now die!"

"Nooooooo."

To Nila, it was cute but also important information. If the youth started to ignore their ancestors and took others as role models for their little role-playing, it meant that the person became one of the more prominent ones in a given city, town, or village.

Nonetheless, such information could also be misleading as it was enough to be unique like Alexander, who was probably the first ever mage inside their Guard Households.

However, what was probably more important was because of the charity he started. As such, the goodwill of Wolfsteeth's lower populace was immense toward him. A dream scenario for every noble. While it was straightforward here toward whom the goodwill was pointing, it was odd in Foxteeth, where the charity started some time ago.

The charity inside Foxteeth made a secret out of who was responsible for their appearance, but Nila knew that it was obviously her little sister, with the help of Scarlett, who both talked with her parents to make it happen.

Nila was confused about why this was the case but had a good guess. However, before she could follow the thought, her fellow traveler interrupted her, "Mrs. Nila, do you want some refreshments?"

Nila shook her head, "No need, but thank you..." She looked away from her notes and towards a small bee-kin girl across from her, "Are you excited to meet your mistress again? I guess we will arrive there in the evening."

The bee-kin girl's antennas slightly twitched while she nodded vigorously, smiling, "Yes, and I'd really love to meet her fiance, but I..."

Nila interrupted her, suddenly irritated when she heard the word fiancé, "Shut up, Honey..." she glared at Linuel's personal guard.

Nila was very upset that her sister stole her man. Yet Linuel had enough decency to at least write her a letter apologizing for such behavior and offering considerable help without specifying anything.

This was also why she traveled toward the Leonandra estate, and her guess as to why nobody took the credit for the charity in Foxteeth. It was too obvious, and depending on how Narsiz was, she would either accept the apology or not.

Regardless of Linuel's invitation, if Nila's next social gathering ended up empty again, she would revisit her sister by herself, making her pay for what she did, no matter if Narsiz was worth it or not.

After the purge in the underworld, life continued, with Nila visiting two balls to find a fitting husband. However, all of them were inadequate for her taste. While it sounded like they were worthless, it wasn't the case as such since she had particular standards.

Her husband needed to be talented in two things: Socializing and administration, supplementing her talents, which were largely battle- and military-related.

Yet, all the ones Nila found were average or insane, like the Iron-Claws. She needed to admit that her standards were too high, probably because she compared everyone to her Father. While he was even weaker than her, even though he underwent the first body modification, he was nonetheless brilliant and charming—the perfect complement to her Mother, who had enormous talent when it came to fighting.

Nila wanted the same and thought that Narsiz was such a person. However, while she was somewhat calm now after the apology, she was not before it. She was ready to kill Linuel and take him away should he fit her expectations. There was nothing worse than getting a man stolen who would've been a perfect fit.

"Mrs. Nila, please calm down."

She looked at Honey and sighed, "Sorry, I am just a little perturbed by your Mistress."

Honey shook her head while smiling, "I understand, but so you know, should you attack her with killing intent, I will try my best to kill you, Mrs. Nila."

Nila raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Where do you get the courage?"

Honey's smile widened, "Oh, let's see..." She wanted to count on her hand but suddenly stopped, surprised, "...actually, it's none of your business."

Nila's killing intent leaked out, "I guess I should get rid of you now?"

Honey shook her head, "While it sounds nice, you forgot that my Mistress has an offer for you, and if you kill me, you will also lose any good faith with Mr. Narsiz and his brother, Mr. Alexander."

Nila raised an eyebrow, stopping her killing intent, 'I can't win, huh?'

It was true. Should Nila become unhinged, any good future relations would become impossible since Alexander would evidently become Leonandra's next Lord. Worse, from what Patricia said, when she was at the estate, the brothers had a good and intimate relationship. However, it was worse only for Nila since she wanted to twist Linuel's neck like that of a chicken.

Nila sighed, "Never mind, I can kill you later... should Lin try something."

Honey nodded happily, "I also think this is the right decision, Mrs. Nila."

...

Little Later, Leonandra Estate

Nila walked out of the carriage, and the first thing she saw made her almost leak out her killing intent unintentionally. It was Linuel, and while she wanted nothing more than to pounce at her and strangle her till all life left her eyes, she stayed calm and walked to her, forcing a smile, "Hello, Lin. How are you?"

Beside her was who she probably assumed was Narsiz. He was beautiful, charming, and exuded a particular intellect she loved, 'This fucking whore. If he is talented, I will kill her.'

However, to her surprise, there was someone else, too. A snow-white-haired puppy stood beside Linuel on the other side, trying to smile charmingly. However, he gave off a dangerous aura, so much so that all her neck hair stood up, 'This should be Alexander.'

Patricia told her multiple times that it was her future husband, and going by her threats, it was probably better not to groom him, even though Nila was interested, especially since he was overwhelmingly talented, 'Better not touch the men of psychos.'

