IWAEBS - Chapter 133 < Seduction is the Life You Live By >



“Strange...”

Grand Duke Martins kept rubbing his chin and was lost in thought.

He was confused the whole time after receiving the report from Lord Rolf, who returned from trading in the Principality of Aklatto on behalf of his family, which was in the business of trade.

“Did the Principality of Aklatto really invite Hetor from Tanya Island?”

Hetor was the King of the barbarians who lived as pirates on Tanya Island.

“Yes, he must have arrived at Duke Haymitch’s castle this afternoon.”

“Hmm, I wonder why Duke Haymitch invited him...”

“The merchant there was very anxious that a war might break out with the barbarians on Tanya Island.”

“Oh, right. There are rumors about that on Aklatto Island these days?”

“Yes, Grand Duke.”

Tanya Island is a smaller island than the Principality of Aklatto, but the bravery and cruelty of the pirates led by Hetor were no less than any knight order on the continent.

A few months ago, Grand Duke Martins received reports from several merchants led by his family that Tanya Island was sinking.

If the savages of Tanya Island were targeting the Principality of Aklatto as rumored, that must have been the cause.

Furthermore, Aklatto was also home to wyverns, so it was understandable that they would be attracted.

The master of Aklatto, Duke Haymitch, who knew the situation best, invited Hetor of Tanya Island to the ducal castle.

Something smelled fishy.

“Could Duke Haymitch have a bargaining chip that could stop the war? Oh, by any chance...”

Grand Duke Martins’s mind suddenly recalled the face of Princess Roxana, Duke Haymitch’s only daughter.

***

The ducal castle of Aklatto.

Roxana, who had just finished her bath, sat down at the vanity.

Roxana’s attendant, Lancey, sniffled as she combed her hair.

“Lancey, stop crying. If someone saw me, they would think I was going to die.”

“My lady, this is really too much for His Majesty. How could he order your lady to marry such a barbarian!”

“Then would you like our principality to perish?”

Roxana asked Nancy in a flat voice.

“No, that’s not it, but there is definitely another way besides marriage...”

“There is none.”

Nancy stopped sobbing at Roxana’s terrifyingly firm answer.

“Nancy, would you put on some darker eye makeup?”

Tonight, she had to seduce the man known as the Barbarian King of Tanya Island, or the Pirate King.

‘Would he like it?’

Roxana thought as she looked at her face in the mirror.

Wouldn’t she have questioned her father?

All she got in return was the familiar whipping.

.
.
.

Two weeks ago.

“You fool! You selfish! You don’t even know what a great opportunity this is.”

Chaak-.

The whip flew after a long time.

What gave Roxana goosebumps more than the whip digging into her skin were her father’s words.

“You must act like a tongue in Hetor’s mouth. That is the only way for you, me, and our principality to survive.”

Duke Haymitch looked down at his daughter, who had fallen to the ground after being struck by the whip he was swinging.

“If you fail, you will have no reason to exist. If that barbarian does not like you, I will adopt another noble’s daughter and present her to Hetor.”

Roxana looked up at her father with bleary eyes.

She hoped he was joking.

But Duke Haymitch was more serious than ever.

“Seduce him by any means necessary. We must use him to attack the Continent.”

Not to join hands with Hetor to protect the Duchy of Aklatto, but to cross over to the Continent?

Roxana asked in a trembling voice.

“Father... why do you want to go to war with the Continent?”

“Hetor is looking down on our principality because Tanya’s island is gradually sinking, but the truth is that our island’s situation is not good either. The volcano has erupted twice this year alone. However, unlike the barbarians, we do not have the troops to set foot on the continent even if the island disappears.”

So, he planned to wage war against the continent using the barbarians of Tanya’s island as the vanguard.
 
The timing was also perfect.

The continent was about to start a hunting competition.

Perhaps it was the perfect opportunity to sweep away the royal families and major nobles of all the countries at once.

Roxana knew well that her father had longed for the continent all his life.

Unlike Duke Haymitch, she was content with this life.

It was a country rich in trade goods compared to its area, with the wyvern habitat and various specialties not found on the continent.

The Principality of Aklatto did not have the power to attack other countries, but it was not a place that other countries could easily overtake.

However, Duke Haymitch thought differently. 

“If I can’t walk on my own legs, I should borrow the strength of others. I should be able to think of being carried comfortably!”

To do that, he was telling her to marry the barbarian King.

