After Retirement, Living a Stud Life in Another World - 7

Chapter 7: The Sacred Ritual is Not Accepted

“Well, that’s how it is. Even as a ‘stud,’ depending on the performance of your children, you can gain social recognition and wealth. Regardless of whether you choose it as your profession, I hope you won’t exclude the possibility,” said Siegfried.

“I understand that Sieg has said that for my sake. I’m still undecided, but I’m thinking of measuring my abilities. However, what should I do for now? Is there no training or study for being a stud?” asked Lutz.

Finally understanding my answer, Siegfried smiled.

“There is study, too. At least, you need knowledge about general culture, conversation skills to make the woman you mate with like you, manners, grooming, and knowledge about makeup and perfume.”

“Ugh, that’s the one thing I’m worst at…”

“Don’t say that; think of it as general education. Once you meet the minimum requirements, you can study what you like to do, whether it’s accounting, cooking, swordsmanship…”

At this point, Siegfried paused and looked straight at me.

“But there’s one thing you must absolutely do to become a ‘stud.'”

“And what’s that?”

“I told you, right? The ‘baptism.’ Lutz is thirteen now, the age to receive the ‘baptism.’ In fact… Father must be progressing with the arrangements, and you’re probably scheduled to receive it a month from now.”

“Eh?”

In this world, the ‘baptism’ is entirely different from the ‘baptism’ in the original world. When a boy with a reasonably good pedigree turns thirteen, the association selects several partners for him, and it becomes a ritual for the first child-making. Siegfried explained that in the original world, it’s the ‘church’ that performs the baptism, but here, it’s the ‘association,’ meaning the Magic Bloodline Association that issues the studbook. The partners are carefully chosen by the ‘association’ to accurately estimate the abilities of the stud. In other words, my preferences are completely ignored.

“I’m not very enthusiastic about it…”

“But if you don’t undergo the ‘baptism,’ the starting line as a stud will be much further back. Moreover, the ‘baptism’ is a privilege of us ‘good bl00d’ noble boys; I think you have no choice but to use it.”

Yes, I understand what Siegfried is saying in my head. However, the stubborn ethical values ingrained in me from the original world do not easily accept participating in loveless child-making. I sighed deeply and looked up at the sky.

Later that night, Albrecht, who is usually busy managing the house and territory, unexpectedly joined us for dinner and informed me that my ‘baptism’ was scheduled for a month later.

“Uh, can’t we postpone that for a while?”

Of course, it’s not a refusal, but I just wanted some time to organize my feelings. However, my father, who had been consistently gentle since my awakening, spoke more firmly on this matter.

“Lutz, this is the sacred duty of a noble boy in the kingdom. We powerful nobles must not deny the foundation of the country. Think of it as an order from your father. Don’t worry; once you finish the ‘baptism’ properly, we won’t force you to send you forcibly to another house for mating without your consent.”

After reluctantly deciding, I accepted it. It can’t be helped, and here… I’ll endure it.

“Hmph, it seems that because Siegfried’s ‘baptism’ went well, Lutz is also trying to profit by mating with various houses. What a base thing. There’s no second chance in fishing for big ones,” an impolite voice interrupted as I was resigning myself. Turning around, I saw two young men—the brothers of the Froidenstadt family, the ‘crossbreeds.’ While Siegfried and I inherited silver hair from our father, each of the two brothers had gold and brown hair, respectively.

“Lord Matheus, Lord Niklaus. Creating excellent magic users with excellent genetics is not a base thing. It’s necessary to create the future of the kingdom,” I defended.

“Hmph.”

Even though Father was careful with his address and politely advised, the two of them snorted with a mocking attitude. Despite not being bl00d-related, they were older for them, and their attitude towards Father, who should be their stepfather, was inappropriate.

As I was about to stand up in anger, Siegfried restrained my shoulder. Confirming the quiet flames of anger in his eyes, I regained my composure and glared fiercely at the two.

“Hey, brothers. Instead of envying my mating fee, how about honing skills to earn outside of being a ‘stud’? Whether it’s studying accounting, law, or practicing swordsmanship. Can you stop belittling me and Lutz without making such efforts?”

“Envy? You insolent fool, speaking disrespectfully to my brother…”

“Yes, my words may be disrespectful to someone of higher rank. In that case, please apologize for the disrespectful words you uttered against my father, Albrecht. If you do that, I’ll also show respect to you, brothers.”

His tone was calm, but his words carried a sharp edge. The brown gaze of Siegfried, who had been nothing but kind and beautiful to me, pierced through the older and younger brothers. The two twitched their cheeks for a while, but eventually spat out the usual parting words and retreated.

“Damn it, remember this!”