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34. Engagement – Method

Lena Ainar barged in, kicking the door open.

Not one to knock, she plopped herself next to Leo, who was sprawled on the bed, and asked, “Hey! Why are you such a downer these days?”

Her arms seemed perfectly fine.

The engagement scenario was restarting, yet Leo had been in a funk for days. This was due to the {Noble Society} information he had obtained as a reward from the last scenario which was overwhelming his mind.

He hadn’t gathered all there was to know. The {Noble Society} contained information generally shared among nobles, missing out on niche or secret details.

For example, the {Noble Society} included the etiquette of the Acaian Empire. This was common knowledge among nobles.

However, it lacked the latest etiquette from the Belita Kingdom. This was something other nobles didn’t know, making it difficult to call it common.

He also received information about Swordmasters. They were so incredible that nobles from across the continent were aware of them.

But the information about Gilbert Forte, that bastard, didn’t come in. He was famous only in the Belita Kingdom.

For days, Leo chewed over what he had learned from the {Noble Society} and felt the path ahead was daunting. He knew making Lena a princess was possible, but nearly impossible.

The ways to turn Lena into a princess were limited to [Prince’s Obsessive Love] or {Bloodline Event}, and finally, becoming ‘King’ himself.

There were no other options.

Leo raised his head from where he had buried it in his pillow to see Lena, and their eyes locked.

Lena was a beautiful warrior with a distinct conviction, though also somewhat clueless. It was Leo’s subjective opinion, but Lena Ainar was someone who could only be loved. Other Lenas had their own quirks, but they were all lovable in their own ways.

‘Lena needs to be faced with the prince.’

Regardless of which scenario Lena was in, falling in love with the prince and Leo assisting her from behind, using any means necessary, might just make her a princess.

However, it was crucial that the prince ‘obsessively’ loved her. The thick wall of the noble society didn’t easily allow commoners to approach.

“W-what’s with your eyes? Why are they so wide?”

Lena raised her voice in surprise, but Leo continued his thoughts, ignoring her.

Breaking off the engagement was a significant problem.

Lena was engaged to him.

‘I need to keep my distance from Lena as much as possible…’

But it was proving difficult. They trained together every day and had the kind of relationship where she’d storm into his room like this.

Even if a war broke out, he had to stay by her side.

If they were apart, Lena would die at the hands of Katrina.

And he was becoming more and more ‘complete’ Leo with each passing day. Even now, he felt like Lena before him was just getting more charming by the moment.

At this rate, would he even be able to discuss the possibility of breaking off the engagement later?

‘What if I die while being close with the prince?’

Then Lena would be able to meet the prince. She would be sad, but the living would carry on.

If they got married, wouldn’t that achieve the princess ending anyway?

But it was terrifying.

Leo had never actually died before. What would happen to ‘me’ if this Leo died? What if the ending didn’t show up…

‘No, that can’t be. It can’t possibly end like this. This game wouldn’t be possible if dying meant truly dying. There have been so many dangerous moments…’

He tried to shake off his worries.

It absolutely couldn’t happen that way.

“L-Lio?”

Lena averted her eyes, taking a glance at him.

And then, the Bloodline Event.

The Beggar Siblings were heirs of the Yeriel royal family that ruled the Conrad Kingdom.

Prince Eric de Yeriel had tried to kill his half-siblings. This was a well-known incident included in the {Noble Society} information.

Prince Eric had recognized his siblings as outcasts and was acknowledged as the sole heir to the kingdom.

The clearest method to make Lena a princess rested here.

The Beggar Siblings were, after all, royalty with legitimate bloodlines; if Eric de Yeriel could be driven away, Lena would reclaim her title as ‘Lena de Yeriel’ and become a princess.

With noble status, it was that simple.

At that moment, Lena, unable to contain herself, shot up.

“Ugh… Y-you! Leo! I’m leaving! I don’t care about food, figure it out yourself!”

She turned into a beetroot and stomped away noisily down the stairs, but Leo’s worries were still far from over.

He also considered becoming immensely strong and turning into a king. It would take a long time, but he could keep repeating the training to grow stronger, so it wasn’t entirely impossible.

But the possibility was slim.

Even a Swordmaster, who had mastered the ultimate sword techniques, couldn’t establish a kingdom. To become a king, one needed the ability to lead and command others, leadership skills.

‘Leadership? Me?’

Leo chuckled.

Minseo was a loner even in college.

If he hadn’t met Chaehwa in the club he quit rather quickly during his freshman year, he would have continued to have the atmosphere of a returning student from then on.

