Episode 7
“There’s no need for that, Lady Riina. My stance is unwavering. Logan, the honor of the Maclaine family cannot be traded for money.”
“Yes?”
After all that had been said.
Why? For what reason?
Even as Logan looked at his father with eyes full of incredulity, his father’s stern expression remained unchanged.
Beside him stood his stepmother, her gaze mocking, and other members of the household nodding their heads in agreement.
Feeling dizzy at the sight of all those piercing stares, Logan struggled to maintain his composure.
‘Why on earth…?’
Frustration bubbled up and his chest felt tight.
It wasn’t terribly frowned upon among the noble families to forsake profit for the sake of honor.
But…
‘That should be decided considering the circumstances. How does it make any sense to refuse money given our family’s situation?!’
Logan gritted his teeth internally, yet his father’s stance was unyielding.
The problem wasn’t just this.
“Why are they acting this way?”
“It looks like he’s just being stubborn because his pride was hurt by the rejection.”
“Is that worth defying the Baron’s words?”
“The heir has always been a bit…”
The servants’ whispers comprised mostly of criticism aimed at him.
Riina’s face, shamelessly feigning regret, seemed to smile with the victory of one who had anticipated this very situation.
Only after being struck by all these realizations did Logan understand.
He had been too complacent in assessing the situation.
‘I thought wrong. To think I could change the family by gaining their recognition?’
By when?
Show a changed demeanor slowly over time?
‘Everybody would be dead by then.’
It felt as though an icy wind had blown straight through his heart.
Only nine months remained until the Estate War.
‘Let’s give up what needs to be given up.’
The only thing that mattered was to save the family by any means necessary.
For now, he had to gain strength on his own, independent of the family.
With clenched teeth, he declared,
“Lady Riina, in that case, I, as a party to this broken engagement, make my demand. Regardless of the family’s wishes, I will personally accept the compensation.”
“Logan!!”
The booming voice of Patrick shook the hall, and a tumultuous energy surged behind him like waves.
‘Gah!’
Hmmmmm.
The force core within his heart pumped strength throughout his body, straightening his knees that nearly buckled.
Although still immature, the vision of the divine sword with infinite potential was his to bear, even if it couldn’t compare to the strength of a senior knight.
But at least he had the power to fend off such oppressive pressures, in absence of direct violence.
“I will not be satisfied with mere verbal apologies!”
“What did you say?!”
“If the honor can be compensated with a few fleeting words, then I consider its value to be just as trivial.”
The shock or perhaps anger at seeing his son defy him, Patrick looked at Logan with a complex expression.
“As a party to the broken engagement, I believe I have the right to make such a claim.”
“The Wolves will follow the wishes of Baron Patrick Maclaine, the head of our family. What is your decision, Baron Patrick Maclaine?”
Riina interjected as the situation seemed to take an odd turn.
Though she appeared willing to accept Logan’s point, her words ultimately upheld the authority of the head of the family.
‘Essentially telling me to save the head’s face.’
Logan’s fierce gaze turned toward her once more.
Then, after a moment of furrowed contemplation, Patrick opened his mouth with a heavy look.
“…As the head of the Maclaine family, I am satisfied with a sincere apology. However, as for how the affected party, Logan, perceives the sincerity of that apology, I’ll leave it to him.”
“My lord!”
“The head of the house?!”
The murmurs swelled.
An unexpected answer indeed.
Riina’s face, still displaying a hint of regret, contorted momentarily at his words.
As the commotion among the household members subsided, Patrick continued,
“Think carefully, Logan. If you accept money for this insult to our honor, you are suggesting that your honor is always for sale in the future.”
Patrick believed that if Logan had truly changed, he would make the ‘right’ choice at this juncture.
That was why he gave his son this final chance, even at the cost of his authority as the head of the family.
Yet, Logan’s resolve did not waver.
“I, as a party to the broken engagement, will accept the compensation from the Wolves family.”
