Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Novel 2025 - Chapter 646
Chapter 646: Coming Out (4)
Green buttons for eyes.
Skin as smooth and white as silk.
Lips woven in with red threads.
It wasn’t even a realistic doll created through hours of craftsmanship by a master dollmaker. Only the ribbon stitched to the right of its forehead signified that the doll was intended to be female. It was a cheap, hand-sewn doll that children from ordinary families would’ve played with when they were young.
“So… Baron Yandel…” Ragna began carefully. “You feel love toward this doll?”
I felt a surge of shame flood my senses as blood rushed to my head. It felt as if my hair was falling out.
…I want to die.
It was truly an odd thing. In the Goblin Forest, at Ice Rock. No matter what hardship I encountered, I had never once thought about wanting to die.
I forced myself to nod and agree. “I… I do.”
Another noble laughed and said to himself, “I did wonder! He has so many women around him, but no news of romance…!”
He seemed to think that the reason I hadn’t married yet was truly because of the doll in my hands.
Well, thankfully…he was in the minority.
“Be quiet.” The noble sitting next to him quickly told him off so that he could save his face after that naive declaration.
It was the reason I didn’t bring a high-quality doll. If I brought something with at least some impressive craftsmanship, more nobles would have reacted like the first. I needed them to see why I was making this move.
The most important thing, though, was the marquess’s reaction.
I held tightly onto the doll in one hand and glanced his way. Even though he at first seemed just as shocked as the other nobles, he had steadied himself at some point.
“You love the doll…” He looked back and forth between me and the doll as he mumbled to himself, “You really are…you.”
He wasn’t saying that I was the type of person who would love a doll. No, he was probably referring to how I pulled out a solution like that.
Now… What is he going to do?
It didn’t matter if the marquess believed me. In fact, I never thought he would believe me in the first place. Just like how Duke Kealunus and Marquess Tercerion spoke as if reading from a script, all declarations made here were strict, calculated political moves. My declaration followed those rules. My determination to not marry anyone would, thus, be expressed in a roundabout way.
“Hmm…”
The question was, would that effort of mine work on the marquess?
As I quietly waited for his answer, the marquess finally finished mulling it over and replied, “Your confession of loving the doll was quite shocking to say the least. However, each person experiences love in a different way.”
“…So?”
“I will respect your decision.”
On the surface, it was a pretty positive response, but then came those bone-chilling words.
“You are not one to disgrace the servants who act as the guiding lights of this nation with falsehoods. I trust that you understand the responsibility of your words.”
Put another way, if I didn’t keep my word, I would pay the price.
The marquess must have recognized that it would do no good to back me into a corner, as he then gave a small way out.
“Since you have shown such sincerity, as one adult to another, it is only right that I respect your decision. However, I ask this of you as the prime minister of this kingdom: When the time comes, please have children. A successor to lead your house into the future. It would be a great loss for the nation for a brilliant individual such as yourself to not leave behind a legacy.”
When the time came…
“I’ve noticed a few female warriors of age as well.”
He would also allow me to marry within my race and have children.
To the marquess’s offer, I responded, “…I’ll think about it.”
That was all I said, but truthfully, it was subtle acceptance on my part. I mean, it wouldn’t make sense to just agree with him outright here, right?
“Alright, then we will leave that subject there… Thank you all for waiting. We will now continue with the next topic.”
That seemed to have worked decently well.
***
To be honest, I wasn’t planning to declare my celibacy in that way. The simple fact of the matter was I just wasn’t going to marry anyone. Ultimately, I didn’t make the decision because I was afraid of getting into conflict with the marquess—well, it did play some part in it—but I decided as soon as I finished talking with Mr. Dragon.
What good is marriage for me?
In a way, given the position I had made for myself in the city and the people who followed me, my decision probably felt like a betrayal. But so what? Some might claim that I was clinging to modern sensibilities that I needed to shed, but for me, marriage was a sacred thing. A vow to live together forever was something I couldn’t make, not while I didn’t even know the state of my own heart, and even less so when children would be thrown into the mix.
I don’t even know when I’m going to die.
That wasn’t to say I came to the decision purely out of sentimentality. I needed to focus on survival. Maybe there was a world in which marriage helped me with that, but after running my simulations in my head, I decided against it in the end.
There’s a lot to gain and just as much to lose in this.
Marrying someone who could help me out politically might seem like a good idea at first, but I would end up creating many more enemies as a result. Plus, if I received someone’s help, I would need to help them down the line in kind.
“Then with that, our meeting will come to a close. I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude once again to each and every one of you for taking time out of your busy schedules.”
Despite my whirlwind of thoughts, the final topic passed and the Palatial Meeting came to an end.
Why is it in reverse order this time?
We didn’t leave all at once, but rather one by one, starting from the seats closest to the head of the table. In two-minute intervals as well.
…They have a weird way of discriminating against people.
But the strangest thing was that, after experiencing said discrimination, a desire to raise my ranks within the Palatial Meeting welled within me.
