CHAPTER II.

"My Lord!?" the now named Leon Fou Bartfor asked in surprise, so he didn't know beforehand? At least he was around her age; she supposed she could have been sent to be the wife of some other baron over 20 years old to make the apology more sincere. She had, however indirectly, endangered a member of the Royal family.

That was more than reason enough for the Crown to gather all the other noble Houses and attack her family, House Redgrave is strong, and they have their own vassals, but against the unified forces of the rest of the kingdom they stood little chance, It was even possible for their own vassals would turn their back on them.

It has happened before, various rebellious Houses simply eradicated by the Crown, and their neighbors would be happy to scavenge anything they left behind. There is a lot to take from her House.

She was to be her family's escape goat, her marriage to a man far below her station would be their way to dissociate her actions be that of her as an individual that did not represent them as a whole.

"I did promise you a Wife suitable to your skill if you won the tourney, boy. Now leave the room and stand guard outside" he ordered calmly and the baron looked like he wanted to protest but obeyed the order anyway.

This was news to Angelica, Not the Tournament, there were so many knights at her father's territory all the time that they tended to become bored without any conflict, the easiest way to entertain them was to have them fight each other, that helped to establish a pecking order that made hierarchy easier to accept. That young man winning had to be a hard pill to swallow for the veteran knights, she had never seen a young knight get past the best sixteen in the tournament, ever.

But still…

The lowest of the low, barely considered a true noble, Barons were worth a Día a dozen.

This time Angélica could not stop the tears, she cried.

"Listen Angie, I'm not doing this to punish you.." Vincent tried to explain.

"No, you are doing this to reward Baron Bartfort!" She spoke with venom in her voice. She knew she was being unreasonable, she lost her value to her family the moment she let her anger manage her, but it wasn't as if she had anything else to lose either.

"You are underestimating your own value, how much I love you, and finally the skills of the young man standing outside" the Duke cut her tirade, with a calm comforting voice "No matter what, you are my beloved daughter" he said with a tenderness she couldn't refute "When the Queen approached us with the engagement proposal, I was happy, it was a wonderful opportunity" he explained "but I still had my reservations, Julius Rapha Holtfort could become any kind of man at that age, and that boy has disappointed me, fooled by a girl like that!" The anger in the Duke's voice was palpable, taking a deep breath he continued "you may be held accountable for the break up in the contract, but the blame it's all on Julius".

That admission did little to comfort Angelica, she was meant to suffer the consequences of her prince's misconduct. "Then, why will I be punished?!"

"As I said before, I'll marry you to the Baron as a reward for him" Angelica's father paused for a second making sure he has all of her attention "not for winning the Tourney but for his overall skill set. You must not know this but Leon Fou Bartfort is the third Son of Balcus Fou Bartfort, his mother is the man's concubine…".

She could only laugh bitterly as she said "So he is illegitimate?" that was the cherry on top wasn't it?!

"... and yet he parted on an adventure some ten or so months ago. Before he could start in the academy, he was forced to go because he needed an escape from a disadvantageous engagement with a woman over fifty, he put his life on the line and succeeded, he was just given his rank after he conquered an undiscovered dungeon, and brought with him a new floating island" the Duke made a pause once again, his daughter was raised on stories of adventurers. Adventurers founded the Kingdom and its roots are the success of said group, she had an admiration for them.

Angelica was impressed, the feat her father just mentioned was supposed to be impossible in modern times, yet the young man outside had managed the impossible, was that the kind of man she would be bonded to?

It was too good to be true, honestly.

"Before this… incident was known to me…" the duke said cautiously "Baron Leon Fou Bartfort approached me with a recommendation letter from his father looking to pledge himself to House Redgrave, with a floating island, an Airship that can only be described as a Lost Item and an armor that fell into that classification as well, in exchange for a wife from our faction" he smiled thinking how wise that movement was considering the alternatives.

Angelica was confused, weren't men expected to enter the academy to look for a bride? Was her future husband too late in having his achievements acknowledged? He couldn't secure entrance to the academy in time?

Probably.

Then he decided to test his luck with House Redgrave?

"Had this not happened I would have probably matched him with Cornelia" he said with a chuckle which earned the blonde girl ire, Cornelia was hers, she has always been her maid and her father planned on just giving her away…

"But to tell you the truth, that felt like a waste after witnessing his talent and grit inside, not his armor, but one we lent him, he is why Robert over there is not at his peak performance today.

Angelica turned her head to look at the grizzly knight and the man nodded his head to confirm that he was hurt because of the young man standing outside. She bobbed her head towards the knight asking for his opinion " How strong is the good Baron?"

Clearing his throat Robert said "I was in the frontlines in the last war with the principality, I saw what the Black knight can do in a battle, I would have died to his sword if not for the Masked knight, when I dueled Lord Bartfort I saw someone who could match the Masked Knight who stopped Vandel Him Zenden!"

