I Inherited a Beautiful Wife and a Territory - Chapter 106

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Inheriting a Beautiful Wife and Estate Episode 106

 

106. Mabel’s Death

 

“….”

 

Various confused emotions.

 

Baron Stela’s movement, who had been continuously attempting to approach Cliff, stopped. This was the same for Cliff.

 

While preparing magic inwardly, he no longer pressed forward outwardly.

 

A brief lull.

 

And.

 

“Haa.”

 

As if signaling the end of it, Baron Stela let out a sigh.

 

At the same time, his body, which had been tense while holding his sword, relaxed. Cliff seemed to know what action he would take next.

 

“…I have lost.”

 

And this did not deviate from Cliff’s expectations.

 

A declaration of defeat.

 

At Baron Stela’s words, Cliff’s tension also eased.

 

“Waaaaah!”

 

“His Grace the Grand Duke has won! This is our victory!”

 

“Long live the Elimis Duchy!”

 

“Long live His Grace the Grand Duke!”

 

Soon the surroundings became noisy.

 

These were the voices of the Elimis Family soldiers who had been watching the duel between the two nearby. That sound immediately spread throughout the castle as well.

 

The outcome of the short war had been decided.

 

“Ah.”

 

Contrary to those cheers, several people lowered their heads.

 

Regretful expressions, or various complex emotions filled their faces.

 

There was one common point among them.

 

It was a sense of defeat.

 

And fear and anxiety.

 

‘What do we do now?’

 

These were the people of the Stela Family.

 

Baron Stela’s face also took on a desolate look.

 

‘I was truly foolish.’

 

Facing Cliff made him think this even more.

 

Self-deprecating regret enveloped him.

 

Cliff’s appearance was too young.

 

But he had lost to that Cliff in every aspect. Combat, justification, and even the one-on-one duel he had engaged in, he had been defeated.

 

He was ashamed.

 

And a heavy sense of responsibility weighed him down.

 

Treason.

 

This was the justification Cliff had put forward.

 

This was different from simply losing in a territorial war.

 

Survival would be difficult.

 

But what more could he do now?

 

“What would a loser have to say?”

 

Baron Stela, who had resigned himself to everything, opened his mouth.

 

Even so, with tragic resolve, he continued speaking.

 

“I have no intention of pathetically begging for my life. Kill me.”

 

He had already been pathetic enough.

 

Baron Stela erased any possibility of surviving any longer.

 

As if resolutely waiting for the victor’s judgment, he closed his eyes.

 

Clang.

 

The beloved sword that had been with him for many years also fell from his hand. The sword that fell to the ground made a harsh metallic sound.

 

Though miserable, it was difficult to turn back.

 

Such was Baron Stela.

 

“Hmm.”

 

Cliff did not particularly pass judgment on him. Instead, he looked around first and felt relieved inwardly.

 

‘The damage is smaller than I thought.’

 

It was difficult to say there were no fallen or dead.

 

However, they were few.

 

Among both allies and Baron Stela’s soldiers, there were few casualties.

 

‘Indeed, climbing over the castle walls rather than breaking through the castle gate was the right answer.’

 

This was the result of Baron Stela concentrating his forces at the castle gate.

 

Unintentionally, they had avoided collision. Because of that, casualties were reduced.

 

For Cliff, that aspect was most satisfying.

 

“Baron Stela.”

 

“…Speak, Grand Duke.”

 

Cliff called to him.

 

Baron Stela opened his closed eyes like slits.

 

“Should I understand your words of defeat as accepting me as the victor?”

 

“Having come this far, what more would I deny? The victor is you, Grand Duke.”

 

Cliff showed a satisfied smile.

 

From the beginning, when Baron Stela had answered his call, he had already guessed that part.

 

‘Now he finally calls me Grand Duke.’

 

He had roughly known.

 

Baron Stela could not acknowledge his ascension to Grand Duke. That was the beginning of this incident.

 

But now it was different.

