What Came After
And so, the Jenkins family’s ambition to gain leverage over the ducal McCreed house came to a pitiful end.
… Well, truth be told, the McCreed family probably could have handled things on their own without me ever getting involved. But still, I’m glad we avoided the worst-case scenario.
Heath Jenkins, the mastermind behind it all, was unconditionally sentenced to prison.
At first, his son Wesley was also slated to face the same punishment. However, thanks to testimony from me, Gary, and other fellow knights that confirmed he was coerced into cooperating under his father’s orders, he narrowly avoided prison—though he wasn’t let off the hook completely.
He was dismissed from the Knights Order.
But even so, Wesley faced his new path with his head held high.
"I'm going to do my best on a new path—from now on, with Lillian by my side."
He came by the outpost to say goodbye, smiling brightly as he said those words.
—That’s right.
At one point, it looked as though Wesley and Lillian’s engagement would be called off.
However, thanks to the decision of Darren, head of the Glaberson family, it was allowed to continue.
Lord Darren had taken quite a liking to Wesley and chose to view the incident as the result of Heath Jenkins’s unchecked recklessness—not something that should affect the engagement.
The public was shocked by the decision and criticisms flew—but when the McCreed ducal house officially voiced its support of Lord Darren’s judgment, the outrage evaporated almost overnight.
“Hmph… ‘Jenkins heir lands a wealthy bride.’ Even after a whole week, they’re still putting out tasteless headlines like this…”
I muttered to myself as I skimmed through the newspaper that had been stuffed into the outpost’s postbox.
Still, the couple themselves looked genuinely happy, so none of it really mattered.
“Oh? Senior, are you secretly interested in marrying into wealth?”
“That’s not the part I was focused on—”
“Then I have great news for you! My father is none other than the Vice-Commander of the prestigious Landval Kingdom Knights Order!”
“I know. He’s my superior, remember? … Anyway, it’s about time for patrol.”
“H-Hey! That reaction was way too cold!”
Ignoring Elina’s mock indignation behind me, I stepped outside.
“Looks like it’s going to be a hot one today. Let’s hope no one gets heatstroke.”
Bathed in the strong summer sun, I set off on my regular patrol duty once again.
What do you think about this chapter?
