Chapter 11

On the night they shared their feelings, Diana and Alan visited the Duke of Gazard together.

Seeing the two of them arrive as a pair, Diana’s father, Duke Wesley Gazard, likely surmised the situation to a certain extent.

When the two knocked on the door of the parlor, Wesley, who was waiting for them, was sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands.

“…I figured this would happen.”

“Father…”

At her father’s words, Diana’s eyes wavered.

She had acted purely upon her own feelings.

Since Alan was her father’s friend, he surely wouldn’t oppose them.

That kind of calculation had indeed crossed her mind.

However, just as Alan had been worrying about, there was a significant age gap between Diana and Alan.

Friendship aside, would her father accept this as a parent?

Seeing her father struggling with anguish right before her eyes, anxiety swelled in Diana’s chest.

“Anyway, sit down.”

Wesley’s voice, urging the two to take a seat, carried an unusually bitter resonance.

It was a tone even Alan, a long-time friend, rarely ever heard from him.

The two seated themselves on the sofa.

Facing Wesley, they sat side-by-side on the settee.

Wesley gazed at the pair with a somewhat vacant expression.

Usually, friends like Wesley and Alan, or father and child like Wesley and Diana, would have sat on separate sofas.

This seating arrangement, different from before, eloquently told the tale of how their relationship had changed.

“Father, um…”

Alan used his large palm to gently stop Diana as she started to speak.

“Let me say it.”

“Lord Alan…”

Alan’s gaze met Wesley’s straight on.

Sweat slowly beaded in his palms.

His throat felt parched, and his heart threatened to crush itself.

Yet, he could not run away.

The battle-hardened warrior wore an expression of sheer desperation, as if he were a young swordsman facing his very first battle.

“I ask for your permission to marry Lady Diana.”

“…………”

At Alan’s words, Wesley pressed his lips together tightly.

He had wondered what kind of convoluted excuses would be made, but the words released from his friend’s lips were remarkably simple.

They were straight, honest words, devoid of embellishment or deceit.

“…Diana.”

“Y-Yes!”

Suddenly called upon, Diana let out a slightly squeaky voice.

“Let me confirm just one thing. You didn’t accept this marriage merely to save Alan’s life, did you?”

At her father’s words, Diana’s heart hammered hard.

Of course, the thought of securing Alan’s safety was certainly a factor.

It was certainly there, but even more than that, Diana held feelings for Alan that had been cultivated over many long years.

“If that were the case… you two would be underestimating the power of our Gazard household far too much. I can protect Alan’s life just fine without having to grant him the status of a son-in-law.”

“…That is certainly not the case.”

Diana refuted her father’s words head-on.

“Father knows better than anyone that I have cherished Lord Alan for a long time, does he not?”

Wesley could not quite meet the gaze of his beloved daughter, who looked at him so steadfastly.

As he slightly averted his eyes, he saw how close the two of them were—close enough for their shoulders to brush.

Diana and Alan’s hands were clasped tightly together, neither of them quite remembering who had reached out first.

“Alan, you…”

Finally casting aside both his standing as a duke and his dignity as a father, Wesley raised his voice in resentment toward his friend.

“Forgive me, Wesley!”

Alan, too, honestly lowered his head.

“I can’t do this anymore. I can no longer deceive myself. I am… desperately in love with Lady Diana… with your daughter.”

It was meant for Wesley to hear, but right beside him, Diana’s cheeks dyed a brilliant crimson.

Her twin sister was always calm, composed, and talented enough to be called a prodigy.

Wesley had never once seen Diana wear an expression like this.

Come to think of it, ever since they were little, Diana’s world had always revolved entirely around Alan.

Memories from when the twin daughters were still young children surfaced in the back of Wesley’s mind.

The twin daughters had once nearly been abducted in their early childhood.

While the two of them had gone out to play in the city accompanied by their nursemaid and a guard knight, the escort knight had grown utterly exhausted by the endless shopping and let his guard down. In that brief moment of distraction, the pair had nearly been snatched away by villains.

Twin infant girls of exquisite beauty, and female ones at that.

To the riffraff of the streets, they must have been worth far more than large jewels.

