In front of the village gate, Claudia stepped forward. Then she shouted in a language that wasn't understood by the others, as it was only used by the barbarian tribe. A man peeked out from the top of the palisade, right above the gate. Seeing this, Claudia immediately waved. The man disappeared, and a moment later, "greek," the village gate swung open. Ard, seeing the village gate up close, suddenly remembered something.

"Wait... if I recall correctly, this village is—" Ard muttered.

"Claudiaaaaa!"

Suddenly, they heard a man's roar from inside. Everyone turned to see a handsome, large, muscular, yet rugged man, wearing only fur leather clothing, leather boots, and shirtless, running fast. He charged toward Claudia right outside the gate with his muscular arms wide open.

"Buaak,"

Claudia immediately raised her leg, and her foot connected with the man's chin, sending him spinning backward in the air. Then, "kyaaaa," "blum," he crashed onto the ground, making Mirea, Milia, Alicia, and Rosalind jump back to avoid his fall. Ard, seeing this, immediately smiled and turned away to suppress his laughter. Eva, seeing Ard turn around, immediately went up to him.

"You know that guy?" Eva whispered.

"His name is Drago. He's the village chief's son and Claudia's fiancé, but Claudia doesn't want him, which is why she ran away to the academy," Ard whispered back.

"Oh... I didn't know that," Eva murmured.

"Of course, you didn't know that. All you did in your nine lives was destroy this village," Ard replied.

"Please don't bring that up again," Eva shot back, punching Ard's shoulder.

"My bad, my bad," Ard said.

Claudia lowered her foot and sighed, then she turned and kicked Drago, who was lying face down, to flip him over. There was still a smile on Drago's face despite being bruised and having a nasty lump.

"I didn't come here for you, so don't get your hopes up. I will never marry you," Claudia said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Don't be like that, my fiancée. I really, really love you, and I'm happy you came," Drago said, still lying on his back and looking up at Claudia.

Drago lifted his head, and his face instantly flushed, accompanied by his wide smile. Seeing the direction of Drago's eyes pointing toward her skirt, Claudia quickly looked down and covered herself with her hand. Then, "buaak," Claudia kicked Drago again until his head hit the ground once more, though he was still smiling.

"Thanks for the gift," Drago mumbled with a grin.

"Damn you! Don't look at my underwear!" Claudia yelled.

Then Claudia turned to see Alicia, Milia, Patricia, Rosalind, Beatrice, and Mirea smiling to themselves as they looked at her. She also looked at Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin, who had their backs to her but were visibly shaking, trying to hold back their laughter.

"What the hell are you guys thinking, huh?" Claudia screamed.

"Nothing. Turns out you're sweet in front of your fiancé, hehe," Mirea teased.

"Wow... Claudia is actually a woman, too," Milia added, mocking her.

"Usually she's tough and acts like a guy, but in front of her fiancé, she instantly turns into a girl," Alicia chimed in.

"Hehe, looks like Claudia is close with her fiancé," Beatrice added.

"That's right, Princess, hehehe," Rosalind agreed.

"I don't want to comment, nah," Patricia added, but she was smiling with a smirk.

"Grr... you guys cut it out! I am not his fiancée!" Claudia shrieked, her face red, pointing at Drago, who was still lying on the ground.

"Yeah, yeah... you're not his fiancée," Mirea teased with a smirk.

After that, Geoffrey, Ainsley, and Irwin, who had laughed enough, helped Drago, whose face was covered in bruises, stand up. Drago turned to look at Eliza, who was being carried by her maid, and then saw Anna guarding her. He immediately bowed to Eliza, who looked totally confused and just stared at Drago with her big, cute eyes. Then Drago's gaze swept over Ard, after which he looked at Eva. "drap...drap," Drago immediately stepped closer to Eva and grabbed her chin.

"Hmm... you're pretty, too," Drago said.

"Huh! What?" Eva yelled, annoyed.

Then Drago looked at Mirea, Alicia, Milia, Patricia, Beatrice, and Rosalind. After that, he looked at Claudia once more.

"Wow, you brought some beautiful bridesmaids here, my fiancée. That means we have to get married right away," Drago said cheerfully.

Without delay, Claudia jumped up, and her fist slammed into Drago's head, making him kneel down and kiss the dirt hard again.