Minseo’s abilities didn’t seem to have what it took to become a king. Then, did this Leo have what it takes?

Moreover, this continent already had seven kingdoms occupying it. There seemed to be no land to squeeze into, and each kingdom’s regime was stable.

As for where a revolt might stir… that was still unknown. Such localized information wasn’t in the {Noble Society} data.

Of course, you could always take the time to prepare for a rebellion. Regardless of whether it was doable, for someone who kept repeating, the possibilities were ample.

Yet, there was a problem here.

‘Does that mean Lena can’t get married until then? Her occupation can’t be decided either.’

He needed to make Lena into a single lady with no job.

Thinking this didn’t quite sit right, Leo shook his head.

Lena wasn’t a game character being manipulated. She would leap into her own life at any time with her own will.

The reason Lena had followed Leo’s words ‘to some extent’ until now was simply because she liked him.

He didn’t want to take advantage of that feeling.

Then, a singular hope of becoming a king popped into his mind.

The barbarians of the Orun Kingdom.

It wasn’t a coincidence that Lena and Leo were captured in the childhood friend scenario previously.

While it was partly due to not knowing the ways of the world because of the lack of {Alleyway Rules} information, the Orun Kingdom was the nation with the most slaves on the continent.

Due to the forested and mountainous terrain of the Orun Kingdom, many barbarians lived in hamlets, and the Orun Kingdom oppressed them.

The northern two kingdoms assimilated the barbarians as citizens while the Holy Kingdom allowed the barbarians autonomy—quite different from that.

The central Belita Kingdom had almost no barbarians (not so much as to say there weren’t any, but people living in the central part of the continent were treated as ‘civilized’), and even the wide plains of the Conrad Kingdom had few barbarian villages.

Lastly, in the eastern Aisel Kingdom known as the magic kingdom… with many rivers and marshes, the political structure was so unique that although there were barbarians, they couldn’t truly be classified as ‘barbarians’.

In any case, there would undoubtedly be groups that could support Leo once a rebellion sparked in the Orun Kingdom. Furthermore, there didn’t seem to be any Swordmasters in the Orun Kingdom…

‘What if I became a Swordmaster and united the barbarians of the Orun Kingdom…’

Leo shook his head and let go of those thoughts.

Swordmaster, my foot.

There were only three of them in this continent.

Even those three were an exceptionally large number. According to the information in the {Noble Society}, it was astonishing that there had never been more than two Swordmasters in one era throughout human history.

It was hard to even guess how long it would take to reach such supreme heights where only one could be born in dozens of years.

He decided to think about the last method later.

‘Didn’t I just tell her to eat earlier?’

Lena had come and said something to him, but he couldn’t quite hear her because he was lost in thought.

It had only been a few days since the scenario began, but without focusing, it was hard to think as Minseo.

He headed to Lena’s house.

Leo Dexter’s mother had passed away. Thus, the two men of the Dexter family often ate at Lena’s mother’s house.

As was common among Ainar Tribe peers, Lena’s mother and Leo’s mother were friends.

Though they weren’t incredibly close. Leo’s mother was a robust woman who wanted to be a warrior like Lena, while Lena’s mother was a refined lady. Time had passed, and she had become a strong-willed woman scolding her husband, Dehorman, but…

“Thank you for the meal.”

While eating, Leo asked the quiet Lena, “Lena, why did you just leave earlier?”

“W-what?”

“Why? Did something happen?”

Lena’s face turned red.

It seemed like Leo was determined to dig for answers today. He had been acting oddly for days now.

Earlier, while staring at her from the bed, he had set the mood, and now he was outright confronting her.

“Hey! Your mom’s in the kitchen! Have you lost your mind? And I’m still not ready mentally…”

Lena yelled in a hushed tone, her voice dwindling until she trailed off.

“And… I’ll be of age in a few days, so I don’t really need to…”

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean? That’s what I’m saying. Uhm, although we’re engaged… I don’t dislike you, it’s just that, well, there’s a procedure—”

Lena floundered as she tried to explain, while Leo took a while to grasp her words before bursting into laughter.

She recoiled in surprise at his laughter.

As expected, that was Lena for you.

Seeing her with wide rabbit eyes lifted Leo’s gloomy mood instantly, filling him with joy. It had been so long since he laughed like this. It was because of her he could keep pushing forward.

Lena was flustered and fidgety, and later, Leo caught an earful from her.