Angelica felt a shiver in her spine, the Black Knight of the Principality was used by parents in the kingdom to scare their children, and she was no exception, so she felt a jolt of fear for the man outside her room, but also admiration for him and relief… yes relief, Angelica Rapha Redgrave hadn't lost all of her value for her family.

She would not ever be queen now, but she would be the link between the House Redgrave and such an imposing warrior, her children would not be abandoned by her father's house, she was not really abandoned!

For the first time in what felt like an eternity she felt herself relax.

The knight had no reason to lie to her, and even if his estimation was exaggerated Baron Bartfort was still stronger than any other knight in her father's ranks. Strong enough for her father to desire a direct blood tie.

"Will I have to keep attending the academy?" she asked, that would be most unpleasant, no matter how strong, her future husband was still a mere Baron, and she would still have all her new enemies and will be representing the newest House in the kingdom. In other words she would be an easy target.

"No, you will move with Leon and help him manage his territory" her father said with a sad smile "hopefully you will be with child within a year".

Now that was a bomb in its own right, that was practically an order too!

Trying to control her blush was just a waste of effort.

Her father stood up and embraced her.

"I wanted to have my little girl at my side at least a couple of years more" he said his voice trembling with emotion for the first time in ages, and Angelica felt loved by her family once more, she was not a worthless woman as she once feared, she was still an asset, even if it was just as a…

"I'm sorry dad!" she said putting her arms around him, this was all her fault, if she had just managed to make Prince Julius fall in love with her this wouldn't have happened, or if she had only kept the Lafan girl away…

"It's ok, Angie, everything will be alright".

0x0

After some time had passed and they could recompose themselves they invited the young Baron back inside.

"You must have questions," her father, the duke said.

"Why? I'm only a Baron!" he was dumbfounded, of course normally she would be outside his reach, an unattainable figure.

"I did said I'll choose your wife based on your skill, didn't I?" her father said sternly "you stand head and shoulders above Knights twice your age Leon Fou Bartfort, but to be precise, this is both a reward to you and a punishment to my daughter" she cringed when she heard her father pronounce those words, even though he said this wasn't a punishment it was part of the front House Redgrave will put to the rest of the kingdom, a way to hide Leon from the world until it was necessary to reveal him.

Her father is a Duke whose political power just collapsed and the Crown could very well keep attacking him to make him a more manageable opposition.

If the Crown pushes too hard, House Redgrave will rebel and use Baron Bartfort to topple the destroy and supplant Holfort House, and become the new Royal House themselves.

"I'm not that strong!" the Baron protested to her surprise, she expected him to rejoice in his strength and thank her father.

"Hearing you say that is why I won't have you represent my daughter in the upcoming duel" said with a smile.

"You don't know the level a bo… a man your age should be" this time Sir Rober Fou Harris spoke out of turn in a frustrated and chastising tone, her Father nodded approvingly towards his most loyal knight.

"You could hurt or kill any of those Heirs to the founding Houses, that would be a lot of trouble even if it was an accident during an official duel!" the knight continued, "You don't know how to hold back Lord Bartfort, there are two other knights I considered strong that are in a worse condition than me back in our Lord's territory because you don't know your own strength!".

"I would have to forfeit to Prince Julious" The Baron said as an excuse, she smiled at that, her new… fiance was at least intelligent enough to recognize how bad of an idea dueling the Crown Prince was.

It would still tear her heart apart to have to watch Prince Julious get hurt, she wanted to hate the Prince so much, she even wanted vengeance… something that was out of reach for her right now and probably forever.

Unless of course the Crown pushed the Redgraves to rebellion.

The bloodshed on both sides made that outcome the worst possible case but her heart still wanted war.

"But my territory is just an empty island right now Lord Redgrave, I cannot provide your daughter with even shelter right now!" Leon said desperately, it didn't sound good to her either.

"I'll provide with the money for a modest housing for you to start, the rest will be on you, but don't worry, my daughter was raised to be the next queen, with her administrative skills you will have a competent partner" said her father while looking contrite, the start to her new life wouldn't be a pleasant one, but she will endure.

"I… I guess there is only one thing left for me to do right now" said the Baron with resignation "I thought i had prepared myself for this bu… but here goes nothing!" he said while clapping his cheeks trying to give himself courage probably…

Then he walked towards her and kneeled respectfully in front of her "Lady Angelica Rapha Redgrave…" Here the Baron took a deep breath; he wasn't going to propose to her was he? That would be entirely too embarrassing. "Would you do me the honor of becoming My Wife?"

By the Saintess, the moron actually dared to propose to her… even knowing she had no say in the matter.

It was sweet to be honest, and she appreciated the gesture.

"I do" she said trying to not sound dejected, powerful or not, this was still just their first meeting, and she was sure there was still some love for Prince Julious that survived the talk with her father, and it would do no good to offend her new partner in life.

A/N: Here is the second chapter, I hope you all enjoy it.

Don't forget to leave a review.