Chapter 149 The Condemnation of Benwood
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The harsh interrogation had finally come to a halt. Several days later, after sundown, Benwood was quietly escorted from the eastern outpost to a secure room deep within the fortress.
”It has been a while, Benwood. You seem to be looking quite well,” said a cool, mocking voice.
Benwood was forced into a seat at the conference table. Across from him, Celestia stood with an ice-cold glare fixed on Benwood’s face.
He ground his teeth and glared back, but he looked anything but well. After days without sleep and brutal questioning, his face had gone pale, and every movement pulled at bruises the recovery potion had failed to heal.
Only Celestia and Benwood were in the room, yet the idea of attacking her never crossed his mind. The woman before him was a famed warrior praised as a savior of the nation, and he was unarmed, exhausted, and barely holding himself upright.
”We have uncovered the identities of our ‘guests,’” Celestia said, watching his face as a thin smirk touched her lips. “One was Prince Stahl’s right-hand man, Gieger of the Hazy Moon.”
Benwood looked at her with open suspicion. Even he knew that man was a monster, and he could not believe Gieger had been captured so easily.
”Yes,” Celestia continued. “If not for the narrow halls of the outpost, he might have slipped away. He wounded several of my best elites, so in the end, I had to draw my own blade.”
”Celestia of the Frozen Blade…” Benwood muttered.
Once again, he was forced to remember that the woman standing before him was a monster in her own right.
”The other two were the court mage Neel, rumored to be Prince Stahl’s paramour, and her top disciple Alan, rumored to be her own paramour,” Celestia said, her face twisting with clear disgust. “What a filthy little web. It makes me want to retch. I assume Gieger was attached to Alan as a bodyguard. Talk about overprotective.”
”What is going to happen to me?” Benwood rasped, his voice shaking.
Gieger and Alan were vital pieces on Prince Stahl’s board. Now that they had been captured, the prince would use any means needed to take them back. Even for Celestia, opposing Prince Stahl—the next in line for the throne—should have been a losing fight. Benwood assumed he might be used as a bargaining chip, but at least his life would be spared.
”Regarding that matter, I have already spoken with Count Lochner,” Celestia replied.
”My father…” Benwood whispered.
For a brief moment, bitter pain crossed his face.
”The count is furious,” Celestia said. “He demanded that I take your head, or else he will disown you entirely. Your noble status is to be stripped.”
”My father and brother cannot read the times at all!” Benwood slammed his hand against the table, letting his rage spill out. “His Majesty the King is bedridden, and I hear he has very little time left! What good does it do to oppose the next king?! If we keep angering him, our house will be ruined!”
”And that is why you chose to stand with a man who assassinated Prince Orveth to steal the succession?” Celestia asked, her voice dropping into a dangerous whisper.
”There is no proof of that!” Benwood shouted.
”His Majesty has stabilized,” Celestia said. “My family stepped in, brought in new doctors, and secured his meals. At present, we are locked in a very tense standoff with Stahl’s faction.”
”What?!” Benwood’s eyes went wide. “Is… is that true?”
”Yes. He cannot stand yet, but his mind is clear. Last night, my father, Count Lochner, and I had a brief audience with him.”
In truth, the meeting had taken place through a text chat on a smartphone she had entrusted to her subordinates, but Celestia had no intention of explaining that to him.
”E-Even so, this momentum cannot be stopped!” Benwood protested, desperate to find his footing. “Prince Stahl will inherit the throne in the end!”
”True, we lack the final proof needed to strip him of his birthright,” Celestia admitted. “But once His Majesty recovers enough to resume his duties, the game changes. Every act of corruption and every abuse of power will be dragged into the light.”
”The prince would never allow that!” Benwood cried, terror tightening around his chest. “You had better return Gieger and Alan unharmed if you know what is good for you! If anything happens to Alan, that vixen1 of a woman will use every means she has to take revenge!”
”Oh, those two? I already disposed of them,” Celestia said.
”Huh?!” Benwood’s breath caught, and for a moment, he could not even blink.
”It was only natural,” Celestia went on, as if she had just mentioned the weather. “Gieger in particular was one of the main pillars of Stahl’s faction, and I suspect he was the executioner who took Prince Orveth’s life. Letting him run around later would be an eyesore, so this was the perfect chance.”
”Are you insane?!” Benwood shrieked as he lurched back. “Trespassing or not, the prince and Neel are going to lose their minds! Especially if you killed her favorite little boy toy2! Neel will use every dark art she knows to take revenge on you!”
Until now, the conflict had been a shadow war of schemes and pressure. If the prince’s inner circle had been executed, that shadow war could turn into a full civil war.