At his declaration, Patrick’s face contorted, and a smirk emerged on his stepmother’s.
* * * Astonishingly, Riina paid the immense sum of 3 million gold, not through a bank transfer but in gold coins, right then and there.
The large chest almost reaching Logan’s waist, filled with glittering gold, inevitably shook his composure.
“By this, I declare the dissolution of the engagement between the Count Wolves family and Baron Maclaine’s family effective.”
“I accept.”
Riina turned to leave after setting down the chest of gold coins, her expression ever so slightly distorted.
Logan watched her with a conviction that his choice was correct, yet his father seemed to think differently.
“I thought you had changed a bit, but instead, you’ve gotten worse.”
‘All I did was for the family.’
“My fault, then, for failing to properly instruct you on the value of honor.”
Despite the largest pile of gold he had ever seen before him, his father’s sigh carried nothing but bitterness.
As Patrick left the hall, the faces of the knights following him bore smirks of ridicule.
Meanwhile, his stepmother followed, her face beaming as if she had gained something substantial, a stark reminder of how his decision was received by the family.
Watching them with an expressionless gaze, Logan reaffirmed his resolve.
‘I will not concern myself with my reputation within the family. First, I shall focus on winning the Estate War.’
Yet even as he calculated how best to spend the funds for the upcoming Estate Battle, he couldn’t help a feeling of heaviness in his heart.
* * * Bang!
A loud noise reverberated from inside a luxurious carriage.
“Are you alright, miss?”
Lochfern inquired, but only silence followed within the carriage for a while until a reply came.
“…Yes, I’m fine.”
“Are you upset?”
“What went wrong?”
“Hm?”
“I thought if I mentioned a ridiculous sum, the baron would surely refuse out of sheer pride. My prediction was right. But…”
“I didn’t expect the heir Logan to react like that.”
“That greedy brute…”
Bang!
There was another loud noise, but Lochfern refrained from prying into the interior of the carriage, instead initiating a new topic.
“The heir Logan seems quite different from the rumors.”
“Has his greed outweighed the rumors, or is it that he doesn’t understand honor?”
“I can’t say about emotional factors. However, it’s certain that he is a force user.”
“…He’s capable of violence too?”
Riina reacted with surprise, but Lochfern was unequivocal.
“Yes. Considering his age, it’s quite an accomplishment.”
“…So he’s not just a spoiled rascal as the rumors suggest.”
If he had kept up his roguish behavior and not put in the effort, even as a genius he wouldn’t have reached the level of a force user, particularly at the young age of nineteen.
“Yes. Seems the rumors might be baseless.”
Lochfern emphasized that Logan was not as simple an opponent as they thought, trying to console Riina, but she was not to be fooled.
“…But still, it doesn’t change the fact that I was bested.”
“It couldn’t be helped. We had to bow before them, we were in enemy territory.”
“Enough. Don’t try to comfort me, Lochfern.”
“You won’t have to worry anymore, will you? Now that the obstacle is gone, you’ll surely make connections with another noble house, and compared to…”
“Hmph! That’s obvious. But I will certainly get my revenge for this frustration.”
“As you wish, miss. It will come to pass.”
The luxurious carriage departed swiftly from Maclaine territory.
* * * The day after Riina left.
The Maclaine household was abuzz with the shocking news of the broken engagement and rumors of the dissolute heir pulling off an immense sum from the fairy-like beauty by defying his lord’s wishes.
Although Logan was the party to the broken engagement, he wasn’t met with sympathy but rather criticism for his harsh decision.
However, Logan himself couldn’t help but smile despite the finger-pointing and whispers.
“Finally…”
No matter how others saw it, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief, as a troubling time had passed safely.
Since his return, the shackles weighing down on his soul had been released, giving him a sense of liberation.
If his heart had its way, he could spend the entire day basking in triumph.
But he couldn’t afford to be overly elated. Pondering over the future swiftly dispersed his mirth.
