It was a long and difficult battle.

And we are still fighting.

-- Everyone, please take care of your teeth.

One year has passed since graduation from the junior academy.

Rosetta was dressed in the uniform of a servant at the Banfield family's mansion.

She walked with perfect posture on a white line, a mechanical ball placed on her head.

Rosetta's long, golden, rolled hair stood out against her chic navy maid outfit.

Her usually stern expression was tense, focused on her walking.

Serina was instructing Rosetta.

Clapping her hands, she urged Rosetta, who was walking slowly.

"How long are you going to walk so slowly? Walk faster."

Rosetta was now Liam's fiancée and would soon be his wife.

Her status was higher than Serina's, but Rosetta was currently undergoing training at the mansion, so Serina was in a position to instruct her.

Her tone of voice had become strict.

Rosetta shed tears.

"I can't take it anymore!"

Serina looked at Rosetta with a look of exasperation.

"-- How many times do I have to tell you? Rosetta, you need training to become a wife worthy of Liam."

However, Rosetta wasn't crying because Serina's training was strict.

Her previous life had been even more difficult.

There were many things to learn, such as etiquette, but she could endure that.

She could endure it, but the problem was Liam.

"I wanted to enroll in the officer academy with Darling too!"

Liam was currently enrolled in the officer academy.

He had taken Wallace, who was reluctant, with him and was not at the Banfield family's mansion.

"It's cruel that Darling enrolled in the officer academy after I came out of the education capsule!"

Serina responded calmly.

"The future Duchess does not need to become a soldier. What Rosetta needs now is the ability to manage the household."

Noble men were considered complete when they obtained qualifications as officials and soldiers, but for women, it was not necessary. Some women obtained both qualifications, but they did not even make up thirty percent of the total.

It wasn't that women were not accepted, but simply that there were few who wished to pursue it.

"I wanted to be useful to Darling."

Seeing Rosetta crying, Serina was exasperated but also impressed.

(Her effort is good, but...)

By the time she graduated from the junior academy, Rosetta's grades had risen to the middle-lower tier.

She had received some last-minute tutoring from the education capsule, and her effort had overturned the prediction that she would be in the lower-middle tier, allowing her to reach even higher.

Serina highly valued Rosetta. However,

(She's an unusual type for a noblewoman.)

Many women were devoted to their husbands, but Rosetta's type, who wanted to accompany them to the officer academy, was rare.

When Liam heard that Rosetta would accompany him to the officer academy, he had fled, saying, "-- I'll enroll with Wallace while Rosetta is in the education capsule."

Serina took a small deep breath and returned to Rosetta's education.

"Rosetta, crying won't get you anywhere. If you want to be a woman worthy of Liam, you should get up immediately."

Hearing this, Rosetta stood up.

"I understand. When Darling returns, I'll show him a figure befitting a Duchess."

"-- That's very good, but Liam will not be able to return for some time."

"Huh? B-but, isn't the education period at the officer academy six years?"

Serina explained carefully.

"After graduation, training begins immediately. After two years of training, you must spend at least four years in the military. Depending on your assignment, you may not return for twelve years."

"Nooooo!"

Rosetta's eyes welled up with tears again.

"During that time, Rosetta will also need to undergo training at another family's house."

"I won't see Darling for twelve years."

"-- Listen to me."

"Y-yes!"

Normally, one would be sent to another family after reaching adulthood, but there was no family willing to take in someone from the Claudia family, so Rosetta had not undergone training at another house.

In noble society, not having undergone training at another house would lead to being looked down upon, so this also needed to be done urgently.

However, there was a problem.

(Now that we are in conflict with the Barkley family, we must choose the house where Rosetta-sama will be trained very carefully.)

It was not a situation where she could be sent to just any house.

Serina was troubled by Rosetta's education.

◇

The mansion of Baron Barkley.

It was a very magnificent and luxuriously built mansion.

It was almost the size of a city, a mansion that was hard to believe belonged to a baronial family.

In the study of such a mansion, the boss of the Barkley family, "Cashimiro," held a cigar in his mouth.

He blew out white smoke and looked at the man trembling on the floor before him.

That man was a noble who had opposed the Barkley family.

"Always badmouthing others and getting in the way of the Barkley family. You're a bad person."

As Cashimiro said this, his sons around him grinned.

All of them were barons.

The Barkley family was an organization composed of barons.

However, it was only that Cashimiro had ceded his vast territory to his children and made them independent, but in reality, Cashimiro himself managed everything.

The actual territory size was comparable to that of a ducal family, and indeed, it was the largest in the empire.

The reason for this was not just the territory.

The Barkley family's fleet of over 100,000 ships.

