Luo Shu was completely floored by this question.
'Why was the first thing that came to their minds marriage into the family?'
With a wry smile, Luo Shu looked helplessly at Meer and retorted irritably:
"I don't recall mentioning anything about marriage, do I?"
Yet in response to Luo Shu's question, Meer argued with conviction:
"But that's how it'll end up!"
As she spoke, Meer shot Luo Shu a resentful look:
"Shu-kun's suddenly acting like an idiot~"
"Lacus and I have been using the SDS's bargaining chips for negotiations precisely because we're worried about you catching La Folia's attention."
"You should know that the scheming woman comes from the Aldegia Royal Family."
Luo Shu frowned in confusion: "What's so special about the Aldegia Royal Family?"
At this point, Lacus interjected with slight awkwardness:
"Aside from political marriages with major nobles, the Rihavein family's tradition has always been to recruit excellent men into the family through marriage. For generations."
A royal family that's been practising marriage recruitment for 22 generations? Luo Shu was momentarily stunned before realising this was indeed the case.
If his memories from his previous life remained unchanged, La Folia's father had been a live-in son-in-law, while her grandfather had been from a branch of the royal family.
In other words, for three generations straight, La Folia's family had maintained this tradition of marriage recruitment.
At this realisation, Luo Shu's expression turned somewhat complicated:
"You think La Folia might set her sights on me?"
Lacus offered a tactful response:
"If La Folia obtains sufficient intelligence..."
"That woman's been investigating the Hidden Management Department recently. During our last phone call, she was already fishing for information."
Meer shrugged helplessly, leaning back into the sofa to find a comfortable position before asking Luo Shu:
"But speaking of which, you seem to know quite a bit about La Folia... even though you never took her files from me..."
As she spoke, Meer studied Luo Shu's face, her expression gradually turning peculiar:
"Don't tell me... La Folia's also a candidate Familia?"
Before Meer could finish, Lacus smiled knowingly:
"That much should be obvious."
"If Luo Shu's willing to pay the price himself to negotiate with La Folia, it means she has potential to become one of us."
Only with candidate Familia members who could potentially join them would Luo Shu so readily offer to provide the bargaining chips himself.
"...As expected, Lacus understands me best."
Luo Shu saw no reason to hide it and admitted frankly:
"I was actually planning to exchange a Class with La Folia."
"A Class?" Meer started in surprise before hesitating: "The one you prepared for Eriri?"
Here, Meer glanced at Lacus beside her and quietly explained the situation.
When Lacus learned that Eriri carried a Nature Spirit bloodline and that the Soul Summoning Art and Class were preparations to extract materials from Eriri for Luo Shu's advancement, her expression turned grave:
"Can you guarantee Eriri's safety during the extraction process?"
Seeing Lacus' immediate concern was the procedure's safety, Luo Shu became serious:
"Existing methods have already confirmed its safety."
"That's good then."
Lacus relaxed slightly before smiling wryly:
"But La Folia is actually a candidate too?"
While Lacus was sighing in emotion, Meer muttered beside her: "This isn't good news at all.'"
"With La Folia's personality, recruiting her would mean tying ourselves to the Aldegia Royal Family's war chariot. Will there come a day when the Familia contract's penalty mechanism gets triggered?"
Hearing this, Luo Shu's expression turned subtle. Was Meer directly assuming La Folia would use the Familia's resources to subsidise the Aldegia Kingdom?
"That won't happen. La Folia isn't that foolish." Lacus shook her head before stating calmly: "She'd only align the Familia's interests with the royal family's."
After saying this, Lacus added, "Just like what I've been doing."
Luo Shu couldn't help but laugh and cry at this.
Was it really appropriate to say this to the Familia head's face?
"In that case, it might not be entirely unthinkable..."
Meer said this while looking up at Luo Shu, blinking as she added:
"So the final outcome would actually be Aldegia marrying into Luo Shu's household?"
"Will the princess's Spirit Medium title need changing to Divine Child then?"
Luo Shu looked thoroughly embarrassed by this: "Don't just assume I'd make a move on La Folia, alright?"
At Luo Shu's words, both Lacus and Meer couldn't help but smile.
Though it was just a slight upturn of lips, Luo Shu was genuinely awkward about it.
To compensate, Luo Shu could only add:
"From what I recall, the Aldegia Royal Family doesn't have any truly powerful individuals, right?"
"While the Soul Summoning Art is leverage for Eriri to obtain a Class, it's essentially just the foundation. The materials needed for the first Class holder, various points, and ritual assistance - all these would require contributions from the Aldegia Kingdom."
"I'm basically using Eriri's Class as bait to secure funding from Aldegia, then getting promotion materials for free."
"Isn't that perfect?"
"Yes, Luo Shu always comes out most advantaged."
Lacus stated this matter-of-factly, her tone completely devoid of emotion.
Not content with Lacus's jab, Meer added:
"And you get to sleep with a beautiful silver-haired princess for free, too. Quite the bargain - oh wait, should we count that little fool Eriri as well?"
'Probably need to include Sayuri too...' Luo Shu mentally added before quickly realising he was the one being attacked. Immediately straightening his face, he said:
"My terms are laid out here. You decide for yourselves."
Saying this, Luo Shu leaned back on the sofa and fell silent.
Seeing him like this, Lacus simply smiled and said:
"Meer, it's almost morning in America, isn't it?"
"Just about." Meer smiled in response. "Shall I arrange a meeting with La Folia for you?"
Lacus shook her head lightly:
"We might both be busy that day. Let's schedule it for the 20th - at Mr Robert's funeral."
Meer grinned mischievously: "Then we're in for quite a spectacle."
Hearing this, Luo Shu's eyes flickered briefly, but he said nothing.
An Aldegia Kingdom princess attending an English diplomat's funeral - that protocol was somewhat excessive.
However, this outcome was advantageous for the Sawamura Family...
So Luo Shu said nothing, silently accepting the result.
Yet, when he thought about the inevitable arrival of Enigma and Sayuri Sawamura's desire for revenge... Luo Shu couldn't help but feel uneasy.
'I just hope the funeral doesn't descend into chaos...'