How to Tame My Beastly Husband

How to Tame My Beastly Husband — Chapter 235. Descendant

Ludwig sighed.

“You will be made Duke of Carnesis, but it is a title only for one generation. It will not be passed on to your descendants. Consider it an honorary title, bestowed solely upon you.”

Raphael’s lips pressed together, his habitual expression of anger. But Annette realized he didn’t know whether he should be angry or to accept it. He would of course prefer a hereditary title, but at least he would have the satisfaction that Annette would be a Duchess.

That was the only reason Raphael cared about becoming a Duke at all. He wanted to make sure that Annette did not feel that she had lost anything by marrying him. She was the daughter of Bavaria, the second most powerful family in the kingdom. Raphael had married a princess.

He had always hated that the title Marquis was lower than Duke.

Annette took his hand.

“Raphael, you will be the Duke of Carnesis,” she said. “It’s amazing! No one else could have done something like this. You are an incredible man.”

She had carefully read the contents of the parchment, and saw at once that his title would last only one generation. He had gone as far as duchy and read no further.

That was why he had been so happy.

She squeezed his hand tighter, and the sight of the smile of the woman he loved was enough for Raphael to dismiss all the other tedious details.

“Marquis Carnesis, you ought to read it,” Ludwig said patiently, frowning. There was a way that his title could become hereditary, if certain conditions were met. Quickly, Raphael scanned to the bottom of the document.

His big hands crumpled the page.

Ludwig did not want to say the words aloud. The royal family had always had an ambiguous relationship with previous Masters of Swords. It was like riding on the back of a tiger. He would be deadly dangerous when he was under their control, but he also might turn and devour them.

It took Raphael to find the section Ludwig was referring to. Raphael’s hands had always been occupied with a sword, not books. It was much easier for him to understand spoken words than words on a page, and he had to reread the section several times before he understood it.

“My son can inherit the title if he becomes a Master of Swords.”

“Yes. They say the son of a Swordmaster is four times more likely to become a Master of Swords himself,” Ludwig agreed. Skill with a blade was partially inherited; Selgratis was a talented swordsman, and Ludwig might have become a Master of Swords, too, if he had trained properly.

But Selgratis has prioritized the politics of the throne over the blade. Fortunately, Raphael had become Master of Swords in his stead. But Ludwig was a lousy athlete.

“Very well. I will raise him to be a Master of Swords,” he said, looking at Annette. Of course, that meant that first he would have to get her pregnant.