And it could be said that all the pirates in the empire were under Cashimiro's control.

While there were pirates who came from elsewhere, Cashimiro was the boss who managed the pirates operating in the empire.

This was why he was called a pirate noble.

Many nobles allied with Cashimiro, but many, like the man before him, opposed him.

The man before him was one of them.

"Don't mess with me! You're the ones who pressured my territory and had pirates attack us constantly!"

Cashimiro blew out his cigar.

"If you had just handed over your territory and title honestly, it would have been fine. Don't you understand a parent's desire to let their child become independent?"

"Are you going to destroy my family for that!? You killed my family too -- you pirate!"

As the noble shouted and stood up to attack Cashimiro, his sons drew their guns and shot the noble.

As the noble fell, blood spread across the floor.

"-- You scoundrels. May you all be destroyed by the Banfield family."

Looking down at the noble who died saying that, Cashimiro threw his cigar and crushed it out.

"A foolish man. If he had submitted to the Barkley family, I wouldn't have taken his life."

One of his sons spoke to Cashimiro.

"Father, does this make me a baron too?"

"Hm? Ah, do as you please. Although, I will manage the territory."

"This makes me a member of the family's executive!"

His son rejoiced, but Cashimiro didn't know his son's name or which number child he was.

He was simply making his sons barons because he thought that, being blood relatives, there would be less worry about betrayal.

"-- Well, our supply of Elixir is running low. I'd like to deplete a planet to replenish it, but where should we do it?"

As he said this, another son proposed a candidate.

"In that case, there's a good planet. Actually, there's a girl I've been eyeing, but she told me she couldn't be with a pirate noble. I want to destroy it in revenge."

At the request of his slender son, who was fiddling with his hair, Cashimiro easily decided to kill people, animals, and even stars to obtain Elixir.

"As long as there are no troublesome connections, I don't care. Go and destroy it immediately."

"I will. But please spare the girl. I want her as my mistress."

"Do as you please."

The Barkley family's strength lay in possessing multiple planet development devices – artifacts made with ancient technology.

This was a machine that activated planets and adjusted them to be habitable.

However, if used differently, it could drain energy from planets and the creatures living on them, killing them. In return, Elixir could be obtained.

By using this to prepare a large amount of Elixir, the Barkley family rose to prominence in the empire.

Cashimiro, who had risen to power by killing people and even stars, looked down at the dead noble.

"-- More importantly, what's happening with the Banfield family?"

There was a noble who had directly challenged the Barkley family.

-- Liam Sera Banfield.

Cashimiro's sons exchanged glances, looking hesitant.

"Report."

As Cashimiro said this, a son with a beard reported.

"-- We sent our assassins and hired some skilled ones. But they all failed."

Since they were challenged, they sent assassins.

However, they were all defeated.

"They're quite persistent. Well, if we keep sending them, they'll feel the pressure whether they like it or not."

One of his sons, sensing that Cashimiro was getting angry despite his calm demeanor, immediately suggested stopping the assassinations.

"Father, Liam has enrolled in the officer academy. If we send assassins, the military won't look favorably upon it."

"So? Are you telling me to just watch? Listen, nobles are all about reputation, then and now. Can we afford to be looked down upon?"

At Cashimiro's words, his sons proposed methods other than assassination.

"-- Father, the Banfield family has debts. Quite a substantial amount."

"Was that a debt left by the previous generation? What about it?"

"They also borrowed from companies connected to us. I intend to forcibly collect it, even if it requires some strong-arm tactics."

Hearing this, Cashimiro pondered for a moment.

(If we forcibly collect from a young man who is repaying diligently -- our front companies' credibility will plummet.)

To conduct business and gain leverage over other families, they had also ventured into the finance industry.

The revenue from that was not insignificant, and they wanted to avoid losing credibility.

However, if they continued to send assassins to Liam and repeatedly failed, other families would likely begin to look down on the Barkley family.

(Even if it means incurring some losses, we must crush that young man.)

Liam, who had risen by hunting pirates, was a future adversary for Cashimiro.

If Liam gained prominence in noble society, more families would support him, making him a troublesome opponent.

(-- If we don't settle this now, we'll be eaten eventually.)

There were many families who held grudges against the Barkley family, and Cashimiro wanted to settle the score before Liam finished his training.

"Very well. Spread rumors that the Banfield family is unable to repay and will collapse. Other moneylenders will also rush to collect."

They shifted their target from Liam personally to the Banfield family.

The clash between the major noble families was beginning to intensify.

Brian (T_T) "It's tough. Not only is this Brian not appearing, but Liam-sama also hasn't appeared -- it's tough."