Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 84

“Logan McLaine. Pleased to meet you, Count.”

“Haha. Just as I’d heard, a fine young man. Yes, please sit down.”

Count Roberts Floyd, a man with blond hair and a strong jaw, greeted Logan with a bright smile.

Logan felt the Count’s eyes on him, looking him up and down. But the friendly look in the Count’s eyes made him feel more comfortable.

Logan bowed slightly and sat in the chair across from the Count, as he was asked.

“So, you’re leaving the capital right away?”

“Yes. I need to return now. My business is finished, and I’ve left my lands alone for too long.”

“Indeed. I suppose so. The lands are important, after all….”

Count Floyd stopped talking, his face showing he was thinking hard.

“And….”

“Yes?”

“Let me be honest. What do you like so much about my daughter?”

The question came suddenly, without any warning.

Luckily, Logan had expected this question. He quickly gave his prepared answer.

“She is beautiful and very thoughtful. And her swordsmanship is more impressive than I imagined. She is exactly the type of woman I like.”

He had made up an ideal type that didn’t exist. But he was sure his face and voice were perfect, just as he had practiced.

“Swordsmanship…? Oh, well. Yes, my girl is pretty enough. Heh heh.”

The Count must have misheard something.

Logan spoke again, seeing the doubt on the Count’s face.

“Lady Aileen is a very charming woman. I was especially impressed by how hard she has trained in swordsmanship, especially for a woman.”

This was all part of Logan’s plan, but the Count didn’t seem very interested.

“Are you serious, young man?”

“Yes. Is there something wrong with that?”

“Ah, no. Not at all. Ahem. Is that so……. Heh heh.”

The Count chuckled awkwardly.

“It would be a waste of her talent to leave her as just a lady.”

Logan’s next words made the Count’s face tighten slightly.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I came here not only to talk about marriage with Lady Aileen, but also to talk about her future with you, Your Excellency, for her sake.”

“Aileen’s future? Why, once she is married….”

“I am talking about Aileen Floyd’s future as a person, not just as my wife, Your Excellency.”

“You speak strangely. What on earth….”

The Count was confused by this unexpected turn of events.

Knock, knock.

“Father. It’s Aileen.”

A voice came from outside the drawing room.

The Count looked at Logan before answering.

“Ah, yes. Come in, dear.”

Creak!

The door, decorated with elegant carvings, opened. Aileen stood there in a plain grey martial uniform.

“Aileen! At a time like this…….”

“Lady Aileen. It has been too long. You look as beautiful as ever.”

“Wh-what are you… uh… ahem, cough?”

The Count, who was about to scold his daughter, stopped awkwardly.

“You flatter me, Lord Logan. It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

The Count watched the two young people smile at each other. He had a complicated look on his face before finally sitting back down.

“Well, my girl is pretty even when she dresses like that. But when she dresses up nicely, she’s even more….”

“Father. I have something to say.”

“Ah, I was already hearing it from Lord Logan. It’s a big decision for the family, but if you two like each other and want to get married, I agree. Finally, a nobleman has appeared who sees how charming my daughter is….”

The Count saw his daughter’s face was serious, and he felt worried. He quickly tried to smooth things over.

“Before I am Lord Logan’s fiancée, I want to go to the McLaine territory as a knight. I hope you will allow it.”

His daughter, her face set, said the words that shocked him.

“Wh-what are you saying! Lord Logan, please don’t take her seriously; she’s just talking nonsense. S-she’s just dreaming….”

“I agree to it.”

“What?”

The Count, who had been trying to defend his daughter, was surprised that someone else agreed with her.

“As I said, Lady Aileen’s talents are too precious to waste just because she is a woman. As her fiancé, and as a fellow knight, I want to support her dreams.”

“W-what is going on here……?”

The Count frowned, looking back and forth between his daughter and his future son-in-law.

“Father, please allow it. With Lord Logan, I can have both the future you want for me and the future I want for myself.”

His daughter’s repeated requests made him focus again.

However, the emotion in his eyes was not a good one.

“What nonsense is this?! A knight? You want to be a knight?! If I knew you were going to say such rubbish, I would never have let that… that man into my house!”

The Count roared, pointing a finger at Logan.

