Please Repay Me with Marriage! - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Let me have my reward in marriage!
Chapter 22
‘What?’
Leonard blinked in surprise.
But when no one around him reacted, it seemed he must have misheard something. Leonard decided he had imagined it and continued in a calm voice.
“Of course, a noble as lofty as Your Highness would never deign to make use of a lowly mercenary, so it shouldn’t matter.”
“Ha!”
The Second Prince wore an expression of pure disbelief.
“What a ridiculous thing to say. Lowly or not, I use them when I wish to use them and discard them when I wish to discard them. And what was that? That they won’t be used? Who do you think you are to refuse my orders?”
“Mercenaries hold the freedom to refuse contracts they do not wish to sign. The First Emperor himself guaranteed this, and not even the Emperor may dare to infringe upon it.”
“What? You dare to mock the authority of the Emperor with that filthy mouth! Guards, seize this man at once-!”
“It’s true, Your Highness.”
It was his attendant who grabbed the arm that was jabbing a finger at Leonard and held him back.
Hoping this commotion wouldn’t spiral any further, the attendant leaned close to the Second Prince’s ear and whispered.
“His tone and manner toward Your Highness are rather impudent, but Count Elpias isn’t wrong. Besides, Your Highness, we are standing in front of the Sun Palace…”
“Not wrong? The Emperor gives an order, and they can simply refuse to follow it?”
“That was the condition under which Kahn, the Mercenary King, aided the Great Emperor. It’s also the reason the very first Mercenary Guild was established in the Capital of the Empire.”
In those days, nobles who considered themselves high-born often bullied mercenaries with their status and forced them into outrageously unfair contracts.
Calling them mercenaries was one thing, but their treatment was nearly that of slaves. Despite signed contracts, it was common for them to be thrown out without ever receiving their pay.
In the end, toward the close of the Hundred Years’ War, in the Era of Turmoil, which is said to have been the most chaotic period on the continent, the Mercenary King, respected by all mercenaries, gathered their forces together.
Historians have concluded that had the First Emperor not swiftly absorbed them, there might well be another nation on this continent today, one founded by mercenaries…
‘They helped me build this Empire, so now it is my turn to fulfill their wishes. So long as this Empire prospers under the name of Crissetia, my descendants will forever be indebted to them. Do not forget the Seven Commandments I have carved upon this stele, and repay that debt.’
It was the Great Sage who carved the Seven Commandments into the white stone that would later become the First Emperor’s gravestone.
Only one mage among several hundred could earn the title of Grand Mage. And the title Great Sage, bestowed as an honor, was reserved for one whose reservoir of mana far surpassed even those Grand Mages.
He poured every last drop of his mana into the white gravestone, ensuring that anyone who broke the Seven Commandments would pay the price.
That was precisely why an invisible magic circle had been etched onto the Second Prince’s lips.
“Because of those Seven Commandments, a mercenary need only have evidence to bring their employer to account at once.”
Yet from the attendant’s explanation, the part about the Great Sage’s magic had been neatly left out. Over time, mana had dispersed, the number of mages had dwindled, and even the restrictions tied to the Seven Commandments had nearly been forgotten.
Thus, all the attendant had explained was that the First Emperor had guaranteed mercenaries the right to self-determined contracts and the right to accuse. The Second Prince’s face settled into an expression of ‘Is that all?’
“Do you have any idea how many knights there are who pretend to be dying at a single word from me? What’s the great loss in not contracting with some worthless mercenaries? But…”
With that sneering remark, the Second Prince looked Leonard up and down, who stood there with an expressionless face.
“So if one breaks a contract, they can never contract with a mercenary again? How strange. I’ve never contracted with a mercenary. Where’s the evidence, hm?”
At those words, what came to Leonard’s mind was the dream from last night.
‘What are you talking about? A contract? You claim I made a contract with you? Then bring me the contract document. Surely you aren’t going to insist I made a contract with you without any such thing?’
No wonder the dream had felt so vivid; it seemed he had dreamed it only so he could hear this from the Second Prince today. Leonard barely swallowed a sigh and continued.
“Do you know why mercenaries stake their lives on contracts and trust?”
“What?”
“It is so that, when they suffer an injustice with no evidence, they can assert their grievances with words alone.”
The Second Prince had made use of a mercenary’s contract merely for the sake of mockery.
The comrades who trust Leonard’s words will believe him, and the mercenaries who trust those comrades will in turn believe them.
It doesn’t matter if they don’t know one another’s names or faces. The mercenary world is bound together by such trust. Whatever unjust wrong someone somewhere has suffered, everyone will treat it as their own and never forget it.
“Do not act recklessly simply because no evidence will remain. The earth witnesses, and the heavens hear. I speak these words with sincere loyalty to Your Highness, so please take them to heart.”
