Edgar was pretty confident in his beauty. Although Rubica had told him that liking beauty and loving were very different things, she liked beauty anyway. It was very different from hating and not caring.

Edgar put his hands together, trying to look as elegant as possible. But unfortunately for him, that magic only worked for a short time. Rubica soon woke up and spoke to him coldly.

“I want an explanation.”

She was demanding an explanation instead of remaining mad. It was just like her. Edgar was convinced he would succeed in impressing her using words this time. But why he wanted to impress her that much, he still didn’t know.

“Rubica, you don’t want us to get mana quartz, right?”

In her heart, yes. Therefore, Rubica quietly nodded.

“But if I propose such an idea, it will cause an uproar. People will say I, who has just become a duchess, is trying to break the family’s tradition…”

Then, she would get kicked out. That was what she wanted, but the uproar wasn’t going to end with just her getting kicked out. Ann would have to give up her job as the housekeeper for failing to serve and advise her mistress.

Look at what had happened with Mrs. Shaynie. There were many people who were after the job as it came with the privilege to work on the Claymore’s huge inner budget. They were just elegantly waiting for the right moment instead of openly showing their greed like Mrs. Shaynie had.

‘… and Khanna’s boutique is reviving after having me as a customer, and Elise has just become my lady-in-waiting.’

If it was only her being kicked out, she would have done it without fearing anything. However, what about Khanna who had barely found a way to support her family and Elise who had received a chance to become a lady-in-waiting?

The two didn’t have their own connections yet. There was no noble lady who would immediately take them under her wings after Rubica was kicked out. They would rather be labeled as close associates of the duchess, who was kicked out in less than a year, and be discriminated.

So, the first reason Rubica abandoned her belief and took a step back was related to the kingdom’s food, and the next reason was the fact that it could harm the people around her.

That was the power of attachment. She tried to be blamed and kicked out, but she just couldn’t bear to see Ann and the others get blamed with her. She knew it was her weak point.

However, if it had been possible to be cold-hearted just by deciding to be, she wouldn’t have agonized over it in the first place.

Belief was important. It had given her the courage to continue living even in the midst of pain, let her get a glimpse of hope, and love others. However, no belief was more important than the people around her. Of course, there were people who could endure seeing others suffer for what they believed in.

Rubica didn’t think those people were bad, she rather found them impressive. It was just that she wasn’t bold enough to do that herself.

“But what if I say we should not get mana quartz?”

“Then…”

They would protest. They would try to find out what had given him that idea and some of them would ask themselves if the new duchess had spoiled him.

“Oh.”

She widened her eyes, and Edgar smiled as if he knew what was going on in her mind.

“… you.”

No matter what kind of riot people caused and no matter how much the relatives protested, they couldn’t kick Edgar out. He was the head of the family, in blood and his genius brain. People could call him a maniac and arrogant duke, but they couldn’t get rid of him.

“I hope everybody will say you protested against my announcement and I stupidly ignored it.”

He tapped on his desk as if having a pleasant thought, and Rubica’s eyes turned even bigger at seeing that. He thought she was impressed by his clever idea since it would let them get what she wanted without anyone getting hurt.

There was no way to tell he was doing it because she wanted it and hurt everyone. So, he used a little trick. Although now he alone was going to be blamed, Edgar was planning to ignore all that. He didn’t care about traditions anymore.

“But Edgar, you told me yourself, it’s part of Claymore’s tradition…”

Was Rubica happy about not getting mana quartz? Of course. However, for now, she couldn’t believe it yet. It wasn’t just because Edgar was completely agreeing with her, but he also found a way to do it.

If she tried to do it herself, she would not be able to do it because of the many people who would protest, and even if she succeeded, she would be labeled as a witch who had come to ruin the family.

Moreover, that label was going to stick on her and bother her every time she or Ann tried to do something.

Maybe it would even hurt Elise when she was introduced to society. People could say it could have been that young lady-in-waiting who gave the duchess the wrong ideas.

However, things were going to be different if Edgar did it. He would be called a selfish and foolish tyrant who broke tradition, but he was going to get what he wanted eventually.

Sadly, he had a much bigger influence on the family than she had. Rubica wasn’t going to protest about it as she had just gotten here and was planning to leave soon.

However, she didn’t know when Edgar changed his mind, and it bothered her. Why did he make such an important decision so suddenly?

“Just because it’s a tradition, it doesn’t mean it’s right.”

“But Edgar, you were telling me getting mana quartz was absolutely necessary only a while ago. I… I didn’t want innocent adventurers to die, but I admitted it was necessary after hearing your explanation and gave up.”

“Yes, Rubica. It was needed.”

Yes. It had been necessary. However, looking down at the crying Rubica, he had asked himself a question.

Was it really needed enough to make her give up on her belief of trying to protect many lives?

When he asked that, he got a clear answer. He even found himself foolish for never asking that before. He had approved it without much thought just because he had been told it was a tradition that was always necessary. His money and wealth had been made on the people’s blood. Maybe it had been the reason why he hadn’t given much thought to it.

Many people in the Seritos kingdom were surviving with grain traded with the weapons he made but, at the same time, many lives were perishing in many places on the continent because of those weapons. That was a fact.

“But the time it was needed was a long, long time ago. Back then, people didn’t know how great the mana stone’s power was and how destructive weapons made with it could be.”

Mana stones had great energy. However, it couldn’t be sold at a high price without people knowing how great that energy was, and the Claymore Family had a huge influence in Seritos because of that.

If the Claymore’s weapons couldn’t prove the great and huge power the mana stones had, they would never sell.

When the kingdom was first founded and the first Claymore made his first weapons, there was no way to let people know of it. Who on earth would buy unproved mana stones and weapons made with it? So, Seritos and the first Claymore provided those weapons to a band of adventurers who went to the monsters’ territory for treasure, and it worked.

The adventurers defeated the monsters, that had been thought to be invincible back then, and took their treasure. They shared it among themselves and went home.

Then, they all started to talk about the power of the weapons that made their adventure successful. They were talkative. They never ceased to talk about how brave they had been and how their weapons had reduced those monsters to ashes.

There couldn’t have been a better promotion. Thanks to that, the weapons started to sell quickly, and Seritos and Claymore were founded.

Getting mana quartz was one of the traces it had left.

“Now the whole world knows that the weapons from Claymore are great, so such a thing isn’t needed.”

“But what about testing weapons in a real battle…”

Edgar stopped her by putting a finger on her lips. His finger was so soft.

“I thought having that test done by getting mana quartz was a good choice till now, that is why I haven’t been able to find another way. Now that we know it is not right, we will find another way. I think it would be good to send them to the northern land. Helping its inhabitants expand human territories does sound and look better than getting mana quartz since it’s nothing more than a luxury item.”

“But your relatives will protest.”

“The king has summoned me. I will go to the capital tomorrow, deal with him, and get the royal edict.”