Even though Alexander would be her perfect husband in every aspect, even going by what Patricia told her, it seemed that her little sister already groomed him for months. As such, he was already taken.

Linuel came forward, smiling slightly but was clearly nervous, "Hello, big sister, how was the trip?'"

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Nila smiled back, "Good enough..." yet her smile widened viciously, making Linuel flinch, "...I was always thinking about you."

It suddenly became dead silent, and nobody moved or did anything for a whole minute until she heard Alexander's sigh, "Ok, amazing story. I am Alexander, so can we not kill each other and talk about a couple of things? I need Linuel alive for later."

Nila looked at him, tilting her head, "Oh? Why so?"

He shrugged, "She is my brother's fiancé, and he would be quiet..." Alexander was interrupted when Narsiz spoke, exuding an incredible natural charisma, "...Alex shut up for a minute..." He looked at Nila and smiled charmingly at her, "...my name is Narsiz, and I would like to continue the business talk for later. How about we first show your room and discuss this while having tea and cake? We can also eat something heartier if you are very hungry."

Nila became incredibly annoyed, 'Charming, reserved, nice, and diplomatic. She will definitely pay.'

However, Alexander interrupted him, sounding sarcastic, "Look at her. She is about to rip Linuel apart. Do you think some cake and tea will calm her down?"

While Alexander was right, Nila wasn't a bloodthirsty beast, "Exc..." She couldn't even get a word through as they began to fight with each other.

"Alex, have some manners. We are all here, adu... never mind. Let her first settle down."

Alexander shrugged while looking between Nila and Linuel, "Whaddya mean? Just let's get it over with. No need to wait..." He turned to Nila and was as direct as someone could be, "...I will give you power and gold. Develop your city, but for this, I also need Linuel alive."

Nila stood dumbfounded there and didn't know what was going on, but before she could reorganize her thoughts, from behind came Honey, "Mistress!"

Linuel smiled at her and opened her arms, "Hey! How are you?"

Honey ran to her and hugged her. Nila's rage was there but considerably exchanged with confusion, 'I fucking hate the Leonandra's.'

She only met up with them once, years ago, at a ball when their eldest daughter and Narsiz visited it. However, she was timid back then and mostly stood in the corner, sipping some tea.

Fortunately, she didn't participate much since the evening wasn't very pleasant. Their eldest daughter suddenly started a fight with some noble who was a vassal of the higher nobility of central Mal-Gil. After beating the youth up almost to a pulp, a guard tried to apprehend her, but she stole their shield and beat them then up with it.

The Leonandra household wasn't the best when it came to manners, to say it lightly, but when Nila remembered her family, it wasn't much better. There was a reason why other noble circles wanted to have as little interaction with the Guard Households as possible.

Nila sighed, not liking the chaos, and decided to introduce herself to the Lady first and have some tea and cake. Then, she could see for herself what Alexander and Linuel were talking about, "Show me to the Lady first..." She glared at Linuel, who smiled nervously, "...and then we can have a nice chat."

...

Evening, Tea Room

Inside the beautiful tea room were sitting four youths, with their cups in their hands, silently sipping their tea. The arrangement of pastries was exquisite, as was the calming herbal tea. In comparison, the atmosphere was dreadful and heavy, as if someone had died.

However, one puppy threw a cookie in his mouth and drank the herbal tea in one go. After he was done with such an unsightly behavior, he spoke casually to Nila, "So, you want to kill Linuel?"

Nila raised an eyebrow, as this brash puppy was so much like his Father, which was ridiculous. She knew the Druid from some happenstances when they were together on either a cleaning mission or in the east. He was far from what one would expect from a Lord and much more like some mercenary. Nila couldn't understand how the Lady, Marisia, could fall in love with such a barbarian.

Yet, after seeing him fight, command, and motivate his soldiers, she understood that he was much more capable than most nobles. After that, she felt ashamed for her premature judgments and decided first to see if one was competent enough before judging them by their behavior.

Nila took a sip and leaned back. She raised her longer, more airy skirt a little, putting one leg over the other, and answered Alexander honestly, "No."

Alexander shrugged while looking at Linuel, "See? She doesn't want to kill you..." He turned back to Nila, "...all right, let's talk about..."

Linuel interrupted him, "Can you not rush things?..." She looked at her older sister, "Nila, we need to talk things out."

Nila, though, didn't want it since it felt as if her sister wanted to rub it into her face. Funnily enough, Alexander noticed it and made fun of it, "Yeah, let's talk openly about how you fucked her over and stole Narsi. Good job, genius."

"Alex, please don't be..." Nila's laughter interrupted Narsiz, and she waved her hand in dismissal, "You are all so cute..." She suddenly became serious, leaking killing intent, "...if I wanted her dead, she would be a corpse already."

Narsiz used his aura, which was pleasant, like a warm spring day, blocking Nila's since Linuel was slightly trembling, clearly in fear. This display of Narsiz made her though even angrier, 'I can't believe I lost such a man to this moron.'