“The land of the Kingdom of Shattonil is the easiest and suitable among the continents. It is the place with the weakest military force in the entire continent, and it is the closest country to the Death Valley, the habitat of the wyverns.”

Duke Haymitch’s face brightened as if he had already conquered the Kingdom of Shattonil.

“Father, no matter how strong the Kingdom of Shattonil is on the continent, and how brave the pirates led by Hetor are, you know very well that we are not powerful enough to take over that country.”

So come to your senses.

Roxana said, bracing herself for the whip that was about to fly.

However, Duke Haymitch did not swing his whip at Roxana.

Instead, he picked up the healing water prepared next to him and poured it directly on her back.

Usually, the servant would do this after the whipping.

Roxana flinched because it was the first time, but she gritted her teeth and continued her story.

“And that place is an ally of the Lapion Empire. They even recently welcomed an Empress from the Kingdom of Shattonil.”

Roxana put her hands on the floor and raised her upper body, enduring the pain from the whipping.

“Yes, they say that when you have a national marriage, you become closer. That’s why I’m going to use you by marrying you to Hetor.”

Duke Haymitch nodded and made an expression that said, “I knew you’d say that.”

“My dear daughter, this father does not want you to end up as the wife of such a barbarian. What father would want to see such an ignorant son-in-law?”

“What... are you saying?”

“First, I’m going to shake up the continent through Hetor’s pirate group and then make a deal.”

Duke Haymitch threw his whip back and knelt on one knee.

He stroked Roxana’s clean and beautiful face as if he were handling a precious jewel.

“I heard that Prince Tesla of the Kingdom of Shattonil is still single. I’m going to marry you to him.”

“What, what did you say? But I already know that Hetor’s...”

“That’s a promise between two insignificant island nations, and a real marriage should be with a noble bloodline from the continent. That’s your father’s true heart.”

Duke Haymitch smiled an uncharacteristically kind smile.

“Then you’re only going to use Hetor for war?”

“It’s his job to set the stage. But until then, you must do your best to seduce him. You must not fall out of favor with Hetor. A man’s desire for a woman is a distraction from reason. Hahaha!”

If you think about it, even from Roxana’s perspective, marrying a royal was much better than marrying a barbarian husband.

“If Prince Tesla has a son, then I will let this father take the throne of Shattonil for a while.”

Duke Haymitch revealed his ambition.

“Until my grandson grows up, let me be King for a while. To prepare for that glorious day, we must appease the barbarians of Tanya. So please give Hetor everything he wants. We must give him everything he wants.”

“Everything he wants...?”

Roxana asked, as if she could not believe it.

Then Duke Haymitch replied as if it was obvious

“Yes. Everything.”
.
.
.

So I guess I will have to endure it.

Roxana steeled herself once more.

“Oh, my lady, Hetor has come.”

The servant’s tense voice made her open her eyes from where she was sitting at the dressing table, getting dressed.

Before she could even say anything to invite him in, her bedroom door swung open without permission.

‘Barbarian who doesn’t know manners.’

Roxana bowed her head toward Hetor, the pirate King of Tanya, and thought.

She hadn’t gotten a good look at the dinner earlier because she was out of her mind, but Hetor’s appearance up close wasn’t as bad as she thought.

However, the aura he gave off was repulsive.

His skin was tanned by the sun, and his muscles were built from stealing from others.

Hetor’s height alone, much taller than the average man, was threatening enough.

Roxana spoke to Hetor first with a somewhat timid demeanor.

“I saw you at the dinner earlier, but I’d like to introduce you formally. I’m the Princess of the Principality of Aklat...”

“Why bother greeting me in such a cumbersome way?”

Hetor grabbed Roxana’s hand and pulled her in front of him.

He then gave her servant an irritated look.

“You’re a nuisance, so get out.”

What is that savage planning to do to you?

Lancey looked at Roxana, who was being held by Hetor's wrist, with a frightened face.

"Yes, go out."

Roxana forced her lips to open and told Lancey. When Hetor motioned for her to leave with his large hand, Nancy quickly left the room.

"An inconsiderate servant is a pain in the neck. If your master's future husband had come, you should have left first."

"I'll warn you from now on. What did you talk about with my father?"

Roxana asked Hetor as she walked toward the table.

"Come and sit here."

Hetor grabbed Roxana's hand again as she was about to sit down on the chair. Roxana looked up at him with a puzzled expression for a moment.

