Lord of Rot

Blood ties are stronger than emotional bonds.

However, closeness requires that at least one party isn’t fickle. Otherwise, no number of marriage alliances would matter.

The Golden Stallion was clearly not a qualified spokesman, but when he said, ”Knights, you may now invite the beautiful ladies to dance,” Leech could feel he was being completely sincere.

Because right after he finished speaking, the Golden Stallion headed for a certain young noblewoman, as if afraid someone else would snatch her away.

Many ladies watched Leech with anticipation. Some were even preparing to walk over and ”be invited.” A powerful, young, handsome, and single lord was certainly worth a dance and a few admiring glances.

Leech scanned the room, a headache already forming. He happened to spot a familiar face nearby and said, ”My beautiful lady, may I ask you for a dance?”

”Me?” The girl seemed quite surprised.

After looking up at Leech for a few seconds, she raised her hand. ”Of course.”

Her small, soft hand rested gently in Leech’s palm.

The two began to dance slowly to the music. As Leech gazed at her brilliant golden hair and the Rising Hoof Warhorse family Emblem on her very flat chest, he finally remembered who she was.

Tia Cavendish.

The sister of Philip, the ’Midnight Sun’ Knight. Leech remembered she wasn’t very old… ’Crap, this can’t be her first ball, can it? If Philip saw this, would he think I’m trying to hit on his sister?’

’I don’t see Philip anywhere. Thank goodness, thank goodness!’

”I don’t like that Eldest Prince,” she said in a low voice.

Leech looked down at her with some surprise. He could pretend he hadn’t heard the little girl’s comment, chalking it up to her sadness over her friend marrying so far away.

”Iwen doesn’t like him either,” she added.

Leech, however, thought he heard a sob in her voice, so he placatingly agreed, ”I don’t like him either.”

Tia Cavendish’s head shot up, her face breaking into a brilliant smile. The sob had been an act. ”You’re so much better than my jerk of a brother! When he found out Iwen was getting engaged to the Eldest Prince, he just drank and said he’d give them his blessing. No wonder Iwen likes talking about you. But whenever I bring up Philip, she just says he’s a ’nice guy.’”

But Leech didn’t believe her. Judging by her fake crying just now, she didn’t seem to speak the truth very often.

Still, he really didn’t see Philip, who, given his status, should have been at this ball.

”I’m her Knight, so of course she likes me more.” Leech’s gaze drifted toward Evangelina. She was dancing with the Eldest Prince. He was speaking excitedly, but she looked completely uninterested. When she noticed Leech’s eyes on her, Evangelina managed a faint smile.

”If Iwen wanted to elope with you, what would you do?”

”Refuse, of course,” Leech said.

”Why!” She sounded dissatisfied and deliberately brought her foot down on top of Leech’s. But because she was petite and light, it felt to Leech like a cotton ball had landed on him.

Even if she’d hit his instep with a small hammer, he wouldn’t have felt much pain.

The act of stepping on his foot brought her suddenly close, and Leech caught a faint scent of oranges.

Leech enjoyed being close to a beautiful girl. With his strength, even if she was standing on his foot with her full weight, he could still lead her in the dance.

”I am a lord with over ten thousand mouths to feed. I must be prudent with every decision I make.”

At the same time, he thought to himself, ’I’m rarely prudent. Farming is one thing, but I’m truly hopeless at political maneuvering.’

’The only things I’m barely decent at are mass-producing units and remotely controlling Corpse Ghosts to play RTS.’

’I don’t know how to play chess, but I do know how to flip the board.’

Of course, he wouldn’t say what he was thinking out loud. He continued, ”Besides, I have sworn fealty to Duke Leopold. I cannot possibly obstruct his marriage alliance. I must uphold the commands of the liege lord I serve.”

When dealing with people, one should never get too personal too soon. At this moment, they were just dance partners.

”Over ten thousand mouths to feed... How impressive. Hmph!” Tia scoffed, clearly displeased.

Leech was now even more certain that she was just a brat who hadn’t grown up yet.

”However...” ’If I develop my power more quickly, if I become a force that the Duke and the King can’t ignore, I could completely change this so-called engagement. If I could become King, then the Red Rose could still be the future queen.’

Leech, who had never had any ambition to become King, now felt a tiny sliver of that idea flicker to life because of Evangelina.

’No, I just want to happily farm my lands.’