"That's enough! You jerk! You have no sense!" Claudia screamed, continuing to stomp on Drago's back with all her heart.

"Aaa... ouch... ouch... yeah, yeah... stop already... I know you love me... pleeeease stop," Drago yelled in pain.

"Hey! Hey, enough! Don't forget what we came here for," Ard said, grabbing Claudia's shoulder.

"Haah... haah... yes... you're right, Ard," Claudia said, stepping back.

Ard turned to look at Drago, who was sprawled on the ground and helpless, his back covered in Claudia's footprints. Ard helped Drago up, then he and Eva immediately told him their purpose for being there and introduced himself. Anna also approached Drago to greet him and explain the situation regarding Princess Eliza, who was traveling with Ard and his friends. Drago's face became serious as he looked at Ard and Anna standing side-by-side.

"Oh, I thought you all came here to drop off my fiancée. Alright, I understand. Come on inside. We'll meet my dad, Gleld, the chief of this village. You can explain everything inside," Drago said, immediately becoming serious.

Then Drago led them all inside the village. All the villagers immediately stopped what they were doing and turned to look at them. Their village looked very simple; their houses were built using stone with thatched roofs but had simple chimneys.

Inside, there were only three shops: a vegetable shop, a meat shop, and a fish shop. On the right side was a blacksmith next to a woodworker. They headed toward the widest building in the center of the village, which was decorated with two round wooden shields displayed on its front wall.

When they entered, Drago brought Claudia, Ard, Eva, and Anna into the back room while asking the others to wait in the living area. Once inside the room, which looked like the chief's quarters with a wooden throne tied tightly with rope, they saw a middle-aged, large man wearing animal fur clothing and a spiked helmet on his head. His black beard was very thick, and both his hair locks were tied in pigtails, hanging out from inside his helmet.

"Dad, they wanna talk to you. They came here with Claudia, Chief Osgrelf's daughter," Drago said, introducing Ard, Eva, and Anna.

Claudia, who knew Gleld, immediately paid her respects. Gleld, the village chief, immediately studied the faces of Ard, Eva, and Anna standing before him, then he turned briefly to look at Claudia, who nodded and smiled as she looked at Ard, Eva, and Anna.

"Alright, please sit down, and welcome to our village," Gleld said in a deep voice.

"Thank you, Chief," Ard said.

They immediately sat down at the long table in the room. Gleld and the bruised Drago sat across from Ard, Eva, Anna, and Claudia. Then Gleld finally noticed his son's face.

"Hey... what's with your face?" Gleld asked.

"Oh, this? This is a sign of my fiancée's love," Drago answered, touching his cheek and winking at Claudia.

"Grrr... don't say weird stuff," Claudia snapped, clenching her fist on the table.

"Hahaha... you two never change. Alright, why are you here, Claudia?" Gleld asked.

"Anna, just tell him what happened," Claudia said, turning to look at Anna.

"Alright," Anna replied.

Anna explained everything that happened in the grassland and why Princess Eliza was returning to the capital to Gleld, who listened, nodding, with his arms crossed over his chest. After hearing the story, Gleld said he was willing to escort Princess Eliza back to the Ateras Kingdom capital. Hearing that, Anna was relieved and thanked him. Then Gleld looked over at Ard and Eva.

"What about them?" Gleld asked.

"Ah, we're from the acade..."

"He's my future husband, so I decided to cancel my engagement with Drago," Claudia blurted out, grabbing Ard's shoulder and cutting him off.

"Huh!" Ard, Eva, and Drago yelled, turning to look at Claudia, dumbfounded.

Claudia suddenly kissed Ard's cheek and then hugged him intimately, which made Eva feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Hey... Claudia!" Eva yelled, standing up.

"Sorry, Ard. There was no other way to cancel the engagement, hehe," Claudia said.

Ard, trapped, could only resign himself to his fate, seeing Eva ready to rage, plus Drago glaring at him like he wanted to murder him.

"Why the hell is this happening... our plan was just to drop off Princess Eliza and... stay here for a bit before moving on. Why did I suddenly have to break up Drago and Claudia's engagement... just like I did in my fourth life? And that means I have to go to Claudia's village and perform the ritual there? This really sucks, and Eva looks like she wants to murder me... damn it," Ard thought to himself.

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