Chapter 4 - The Qualifications to Become a Ruler's Consort

After emerging from the dragon's lair, Luri guided Ferda to a certain place.

It was inside a castle built halfway up the mountain, visible even from afar.

There was a path leading directly up from the cave that went to the lair, and following it brought them straight to the main entrance hall.

"It's immaculate."

Ferda could tell that Valdrova had been more serious about marriage than anyone.

Otherwise, she would not have done something as absurd as building a proper castle over her own lair, nor would she have adjusted everything to human standards.

'She said it was built for the 3rd Prince's engagement.'

If the 3rd Prince married Grand Duchess Valdrova, he would gain the power that came with it.

He would effectively become the king of the eastern region, so they must have built lodgings befitting that.

However, then came the incident in which he was taken apart down to the consonants and vowels.

In effect, it became a place no one used.

Ferda had naturally assumed it would have been neglected after the 3rd Prince died, but it was strangely well maintained.

It did not feel as though they had hurriedly cleaned it because Ferda was coming; he could sense the careful touches of a place that had been steadily maintained even in ordinary times.

"Who manages this castle?"

"I do."

"Other than you?"

"I alone attend to my master."

"Then all of this..."

"I manage all of it. That should be answer enough."

Luri replied curtly without end.

It seemed she found the fact that he had accepted the engagement quite distasteful.

'She's like a dog.'

It was not an insult; she truly felt like a dog.

A dog that felt threatened because the affection it had been receiving was being directed elsewhere, and growled because of it.

That was why Ferda could let it pass.

'As long as she doesn't bite me, it doesn't matter.'

If she was a guard dog, then all she had to do was guard the house properly.

The place Luri led Ferda to was an extremely spacious bedroom.

'It's about the size of five of the rooms I used to use put together.'

It was on par not only with his father Erembalt's chambers, but even the imperial emperor's bedchamber.

"This is the guest bedroom."

"The guest room is this grand?"

"This is a guest received by none other than a dragon, a ruler."

Dragons were beings that, at the very least, stood equal to an imperial emperor.

In any case, being guided to that room told Ferda enough about his current position.

"For now, am I exactly a 'guest'?"

"Yes. Since you are not her fiancé, you are 'exactly' a guest."

"Do you show such hostility to guests?"

It was a question asked out of pure curiosity.

"No. I simply hate humans."

"How honest."

"And among them, I hate you the most."

"That is far too unnecessarily honest."

"I have no reason to hide it."

Luri shrugged with an expressionless face.

She was so obnoxious it was as though she were shouting for him to hit her.

"Yes, it is better not to hide it."

In truth, Ferda believed this was better.

It was a hundred times better than nobles who smiled sweetly while thinking about stabbing him in the back.

Each time Ferda accepted it calmly, Luri instead glared at him with a look of displeasure.

"There is something I am curious about."

"What is it?"

"Are you not afraid of me?"

At that question, Ferda tilted his head.

"Why should I be afraid?"

"Because I tried to break your neck. If my master had not signaled me, I would have snapped it right then."

CRACKLE.

When Luri clenched and unclenched her slender hand, a savage sound burst out.

'I would have died...'

He already knew that Luri harbored killing intent.

However, Ferda had no intention of avoiding Luri's hand.

'If the engagement didn't go through, I had no reason to live anyway.'

At that moment, he had thought dying would not be so bad.

Hiding his true thoughts, he changed the subject.

"Let us postpone this pointless hierarchy check for later. So when is the engagement ceremony?"

"The engagement ceremony with my master is one month from now."

"Will it be held officially?"

"If by official you mean inviting people who do not mean a word they say and making a fuss, then no. It will be held simply in the lair. The three of us."

"Three?"

"My master, myself, and the guest."

She kindly pointed at Ferda with her chin.

"Understood. One month from now, then."

"Since the subject has come up, I will say one more thing."

Luri said that.

"The engagement ceremony will be held in one month, but that is also your deadline."

"What deadline?"

"The deadline for proving that you have ability as a fiancé."

Ferda thought it over once more.

Getting married is damn hard.

"Was this ordered by Grand Duchess Valdrova?"

"No. This is my will."

"An independent decision, then. Is it acceptable for a servant to show her will?"

