At the Banfield family mansion, Brian was walking, leading a group of servants.

He was walking at a brisk pace, feeling rushed, but those around him said nothing.

Everyone wore anxious expressions, wondering what to do.

When Brian arrived at his destination, he straightened his appearance.

Guard knights were stationed at the door.

"Lord Edward, it is Brian. May I have permission to enter your room?"

He spoke in a stronger tone than usual, and upon receiving permission, the door opened automatically.

Brian furrowed his brow as he looked into the room, and the servants waiting behind him were bewildered.

It was one of Edward's bedrooms, and in it was a large bed.

However, Edward was not the only one sleeping there.

A sleepy-looking Edward let out a big yawn.

Brian sighed.

"Have you brought another maid in here?"

Realizing that Brian had barged in, the maid, who was in provocative lingerie, blushed and tried to hide.

But Edward hugged her, preventing her from doing so.

"She's comfortable to hug, so I've taken a liking to her. Make her my exclusive attendant."

Brian shook his head at Edward's command.

(He likely hasn't even gone through puberty yet.)

Just as he said, he was probably only hugging her.

If he had truly made a move on her, a report would have come in immediately.

"Lord Edward, I will not tell you to refrain from making advances. However, please show some restraint. This month alone, you have brought more than ten women into your room."

The bare-chested Edward lay down, using the woman's lap as a pillow.

"The maids of this house have already consented to being brought in, haven't they? Then there's no problem."

"There is a problem. In the first place, the one they are expecting is Lord Liam."

When Liam's name was mentioned, Edward became openly displeased.

"As if Father would ever lay a hand on a woman of flesh and blood. I'd bet the maids are hoping I'll make a move on them instead."

As if a sore spot had been hit, Brian's expression turned bitter.

(It is true that Lord Liam shows no interest in the maids of our house. And the only woman of flesh and blood he has ever touched is Lady Rosetta—just one is a huge problem in itself, but being as promiscuous as Lord Edward is also a problem.)

In the past, I repeatedly warned Liam for not building a harem, telling him to get involved with women of flesh and blood.

But now, Edward is doing whatever he pleases.

(Considering the future of our house, this is the correct course of action... but the problem is that when Lord Edward 'embraces' them, it ends with just the literal meaning of the word.)

The maids who are brought into Edward's room are treated as so-called 'claimed' women, and their status changes.

They can no longer entertain other men like the other maids, and their duties become centered on taking care of Edward.

It's not as simple as saying, 'Once he's older, he'll make his move and have children, so there's no problem!'

Brian is a butler, after all.

Having supported the Banfield family for many years, he was well-versed in the problems of the aristocracy.

(If Lord Edward safely succeeds Lord Liam as planned, there will be no problem. However, if something were to happen that leads to his disinheritance—)

What the Banfield family needs right now is a child of Liam's.

Edward, born to Rosetta, is the most likely candidate to become the family head, but it is not set in stone.

He could be disinherited with a single change of heart from Liam.

Furthermore, Edward had his own problems.

(Lord Liam also had many problems, but unlike him, the ones Lord Edward has are problems in the truest sense of the word.)

Although he is a skilled swordsman of the One-Flash Style, he is insincere and selfish.

Among the knights who had sworn their loyalty to Liam, a growing number were beginning to think that such an Edward was not fit to be the heir.

(Even though the birth of your second child is approaching, I cannot recommend ignoring this problem, Lord Liam.)

Brian mentally held his head in his hands, despairing at Liam's casual attitude toward the problem of his heir.

◇

As Brian left, a girl from Kukuri's clan of covert operatives entered Edward's bedroom.

Her name was Nata.

Nata, who wore her black hair in twintails, favored black clothing.

Ostensibly, she was a girl of the same age brought in for Edward's education, but unlike the other children, Nata had a mission.

To protect Edward, even at the cost of her own life.

Nata was a girl from the covert ops, educated to exist solely for Edward's sake.

She was in a special position, existing not for the Banfield family, but for Edward as an individual.

Exasperated by Edward's behavior, she let out a small sigh.

"Lord Edward, you must not anger the head butler. Even the Lord Head of the family does not ignore his opinions."

She was implicitly telling him, 'If you anger him too much, your position as heir will be in jeopardy,' but Edward merely yawned and crawled out of bed.

He showed no sense of crisis.

"Don't worry, Father has no interest in me. The only thing important to him is defeating the Empire."

"I cannot deny that, but the Lord Head does treasure you, Lord Edward."

She had been told as much by their leader, Kukuri.

Raised as a member of the covert ops, Nata had few memories of her parents.

This was because she had been separated from them at a young age to begin her training.

She still undergoes training periodically.

From Nata's perspective, Edward's situation—having parents who loved him—was enviable.

However, he himself did not realize this.

"He treasures me as an heir, but he doesn't care about me as a person."

"That is not true."

"Maybe I should just live as a swordsman. I could just push all the family matters onto the second child who's about to be born."

