How to Use the Lord’s Future Diary-Chapter 50

Chapter 50
By the time the estate situation began to take a strange turn over the succession issue.
Irene had made up her mind to leave the territory.
And the candidates were two regions: ‘Holy City Saint,’ which was close to a neutral area, and ‘Levelium.’
No matter what, she could not cross over to hostile powers like Vines or New Level even if she left her own territory.
But in the end, that would only amount to a temporary escape.
A neutral area only meant a place where Haken did not reach its hand, and her father, who cherished her excessively, would never simply sit by while she wandered outside his sight.
He would surely find a way to drag her back and force her to remain in Haken.
It was an extremely frustrating situation, but one she had no choice but to endure.
As annoying as the fights between siblings were, she could not just sever ties with them altogether.
She hated seeing her brothers fight, and it frustrated her even more that her father could not cut it off at the right moment. But that did not mean she did not love her family.
However, in Johnson Territory, the situation was a little different.
Though this place was also a neutral area, it was still connected to Haken.
That meant her father could constantly check on her safety.
And since her father already knew well that she was in a difficult position between family members, as long as he could confirm her safety, he would not feel the need to drag her back.
“Indeed.”
“That might actually be true?”
Until now, Irene had only thought of Iron as a target to defeat, so she had never considered settling here.
But after being thoroughly beaten by him and sincerely accepting defeat, she finally came to her senses.
And little by little, she began to see things she had never noticed before.
Without the weight of resentment clouding her vision, she realized this place could actually be a decent place to settle down.
“This place is lacking in many things though. After living comfortably in Haken, it will feel very inconvenient to live here.”
When Irene suggested that they also consider Johnson as a settlement, the others began mentioning various concerns as if worried.
Given the times, the knights too had started looking at Johnson Territory with all possibilities open.
And Irene calmly refuted all their points one by one.
“True, but this is also an impregnable territory.”
“I heard about that.”
“Sure, a lot here is old, but it’s all fixable. And since Lord Iron has requested magical forces from Haken, much will soon change.”
She looked at the knights, who were slowly nodding, and continued.
“And, trade with Haken Territory will soon begin. Many things will flow in. The estate will develop more than before. And if my prediction is correct… no, that’s going too far. In any case, things will be very different, so don’t worry.”
The increasingly oppressive behavior of the Levelium merchant groups.
And the conflicts with neighboring great territories.
Haken Territory too was in a position where it needed to strengthen its ties with Johnson Territory.
But since nothing was yet confirmed, and since knights were not fond of overly complicated talk, Irene cut her words short.
As she ended on that note, another question was directed at her.
“But will there even be work for us here? Most of this land is mountainous, isn’t it? Monster hunts take place in the mountains too.”
“That’s true. But now trade is starting, right? Escorting merchant groups is one of our specialties.”
“That’s true.”
“And besides… don’t you think it’s time we took off those suffocating full plates? You all have such pretty faces, you should show them off—then you can date, maybe even get married. You don’t plan on living alone until you die, do you?”
They could serve as escorts for merchants, or if not, they could shed those suffocating full plates and focus on hunting monsters alongside other knights.
Crimson Comet too thought it was about time they overcame their limitations as a cavalry unit.
Though their mobility was excellent, in mountain battles they were at a disadvantage in many ways.
In Haken Territory, they had wrapped themselves in armor from head to toe to avoid being looked down upon as female knights, but here, there was no real need to.
“Eh, but we’re still not as pretty as the Captain.”
“So you don’t deny you’re pretty.”
“Anyone becomes prettier as they handle mana and aura. We should admit what’s true.”
“What we should be denying is marriage. A man weaker than me isn’t even a man in my eyes.”
“Haken Territory was full of cowards anyway.”
“Enough chatter. Captain, all of this is fine, but… will Johnson Territory even accept us?”
As soon as talk shifted to looks and romance, too much information began spilling out again.
It was the kind of conversation that always cropped up when young people gathered, and even knights were no exception to that.
If anything, since they had lived so long in Crimson Comet, a male-excluded zone, the reaction was even stronger.
But amid it all, the vice-captain stayed steady and pointed out the most important issue.
It was indeed the dependable attitude befitting the pillar that supported Crimson Comet.
“Right, right. Our captain and Lord Iron are like fire and water, aren’t they?”
“They fought like they wanted to kill each other.”
“And they actually did beat each other up.”
“Wasn’t that just our captain one-sidedly though?”
“I think it was mutual. Otherwise, would he have crushed our captain like that?”
“No way, our captain?”
The members too seemed quite worried about this point, and chatter grew noisier again.
And soon enough, all eyes gathered on Irene.
But Irene only gave a calm smile, as if there was no need to worry at all, and opened her mouth.
“Seeing Lord Iron as my target for defeat was, in truth, because of my own inferiority complex. But with today’s duel, I’ve neatly sorted out those old feelings. What fault does Lord Iron even have? All he did was fight me sincerely.”
“Well, being dismissed just for being a woman is far more infuriating. Lord Iron treated you as a knight, not as a woman.”
“Exactly. He came at me like he really meant to kill me.”
“He was like a total bear.”
“Yes, he was serious. He always faced me with sincerity. So I have no reason to hold any grudge.”
“What about him then?”
“From the brief conversation I had with him, he didn’t seem to think much of it. It was just me making a fuss on my own.”
