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‘Adoption?’  

The first thought that popped into my head was a simple solution. If someone officially adopted Eugene, he would have a new family, wouldn’t he? But reality quickly shot that idea down.  

‘Ugh, there’s no way that could work while his father is still very much alive.’  

If only Duke Kreutz were dead, things would be so much simpler!  

‘I should have just gotten rid of that scoundrel long ago.’  

Dark thoughts, fitting for a black mage, crept into my mind, but even that sinister solution didn’t seem like a viable answer for the moment.  

I cast a glance at the old servant and knight, who stood firmly in place, determined to take Eugene away by any means necessary unless I could present a reasonable alternative. They were overflowing with the conviction that their request was both justified and irrefutable.  

But family doesn’t just fall from the sky, does it?  

…Wait.  

I caught hold of a fleeting thought that passed through my mind.  

‘Family… can’t it fall from the sky?’  

It might sound absurd at first, but when I thought about it, it wasn’t entirely impossible.  

The empire’s ruling class was built on the relationship between lords and vassals. The emperor granted titles and land to the nobles, and in return, the nobles swore their loyalty to the emperor. It wasn’t a romanticized relationship between ruler and servant; it was more of a transaction.  

And this kind of transaction existed between nobles and their vassals as well. Nobles would grant titles and land to their vassals, who in turn swore loyalty to them.  

Of course, such a transaction was only possible for nobles who owned multiple lands and titles. Vassals wouldn’t pledge their loyalty unless there was something to gain in return.  

And for someone like Duke Elpinard…  

‘He’s definitely a noble who could do that.’  

The Elpinard family owned vast lands throughout the empire, and naturally, those lands came with titles. If Eugene could form a lord-vassal contract with the duke and be granted land and a title, he could become the head of his own household.  

‘In other words, he’d become a one-man family.’  

In that case, he wouldn’t need to be introduced to society by his parents or relatives. And if anyone tried to make an issue of it, Duke Elpinard could step in and introduce Eugene himself as his liege lord.  

‘But asking the duke to just hand over land and a title? That’s a bit too much.’  

Even though he treated me like a daughter, such a bold request was out of the question, especially given our close relationship. No, I couldn’t even think of asking him for something so shameless.  

Which left me with one other option.  

I turned my gaze toward Axel.  

‘I can be shameless with him!’  

Glancing at the situation, I saw that Duke Elpinard and the old servant were still locked in a tense standoff, neither side willing to back down. I took advantage of their focus and gently tugged on Axel’s sleeve.  

I gave him a look that clearly said, *I need to talk to you,* and it seemed he had the same idea, as he subtly nodded. Axel grabbed my arm, quietly leading me toward the back of the room. With a light snap of his fingers, the air around us shimmered briefly, and the voices of Duke Elpinard and the old servant were suddenly cut off.  

Axel had cast a spell to block out the sound, ensuring our conversation remained private.

Now that we could speak freely without worrying about anyone listening, both Axel and I blurted out our thoughts at the same time.  

“Let’s get them engaged.”  

“Do you have any spare land?”  

Our words couldn’t have been more different. We stared at each other, blinking in confusion.  

“Spare land?”  

“Engagement?”  

Again, we spoke simultaneously. Frustrated, I waved my hand, claiming the right to speak first, then protested.  

“Engagement? What are you even talking about all of a sudden?”  

“They’re trying to take Eugene by using the excuse of family. The solution is simple—if he has another family, they can’t take him.”  

“Uh… yeah, I had the same thought, but our solutions went in completely different directions.”  

It was funny how we could be on the same wavelength yet come up with such divergent ideas. But this wasn’t unusual for Axel and me.  

‘Engagement, huh.’  

It wasn’t something I’d thought of, but as I considered it more, it was actually quite a clever solution. In fact, it seemed even simpler and more effective than what I had in mind. It was a typical noble approach, where political marriages were commonplace.  

Even though I’d lived as a noble lady for some time, I couldn’t match the mindset of someone like Axel, who had been born and raised in this world of aristocratic politics.  

I couldn’t help but feel like I’d lost a contest I hadn’t even intended to compete in. But more than any rivalry with Axel, solving the issue at hand was my priority.  

