"H-Hold on. What do you mean by 'our'?"
Celeste pointed to herself and then to Arnold, "The two of us are going to be married. I will explain everything once you finish reading the letter."
Arnold narrowed his eyes, wondering who was behind this scheme.
'Was it Vance or my father? Both perhaps?'
The two of them were long-time friends and war buddies. Arnold wouldn't be surprised if this was decided over a drunken conversation between the two. If that was the case then he would firmly be against this marriage which would hold no value.
Arnold looked towards Celeste for answers but she was only silently fidgeting with her fingers while looking outside.
Knowing that she wouldn't supply him with any answers until he read the letter, he decided to give up.
He turned his gaze downwards. He took a deep breath first before taking off the red wax.
· I, Vance von Penston, the fifth generation patriarch of the Penston bloodline hereby finalize the marriage between Arnold von Berkley and my eldest daughter Celeste.
He turned the page around.
'It's a formal letter at the front, huh.'
The words written on the back was more informal.
· I already sent a separate letter to Celeste telling her of my and your father's decision to marry the two of you. We haven't told our first wives yet who are your mothers since we wanted to let you know first. You're a smart young man so I just know you already came up with a reason for why I would suggest marriage. Power is indeed one of the reasons. The other reason is a bit for selfish on my and your father's side. We watched the two of you grow into fine young adults. I'm really glad that the two of you grew up as friends. But what worries me is how all of you drifted apart. Let me get to the point…
Arnold glanced once more at Celeste before continuing.
· The two of you were originally supposed to marry long before your engagement with Olivia. But things got complicated when Jurnick got worried that the nobles might plan a rebellion due to the declining power of the imperial family after the civil war from which the empire hadn't recovered from. The plan was to unite the imperial family with a ducal household to unite both powers. Your father has 18000 soldiers from his own and the armies of his vassals spread throughout the empire which could be helpful in a rebellion. Even the other duke houses that side with the enemies wouldn't stand a chance in case of a rebellion. Due to some circumstances involving the dissatisfaction that would arise from you becoming a duke, Marcus had to adopt a suitable candidate. You already know why so I don't need to broaden upon the subject. But I will mention that we have that situation under control. So long as the two of our houses join, I can help Marcus destroy anyone who would dare lay a finger on your family.
The letter ended there. Which meant that Celeste had to explain the rest.
"Many times as in the case of nobility, marriages are arranged as a way to reach social and political gain: that is the answer whenever someone asks why we nobles get married off against our will," Celeste took a sip from her cup and paused her words, "But isn't it beneficial both ways when it isn't against our will?"
"What do you mean?"
It wasn't like Arnold wanted this at all. In fact, he never considered marrying Celeste in particular in the first place. Although he wanted to marry a noble girl since it had a lot of benefits, it would be wiser to hear what Selia had to say.
"I want this marriage. That is what I mean. I can choose whether I want to partake in this marriage or not and I have chosen the former."
Arnold's face twisted as if he bit into a bitter worm, "You're implying that I have no choice in the matter?"
"Well… you are an independent city lord with no status to your name. Isn't it obvious that you need the power our Household has? You are only the son of a duke but you hold no power as one. With my intervention I can ensure your—no, our city and its land is restored. Do you understand what I mean by this?"
It was beneficial to Arnold, is what she was implying.
"You will become the ruler of my household once we get married since you are without name. Certainly, your father didn't outright disown you but that is only known among very few people and not the entire noble society. It's best to keep that to ourselves if we want you as the head of House Penston."
'Ruling the House Penston…'
It wasn't a bad deal if one looked at it objectively. Celeste was basically the "tool" that made that possible. She was the only child of the Sword Master so she was technically the heir.
Celeste could choose to inherit the household herself but uniting their House with another would ensure an increase of power—politically and military-wise.
Arnold wouldn't just be a Berkley, son of the Spear God and a Great Noble but he could also be the marquis of the Penston lineage. His children would be carrying two very powerful bloodlines and genes.
This was something that no one would be able to refuse. Especially if you were a city lord with a lot of land but not enough money to make use of it.
However—
'This will complicate my alliance with Selia. I was supposed to be independent from the empire. If I become Arnold von Penston then I will be a noble bound to the empire. The people will suspect that I have plans to overthrow the throne.'
Who wouldn't suspect such a thing if they found out that he was affiliated with a monster lord?
He looked towards Celeste, "Tell your father I can't marry you."
"May I ask why?"
"…My position as a city lord will be impacted by this marriage. It could even result in a different kind of war with the empire."
That war referred to the bastards who would try and invade his city to kill him and steal his assets while Selia was in her own nation. This was the perfect opportunity for enemies of the Berkley household to make their move.
