Author's note: Please don't forget that I wrote the last four chapters, including this one, while going through an exam phase, which could mean that there are more mistakes. Have fun ;)

...

Next day, Minor Garden, Leonandra Estate

A lone pavilion stood beside Leonandra's smallest manor in a small but well-kept garden. There, three canine-kin sat awkwardly around a fully decked table with sweets and tea. From the outside, it looked like an odd family was having a lovely day outside. However, in truth, it was a get-to-know-together set up by Alexander, who tried to solve a problem neither of them wanted him to solve.

Alexander cleared his throat while smiling widely, "Ahem! Nila, this is Bartholomew, and Bartholomew, this is Nila."

She smiled at him amiably, "It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Mr. Silver-Tail."

On the inside, though, she cursed at Alexander, 'This little shit! He wants me to rendezvous this monster?!'

When Alexander left yesterday so abruptly, saying he had something to do, the last thing she expected was that he would try to set her up with Bartholomew. Even though he didn't mention that it was a rendezvous, it was too obvious.

The cake was heart-shaped, while the tea was smelling funny. Now that Nila concentrated on it, everything smelled funny, like the aphrodisiacs her parents sometimes took. The decor on the table was made out of various flower types, symbolizing love and romance, usually used for declarations of love.

However, it wouldn't be too bad if it was someone she fancied, but Bartholomew wasn't this someone. The rumors about him weren't the best, to say it nicely. He killed his family, half his military, and more than two-thirds of the servants in a coup d'etat. The Silver-Tail estate and fief were in shambles at the moment, only held together by him through pure determination.

The Silver-Tail Lord greeted her back, "Nice to meet you too, Nila. Call me Bartholomew..." He looked at Alexander, bewildered, "...Are you serious?"

Alexander held his hands up in peace, "What?"

Bartholomew sighed, "Listen, I get what you want to do, and it will not work."

Alexander lowered his hands back down and looked at him, baffled, "I never..."

Bartholomew sighed while rubbing his eyes, "Huh, so you want me to rendezvous with one of the Nine-Fire's who has the most potential for the title? Bad choice, Alex."

Nila was bewildered at their directness to each other but agreed with him, intrigued to join the conversation. While she was not interested in getting engaged, making friends was always a good second option, "I agree with Bartholomew. While charming, having us come together will not end well."

Alexander, though, was visibly confused, looking at Nila, "What do you mean? Didn't you want to go through the whole ox-ride to get the chance for the West and..." He took a star-shaped cookie, biting into it casually, but immediately spit it out, forgetting that those weren't for puppies, "... Pui! Bart is a Lord, and while his fief is obviously in shambles, he is incredibly talented."

Bartholomew flinched, glaring at Alexander when he mentioned the Silver-Tail fief in such a way. Though, that was all. She expected him to at least beat the puppy half to death, but no. He only glared at him, not even letting out any malicious intent.

This interaction made Nila more thoughtful. She quickly deduced that they probably made a more thorough deal than what Alexander had given her because of what hadn't happened. She couldn't imagine what she would do as a Lady if someone slandered her fief.

Bartholomew's timidity also meant that Alexander was ready to invest substantial resources in the Silver-Tail fief, which in turn meant that Alexander's wealth was much more significant than she initially thought.

Nila suddenly saw in this meet-up that it was not a rendezvous but a great chance to connect with Bartholomew and make some personal deals before his fief became much more prosperous. From what she knew, her Father had already given him a great offer, but it was probably without him knowing the resources Alexander would put into it.

It was odd in the first place. They all knew that Alexander had made an enormous amount of gold by probably selling the parchment Leonandra had sent to them and that he would use the profits for charity, which wasn't also a secret.

However, the question was always how much he used and how serious he was with his philanthropy. This single interaction made her sure that he wasn't only playing with it but aggressively using it to acquire political power.

'This meeting is like a gold mine.'

