Resolution of Evan D. Sherden (1)

Winter came in full bloom as a cold howling wind was blowing in Sherden. Although there was nobody who could challenge Evan head-on, the black magicians who conspired with the city authorities in secrecy had gradually increased their forces and were bringing in all evils of the world into Sherden. Although they couldn’t even touch Evan, they dared to think they could use the Demon King to bring Sherden to destruction. And even the Demon tribes who waited to watch the situation for several months finally bore conviction that it wasn’t a trap and started their march to Sherden; so, the stage finally entered the final development.

“Whew…this year seems to be long.”

“It’s because you’ve done so much, Master.”

As Evan grumbled while he was changing his attire in the morning, Belois spoke while tidying up his collar. She teased Evan for being a workaholic.

“Sneaky.”

“Kyaaa.”

As Evan pulled her by the waist, Belois was naturally drawn into his arms. And as she wrapped both her arms around his waist, she drew herself closer to him. Evan was thinking of kissing her on the nose, but the mood suddenly rose to a different level.

“Are you trying to punish me?”

“Looks like you want me to give you one, isn’t it?”

“Well, there’s still time before breakfast. So…”

She gave Evan’s neck a light kiss then slightly reached her hand out behind. The opened door closed.

“Master, now…”

“There’s no need to rush.”

And as their lips crossed, the door opened all of a sudden. It was Serena who stood there.

“Both of you, stop it right there.”

“Princess…?”

Belois was in serious doubt. How in the world was she able to open the magically sealed door? But Serena laughed in triumph as she lifted the baby dragon in her arms.

“With Gnar’s magic and mine combined, Belois’ magic wall can be undone in a second.”

[Kyuuuuu!]

“Thank you for your answer. I didn’t expect the growth of the dragon to be that fast…perhaps I need to create a new seal.”

Serena shook her finger left and right then spoke to Belois, who was a bit displeased because her time with Evan was interrupted.

“Do you know what day it is today?”

“It’s your birthday, Princess.”

It was February. Arisha’s birthday was in January while Evan’s was in March, and it was rather strange that Serena’s birthday was in February, but all three were different years. The important thing was that as Serena celebrated her birthday, and until Evan’s birthday came around, their ages were the same for that short period. In those times, Serena started acting childishly and vied for Evan’s attention.

“No, that’s important, but I’m not talking about that now!”

“I know, you’re talking about our engagement, right?”

“Exactly!”

When Evan gave the correct answer, Serena’s face brightened up. That’s right. Today’s the day when Serena and Evan’s age become the same…the day she became an adult. As Evan previously had his engagement ceremony with Arisha during his 19th birthday, he was supposed to celebrate his engagement with Serena today when she became an adult.

“Today, you win, Princess.”

“Tsk…”

On the other hand, Belois distanced herself a little from Evan as she clicked her tongue. The mood was long gone, and even if it weren’t, there was no way Evan would voluntarily embrace Belois as he recalled his engagement with Serena.

“Belois, I know you did it on purpose!”

“Yes, my princess. I thought that it would be rather exciting to have Master Evan fill his memory with me on the day of his engagement with another woman.”

Belois was acting purely evil. Some would call it selfish. Of course, Evan treated it as cute childishness, but Serena jumped in between Evan and Belois with fire blazing in her eyes.

“Belois, you are not allowed to be near Evan Oppa today.”

“That makes me want to cling even more to Master.”

Belois showed a rather sensitive reaction towards an official event like the engagement when she was usually generous and understanding. Serena heightened her attitude more towards Belois’ words, but Evan understood Belois.

“Don’t be so tense, Lua.”

Evan, who knew how to soothe Belois, asked to be excused by Serena, then softly embraced Belois.

“Although we can’t have an engagement ceremony, we will have a grand wedding.”

“If it’s your word, Master, I surely will believe it.”

“Yes, I mean it. After I defeat the Demon King…no, when this scenario successfully comes to an end, let’s have a grand wedding. You all…”

As he wanted to do something in the situation where the Demon King was surely defeated with no further troubles to come, he couldn’t be confident with the timeframe since he couldn’t undo the seal of Merdin as of the moment. But with the scenario making all the villains gather around Sherden, one should wait for the last scene to come. The calculation pointed to a maximum of one year before everything was solved…so, the calculation was done, but wait, that meant…

“I’ll be married within a year, right?”

“No, wait, that would be too soon.”

“I kept it in my memory.”

“So did I.”

“Wait for a second, well that’s too soon…”

Evan tried to cope with his mistake in a hurry, but it was no use.

“I even recorded it with magic.”

“Huh!?”

Belois already finished recording Evan’s words with her magic. And she copied it to a crystal ball, which she gave to Serena, then she copied it to another crystal ball while stepping back.

“Then I’ll take my leave, Master.”

“Are you going to give that to Arisha?”

“Yes. My lady will be happy.”

“Well, you guys come together too well for this kind of moment!”

There was no point of return if even Arisha knew about it. But as Serena didn’t let go of embracing Evan while Belois left the room as if nothing happened between them, Evan lost his last chance of stopping her.

“You guys are wicked…”

“It’s a punishment for speaking of marrying another woman on our engagement day, Oppa.”

“But you seemed to like it too.”

“That’s because you also meant marrying me, so that’s that! Ah, you need to prepare for the weddings separately since I want a sincere wedding proposal.”

“You guys…”

[Kyuuuuu]

Gnar cried quietly while staring at Evan, who thought of giving up on completely understanding these ladies. Being sulky, he gave a light blow to Gnar with his fist. Then, he had to make efforts in consoling the crying baby dragon.