Forget those who would've been dissatisfied if Arnold became the duke, this would be telling others that he wanted a target on his back. They would assume that he was doing this on purpose.
Of course, they had no idea about what kind of relationship Arnold actually had with the Undead Nation.
He was their benefactor and they were his sword and shield against enemy households.
No one could touch him but that wasn't to say his land and Whitage city wouldn't suffer any damage.
'I should bring this up with Selia at the very least. We are equal partners so her opinion is needed for this.'
Arnold was already against it. Perhaps Selia wanted to use this opportunity some way. He had to find out if that was the case.
That meant that he had to postpone this arrangement for a long while and not outright reject it.
"Only our child will be needed for this marriage and the unification of the two houses. It isn't even needed for the two of us to see each other until the wedding night."
"I understand but listen—"
"Our households are the most powerful in the entire empire. We have wealth, history and prestige which no one can compete with. Why would we need to give away our power individually to other households if we were to marry into them? The best course of action would be to unite and strengthen our households."
"Why are you so adamant on doing this? Yes, the merits politically are quite a handful but what's your personal reasons?"
Celeste suddenly went silent.
"…."
"You don't have an answer for that?" Arnold put the letter aside and bent forward. She bent backward with an uncomfortable expression on her face.
"L-Like I said, our households—"
"Stop, Celeste. I've heard enough," he stood up, "I am not agreeing to this marriage at this moment. Many factors are getting in the way of my decision. Don't think for a second it's because we aren't close anymore."
Then he turned around and walked towards the door. He wanted to get out of here as soon as possible before he caused trouble by saying stuff the previous Arnold never would've said.
"W-Wait!" Celeste grabbed his arm, "T-There's… another reason why…"
"Why what?" Arnold let go of the doorknob and turned around.
"W-Why I want this marriage to happen…"
"I'm listening." Arnold looked her in the eyes. She averted her gaze.
Her face suddenly flushed red.
Arnold's face scrunched up at her sudden reaction.
Celeste stepped back and put her hands on the buttons of her blazer. She slowly unbuttoned it.
"What are you doing…?"
"Something I should've done long ago." Her blazer fell to the ground. She kicked off her shoes and walked towards Arnold.
"Celeste, stop this." Arnold put his hand on her shoulders when she came close to him.
She merely took off his hands and continued undressing.
"Seven years. I had to wait seven years for this." She began unbuttoning her shirt after taking off her tie.
Arnold could only widen his eyes and look like an idiot when her bra and cleavage was bare for him to see.
"I-I love Olivia and Victoria, alright? So stop this."
Celeste stopped.
"Ah, I see… That bitch…"
Arnold had no idea who she was referring to since he said two names. Of course, he held no affection for Olivia.
"B-Bitch?"
Celeste had a disgusted expression on her face as she mentioned the name of her best friend, "Olivia, you stir up trouble even though you aren't present."
She laughed bitterly and her arms fell to the side as if she had lost all strength in them.
"How many times have we been doing this sort of thing…? Me confessing to you but the end result is always the same… You're so dense that I need to outright say the words to you. I love you, okay?"
Arnold frowned deeply.
'What!? Celeste was in love with Arnold all along!?'
It was unpredictable so he didn't expect it at all. Celeste was never even mentioned to have had any contact with Arnold except formal occasions. So how could they have been over this kind of situation over and over again?
The other question he had on mind was: how far have they gone?
'They've… been meeting privately…'
"It's not fair… She treats you like a dog but you still love her?"
"…"
"Do you know how much I hate her because of this love I feel for you? It makes me want to claw her eyes out for just existing. She's seducing you without even trying but you're always trying to get into her pants… It's really not fair… I always had to act like the bridge that kept us all together. I had to be the strong one that made sure we didn't drift apart. But," she looked up. Tears were falling down her eyes, "I failed because of this pain eating away at my heart. This love…"
She gripped her chest, "It's not fair! Every time I flirt with you, you reject my advances! You keep pretending not to notice my love for you! Why!? Why do you always go after that whore Olivia!?"
Arnold noticed that he was backed into the wall. He could easily push Celeste back since she wasn't strong by any means but he hesitated.
He was frightened of hurting her. She was like a delicate small animal the former Arnold didn't want to hurt.
Yes, it felt like the former Arnold was the one who was at play here. Liam was only along for the ride.
"I hate how you keep calling me 'big sis'! I hate it!" Tears streamed from Celeste's cheeks even more violently, "Marry me! Is even your low-born maid better than me!? I'm a highborn woman who can give you strong sons and daughters. Isn't that what every man wants in a woman?"
Arnold steeled his heart as the half naked girl was crying in front of him, "I do not love you."
"…."
