Since this was a matter that can be settled within a few minutes, Arnold didn't invite Vance to a cup of tea or a room to rest. Siana and Bethany were sitting across the hall, waiting for the two to finish speaking.
It would be strange to be so hospitable towards a man you almost fought not so long ago. Frankly, he doesn't know how to act around Vance. In the past, he always saw Vance as an uncle he looked up to. In fact, Arnold developed his own martial art with Vance's martial art in mind. While Vance isn't considered the strongest swordsman, his title of Sword Master had more to do with his mastery of the sword. Arnold may have the superior speed and strength, but he doesn't have the technique to beat Vance in a pure sword fight
"What is the meaning of this letter you sent?" Vance handed him the letter he sent to Jurnick.
Giving it a glance over, he said simply, "Well, to sum it up: instead of invading the empire with my army and hunting Arthur down, I'll offer you all an agreement and benefits in case I lose. They're too great to pass up—if you know what wealth lies beneath this land the empire decided to give away."
"…That's not what I meant. Why are you sending a marriage proposal to my wife!?" everyone present in the hall jumped at his shout. This drew their attention to the absurd proposal in the letter.
"To protect her. Or more precisely, to protect your entire lineage."
Is the man you tried to kill not being far too kind—almost came out of his mouth but that would be far too childish to say.
Vance looked at him incredulously. Deciding that he doesn't want to beat around the bush, he got to the point, "It's a complicated thing to explain but I'll give you the full story, minus the life your wife hides from you… to also protect you."
Vance's eyes widened the more he listened to Arnold explaining what was going on. He kept it a bit vague but gave a general summary of his affiliations, how it would connect to Celeste and Vealle and what might happen to the entire Penston lineage.
Currently Jurnick has made no attempts to ally himself with Selia so the silent opposition still lurks in the shadows but if Arnold announces his affiliation with her, they will attempt to sabotage everyone around him since they don't have the ability to sabotage him directly. Needless to say, most of the "opposition" in question are also spies or henchmen of Serz.
"…Vealle has been hiding something from me and that same thing can destroy my entire family once your alliance with that vampire lord is revealed…?"
Vance finally responded after he explained.
"That's right. Let's just say she has enemies not even you, a Sword Master, can fight."
Vance looked at the floor for a moment, fingers fidgeting. He took a gulp, which was as loud as a gong in this silence.
"…That army of yours… The red armored knights… I heard lots of tales about them, how they're unbeatable. Did she send them to you?"
"Yeah, she offers me military support and I send her financial support. That was our agreement. Looking back, I don't regret accepting her help since my city now has the lowest crime rates in the world."
As if it was important at this point, he asked, "…Who initiated the alliance?"
"She did. It's like she knew exactly how profitable my city would become."
She obviously did since she was familiar with the game. While she said she didn't play the whole DLC, she knows that Whitage the wealthiest city in the game that offered some of the best questlines with the best rewards. You could find the best blacksmiths and traders in the city, after all. Who wouldn't know about that place?
"…" Vance's fingers moved without thought as he looked at the floor, "…Would it be possible to receive her protection as well?"
"I'm sorry to say this but she won't benefit from protecting your House at all so she's likely to refuse. With how busy she is, she can't intercept every attack that will come your way—physical or not—but she'll be able to protect you directly—with force." A few shadow demons can stop pretty much anything together unless it's a level cap adversary.
Regardless if she does or not, his household will still collapse. But he'll still have his wife and daughter left, right?
Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Vance forced out his words, "I should've never made that engagement proposal… Now I'm going to lose my wife because of something outside of my control…"
"All you wanted to do was make Celeste happy. Neither the two of you knew what the future holds for the Penston House. But Celeste has a choice to make: break her family apart for her own happiness or sever her bond with me—"
"Can't I tell her to wait until we find another solution…? Nothing good will come of telling her to bottle up her feelings and keep your relationship private. She treats you like a prize and wants the entire world to know the two of you are together."
Arnold smiled wryly.
Vance collapsed on the chair near the wall and sighed, "That mother and daughter pair are inseparable so even if I managed to convince Celeste, her mother won't allow her to just leave without going with her. This is such a complicated mess. It's the first time I've felt genuinely helpless and this is no mere beast that can be overcome through sheer will or training."
"Are you worried about what your family will say?"
While Vance rules the main household, there are several branches. In addition, Vance's master and owner of a sect, has direct ties to the household. In their eyes they would lose power. Of course, his opponents will make sure there's nothing left to salvage.
So not only will Vance have to fight his opponents, he'll have the branch families putting pressure on him as well. It doesn't matter who you are, no one can deal with something like that, even with brute force.
You can punch water all you like, you will continue to sink and drown in the end.
He's no idiot so he should've figured out every possible scenario where he rejects Arnold and faces every consequence.
Arnold knew it's the best chance they had at keeping the Penston lineage alive until another solution was found. Threatening others won't work for long since even a jackal would muster up the courage to crawl into a dragon's den to steal its food, if it's hungry enough.
"That's exactly why I offered the proposal. The two will be my wives officially but they can do whatever they want in their private lives. Just don't be intimate in public as that will just give everything away."
He says "they" but this only really applies to Vealle since Celeste will get what she wants in the end.
"Why are you still doing this… despite what happened?"
"If you're referring to our fight, I know you had no choice. I don't hate you, my father, Ariane or Feldina. You did what was expected of you. Even if we were to fight again, I would simply restrain you and forget about it again."
It's true that he can just let the Penston House crumble, but that's not an option to him and he frankly doesn't hate Vance enough to want that. in short, Vealle and Celeste aren't the only reason he's doing this for Vance.
"…If this is something even you are worried about then I… I'll believe you."