 

He himself had called Cliff Grand Duke.

 

Cliff took a deep breath.

 

“Tend to the wounded first. Do not distinguish between soldiers of Elimis and Stela. Everyone here is a citizen of the duchy.”

 

The declaration Cliff uttered.

 

Baron Stela’s eyebrows twitched as he heard this. What Cliff had just said was equivalent to including Baron Stela’s territory in Cliff’s domain.

 

‘Yes. Since he won, this place is rightfully his territory now.’

 

Baron Stela forced himself to accept this.

 

This was a place his family had ruled for generations, but now it had passed into another’s hands. That couldn’t feel good.

 

But he was a person who would die.

 

He decided to just think of it that way.

 

“Your Grace.”

 

And then someone who had been quiet until then came to where the two men were.

 

This voice.

 

Baron Stela also knew this person well.

 

‘It’s Sir Keren.’

 

A person who had been a close associate of the late Count Platice, and now claimed to be Cliff’s close associate.

 

He knew him well.

 

Occasionally when they met, even if they didn’t cross swords directly, they had engaged in psychological warfare.

 

Perhaps because of that, he seemed to know what he would say.

 

“If you do not wish to behead him directly, just give the order. I will become Your Grace’s sword and cut off the traitor’s neck.”

 

The words he spoke were very murderous.

 

From those words, Cliff inferred something he had not directly witnessed.

 

‘So this was it.’

 

Count Platice’s death.

 

At that time, they said the Serpal Family mercenaries had betrayed the Count.

 

‘This was the reason.’

 

And Cliff felt like he was now facing that reason.

 

The old emotions that had formed between the two.

 

Because of this, Count Platice had been unable to govern the Serpal people.

 

“…Where is there a traitor here?”

 

Cliff countered Keren’s words with a question of his own.

 

“Eh?”

 

Keren was flustered upon hearing Cliff’s words.

 

It was an unexpected reaction from him.

 

But soon Keren understood Cliff’s thinking.

 

‘Could it be… you’re thinking of embracing him?’

 

Such a question was mixed in Keren’s eyes as he looked at Cliff.

 

Cliff didn’t answer him. He merely made his intentions known through his continued words.

 

“I simply made Baron Stela understand in his own way, since he couldn’t accept it otherwise.”

 

His way probably meant a duel.

 

Because of that duel, Baron Stela could no longer deny Cliff.

 

Flinch.

 

Baron Stela also looked at Cliff with surprise.

 

‘He’s going to… spare me?’

 

He wasn’t stupid enough not to understand Cliff’s intentions here.

 

However, he couldn’t comprehend it. He had naturally assumed Cliff would kill him.

 

But from Cliff’s perspective, there was no need to shed more blood.

 

‘This is enough.’

 

Baron Stela had acted righteously from his position.

 

There was nothing good about prolonging resentment.

 

Also, there was no reason to continue opposing the Serpal Family.

 

‘I never had bad feelings toward those gentlemen in the first place.’

 

The Platice Family and the Serpal Family.

 

Deepening resentment between both sides was contrary to Cliff’s wishes. He didn’t know what might happen later, as had occurred with Count Platice.

 

Keren’s pupils shook at that decision, but he didn’t say anything else.

 

“…I see. I apologize. I was mistaken.”

 

He simply accepted Cliff’s decision and stepped back.

 

A grateful person.

 

Cliff smiled at him. And when he turned his head to face Baron Stela, he saw the man’s wavering pupils.

 

“Then… may I be guided inside?”

 

The war ends here.

 

The bloodshed ends here too.

 

At Cliff’s decision, Baron Stela, who had been biting his lips, bowed his head.

 

Objectively, Baron Stela’s swordsmanship was inferior to Keren’s or Teobaldt’s.

 

But there was an area where he excelled beyond those two. Baron Stela was originally a politician, not a knight.

 

Leading a faction in Serpal, and his ambition to become a relative by marriage to the lord of Serpal, had been cultivated through that political sense.

