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Translator: Regressed Translator
Editor: leef
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◈ Return of the Disaster-Class Young Lord ◈
Chapter 27 | The Uninvited Guest
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Pandora, who had been staying in the neighboring territory and observing the Sleeping Dragon Manor, already knew quite a bit.
She knew the dark elves had moved in and that the slaves were bought from Kettlik’s market.
And that Dion had taken Arsha as a concubine.
Yet none of those facts had particularly concerned her. After all, though Dion had passed the Disaster Bride’s Groom Selection, he was still not even formally engaged to her. And Arsha’s status as a concubine was obviously for political convenience.
“Arsha, let’s have some cake.”
“Yes, my lord—my husband.”
“Arsha, have a bite too. Aaah.”
“I-I can feed myself just fi—”
“Aaaah.”
“…Aaah.”
Yes, that was what she had thought—right up until she saw Dion and Arsha in person.
Certainly, even in political marriages, it wasn’t unusual for couples to put on an act of marital affection. However, Pandora was convinced that these two were not merely pretending.
The boy happily accepting cake from the dark elf’s fork might not have meant much on its own, but the sight of Arsha, blushing bright red as she took a bite, was undeniably genuine.
“You two seem very affectionate,” Pandora remarked.
“Right? Arsha is so beautiful and cute that I can’t help but adore her.”
“C-Cute, you say? But I’m… I’m really… not that y-young…”
“Well, the way you get flustered when I compliment you is part of your charm.”
Her cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red, as if they might melt entirely. Flustered beyond reason, Arsha covered her face with both hands.
Behind them, a dark elf maid watched the scene unfold with ice-cold eyes, while her mother—currently seated on Dion’s lap—flushed an even deeper shade of crimson, her pointed ears trembling.
Meanwhile, Pandora nodded quietly.
“To be frank, I was a little concerned, but it seems that worry was unfounded.”
“Concerned about what?” Dion asked.
“I was wondering when Arsha might bear you a child, my lord.”
He stared at her, shocked.
“The more heirs, the better. I wish you both the best of luck every night.”
“L-Luck every… night?!”
Startled, Arsha tried to spring to her feet, but Dion’s arm was still wrapped around her waist, holding her in place. Instead of escaping, she only ended up pressed even closer against him. Resigned to remaining in his arms, she spoke in a desperate tone.
“I’m not sure what sort of misunderstanding you have, but my husband and I aren’t… that kind of couple yet.”
“You’re saying that despite being so close, you haven’t yet spent a night together?”
“W-Well…”
“No, not yet,” Dion answered calmly.
Arsha, clinging to him the way she was, hardly made her denial convincing. Taking her place, Dion continued.
“I mean, sure, I’d love to have some intimate time with Arsha, but it’s just not the right time.”
“The right time?”
“Arsha is not only my concubine but also the manor’s acting magistrate. If she became pregnant too soon, it’d be a problem.”
“I see. That makes sense.”
Whether they were dark elves of House Unlicht or actual fae folk, both races had low birthrates—one could never predict when a child might be conceived. While securing heirs was important for the future, allowing the estate’s affairs to grind to a halt now would be putting the cart before the horse.
“Then you should hurry and take a second concubine.”
“Huh?”
“I suggest finding someone from a somewhat more reputable house to take as another wife.”
“Hmm…?”
Arsha looked puzzled by Pandora's recommendation that her prospective groom take another bride so soon. Dion, meanwhile, accepted another bite of cake from Arsha and asked directly, “Do I have any reason to rush that?”
“So that if something goes wrong with this territory, you’ll have an excuse to run away.”
“Something goes wrong… with the manor? Why?”
Pandora didn’t answer immediately. She simply gazed at the boy with her eyepatch-covered stare before asking quietly, “How much do you know about the Unnatural City?”
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Translator: Regressed Translator
Editor: leef
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The Unnatural City.
It was home to orcs, goblins, kobolds, and other demihumans with high fertility rates. Its population was especially large among the Centuriate Cities.
Most were of the lower races, but their sheer numbers were a power in and of themselves. Even if ten thousand died in a year, twenty thousand more were born. Their birth rate was terrifying.
