The story of the black silk female knight

She stood there for a long while, her expression complicated, before finally letting out a bitter smile and a sigh:

"I never expected this... I've been fleeing my family with Melina for over three years now, and there's still someone willing to acknowledge me as their young lady?"

"This recognition is something you earned through your own hard work!"

Tia held Valensa's hand and comforted her, then hesitated for a few seconds before saying:

"Actually, your family is in a pretty bad situation right now, it's almost like a chaotic mess... Compared to that, your cousin Bill is already a pretty good person."

So if you really lost that duel, I can use that as an excuse to have my family legitimately intervene in your family's internal strife and help you quickly stabilize things."

"Is the Badr family in a bad situation right now?"

That's where Valensa grew up, after all; she couldn't possibly not care.

"more or less."

Tia shrugged and glanced around again:

"Let's go... let's find a quiet place to have dinner, and I'll talk to you properly then."

It was a prior arrangement for Tia to have dinner with Melina on her day off, and she had naturally booked a private room at the restaurant in advance.

Melina grew up with Valensa, and Tia was also Valensa's childhood sweetheart; the three of them were already very familiar with each other.

However, Melina refused to sit at the table with Tia, instead standing beside Valensa like Enori, who stood behind Tia, adhering to her duties as a maid.

Valensa tried to persuade her several times, but to no avail, so she had to give up.

Because Tia had made a reservation in advance, the chef was well-prepared, so the meal was served quickly, and a dinner that was far too lavish for the two girls was soon on the table.

Many of the dishes were ones Valensa used to love, and there were also a few dishes she had never seen before, which must be new creations that the restaurant has introduced in the last two years.

Valensa first ate some familiar dishes to satisfy her hunger, then tried all the new dishes she had never seen before and gave her brief comments before finally speaking:

"Now you can tell me, right? What's the current situation with the Badr family? That your cousin Bill, whom you gave a good evaluation of and whom I used to have a good impression of, would actually snatch someone away in the street?"

"...I haven't witnessed Melina's talent firsthand, so I can't judge for sure, but if she's really as amazing as Bill says, then I can probably understand why Bill acted so impulsively."

Tia sighed:

"Because the Bader family has suffered a severe loss of talent in the past two years, they urgently need some capable managers to stabilize the situation."

Chapter 29 The Current State of the Badr Family

"Brain drain?"

Valensa bit her lip:

"How could this be... Is it because our family's heirloom was destroyed after that incident, so other families have turned against us? Starting with poaching our members?"

"No, it's not."

Tia shook her head:

"While the decline of a large family that has lost its lineage is an inevitable trend, the great nobles still have to consider face to some extent and will not act so quickly."

Things like your family have happened quite often in history... According to convention, people generally don't deliberately attack families that lose their lineage; they just restrict their development and wait for two or three generations until such families automatically fade out of the top and become ordinary minor nobles.

After all, the unexpected loss of a family lineage is something any family might encounter... With such unwritten rules in place, when such an unexpected event does befall one's own family, one can gradually adapt to that change.

Moreover, large families like these usually have numerous businesses. If they were to suddenly collapse, it could cause economic turmoil and social instability, which would be bad for everyone.

So, in the past three years, there hasn't actually been any external force targeting the Badr family; the current situation is entirely... well, an internal problem.

Tia suddenly hesitated as she spoke, carefully observing Valensa's expression.

"You mean...it's all my fault?"

Valensa immediately understood what Tia meant.

"No, no, no... I didn't say that... uh."

Tia waved her hands repeatedly, trying to explain, but it was too late.

Valensa has figured it all out:

"As expected, it's still related to me... Tia, you don't need to comfort me. Although I haven't read as many books as you, I still know a bit about aristocratic history."

Normally, even if something happens to a large family whose power lineage suddenly breaks down, there will still be an heir.

As long as the heir works hard and leverages the connections left by the previous generation, seeking strong external support through marriage and other means, they can temporarily stabilize the situation and prevent the family's power and scale from collapsing rapidly.

But as the rightful heir of the Badr family, I ran away at that time... which is why the family couldn't unite, and there was even constant infighting among the members..."

"It's not your fault~~"

Seeing that Valensa seemed a little sad, Tia quickly took her hand:

"If you had stayed back then, as a female heir, it would have been almost inevitable that you would have sought allies through marriage. No one can force a girl to sacrifice her happiness for profit, not even your family... You made the right choice back then, so don't worry about it too much."

"Don't worry, I have never regretted my choice."

Valensa smiled and took Tia's hand in hers:

"I'm just a little regretful... If I were a man, it would have been so much easier back then... I could have just married you, Tia, wouldn't that have solved it?"

"Pshaw, you wish!"

Tia immediately rolled her eyes:

"If you were really a man, would we still have such a good relationship?"

"Uh...that's true."

Valensa sighed:

"So? The Badr family's current dire situation is indeed due to internal strife?"

"Ah."

Tia nodded, her tone becoming much more serious:

"Because you, the undisputed heir, have relinquished your power, many people are eager to seize it, among whom one of your uncles and two of your cousins ​​are the most fiercely vying for it."

Their conflict affected many neutrals and innocent people within the family. In addition, many family members had no intention of protecting the family's honor and only wanted to drain the family's last drop of blood for their own personal gain, which broke the hearts of many people.