His plan to strengthen the family to overcome the crisis had shifted to a resolution of tackling the crisis head-on.
‘This is the beginning.’
The immediate tasks before him were numerous.
He decided not to worry about his reputation within the family, but he must avoid giving his father a legitimate reason to intervene directly.
He could no longer afford to cause such blatant disruptions within the household.
‘So I must go outside.’
Committing to his plans, Logan mulled over what needed to be done.
‘First of all, the money has been deposited at Coppus Bank.’
Coppus Bank, with the most branches in both the Grandia Kingdom and the western imperial territories, also had one in the debt-ridden Maclaine domain.
Of course, when he went to deposit the money, they asked if he intended to use it to pay off the family debts first.
‘No chance.’
According to the original plan, that’s what he would have done.
However, his experiences from the previous day had significantly changed his perspective.
‘I need to build my strength separately.’
Regardless of his inability to discuss future information, the differences in thinking between him, the household members, particularly his father, were too drastic.
The moment he entertained thoughts of changing things from within the family, they vanished.
‘I must build strength from the outside. So first…’
Knock, knock.
As he carefully checked over his plans, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
Expecting Rick or someone familiar, Logan was surprised by the unexpected visitor.
“Haha. Did you call, heir?”
“Hm?”
A bushy beard that covered the entire face, a figure bigger than any standard knight.
The middle-aged man entered with an awkwardly friendly tone.
“Dwain?”
“Yes, my lord. It’s Dwain.”
Dwain Filsner, by the look of him, had the physique of a knight, yet he was actually a functionary – specifically, responsible for the family’s finances.
He was also one of his father Patrick Maclaine’s most trusted vassals.
Meaning, typically, they weren’t close enough for Dwain to bear such a smile.
As Logan looked at Dwain with suspicion, a commotion erupted outside.
“Aaack! Don’t push!”
“Hey! I was here first…”
A clatter of footsteps followed, and several familiar faces poured in behind Dwain.
“Greetings to the heir.”
The beaming bald man was Lugel Heiss.
The official in charge of food supplies would usually skirt around Logan at any opportunity.
“Good day to you, heir.”
The pleasant-smiling overweight man was Ferran Doyle.
The official in charge of soldiers’ equipment who often vanished without even acknowledging Logan passed by.
“Heh, these people. I was here first… Haha, good morning, heir. Did you sleep well?”
Wiping his sweat constantly, the plump figure was Rufan, in charge of wall management.
As far as Logan recalled, this was the first time they’d greeted each other properly.
These familiar faces from around the courthouse, known for avoiding Logan whenever possible, were now vying for his attention.
“Heir…”
“To greet you…”
In what was quite an amusing situation for Logan, he could guess the circumstances behind it.
“…What’s this all about?”
He concealed the smile curling at the corner of his mouth with a feigned indifference as he asked.
Gulp.
‘It’s crucial to say the right thing, Dwain.’
For Dwain, this moment felt like a career turning point.
Being the financial administrator of the Maclaine family was an excruciating role.
Were it not for his loyalty and the indebtedness he owed to the family, he would have longed to abandon the role.
Constantly struggling with insufficient budgets, his tasks included running the entire domain’s affairs and begging at the in-laws for financial assistance when necessary.
Sometimes he couldn’t tell if he was an administrator or a beggar clan leader – such was the life of the Maclaine financial administrator.
But now, if he played his cards right, he could secure several comfortable years for himself.
After all, he was just dealing with a headstrong youth.
With newfound confidence, he sailed into his pitch.
“Hahaha. I just came to pay my respects. Your conduct yesterday truly made an impression on me.”
“Eh?”
“You stood firm against the unfair external pressure and proudly presented your case. Truly a magnificent heir befitting the Maclaine family.”
With an admiring look and a sly thumbs-up, Dwain thought he had begun the conversation well with his best attempt at flattery…
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
The response from the so-called youth was far from what he expected.