Boy And Prospective Bride

Before the second term of his second year began, Rudel returned home for the long vacation. An event was waiting for him there. More precisely, it was something that occurred in connection with one of Aleist’s events. Following Chlust’s suspension, the Arses family had grown concerned about their standing and decided to arrange an engagement for Rudel.

For his prospective partner, they selected someone both trusted by the royal family and personally capable. Ordinarily, they would have searched for a match befitting the family’s rank, but with House Arses in decline, even that was no longer possible.

Various circumstances became intertwined, and two Dragoons were chosen as candidates: “Cattleya Nianis” and “Lilim.” Cattleya came from a lower-ranking noble family, but she was considered a genius among Dragoons and enjoyed the royal family’s trust.

Lilim was an elf. However, thanks to her magical talent and long lifespan, she was regarded as a promising talent even among the Dragoons. She had technically been selected as a candidate, but no one actually expected Lilim to be chosen. She was essentially there to make up the numbers. It was also intended as an insult toward Rudel.

The Arses family discriminated against demi-humans. Having an elf selected as one of the heir’s prospective fiancées… was therefore assumed to be humiliating. And because she was also a Dragoon… they had shallowly reasoned that other noble houses would not be able to openly mock them for it.

In reality, it only earned them derisive laughter…

Unaware of any of that, Rudel returned home. Once there, he gave his younger sister Lena souvenirs and told her stories about the academy… but something seemed strange about her. When he noticed and asked what was wrong…

“I’m getting engaged! …Well, I suppose that isn’t particularly strange, but this happened rather suddenly, didn’t it?”

“They’re only choosing your fiancée candidate for now! They said she’s a female knight who’s a Dragoon.”

That single sentence moved Rudel deeply! So deeply that he practically jumped for joy…

“Really, Lena?! My prospective bride is a Dragoon… I need to start preparing immediately!”

“Big Brother… you look really happy.”

“Of course I am! I might get to meet a dragon!”

“…Big Brother really is Big Brother.”

On the day of the formal meeting, two women riding dragons were heading toward Arses territory. Even from the sky, they could tell that the towns spread out beneath them lacked vitality. There were astonishingly few people coming and going… To Dragoons familiar with other territories, the way Arses territory was governed seemed abnormal.

“Marrying into a territory like this would be the worst.”

Cattleya muttered that while riding her Red Dragon… and Lilim, mounted on the Wind Dragon flying beside her, responded.

“It has already been decided that you’ll be the one engaged, but you’re getting ahead of yourself, Cattleya.”

“Hmph. Easy for you to say, Senpai… There’s absolutely no chance they’ll choose you!”

Lilim was someone Cattleya found difficult to deal with. Their combat styles were a poor match for each other, Lilim was her senior… and on top of that, she was skilled enough to have been chosen by a Wind Dragon, leaving Cattleya little room to complain.

Lilim had golden hair and pale skin… but her eyes remained closed. It was not because she was blind… there was a reason she could not open them fully.

“I heard from my younger sister that he isn’t nearly as terrible as you claim. The vice-captain also rates his ability quite highly, so I don’t understand why you dislike him so much… Is his face simply not to your taste?”

“…His face is ordinary enough… But I can’t stand that man! He’s…”

Cattleya’s expression darkened… Sensing it from the atmosphere, Lilim did not press the matter any further.

After that somewhat awkward journey through the sky, the two landed their dragons in the garden of the Arses estate… only for someone to suddenly come charging toward them. Anyone who would rush fearlessly toward a dragon… could only inspire a terrible sense of foreboding.

But that person… threw his arms around the dragon. The displeased Wind Dragon resisted by moving its wings. Since it might accidentally kill him if this continued, Lilim approached the person cautiously.

“What are you doing?”

“…I’m sorry. I got carried away because I was so happy… I regret it.”

As expected, the person was Rudel. Lilim opened her eyes just slightly to confirm his clothing and the features her younger sister had described, then lowered her guard and calmed her dragon.

Seen up close, dragons were feared for their enormous size and imposing forms. Someone who was not even a Dragoon yet had leaped onto one without hesitation… Lilim’s first impression of Rudel was simply that he was an eccentric.

After being shown inside the mansion, the two women were taken to the room where they were originally supposed to meet Rudel. The meeting had been intended to begin there from the start… but because Rudel had behaved discourteously, the two were now waiting while drinking tea.

“He’s a strange one, isn’t he, Senpai? I’m here because my family ordered me to come, but why didn’t you refuse?”

Cattleya asked the question while sipping her tea, and Lilim answered.

“I am an elf, and no matter how many achievements I earn, I cannot be granted a family name. The only real exception would be marrying into a noble house and having the children I bear inherit that family name… The request from the elf elders played a part as well… but I was also curious about the person who caught my younger sister’s interest. Though apparently, the head of this family only included me as a form of harassment.”