Nila wanted to get closer to them and secure better relations with her fief. While it would be easy to interact with Bartholomew, who was visibly honest and open, it wasn't the case for Alexander. He was too unpredictable. In her opinion, it was wiser to act straightforwardly with him as he visibly never cared much about manners anyway and had clear goals, which he followed openly.

She smiled at the Silver-Tail Lord, interrupting the weird silence after Alexander's comment. She wanted to change the topic, "Bartholomew, let me apologize for Alexander, as I also didn't know about his cute plan. My current situation is quite complicated, and I told him about it. I guess he tried to help me by pairing us off..." She chuckled, holding her hand before her mouth, "...a little misunderstanding from an inexperienced puppy."

Alexander though smirked at her and then looked at Bartholomew, "She got her man stolen by Linuel, and killing her parents isn't a viable option. So, she looks desperately for a suitable guy."

Nila frowned and wanted to interrupt. However, Bartholomew only laughed out loud, "Haha! You are really bold saying something like this, but don't you think first asking us should've been the priority? How would you know that we are even interested?"

Alexander tilted his head and answered, acting like they were idiots, "I am confused. We are talking about marriage, not love, here. You could just marry each other to mend your problems and then rule your own territories peacefully."

Nila quickly interjected, understanding his thought process at last, "This is not possible. One of us would need to give up a territory and join the other."

She thought the topic would be closed, but Alexander sighed heavily, looking up while gesturing weirdly, clearly frustrated. Still, a slight smile was seen, too, as he started describing what he was doing yesterday, "I was up all night and went through a ton of books of shitty and barely readable law, but I found a solution..." He showed three fingers, "...you can marry and hold onto your territory separately because of these three provisions made by the Count...."

From outside the pavilion, the ground suddenly started to move, and the vicinity started shaking, causing Nila to panic, 'What is going on?!'

Earth started to float upwards, like a wave of water, only to build up into a giant brown wall before the pavilion, solidifying slowly.

Nila looked at Alexander, who was slightly sweating, immediately knowing that it was his doing, 'Is this his magic?'

She knew little about mages, and what she knew was only how to kill them, so this display was fascinating for her. Sadly, she didn't know if this was impressive or just something every apprentice could do since there was no malicious intent or haste behind it. Otherwise, she would immediately know how dangerous someone was if it was an attack.

However, as the block of earth hardened before them, flowers from the garden nearby were plucked by what looked like tiny flames. They then flew toward the block on small streams of wind and pressed themselves inside, writing a one.

Alexander inhaled strongly and suddenly went into a tangent she didn't expect, pointing at the flowery one on the earthen wall, "First. To rule a fief, you both need a spouse, as stated under the Moorgrelian noble law, but the funny thing is that what kind of spouse you need is not defined..."

Alexander started to gesture enthusiastically and looked more excited as he explained, "Under the Count's law, it is only defined that you just need a spouse, and how is a spouse defined? Anyone who marries under the graces of the Temple or before a judge. As such, while the roles of spouses differ and are clearly defined, like that of a concubine and a first wife, it doesn't matter for the purpose of ruling a fief as all of them are equally valid!"

Nila raised an eyebrow, surprised as it was the first time she had heard something like this. She tried to remember all the definitions of all those roles a spouse could have and couldn't believe that they were actually equally valid since they were too different in their status and responsibilities.

The most important was the first wife or husband. They would equally share the title of ruling over the fief, becoming the Lord or Lady. Then came the second, third, fourth, etc., spouse, who would not have any ruling power but, depending on their position, more or less some say inside the harem. A second husband would, for example, have more say than the third.

However, some spouses also had ruling power, but to a minimal extent. Those were, for example, local spouses. They were something like a first spouse but only to a specific locality. When they visited the main estate, they would lose most privileges, becoming something lower than the actual first spouse. Having such a spouse in the East of Moorgrel was rare since their Teeth cities' political power was very centralized.

Then there were concubines. Those were also spouses, as Alexander mentioned, but they had no say whatsoever, to the point that one could say that even servants had a higher position. They were practically prostitutes the Lord or Lady could play with, and that's it. Even divorcing them was made so easy, it was ridiculous and humiliating. Yet, many liked to take on such a role since they came from a poor background and lacked talent.