He was clearly weaker than Linuel but much more courageous, trying to defend her even though Nila could kill him easily. Even better, he was relatively young and could be groomed into a perfect husband for her, but no. He fell in love with a moron.

Narsiz smiled at her, but it was not one that she would consider friendly, "I would say we put our intentions away so we don't start something that we would regret later on."

"Is this a threat..." Nila increased her killing intent, not liking what she heard.

However, the situation suddenly escalated as she felt a massive amount of killing intent coming from where Alexander was. Looking at him, he suddenly stood up, and the amount increased tenfold, making her concentrate to defend against it.

The air became reddish, and she could see the same glare that her Mother or Scarlett had, but her thoughts went in a different direction than fear as she licked her lips, 'Can't believe the Leonandra's birthed such great men.'

Yet her thoughts were as quickly interrupted by Alexander screaming, clearly irritated, "Everyone, stop! I can't believe that you overreact like this!"

Nila put her killing intent back like Alexander, who glared at her, obviously not understanding her situation. As such, she decided to be more honest and try to explain it to him, "Alex, may I call you like this?"

Alexander nodded while sitting down again. She continued, "Great, so let me be honest. Let's say you will help me with your charity..." She smirked at him, "...which only means probably putting my name out there that I was the reason your charity could be established. Yet, this doesn't help me get the position of the Lady."

Alexander raised an eyebrow, clearly confused, "What do you mean? I will build schools, and we can create concepts and help you let your fief prosper and..." He opened his arms widely, "...I also know that you are, besides Patricia, the only one who is a probable heir! Patricia and I will serve you the title on a silver platter together with the goodwill of your subjects!"

It was silent for a moment till Nila started to chuckle while glaring shortly at Linuel and back at Alexander, "You don't know this maybe, but I need a husband to become the Lady, and I do want to also rule later in the North and West. Because of this, I also need a talented one."

Alexander frowned, "Is this actually a rule? I thought it was more of a suggestion, and what about the North and West?"

Narsiz shook his head, "No. It is a rule made by the Count that only someone with a spouse can rule over a fief..." He shrugged, "...there are obvious exceptions, but none of those apply to Nila."

Nila continued, "If you want to rule the North, you and your spouse need to go through the first body modification, while the West is for the one who went through the second."

After hearing it, Alexander's face contorted into different grimaces, but in the end, he leaned forward, looking at Linuel, dumbfounded, "You are literally a moron, huh?"

Before Linuel could say something or Narsiz defend her, Nila laughed out loud, "Haha! I like you already!"

Alexander looked at Narsiz and Linuel interchangeably and became serious, "Leave, both of you."

Narsiz wanted to say something, but Linuel grabbed his shoulder and nodded, signaling that they should leave. After he sighed, they stood up and left the tea room.

Now alone, Nila became quite interested in why Alexander wanted them to be alone. The answer came quickly, with him rubbing his temple and speaking while stressed, "I need to apologize for Linuel."

Nila raised an eyebrow, being interested, "Why so? You didn't do anything wrong, and she is not someone from your household."

Alexander leaned back and sounded defeated, "Well, she will be, and since I love my brother and he loves her, I need to do something so we can have an amicable relationship..." He smiled at her tiredly, "...right?"

Nila was close. She was so close to grooming Alexander after seeing what he was all capable of. Only her pride and honor, which Linuel didn't have, made her step back and not stay here and groom Alexander into an even better husband.

However, he suddenly sighed, "Fine, let me ask you: Are you ready to, let's say, if you find a proper husband, let my charity and other projects act autonomously inside your fief?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Sure, it depends on what, really, but I see no problem if they have the same goal as the ones you have in Wolfsteeth. From what I saw already, it seems fine."

He nodded and continued, "Will you be ready to adjust tax breaks and other things so they can sustain themselves without my influence after they show their worth?"

She shrugged, "As I said, I have no problem with your idealistic goals since they would obviously benefit me too, and changing the tax code to make them more independent sounds fine too, as long as they, as you said, show their worth."

Alexander inhaled and exhaled strongly through his nose while looking into some empty space, only to nod, "Good, we will finalize the deal letter, and I will give you your present when it's all over, but..."

She interrupted him, "Alex, may I ask you something?"

He nodded, even though looking confused, "Sure."

"Let's forget the whore for a moment. I want you to tell me why you are going to such extremes for lowly commoners. It is obvious that you would make a deal with anyone as long as you would get your way, am I right?"

Alexander smirked suddenly, "Because I can and want to."

After a moment of silence, she laughed out loud, "Haha! Fine..." She stood up, looking down at him, "...however, all our agreements will be useless as long as I don't have a suitable husband, and I will never accept someone who is only average."

Alexander also stood up, "Well, for this problem, I also have an idea..." His smile became more mischievous, "...trust me. I only need to read something through!"