His face was now bright red, and his friendly smile was completely gone, replaced by a look of fury.

But this reaction was expected, and it didn’t bother the two young people in front of him.

“Count, Lady Aileen has talent. More talent than anyone else. And she wants to use that talent. Don’t you want your daughter to be happy? If so, please allow it. I will cherish her and stand by her.”

“Happiness? Happineeeesss!? Don’t even dream of it!! And besides, not my daughter! How dare you try to make my daughter do such a gruesome thing!”

“Excuse me?”

“Fath……er?”

A gruesome thing?

The two were speechless at the absurd words from the Count, who was shaking with rage.

“She lost her mother at a young age, and she swung a sword to forget her grief!”

Huh……?

“Swordsmanship is just her way of dealing with her emotions! Are you telling me to make such a delicate and innocent child into a knight who kills people just because she has some talent?! I will never allow it!”

Knights don’t just kill people…….

No, wait, delicate? Innocent? Who?

‘Her story is sad, but she relieves stress by hacking away with a sword already….’

Many thoughts went through Logan’s mind, but he couldn’t speak.

The deep love in his shouting voice made him hesitate.

Aileen looked at her father with pity as she listened to him shout.

Her father was also a powerful nobleman with a knight order under his command.

He knew the value of his daughter’s talent, who had awakened her Force at the young age of twelve.

– If only you had been a son…….

That was why he felt sorry, and that was why he was even more against Aileen taking up the sword.

– No man wants a woman stronger than himself. Daughter, I want you to find happiness as a woman. Like your mother.

She understood his feelings, but she couldn’t accept them.

– My daughter. Don’t live a frustrating life like your mother; live freely. Make sure you do everything you want to do, okay? Promise!!

Even if it was to fulfill the last words of someone she loved, words she could not say to her father.

So Aileen stepped forward.

“Father, then should I not get married?”

“What?”

“Should I give up on the marriage offers and just stay home swinging my sword?”

“No, that’s not what I meant, it’s just that you said you were going to be a knight…….”

His daughter’s voice was cold.

The Count flinched at the sound of her voice.

“At a meeting that Father made me attend to find a husband, I met a man who truly understands me. That’s why I said I would get married, but now you’re against it?”

“Ah, no. It’s not the marriage that’s the problem, it’s just that you said you were going to be a knight. A woman should find a woman’s happiness…….”

“Then what!! What on earth is that damned ‘woman’s happiness’ supposed to be!!”

Aileen’s shout filled the room, and for a moment, it was silent.

Logan hid his arms behind his back, feeling a chill. He glanced at the Count.

Such a delicate and innocent daughter, Your Excellency. Yes. Haha.

“Why, it’s marrying well and following her husband’s wishes…….”

The Count was scared by his daughter’s strong will. He tried to argue, but he knew he would lose.

“Then get married! Do what your husband says! You wouldn’t want to be a knight then, would you? Right?”

“…Huh?”

“Lord Logan, should we just forget the engagement and get married right away?”

“Daughter! No, no! That’s not what I meant!”

“Or should I not marry? Should I stay here, just practicing with my sword? Will I become an old, unmarried woman who dies in this house, a sword ghost?!”

He had pushed her to marry. But now that she agreed and would do what her husband wanted, he changed his mind.

Her reasons were strong and impossible to argue with. She kept pushing him.

In the end, he had no choice but to surrender.

“Logan McLaine. Student of the Swordmaster, and he will inherit McLaine land. That’s all fine, but my daughter a knight… Grrrr.”

“……”

Unlike before, Logan could find no words under the Count’s fierce glare.

However.

“Father, am I to live here forever?”

Why did his daughter’s words sound so scary? This daughter he loved and raised so carefully, saying she would live with him forever?

He had to accept what his daughter said, even with her cold voice.

“Yes, there won’t be any more. No more…”

“I will do everything I can to make Eilene happy.”

“You must keep that promise, no matter what. If anything should happen to my daughter…”

“Father!”

“…Nothing will happen, I suppose. Grrrr. You must keep your promise.”

“Of course.”

The Count looked confused, looking from Logan to Eilene and back again. He shook his head.

His face seemed to have aged ten years in that instant.

But more was coming.

“You’re taking her right away? Even tomorrow?!”

