novelraw Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Irene was the youngest daughter of the Lord of Haken.
She was the only child, and the only daughter, born from the Lord of Haken’s beloved third wife.
It was a position that inevitably came with a certain degree of favoritism.
Moreover, since Irene was the only child of the Lord’s third wife, her relationship with the other two wives was said to have been relatively good.
If Irene had been a son, things might have been different. But no matter how much she was adored, she was still a daughter.
And since there was no reason to ostracize the third wife, who was loved by the Lord but far from political power, there was no hostility.
On the contrary, the family tried to embrace her, and Irene too was able to grow up receiving affection from the other two wives.
‘But not all wives can get along. Especially if sons are involved.’
Unlike Irene and her mother, who distanced themselves from power, the first and second wives and their children watched one another warily, each coveting the Lord of Haken’s seat.
As the family feud seemed to escalate, the Lord of Haken made a decisive move and designated an heir.
“But human greed, is that not always the way of things?”
“Indeed. Greed. Without it, humans wouldn’t be human.”
Once the Lord of Haken named his successor, the family feud seemed to quiet down on the surface.
But that was only appearances.
Behind the scenes, schemes and checks were still rampant.
And at the center of it were the second wife and her son, who had been abruptly eliminated from succession.
The position of Lord of Haken was not something that could be so easily abandoned.
“They say that the second son keeps trying to draw Lady Irene in. Since the second son keeps provoking, even the first son quietly hopes she’ll lean toward his side.”
“Well, the Lord of Haken is still alive and strong, so the successor could always change. Depending on circumstances, Irene might indeed become a key factor. Is that why she wants to leave the territory?”
“Was it two years ago? Lady Irene’s mother passed away. Ever since then, things have been blatantly obvious. The second son even tried to marry Lady Irene off to someone from his own faction. Honestly, it’s no wonder she’s fed up.”
“So her mother used to stand in the middle and shield her. And as soon as she passed away, that happened? I can see why Irene would be sick of it.”
“They say Lady Irene wants to leave Haken, at least until the successor struggle is completely resolved. Isn’t this the perfect opportunity?”
“What opportunity?”
“Ah, this frustrating man, really….”
The sons were desperate to draw Irene into their conflict.
And Irene, in turn, wanted nothing more than to step back from such meaningless strife.
Both sides were perfectly understandable.
I only wished this were someone else’s story, but Rudick kept pestering me, asking if I intended to throw away such a good chance.
Was this guy even sane?
“It’s the perfect chance to bring Lady Irene into our territory. If we take her in, thirty heavily armed knights come along with her. And you’d throw that away?”
—That’s right, Master. Thanks to Lord Bestia’s arrangement, you’ve already gained much favor. It’s worth attempting.
So that’s what this was.
I had never seen such fools.
“Ha. Hey. Do you think if we take Irene in, Haken will politely say, ‘Thank you’? Don’t be delusional. Just give it up. Right now, maintaining a close relationship with Haken is far more important than Irene herself.”
Irene Haken.
I genuinely liked her.
Her generosity was admirable, her way of speaking was pleasant, and she was the kind of person one couldn’t help but grow fond of.
There was no one like her among the people around me.
‘Everyone else is a little broken, like Rudick.’
But I didn’t want to bring her in at the cost of souring relations with the Lord of Haken.
If Irene settled in Johnson Territory, she would surely lead a knightly order. And the Lord of Haken, who disliked her serving as a knight, would never sit idly by if he saw that.
‘If my guess is right, Irene is definitely the Lord of Haken’s reverse scale.’
The great-hearted Lord of Haken turned a blind eye to the discrimination against female knights.
To condone such injustice while knowing it was wrong?
That went far against the character of the Lord of Haken I knew.
It meant Irene was his reverse scale.
He tolerated what he knew was wrong, simply because her safety mattered more.
‘And Johnson Territory, of all places? The most dangerous place on the Ribella Peninsula?’
Even I thought this was too much.
But Rudick always managed to exceed even my imagination.
“You pitiful fool. As long as we secure proper justification, not even the Lord of Haken could object.”
“What justification?”
“By accepting Lady Irene as our sister-in-law, of course. Then, just as you said, relations with Haken will grow closer, and Lady Irene comes with thirty heavily armed knights. Isn’t that perfect?”
“Weren’t you just pushing Leisha as a candidate for sister-in-law?”
“Break free from the prejudice that a man can have only one sister-in-law. The Lord of Haken himself has three wives. Leisha can be Sister-in-law Number One, and Lady Irene Sister-in-law Number Two. What’s wrong with that?”
“You really are insane.”
It was an utterly absurd notion.
I had beaten Irene down and knocked her out with a triangle choke not even a few hours ago.
And now I was supposed to take her as my wife?
What woman would ever feel affection for the man who beat her and choked her unconscious?
At least Irene wasn’t such a pervert.
—Hm, are you sure it’s just that?
‘Of course it is.’
The fact that she still respected me as a knight, simply because I had done my best and treated her properly in combat, was proof enough of how upright Irene’s character was.
I thought this was one of the reasons Irene was truly remarkable.
The fact that she didn’t resent me was itself proof of her character.
“I’ve spoken my thoughts honestly. The judgment is yours, Brother.”
“The conclusion’s a bit much, but still, well done.”
“Ah, in the process of gathering this information, I did reveal a bit about us too. But it’s not like our territory has any real secrets.”
“Well, these exchanges are always somewhat give & take. Got it. You can go now.”
The ending was a bit odd, but thanks to Rudick I was able to understand Irene’s situation and that of Haken Territory to some degree.
Her slightly crooked attitude now made sense too.
Looking back, she was a woman who knew a lot about many things, and when I was negotiating with the Lord of Haken, she suspiciously took my side, didn’t she?
