WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 112: Holy War (1)
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1.
Romance Fantasy Rule 999
『Love needs no rules.』
2.
Sometimes in life, you unexpectedly receive a gift.
“Lady Goldencup. I have something urgent to tell you.”
“Heh, it’s been a while since you called me [Lady Goldencup] instead of [Lady]. Every time you do, something ominous happens. Let me guess what it is this time.”
Lady Goldencup slowly lifted her teacup.
The epitome of elegance.
“Do I have a hidden half-sister?”
“No.”
“I see. So, my mother was actually an illegitimate child of the previous emperor, meaning I too have royal blood? And my love for His Highness the Crown Prince is forbidden?”
“No.”
“Or do I have both a hidden half-sister and a secret bloodline, leaving me bursting with the potential to be chosen as the protagonist of one fucking awesome story?”
“No.”
“Then what is it, you son of a bitch?”
“I’m getting married soon.”
“Oh. Marriage, huh. Marriage---."
Pffft!
Lady Goldencup sprayed out the tea she had been drinking. Most of it hit my face.
Elegance was nowhere to be found.
“Marriage?!”
“Yes."
“Marriiiiiage?!”
“That’s correct.”
“If this is a joke, it’s a very low one, butler! Do you want to get hit after a long time?!”
“It’s not a joke.”
I wiped my face with a handkerchief.
“Why would I joke about such a thing with you, Lady? I’m really getting married. There’s no use trying to stop me. The wedding date is already set for a month from now.”
“W-who is the other person?”
“Lady Silver Lily.”
“Ah, see. It was a lie after all.”
Lady Goldencup sighed in relief.
A face relieved as if, even if the world ended, there was no chance of Raviel and I getting married. Well, that’s a normal reaction, I guess.
“You think it’s a lie?”
“Yes. Not just a lie, a blatant lie. If you're going to deceive me, at least come up with a more plausible lie. You fail in the creativity department.”
“If it is true, will you give me permission to marry?”
“Ahaha. Yes, yes. I will gladly give permission, Butler. If it is true, that is. My attendant entering a marriage with the noblest family in the empire would be an enormous benefit to me personally, wouldn't it? Our family's standing would leap six whole levels at once, wouldn't it?”
“Please stamp here.”
"Huh?"
I presented a document I had prepared earlier.
“What is this, butler?”
“This document states that if I marry Lady Raviel Ivansia, you, as my original master, grant permission for the marriage. I will leave Lady Goldencup's shadow and become the wife of the Ivansia family.”
"Pfft!"
Lady Goldencup burst out laughing and clutched her stomach.
“The wife of the Ivansia family... Pffh! What is that supposed to be? A joke? A comedy routine? Is our butler going to be addressed as [His Grace, the Wife of the Duke of Ivansia]? Just imagining it is fucking hilarious. It would be more plausible for me to become empress.”
As she laughed, Lady Goldencup gave a smile of an entirely different kind.
“Well, that’s how it will be this time.”
Hmm.
I recalled the summary I read before entering this apocalypse.
‘The second-cycle heroine.’
Reflecting on everything up to now, the identity of Goldencup, the Heretic Inquisitor yet to possess her, and more, I buried these thoughts for a moment.
“Will you stamp it, please?”
Lady Goldencup clutched her stomach and laughed again.
“Oh, gladly. This will add to the butler's dark history. As a generous master, I can’t ignore such hilarious content.”
“Thank you. Then tomorrow I will bring the person who is to become my husband.”
“Yes, yes. Your Grace, the Wife of the Duke of Ivansia. Second-brightest moon in the empire. By all means, have fun playing with your imaginary husband.”
The next day.
I stood before Baroness Goldencup with Raviel.
“I’ve brought her, Lady."
"......."
Lady Goldencup's mouth fell wide open.
“I assume you know, but allow me to introduce myself once more.”
Raviel said as she fanned herself,
“I am the legitimate daughter and heir of the Ivansia Ducal family, Raviel Ivansia. I have received the title of Silver Lily from His Majesty.”
