Whoosh- As his sword sliced through the air, a terrifying wind arose. The Vice Captain’s face turned pale as he faced the attack head-on.

Even so, only the Vice Captain was continuing to withstand Rodrick’s attacks.

“Even the Princess blocked this attack. Is this all you’ve got?”

The small group of elite knights who had already been beaten under the pretext of training lay sprawled on the ground with resentful expressions.

“Do you know we almost died back then?!”

“Yes, without even managing to scratch me.”

Hiiik. He’s a demon. A demon, I tell you. They were already among the most skilled in the knighthood.

Just responding to Rodrick’s power pushed to the extreme was already far beyond the capabilities of ordinary knights.

They deserved praise just for blocking Rodrick, but he looked extremely displeased.

Rodrick moved his sword while letting his body act on instinct, lost in thought.

Something was bothering him, but he couldn’t figure out why. To feel this unsettled afterwards. What could it be?

As he frowned, a subordinate’s voice reached his ears.

“You know, my wife nags me so much because I come home injured every day. You lot wouldn’t understand since you don’t have wives.”

“Shut up.”

“Couples should die.”

“Stop bragging.”

His movements halted abruptly, especially at certain words.

Daren sat down in surrender as the blade stopped just short of his neck. The Vice Captain, already pushed past his limits, was drenched in sweat.

“My handsome face is covered in bruises every day, it’s so pitiful. Hahaha. You guys should hurry up and get foxy wives too…”

The chattering knight’s mouth snapped shut as he was lost in gossip, abandoning the Vice Captain as a sacrifice.

He slowly raised his face to the shadow suddenly cast over him.

“C-Captain?”

Flinch. The tip of Rodrick’s sword touched the knight’s chin.

With the sun at his back, Rodrick’s face was shrouded in darkness. Only his blue eyes were clearly visible.

The knight gulped, unable to gauge what Rodrick was thinking from his expression. Was he about to be punished for slacking off?

“You’re married, right?”

“Huh? Yes. You didn’t even come to my wedding, sir.”

The knight scratched his head at the sudden question.

‘What’s going on?’

‘No idea.’

Even when he glanced at the others nearby, they just shrugged, indicating they didn’t know either.

“Do you have something to ask, sir?”

“Proposal.”

“Pardon?”

“When you proposed, did your wife give you an answer right away?”

“Y-yes… I suppose so? Carol was so moved she cried as she accepted.”

“I see.”

With a serious expression, Rodrick lowered his sword and left the training grounds.

“…”

“…”

The knights watched Rodrick’s retreating back with dumbfounded expressions before suddenly realizing the meaning of his words.

“Hey. Wait. Could it be…”

“N-no way, did the young lady reject him?!”

“Holy shit. Our captain got rejected!”

In an instant, Rodrick became known as a jilted lover among the knights.

Indeed, he had not yet received an answer to his proposal. Even though it was just an engagement, not marriage.

He roughly ran his fingers through his sweat-soaked hair and headed straight for Diana.

The atmosphere in the office had frozen over, as if a bomb had gone off.

A young lady boldly asking for his son from the Schwartz Duke, whom even the Emperor couldn’t treat carelessly.

The aides and servants were left speechless at the shocking scene. However, the one who spoke and the one being bombarded remained composed.

“Young lady.”

The deep voice bore down. As the silence broke, those around them flinched and shrank back.

“Do you not know the relationship between your family and ours?”

Diana had slammed her hands on the desk, bringing her dangerously close to the Duke. Despite facing the Duke’s imposing presence, Diana was smiling brightly.

“I do know. We’re neighbors who treat each other like the dog next door.”

“And yet?”

“You’ll benefit more. My share of mines and assets is quite substantial. The dowry will be considerable.”

“We have that level of assets as well.”

That’s right. The Schwartz family was not lacking in assets. However, there was an area where the Beatus family had the upper hand.

“You’ll be able to secure connections to the central government. You’ve been failing to place your pawns in the Imperial court repeatedly, haven’t you?”

I wonder whose fault that is. It was due to the interference of the Beatus family, who had a firm grip on central politics and even controlled the underworld behind the scenes.

“…”

Tap tap- The Duke drummed his fingers on the desk, deep in thought. It didn’t take long for him to finish weighing his options.

“And what do you gain?”

“Your eldest son.”

“Not the second son?”

Mm, I’ll pass.

The second lead had a high chance of getting involved with the protagonist. From the start, he had strong childlike qualities that didn’t evoke romantic feelings.

If Felice had played the role of a cure and been a reticent, damaged younger man like in the novel, would I have thought differently?

No, I still prefer Rodrick.

I preferred a fierce beast baring its fangs to a tail-wagging puppy. Diana spoke while gently closing her pink eyes.

“No, Father. I want Rodrick.”

“He may look fine, but he’s a dying man. The second son will soon become the heir when he dies. Do you know this?”

The Duke spoke dispassionately about his own child’s death, without a hint of emotion.

My, this father. Your way of speaking is quite unpleasant. He’s your own child. Is that something you can say so nonchalantly?

The Duke was subtly alluding to Rodrick’s curse. He was probing to see how much she knew.