”Moving on,” Celestia said, ignoring his outburst as she returned to the main topic. “As for your fate, your role in smuggling those spies into the keep will be buried. You will face no official punishment for it.”
Benwood assumed she was changing the subject because she knew she had gone too far and wanted to deflect.
”Saving my skin now will not satisfy the prince’s wrath!” Benwood argued, his voice rising in panic. “This will not be like before, when he only tried to trip you up out of spite! He will make up charges and throw you into the deepest—”
”Just listen,” Celestia cut in. “The official record states that the Benwood Squad discovered two suspicious figures believed to be Imperial spies. After a fierce battle, your squad successfully killed the infiltrators. The witnesses who arrived at the scene include myself, Judas, and our subordinates. The heroic Benwood suffered severe injuries during the clash and is now recovering in seclusion. This report has already been sent to the capital.”
”…Huh? Sent?” Benwood muttered.
As the weight of her words sank in, his pupils widened with horror.
”W-Wait a minute!” Cold sweat poured down his face. “That makes it look like I killed them!”
”Precisely,” Celestia said with a wicked smile. “That is what the report says. Honestly, it would be much cleaner for everyone if you died right now, but my family owes your father a debt, so I cannot exactly allow that.”
”D-Do you really think the prince will believe that ridiculous story?!” Benwood stammered. “I know what those two look like!”
”Indeed,” Celestia said with a soft laugh. “If the chance ever comes, feel free to explain it to him yourself. Though I admit, it would be quite a sight to see how many seconds you last before that hysterical, short-tempered shrew burns you alive.”
Celestia let out a dark, cruel laugh. Benwood went pale as he pictured Neel in a rage. She was exactly the sort of monster who would burn him to ash the moment he entered her sight, excuses or not.
And the odds of Prince Stahl believing him were fifty-fifty at best. His father, Count Lochner, was fiercely loyal to the king, so Stahl would likely decide at once that Benwood’s defection had been a planned trap from the start.
”If anyone tries to pick a fight with me, they will first have to explain why their own hidden agents were sneaking into my keep without permission,” Celestia said. “Having you play the middleman makes this very convenient for me.”
”Y-You are out of your mind!” Benwood screamed, gripping his hair. “I am going to be marked for death because of this!”
Worse still, his entire backup plan had shattered. He had meant to wait for Stahl to take the throne, survive the coming purge, and protect the Lochner bloodline, but Celestia had crushed every path he had left.
”Count Lochner has no intention of protecting you anymore, and you certainly will not live long if you leave this fortress,” Celestia said. “Naturally, I have no reason to keep a traitor hanging around my keep either.”
”Gods above… this cannot be happening…” Benwood groaned as despair swallowed him.
Even if the count formally banished him to save face, the outside world would see it as cheap theater arranged in advance. He was completely cornered.
”However, there is one lifeline available to you,” Celestia said. “We spent last night discussing it.”
”…A lifeline?” Benwood asked, glaring at her with deep suspicion.
He knew this woman. Whatever came out of her mouth next was bound to be a nightmare.
”Yes,” Celestia said calmly. “You are going to marry into my family. You will wed my sister.”
”Huh?” Benwood blurted.
He had braced himself for a trap, but this struck from a direction he had not imagined. His mind went blank, and after several long seconds, his thoughts began to turn again with painful slowness.
”Y-You mean… Lady Eleanora?” he asked.
”Do not be ridiculous,” Celestia snapped. “Ellie is a prize—beautiful, popular, and highly sought after. There is no world in which I would throw her away on someone like you. I am talking about my older sister.”
Benwood racked his brain, trying to recall the women of Duke Madberg’s household.
(Her older sister? The one older than Celestia… wait. Oh, no.)
”Y-You cannot mean…!” Benwood’s eyes nearly popped from his skull as pure terror twisted his face. “The ‘Perpetual Spinster’3 Mary?!”
”Oh?” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “I am surprised you have heard of her. She has been away from high society for quite some time.”
He had not merely heard of her. During his days at the military academy two years earlier, the cadets had loved betting on what kind of suicidal fool would ever agree to marry into that terrifying woman’s house. Benwood himself had joined those wagers with great enthusiasm.
The last of the color drained from his face, and a violent shiver ran through his body.
”Heh… heheh…” Celestia chuckled darkly. “You are going to relieve the Madberg family of our greatest toxic asset4. Of course, that assumes she even takes a liking to you.”
”P-Please, wait…” Benwood pleaded as cold sweat streamed down his face.
