...

The next day, Major Garden

"Look at how cute they are!"

"Oh my dear, Mr. Alexander is a real heartbreaker!"

"He comes really after his uncle."

"So, will we have a harem here? It's exciting!"

Alexander and Matilda were strolling through the biggest garden at the Leonandra estate. They looked lovely from the outside. He showed her around while she broke free multiple times from his arm since she liked to gesture so much while talking. She took his arm a moment later after she was done, being all flustered.

Matilda tried her best today, as it was her first rendezvous with Alexander. She wasn't the best at social interactions and the things surrounding them. Thus, she was awake even before the sun rose, asking Vanessa and her servants for help, who had a knack for fashion and hairstyles.

Her hair was usually a strawy scarlet-red bird's nest, which needed hours to get right. At the same time, her eyes were blood red in the morning from the lack of sleep, meaning she needed to take an alchemical solution so her beautiful green eyes were seen, fitting her pastel orange dress.

Nervousness couldn't describe how she felt. Alexander was, from how he looked like, perfect. Even though he was young, he was as big as her and would probably grow much more. He had scars, and by looking at some of his muscles, even though under layers of clothing, he was a little buffed, making her sometimes stare at him. However, this was just her preference. If she were genuinely superficial, she would've taken the first Iron-Claw boy she met as they also fit her taste.

After meeting him in the morning, she didn't need long to like him also for his personality. He was charming and warm, always trying to make her feel comfortable. While walking with him through the estate, she enjoyed every second she was together with him, which also made every servant and worker gossip when they walked past them. Matilda didn't know it differently and ignored it, but looking at Alexander's grimaces when the servants were close and talked about them, he obviously didn't like it.

Some could ignore gossip, others don't. Matilda knew, for example, that at their estate, one of her Mothers broke down once when they started talking weirdly about how her Father didn't love her anymore just because he came back once from an extermination request from the East and was so fatigued that he had only enough strength to have some private time with the Lady.

Her other Mothers didn't care much, ignoring the lowly servant's comments as they were below them either way, but one didn't. Heavy punishments and chaos followed as the Lady tried to salvage their household's peace and calm her down. It worked partly, with her Father then forced to spend a lot of time with her.

For Matilda, Alexander could be the same, making her worry, 'Let's change the topic and take his mind off all the gossip.'

"So, can you do grand magic? Like throwing meteors or summoning monsters?"

Alexander turned to her, his grimace transforming into a smile, "Sure..." He tilted his head slightly, looking at her little spatial pouch with a sword symbol on it, a storage space where she stored multiple swords, "I see that you can probably also do really grand techniques with the sword?"

She nodded joyfully, immediately pulling out one of her favorite swords to show it to him while talking about it excitedly. It looked simple, almost boring, with the only difference being that it had a brown-reddish hue, but the aura it emitted even made Alexander look at it curiously.

It was a present she got while going through her legacy. Everyone who inherited the Cold-Snout [Divinity Line] was presented with a special sword that would not crumble down when injected with their highly destructive energy.

It was forged out of demonium, a common metal in their territory but hard to work with. Even to smelt the metal, a team of outstanding blacksmiths was needed.

"Oh? Our ceremonial armor is made out of the same metal."

"Yes! It's a great metal!"

"Really? Isn't it common?"

She nodded, "Yes, but it fits us!"

"How so?"

Matilda smiled widely as she loved talking about swords and their differences. Sadly, though, she could only speak about it, as her energy made it impossible to use other swords. Every enchantment crumbled to pieces the moment she used her sword art in combination with her energy. At the same time, every metal disintegrated quickly. Thus, she could only use a rare form of black adamantium or simple demonium.

Both had the same robustness, which made them almost impossible to break, but there were significant differences. Black adamantium could be enchanted and could endure every kind of energy. Demonium, though, couldn't be enchanted, distorted every other energy put into it, and through the miasma it constantly emitted, made some users insane over time.

For others, demonium was only a useless metal, but for the Guard Households, it was actually miraculous. It was the only metal that could withstand their [Divinity Line]s and even strengthen them when used right, even without enchantments.

Suddenly, they arrived at the training grounds. Matilda only now noticed that she had talked for a very long time and only let Alexander ask about her, which made her a little uncomfortable but also happy. It was rare that she could speak so freely about what she loved, as most in her circles saw blacksmithing and metallurgy as something lowly.

Alexander smiled charmingly at her, "Are you all right?"

Matilda looked down, flustered, "Well, only I talked, but you didn't at all... so..."

"I like listening to you, though, but if you want me to talk, I can bore you if you want." He chuckled.