“Uh? Ah. Yes, of course, I know. Lady…?”
“On this happy occasion, I have become betrothed to your butler. His legal identity is bound to you, so our marriage would have been difficult without your permission. Yet you readily granted it. You have my thanks.”
“Yes……?”
“This is the wedding invitation.”
Raviel flicked the letter toward her. Its border was decorated with silver thread, and a red wax seal bearing the ducal family's crest marked its center. Lady Goldencup accepted it with a blank expression.
“Be happy. You’re the first to receive this invitation. I hope you regard it as a great honor. Well, it’s a modest gift for taking care of the butler until now.”
“Bu-butler……? This is a joke, right……?”
“How rude. From today, this man is no longer your butler, but my fiancé. I trust you don’t think the Ivansia family’s status is lower than your baronial house. From now on, treat my fiancé with proper respect.”
“Du-du... Duke’s Wife……?”
Lady Goldencup stared at me as though her world had ended. Her desperate gaze begged me to deny the title she had just spoken.
I bowed politely.
“It was an honor to serve you, Lady.”
"......."
“But from now on, call me Wife. Respectfully.”
"............."
“Shall we go? Raviel.”
“Hmph. I told you to call me Husband in front of other people.”
“Ah, my apologies, Husband. I am still not used to the title...”
“My wife is truly mischievous. I love even that about you.”
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
We left side by side.
Shortly after, a distant scream echoed behind us.
“What is this noooooo-?!”
In the spring when magnolias wither.
The wedding was approaching.
3.
My lover, Raviel Ivansia, is a woman of her word.
If Raviel says she will have a wedding in a month, there will indeed be a wedding in a month.
“I've placed my father under house arrest in the villa.”
Raviel casually mentioned it.
“There are still some who follow my father in the family, but they are a minority. Ignorable. I’ve negotiated with His Majesty and formally received recognition for my succession, so I am essentially the Ivansia Duke. No longer Lady Silver Lily, but Duke Silver Lily.”
“Uh…”
Suddenly, my father-in-law was under house arrest.
‘Is this really okay?’
As I wrestled with a vague sense of guilt toward the father-in-law I had never met, Raviel looked at me.
“Now you are officially the fiancé of the Ivansia Duke. You’ve become the mistress of the second highest-ranking family after the royal family.”
"......."
“Except for His Majesty, the Empress, and the Crown Prince, there’s no one you need to bow to first. At least not in this empire. Regardless of their status, all citizens of the empire must bow to you. In places where the royal family is not present, you deserve the highest honor.”
Raviel was serious.
Only after hearing her words did I realize that [something very big] was happening.
Until now, I approached our wedding out of love for Raviel. That love was sweet. Romantic. But for Raviel, marriage was more than just romance.
Sensing the enormity of that something, I spoke.
“But I am merely a commoner…”
“Of course, the rabble of high society will whisper. Gong-Ja. Your origin is like the uncomfortable hem of a dress, following you wherever you go. But the maximum measures have been taken.”
Measures.
“What kind of measures?”
“First, you will be entered into the family registry as the adopted son of the imperial Lord Chamberlain.”
Raviel handed me a document.
“The current Lord Chamberlain is a senior official who has served the imperial family for many years. They have been granted a noble title, their private life is spotless, and their reputation is distinguished. Most importantly, they have no children. You will become this elderly chamberlain's adopted son and raise your status by one degree.”
My goodness.
Really, my goodness.
“Can… can we do that?”
“We can. If I wish it.”
Even now, Raviel was busy processing mountains of documents. Her quill moved ceaselessly. What these documents were and what political impact they would have, I couldn’t even guess.
“I omitted every bothersome procedure. Just sign that document. Then you will be recognized as the imperial Lord Chamberlain's adopted son.”
"......."
Indeed.
The marriage was reality.
A father-in-law I had never met had been confined to a villa. I had also become the adopted son of someone else I had never met. Things were happening in places I knew nothing about.