She felt frustrated with Edward's defeatist attitude.

"You are exceptional, Lord Edward. I, myself, can guarantee it."

It wasn't obvious because everyone compared him to Liam, but Edward was also plenty exceptional.

He just wasn't aware of it himself.

"I wonder about that."

◇

Around the time Brian was wringing his hands in despair.

On the capital planet of Hydra, Klaus Sera Mont, who owned a large mansion there, was also mentally holding his head in his hands.

"Look, Dad! With this, I'm officially a knight of the Banfield family!"

The one happily showing off her brand-new knight's uniform was Klaus's daughter.

His son, who was already working as a knight, was also watching.

"It suits you better than I thought. So, has your assignment been decided?"

His daughter answered proudly.

"I've been assigned to Knight Number Four's fleet! All my hard work during my training paid off!"

His son smiled and applauded his daughter's announcement.

Being assigned to the fleet of a knight holding a Knight Number was proof of being recognized as one of the elite.

"I'm jealous. I'm stuck in the capital planet's defense fleet. If possible, I'd like to request an assignment where I can be more active—"

His son sent Klaus a pleading look.

Klaus, feigning composure, stated the reason he had assigned his son to the defense fleet.

"Both your sister and I have a high chance of losing our lives. If you were in such a dangerous place as well, your mother would be left having lost her entire family."

Not only Klaus, who was Liam's right-hand man, but his daughter too, now under the command of a Knight Number, would have a high probability of being thrown into fierce battles.

The risk of death was high, so for his wife's sake, Klaus's parental instincts made him want to assign at least one of his children to a safe unit.

However, his son seemed dissatisfied with Klaus's decision.

"I understand, but... I'm still your son, Dad."

Klaus understood what his son was trying to say.

He was the son of Klaus, the Empire's strongest knight, so of course he wanted to be on the front lines more!

"You and I are different people. Besides, there is no need for you to follow in my footsteps."

(Even my own children are chasing after this false image of me!! Ugh, I just wanted my children, at least, to live happily and safely.)

Out of parental love, Klaus wanted to keep his children away from the core of the knightly order, but they didn't understand his reasoning.

Being told this by Klaus, the Knight Captain, his son could not argue back and simply shrugged.

He then switched the topic from himself to his disciple.

"Are you planning to have Yasuyuki-kun inherit the position of Captain, instead of me or my sister?"

At his son's joking remark, Klaus was inwardly surprised—but he also had the thought that it might not actually be a bad idea.

"The one who decides the position of Captain is not me, but Lord Liam. Or, it will be the next head of the family. It is disrespectful to speculate on who it will be."

(But, that boy is exceptional, so it might just be possible. There's no point in talking about the future, but at this rate, he seems poised to become a more exceptional knight than I am.)

Yasuyuki possessed enough talent for even Klaus to consider him exceptional.

Yasuyuki, the only son of Liam's master, the Sword God Yasushi.

He showed the makings of an excellent knight, and with his diligent personality, he never neglected his training.

(The problem is whether Yasuyuki-kun can lead the strong-willed knights of the Banfield family. But, he does have his 'big sisters'.)

There were two swordsmen of the One-Flash Style, whose martial might was enough to silence the strong-willed knightly order.

The two, being direct disciples of Yasushi, doted on Yasuyuki immensely.

If the two were to support Yasuyuki with their martial prowess in the future, the position of Knight Captain would be well within his reach.

(--If Lord Liam were to approve, it seems quite possible. Though, Lord Liam probably wouldn't approve.)

If Liam were to declare, 'He is the only son of Yasushi, so sending him into actual combat is out of the question!' then the position of Knight Captain would become a distant dream.

(Lord Liam also dotes on Yasuyuki-kun, so even if he joins the knightly order, it's questionable whether he'll be allowed to experience actual combat.)

At most, he would likely be active in roles such as guard duty or at ceremonies, Klaus thought.

His daughter asked Klaus.

"Setting aside the position of Knight Captain, there are still talks about him becoming Lord Edward's personal attendant, right? Everyone was saying he'll probably get an important position in the future."

The idea of Liam, who doted on Yasuyuki, placing him by the heir's side to foster a friendly relationship was entirely plausible.

In fact, Klaus had been consulted by Liam about it several times, but the topic was dropped while they were dealing with the Empire's punitive force.

"It's possible eventually. I suppose I'll need to teach him all the proper etiquette of a knight by then."

His son had met with Yasuyuki at their home many times and seemed to be on friendly terms with him.

That same son envied Yasuyuki.

"Even we only received basic instruction from you, Dad. That Yasuyuki is a lucky guy, getting to be tutored by you, the Knight Captain."

If Klaus were to recruit disciples, people would surely flock to him from many other interstellar nations.

All of them aiming for the false image of a knight who had achieved countless military honors.

Klaus let out a deep, internal sigh.

"Even though there is so little I can teach him."

(Honestly, I feel I'm insufficient as an instructor for Yasuyuki-kun.)