Ice Wolf Castle.
Roy had not only returned to the castle before Tony and the others, but he had also enjoyed a comfortable, hot bath with the help of his maid, Aili.
Although she was a maid, Aili was different from the other maids in the castle.
She wasn’t a servant who had been bought, nor were her parents servants in the castle.
Aili’s father, Jack, was the head of the Clover Trading Company.
Before the Old Baron inherited the title of Baron Ice Wolf, Jack and the Old Baron were comrades-in-arms on the battlefield.
During a foreign war, he had carried the severely wounded Old Baron off a battlefield littered with corpses and back to their camp.
After the war, Jack brought his family to settle in the Ice Wolf Domain and, with the Old Baron’s help, established the Clover Trading Company.
Aili was Jack’s only daughter.
Not long after the Old Baron’s death, Jack sent her to Ice Wolf Castle just after she had turned fifteen.
Although Jack never said it outright, Tony understood why he did it.
It was obvious Jack was worried that the Clover Trading Company would lose the support of the Baron Ice Wolf after the Old Baron’s death.
To put Jack’s mind at ease—and mainly because Aili was quite attractive—Tony had appointed Aili as his predecessor’s Personal Maid.
Whether it was her looks or her figure, Aili was hardly inferior to Erin.
She had blonde hair, blue eyes, a delicate oval face, and fair skin.
Though she had just recently turned eighteen, Aili already had a curvaceous figure, with an especially alluring, slender waist.
If one had to point out a flaw, it would be that her background was far inferior to Erin’s, which made her temperament slightly less refined.
Like the Wesley Clan, the Adams Clan was also a Baron Clan of the Kingdom and possessed the ancestral Giant Monster Breathing Technique.
Although both were Baron Clans, the Adams Clan’s Giant Monster Breathing Technique was far superior to the Ice Wolf Breathing Technique.
The Giant Monster Breathing Technique was an Excellent Level Bloodline Breathing Technique.
With enough potential, one could use the Giant Monster Breathing Technique to cultivate all the way to the rank of Great Knight.
Erin was the eldest daughter of Baron Giant Monster, Charles.
Her marriage to Tony was a typical noble alliance.
Speaking of which, one had to mention Tony’s attempt to flee the marriage.
When Tony learned he was to marry Erin, the eldest daughter of the Adams Clan, his first reaction was to run away.
Even though he had received a noble’s education since childhood, he was exceptionally repulsed by the idea of arranged marriages.
More importantly, he had never met Erin at the time; he only knew her name and age.
When the Old Baron had spoken to him about it, he had solemnly sworn that Erin was a fair-skinned, beautiful, and elegant lady.
But Tony didn’t believe a single word of it and became even more determined to escape the marriage.
Even noble lineages produced their share of ugly fruit.
Let alone the Adams Clan, a mere Baron Clan; even the Royal Family itself had its share of princesses whose looks and figures were "divinely" plain.
Then and now, many children of nobility had been forced by such alliances to marry partners who were completely contrary to their own wishes.
Tony couldn’t stop the marriage alliance between the Wesley Clan and the Adams Clan.
But he could stop himself from being the groom.
’He hadn’t forgotten that he had a younger brother.’
On a dark and windy night, Tony used his skills as an Initial Tier Knight to escape the castle.
And then, with absolutely no suspense, he was captured and dragged back the very next day.
The reason he was caught so quickly had everything to do with his predecessor.
Like Tony, his predecessor also had no interest in arranged marriages.
Especially after learning that the Adams Clan’s ancestral Breathing Technique was the Giant Monster Breathing Technique.
Giant Monsters!
Humanoid monsters whose Power was greater than that of a Four-armed Demon Ape, and who were far, far uglier.
A Giant Monster looked like a giant, obese, gray goblin.
If a young Four-armed Demon Ape could give off a fluffy, cute impression,
then a creature like the Giant Monster was ugly from birth to death, only growing uglier with age.
Although practicing the Giant Monster Breathing Technique wouldn’t make one look like a Giant Monster, after Tony ran away and tried to make him the groom, his predecessor made a very rational choice.
’Since you’re plotting against your own brother, don’t blame me for selling you out!’
The moment Tony snuck out of the castle, his predecessor went straight to the Old Baron.
Dragged back to Ice Wolf Castle and placed under strict watch, Tony still refused to give up.
Just as he was plotting his second escape, Baron Giant Monster, Charles, arrived at Ice Wolf Castle with Erin in tow.
The instant he saw Erin in the drawing-room, all thoughts of escaping the marriage vanished from Tony’s mind without a trace. He had even decided on names for their future children.
’Escape the marriage?’
’What marriage escape?’
’Who escaped from a marriage?!’
’I, Tony Wesley, take Erin Adams to be my lawful wife! For richer or for poorer, in sickness or in health, for better or for worse, I will love her, comfort her, honor her, protect her, and be forever faithful to her for all my life!’
If wedding preparations didn’t take time, Tony would have married Erin on the spot!
...
After Aili helped him dress in a comfortable and ornate Noble Robe, Roy said to her, "There’s nothing else for you here. You may go."
"Of course, Young Master Roy!"
Aili gave Roy a slight bow.
Just as Aili was about to leave the bedroom, Roy suddenly remembered something and said, "I prefer it when you wear your hair in pigtails. Try to wear them more often from now on."
’Pigtails?’
’I don’t think I’ve ever really worn my hair in pigtails before, have I?’
Aili turned and shot Roy a confused glance.
Although she didn’t know why Roy had said that, she still nodded.
After Aili left the study, Roy sat down at the desk, casually picked up a book about the customs of the various great kingdoms, and began to browse through it.
Before long, Tony and Sir Adam returned to Ice Wolf Castle with their wounded cavalrymen.
Hearing the commotion outside, Roy put down his book and headed for the great hall on the first floor.
"Did we disturb your reading?" Tony asked apologetically the moment Roy entered the great hall.
"Did you take care of the Four-armed Demon Ape in Bathtub Town?"
Although he had made a special trip to Bathtub Town and killed the Mutated Four-armed Demon Ape with his own hands, he still had to play the part.
After all, in Tony’s eyes, he was just a weak younger brother who couldn’t even truss a chicken and only liked to read and paint.
Hearing his question, Tony shook his head with a dejected expression and said slowly, "That Four-armed Demon Ape was a mutated variant, much stronger than we imagined. Sir Adam and I not only failed to kill it, but we also lost quite a few men."
Compared to an Official Knight who had condensed a Life Seed and produced Fighting Qi, ordinary cavalrymen and foot soldiers were not much stronger than common farmers.
But even so, well-trained cavalrymen and foot soldiers were still an indispensable part of the domain’s forces.
"Enough about that," Tony continued. "You should go back and rest. Sir Adam and I need to discuss how to kill that beast."
"Alright. You should get some rest soon, too."
Roy nodded and turned to leave the hall.
After watching him leave, Tony looked at Sir Adam with a self-reproachful expression and said, "Distribute compensation to the families of the fallen soldiers according to the highest standard. My arrogance got them killed."
"It’s not your fault, my lord," Sir Adam immediately replied. "No one could have expected that beast to be a mutated variant."
"Regardless, it was my failure to protect them."
"Send someone to notify the mayors and village chiefs in the domain. Tell them to warn the public to be wary of that beast. I’m going to..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Tony began to cough violently, uncontrollably spitting out a mouthful of blood.
This was the exact moment Erin, who had just rushed into the hall, saw him.
...