Many of the old retainers, like Melina, who were talented but did not have the blood of Baldr, chose to leave or retire, leaving many key positions vacant.

Those vacant positions are then swarmed by selfish family members like flies, creating a vicious cycle that naturally makes the situation even worse.

In contrast, some of the younger generation of Badr, led by your cousin Bill, may act impulsively and immaturely, but they genuinely want to preserve the family's honor.

If you, Valencia, still have ambitions for your family... partnering with your cousin Bill might be a good option.

Moreover, judging from his behavior before he left, he clearly hoped that you, the rightful heir, would return and properly rebuild the Baldr family.

"Returning to the family as the heir... Hmph."

Valensa simply pursed her lips, without the slightest hesitation:

"Forget it... Since I chose to give up back then, I will never go back."

"……Why?"

Tia seemed a little confused:

"Do you really not care about your family's honor at all? Three years ago, we were too naive and couldn't do anything."

But now... if Valencia wants, I'm at least 70% confident I can help you completely take control of most of the Badr family's current resources."

"Better say goodbye."

Valensa shook her head and smiled decisively.

"Compared to the daily scheming and infighting over family matters, I still prefer the relaxed life at the academy. I'm certainly touched that you're willing to help, Tia, but it's unnecessary."

"Is that so...Okay."

Tia could only nod, but it was clear that she was still somewhat unwilling.

After all, Tia wasn't a time traveler. Even though her mind had been greatly influenced by Valensa since childhood, she still valued family honor and heritage very much.

"...Actually, there's another selfish reason why I don't want to get involved in family matters."

Seeing that Tia's cheeks were still puffed out while she ate, Valensa smiled and said:

“Let’s take Bill’s cousin as an example again… Even though he says he’s not very interested in swordsmanship, he was able to break through to the Pearl level at the age of 16, which is definitely genius, right?”

Normally, such geniuses, if carefully nurtured and trained, can become beacons of light before the age of 20, just like the graduates of our academy's elite department.

But look at my cousin Bill, he's already 22 years old, yet he's still stuck at the Pearl level, and he even got defeated head-on by me, a newcomer to the Pearl level... Is it because he lacks talent? Obviously not, right?

We're all in the same industry, and you should know very well, Tia... What truly protects the family's honor has never been connections or wealth, but power.

As the rightful heir to the Badr family, I certainly don't want to watch the family decline.

But it is precisely for the sake of having a chance to restore the family's glory in the future that I must completely abandon it first... I cannot let those family feuds affect my speed of becoming stronger.

"...Shake off the burdens and become stronger quickly, then regain glory?"

Tia's crimson eyes flickered continuously:

"That's quite a bold plan. No normal person could make such a choice... You're truly something, Valensa."

Chapter 30 The Unconventional Parts

Valensa knew that Tia had probably misunderstood her, but she didn't explain.

As a time traveler, Valensa didn't really care much about the honor and heritage of such a large family. She only cared about whether she and her relatives and friends were happy, and didn't care about anything else.

If not for being forced into forced marriage, Valensa would have preferred to spend her life leisurely with Melina in a small border town like Sergin.

But Tia is different. She has no memories of her past life and has been subjected to various forms of ideological education by her elders since childhood. Even though she has been influenced by Valensa, many of her ingrained beliefs are difficult to change.

So it's best to let the misunderstanding continue.

Otherwise, Tia might actually intervene in the Badr family's internal strife for Valensa's sake.

The internal struggles within such large families are always a huge vortex, and even if Tia were to be completely drawn into it by accident, it would be extremely troublesome.

That was the end of the conversation about the Badr family. The rest of the meal consisted of more relaxed topics among the girls.

The only thing that Valensa regretted was that even though she tried to steer the conversation toward Melina many times, Melina was cautious and rarely interrupted, mostly serving quietly like Enoch.

It was clear that Melina was determined to maintain maid etiquette in front of Tia, just like before, no matter how many times Valensa told her to, it was no use.

However, this also gave Valensa a perfect excuse.

"Tia, you should go back to school first."

After dinner, Valensa said under Tia's ambiguous gaze:

"I want to walk with Melina for a bit, have a private chat, and then take her back to the Adventurers' Guild."

"...Just accompanying Melina for a walk? Heh~~"

Tia smiled meaningfully and did not refuse:

"Okay, then I'll head back with Enori first. See you later!"

"Yeah, see you later... Huh?"

Valensa realized something was off as soon as she said it.

Shouldn't they have said "see you tomorrow" in this situation? What does "see you later" mean? Does it mean Tia is going to come to my dorm tonight?

Hmm... it's not impossible. Tia is not going to eat me, is she?

But it seems that we need to get that matter done quickly.

After a quick mental calculation, Valensa decided that it wasn't anything to worry about, and she and Melina strolled toward the Adventurers' Guild.

Meanwhile, Tia, having boarded the carriage, did not return to the War Academy. She merely stared angrily at Valensa's retreating figure for a couple of moments before instructing Enori:

"Follow the plan."

"Yes, Miss."

Enory quickly steered the carriage to another block, while Tia sat inside, sulking.

"That idiot... He wanted to go to a place like that as soon as he got back to the capital... Hmph, too bad I foresaw all of this with my fateful encounter."

. . . . .