I Inherited a Beautiful Wife and a Territory - Chapter 119

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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 119

119. Fight Them Among Ourselves?

‘He’s definitely still young, so his political skills are lacking.’

Cliff evaluated Aren.

He didn’t have the seasoned expertise that Duke Serniu had shown. However, this didn’t necessarily indicate Aren’s incompetence.

“…Sword Expert?”

Cliff looked at Aren with surprised eyes.

Aren received that gaze and lifted his head proudly.

“Yes. I recently broke through the barrier of that realm. It would be difficult to compare with Your Highness, who is called the Sea Mage, but isn’t our Serniu family also a sword house called the ghost of close combat?”

Only then did Cliff realize what he had been missing. Come to think of it, the Serniu family was different from the Aidren family from the beginning.

‘This place was fundamentally a martial family, wasn’t it?’

It was different from his own family, which had been the Prime Minister’s house.

A bloodline that fought on ships.

That was the essence of the Serniu family. That’s why the expression ‘ghost of close combat’ wasn’t entirely wrong either.

Those around added to that rumor.

“It’s an expression that has disappeared now since Duke Serniu doesn’t sail anymore, but just over ten years ago, there were two sword masters on the sea.”

Duke Serniu, the sword demon of close combat.

One was the great pirate Marco.

These two were the strongest sword masters who represented the Rajahara Sea.

And one more thing could be understood.

That Marco had also learned the Duke’s house swordsmanship.

‘Is this really true?’

Cliff was surprised.

Aren acknowledged this with a bitter smile.

“Pirate Marco is… my great-uncle by blood.”

In other words, among maritime sword houses, the Serniu family was the greatest.

Aren had inherited exactly that swordsmanship.

“On a ship, there is no swordsman who can receive the main family’s sword.”

Aren had strong pride in the Serniu family.

That aspect was enviable.

It was an emotion Cliff didn’t have.

‘Is this the difference between a legitimate heir and a bastard?’

Still, he didn’t mind it much.

However, one thing was certain.

Aren and Melissa.

The two were indeed a match made in heaven.

‘Melissa and the Berni family lack military power.’

Her political capabilities weren’t lacking. If they had been, it would have been difficult to get engaged to Aren no matter how much connection they had.

Conversely, military power was relatively insufficient.

They complemented each other’s lacking parts. Thinking that way, Cliff also thought of two people.

Leticia came to mind less since she was nearby, but Priscilla was different.

‘What is she doing right now?’

A woman who had a very traditional feminine image before meeting him.

He wanted to return quickly.

To do that, he needed to quickly settle the situation in Ratniya.

“The Yusta Peninsula is visible!”

Cliff’s eyes lit up.

“We’re gradually entering the coastal waters.”

They still had to go further to reach Ratniya.

Still, entering the coastal waters of the Yusta Peninsula was sufficiently welcome news.

Cliff thought of another person instead of Priscilla.

‘Teobaldt must be doing well, right?’

Quite some time had passed since dropping off Teobaldt.

The trip to and from the Serniu Duchy had taken longer than expected.

Teobaldt’s declaration filled with strong faith.

This was also conveyed to the Berni family soldiers. They had originally seen Teobaldt’s monstrous strength.

That Teobaldt’s words.

“Reinforcements will definitely come.”

They just had to hold out until then.

The first priority was to call up conscripts and train them. And the task of finding any possible enemy spies.

In that state, Ratniya had returned.

Teobaldt also requested help from the Shadows who had come with him.

Was that why?

“The Dioke family definitely seems to have plans to target this Ratniya. They appear to be gathering their forces.”

“How do you know that…?”

An absurd situation unfolded for Moos Berni.

This information should have been discovered by him and delivered to Teobaldt. But Teobaldt was obtaining intelligence faster than him.

“He seems to be quite skilled… Who is this person called Clark?”

However, instead of answering his question, Teobaldt returned a question.

Clark.

As that name was mentioned, Moos’s expression hardened.

“…A mercenary. Among those active in this area, he’s the person with the most outstanding one-on-one combat ability. Perhaps because he gets severe seasickness, I haven’t heard of him being active in naval battles.”

“The Dioke family seems to be planning to hire him.”

“Hmm.”

A groaning sound came from Moos’s mouth.

Dismayed emotions showed on his expression.

‘They beat me to it.’

Actually, he had been planning to hire Clark’s mercenary company.

If war broke out, and if it became a land siege rather than a naval battle, few were as reliable as Clark.

To be precise, Clark was a fearsome opponent.

The reason for needing to hire him was more about not making him an enemy than making him an ally.

“…We must not meet Clark as an enemy.”

“Then wouldn’t it work if we hire him first?”

“Sigh. It’s not that I haven’t thought of that myself. But Clark’s whereabouts haven’t been identified yet…”

Being slower than Dioke in intelligence.

However, Teobaldt was calm.

“I heard he’s in a village called Belfani that appears when you go west from here.”

“…!”

Moos was greatly surprised by the information Teobaldt provided.

‘He’s already identified Clark’s location?’

Teobaldt’s intelligence capabilities were remarkably excellent.

If this place had been close to the Elimis Duchy, he wouldn’t have been this surprised.

But this place was closer to his domain than to the Elimis Duchy. Now, in his own domain, the speed of information was slower than Teobaldt’s.