"If necessary, it is something I must do. To be frank, my master is far too soft compared to her reputation."

She really is incredibly honest.

"You must already know that anyway. That is likely why you did not bow your head even before the tyrant, Valdrova. In all ages, you are the only human who could stand before a dragon and show such an attitude."

"I see."

"My master was the sort of person who intended to become engaged to a human in the first place, so she let it pass, but unlike my master, I am not soft."

Luri's eyes gleamed sharply.

They were eyes so cold they made him feel as though a finely honed sword had touched his neck.

"As the consort of one of great stature, I believe you must possess a corresponding 'dignity.'"

Dragon and human.

The gap between the two was so great it could not be compared to anything like the difference between an emperor and a beggar.

In short, she had set an absurd condition.

"So? Are you saying I, a mere human, should gain power equal to a dragon right now?"

"How could that be? I do not have such grand expectations that you become strong immediately."

Luri snorted.

"All you need to do is show me that you have ability."

She raised her small fist as she spoke.

"I do not need something like willpower. Willpower does not solve everything. What matters is that you show, within one month, that even a frail person like you has the faintest thread of potential."

She emphasized it in a crisp tone.

"That is the first gate for the fiancé who will inherit the Valdrova name."

Ferda, who took all of that in with his eyes and ears, thought this.

'My fiancée has truly found herself a good person.'

Though her mouth was harsh and she hated him extremely, Ferda liked Luri.

She hated humans, but she did not hide what was needed from Ferda as a fiancé, and demanded it of him.

In other words, she was loyal to Valdrova beyond even her hatred.

'If she is this loyal... why did I never see her even once?'

When Ferda had attacked Valdrova's lair, Luri had not been there.

He tilted his head at the strange matter, but put it aside since it was not important.

"Understood. Then let us say I show ability. How far must I rise? Must I become equal to the emperor of the empire?"

Luri shook her head.

"At the very least, enough that the other 'beings of stature' will not look down on you."

It meant he needed ability that easily surpassed the emperor of the empire.

"I see."

"?"

When Ferda responded calmly, Luri tilted her head.

"Are you not behaving too arrogantly? Are you stupid? Or do you look down on dragons? Either way, I do not like it."

"Neither."

"Do not think it will be easy. Especially for a human as frail as you."

"Coincidentally, I do not think it will be easy either."

"Then why that attitude?"

"Do not worry about my attitude. All I need to do is show enough ability to convince you within a month, no?"

"..."

Luri stuck out her lips in a pout.

Since her own words had been returned to her, she could not help feeling displeased.

'He is overflowing with confidence.'

Luri thought about it, but she could not tell what the source of that confidence was.

Luri already knew how Valdrova's fiancé was used in the Arken Empire.

It had become a kind of idiom used when driving out useless half-wits with no ability, so how could someone like that possibly possess talent comparable to one of great stature?

However, Ferda was different.

'It is enough.'

He had been the youngest on the continent to reach the 8th Circle, and he had been a Great Mage who used a 9th Circle wish spell.

He was a man who had already made the emperor of the empire kneel beneath his feet.

'It is possible to acquire a dignity that does not fall short before dragons.'

As long as it was possible, it was nothing to Ferda.

Certainty settled on Ferda's face.

"What an unpleasant human."

Luri said that with a sickened expression.

* * *

The castle built over Valdrova's lair was called Valdrova Castle, after her name.

Ferda stayed in that Valdrova Castle for a week.

His overall life there was not bad.

However, there was the fact that he had to handle almost everything alone.

Nobles always traveled with servants who attended to them. If they did not bring at least one, their dignity as nobles would not stand.

That was why, if someone had told him to live without an attendant, he would have jumped in outrage and asked if they were looking down on him.

But this, too, was not a problem for Ferda.

'I have gotten used to living alone.'

If anything, having someone come to dress him felt more uncomfortable.

For him, accustomed to standing on his own, life with Valdrova was generally free of discomfort.

'If anything, it is better than when I was at the mansion.'

When he was in House Rosnova, he had always been uneasy.

Even while he was already hated, there was no one he could trust.

If someone seemed to get close to him, they were always the sort of people desperate to drag him into a swamp.