Reluctantly, I pursed my lips and conceded, “Yeah, an engagement sounds good. Even if it’s temporary, as his fiancée, we’d have a solid reason to keep Eugene here.”  

“If we say we’re engaged because we care for each other and plan to marry soon, it’ll be hard for anyone to raise objections.”  

Axel narrowed his eyes suspiciously at how easily I accepted his idea, but he continued explaining.  

“It’s common practice in noble society to protect an unmarried fiancée within the family.”  

“Alright then. Eugene can be engaged to me, and we can have Elpinard protect him—”  

“What?”  

I was nodding along, summarizing the plan when Axel raised a hand, cutting me off.  

“Why would Eugene get engaged to you?”  

“Huh? Isn’t that what you meant?”  

“Of course not!”  

Axel crossed his arms and glared at me. Now it was my turn to be confused.  

“Then who is Eugene supposed to get engaged to?”  

“There are plenty of vassals in Elpinard with daughters. He can get engaged to one of them.”  

“Why go through all that trouble? Wouldn’t it be simplest if he just got engaged to me?”  

I asked, thinking it was the most straightforward solution. In response, Axel flicked me on the forehead. Harder than usual, too. I rubbed my forehead, frowning at him in annoyance, but before I could say anything, he flicked me again.  

“It’s a temporary engagement, right? It’s going to end in a broken engagement eventually. Why would you want that on your record?”  

“I don’t really care… If someone refuses to marry me because I’ve been engaged before, they’re probably not husband material anyway.”  

“You’re not wrong, but still, you can’t be the one to get engaged to him. That guy would never let go of a golden opportunity like this and would probably try to cling to you forever.”  

“What are you even talking about?” I grumbled, puffing out my chest with confidence.  

“Now that I think about it, your plan has its flaws. Eugene would end up with a broken engagement on his record too, and if that’s such a concern, we shouldn’t even be considering this. Plus, forcing an engagement on him doesn’t make sense.”  

Axel let out a short, incredulous laugh, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  

“Do you really think Eugene would care about something like a broken engagement, considering what’s at stake for him?”  

“But you’re also involving the daughter of a vassal family. Sure, you probably planned on compensating them, but why bring so many people’s lives into this when we don’t need to?”  

I smiled brightly and extended my hand toward Axel.  

“So, just give me a piece of your spare land. You’ve got plenty of land and titles to spare, right?”  

“Ah.”  

Axel let out a short sound of realization, as if he’d finally caught on to what I was thinking. He narrowed his eyes and looked at me.  

“Are you seriously trying to extort my assets, just like that?”  

“It’s just one piece of land. You won’t even notice it’s gone. If it bothers you that much, I’ll give you the wealth I saved up as Greslin.”  

Officially, the black mage Greslin was still considered missing, so all of my wealth remained under that name. If word got out that Greslin was dead, the assets would be inherited by whoever I had designated.  

“I actually already named you as my heir, so technically it’s yours anyway.”  

I was about to sink into deep thought, wondering if that could even count as a proper trade when Axel’s voice cut through my musings.  

“Wait… you named me as your heir?”  

His face was filled with disbelief, and I blinked, confused at his reaction.  

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t really have any other family, so if I died before you, who else would take my stuff?”  

Kirke had become the emperor, so I figured it would cause gossip if people found out she inherited my personal assets. Bael, being a priest, would donate everything to the temple, and I had no doubt Servian would blow it all on bizarre alchemical materials.  

‘At least Axel would use it responsibly,’ I thought. It was the obvious choice to me.  

But Axel seemed completely taken aback, and after a moment of silence, he spoke slowly.  

“…A countship should do.”  

“Huh? A countship? You have a title like that?”  

I tilted my head in confusion. To grant someone the title of count, you’d need to be at least a marquis, wouldn’t you? Axel shrugged.  

“There’s land and a title under my share in Elpinard. Making Eugene one of our vassals would give him much stronger protection than some random engagement.”  

“Wait, you have your own land and titles just lying around?”  

Axel smirked slightly, looking both proud and nonchalant.  

“My family’s holdings include some land and titles that are designated for me, and I can use them as I see fit. Making Eugene a count would place him under the protection of the Elpinard family, which is a lot more effective than a temporary engagement.”