* * *

The engagement between Evan and Serena went on on a grand scale. Those who didn’t know the situation of Sherden would feel safe from Evan boasting his authority, and those who knew that an evil seed was growing in Sherden would sneer at him, thinking of him as a fool who knew nothing and enjoyed the romance. Those two reactions weren’t something Evan wished for.

“Shall we dance?”

“Yes.”

The two lovers performed light steps on the stage with happy expressions as if it was the happiest moment of their lives. Along with the cheerful music played by the bards, the guests kept the beat with their claps. And Arisha, Evan’s first fiancée, pretended to look at those two with a subtle smile in a place where everyone could see her dismiss any rumors. She was having heartburn, but she couldn’t show it in public.

‘If rumors about me having hostility towards Evan spread far enough to reach Mother Miriam, I might have to take part in their scheme.’

The dungeon city could be seen to be divided into the Anti-Evan faction that wanted to get rid of him (and their leaders were people Evan positioned) and the Pro-Evan faction, and if ever Arisha, the representative of the Pro-Evan faction, showed the slightest indication that she had turned, the Anti-Evan faction would go nuts and approach her! That would be a big pain. She didn’t have the slightest intention to be part of it. And what’s more was that Evan had predicted a future where she fell in love with another man and ended up betraying him (based on her speculations), so she didn’t want to act strangely and make him uneasy.

‘But Evan being all fidgety was quite cute…that face, just like that. Ha, hihi.’

She thought of her relationship with Evan as a one-sided relationship until then. After that day, she came to realize that Evan deeply cared for her and also was possessive enough not to have another man take her away. Perhaps it was because of that realization that she was able to lean on him more naturally… By recalling what happened that evening, a twisted smile arose on her face.

“Argh, what’s with that face? Like you’re amusing yourself while giving away your man to another woman.”

“Huh, brother?”

“Arisha, you better treat your biological brother with some respect.”

Crowe Von Pellati, the Grand Prince of Pellati, next in line to be Count. He was so busy with the trident training that he couldn’t even participate in his younger sister’s engagement ceremony. Ironically, he participated in today’s event on behalf of his father, Count Pellati.

“Why are you here?”

“I’ve heard that Sherden is in an uneasy state. And I’ve been told by my father to observe and offer aid to Sherden if necessary…did you just sneer at me?”

“No, I’m impressed by my father. He’s showing concern for Sherden.”

But it was a perfect failure to have sent him as a back-up. Crowe was not cunning enough for the responsibility.

“Don’t worry. Just enjoy the banquet, then leave, brother.”

“I heard it was really serious. Am I wrong?”

“It’s serious, but how long do you intend to blabber on about it loudly?”

It was just for a short moment, but Arisha squinted her eyes. As Crowe realized his slip of the tongue, he shut his mouth. Arisha clicked her tongue and waved her hand.

“That’s why you should just enjoy the festivities and leave. There’s no need to crack things open.”

“Tsk…oh, where is Ms. Belois?”

“You are stubborn, Crowe. This isn’t a novel about chivalrous knights being stubborn and getting the girl. Give it a rest, really.”

“Okay. Next will be the person who made her way through Sherden to be engaged with Evan, a person that hates her.”

“…”

She held onto herself as not to be sinister to Serena on her engagement, but wouldn’t it be all right to bash her biological brother? She started to think about whether she should draw her rapier or not.

“No, wait. I don’t intend to cling forever onto a person that hates me. I just want to prove my changed self. I’m confident that I have the quality suited to become the ruler of Pellati after perfecting the trident. This power, I want to show my new self to her!”

“Just remember who led you to the trident aptitude.”

“All I need is for her to see me just once! Then I’ll leave her with her decision.”

“At which point in your explanation would there be a room for Belois’ decision?”

“And that would be.”

Crowe spoke confidently as he tapped onto his chest.

“It’s a matter of choosing between Master Evan and me as Ms. Belois finds the unexpected manliness and boldness in me, someone whom she never considered as the opposite gender.”

“Brother, are all men lowly like you?”

Crowe rebutted in a calmer state as he saw the reality through Arisha’s cold statement.

“No, but still…Master Evan has Princess Serena as his fiancée and you, too. So maybe, perhaps Ms. Belois can be out of love with Master Evan…”

“And you’re trying to appeal yourself in that opening?”

“Yes, that’s the point.”

“Sure, you’re the worst.”

Arisha looked around as she finished her sentence. Evan and Serena’s waltz had just started for the third song, and Belois was watching them motionlessly from afar. The expression in her red eyes was so deep that Arisha didn’t dare to read them.

“I’ll give you special advice since you’re my brother. I didn’t know, but Evan is unexpectedly very possessive.”

“Huh? Like he has all the love from that many women, and he still wants to possess them all?”

“Yes. Quite greedy, right?”

“What kind of a person is he?! That’s not fair; it’s unfair!”

Crowe lost himself to fury. It was as if he completely forgot that he was a high noble who could have concubines himself. Thinking of the future that awaited him, Arisha continued to talk.

“So…don’t try to make a move on Evan’s women. You don’t want to meet the same fate as the son of Duke Leonine, Matthew.”

“…Is that a threat? And wait for a second, what? Sister, I think something important just came up.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Crowe didn’t notice, but since the very moment Arisha spoke with Crowe, she was casting a wind barrier around them. And at that moment, the barrier was dismissed.

“I genuinely want you to become the next Count Pellati. It’s because mine and Evan’s son will become the Marquis of Sherden. So please take care of yourself.”

“You, argh…”

Crowe had goosebumps as he heard Arisha’s firm resolve. He tried to say something, but Arisha approached Evan and Serena as she waved at Crowe. Well, at least she wanted to dance with Evan for just one song. So, Crowe quietly enjoyed the banquet like Arisha had advised him to do, and he returned back home.