The place Hetor had ordered her to sit was on his thigh.

'Ignorant.'

She forced herself to endure Hetor's coercive attitude. She had to please this savage man until her plan was successful.

Hetor's thighs, tall and large, felt like sitting on a horse's saddle.

'Even though he's blunt, he seems to like me.'

Fortunately?

Roxana almost laughed out loud as she thought about what she had just thought.

Hetor explored her body with his large hands, but she couldn't stop him.

'After I hit the continent, I'll blow away your dirty hands with my own hands.'

Roxana looked down at Hetor's hands groping her waist and clenched her molars.

"You're really like a piece of wood."

Hetor said.

"Forgive me, I'm so embarrassed."

"No matter how much you smile at me, your eyes are like poison strawberries."

Roxana was startled by Hetor's unexpected sharpness.

She had expected Hetor's intuition to be dull due to his large size, but she was wrong.

Roxana forced the corners of her eyes to fold neatly at Hetor's words.

"Don't pretend to smile. I didn't mean to dislike you. If you let me live on the continent, your eyes will become sharper too."

Roxana’s eyes met Hetor’s, and she swallowed dry saliva.

“Are you going to sleep here today... and go?”

If only she could escape this moment, Roxana felt like she could give Hetor the 300-year-old wyvern egg she had.

“No woman on Tanya Island would ask me that. It’s a given when I come into the room.”

“...I’m sorry, ah!”

Hetor quickly hugged Roxana and headed to her bed.

‘Bellos, why didn’t you just marry me back then! I’m being humiliated like this because of you. You son of a bitch, I’ll kill you. And the woman you so desperately wanted as your companion!’

Roxana’s anger reached even to Bellos, the lord of the tower, whom she had almost become engaged to.

The heat began to boil inside her body.

‘I have to take the Incarnation Sword from Bellos. Then I can live the way I want. I’ll kill my father, this savage, and...’

Incarnation Sword.

That was the only hope that could endure this humiliation.

***

After dinner, I went to Rosie’s quarters.

Linel had also decided to come here after finishing his last political meeting before leaving for the Continental Hunt.

He wanted to discuss Rams’s residence with Prince Norton before leaving for the Hunt.

I told Rosie that Linel already knew everything about the creatures living here.

“Oh, what should I do? How much will His Majesty hate me?”

Rosie trembled, her forehead on the marble floor as if she were a criminal on the scaffold.

I lightly placed my hand on the back of her neck and joked that she would be fine.

Rosie was startled by my touch, put her neck in tightly like a turtle, fell sideways, and let out a short scream.

I sat her up straight again and asked what Prince Norton had decided to do about Rams’ residence.

“Misha’s cousin is about to give birth. So I told her about leaving her there, and she said it was better than hiring a stranger.”

“It would be safer than leaving her with a complete stranger, but my cousin would probably be out of her mind after giving birth too...”

“Yes, I’m a bit worried about that too. Since it’s her first time giving birth, I don’t think she’ll be able to take care of Rams, too.”

But there didn’t seem to be any other alternatives.

“Has Your Majesty found a place where we can leave Rams?”

“I think so. I haven’t heard anything yet, so I don’t know. Since it’s your time to come, I’ll probably find out soon.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’m so glad. Your Majesty understands Moiya, and Rams too...”

“I wonder if she’ll forgive me for raising Aoshi without reporting it to the magistrate.”

Even though I said it playfully, Rosie’s face became worried again.

“I didn’t mean to, I was just absent-minded... But how did you know that His Majesty didn’t report Aoshi to the magistrate?”

“How would you know?”

I whispered, nodding under the bed.

Rosie followed my gaze and clenched her fists at Moiya’s red eyes, blinking under the bed.

“Just do that...! Ugh, anyway, you’re a person of interest.”

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and Linel and Raphael came in.

“Huh, Your Majesty the Emperor!”

Rosie bowed to him with a half-bowed face, looking very intimidated.

“Anyway, you’re a person of interest.”

Linel said, pointing at Rosie with his finger.

It was the same thing Rosie had said to Moiya just now.

Rosie couldn’t straighten her back and trembled in that position.

I barely held back my laughter, straightened Rosie’s tense back, and told her it was okay.

Linel headed straight for the bed.

“It’s this kid.”

He looked down at Rams, who was waving his arms and legs on the bed.


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