"You accepted it quite easily. I thought Jurnick planted all kinds of nonsense in your head, to make you believe I have every justification to manipulate you into falling into a trap."
"Hah... I know how your mind works as I've been your uncle for eighteen years. You don't find joy in making others suffer despite the rumors going around. Weighing the benefits and risks of everything is how you see the world. The Penston House, whether it remains standing or not, won't impact you in any meaningful way. The only loss I can see is you not inheriting my household... but you haven't shown any particular interest in it."
"You've read me so well, uncle."
Vance stood up and bowed his upper body, "Please protect my wife and daughter. Until I can find a way to make sure the Penston House is untouchable, at the very least…"
"Yeah. I'll help you in the future if you need it."
The two then shook hands and while that was supposed to be a warm moment, the frown just didn't vanish from Vance's face. Today would be the last time he would see Vealle as his wife.
He'll need to make the most of their "final" moment together by doing a ritual between a husband and wife that strengthens their bond together.
**
Arnold had offered Vance to stay at the palace to wait for Vealle to return but he declined the offer, saying he'll meet her on the road.
Those two have a lot to talk about but Arnold was curious if Vealle will ever tell him the truth.
He'll leave those two for now.
Before drifting off into slumber after Siana tucked him in as if he were a little baby, he wondered how Celeste's talk with Denise went.
**
Bethany closed the door to the master bedroom and followed after Siana. Since Arnold is now sleeping off all that accumulated battle fatigue despite it being daytime, he doesn't need an attendant so Siana assigned Bethany to her for the time being.
Servants were forbidden from walking down this hall in groups so as to not disturb him and a tray of food was left next to his bed in case he gets hungry.
Siana wants nothing more at this moment than to go cuddle with him as the two have barely been intimate since making their relationship official. He's partly to blame for leaving all the time but there's no other choice as he has a busy life.
Surely she doesn't sound selfish for wanting to go on more dates, cuddle together, bathe together, eat together three times a day and go on walks together? Yes, surely not...
She sighed softly. Her new collection of erotic lingerie will have to wait for their debut...
"Where is Lady Isolde's room again? I need to speak with her." she spoke to Bethany as they walked down the stairs.
"The palace is quite large so explain where to go so, umm, I think it would be best for me to lead." She answered timidly.
"Good idea." Siana slowed her pace, giving Bethany the chance to lead her, "You've been on your feet for two days straight now—sorry for making you work so hard. I know girls your age need time for yourselves as well."
"It's okay, Lady Siana. Longer hours mean a higher salary by the end of the week so this benefits me as well." At her words, Siana chuckled.
"Indeed."
They arrived at Isolde's room within roughly a few minutes. Bethany knocked a few times and when asked who it was, Siana answered.
Isolde hurriedly came outside, clearly in the midst of taking off her makeup. After using a napkin to wipe the smudge of lipstick on her cheek, she brought the two inside.
Bethany stood behind Siana as the two sat down.
"Would you like some tea?" Siana asked, "I have a long list of questions to ask you."
"No thank you. I've had two cups already while I was sorting through those letters." She gestured to the table nearby, upon which many letters lay, "I wanted to finish a bit of work before bed."
"I see. Are you aware of your role here in this city?"
Isolde sat up straight and answered, "Of course. I serve as the intermediary between Lord Arnold and his clients."
"And what do you think that means?" crossing her leg over the other and keeping firm eye contact, she asked.
"I buy the crystals from him officially and negotiate with his clients on prices and the like. This is to avoid conflicts between him and others. Even his enemies may request to buy from me but it will be my final decision if I shall allow it."
Unofficially, she still works for him but the clients wouldn't know this. They'll think she only participates in meetings to discuss his crystals. She's like a lawyer, basically.
"Hmm, I see. However, what if our enemies have contacts in the magic stores and factories that produce magic items and they want to resell the crystals—in raw form—to those people?"
"That breaches our agreements. Crystals may only be sold to academies in raw form as they are the ones most likely to use it for academic purposes or factories and businesses that produce magic items. However, they can also be weapons in raw forms. Like the incident that happened earlier this month, where a nobleman from the empire attempted to shut down the mining operation, as our crystals can be combined with concentration of miasma to create bombs. In smaller doses, the crystals only explode when thrown with force against a hard surface—in other words, dropped from an airship over a populated city."
Siana nodded, "This is why magic crystals are so regulated. Imagine the kind of trouble this city's crystals can cause if weaponized against humanity. Crystals are always modified in factories or towers before being used in production, with a technique known only to the makers of magic items. As such, they cannot be sold as weapons of mass destruction if terrorists decide to buy magic items in bulk."
"So, our risk lies in the raw supply chain." Isolde said.
"Exactly. And if someone ignores your terms?"
"Then we respond without ceremony."
"How?"
She paused briefly, as she recalled something.
"Imperial law gives us two options: Legal action… or open retaliation. In other words: a lawsuit… or war."
Siana smiled, "I was wrong to doubt you, Lady Isolde. You are clearly fit for your role."
"…Thank you. I am glad I was able to answer your expectations despite our unscheduled meeting… Did Lord Arnold send you here to test me…?"
"No, I came here to see if you will serve this city well." Siana pulled out her chair as she got up, "You've exceeded my expectations wonderfully, so much so that I feel like my presence won't be needed even if the task requires my authority."
Isolde also got up and bowed deeply.
"I heard you run a household and several businesses on your own. It must be difficult managing both that and your duty to this city. I hope nothing will interfere with your work here."
"You needn't worry, Milady. I am in the process of liquifying all my late husband's assets and selling our businesses—or what's left of it—so that I can focus on my work here completely."
"I see. We will be needing you for many years to come so your full attention will be essential to ensuring every deal we make goes smoothly. Do that and we shall help you in making House Berthlaith becoming one of the great ducal Houses once again."