”Wait for what?” Celestia looked down at him with open cruelty. “Marrying into a ducal house is a blessing, would you not agree? Even if the bride happens to be a man-eating ogre. You have no right to refuse. As a boy born to nobility, you should have been prepared for this kind of arrangement.”
”Just wait a minute, please!!!” Benwood shrieked.
His desperate plea had barely left his throat when the door to the next room slammed open.
”My, you certainly have a lot to say, Celestia. Who exactly are you calling a toxic asset?!” a low, furious voice rang through the chamber.
”Ah, Sister Marida. You were not scheduled to make your grand entrance yet,” Celestia replied, her voice flat as she brushed aside the killing intent rolling over her.
”Shut your mouth!” Marida barked, turning her anger on her sister. “I have been standing out there listening to you throw around words like ‘spinster’ and ‘man-eating ogre’ as if you own the place! An old maid like you has no right to talk down to me!”
A voluptuous, stunningly beautiful woman marched into the room, wrapped in a glamorous gown that looked fit for a royal gala. Rage poured from her with such force that the air itself seemed to tighten.
”Well, since you are already here, we might as well begin. Please, take a seat,” Celestia said, gesturing to the chair across from Benwood.
Marida turned her gaze on him, and a crushing pressure settled over the room. Under that stare, even Prince Stahl suddenly felt like a minor concern. Benwood froze.
”Oh my~? So you are Count Lochner’s boy? Well, aren’t you quite the handsome catch?” Marida purred, her eyes lighting with predatory delight as her tongue slowly slid across her lips.
A hard shiver ran down Benwood’s spine, and goosebumps rose over his skin as he leaned back on instinct.
There was no denying that Marida was beautiful, but she was Celestia’s older sister, which meant she was well past thirty. To a fresh twenty-two-year-old like Benwood, she felt almost ancient. Worse, she had the same sharp, raptor-like eyes that made Celestia so terrifying.
(There is no way. It is impossible. I will not even be able to get it up!)
His mind skipped past the political crisis entirely and went straight to panic over his future performance in the bedroom.
”As you may already know, Benwood, my sister was once married to Viscount Bourdeaux,” Celestia said, ignoring his distress. “However, due to certain… circumstances, she is currently single.”
”Y-Yeah…” Benwood managed, still trembling and sweating.
It had all begun during the total war against the Empire. Thanks to Celestia’s almost unreal performance on the battlefield, the Slaydeal Kingdom had reclaimed a vast stretch of northern land that the Empire had torn away thirty years before.
After seeing the high command’s complete incompetence, Celestia broke away from the main army. Even while being pushed aside for political reasons, she acted as an independent vanguard, gathered abandoned allied remnants, and delivered one impossible victory after another.
Once her unit grew to the size of a full regiment, she launched a daring strike deep into enemy land and captured the supposedly impregnable Galgado Fortress on her own. By cutting the Empire’s supply lines so suddenly, she threw their forces into chaos.
Even while holed up inside the fortress, Celestia seized every chance to launch fierce raids across the Imperial border, and in the end, she forced the Empire to ask for peace.
Viscount Bourdeaux had been only a baron at the time, but after conquering a key city during that campaign, he was granted rule over the territory and raised to the rank of viscount. On top of that, he received the rare honor of taking a daughter of the Ducal House of Madberg as his bride. That daughter was Marida.
The viscount proved skilled at governing the territory, and he quickly rebuilt the war-torn city. However, Marida personally uncovered proof of large-scale tax evasion and treasonous smuggling by the Bourdeaux clan, and without the slightest hesitation, she had the entire family thrown into prison.
Since then, she had ruled the territory with an iron fist and pushed its economy forward at frightening speed.
”I am running the fiefdom all by myself, you see?” Marida cooed in a sugary voice, her eyes fixed on Benwood like a predator studying prey. “But a fragile, helpless woman like me is always looked down on by the other lords. It would be so reassuring to have a dependable partner at my side.”
”Sister, you are delusional,” Celestia said flatly. “Those pathetic lords tremble whenever you so much as glance at them.”
”Silence!” Marida snapped, cutting her off at once.
”After that,” Celestia continued, unbothered, “Sister Marida reclaimed the Madberg surname, saying she refused to carry the name of a criminal house. However, this caused a public headache for the Madberg family. High society now mocks us by claiming the duke’s house simply assassinated the viscount to steal his territory under royal approval.”
”Mary is so deeply misunderstood and heartbroken~” Marida sighed.
”Ugh…” Benwood groaned inwardly.
(That is literally exactly what happened!)
He lacked the suicidal courage needed to say it to her face.
