Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 7

“No, Lady Riina, we don’t need that. My mind is made up. Logan, the McLaine family’s honor is not for sale.”

“Pardon?” *Why was he saying this?* Logan stared at his father, confused. His father’s face was hard and showed no change.

Next to his father, his stepmother watched with a sneer. The others in the room nodded, agreeing with his father. Logan saw all of this and felt his head spin.

‘Why on earth…?’

Frustration surged, and his chest felt tight.

Noble families sometimes chose honor over money, it was true. But… *This is different! How can we say no to money when our family is so poor?!* Logan clenched his jaw, but his father did not change his mind.

But there was more trouble.

“Why is he acting like this?” someone whispered.

“He’s just angry because Lady Riina left him,” another replied, “He’s like a child throwing a tantrum.”

“But can he really go against what the Baron says?”

“Well, the eldest son has always been a bit…”

Almost everyone in the room was whispering about him, saying bad things. Riina looked at him, pretending to be sorry, but it was like the smile of someone who had won and knew it would happen.

It was only then, after seeing and hearing everything, that Logan understood he had been too relaxed about what was happening.

*I was wrong. I thought I could change the family by making them like me?* How long would that take? Slowly trying to become someone they would accept? *We’ll all be ruined if I do that.* A cold feeling went through him. The domain war was only nine months away.

*We have to lose some things.* Saving the family was the only thing that mattered, whatever it cost. First, he needed to get power on his own, without relying on the family. He set his jaw and spoke.

“Lady Riina, if that’s how it is, then *I* was hurt most by this broken engagement. So, even if my family doesn’t want it, I ask that *I* get the money for myself.”

“Logan!!” Patrick roared. The sound was so loud it shook the room. A strong feeling, like a wave of heat, rushed from behind him. Logan gasped. *Ugh!* Inside him, the Force Core gave him strength. He straightened his legs, which were about to give way.

This power came from the Divine Sword’s secrets, but it was still weak. It was nothing compared to a strong knight. But it was enough to stop him from being scared by just threats, if not real attacks.

“Words are not enough to make things right!”

“What?!”

“If honor can be fixed with just words that disappear, then honor must not be worth much.”

“…Are you really going against what I want?” Patrick looked at his son, his face hard to read. Was he surprised that Logan was fighting back after feeling his power? Or was he just angry?

“Because I was the one hurt most by the broken engagement, I have the right to ask for this.”

“The Wolves family wants to do what Baron Patrick McLaine, head of the McLaine family, decides. What do you say, Baron Patrick McLaine?” Riina spoke, seeing that things were getting strange.

It sounded like she might agree with Logan, but really, she was telling his father to act like the head of the family. *She wants him to protect his honor as the family leader.* Logan looked at her angrily again.

Then, Patrick, who had been thinking hard with a frown, spoke slowly, his face serious. “…As the head of the McLaine family, I am okay with just a sincere apology. But, it’s up to Logan, since he’s the one most affected, to decide if the apology is real enough.”

“Father!”

“My Lord?” People started whispering loudly. The hall became noisy. It was such a surprise answer. When she heard this, Riina’s face, which had looked a little sorry, changed for a moment.

When the loud noise in the room died down, Patrick went on. “But think hard, Logan. If you take money for your hurt honor, it will look like your honor can be bought.”

Patrick thought that if Logan had really changed, he would do the ‘right’ thing now. That’s why he was giving him one last chance, even if it made him look weaker as the family head.

But Logan did not change his mind. “Because I was hurt most by the broken engagement, I will take the money from the Wolves family.” When he said that, Patrick’s face became angry, and his stepmother sneered.

*** Surprisingly, Riina paid the huge amount of 3 million gold right away. She didn’t use a bank transfer, but paid with chests full of gold coins. *Thud!* Even Logan, who had asked for the money, was shocked to see the gold coins filling the big chest that came up to his waist.

“…With this, I say that the engagement between the Wolves County and the McLaine Barony is officially broken.”

“I accept.”

Riina turned away after putting down the chest of gold. Her face looked twisted, but she tried not to show it much.

Logan saw her face and knew he had done the right thing. But his father clearly disagreed. “I thought you had changed a little,” his father said, “but you’ve become worse.” *It’s all for the family,* Logan thought. “I must have failed to teach you how important honor is,” his father sighed.

Even with so much gold, more than he had ever seen, his father’s face was sad and bitter as he sighed. Patrick walked out of the hall, and the knights who followed him sneered at Logan. His stepmother smiled happily, like she had won, and went after them.

He now understood exactly what his family thought of his choice. Logan watched them leave, his face showing nothing. He made his decision again, stronger than before. *I don’t care what the family thinks of me. First, I need to win the domain war.* But even as he thought about how to use the money for the war, he felt a heavy sadness inside.

****Bang!* A loud sound came from inside the fancy carriage pulled by four horses.

“Are you okay, Miss?” Rockfern asked. The carriage was quiet for a moment. Then, after a long pause, a voice said, “…I’m fine.”

“Are you angry?”

“What did I do wrong?”

“Sorry?”

“If I had asked for a little too much money, the Baron would have said no, even if just to look good. I knew he would. But…”

“You didn’t think Logan, the eldest son, would act like that.”

“That greedy, money-loving…” *Bang!* Another loud noise. Rockfern didn’t look into the carriage. He just changed the subject.

Liina frowned. “Grand Duke Logan is not what people say, is he?”

Rockfern tilted his head. “You mean… even more greedy than the rumors? Or maybe he just doesn’t care about honor?”