”However what?” Tia looked at him expectantly.

”However... you should probably get off my foot,” Leech said. ”You’re draped all over me, and a lot of people are watching. Not that I particularly mind being held by a beautiful young lady.”

”You!” Tia Cavendish’s cheeks flushed red. She let out a ”Hmph!”, stomped on Leech’s foot one more time for good measure, and then jumped off. ”You’re even worse than Philip! And I was actually starting to like you!”

”Is that so?” Leech acted as if he’d just heard a world-shattering secret. He leaned in and whispered, ”I like you very much too. I could speak to Lord Cavendish about our marriage.”

”Ah! You! You’re unbelievable!”

She quickly pulled away from Leech, her cheeks still red.

”Hahaha!” Leech laughed out loud, delighted.

She didn’t even stay to finish the dance, hiking up her skirt and fleeing.

Leech was happy to have the peace and quiet.

He glanced back and saw that the dwarf had already left. This place really wasn’t for him.

The Ostrich Eagle Knight, who had been dancing, heard some message, excused himself from his partner, and walked over to the Eldest Prince.

After hearing some news himself, the Eldest Prince also stopped dancing with the Red Rose and turned to leave.

Now without a partner, the Red Rose looked over at Leech, who was also without one.

Leech walked over. ”Perhaps I could ask you to finish the rest of this dance?”

”Of course, my champion.” She raised her hand, a smile on her face.

In all his experiences dancing with noble ladies, there were few Leech remembered. There was Stacy, Water Hyacinth, and a certain noblewoman whose name he’d forgotten but whose figure was a perfect ten.

The moment he took the Red Rose’s hand, Leech’s heart skipped a beat. It felt nice in his.

”What is it?” she asked.

Leech said, ”The young lady from the Cavendishes asked me a question, and now I have a new answer.”

”Tia?” The Red Rose had seen him dancing with Tia Cavendish. ”What did she say now?”

”She asked if I would be willing to elope with you.”

”Pfft!” The Red Rose burst out laughing as if she’d heard something hilarious. That was definitely not something a noble should say. ”I’ve told her time and again to stop listening to the tales sung by Minstrels.”

The Red Rose looked up curiously, her eyes meeting Leech’s directly. As if sensing some impulse in his deep gaze, she asked instinctively, ”So, would you be willing?”

”My Horse-headed Eagle could carry you from the East Gorge to the Endor Plateau in a single day. No one would be able to catch us.”

But she just smiled and said, ”I’d rather not get pecked.”

Apparently, she had heard about Leech’s earlier refusal of a certain noble lady.

Leech sighed internally. ’Why are these noble ladies like village gossips, spilling everything they hear?’

A person’s status determines whether a statement is taken as a joke or as a sincere remark.

In that moment, one person believed he had spoken from the heart, while the other believed it was just an impossible joke meant to lift her spirits.

It was best to leave it at that.

”You’re giving the Eldest Prince a huge headache,” the Red Rose said. ”Aside from the engagement, he also came to the East Gorge to win over the Golden Tuna Knight on Monkey Island.”

She looked up at Leech, feeling quite surprised.

Every time she saw Leech, she was struck by how much he had changed.

When they first met, he was just a pitiful Baron, targeted for assassination by his own stepmother and teacher, living in a drafty castle with only one or two hundred people in his domain.

The next time they met, he was the tournament champion, full of vigor.

And now, he had defeated the old-school noble Monkey Bill and pursued Golden Tuna Lu across the sea. In just two years, he had become a noble in the East Gorge that no one could ignore.

However, compared to the King’s power and that of some of the great nobles, he was still too weak.

”But I killed all the knights he wanted to recruit, didn’t I?” Leech retorted. ”Are you trying to be a lobbyist, persuading me to stand down?”

The Red Rose secretly stuck out her tongue. For a moment, Leech forgot she was a Duke’s daughter; right then, she was just an eighteen-year-old girl. ”They weren’t Knights from the East Gorge, after all.”

Leech had a sudden realization. No wonder the East Gorge Lord had been so pleasant to him. It was because they were both East Gorge People. They had no conflict of interest; in fact, the more people from Monkey Island that died, the better.

The music stopped.

The Red Rose quickly moved away from him. ”Thank you for the dance, my Knight.”

Leech instinctively closed his hand, but caught nothing but air. ”The pleasure was all mine, my beautiful Miss Evangelina.”