'That one called Luri hates me, but compared to back then, she is practically decent.'

At the very least, Luri did not put strange things in his food or play childish pranks like rubbing soap on the marble.

That alone made her no different from an utterly adorable little mutt.

'Well, I don't know how long that will last.'

Luri had thrown one task at Ferda.

To show that he had potential, rather than being an irredeemable half-wit.

'The deadline is one month.'

What could he show within that time?

Ferda considered what he could do from several angles.

But the conclusion he reached was only one.

'Only magic.'

Ferda had talent for magic.

If he showed Luri a fragment of that talent, she would acknowledge him at least a little.

'To use magic, I need to open a mana circle.'

A Circle was a circuit created by rolling the mana moving chaotically within the body into the shape of a single ring.

The problem was that Ferda did not know how he should create that Circle.

'No, I do know the method.'

He simply had to possess overwhelming vengeance and hatred.

If he walked the path Ferda had once trodden, he would become an 8th Circle mage even faster than before.

'But I must not do that.'

Ferda recalled what his master had once said.

["The first button is the most important. Whether your first circle is Red or Blue will determine a mage's life. But I suppose you have no need to worry about that."]

The man had been a fat lecher who cared only for money, but when it came to magic training, he had done his part.

A Red Circle was a mana circuit formed through emotional upheaval.

A Blue Circle was a mana circuit formed based on calm meditation.

Each had clear strengths and weaknesses.

A Blue Circle formed slowly, but it was stable.

Because it allowed a mage to observe the situation calmly under any circumstances, eighty percent of mages possessed a Blue Circle through training.

On the other hand, a Red Circle formed quickly, but it was unstable.

Unlike a Blue Circle, which emphasized calmness, its main driving force was emotional upheaval.

That was why one could become strong quickly, but in exchange, it was easy to be devoured by those emotions and become a madman.

'What I need to do is open a Blue Circle.'

If he wanted to avoid the same future, that was the correct answer.

But the situation was not on Ferda's side.

'They said the time it takes for a Blue Circle to form is at least three years.'

He had to show a convincing result within the remaining three weeks.

The time was unbearably tight, but Ferda did not grow impatient.

Because he would somehow make it happen.

* * *

"Are you making preparations?"

Luri, who had always quietly handed over only his breakfast, asked something for the first time.

Ferda quietly speared his salad with a fork and answered.

"I am making preparations."

"For that, there is not a single change."

"I am doing it while thinking it will work out if I keep at it."

"Understood."

Luri did not seem to expect much.

Over the past few days, Ferda had been researching and examining methods for opening a meditation circle.

But the only thing he could clearly realize was that, even though the two circles used the same mana, their natures were different.

'At this rate, I will not even have the qualifications at the engagement ceremony.'

Boasting loudly and then failing to do anything was unlike Ferda.

However, he would calmly search for a method again today.

Just as he was about to greet the new morning like that...

RUMBLE!

A sound of collision and vibration that shook heaven and earth flowed into the castle.

It had happened nearby.

"What is going on?"

Luri answered.

"My master is conducting a monster subjugation today."

"Monster subjugation?"

"She is sweeping away the things that crawl in from the eastern end, from the Land of Demons."

RUMBLE!

Normally, it would have been something he passed over with, "Is that so?"

But today's Ferda was somewhat different.

'Perhaps...'

Ferda had a hunch.

That the answer he was seeking might be there.

"I want to see that battle."

"Pardon?"

Luri answered with an expressionless face.

"It would be better not to."

"Why?"

"The minds of mortals are fragile. No one who has seen my master's battle has remained sane."

Ferda thought back to his past self.

At the time, he had been consumed by madness.

He had encountered dragons called rulers several times.

But among them, the one that had chilled him most was the Red Dragon.

'It may have been because she was showing hostility.'

Even so, there was such a thing as dignity.

Even when he had been a Great Mage, he had felt fear, so what about him now?

He might piss himself and let out an unsightly scream.

"So do not indulge in pointless curiosity."

"No."

Ferda shook his head at Luri's warning.

This was not pointless curiosity.

It was an inquiry to find the answer,

"I want to watch. That fight."

and the duty of one who would take a partner.