Nila could understand, though, why many became concubines as they had only two choices: Either do bone-breaking labor or be a sex puppet to a noble. Many chose obviously the latter. But it wasn't too bad since many customs existed to ensure that potential concubines with a better background wouldn't be frightened by the prospect of such a one-sided arrangement. One of those customs was that even after divorcing them, their former spouse would support them their whole life with some coins.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Nila's thoughts were interrupted when Alexander snapped with his fingers, and more flowers were plucked, flying towards the earthen wall behind the already written one, stating: To rule, one needs a spouse, but what kind? It doesn't matter.

While Nila slowly understood Alexander's intentions, finding it even cute, it was nonetheless useless. He missed her actual problem by a far margin, and she told it to him as such. Still, she tried to be more sensitive since she didn't want to upset him too much, "I understand you, Alex, and am truly grateful for your work and those..." She pointed at the earthen wall, "...interesting findings, but if a Lord and Lady engage with each other, they can not rule two territories."

Alexander shook his head and stood up, walking the earthen wall and slapping it once. A two appeared as more flowers flew to the wall, "What you said is true, but you didn't understand what I wanted to say with the first part. But let me ask you a little differently so you may understand: What power does a concubine have inside the territory?"

Bartholomew quickly answered and continued for Alexander, smiling widely, "None, and with no power, they have no responsibilities. Because of that, they can not rule the territory where they are a concubine. Is this what you wanted to say?"

Alexander was amazed, clapping, "Good job! Yes! You can marry each other and become concubines in the other fief, basically not being able to rule their territory in the first place, and because you can't rule your partner's territory, you are technically not ruling both. Thus, you can still rule your own!"

He clapped again, and the last flowers flew behind the number two, writing down beautifully: One can not rule with no power.

It became silent, and she looked at Bartholomew, who was visibly in thought, which made her panic, 'He doesn't really want to listen to Alex, right?!'

However, as much as she wanted to argue against it, it was actually a clever idea. While she hated to have the status of a concubine anywhere, she could have her territory, and while ruling, she could find a fitting husband who was also talented enough for her to go to the north and West.

Yet, Alexander continued talking, using now gras since no flowers were left, and wrote a three, "Three and this is a little present from me to Nila..." He winked at her, which made her raise an eyebrow at such cocky behavior, "...you said you wanted to go the west, and for this, you need a talented spouse, which is true, but the law didn't specify in which position the spouse should be when you take up the position."

He snapped his fingers again, and right behind the three, a text made out of grass appeared, which he read loudly, "For ascension as a Lord or Lady to the west or north, one does only need to have a spouse who reached the first or second body modification respectively, not that it should be the first spouse who reached such a level!"

Nila concentrated on Alexander's arguments, finding them intriguing. While his little presentation was overly chaotic, it brought up some valid points, but she wasn't the best when it came to the law. Regardless of her little knowledge, intuitively, it sounded very convoluted, and she had problems trusting Alexander.

As if Alexander could read her mind, he answered her question enthusiastically, like a puppy getting a new toy. His eyes sparkled, and the tail waggled wildly. While adoring, it was also bizarre since it was not a new toy he was so happy about, but about him trying to circumvent the law.

"While you think it is weird how it was written, it was because of a very special reason for a very special neighbor: The Cold-Snouts! While all other Guard Households, Lords, and Ladies have mostly one spouse, the Cold-Snouts have a harem. Because of that, not everyone will be able to go through the first or second body modification, obviously. Thus, besides the Lord, only one wife is needed for them to go to the West or north. Otherwise, it would make it impossible for their family structure to exist and have any territory in the North or West."

He became much more smug in his tone, "As such, just marry, get both of you as concubines, and with this, you will make sure you can do the ox-ride in Moorgrel while still holding onto the territory and all the while looking for a fitting first spouse. Done..." He smirked at them while gesturing as if he dusted off his hands, "...you are welcome, pups."

