After making up her mind, the next step was execution.
Milora had to deliver her best performance.
Anna-veil and Patty helped her devise a training plan, while Torina helped her prepare her equipment.
Niflheim would open the day after tomorrow, leaving only one day to prepare.
Besides maintaining her equipment, she had other matters to consider.
Among the candidates for her fiancé that Morai introduced, there was one named Keloron Papating.
The name alone suggested he might whip out a cross-guard lightsaber at any moment.
If nothing unexpected happened, he corresponded to the original work’s captain’s fiancée, Karen Skywalker.
Looking at it this way, Keloron was Milora’s biggest rival this time.
Once she figured things out, Torina’s anxious heart quickly settled.
The original fiancée was strong but not overwhelmingly so, so the corresponding Keloron couldn’t be that formidable either.
With Milora’s cheat, she was sure to win easily.
So easy! Victory! Torina was delighted, Milora was full of fighting spirit, and Patty was enthusiastically helping.
Only Anna-veil felt very uncomfortable.
She was the one who came first.
She was the one who first fell for Torina.
They had fallen in love at first sight when they first met at the academy.
She had shirked her family duties to adventure with her.
Why was she now helping a rival plan and strategize? Why? Why else? Because Anna-veil had never been able to express her feelings openly since she was a child, because Milora was far more proactive and straightforward, because when Torina was forced into marriage, it was Milora who held the fort while Anna-veil lost heart after a single rebuke from Morai… With all these factors combined, what advantage did she have? What chance did she have? Helping Milora win the ceremony to prevent Torina from marrying another man was the only thing she could do, no matter how unwilling she was.
If she had been more assertive before, could she and Milora have switched places now?
…
…
…
Unknowingly, it was dinner time.
In a bad mood, Anna-veil didn’t want to eat with them.
She ate a little by herself and then went downstairs to clear her mind, forcing herself to sort out her feelings.
At this moment, the Deville family butler, Sebas, suddenly emerged from the shadows to find her.
“Good evening, Miss Anna-veil Alphares.”
“Yikes, don’t just pop out like that, old man, it’s quite scary.”
“I am merely delivering a letter on someone’s behalf.”
“A letter?” Sebas handed over a luxurious gold-embossed envelope and then disappeared into the shadows.
Anna-veil opened the letter with curiosity, and her expression immediately changed.
She quickly put away the letter, looked around to make sure no one was watching her, and then hurried to a certain place.
It was a luxurious hotel located in the north of the city.
She compared the contents of the letter, confirmed the location, and went straight to the top floor, knocking on the door of a luxury suite—sure enough, the people she least wanted to see were here.
“Well, well, you came obediently, worthy of praise.”
A sharp-eyed woman sat cross-legged on the sofa.
She had the same big wavy curls as Anna-veil, with a mature and beautiful face, but always gave off a harsh impression.
“…Long time no see, Mom.”
“You still know I’m your mother, huh? You unfilial daughter.”
“……”
This woman—Rei Alphares was the head of the Alphares family and Anna-veil’s mother.
Behind her stood several people, all with gold-red hair, some of whom bore a strong resemblance to Anna-veil.
These were her siblings, and they all looked at her with unfriendly eyes.
“So, you all came to Valhalla City to attend the ceremony?” Anna-veil asked dryly.
“Why not deepen our ties with the Deville family? If we can obtain the power of the runes, it’s also a good thing… But I didn’t expect to see you here, what a pleasant surprise.”
“…Mom, you’re still so sarcastic.
If you called me here just to say these things, can I leave now?”
“Is this your attitude? You abandoned your duties and severed ties with the family just to play your little adventure games.
Don’t you feel ashamed?”
“My ‘duties’? You call accompanying that perverted old dragon ‘duties’!? I’d rather die!”
“Don’t be rude! If it weren’t for the Dragon God’s protection, how could our family have today’s prosperity? It’s a great blessing that he took a liking to you, yet you ran away!”
“Whoever wants to accompany it can go, I can’t do it! I control my own life! I came to see you to make things clear and cut ties!”
“Sure, then sever ties with the family, but note this—if you leave the family, you become an outsider, and all the family assets you’ve enjoyed since childhood will become your debts.
‘The Alphares family always repays its debts,’ and I will pursue you until you die.”
“…Are you threatening me? Are you going to throw your own daughter into prison or even onto the gallows?”
“Oh, just now you were talking about cutting ties, and now you’re calling yourself ‘daughter’? Your hesitation is written all over your face.”
“You—!!!!”
“But don’t worry, I have a proposal.
If successful, it will benefit both you and the family.
The family can prosper even more, and you won’t have to serve the Dragon God, and no one will restrict your freedom in the future.”
“Huh? How can there be such a good thing? What do you want me to do?”
“Well…” Rei took a sip of high-end Beast brand red tea and said leisurely, “Didn’t Morai Deville announce that the winner can marry her sister? This is a great opportunity to deepen ties with the Deville family.”
“Yeah, so you want a piece of the pie too?”
“Of course, if we can form an alliance through marriage, it would be a great thing for the family.
However, among your peers in the family, there aren’t any reliable male members.”
“Too bad, it seems our family has no chance of becoming in-laws with the Devilles.”
“You have a chance if you go.”
“Yeah, indeed—what!?”
Anna-veil’s mouth dropped open, and Rei continued, “Didn’t that Milora say Torina Deville is a lesbian? You’re in the same adventurer group with them, right? Based on your observations, is she?”
“Eh? Eh eh? This… is… or isn’t…?”
“It doesn’t matter if she is or isn’t, just participate in the competition.
The result is more important than the process.”
“Impossible! Didn’t Morai get furious over Milora’s lesbian statement? If another woman wants to participate, she definitely won’t agree!”
“Just disguise yourself as a man, it’s not hard to do.”
“But what about identity??”
“Just say you’re the son of a branch family.
With our family’s power, creating an identity out of thin air is easy.”
“This, this is too absurd!”
“Don’t want to marry a woman? No problem, I know you’re definitely straight, but the primary task now is to get her, and the rest can be arranged later!”
“Uh… uh uh uh…”
Anna-veil was dumbfounded.
Her? Disguised as a man? Competing without Torina knowing? Forcing Torina, who didn’t want to marry, into marriage? This was a complete betrayal of Torina! Such a thing was really—
…Wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
For example, just as an example.
If she really won in the end—regardless of who she was fighting for, at least the result of “marrying Torina” could be ensured.
She could openly and proudly get engaged to her beloved, kick out the bothersome Milora without any guilt, and beat up those annoying fiancé candidates.
Wouldn’t that be amazing?
At this moment, she wavered.
She wavered greatly.
“So, Anna-veil? Have you thought it through?”
“……I think, trying it out wouldn’t hurt? Just for the future of the family (and Torina’s chastity)!”