The problem was that, due to their rapidly growing population, they faced a persistent shortage of resources and food. Most of them were perpetually hungry.
Therefore, the city’s inhabitants had only a few paths to survive:
Awaken.
Sell their lives for pennies.
Enter a labyrinth and likely die.
Or...
“Steal from others?”
“Precisely.”
“...The Unnatural City is notorious for its many bandits.”
Arsha calmly responded to Dion’s words, and Pandora continued.
“The real issue is that many of those bandits have likely set their sights on the Sleeping Dragon Manor.”
“They have? On our estate?”
“From their point of view, it must look like easy pickings.”
Because there were so many raiders, most small-to-mid-sized domains around the Unnatural City ensured their defenses were robust. But the Sleeping Dragon Manor didn’t even have proper sentries. To bandits, it was a mouthwatering target.
Hearing Pandora’s explanation, Dion looked intrigued.
“So you’re saying I should run away to avoid these bandits?”
“Of course, you could handle a raid or two on your own, my lord. But…”
“Numbers are the problem.”
“No matter how strong one hand is, it can’t hold back ten.”
Sure, most of those bandits would be starving commoners, and even if some were awakened, they’d be no match for Dion, who had passed the Groom Selection.
But the manor would inevitably be battered and frayed if they kept coming in endless waves. Eventually, not only the territory’s people but Dion himself could be in danger.
Pandora spoke in a matter-of-fact tone. Dion narrowed his eyes.
“That’s why you suggested I find another concubine?”
“If you return to the bride’s family for a wedding or childrearing, you’ll avoid the stigma of having fled your domain.”
“Hmm, I see.”
Dion tilted his head slightly, then glanced at Arsha on his lap, then to the dark elf mother and daughter standing behind him.
“What do you two think?”
“What do you mean? You need to start preparing to defend the manor right away.”
“We should bolster our defenses and prepare our people accordingly.”
“Right, that’s the way to go.”
Perhaps because the dark elves no longer had anywhere to return after defying Little Magic City—or because Dion himself, embroiled in a succession competition, couldn’t afford to abandon his domain—either way, the mother and daughter were more than eager to stand and fight.
At that, Pandora offered a sober piece of advice.
“If you’re thinking of hiring mercenaries, don’t. That’s like inviting a wolf into the nest.”
Mercenary work was almost as popular as banditry in the Unnatural City, so their fees were cheap. But they were half-bandits themselves. When they had no contracts, they survived by raiding. They'd betray their client if they saw a profit in it.
Hiring mercenaries to fight off bandits was a perfect recipe for a backstab—especially for a small territory like the Sleeping Dragon Manor, which lacked its own troops.
“No worries. We don’t have to hire mercenaries to handle bandits.”
“…Is that so?”
Pandora couldn’t imagine how Dion planned to defend his domain with so few soldiers. While she puzzled over what kind of confidence he might possess, Dion suddenly picked up a fork as if something came to mind.
Then, he stabbed it into the slice of cake in front of Pandora, who had yet to take a bite, and held it out to her.
“Here, have some.”
“And this is what, exactly...?”
“Just a small thank you for going out of your way to warn me.”
She eyed the cake he offered, looking none too thrilled. But before she could properly refuse...
“I’m fine, really—mmph.”
“No need to turn it down. Our slave-baked cake is pretty tasty.”
The moment she opened her mouth to decline, Dion pressed the forkful of cake in.
Surprised, Pandora instinctively reached out to grab his arm—but abruptly froze, seeing her own bare hand extend toward him.
Feeling torn, she ultimately surrendered and started chewing, believing that the faster she ate, the faster she’d escape this forced feeding.
Still, her inexperience made it hard to catch everything. Crumbs slipped from her mouth, and cream smeared her lips and cheek. Then, by the pull of gravity, they fell… onto a certain conspicuously white, soft swell of flesh protruding from the open neckline of her simple white dress.
At the sight of that, the tall dark elf, who had been watching Pandora in solidarity just moments ago, stood gaping, while the maid’s face somehow grew even more expressionless.
As for the young man behind this situation, he reached out without a second thought.