 

“Ahem.”

 

And because of this, he now began thinking differently.

 

‘Serpal is already a setting sun. If he’s not mistreating us out of the resentment Platice holds, then do we really need to think otherwise?’

 

Precisely such thoughts.

 

This also came through his mouth.

 

“If you truly accept me as a vassal on equal terms with others, I will gladly offer my life for Your Grace the Grand Duke.”

 

Cliff couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

 

‘Where did that spirit from just now go….’

 

His attitude had changed.

 

But now wasn’t the time to point this out.

 

This was human nature, after all.

 

However, Cliff had something to say to him.

 

“Giving privileges to those who listened early cannot be called discrimination. It’s rewarding those who did well.”

 

Equal terms with others.

 

This was Cliff’s clarification regarding the words he had mentioned.

 

Flinch.

 

Baron Stela wavered slightly upon hearing those words, but he didn’t change his attitude.

 

He didn’t raise his head that was bowed to Cliff.

 

“Those are very reasonable words.”

 

It was too quick a change of stance.

 

Even if it seemed that way, it wasn’t entirely so.

 

He had rebelled against Cliff, accepted defeat through resignation, and then understood.

 

The Quest had also changed during that time.

 

Conditions

 

-Baron Stela’s surrender or elimination (Complete)

 

-Mabel Serpal’s surrender or elimination (Incomplete)

 

-Olton Serpal’s surrender or elimination (Incomplete)

 

The first condition of the Quest had changed to complete.

 

Baron Stela had surrendered.

 

As if confirming this, no more ominous aura emanated from Baron Stela.

 

“I will gladly fulfill my noble duties for Your Grace and the Principality.”

 

He had subdued Baron Stela.

 

That much was certain.

 

However, there was one problem.

 

‘I can’t figure out this gentleman’s intentions.’

 

Cliff frowned.

 

Mabel Serpal.

 

Certainly they had joined hands with each other. But he still wasn’t in a completed state.

 

Incomplete.

 

That was the content showing for him.

 

But soon the Quest changed again.

 

“Huh?”

 

Cliff muttered with a bewildered expression.

 

It had changed.

 

He wasn’t simply referring to incomplete changing to complete.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

At the sound from his mouth, those around looked at him with curiosity.

 

But there was no time to pay attention to that.

 

‘What kind of situation is this now?’

 

Conditions

 

-Baron Stela’s surrender or elimination (Complete)

 

-Olton Serpal’s surrender or elimination (Incomplete)

 

One of the conditions had disappeared.

 

Cliff blinked his eyes.

 

Meanwhile, one of Baron Stela’s men approached.

 

Since Cliff was there too, the man was being cautious.

 

“…What’s the matter?”

 

“Well….”

 

Only when Baron Stela pressed him with questions did he give his reason.

 

And through these words, Cliff was able to understand why the Quest had changed.

 

‘Ah.’

 

A completely unexpected incident had occurred.

 

“They say Mabel Serpal is dead.”

 

“What?”

 

Serpal.

 

Mabel’s faction had seen it as an opportunity.

 

Olton had left his position.

 

Baron Stela had no time to worry about this because of his own estate. In that case, the only faction remaining in Serpal was Mabel alone.

 

‘Now is the opportunity.’

 

The task of eliminating the slightly mixed opposition and seizing control of Serpal.

 

Afterwards, he could either negotiate with Duke Elimis or submit to him. Then Serpal would become Mabel’s possession.

 

That was what he had thought.

 

Thrust.

 

“…!”

 

Mabel stared at the person in front of him with shocked eyes.

 

‘Why are you…?’

 

Astonishment.

 

At that emotion, the other party raised the corners of his mouth.

 

“I had already noticed what you were planning to do. That you would see the time when I left my position as an opportunity.”

 

The man gripping the spear shaft that had pierced through Mabel’s heart.

 

Olton spoke mockingly to Mabel.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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