“Yes. I think it’s better to do these things quickly.”

“Father, I would like that as well.”

“…Daughter. Why, why are you in such a hurry?! There’s no need to rush, is there?”

“I think it’s better to act the moment a decision is made. If I hesitate, you’ll try to stop me again, won’t you?”

The Count looked like she had hit him where it hurt. He jumped back, then stared at his daughter in silence for a long time.

His face looked like he was about to cry, but when he looked at Logan, it changed. It became angry and scary.

Logan stepped back a little because of the Count’s angry look.

The Count hesitated, like he wanted to say something, but he just sighed sadly.

“Hoo. Well, it can’t be helped. It can’t be helped. If that’s what you want…”

“Father…”

“Then, at least, we should have a small party, just us.”

“…Pardon?”

“My future son-in-law is here, and my daughter is leaving for his home. As her father, I can’t just let her go with nothing.”

“Lord Count, you really don’t need to do that…”

Logan tried to stop him, but he stopped talking when he saw the Count’s angry eyes. They looked like they were spitting fire.

And then.

“Okay then! It’s a good day, a good day! Let’s have fun. Make a big meal! Tell the chef to make their best food! And Eilene’s favorite dishes! So she will want to come back often, even just to eat! No, wait. I should check on it myself.”

The Count stood up quickly and hurried out of the room. He looked up at the ceiling for some reason.

“A good day, a good day! Well then!”

Was Logan imagining it, or did the Count sound like he was about to cry, even though he was trying to sound happy?

‘Something…’

Logan’s face showed a slight change.

‘I feel like I’ve become a terrible villain.’

Logan felt it was unfair, like he had stolen something.

The next day.

“I’m leaving now, Father.”

“Eilene, take care of yourself.”

“You’re acting like you’re sending off someone who’s never coming back. I’ll be back.”

“I know. I know, but…”

The Count held Eilene’s hand tightly and kept telling her his worries.

“…Yes, yes. I understand. We’ll be going now.”

“And another thing…”

“Please, that’s enough.”

“……”

After saying goodbye to Eilene for a long time, the Count walked to Logan and put his hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. I will look after her well…”

“If you touch her before the wedding, I will cut your throat.”

“……”

“I mean it.”

“…Yes.”

The Count glared at Logan with venomous eyes.

“And if you make my daughter get hurt by making her a knight, I will personally…”

“Father!”

“Grrr. Anyway, take good care of my daughter.”

The Count’s face looked like he was trying not to cry. He patted Logan’s shoulder, then turned away, looking sad.

‘If he felt like this, why did he push her to marry?’

Logan had never been a parent, not in this life or any other. He didn’t understand the Count’s feelings.

“Lady Eilene, congratulations!”

“May you be happy!”

The Count’s servants from Floyd County waved goodbye as the two left. They were doing what the Count wanted.

Eilene had been strong and convinced her father (sort of). But when it was time to go, it was hard for her to leave.

Eilene looked at the mansion for a long time, hesitating. She only said a quick goodbye when the servants started to look worried and kept looking at Logan.

She didn’t look back even once as she walked through the garden to the stables.

“Lady! Slowly! Wait for me! Please!”

Only when she was in the stables and saw the carriage, did Eilene quickly wipe her eyes and lower her head for a moment.

‘The feeling of leaving a home where one has lived their entire life…’

He walked towards her, thinking he should say something to comfort her.

Eilene’s face was red. She sighed and looked right at him.

“Lord Logan.”

Logan flinched at her tearful voice.

‘This is… really troublesome.’

Somehow, we ended up engaged, but I never intended for this kind of relationship…

“You must keep your promise.”

“Pardon?”

Eilene wiped her tears, tightened her jaw, and looked at him with her red eyes.

“I can’t go back now without getting what I want. So you must keep your promise.”

Her voice was shaking, but he could still hear how determined she was.

Logan just stood there, surprised. He felt something in her words, something he didn’t understand.

“Didn’t you hear me?”

Her voice became cold again, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Ah, no. Of course.”

Maybe she is even more amazing than I thought.

Logan smiled naturally and answered quickly.

“Let’s go. I really want to see what McLaine land is like.”

“…You won’t be disappointed.”

Of course not. Absolutely.