“Heh heh…”

He laughed as if feeling helpless.

However, he didn’t doubt Teobaldt’s words.

“…We must hire Clark before Dioke does. I’ll send someone immediately.”

“Please do so. Still, you don’t need to worry too much. The possibility of the Dioke family contacting the mercenary Clark before us is low.”

Teobaldt’s resolute statement.

Moos’s eyes gleamed with interest at that confident declaration.

‘They’ve already made their move!’

The Shadowguards of the Elimis Family.

They had clearly already infiltrated the heart of the Dioke Family. And they had deliberately blocked the Dioke Family from contacting Clark.

‘I thought only Lord Teobaldt had come.’

It seemed the duchy had deployed more forces in this area than expected.

Though tense, he had no choice but to rely on them now.

Still, hiring Clark was his responsibility.

“…I am grateful for the Elimis Duchy’s goodwill.”

Teobaldt only smiled.

The person Moos sent had contacted Clark as planned. However, the hiring fell through.

Instead, they made a different contract.

“We’ve received confirmation that they won’t interfere in this war until the end of this year.”

Clark’s Mercenary Company’s declaration of neutrality.

“Phew.”

At least that was fortunate.

With the current power difference, if Clark had joined the enemy, he wouldn’t have even thought of winning.

But it was still too early to feel relieved.

Why would Clark refuse the employment?

‘He must see our defeat as a foregone conclusion.’

From the perspective of a war expert, the power disparity was that severe.

He had tried his best. But there were limits in the end.

By gathering conscripts, he could make the numbers roughly equal, but.

‘This is unsettling.’

Just increasing the headcount didn’t put Moos’s mind at ease.

Most importantly, despite his best efforts, they were definitely there. Followers of the three expelled families were mixed in among them.

So the Berni Family’s soldiers watched the gathered conscripts as if monitoring them.

“Ships are visible from the sea!”

“What?”

An emergency was declared in the already tense Ratniya.

Ships visible from the sea.

Their identity was still difficult to determine. If what was on those ships was an enemy army….

‘We can’t let them land!’

There was a reason they were so tense.

“There are many of them!”

Ratniya was also a port.

So ships coming and going was natural. But the scale of those ships was too large to be occasional trade.

A large fleet.

It was the size of an armada.

“Quickly identify who they are first!”

Ratniya was now in a state equivalent to wartime.

Just yesterday, Berni’s scouts had brought news that the Dioke Family had deployed their forces. Incidentally, they had heard this from Teobaldt first.

And now these ships had appeared.

He hurried toward the pier. And beside Moos was Teobaldt.

He concentrated his eyesight to see the ships still beyond the horizon, then soon grinned.

“…They’ve come at just the right time. You don’t need to worry. Lower your guard and prepare to welcome guests.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Didn’t I tell you? Reinforcements would come to us.”

This was something Teobaldt often said.

Knowing that reinforcements were coming would maintain the morale of their allies.

“Ah!”

And with Teobaldt’s words, Moos also realized who was coming.

‘It’s the duchy’s navy!’

He raised his head to look at those coming from afar.

More and more ships appearing beyond the horizon.

“I can see the Berni Family’s emblem!”

At the front, a very familiar emblem’s flag was fluttering.

The emblem symbolizing the Berni Family.

There was only one person who would come bearing this.

‘Melissa!’

His daughter.

His daughter hadn’t come alone.

“The, the flags of the Serniu Family and Elimis Family are visible!”

Reliable reinforcements.

It wasn’t just one place.

The ships appearing one after another bore not only the Elimis Duchy’s flags, but also those of House Serniu.

“Oh, Melissa…!”

His daughter had done an excellent job.

Realizing this fact, Moos was moved.

“It’s Young Mistress Melissa!”

“The Young Mistress has brought reinforcements!”

“Waaaah!”

Those who had come to the pier soon grasped the situation and cheered.

Just moments ago, they thought they would die.

But that situation had been reversed.

Around the same time.

“My lord!”

The reconnaissance leader who had led the scouting party came running to him.

“The Dioke Family’s army will arrive here within a few hours!”

Finally, the final war for Ratniya had begun.

Of course, the worries from just moments ago were no longer there.

“Hahaha! Tell them to come as much as they want! Today we will drive out the Dioke Family and all the forces that followed them from this Ratniya, and declare that our Berni Family has become the master of Ratniya!”

The feeling of gaining a mighty army.

This was the emotion Moos felt.

“Father!”

When he saw Melissa disembarking from the ship, he was extremely glad.

Embracing his daughter who ran to him, he shook off the anxiety about her that had been in his heart.

But now there was no time to enjoy the father-daughter reunion.

“Loyalty. Please come quickly, Your Grace the Grand Duke.”

As Teobaldt said, a tremendous big shot had come here.

Cliff receiving Teobaldt’s salute.

And beside him was also the person who would become Moos’s son-in-law.

The Dioke Family was overconfident.

But the situation didn’t flow as they hoped.

‘What is this?’

Though there was regret at not being able to hire Clark, they would still win.

Plong, the Dioke Family’s commander who had thought so.

He looked with a shocked face at the flags fluttering above Ratniya’s castle walls.

“The Serniu Family… and what is that flag?”

“It appears to be the flag of the Elimis Duchy.”

For Plong and the Dioke Family, this was the worst possible situation.

‘Fight against them with just us?’

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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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