Marriage and Sword - Chapter 1

House Targayel, the sword of the Emperor and the glory of the Empire.

House Targayel, whose name was respectable, was doomed. They weren’t just doomed, they were ruined.

“I will use Crixus as my middle name.”

Eljenès Targayel, the eldest daughter of Count Targayel, married the man under the orders of the Emperor.

“It will be mandatory for us to share a bed once a week. I will try to make it for breakfast every day.”

Political marriage was unthinkable in Korea.

If Targayel had as much power as they did in the past then this wouldn’t have happened. Elje felt hopeless, she wondered why this had to happen during her generation.

“I hope that we won’t meddle with each other, like asking for love or affection.”

Fortunately, the man Elje was going to marry was handsome and she was satisfied with his appearance. If she were pushed to marry an old man then she would have planned to dry out the seeds of the Valoir Imperial Family.

“Of course I will make sure to do my responsibilities, so don’t ask for more than that.”

He had a pretty face and a great body but that’s it. She’s known for a long time that he had an awful personality. He was so confident and convinced that she would fall in love with him.

Because of his confidence, he wanted to prevent any inconveniences by signing a contract with her.

“Do you have anything to say?”

Men were narcissistic creatures, and he was one of them. However this man deserved to be full of confidence; he possessed not only his appearance, but also his ability, fame, and wealth.

The only thing he lacked was a position and he would have that soon.

“……Lady Eljenès?”

“Ah.”

Elje came to her senses belatedly which caused him to furrow his eyebrows. The man sitting in front of Elje was named Shan Crixus, the hero of the Valoir Empire who ended the Hundred Year War.

Soon, he will become Count Targayel and Elje’s husband.

He watched her with his pretty purple eyes as she quickly read the contract in her hand.

It was a life-long contract, so Elje looked at the clauses carefully. She pointed at the first thing that bothered her.

“Speaking of the bed.”

As soon as Elje spoke, Shan sighed as if he was annoyed.

“More than once a week would be difficult.”

However, he misunderstood Elje’s intentions. Elje shook her head.

“No, no, that’s not it. Let’s do it once a month.”

“And I sleep a lot in the morning, so I don’t think we should have breakfast together.”

Using her finger, she scrolled down the contract sentence by sentence and mentioned the other clauses one by one.

“I’d like to place more emphasis on the phrase ‘guaranteed personal time’. If either of us breaks this clause, then we should offer a financial reward.”

“……What?”

“This clause needs to be revised a little. I want to review this and this again. Also, this seems to be advantageous only for you.”

It was a continuous stream of words. Perhaps it was the first time in Shan’s life that he had been questioned like this.

Shan looked dumbfounded as Elje continued to speak for a long time until she suddenly stopped.

“Oh, and.”

Shan looked at her as she frowned and asked in the same tone he was using earlier.

“Why are you speaking informally? I’m still in a higher position.”

*

Elje had a secret that she couldn’t tell anyone. She lived another life before she was born as Eljenès Targayel, the eldest daughter of Count Targayel.

Elje was born and lived in a wealthy family in Korea. From a young age, she was very good at handling sticks so she learned kendo at the local kendo hall. Three days after attending the school, the director visited her parents and earnestly advised them.

-Your daughter’s talent is extraordinary. You’d better visit a bigger place.

Elje jumped into the world of swords, she was absorbed in kendo until she came across fencing. She changed her course to fencing and finally joined the national fencing team.

Before participating in the Olympics, a jealous athlete pushed Elje down the stairs to injure her and she died a worthless death……

She died at a young age without even a single Olympic medal, which was her dream.

She was reincarnated as the daughter of Count Targayel.

At first, when she realized that she was the daughter of a count, she was thrilled to have the opportunity to live a leisurely life. However, the situation was not normal; it turned out that the Targayel family was heading to ruin.

The Targayel family was known as the Emperor’s sword for generations and produced knights. There was always only one child in the family with a special talent for swords who would then take over the title and participate on the battlefield while flying the flag of Targayel.

However, for some time, no child with the talent of the sword was born. When the person leading the knights of Targayel disappeared, the family of Targayel showed no presence in the Hundred Year War.

-Elje, sister……

-Don’t cry, Astin. Crows don’t cry. (TL note: The Targayel coat of arms is a crow)

Astin cried in Elje’s arms. Elje hugged her younger brother and swore, I won’t let you starve.

Elje knew that the gift of the sword came back to the Targayel family since it was she who inherited it.

Though she couldn’t tell anyone because, in this Empire, a woman’s place was by a man’s side.

No matter how talented Elje was with a sword it was impossible for her to go to the battlefield, let alone inherit the title of a count.

Additionally, Astin blamed himself for not being born with the sword’s talent. How could she tell him that she was born with it instead? She could never.

In the empty mansion, Elje was contemplating what to do in the future. What she had learned as a young lady was of little use for survival.

Even though they asked for help, the damn imperial family was silent in the end.

A way to survive was for Elje to marry a rich merchant who had a ship, but she hated that idea to death. Elje valued her own life and didn’t want to sacrifice that much for her younger brother.

After contemplating for a few days,  Elje decided to do what she did best; she grabbed a sword. From then on, she started practicing swordsmanship every night without Astin’s knowledge.

Fortunately, Elje quickly mastered the sword. It was the first time she ever held a sword as ‘Eljenès’, but she used it as if she had been her entire life. Within a few days, Elje was able to handle the sword with skills that far exceeded hers in the previous life.

After mastering the sword, Elje headed to the battlefield to earn money. She bound her chest, cut her hair short, and dyed it a dark color to hide her identity as a woman.

That was the beginning of the notorious mercenary unit, ‘Elijah’.