As I signed the adoption papers, I belatedly realized.
[Being the husband of the Ivansia Duke] was an immensely significant matter.
This was vividly proven in a scene I encountered a few days later.
“I offer my greetings to the person who will become the empire’s second brightest moon.”
Just walking around the academy, young ladies and gentlemen who recognized me kneeled. Their respect was impeccable. The news had already spread throughout the academy.
“I offer my respects to the mistress of Ivansia.”
“Ah. Yes…"
“Congratulations on your betrothal. May everlasting glory be with Ivansia.”
“Th-thank you.”
Whenever I walked by, the young ladies and gentlemen stopped their chatter and what they were doing. They respectfully maintained silence until I passed. The academy’s guards and knights saluted me respectfully.
There were no exceptions.
Even the academy's teachers naturally bowed.
"......."
When I ranked third in the tower, when I became a star surrounded by crowds... I had never felt like this.
‘This is, class.’
Not a star. Not a celebrity. They didn’t surround me or raise their smartphones to capture my face.
They just kneeled.
‘...Amazing.’
Perhaps people behaved like this only in my presence.
As soon as I disappeared, all sorts of nasty rumors and vile gossip about my humble origin, about the abrupt end to the Crown Prince and Raviel’s engagement, would circulate.
But no one dared to mutter in front of me.
“Eek!”
Crash!
One day, a servant in the academy accidentally broke a water bottle while I was passing by. Unthinkingly about to say [Are you okay?], I stopped as six servants simultaneously kneeled.
“We a-apologize!”
“We have committed a grave sin!”
“Please forgive us for our foolish mistake!”
I was speechless.
There was only one reason I stood there dumbfounded.
The fact that they naturally sought my forgiveness. The fact that I had the right to [forgive them] paralyzed my thoughts.
In other words, I was also free to withhold forgiveness and punish them.
"......."
This was madness.
An insane situation.
-What’s wrong? This is natural.
Guardian Spirit floated in the air, swimming leisurely.
-Your Tower is the strange one for having no formal status or class system even in name. Didn't you know? You will find out when you reach the 50th floor, but most Towers are class societies.
I remembered something about competing with other worlds' towers beyond the 50th floor.
The Guardian Spirit dug in his ear with his little finger, then pulled it out and blew on it.
-That Ivansian-whatever family your husband belongs to has the most clout here after the imperial family, right? Then, Zombie, you are practically a queen.
Queen.
-Congratulations on becoming Cinderella. You rascal.
The servants remained prostrated in the corridor, trembling.
Suddenly, Raviel's words came to mind.
『All citizens of the empire must bless you.』
『If it's my world and my country, they should rightfully recognize my marriage.』
That's exactly what it meant.
In just a few days, I had reached the top of the pyramid.
I had ascended to the pinnacle of power.
‘This is... Raviel’s world.’
Then.
‘How should I behave?’
Not just as [Kim Gong-Ja].
Not as the Hunter with the alias [King of Death].
But as the [spouse] of the most noble aristocrat in this country.
"......."
I bent down.
And picked up a shard of the broken water bottle.
I quietly placed it in the palm of the servant who had made the mistake.
“Turn this fragment into a necklace and wear it.”
I spoke.
“The necklace is the ornament closest to the heart. Keep your mistake close to your heart, to reflect and repent on your own."
"......."
“Don’t wait for my forgiveness. When you think you’ve sufficiently reflected, forgive yourself. Understand?”
“Yes, yes…!”
I turned and walked away.
That evening, Raviel said,
“My wife displayed thoughtful judgment today.”
I was slicing meat with a knife and fork, learning table manners. To ensure I could watch and learn sufficiently, Raviel deliberately moved her hands slowly across from me.
“Yes. Uh. Did I do well?”
“Exceptionally well. Had you easily forgiven at that moment, they would have said, [He’s too lenient with inferiors due to his humble origins. How can he lead the duke’s family with such attitude?]. Had you been stern, they would’ve said, [He’s become arrogant overnight due to his sudden rise].”