Demi-humans were still treated poorly in Courtois. Even so, they could become knights of the kingdom because the neighboring Gaia Empire was a militaristic state. If Courtois failed to remain meritocratic, the gap between the two nations would quickly widen.

That was simply part of the “world’s setting.”

Their conversation was interrupted when Rudel’s father, the head of the family, appeared.

“My apologies for earlier… My son is quite disappointing. I ask that you forgive him.”

His words amounted to an apology, at least on the surface, but his attitude clearly showed that he looked down on the two women. Ignoring it, they rose and offered the Grand Duke the formal salute of knights. Then Rudel appeared as well.

“S-sorry to keep you waiting!”

“Rudel! What have you been doing?! You disgrace the Arses family… Attend to these two ladies at once.”

With that, Rudel’s father left the room. Such treatment would ordinarily have been unthinkable, but from the Arses family’s perspective, the two women were merely a member of a weak, lower-ranking noble house and a demi-human. Had they not been Dragoons respected throughout the kingdom, Rudel’s father would have regarded them as no more important than stones lying by the roadside.

“Rudel-sama, it is a tremendous honor to—haah.”

Cattleya began offering a formal greeting, only to stop midway, sigh, and sit back down. She would not even look at Rudel’s face. More accurately, looking at him made her feel murderous.

“Cattleya… My apologies, Rudel-sama. I imagine I am not to your satisfaction, but I will keep you company. My name is Lilim… and as you can see, I am an elf.”

Rudel had been dejected by Cattleya’s attitude… perhaps like a fan discovering that his favorite idol hated him. Yet the moment Lilim introduced herself, his mood brightened dramatically.

“I am Rudel Arses. It is an honor to meet one of the Dragoons I respect above all others!”

Rudel knew almost every Dragoon knight, famous or obscure. Naturally, that meant he was well aware of the accomplished Lilim’s name. As Rudel approached with sparkling eyes, Lilim instinctively took a small step backward.

“You really are exactly as my younger sister described… Do you admire the Dragoons that much?”

“Yes! I will absolutely become one!”

…Privately, Lilim thought it would be difficult. She herself considered it almost miraculous that she had managed to become a Dragoon. She could hardly believe that Rudel, who was merely regarded as reasonably talented, could accomplish the same.

Perhaps that was why… she invited Rudel outside and allowed him to ride on the back of her dragon…

“A-amazing! This is amazing!!!”

Lilim rode on the dragon’s back together with Rudel. She was pleased that Rudel seemed delighted by the speed of her prized Wind Dragon… or so she thought. The dragon’s magic shielded them from air resistance. Thanks to that, no matter how quickly they flew through the sky, they could freely look down over the territory from above.

“Are you satisfied, Rudel-sama? This should have gotten it out of your system…”

“Huh?”

There was one other important purpose behind this engagement. It was meant to make Rudel develop awareness of his responsibilities as the next Grand Duke. In other words, he was supposed to stop dreaming about becoming a Dragoon.

“Cattleya will most likely become your wife, but you need to face reality. Once you marry, your duty as the next Grand Duke will be to assist the current Grand Duke.”

“W-what are you talking about, Lilim-sama? I—!”

“I have heard about you from my younger sister. Your grades are excellent, and although you apparently cause some problems, I’ve heard that you are tolerant toward demi-humans as well… Someone like you should put the welfare of your territory first and act accordingly. Give up on becoming a Dragoon. Cattleya, as your wife, can fulfill the role of a knight in your place, Rudel-sama.”

The words spoken by a Dragoon he respected were, “Give up”… and those words weighed terribly heavily on Rudel.

After finishing their meeting with Rudel, the two women headed toward their lodging. With the sun already setting and night likely to have fallen by the time they returned, Cattleya began teasing Lilim.

“Did your sales pitch work, Senpai? Still, that was pretty cruel… telling him to give up.”

“You really are… That was supposed to be your responsibility, Cattleya.”

“Come on, come on… But this should make him give up. Those words came from an active Dragoon, after all… And did you see his face when you got back?! He looked like the whole world had ended!”

Lilim found Cattleya’s behavior somewhat strange… Cattleya was not normally the sort of person who spoke this way. She was naturally gifted and certainly had a tendency to look down on others, but she was not usually this vicious. If anything, Lilim now found herself wanting to know what could possibly have made Cattleya harbor such intense negative feelings toward Rudel.

When asked what she and Rudel had discussed in the sky, Lilim told Cattleya everything exactly as it had happened. Hearing it, Cattleya made expressions completely unlike her usual ones while saying things like, “I never thought of that approach!” and “Maybe I won’t even have to do anything myself?”

“…I do feel a little sorry for him…”

But Lilim’s quiet words never reached Cattleya.