From her father who opposed her becoming a knight, to her family tangled in succession disputes, it seemed resentment had built up quite a bit.
—Certainly, the conditions make her a good candidate to scout.
‘That doesn’t mean I’ll bring Irene into Johnson Territory.’
The best policy was always not to interfere in other people’s family matters.
Whether things went well or poorly, one side was bound to curse you.
Especially now, when relations with Haken Territory were so important, there was no need to take unnecessary risks.
‘Besides, getting too close to the Lord of Haken could be another problem.’
—Why is that, Master?
‘Because south of us, there are several other great territories besides Haken. And one day, conflict will surely come.’
—Indeed…
To be blunt, if Irene, who was rising as a central figure in her territory, suddenly came running to me one day begging for help because Haken was in trouble, could I really refuse her on the spot?
Probably not.
And I doubted anyone else in the territory could either.
People say public and private matters should be separated, but our territory wasn’t exactly a place of strict discipline.
If one day we gained enough power to cooperate as lord to lord, then maybe. But for now, the wisest choice was simply to maintain a proper business relationship with Haken.
—But Master, you take the will of the gods too lightly.
‘Even if it’s the gods’ will, wrong is still wrong.’
—Just wait. Everything will be normalized.
‘Normalized, my ass.’
Leaving the scheming rabbit grinning beside me, I decided to think about what to do when the magical engineers from Haken arrived.
Just as Rudick had gathered information on Haken and Irene through Crimson Comet, the knights of Crimson Comet were likewise able to learn about Johnson Territory from the knights here.
Since it was already a foregone conclusion that Crimson Comet and Irene would leave Haken, and they were actively looking for a place to settle, their attitude was quite serious.
Of course, Johnson Territory was not one of their planned options, but information was always better the more you had.
“The atmosphere really wasn’t bad. Even among the knights, there are female knights, and there doesn’t seem to be discrimination.”
“The beastmen are even more so. Most of the lion beastman warriors are women.”
“Isn’t that just like wild lions? The lionesses do all the hunting.”
“Ah-ha!”
“Seems like that’s just how the territory works. Since people are scarce, it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman—if you’re useful, you’re put to use. If only Haken had been like this too.”
“They say Haken was like that at first. But as the territory grew larger, it changed.”
Hearing the reports from the knights, Irene slowly nodded.
“It’s largely my fault that the order picks on female knights. I do feel sorry about that.”
“Oh, don’t say that. Even if you weren’t the captain, they would’ve been the same.”
“Exactly. In the end, it’s about pushing their own people in. It’s just us, the ones without connections, who get discriminated against.”
“If we’d gone around bowing and buttering palms early on, it probably wouldn’t have been this bad.”
“We don’t really know people like that, and we’re not good at it anyway.”
There were about 500 knights belonging to Haken Territory.
Of those, about 70 were female knights. The 40 or so who weren’t part of Crimson Comet had no real problems.
They were descendants of powerful families, or sharp enough to read the currents, so even amidst discrimination they managed to secure a faction to protect themselves.
So in the end, Crimson Comet was a gathering of the so-called “thick-headed” female knights who hated political games.
They couldn’t tolerate this unfair situation and were the kind to recklessly challenge the higher-ups whenever pushed too far.
It was Irene who took in these ostracized female knights and formed a separate knightly order.
That was why Crimson Comet regarded Irene as the first lord to recognize their worth, their guiding star, and their very faith.
Over time, word quietly spread that the reason the Lord of Haken turned a blind eye to discrimination in the knightly order was because of Irene. But even then, Crimson Comet’s faith in her never wavered.
And Irene, for her part, had never once let her knights down.
“Captain, the atmosphere’s changed a bit. Are you maybe considering Johnson Territory as a settlement?”
“Eh? Johnson? Isn’t that the place ruled by that man you can’t stand?”
“Ha, that man. He was seriously something.”
“If you hadn’t warned us in advance, we would’ve stormed off during the Founding.”
“And they would’ve stormed off right along with us.”
“They say the model for your Red Teddy—the one you beat up every night—is that guy, right?”
“You mean the stuffed bear you made from real Big Red hide, that monster that looks like a bear?”
“And you even enchanted it so it wouldn’t break.”
“The funny thing is, you beat it up before bed, but then you hug it while sleeping. What are we gonna do with our captain?”
Once someone threw in a comment, random TMI came pouring in from all directions.
Who would believe that Crimson Comet, feared by outlaws around Andong as scarier than the Grim Reaper, was really just this gossip circle?
Even Iron, who had admired their discipline as a knightly order, would click his tongue and shake his head if he saw this.
It was no different from the Johnson Knight Order’s women having a pajama party.
“Ha…”
Though she’d experienced it many times, Irene couldn’t help but sigh at the fuss that never became any easier to endure. Pressing her forehead as if in pain, she looked toward her vice-captain.
Only the group’s big sister, the vice-captain, could calm the chatter of members who spoke as if they had mana thrusters strapped to their mouths.
“Quiet. The Captain is about to speak.”
“Ugh, Vice-captain.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“No point acting up only to get smacked down.”
“She doesn’t look it, but she’s surprisingly violent.”
“Shh. She’s really about to blow.”
At the vice-captain’s weighty warning, the flood of TMI began to quiet down.
Once all eyes were on her, Irene finally opened her mouth.
“We need to consider Johnson as a possible settlement. So keep that in mind and take your time looking around.”
“Wasn’t this place never even a candidate?”
“That’s right. Until now it was our enemy. But thinking it over coldly, there’s really nowhere better. Here, we could stay not just temporarily, but for quite a long time.”
Everyone’s eyes went wide at Irene’s words.
Irene, in Johnson Territory?
Even those who had watched her for a long time hadn’t expected such a development.