The Predator's Contract Partner

A vast decorative silver table had sprinkled diamond dust on its rim. The top of the table was covered with silk cloth. It was not the endless amount of food that took center stage on the infinitely large table, but the dead dragon’s head with its long tongue stretched out.

Colorful flowers bedecked the dragon’s head. It was a bizarre and grotesque sight. Against that backdrop, Lucerne was quietly drinking tea.

“My grandfather is not coming. I’m going to the room.”

“Please wait. He’ll be ready in a minute—”

The butler was startled and tried to dissuade him.

Ready? It was a strange word. Lucerne’s forehead frowned for a moment when the door opened. Women in colorful dresses entered the room.

“What is this? “

“That’s……”

The butler whispered to Lucerne’s ear with a troubled face.

“They are all fallen aristocrats, who are above a certain level of rank, but also poor……they are women who have no relatives, so they’re going to inherit their titles.”

“You haven’t given up yet. What an absurd predicament is this.”

Anger flowed from Lucerne’s eyes. The women flinched at the astonishing furious energy coming off of him.

But they did not leave and stood firm. Marriage with the Empire’s most beautiful general was too good of a hope for fallen nobility.

“Go, leave the room.”

When Lucerne’s expression became unusual, the butler momentarily drove them away.

“What did my grandfather say?”

“He said ‘in the name of a hereditary peerage,’ this is absolutely necessary for you to be a real aristocrat.”

“And?”

Lucerne growled.

“Isn’t it a waste to give all the land you’ve taken away.…”

“Ha.”

Lucerne laughed; he was a general, but status-wise he was a knight. Even if he had a child, he could only pass on his knighthood to his children.

That was his limit as an illegitimate child; knights couldn’t own an estate. However, the story would change if he married a woman with a title and became a son-in-law of the family.

The son-in-law could inherit the title until a son was born between the two. There were many things you could do if you became an aristocrat with a manor and a hereditary title, although temporarily. It was also possible to take over another lord’s territory in war.

“Why do you keep trying? I don’t desire much within or outside this family, right?”

The butler dropped his eyes, unable to say anything.

‘You speak such things with insatiable eyes.’

“Yes, I’ll find each and every one of their faults by myself. Or should I do it since the butler knows?”

asked Lucerne, caressing the sword like a hawk. The butler closed his eyes tightly and raised his head.

“Next time, I’ll make sure to give you a list and make sure you are served by those you take favor to.”

Lucerne lifted his head,

“If I may say something presumptuous, sir? Just bring in any woman and marry her. If you become a real aristocrat, you’ll have more advantages.”

“……”

“Please just bow to the Lord a little.”

Lucerne laughed.

“Butler. Bowing is something that only those of non-Cartier stock enjoy. It’s not my family, but that is one thing I know for certain.”

***

The night came without fail.

Elisha was sitting on a narrow bed, looking at the crimson cape on her lap. All of ‘the collaterals’ or indentured servants used one room. Now there were only three young women left, including Elisha. There were many people in this room but only one candle to light their night.

‘He is still the same dangerous man.’

Elisha stroked the cape.

‘Lucerne de Kayas.’

Elisha, who worked with Jacob’s spies, knew all about Lucerne.

‘The Great General, the hero of the Empire. The Duke’s youngest grandson……. the only descendant to have had the coveted special abilities passed down in the ducal house.’

According to the hereditary laws of the Empire, if the mother was low born, the child also took after her status. Lucerne’s mother was poor and already passed away, so Lucerne should have never been a threat even if she had awoken from the dead.

Additionally, Lucerne’s father was the youngest son of the current Duke, and died as soon as he was born.

And in spite of his status as an illegitimate child, orphan, and commoner, Lucerne’s brilliance and the fact that he was the most accomplished individual in the ducal house could not even be dismissed.

If that wasn’t enough, he had inherited the mythical serpent-like red eyes that proudly displayed the Cartier’s snake origins.

It indicated that the child born to a low-born possessed the special powers of the Cartier family. When his powers had manifested, they said that even the Overlord, who had neither tears nor blood, felt lacking and hit the ground.

‘Also known as the crazy psycho devil in war.’

Lucerne was first sent to the battlefield when he was thirteen. It was a place he was sent to die—preferably chopped into pieces.

But somehow, by some miracle, with only 15 soldiers under his command, he had won great victories. A forest overran with vicious monsters had been cleared, and two villages were liberated from enemy encampments. News of his exceptional triumphs spread like wildfire throughout the Empire, thoroughly shocking the populace and turning society upside down.

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Even now, years later, it was still being talked about.

The next year. The Duke sent him back to the front line. He came back victorious again; then he was sent abroad, and then…….

He started off as a knight, but now at the age of twenty-five, he was the High General who presided over all the troops of the Empire. It was all accomplished without the help of the Cartier family.

So he was called by two names.

The first wass ‘High General.’ The second one was ‘Kayas,’ but not ‘Cartier.’