Swoosh.
“Oops, can’t let it drip.”
Pandora stiffened. Since she couldn’t use her bare hands, she had no choice but to swallow the cake obediently. Yet, all that effort was for nothing as a warm finger unhesitatingly brushed the frosting from her skin.
She froze, aghast at the sudden touch. Then, in the next instant, she saw Dion lift that frosting-smeared fingertip to his lips.
Lick.
She remained frozen, shocked at his actions.
“Would be a shame to waste it. It’s really good cake.”
Her one visible eye threatened to pop from its socket. The cursed witch was stunned into immobility as she watched the red tongue slide over his finger, licking away the stray frosting.
Behind her, the Dark Elf mother and daughter watched, thinking the same thing. We have to do something about this shameless little husband before things spiral out of hand…
“That’s too bad. She didn’t need to flee in such a hurry.”
“Do you really not understand why she ran?”
“Huh? Reason?”
“…Forget it. If you’re really that clueless, then just stay that way.”
Parsha gave Dion a look fit for a bug. If he’d done it on purpose, at least she could treat him with contempt. But the fact that he genuinely didn’t know was even more exasperating.
While Arsha felt her daughter’s accusatory gaze, wondering how on earth she had raised this "husband," the dark elf maid pretended not to notice and spoke up.
“In any case, I never knew the Disaster Bride was so kindhearted.”
“Hmm, you think so?”
“She traveled all this way to warn a man who took her territory, even before they got married.”
As if to say, Isn’t it obvious?, Parsha’s tone was cold. However, it was Arsha, not Dion, who retorted.
“Parsha, do you really think Pandora’s warning was purely out of goodwill?”
“What do you mean?”
“Who stands to gain most if the young lord—my husband—runs away from this estate?”
Parsha’s face stiffened. As a dark elf maid who had served in the Unlicht family for over ten years, she quickly grasped the complex tangle of interests at play. And if her suspicions were correct…
“Please be careful.”
“She’s a master strategist and possibly an even more dangerous hypocrite,” Arsha warned, her voice lowering. “One does not become a Master of Malice in the Eight Renowned and Six Malevolents for nothing.”
Hearing her mother’s words—spoken not as the estate’s deputy or a lord’s concubine, but as a mother—Parsha fell silent.
Then, the boy, who had been happily polishing off the remainder of Pandora’s cake, murmured, “Who knows about that?”
“Are you disagreeing with my guess?”
“No, you’re right. I only meant that there’s probably much more involved in Pandora’s warning.”
Parsha frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She’s far more dangerous, and far more entertaining, than you think.”
Why he equated dangerous with entertaining, they had no idea. The longer they knew him, the more incomprehensible their Young Master became.
Neither mother nor daughter could hide their perplexed expressions as Dion casually set down his fork.
“How many do you think will come?”
“If Lady Pandora’s right, we’re talking about more than just a few dozen.”
“And not just the dregs. Some real threats might be after our territory.”
“Yeah, most likely.”
Dion let out a small chuckle.
If any other lord heard that the denizens of the Unnatural City preyed on defenseless estates for an easy meal, they would have fled without question. The fact that Pandora had offered her warning in such a roundabout way was part of why Arsha suspected her of hypocrisy.
“I wonder if Pandora realizes she’s hardly in a position to worry about others.”
Parsha narrowed her eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Actually, maybe she knows it too well. That’s the real problem.”
“It’s nothing major.”
Remembering a question he hadn’t been able to ask Pandora before she left, Dion chuckled. He glanced at Parsha, who looked doubtful, and Arsha, who appeared equally puzzled, then continued in a relaxed tone.
“I’m saying the Cortel family will fall within a year anyway.”
Parsha stiffened.
“Well, that’s not really our concern right now.”
Whether the lord of Fallen Wolf City was alive or dead mattered less than getting ready for the incoming bandits.
Satisfied with that thought, Dion smacked his lips as if recalling something.
“Oh, and could you gather ‘the kids’?”
“You mean the slaves?”
“Yep.”
He broke into a broad smile.
“They’ve fallen behind schedule, so I’ll have to carry them for a few days myself.”
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