“I don’t know about feelings like that,” Rockfern said in a flat voice. “But I know one thing for sure: the Grand Duke is a Force user.”

Liina’s eyes widened. “…He’s also good at fighting?”

Rockfern nodded firmly. “Yes. And he’s only nineteen. That’s incredibly fast to become so strong.”

“…So, he is not merely a scoundrel as the rumors suggest.”

If he only played around and didn’t work hard, even a genius couldn’t become a Force user.

Especially at the young age of nineteen.

“Yes. That is unlikely. It seems to be just rumors.”

Rockfern tried to comfort Liina by saying that Logan wasn’t an easy opponent, but Liina understood what he was trying to do.

“…Even so, the fact that I lost hasn’t changed.”

“There was no choice. We had to give in, and it was his territory.”

“Enough. Don’t try to comfort me, Rockfern.”

“Now, you don’t need to worry about it, right? Now that the problem is gone, you will marry into a rich family, so what is…?”

“Hmph! That’s only natural. But I will get revenge for this one day, for sure.”

“Your wish will be granted, my lady.”

The fancy four-wheeled carriage quickly left the McLaine territory.

The day after Liina left.

The McLaine family was full of talk about the shocking news of the broken engagement and the rumor that the scoundrel Grand Duke had taken a lot of money from a beautiful woman, even though the Lord said no.

Even though Logan was the one who ended the engagement, people didn’t feel sorry for him. Instead, they said he was heartless.

But Logan couldn’t help but smile, no matter how much people criticized him.

“Finally…”

No matter what others thought, he felt relieved because the worst part was over.

It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from his soul since he came back to the past, making him feel free.

He felt like he could laugh happily all day.

But he couldn’t just be happy. Thinking about the future stopped him from feeling happy.

The idea of making the family stronger to get through the crisis had changed to ‘I have to solve’ the crisis myself, and the weight felt a hundred times heavier.

‘Let’s stay calm. The crisis starts now.’

There were many things he needed to do right away.

He had decided not to care about his reputation in the family, but he had to avoid giving his father a reason to get involved.

He couldn’t cause any more trouble in the family than he already had.

‘So, I need to go outside.’

Logan strengthened his resolve and thought about what he needed to do.

‘First, I put all the money in Coopers Bank.’

Coopers Bank had the most branches in the Grandia Kingdom and the western part of the Empire. It also had a branch in the McLaine territory, which had a lot of debt.

Because of that, when he tried to deposit the money, they asked if he wanted to pay off the loan first.

‘No way.’

He would have done that according to the original plan.

But yesterday’s experience had changed his mind a lot.

‘First, I need to build my own strength separately.’

Besides the fact that he couldn’t talk about what would happen in the future, he felt that he thought too differently from the family’s servants, especially his father.

The thought of changing anything in the family disappeared at that moment.

‘I need to create power from the outside. So, first…’

Knock knock.

While he was thinking and checking his plans, he heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

He thought it would be Rick, but it was a giant he didn’t expect who came into the room.

“Haha. Did you sleep well, Grand Duke?”

“Hmm?”

A middle-aged man with sideburns covering his face and a body bigger than any knight.

The slightly red-faced man greeted him awkwardly as he came in.

“Dwayne?”

“Yes, Your Grace. It is Dwayne.”

Dwayne Pilsner, who looked like a knight, was actually an administrator.

He was also the finance manager in charge of the family’s internal affairs.

He was also the most trusted servant of his father, Patrick McLaine.

That meant they weren’t close enough to smile at each other like that.

As Logan looked at him suspiciously, there was a commotion outside the door.

“Aack! Don’t push me!”

“Hey! I was here first…”

Several familiar faces came in one after another behind Dwayne.

“Greetings to the Grand Duke.”

The bald man with a bright smile was Lugel Hais.

The food manager who used to go out of his way to avoid Logan.

“I offer my greetings to the Grand Duke.”

The chubby man with a friendly smile was Ferran Doyle.

The person in charge of the soldiers’ equipment, who usually didn’t even look Logan in the eye and disappeared after a quick hello.

“Hey, you people. I was here first… Haha, Grand Duke, did you sleep well? Good morning.”

The pot-bellied man wiping sweat was Rupen, the person in charge of the walls of the castle.

As far as Logan remembered, this was the first time they had formally greeted each other.

Besides them, they were all people he often saw in the main house, and they were all people who used to avoid Logan.

“Grand Duke…”

“Greetings…”

Such people were now trying to get his attention. It was a very funny situation for Logan.

It wasn’t hard to guess what was happening.

“…What is all this about?”

Logan hid his smile and asked without showing much feeling.

Dwayne thought, ‘I have to speak well.’

This moment felt like a turning point in Dwayne’s life.

The position of McLaine’s finance administrator was really hard.

If he wasn’t born here and loyal to the Lord, he would have quit right away.

He always had to squeeze the small budget to manage the finances of the whole territory, and he had to beg for money from the Lord’s family to solve the problem.

Being McLaine’s finance administrator was so hard that he sometimes wondered if he was an administrator or a beggar.

But now, if he spoke well, he had a chance to sleep comfortably for at least a few years.

Plus, the other person was just a reckless simpleton.

Thinking that, he felt confident.

“Hahaha. I just came to greet you. I was really impressed by what you did yesterday, Your Grace.”

“Huh?”

“Not giving in to unfair pressure and confidently standing up for yourself. It was truly wonderful, like someone who will inherit the McLaine family.”

Eyes full of admiration and a slyly raised thumb.

Dwayne started his flattery with the best he could think of, but…

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

The simpleton’s reaction was very different from what he expected.