"If this marriage does indeed have its benefits then I will consider it."
"Benefits, is it…" Celeste hugged her upper body to cover her bra as if she was ashamed of having shown herself so barely.
Her head was lowered.
"Do you want to be fed lies, Celeste? Do you want to hear me say 'I love you, too'?"
"…."
"Lying won't solve anything." He tried to step closer but she backed away.
Arnold smiled wryly.
"…I will wait for your answer. If your answer is no then my future husband will be decided by my mother… Will he be a prince from another nation? A merchant's boy? Or just a commoner? Who knows…"
"Celeste…"
"Get out of my office or I will scream that you want to rape me."
Arnold bit his lip when he saw the cold glare she was giving him.
Those eyes didn't hold any warmth or the kindness she always had.
Well, he could understand why she was so cold towards him now. He took the courage she mustered up to confess and threw it back into her face.
"…Okay." He took the letter and rolled it up.
He looked at Celeste—who was now dressing herself with a deadpan face—one last time.
Thinking of himself as a scumbag had already crossed his mind millions of times.
But he could only turn his head and walk away.
◇
Arnold left the office, leaving only Celeste.
She finished dressing herself and went towards her desk.
There was a framed photo on the desk.
It was a photo from her childhood.
Arnold, Olivia, Grace, her and another boy with blonde hair were in the photo.
They looked so happy.
Why couldn't life have stayed that way?
"Tch," Celeste clicked her tongue when she looked at Olivia's face, "I'll have to get rid of you, annoying worm."
"—Why does Lady Penston look so gloomy?"
A voice came from behind Celeste.
She felt a cold breeze on her neck. The window was open even though she was certain it was closed before.
"Miara, why do you always come uninvited? I told you before that if the others see you then they'll be able to figure out who I am. Your face is all over the continent as a level 4 wanted criminal."
Level 4 corresponds to the amount of danger a person serves to a nation. Miara committed many crimes that gave her a hefty bounty at the Mercenary and Adventurer Guilds.
The crimes weren't small either. She murdered royal families, top executive mages and was involved in the murder of the previous pope.
"Fufu, my apologies. I was just curious about that man so I wanted to ask you about him, Lady Penston."
Celeste frowned. She twisted the chair around and faced the brown-skinned Dark Elf.
"Why? If you dare touch him, Miara—"
"No, no. It's just that my daughter is contracted to him so I wanted to find out more about him from you. I know I told her to find someone who can help her rise in rank in the organization but I never expected it to be a wastrel noble's son."
"…He's been in contact with one of the squads?"
"Indeed. I have no idea how but he approached Mia at the guild when she was on break."
'What? How does he know how to find us?'
"What should we do? The leader will be upset that one of our members are so easy to trace. It is the responsibility of the five of us to correct the mistakes of our subordinates so we need to punish them."
"Leave them be. They're trash anyway."
Miara's amiable smile didn't leave her face even as she heard her own daughter being called trash.
"They can prove themselves with the task assigned to them. Speaking of which, how far have they progressed?"
"Nowhere. That vampire has gone missing without a trace. I also lost contact with the spies I sent towards the Undead Nation. They're on to us. At this rate we'll be unable to move to the next step."
"Tch. We've never failed a mission assigned directly to us by the Leader before. There's no telling what kind of punishment awaits us."
"What should we do?"
"Tell your daughter to cease the plan for now. The ice is too thin to walk on. All this preparation for nothing. Tch."
"Understood." Miara bowed.
"There's no need to be so formal with me. We're equals as Cadres."
"Yes, but the Leader favours you the most. It is only natural for me to respect you since you are the most valuable member of the five of us. Smart, beautiful and ambitious. I wish I had the first and second one, fufu."
"I see."
Celeste didn't thank the woman for the compliment. Deep down she knew that this woman would kill her in a heartbeat if not for the people above protecting her.
There were people even stronger than her looking over Celeste so none of the other four members can do anything to her. That was how Celeste had been able to survive during her time as one of them.
"I heard you whisper that you wanted to get rid of someone?"
"It's none of your business."
"I could help, you know? Killing others is my specialty."
'You mean your only specialty besides whoring yourself away.'
"Drop it, Miara. This is why you shouldn't be allowed to leave the headquarters. You're like a caged animal."
Miara only shrugged, "Suit yourself then. I just wanted to drop by and say hello. You'll tell us when Leader sends another letter, right?"
"If you're necessary to whatever the next mission will be then yes."
"Great~! I'll see you again then!" Miara climbed through the window.
Celeste went towards the window and closed it before going back to the desk.
'Let's see what Al's answer is first. That will decide whether I keep Olivia alive or not.'
Celeste thought as she silently looked at the framed photo.