Chapter 131: Know Thyself, Know Thy Enemy
Chapter 131: Know Thyself, Know Thy Enemy
Finally, after two long years, the flag finally came!
In the study room of the Ascart House, Roel touched the very same table he sat before three years ago, when he first regained the memories of his previous life. Back then, the younger Roel browsed through the records anxiously, only to tremble in fright at the presence of familiar names.
Following that, he encountered flag after flag, most notably Alicia and Nora. He had met his fair share of dangers and threats together with them along the way, but he successfully resolved all of them. Now, he was certain that the two of them were definitely on his side.
The Ascart Fiefdom had also walked on a path of steady development under his governance, so the chances of the Ascart House declining were likely to be greatly reduced with this.
As for the 500,000 gold coins debt he owed to the System, he had repaid 150,000 gold coins thus far. As for the remaining 350,000 gold coins, judging from the current rate of growth in the fiefdom, he was confident that he would be able to repay it in time.
All of the challenges he had faced thus far had been resolved. It was time to turn his attention to the ones ahead of him.
Charlotte Sorofya, this person was Roel’s next death flag.
To be honest, Roel didn’t have as deep of an understanding of Charlotte as compared to Nora, as he had never gotten to play Charlotte’s route before. However, based on the various clues he had gathered from the storyline, he was still able to figure out some of the unique traits that Charlotte had.
First, just like the other capture targets, she was extremely good-looking too. Nothing more had to be said about this.
Second, she tended to be cold to those she was unfamiliar with, showing an almost complete lack of interest.
Third, she possessed many talents, one could even say that she was a model noblewoman. However, just because she was skilled in many fields didn’t mean that she was weaker as a transcendent.
Fourth, the spells she specialized in were a little peculiar, in the sense that they needed money or gemstones as mediums in order to activate. It was the literal interpretation of the saying, ‘money is power’.
Fifth, she was a very filial daughter, and she had a good relationship with her father. However, her family situation was much more complicated due to the massive size of the Sorofya House.
It took Roel a while before he was able to squeeze out everything that he knew about Charlotte thus far. He gave it some thought, and in the end, he still thought that the best way to pluck out the death flag was to raise Charlotte’s favorability with him. After all, that was how he was able to win Alicia and Nora over too.
Roel did consider whether he could simply avoid Charlotte, but he immediately rejected the notion. He tried to do that with Nora, only to fail tragically. Besides, Charlotte was somewhat his fiancée at the moment, and the Sorofyas would take it as an insult if he were to avoid her.
To be honest, Roel was feeling a little uneasy about all of this because he felt that it could lead to many complications if he failed to resolve it well. Back then, when Carter informed Roel of the matter at the banquet, both Nora and Alicia reacted explosively to the news. The former displayed a rare breach of etiquette for a moment there, whereas the latter tugged on Roel’s sleeves meekly as her eyes brimmed with tears.
It was clear that the two of them opposed Roel and Charlotte getting on close terms with one another, and it would be unwise if he were to accidentally plant two death flags back in while rooting out one. He wouldn’t want to incur either Alicia or Nora’s hatred because he had neglected them, or else he might just end up getting stabbed in the back while walking through an alley one day!
For the time being, he felt that he should first work on placating Nora and Alicia. Hopefully, that would reduce any adverse side effects from this fiancée matter.
Also, it would be best if he could annul this engagement. He didn’t think that it was likely for Charlotte to have positive feelings for him. In the game, Charlotte treated him extremely coldly, and she had once told the main character that she wasn’t fond of him. Even though she didn’t make a move against Roel when he was being lynched by the main character and the female capture targets, she didn’t show much sympathy for him either.
Just think about it. Which young lady would be pleased to learn that she had been engaged to a man whom she hardly knew at all? Most likely, Charlotte was just trying her best to put up with the engagement for the interests of her house.
Thinking back to it, the Roel in the game must not have annulled the engagement, perhaps using it to blackmail Charlotte even.
In other words, if Roel could work together with Charlotte to annul the engagement contract here, he would be able to return her freedom while winning a lot of Affection Points for himself. That would be the perfect ending!
But while uprooting death flags was important, Roel felt that he should think in the long-term here. There was a lot more he could get out of this situation if he moved correctly. For one, the Ascarts would become much stronger if he could make an ally out of the Sorofyas.
Charlotte was a person who truly cared for the Sorofya House, so there was meaning in trying to build close relations with her kin too. Considering that the Sorofyas were intending to pursue a bond of marriage with the Ascarts, it was likely that Charlotte would try her best to tolerate Roel no matter how much she disliked him.
So, if Roel could use this ‘honeymoon period’ to his advantage, he could potentially achieve a lot of things!
Roel had done quite a lot over the last two years in order to prevent the decline of the Ascart House. The southern mountainous regions of the Ascart Fiefdom had become much more developed and prosperous than before, and this could be seen by the greater volume of merchants traveling to and fro in the area.
However, there was one place Roel was having trouble developing, and that was the Worun Mountain Range, which extended from the south of the Ascart Fiefdom into the Rosa Merchant Confederacy’s territory.
The Worun Mountain Range spanned huge swathes of land, boasting an abundance of resources waiting to be uncovered. Roel deeply believed that there were many treasures lying in there. However, it had never been properly developed before.
Roel had sent a formal collaborative development proposal to Rosa regarding that matter. By making the Sorofyas a collaborator, he would be able to avoid any territorial disputes in the future, share the risks with them, and increase the chances of a successful development through tapping into the strengths of the two houses.
At the same time, this collaboration could lay the groundwork to building up a symbiotic relationship between the Ascart Fiefdom and the Rosa Merchant Confederacy, which was certain to pay back great dividends thereafter.
Very good, I think we’re all set. No matter how I look at it, the chances of things falling through are almost zero..
In order to leave a good impression with Charlotte, Roel decided to go all out. He made sure to prepare everything thoroughly, from coming up with a wet-weather plan to vetting through the details of the plans. He was determined to ensure that everything was in order.
One particular detail that he was concerned with was his attire. The person he was going to meet was known as a fashion icon, so it would be best for him to be dressed at least not too unfashionably. Considering that the Ascarts had their roots in the military, Roel opted to have a smart military-style suit tailored for him. As for the tailor, he sought the aid of the retired great designer of the Sorofyas, Kyde, who happened to be Charlotte’s fashion teacher too.
Surely Charlotte, no matter how picky she was, wouldn’t question the taste of the person who had taught her fashion, right?
As for the interior design, the Ascart House had decided to abandon the extravagant theme to go with a more historical, classy feel.
There was no other choice. No one could possibly beat the Sorofyas when it came to money, so it would be wiser for the Ascarts to flaunt their history instead. The Ascarts were, after all, a noble house with more than a thousand-year history behind it, so its collection of antiques was something any collector would be amazed by.
In any case, if they wanted to build a close relationship with the Sorofyas, they had to make themselves appear up to par as well. True friendship could only be built in an equal relationship.
To summarize, Roel’s goal was to go along with Charlotte’s wish to annul the engagement while maintaining a good working and personal relationship with her and the Sorofyas.
Having decided on a plan, he felt much more assured than before. However, what he didn’t know was that there were two other girls putting together an entirely different plan from the shadows.