”Once the marriage is finalized, Benwood, you will inherit the title of viscount directly from my sister,” Celestia said. “His Majesty has already given his official approval.”
”Wait, His Majesty did…?” Benwood stammered.
”I have no objections at all,” Marida purred, looking him over with deep satisfaction. “I have taken quite a liking to this little thing.”
”?! P-Please, wait! Lady Marida!” Benwood cried, waving his hands in a panic. “A greenhorn like me is… well, the age gap between us is rather wide—”
”Oh, I do not demand much from a man,” Marida said, cutting him off with a careless wave. “My only requirements are ‘young’ and ‘handsome.’ That is all. As for your personality, I can always beat a proper one into you later.”
”Then it is settled,” Celestia said. “As of today, Benwood, you will take your mother’s maiden name, Reigant. Once the ceremony is complete, you will officially be recognized as Viscount Benwood Reigant. I am sure your mother will be thrilled.”
”Please, just wait…” Benwood whimpered.
”The sooner we hold the wedding, the better, yes?” Marida mused. “Do you think you can wait two weeks? The local merchant guild has been pushing some rather insulting terms lately, so I think I will deploy the military and liquidate them completely. They are a massive group, which makes them useful, but in the long run, it would be much more convenient to dismantle them and raise a loyal local guild from scratch.”
”Calm down, Sister,” Celestia said. “We have guests traveling from afar. With the required announcement period, we need at least three or four months. Out here in the provinces, lords who keep mages capable of teleportation on retainer are rare.”
”Ugh, how tedious,” Marida pouted.
”W-Wait! Please!” Benwood shouted, grasping for any reason that might stop the runaway carriage. “The prince is trying to murder me! I cannot bring that kind of danger to your doorstep, Lady Marida!”
”Oh my~ Are you worried about me? How sweet…” Marida smiled warmly, but in the next instant, her face turned cold enough to freeze the blood. “But you do not need to trouble your pretty little head. If anyone lays a single finger on my husband, I will gladly slice the crown prince’s head off myself. I always hated that little brat anyway.”
The conversation was racing ahead at a terrifying speed, and Benwood had no power to stop it.
”My sister is very dependable,” Celestia said, her lips curving into a sharp, mocking smile. “You can rest easy knowing you are in safe hands, Benwood. Or rather… should I start calling you ‘Brother-in-law’?”
”NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Benwood roared.
His desperate, agonized scream was ignored.
—
Summary:
Moving under secret guard from severe interrogation to a private room, Benwood faces immediate cognitive breakdown as Celestia coolly informs him that his family has abandoned him. Tension mounts when she reveals she has already executed his political lifelines, fabricating an official report that shifts the blame entirely onto him. The trap springs fully when the domineering Marida bursts in to claim him as a handsome, young groom under a absolute forced marriage alliance, leaving Benwood’s ultimate fate hanging on a completely unescapable domestic tyranny.
—
Trivia:
Benwood had a recovery potion used on him prior to the meeting, but it only partially knit his wounds.
Celestia’s secret text-chat audience with the king was conducted entirely via a smartphone given to her subordinates.
Marida’s past territory governance involved arresting her entire former in-law family for high treason and massive tax evasion.
The military academy graduates regularly placed bets on who would end up marrying Marida.
—
Translation Notes:
Notes:
• Benwood – A refined 22-year-old noble and platoon leader of the knightly ranks, this young man is opportunistic and manipulative, having attempted to incite a coup against Celestia. Now politically trapped and forced into a terrifying marriage, he is exhausted and covered in unhealed wounds after days of relentless interrogation, sleep deprivation, and physical violence beneath his polished armor.
• Celestia – Celestia of the Frozen Blade is Slaydeal’s blonde, navy-uniformed Commander-in-Chief and School Committee President. A legendary warrior and national savior, this shrewd strategist combines master intelligence with a sadistic, manipulative composure. Driven by patriotism, she treats politics like chess, negotiates with the king, mentors newcomers, and enforces a terrifying marriage on Benwood.
• Judas – The Vice Commander. A senior officer who attempts to maintain an air of deep contemplation, often nodding sagely even when he hasn’t fully grasped the details of a discussion. He is a loyal, if somewhat out-of-depth, subordinate.
• Marida – The older sister of Celestia and a member of the Ducal House of Madberg who has reclaimed her family name after imprisoning her former husband’s clan for treason. Well past thirty, she is a voluptuous, enchantingly beautiful woman clad in an extravagant, glamorous gala gown with sharp, raptor-like eyes, possessing a dominant, aggressive, and predatory personality that demands a young and handsome husband.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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