“In that case, there might be a possibility then.”
The fact that Iron had beaten her up wasn’t out of spite, but simply because that was the kind of man he was.
Whether that was good or bad, she couldn’t say, but as long as the conditions were right, Crimson Comet could probably settle here.
The only issue was whether Irene could present conditions that would satisfy the other side.
“Conditions, huh. Don’t worry about that. I’ll think of something Lord Iron can’t possibly refuse.”
Seeing Irene’s confident attitude, all the members nodded their heads.
Straightforward, reliable, and even clever, Irene had never once failed to keep her word.
All they had to do now was trust her, as they always had, and wait.
After the short meeting ended and the members all went to bed, Celine, the vice-captain of Crimson Comet, quietly came to see Irene.
It seemed she had something to ask without the others knowing.
“Hm? Sister Celine. Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“I came because I have something to ask.”
“You, Sister? What is it?”
Since childhood, Celine had been with Irene, and she was the person Irene trusted most.
In private, Irene even called her sister.
And because Celine was so cautious and straightforward, whenever she came separately like this, it was always an important matter.
Irene thought the same would be true this time, and listened with some tension.
“In truth, there’s been a discreet approach from the other knight captain.”
“The knight captain of Johnson Territory? That big, burly man?”
“What? Burly but kind of cute… ah, no. Yes, the knight captain of Johnson Territory.”
Perhaps proving that nobody was perfect, even the normally serious and charismatic Celine had a rather unique taste.
And when someone happened to strike that taste, she would sometimes melt into that silly, soft look.
But it was always brief, and since she had never once let her preferences interfere with her duties, it was not really a problem.
“Sister, your taste is really… ha, well, fine. So what did he say?”
“Nothing much. He just asked me a few things about you. Like your preferences and your personality.”
“About me? That’s strange. Why would he want to know that?”
Hearing that the knight captain of Johnson Territory had asked about her tastes, Irene tilted her head.
If it had been Iron, she could understand, but she had never once met the knight captain, Rudick, before.
Could it be that he had fallen for her at first sight?
Of course, she had never once thought she fell short in appearance, but such direct approaches weren’t exactly common, so she was a bit taken aback.
Sensing Irene’s thoughts, Celine quietly advised her.
“It probably wasn’t the knight captain himself. He’s famous for only marrying women taller than 180. Of course, you’re not short either, Captain, but still.”
“Yes, I’m 170. That makes it even harder to understand.”
“My guess is…”
“Yes, tell me.”
“Perhaps it was Sir Iron’s instruction.”
“…Lord Iron?”
“Yes, it seems the only explanation. After all, the position of Lady of the Territory is vacant. With your looks and personality, there’s nothing to find fault with, so Johnson Territory would surely covet you.”
“That… I can’t deny it. Now that I think of it, even the residents…”
As the youngest daughter of the Lord of Haken, she would make quite a suitable partner in a political marriage.
And with neither her appearance nor her temperament having any great flaws, she was practically an ideal match.
At first, Irene had thought there was no way, but the more she talked with Celine, the more plausible it began to sound.
Indeed, Iron’s attitude had been consistently positive.
He hadn’t blamed her for the rudeness of challenging him the very moment they met, but had fought her earnestly. He had even stayed by her side until she got back up after being injured.
And when he served her roasted horned rabbit, he had asked several times how it tasted, watching her reaction.
When she finally nodded and said it was delicious, his face—which had stayed calm until then—had shown a genuine, deep smile…
“Could it really be true?”
Watching Irene’s expressions shift moment by moment, Celine slowly nodded.
What she had thought was only a possibility seemed to be turning into reality.
Red Teddy was a teddy bear.
But it was by no means a cute teddy bear.
Perhaps because it was rendered too realistically, it felt closer to a stuffed specimen than a doll, and so it gave off a rather frightening impression.
That Red Teddy was Irene’s beloved doll.
From the start, Irene was in no position to criticize anyone else’s tastes.
Iron, who resembled a bear, was already close to her ideal man just by appearance.
The truth was, when she asked Iron for a sparring match the very first day they met, it had been a gesture of affection.
Of course, things had gotten horribly tangled, and she’d only ended up with a pile of trauma, but the fact remained that young Irene had held good feelings toward him.
This much was certain—after all, when Celine had asked her just before that duel why she was doing such a thing, Irene had answered directly herself.
After being shockingly defeated by Iron, every time she saw Red Teddy she was reminded of him.
And so every night, she would beat Red Teddy up, then hug it again once her anger cooled.
What to call it… a love-hate relationship?
That was about what Iron was to Irene.
Her anger had been so strong she hadn’t realized it until now, but hidden within it had been real affection.
And now that she had overcome her old trauma, Iron—with his reliability and sense of responsibility—was someone she found rather likable.
“I’ll think about it seriously. Since Lord Iron has always been sincere with me, I should be the same with him.”
Seeing Irene nod with an empty look on her face, Celine judged that her serious consideration was leaning strongly toward the positive.
If so, then she too would have to adjust her plans accordingly.
Celine, the manager of Crimson Comet and the big sister whom Irene trusted and followed.
If it was for Irene’s sake, she could do anything—and her mind began working busily.
In this way, the predictive power of the diary(?) was greater than expected, and this matter too was flowing in a direction Iron had not anticipated.