"So, what do you think about my granddaughters? Do you like Phyllis? She's stupid, but she still has some potential."

Nearby, Phyllis snapped back to reality after hearing that. She was about to yell, but the moment she caught Baxter's glare, she froze, shivering in fear. She was terrified of her grandpa the most. She never dared to talk back to her granda—no way, she had never even imagined that scene happening.

However, in that moment of fear, she suddenly remembered her sibling. Thoughts slowly formed in her head as she spoke up.

"G-Grandpa… He would like Dana more than me since he's already kissed her…"

…

Alaric scowled, and even Dana, standing far away, had the same reaction. Meanwhile, Baxter's lips slowly curled upward when he heard that.

Damn. Alaric gulped, a bad feeling creeping in as he saw Baxter's sly expression.

Obviously, it was great news to Baxter. With a brief smile, he called Dana over.

"Dana! Come here!"

She hesitated for a moment, then stepped toward the center of the arena. But by then, most people had already turned their eyes elsewhere to avoid looking at her face. The Curse of a God wasn't something easy to handle. Even someone strong like Baxter could barely look at her directly. Of course, except Alaric, who greeted her with an awkward smile.

Baxter cleared his throat.

"What Phyllis said—is it true?"

Dana hesitated for a moment before forcing herself to nod, though she still tried to explain it away for some reason.

"That's right, Grandpa… but we don't have anything like love. I just asked him to research my curse."

Baxter nodded quietly, then turned to Alaric. Indeed, Dana's excuse was quite weird, but he didn't bother at all. What was most caring was Alaric, who seemed to have an illness of his eyes judging the beauty of women.

"Boy, what do you think of my granddaughters? Phyllis and Dana—who do you see as more beautiful?"

Phyllis frowned, totally confused by her grandpa's question. To her, it was obvious she was more beautiful than Dana… But Alaric's answer shattered her illusion—and everyone else's too.

"Uh, that's a weird question. Obviously, that muscular pig can't compare to Lady Dana."

To be honest, he wanted to lie, but for some reason, he didn't want to do this, especially praising that big pig which carried an irritated feeling for him. Moreover, it seemed that the old man was giving him an option to choose one of them.

If he could not escape from this situation, just choose the best way out of the bad situation.

"So, you like her?"

Alaric scratched his head.

"Well… it's kinda embarrassing to say, but I can put it another way: I'd have to admit I'm gay if I said no."

Silence.

Baxter burst out laughing, while Phyllis's face flushed red with anger. To her, what Alaric said was nothing but mockery and disdain. If Dana—cursed and hideous—was still above her, didn't that mean she was even uglier than a monster?

But she couldn't do anything except grit her teeth in frustration.

Baxter smiled lightly.

"So, you don't think you need to take responsibility for my granddaughter?"

He looked up, hesitated, gulped, then fell silent again. Well, It was exactly what he thought. Even Dana felt something bad coming from her grandpa's tone.

"You have to marry Dana."

Silence.

Dana just stood there, frozen, and Alaric let out a deep breath while countless whispers spread across the arena.

"See? The slave is gonna marry Dana, a child of a legendary clan."

…

"Slave? Watch your mouth. If he becomes Dana's husband, his whole identity changes. If you say something rude like that in front of a legendary clan, they'll kill you."

A student gulped hard and muttered,

"You're right… Even though she looks hideous, she still has high status and power."

…

Another student added,

"Yeah… we should behave properly toward him from now on."

***

Alaric frowned and pressed his temple. His thoughts were too messy to sort out. Marrying Dana wasn't bad overall, but if he did, he would become part of a legendary clan.

Basically, he'd be living in the enemy's den. Worse, he might be under their control. He wanted freedom, not to be treated like a puppet.

"Sir, but your granddaughter… I don't think she'll agree to that."

But he immediately regretted saying it when he saw Dana's tired, hopeless expression. Clearly, he still didn't really understand her family's dynamics. She couldn't refuse her grandpa's decision once he ordered something. Her grandpa was the type who'd sell off his granddaughter just to strengthen the clan through political marriage. A marriage didn't need to be happy.

It felt just like his old world… like his family, where his parents had forced him to date another girl instead of his own girlfriend.

She only nodded weakly.

"Your will is my desire, grandpa."

Alaric instinctively took a small step back, then tried to think of the best way to handle this situation. He had no way to escape from it. Honestly, he never had a way to begin with. An elder of a legendary clan had come all the way here just to recruit him, and if Alaric still refused Baxter after everything the old man had gifted him, it would basically mean he was provoking the legendary clan.

It wasn't like the way he could refuse some random investigators from a legendary clan. At this moment, he was in a completely special situation.

On top of that, Baxter had a solid reason to force him into the clan. He had kissed Dana, a child of a legendary clan. Even if he was the child of the Nameless God, Baxter would still use that as a reason to punish him. If he didn't want to join the clan, he would have to pay a price equal to that offense… and he guessed that punishment would be even worse than what he'd suffer as a member of the legendary clan.

"Sir, if that's the case, I'll take responsibility… but we'll only marry after we graduate from the academy. You know… I'm still weak, and when I get married, I want to be a strong man."

He added,

"Yes, consider it a test… If I'm not strong by that time, how can I call myself her husband and your grandson-in-law?"

Well, that was the best plan he could come up with right now—to buy some time, at least. He wouldn't be tied down by the legendary clan until he graduated.

Baxter rubbed his chin and nodded in satisfaction.

"Good, my grandson-in-law. I have no objections. That's exactly what I expect from you, child of the Nameless God."

"From now on, you two are already engaged under my witnesses, so there're no need for complicated procedure"

Then Baxter pulled out a human-skin-covered book from his pocket and tossed it to Alaric. Coincidentally, he knew about Alaric's curse, that's why he could heal Phyllis. If he gave that gift to Alairc, made sure that Alaric would be persuaded to join his clan.

"This is my wedding gift in advance for my grandson-in-law. That book contains all the curses I've collected and researched in my whole life."

He smiled and added,

"You might find something about your curse in there."

Alaric's mouth almost fell open, ready to drool viciously. He stammered happily,

"T-Thank you so much, grandpa."

Baxter's eyelid twitched after hearing such shameless enthusiasm. If he'd known Alaric could be persuaded with artifacts and money this easily, he would've spent those instead of using his granddaughter.

Of course, the nearby professors—and Dana—let out a long breath, as if they had just uncovered a new shameless trait of his.

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