*

Lena and Leo aimed their swords at Noel Dexter.

Both were fully equipped while Noel lounged in light attire, letting his sword hang. As Lena and Leo spread out to approach, only then did he raise his sword.

“Ha!”

Lena charged first.

At that moment, Leo suddenly felt a strange sensation.

Normally, he would attack alongside Lena’s strike, but he moved aside and took a stab position, avoiding his father’s line of sight.

His father didn’t casually deflect Lena’s sword as usual and instead blocked it head-on.

A chill radiated from his father’s frozen stance.

Leo pulled back his thrust and moved towards Lena, ready for a counterattack. It was as if the divine had possessed him, predicting Lena’s sword would be knocked aside while his father’s sword came crashing down like thunder.

Gritting his teeth, Leo blocked the dropping sword, and in the meantime, Lena regained her balance and aimed for his father’s abdomen.

‘Oh, not bad at all.’

Noel felt a deep satisfaction within as he concentrated his strength in his hands. So, his sword pressed down against Leo’s with a sleight of movement, deflecting Lena’s thrust. With newfound confidence, Noel approached her directly.

At this rate, Lena would be stabbed.

In a tense moment, another strange sensation washed over Leo. He didn’t hastily thrust his sword at his father as he approached Lena, planting his feet firmly on the ground instead.

As he shifted his center of gravity forward to charge, Noel Dexter swung his sword horizontally, wary of Leo.

Both Lena and Leo easily blocked their father’s sword, standing off momentarily.

A bright smile spread across Noel’s face.

This time, he raised his sword first, applying pressure slowly.

Noel showcased a little more of his skill but maintained a balanced approach, drawing out the duel.

Before long, Leo was panting.

His father’s movements were cheating! In a fair duel, one usually attacks and simultaneously checks the opponent’s move with a single breath.

Yet his father bombarded them with two or three attacks in one breath using sheer superior physical prowess.

In swordsmanship, the gap was even wider as he blocked both their attacks with a single move. When they managed to block him, they lost their opportunity to strike as two attacks fell out of line, and they remained unresponsive.

Oh no, he got tired and briefly lost focus.

Leo was blown away by his father’s kick, and soon after, Lena was also kicked away helplessly.

The two of them collapsed, panting heavily.

Noel chuckled without a bead of sweat on his dry face, smiling as he said, “Leo, you’ve improved a lot. And your cohesion with Lena is great, especially your defensive skills have improved significantly.”

Leo was taken aback. It was mainly Lena who did the attacking, and he hadn’t really done much, yet Noel Dexter praised him first.

He praised Leo for effectively constraining the opponent’s movements while responding according to Lena’s flow.

‘{Pass Rates} really come in handy…’

Last time, he earned the {Pass Rates} achievement during the engagement scenario, but since he hadn’t fought alongside anyone, it had remained unused till now.

He had teamed up with thugs in the family, but he hadn’t really felt any cooperation with them.

The thugs fought a battle not grounded in skill. Their fights relied on sheer numbers and brawls.

Fighting with Lena was different. She naturally pulled thoughts of how to corner the opponent in line with her moves.

Noel Dexter was guarded against Leo’s movements, restricting his actions.

Of course, he would have been more attentive if he hadn’t been going easy on them…

Noel recounted the duel, offered several more pieces of advice, and then went back inside.

Lena and Leo collapsed again in the open area, catching their breath.

“Wow, Leo. That was great!”

“What was?”

“I don’t know how to put it, but… I felt less pressure than before.”

Lena seemed to be in a good mood as she hummed a tune.

“It was my first time fighting like this against Uncle. You’ve changed a lot. Your swordsmanship has become unique, and you’ve practically become a different person. I need to step up my game too.”

“Uh, huh? What do you mean by that?”

“Your skills have improved.”

“Oh. Really?”

“Your personality seems to have changed a little too.”

“!!”

“Ugh! Let’s go inside now. I need to wash up before we eat.”

Lena shot up and dashed inside. Leo stood there for a moment, frozen.

He had gotten used to meeting Lena repeatedly.

When he first started the scenario, he had been so wary about matching the atmosphere.

He had slipped this time. It was because he had become lost in thought about the {Noble Society} information.

If even the somewhat clueless Lena Ainar could catch on, he must have been rather complacent.

‘I’ll have to be careful from now on.’

He was Leo, yet somehow he wasn’t Leo. Especially in the early stages of the scenario.

As he pondered over his identity, he entered, while the falling snow danced in the empty courtyard.