Leonard bowed his head respectfully toward the Second Prince.
His manner was courteous and his words were proper. But they were too proper, which was the problem. Like medicine that does you good but tastes bitter, the words struck home, and the Second Prince’s face flushed red, then purple.
“How dare a wretch like you humiliate me-!”
“Oh my, greetings to Your Highness the Second Prince. Fancy meeting you here.”
A voice from behind Leonard cut effortlessly through the Second Prince’s words, which were seething with rage.
Irene bent her knees, bearing the murderous glare that turned toward her without flinching.
Performing a greeting precisely enough that no one could find fault with it, she immediately came to Leonard’s side and rested her hand on his arm.
“I must apologize for the trouble last night, Your Highness. Once again, I beg your forgiveness.”
“You apologize? Hah, you talk a fine game. Do you even know what you did wrong, saying that?”
“Of course I do. I’ve just come from being thoroughly scolded by His Majesty. I’ve been ordered to stay confined for a month as a sign of my remorse, so I’m heading straight home.”
“What…?”
The Council meeting had only just ended, so this was the Emperor’s rest period, of which there were only two a day.
The Emperor never spent these meager thirty minutes on just anyone. The very fact that one could meet him during this break signaled his favor.
And on top of that, only a one-month confinement?
Normally, a confinement ordered by the Emperor lasted “until my anger subsides,” and such anger almost never subsided. Given that, this could hardly be called a punishment.
“His Majesty said that if I reflect deeply for a month, he’ll even attend our wedding. So, Rei, let’s head home now.”
“W-what? Do you think His Majesty has so much spare time that he’d bother with such a trivial affair?”
“I know better than anyone that he doesn’t. That’s why I intend to reflect deeply and sincerely, with my whole heart, so that I may receive such boundless grace. So please, forgive me for taking my leave.”
Her hand pressed to her chest, Irene bowed her head and tugged at Leonard’s arm, asking to go back.
Leonard gave the Second Prince a brief bow and, without a backward glance, escorted Irene away from the spot.
The Emperor’s maid left with them to see Leonard off, and she made sure to glare at the Second Prince’s attendants on her way out.
Under her icy gaze, they sensed at once that news of this would reach His Majesty the Emperor before the day was out.
Unaware of any of this, the Second Prince jabbed a finger at the backs of the retreating pair.
“Those insolent wretches! They dare leave without my permission? Hans! Go right now and—”
“Pardon us, Your Highness.”
“And who are you?”
The Second Prince, who had been shouting in a temper, faltered when he recognized the two men standing before him as Imperial Guard Knights.
“What? Why would you lot—”
“His Majesty requests your presence. Shall we go?”
Their eyes were cold and their voices stiff. The Second Prince instinctively understood that the Emperor was not summoning him for any pleasant reason.
“W-why would Father the Emperor want me?”
“You’ll understand once you see His Majesty.”
The Order of Radiance Knights, who swore loyalty to the Emperor alone, observed the proper formalities before the Second Prince but offered him no courtesy at all. The Second Prince was irritated by this, yet a small part of him grew frightened.
‘Surely Father hasn’t learned about that… No, no. Surely not.’
It took a mere ten minutes for him to learn how a “surely” can become a noose.
He had no way of guessing that he would be punished with confinement until His Majesty’s anger cooled, for daring to threaten a subject with the sword the founding Emperor had bestowed upon a benefactor of his life.
With a pounding heart, the Second Prince followed the Imperial Guard Knights.

* * *
“Look closely! I have a pass right here, I tell you!”
“How many times must I say it? Lloyd Mathias, as of today you are barred from the Imperial Palace.”
As though he was too weary to argue any further, the palace guard tore the pass in his hand clean in half with a sharp rip.
Lloyd stared in horror as his pass scattered into fragments within moments.
His face pale, he shouted at the guard.
“What is the meaning of this? How dare you tear up a pass granted by His Highness the Second Prince!”
“His Majesty the Emperor issued the order himself. Confiscate the pass held by Lloyd Mathias and bar him from the Imperial Palace.”
“H-His Majesty… That’s impossible…”
His mind went blank in an instant.
But he could not simply go back. He had boasted so loudly before his father, how could he return empty-handed?
Lloyd seized the guard’s hand and pleaded with him.
“Please, just this once, help me. There must be some misunderstanding. If you could only let me see His Highness the Second Prince…”
“Enough, stop blocking the way and step aside! Can’t you see the carriage?”
The guard captain, who had passed all the tiresome work onto his subordinates and kept himself at a distance, waved Lloyd off.
Sure enough, with a clatter of hooves, a carriage was racing toward them from deep within the palace grounds.
The carriage slowed to a halt before the main gate for inspection, and on its wall was the crest of the House of Blair. Only then did Lloyd notice it, and his body gave a violent start.

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