It was silent with Nila, suddenly feeling a smile slowly emerge on her face. Alexander presented her with an opportunity, even though, in her opinion, a small one, it was one.

The only thing that annoyed her was his personality. She wanted to beat him up, but since it was something he did in good faith, trying to help them, she ignored his behavior. Like the lesson she learned with Kairoso, she looked at the underlying facts rather than how someone acted.

Before she could think further, Barthelomowew asked a good question, "Alex, do you really think it's lawful? I don't know your law knowledge, but this sounds like a stupid semantic argument."

It was a good question, but her [Law] skill was at level seven if she remembered correctly. However, Alexander looked at him and smirked arrogantly, "What is the law then, if not semantics..." He sighed, sounding annoyed, "...I read through all the shitty law for noble familial structures, and trust me, I know how to interpret it since my [Law] skill is at level 31..."

She wanted to stop him as while it was impressive that someone so young had such a high level in such an intricate skill, it was too little. Yet, what he said next astounded her, "Though, my skill is called [Absolute Intermediate Law], so don't worry. I am probably pretty up there when it comes to Moorgrelian law."

Both of them looked at him, astounded, and she didn't believe him as it was ridiculous to have finished a Tier Test before their legacy and even get a prefix this high. She was already proud of herself for reaching Tier 2 before her legacy and, with it, getting the [Prodigy] perk, which increased her attribute multiplicator by 5% to 21% in every Tier instead of the standard 20%. While it looked like it was not much, it would become much more precious when she reached a much higher level where the accumulated one percents could be hundreds of additional attribute points.

Nila could only do it through relentless work, but imagining he went through a Tier Test made her doubtful. After the Tier Test, the experience would double per level for that skill, suggesting he was far above the second Tier.

However, if it were true, she would then understand why her little sister called him an unreachable monster. Nevertheless, she glared at him, not wanting to risk it, "Are you ready to sign a mana contract to prove it? I am not saying that I don't believe you, but..."

She was interrupted by a less diplomatic approach by Batholomew, "I don't believe you, but if you have the skill and we verify it..." He suddenly looked at her and became visibly flustered, immediately turning his head to the side.

This confused Nila, but she ignored it, trying to concentrate on the problem at hand. Before she went to her fief's local judges, asking them to review what Alexander talked about, she wanted to ensure he had the qualifications and wasn't just lying, making it all up. Otherwise, she could quickly lose face before even becoming the Lady and, with it, lose the respect of her future servants.

Alexander though shrugged, "Sure thing. I can sign whatever you want to prove it, as long as I can have my way and..."

He suddenly started talking about all the projects, like schools, education, his charity, etc. Still, Nila only listened to it halfheartedly, almost staring at Bartholomew, who was blushing, rubbing his neck as he was visibly nervous.

With Alexander's assurance to verify his skill, it was as if it was a done deal for her, but would she actually do it? She could consolidate her position through a technicality, which would make her Father proud since he had always used the Count's law like this.

'I can marry Bart, put him into the position of a concubine to avoid any scrutiny, and all the while looking for another spouse that fits my taste much better...' She smiled, '...if he accepts it as a long-term proposal, we could stay married, and I can concentrate on finding someone average but with a great personality.'

She looked at Bartholomew, who looked immediately away, being shy, 'Cute...'

She wouldn't like it when her future husband was stronger than her. It was because she liked more innocent men and wanted to protect them as her Mother did with her Father, who was also smaller and more fragile.

However, she knew that Bartholomew was far stronger than she was, but if he acted like this, it appealed to her, making her instincts go wild, 'How can someone so powerful act like that... I like it, though.'

They made eye contact again, and she blushed slightly but still looked directly into his eyes. She saw that behind the wild beast was an innocent puppy wanting nothing more than to be loved. It was exactly her type of man.

Yet, the lovely moment was quickly interrupted by Alexander clapping and screaming at them, "Hey!"

They quickly turned from each other, looking at him, who only frowned when he looked at them, "Fu... never mind, we will..." Before he could end his sentence, someone screamed from far away, "Mr. Alexander! What did you do to the garden?!"