Either way, it was a loss.
“To be criticized whether you forgive or scold. At such times, the essence of the incident is not important. The packaging is. You created a beautiful story and skillfully wrapped up the incident.”
Raviel smiled.
“Today's event has already spread in the empire's high society. Those purely curious will admire your heart, and the shrewd will acknowledge your wisdom. I thought you were a novice in politics, but what magic did my lover use?”
“...I just thought of Raviel.”
My knife sliced through an egg yolk.
The color of a young chick crumbled.
“I realized that, beyond my sight and beyond my knowledge, you have been working tirelessly.”
“Hmm.”
“As you think of me so earnestly, naturally, I also started thinking of you.”
I simply thought from Raviel's perspective.
『How should I behave to be the best for my wife?』
“Had I forgiven the servant, I would have been regarded as the Duke’s generous wife. Had I scolded the servant, I would have become the Duke’s strict wife. But I thought that being known as [a wise wife] would help Raviel most of all.”
“Why?”
“Me being generous doesn’t make Raviel generous. Me being strict doesn’t make Raviel strict.”
The candle on the table flickered.
“But if I'm wise, Raviel becomes wise too. Because choosing [a wise spouse] itself means Raviel is wise.”
"......."
Raviel wiped her lips with a white napkin.
“You thought of me.”
“Yes."
“Gong-Ja. You have already helped me. Though others may not know, you have saved this world from destruction. And you will continue to do so. Can't you be a bit more whimsical?”
“No.”
I shook my head firmly.
“I’ll spend my lifetime with Raviel. A lifetime. I don’t want to fixate on [what I have done for Raviel]. I don’t even want to think about it. I want to give you more, something more precious than I have ever given before.”
"......."
“I hope meeting me proves the greatest stroke of fortune in your life. I hope being with me is your greatest happiness. I want no one but me to hold the greatest meaning for you, Raviel.”
“It’s not just fortune or happiness.”
Raviel stood up from the table.
She slowly approached me and bent down.
“You are a miracle to me.”
Our lips met.
* * *
Of course, not everyone succumbed to the name of Ivansia.
“I! Oppose! This marriage!”
Lady Goldencup came to me every day to complain. Now that the Crown Prince had been summoned before the emperor, she apparently did not dare challenge Raviel directly and protested only to me.
“Didn’t you already stamp the document?”
“It's invalid, invalid! I stamped it thinking it was a joke!”
“Regardless of your thoughts, the document is legally perfect.”
“Uh... Ugh!"
Lady Goldencup gnawed at her fingertips.
“This is strange. It wasn’t like this last time... Is it a butterfly effect caused by me? No, that doesn’t seem right... Ah, Ruin-Harvesting Cow, what is this...?”
Ruin-Harvesting Cow.
I tilted my head as if hearing the keyword for the first time.
“What do you mean?”
“...Nothing!”
Lady Goldencup clenched her teeth.
"Fine. Anyway, this must be another scheme by Lady Silver Lily!”
“It’s Duke Silver Lily. Soon to be a duke. Please maintain respect.”
“Eek. Butler, I really hate you! I will never forgive you!”
Lady Goldencup glared at me and left the room. Bang! The door slammed violently enough to make its hinges creak. It was an open declaration that she would not stand by and let this marriage happen. Lady Goldencup would probably be the greatest obstacle to the wedding.
But I wasn’t worried at all.
Ten days before the wedding.
“King of Death!”
Someone dressed like Baroness Goldencup burst in.
“It seems I have somehow become the heroine of this Apocalypse!”
I smiled, still seated.
“Heretic Inquisitor.”
“Yes! King of Death!”
“In ten days, the apostles of otherworldly constellations will invade.”
I addressed the comrade who had gone from our greatest obstacle to our greatest ally.
“Please prepare for holy war, our SSS-rank cleric.”
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