The person who rescued the two just as they were about to be carried off was none other than Alan himself, who had been the commander of the knighthoods at the time.

While patrolling the royal capital as part of the knighthood, he had spotted the suspicious individuals, thrashed them thoroughly, and taken the twins into protective custody.

While the younger sister, Cordelia, had simply clung to her elder sister and wept, Diana—possessing the responsibility of an elder sister—had maintained her composure all by herself even while threatened by the scoundrels.

Yet the moment she was saved by Alan, that same Diana had reportedly shed tears in huge, unending droplets.

When their father Wesley, having received the report, went to fetch the twins, little Diana had fallen asleep from exhaustion right inside Alan’s arms.

Her tiny hand had kept clutching Alan’s clothing, refusing to let go for the longest time.

Ever since that day, whenever Alan visited the mansion, Diana had greeted him with a smile as grand and bright as a full-blossomed flower.

He had long since realized that Diana harbored romantic feelings for Alan.

Yet, to think that Alan felt the exact same way—!

“──Since when?”

“Pardon?”

At Wesley’s low voice, Alan’s voice pitched upward in surprise.

“I am asking since when.”

Faced with his friend glaring daggers at him, even the seasoned Alan showed a flicker of agitation.

“I cannot say precisely when… but by the time I realized it, I found myself thinking of nothing else but Lady Diana.”

Beside him, the face of Diana, who was listening to the exchange, was dyed as red as if her entire visage had been painted with rouge.

She had always believed her feelings were entirely unrequited.

She still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the reality that Alan held those exact same feelings for her.

“Haa…”

Seeing the two of them like this, Wesley slumped his shoulders.

“Even I know that doing this is the best course of action. I know it…”

By making Alan a son-in-law of the Gazard household, he would leave the royal palace and come under the protection of the Duke of Gazard’s domain.

Securing the stalwart Alan would surely increase the tactical proficiency of the Duke of Gazard’s knighthood even further.

His mind understood it completely.

Yet his heart could not keep pace.

Whether it was truly alright to welcome a man so close to his own age as his daughter’s partner.

Though he worried over it, the daughter in question was head over heels for the man.

No matter how hard he searched, he could find no reason to object.

Age gaps, public reputation… those were secondary when considering the happiness of the individuals themselves.

“Father…?”

To her father, who remained with slumped shoulders, Diana spoke up timidly.

Without even lifting his head, Wesley slowly parted his lips.

“You know how it is, I trust. If you make Diana cry, I will not forgive you.”

“─That goes without saying.”

A firm strength tightened in the hand that remained clasped around Diana’s.

With the approval of Diana’s father, the Duke of Gazard, the two officially became betrothed at that very moment.

“I have various matters… that I must attend to as well.”

When Wesley finally raised his head, his expression was strangely serene.

Once he had given his consent, there was nothing left to do but leave the rest in the two of them.

Alan would surely make his daughter happy.

His old friend had firmly earned that much trust.

(The only question now is how the royal family will react—)

The face of a father doting on his daughter vanished, replaced by the face of a politician.

Various thoughts intersected within Wesley’s mind as he knitted his brows.

By marrying Diana, Alan personally would face a reduced risk of having his life targeted.

Becoming a son-in-law to a ducal house meant being struck from the royal family registry.

Though royal blood still flowed in his veins, Alan would henceforth be treated as one of the subjects.

To the Crown Prince, who was set to become the next king, Alan was no longer a rival in the succession struggle.

Instead, the target of future scrutiny would become his own household, the Duke of Gazard’s.

With the king’s younger brother marrying into the family, their political influence, persuasive clout, and practical military might would all increase substantially.

As the saying went, the tall tree catches the wind; possessing excessive power while remaining a subject could sometimes serve as the catalyst for one’s own ruin.

(Especially concerning how His Highness the Crown Prince will act… I must investigate his movements in detail.)

For the first time, he had witnessed Diana wearing a woman’s expression.

A happy, melting smile.

Seeing a face like that, he couldn’t help but wish for the happiness of his dear daughter and his precious friend.

If it meant protecting the two of them, he would not hesitate to step out onto the front lines himself.

On that day, the Duke of Gazard harbored a fierce, new resolve within his chest.