Understanding his intentions, Diana’s pink eyes softened.

“I know.”

“And yet, you want such a cursed man? He’s a defective product of our family.”

Defective product. Diana’s smiling face froze. You, have you been treated like this all your life?

“That’s too much, Father. To me, he is an extremely precious and valuable gem.”

She couldn’t tolerate anyone insulting her cure, even if it was his father. Her words flowed out coldly, filled with emotion.

“No matter who treats him as worthless.”

The Duke’s expressionless face twisted at her roundabout way of saying “I regret your poor judgment.”

Felice fidgeted anxiously a few steps away as the tense atmosphere built between the two.

He debated whether he should call for his brother now. But it was obvious that if Rodrick joined in this situation, everything would fall apart.

‘Ugh, what should I do? If she provokes Father any further, he won’t give permission for the marriage or anything else. Should I step in?’

Contrary to Felice’s thoughts, the Duke found Diana intriguing.

He had been sitting up straight, attending to his work, but now he leaned back leisurely in his chair.

His children, and even his aides, couldn’t withstand his gaze. Rodrick was the only exception.

She didn’t avoid the Duke’s gaze that made everyone else tremble in fear, but met it head-on.

Her bright eyes calmly clashed with his, to the point of seeming brazen. He couldn’t help but laugh mirthlessly.

“Ha, if you want to become a widow, I won’t stop you.”

“Oh my, Father. A widow? If you just give permission for the proposal, I’m confident we’ll grow old together.”

“What impressive confidence.”

This sounds familiar. Her manner of speaking was just like Rodrick’s, chasing away any fear.

“Do you think he could properly close his eyes with a wife as beautiful as me by his side?”

“…”

“It seems your son is more jealous than I expected.”

Wow, Felice was genuinely impressed. It’s amazing how she doesn’t back down at all to Father.

The Schwartz Duke was someone even the strongest-willed people found difficult to face.

Watching Diana fearlessly confront the father he had never dared to challenge in his life, Felice’s heart pounded.

Clenching his fist, Felice cheered her on silently. Go, sister-in-law!

“The regrets will be yours alone.”

“Of course. The responsibility for my choices rests entirely with me.”

Even when he asserted that Rodrick would die, Diana responded without so much as blinking.

After a moment of tense back-and-forth, the Duke conceded a step.

“Very well. I’ll send a proposal to the Beatus family.”

“No, could you hold off on that proposal for now?”

Why? The Duke’s eyebrow twitched. Hadn’t she been chattering all this time to get permission?

“For now, I just came to get your permission, Father. That way, I’ll have grounds to stay in this castle with my brother.”

“And?”

“For now, please accept me as your prospective daughter-in-law. Father, I think my status in this castle should be something like ‘the Knight Commander’s prospective fiancée’.”

The influence of the Beatus ducal family was formidable, but the status of the youngest Beatus princess was comparatively low.

This was because little was known about her compared to her three brothers. It would be even more so in families with animosity towards the Beatus.

So to have a voice here, she needed to establish her status before making moves. Skinship with her handsome cure was just a bonus.

“Then I’ll take that as your permission and withdraw now. Thank you for your precious time, Your Grace.”

As if she had never confronted him, Diana retreated behind the desk, bowed gracefully, and left the office.

Oh right, as if she had forgotten something to say, Diana turned back just before leaving and added:

“By the way, I’m angry that my gem is being treated like trash, Father.”

Click. The door closed, and the office was once again enveloped in a chilly silence.

In the end, Diana didn’t explain why she wanted to postpone the proposal. That was something for the Duke to find out on his own.

It was just that her parting words before leaving the room had disturbed the Duke’s composure.

The Duke’s face hardened at her cunning words, telling him to be careful with his speech in front of her from now on.

Hoo, as she left the office, Diana let out a big sigh. I wonder if it’s okay that I acted so rudely.

A feeling of belated regret washed over her, but what could she do?

She had to say what needed to be said.

“Did the conversation go well?”

A low voice tingled in her ears.

Rodrick was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, dressed casually. It was unclear when he had arrived.

Diana’s face brightened with joy.

“When did you get here?”

“Since you started talking about jewels.”

“Oh, the first jewel? Or the second jewel?”

If he meant the jewel talk at the end, he likely hadn’t heard the conversation.

“The first one.”

Diana frowned slightly.

“Then you heard everything, didn’t you?”

He said while stroking the corners of his mouth that were curling up involuntarily:

“Yes.”

“If you heard, you should have come in and backed me up!”

“Kuk. Haha.”

He could no longer hold back and burst into laughter.

At first, when he heard she had gone to meet the Duke while looking for her, his mood instantly soured.

Why on earth was she meeting with the Duke? Unable to understand the reason, he was about to enter the office and drag Diana out.

That was until he heard those words from outside the door.

‘That’s too much, Father. To me, he is an extremely precious and valuable gem. No matter who treats him as worthless.’

With his keen senses, Rodrick could clearly hear Diana’s voice through the well-soundproofed door.

Who else would dare to speak so boldly to the Duke? He should have seen the Duke’s twisted expression firsthand.

“You’re right. I should have seen that sight myself.”

His soft laughter pleasantly echoed through the corridor.