Alexander flinched, with Nila seeing fear in his eyes for the first time. She looked to the side, wanting to know who screamed, making the arrogant puppy act like this. It was a butterfly-kin, meticulously dressed and furious. She looked back at the mischievous puppy, but he was already standing on the pavilion's handrail, looking nervous.

"Hey guys, I am gone, so you can have fun..." He saluted for some reason and jumped away. However, while in midair, an invisible force suddenly slammed him to the ground, "...urgh!"

Nila suddenly saw a fauner holding Alexander down, which he didn't like, "Let me go, Lili! I am innocent..." After a short silence, he decided to be more honest, "...okay, fine! I am not, but I will pay! Just let me go! I don't want to sit through hours of lessons about manners!"

The fauner, apparently named Lili, sighed, "Stay still, Mr. Alexander. Aro is a good friend of mine, and he is visibly upset because of the garden."

Alexander looked at Lili, shocked, "You have friends?!"

Lili smiled at him viciously, but before something happened, the butterfly-kin named Aro arrived and only looked at Alexander silently, "I am sorry, okay? You know how I get riled up sometimes, but I will pay graciously for it!"

"..."

"Okay, okay, I will buy much better plants. How about it?"

"..."

"I... will... buy you something?"

Aro sighed, "Mr. Alexander, you know what I want to hear from you."

Alexander smiled sheepishly at him, "I... love you?"

A thick vein popped on Aro's forehead. He turned to Lili, "Take Mr. Alexander and follow me. He needs a lesson..." Aro walked toward Nila and Bartholomew, bowing down, "...I am apologizing, but educating Mr. Alexander has priority, especially when it comes to manners."

Nila nodded, sensing that the fauner holding Alexander down was incredibly dangerous, so she could not help either way, "Of course."

Bartholomew also nodded, "Hm."

As Lili carried Alexander away, he looked downtrodden at them, pleading for help, but Nila only shook her head. Besides not wanting to risk her life, she also thought it was fair for him to get a lesson. When she looked at the garden, it was truly destroyed, and all the beautiful flowers were plucked because he wanted to make his point more gloriously.

When they walked away, Nila and Bartholomew looked into each other's eyes, with him immediately looking away.

"I am..."

"This is..."

They both interrupted each other. She wanted to apologize immediately.

"I apo..."

"Sor..."

They again talked simultaneously, stopping themselves, only to start laughing after an awkward silence, with Nila taking the helm since she seemed to have more experience with such things.

"Haha, it is truly weird, right?"

Bartholomew nodded, "Yes... but it is quite advantageous for both of us, right? If what Alex said is true, we can have our territories, and nobody would lose out."

Nila nodded too, getting more casual, "I agree, and if we like each other..."

They both looked into each other's eyes again, now not looking away and smiling awkwardly. After that, they talked for hours, drank tea, ate cake, and enjoyed their overall bonding.

While it would be primarily a political marriage for her, should it all be true what Alexander said, she also hoped for a little more. After the nice talk, she started to like Bartholomew more and more. It was as if all the pressure was suddenly gone, and she could just concentrate on the person's personality and not look at all the other essential things a spouse should have from a noble's perspective.

It was refreshing and something commoners didn't understand when they saw nobles. The most powerful needed to compromise a lot in their private life and relationships. There were exceptions, like with Marisia, but those were rare.

Before visiting the Leonandra estate, she resigned to a life without love. The best she hoped for was that she would have a spouse and slowly get to know each other, only to fall in love after years, like her parents did.

Yet, even such a scenario wasn't guaranteed. Sometimes, there were cases when they didn't love each other at all and only stayed together as companions while having some affairs. Nila heard it was acceptable but not fulfilling, which was a sad prospect for her future relationship.

However, Nila now quite liked her situation. If she could fall in love with Bartholomew, they could also reign together in one territory, in the north and West. Even though he was not her ideal husband from a practical perspective, it was, nonetheless, a compromise she would love to make.