She immediately turned to him, sounding overly excited, "Yes! Bore me!" Only to blush afterward because of her unnecessary outburst.

Alexander laughed louder, "Haha, fine. How about..." He tapped his cheek with his index finger while thinking, only to snap after a moment, "...I'll tell you how I want to enchant weapons in the future. How does that sound?"

Matilda nodded and enjoyed listening to him, even though knowing he had chosen a topic that suited her taste. She found it fascinating listening to how one would and could enchant weapons. Even though she did not need them, such things would surely find their uses for soldiers.

While listening, he became increasingly louder, starting to go into a rant about how he wasn't allowed to enchant, "Damn it! I am born a free person! How can someone restrict my liberty? What happened to that Freedom lies in being bold?!"

"Yes..." From what she knew, artificing was dangerous, and someone who didn't even have any energy to work with things that could blow up sounded like a disaster.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

However, she didn't say anything and let him blow off steam, even finding it somewhat cute that he was also as inept as her regarding etiquette. Besides that weird rant, she cherished the conversation while strolling around the estate.

It was a first for her that she could actually speak with someone so much, making her enjoy every second of it. She usually always felt dumb compared to her sisters, as her talents were purely in combat, so she feared that Alexander wouldn't see her best side, as she had been warned not to spar with him since he was so young.

The warning didn't come only from her Mother but also from the Lady of the Leonandra household, her aunt, when they introduced themselves to her. Even remembering it, she needed to suppress her shivering. It was as if someone choked her with the atmosphere alone. No aura or energy was used. Her being was enough to make her want not to disobey her orders. As such, she also couldn't forget her words: Do something I disagree with, and I will have your Father deal with you.

This vague warning made her cautious and nervous since it could be interpreted differently, making her unsure of what was appropriate. Even more so now, since she began to like Alexander, seeing him already as someone she would be willing to have as a husband, provided the remaining time would be as pleasant as now.

He wasn't as sensitive as her brothers but much more open and bold. Still, he was also lovely and forthcoming. He listened to her, made even boring topics enjoyable, and wasn't appalled by her crude side when she acted very unladylike. Perfect for her.

Yet, her Mother's and aunt's warnings were always in the back of her mind, which transformed her nervousness into anxiety. She feared that if she made a mistake, it could ruin the lovely rendezvous and her relationship with the Lady. Both scenarios would be a catastrophe.

"Hello? Are you there?"

She flinched, seeing how close Alexander was, as she accidentally spaced out. She sighed, "Sorry..." She decided to be honest, not hiding why she was so nervous, "...I don't know how to act after what the Lady told us yesterday."

Alexander raised an eyebrow, "What did Mom tell you?"

Matilda described the conversation honestly, with only Alexander laughing in the end, which confused her, "I... find it not so funny."

Alexander waved his hand in dismissal, "Oh no, Mom told you not to kiss me or something like that since we had some problems with my brother in that regard."

Matilda tilted her head in confusion, "Why that?"

Alexander started to tell a story about how his brother Narsiz kissed his future fiancé, only to be caught by his Father. Later, she was almost killed by his Mother since his brother didn't go through his first mating season while she was.

Matilda only now realized the misunderstanding, making her laugh in relief, "Haha, I get it! I was so worried for nothing!"

Alexander shrugged, "See? Mom is a bit protective, but it's fine..." He showed her his arm again for her to take, which she did, "...however, what do you like to do? I am all yours for now."

Matilda looked where the sun stood and frowned inwardly. They had been together since morning, and the next rendezvous would be with her sister in an hour or so. While clinging to his arm, she tried to be honest again since it worked for the first time, "How... about a spar?"

She became nervous when Alexander looked at her weirdly, making her feel like one of those Iron-Claws. They always loved to fight and spar with each other. However, they were also incredibly insensitive. She loved having someone strong but somewhat sensitive, like her brothers or Father.

They always listened to her, and even though she knew she was far less intelligent than them, she sometimes talked nonsense, repeated herself, or changed the topic too much. However, they never reprimanded her like the other boys she had rendezvoused with. It happened the most when she had her first ball at the Feather-Paw estate. She experienced very quickly that most didn't like talking with her, mostly avoiding her. Thus, she started to learn about more topics, but those always had something to do with something related to fighting, like metals, tactics, etc.

However, if she wanted to bond with someone, she needed to spar or train together, but it didn't mean she needed her future husband to have overwhelming strength. Someone average was more than enough for her.

While she waited for him to answer, the seconds he contemplated felt like hours, thinking she had said something wrong. Yet, against her expectations, Alexander surprised her, "Sure thing."