Hmm, maybe that was the reason it became tradition? If even I gained the desire to raise my ranks from that alone, what would those power-hungry monsters be feeling?
With that, everyone except me had left the meeting hall. I felt a little saddened for some reason, but then got up out of my seat and left the room. As I was about to leave for home, though, someone called out to me from behind.
“Excuse me.”
“Rag—” Hmm, someone could see us, so I should probably maintain some distance. “Countess Peprok. You haven’t left yet?”
“No one is around. You can call me by my name, like usual.”
“It’s better to be careful about these things, Countess.”
Yeah, mistakes happen without one realizing it. That was why I had to keep calling Amelia “Emily” too.
“So…” I said, trailing off. “Were you just waiting for me the whole time?”
“Yes. I had something I needed to discuss with you.”
“What is it?”
“That doll from before.” Ragna seemed displeased when she mentioned the doll before continuing, “Ah, don’t worry. It’s not that I believe you. I nearly misunderstood at the start… But Father—I mean, Marquess Tercerion explained it to me. It is because I am too naive to the way of politics.”
“So, what are you trying to say?”
“Well…” Ragna hesitated for a long moment, but just like when I “came out,” she clenched her eyes shut and said, “Baron Yandel. Do you…hate me?”
“What…?”
“I’m asking if you hate me so much that you would endure something so humiliating just to refuse me.”
Uh…
I was a little taken off guard by the question. Still, I gave her an honest answer.
“I think you’ve got the wrong idea here. I don’t hate you or anything like that.”
Of course, if she asked me if I would marry her, I could sternly say no. However…
“The reason I refused the marquess’s suggestion of marriage was because of political reasons.”
“Politics…is it?”
“Yeah. If we get married, do you think the other nobles will just stand by?”
The marquess’s faction was cruising straight ahead within the political sphere of Rafdonia without or without me. But if I joined him in all that? The forces of Duke Kealunus, the noble alliance around House Kaislan, and even Count Alminus, who claimed neutrality, wouldn’t just sit around and do nothing. They would try to protect themselves by forming alliances or something along those lines.
“Because of something like that… But we’re capable of stopping them.”
“Well, we probably could. But I don’t want to make a headache out of trying to deal with relationship drama like that.”
“I see…”
“So you get it.”
“Yes, I do understand. You’re saying you had no choice but to refuse given my current status.”
Uh… I guess it could be interpreted in that way?
The subtext seemed a little off, but even if I tried to look deeper, she wasn’t technically wrong in that.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave. Bjorn Yandel, you must be tired as well. Please go and rest.”
“Yeah, it was good to see you. Let’s meet up later.”
“Of course.”
After a short farewell, we parted ways. I stepped outside the palace itself and went over to the carriage station.
“…Hmm?”
Suddenly, I felt a presence. I looked into the alleyway to see someone standing there in the darkness of the shadows. They seemed to be a little over five-and-a-half feet tall with a thin build. However, they were wearing gloves and a thick robe, leaving no inch of skin exposed.
Anyone would think they were an assassin, and I nearly did, but that didn’t make sense. This wasn’t just anywhere, it was the royal capital of Karnon. No one would be moronic enough to send just one assassin to try and kill me.
Who the hell is this in the dead of night?
They looked pretty suspicious, but I figured they had nothing to do with me and just went to walk straight past them.
Clack.
But then, the unknown person walked toward me and snuck closer, toward the streetlamp illuminating the area. They pushed back the robe covering their face, and I couldn’t help but freeze.
A black mask with no discernible features. However, its shape, curve, and the aura emanating off of the person before me could only be one person.
…Black.
However, I wasn’t Lion of the community forums or Hansu Lee, but just Bjorn Yandel. I tried my best to maintain my poker face as I furrowed my brow.
“What the— Who are you? An assassin?”
It was the most natural reaction I could think of at that moment.
However, the unknown masked person just shook their head at my question.
“No way.”
The familiar voice of a woman entered my ears.
Swish.
Then, she took off her mask.
Black hair and black eyes.
And facial structure and skin tone that looked vaguely Asian.
“Harin Savy.”
No, to be precise, the evil spirit who had taken over the body of Harin Savy—Hyeonbyeol Kang. For some reason, she silently looked at me with a smile.
An inexplicable chill raced down my spine, and I tried to speak while hiding that fact. “What are you doing here? Did Ragna send you?”
“No?”
“Then why…?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? I’m going to do what I want to from now on. And that we’d see each other on the outside.”
Of course I knew that Hyeonbyeol had sent me that message in the end. However, I acted as I usually would for now.
“What do you mean—” by that?
As I was about to ask that, Hyeonbyeol cut me off and took off the heavy robe that had been concealing her body.
“Ah, but I didn’t expect back then that I would need to wait this long. But it’s fine now that I can see you.”
She used her long legs to take another step closer.
I think she’s gotten taller since the last time I saw her.
“Bjorn Yandel.”
Clack.
“No. Hansu.”
How the hell did she know?