...

30 minutes later, Public training ground

"I... do we really need a healer?"

Alexander shrugged, "Mom told me to always get Ipe..." He pointed with his thumb at the dryad, "...if I go to spar or do anything dangerous at all."

"I see..." Matilda decided not to stretch so as not to ruin her dress, thinking it would either way be an easy fight where she would test Alexander. Thus, she also pulled only a simple blunt iron sword out of her pouch. Perfect for a short spar.

She couldn't concentrate on stretching either way as she watched Alexander take off his blazer, give it to a servant, and roll up his sleeves to the upper arms. It was not only because she was ogling at him, finding him attractive, but also because she was shocked. The scars exceeded what she expected, making her stare at them.

Matilda needed to remember that they were not scars from honorable fights but from a cowardly assassination attempt. Thus, she tried to look away as it was rude to stare, knowing that Alexander probably didn't like it.

After a short stretch, Alexander also took his stance, smiling at her, "Ready? I would suggest you use your energy."

She raised an eyebrow and felt disgust. She couldn't stand such an attitude, 'He is arrogant...'

However, she thought giving him a lesson was her responsibility if she wanted to see any future with him. He should learn his place while young and see that even though intelligent, it wouldn't translate to one's battle prowess.

Her energy lightly swirled around her cheap iron sword, which had already started cracking, making her frown, 'I should defeat him in three hits before it breaks.'

They looked at each other, with him being on the other end of the training field, with her now smirking, "You may start."

Alexander shrugged, and she suddenly felt something weird on her body, 'Magic?'

Before she knew what was happening, a fireball was created before him, as big as her, and shortly after flew toward her like a chasing wild beast barely holding itself back.

Without hesitation, she dashed forward and, with a vertical slash, split the fireball before her, making the now-created two parts fly past her. While it was hard to break apart the spell, as there was quite the resistance, it became easy when she almost reached the middle. Nothing too challenging, comparable with a simple stone.

She readied herself again, seeing how Alexander scratched his cheek while visibly flustered. Such a sight made her blush slightly, but he suddenly pointed at her, which confused her. Yet, her instinct was suddenly signaling that something was behind her.

Turning around, she saw how two fireballs she had created before by slicing the bigger one were making a half-moonish turn and were now coming at her from two opposite sides, 'Interesting.'

She had never fought with a mage, but it made sense that their spells would be as flexible as a person's movements. Otherwise, she would just rush through and cut every spellcaster in half.

However, this also posed no problem for her. She used one of her [Mystic Skills], creating two almost transparent swords made of energy at her sides. She pointed them at the fireballs and pierced them, making them disperse fully.

This little attack altogether took no more than a second, so it was more than surprising that she suddenly felt cold steel pressed against her neck, "I won."

She turned slowly around, seeing how Alexander had just a pointy metal stick in his hands, 'What happened?'

Alexander was at least 30m (100ft) away, the length of the whole training area. She wanted to give herself a handicap against him so he could cast his magic without too much pressure, but him suddenly appearing behind her meant that he used [Flash] several times to reach her. With [Dash], it would be impossible without having crazy high attributes, and even if she believed that he somehow learned a skill that would take her a decade, it also meant that his stamina was ridiculously high, as one flash, by what her older sisters told, ate up a massive chunk of stamina.

She could not wrap her head around whatever was true, also understanding his arrogant attitude, 'Patricia was right.'

When Patricia visited for a day or two with her Grandmother, she talked a lot about how she needed strength to match Alexander. At first, Matilda thought it was ridiculous, labeling her just as being in love and wanting to match his ambitions, but through this short sparring match, she could now see it was true, making her smile joyfully.

'He has it all.'

Matilda came out of her thoughts when he reached for her hand, "Good fight."

"I like you."

"I... what?!"

While Alexander was flustered, she took his hand and dragged him to her, hugging him, trying to remember his smell, while he became even more confused, stammering, "W... N... wait?!"

She started to smile at him mischievously, "Just a second. This is an old Cold-Snout tradition."

She wasn't lying, but nobody did it anymore. He endured even though he was obviously uncomfortable, not really liking it, "O... Okay."

Her very spontaneous action did not come from nowhere. She wanted to know if Alexander could be, like one of her Mothers described, a little rejective after the assassination attempt and how far she could go in the following days since she had already decided to continue it with him and, if everything worked out, be one of his wives.

However, seeing how flustered and uncomfortable he was, she let him immediately go after but a moment, 'Slow and steady then, I guess.'