My Wife, You Say?

He looked over at me as if startled, but even if you were going to say something about appearance to a man like me, it was no kind of thing to say to a young woman.

Especially not when someone of high rank was saying it to someone beneath him who could not fight back.

Apparently, I was not the only one who felt that anger.

Based on chivalric spirit, several guests rose from their seats.

Crown Prince Arios must have realized it was a blunder too. He turned his face away from the guests and pursed his lips.

And yet this idiot still did not apologize.

What is he, a child?

As a man around the same age, it was pathetic.

“…Eh? Why…? Why are you…?”

Then suddenly, I heard an unfamiliar voice.

Hm? I turned my head.

Apparently, the thing inside the white veil had spoken.

She might have turned this way. The hem of the veil swayed.

“Atsuhito.”

She murmured something I did not understand, and I tilted my head. What language was that?

“At any rate!”

After clearing his throat, Crown Prince Arios looked around the cathedral once more.

He held Mail in one arm and wore a broad grin.

No, hold on, we still have not received a correction and an apology.

“The engagement is broken off!”

“You fool!”

A furious shout like a thunderclap rang through the room.

Whoa! That startled me!

Apparently, it was not just me.

One of the knights who had stood to protest had even gripped the hilt of his ceremonial sword.

Crown Prince Arios’s shoulders shook as well, and Mail let out a small scream and clung to him.

“Lord Balimore, I beg your forgiveness for my son’s rudeness!”

It was King Noie.

His white beard trembling, he bowed his head toward a man who remained seated with the senior retainers.

If that was Lord Balimore, he must be one of Lady Shitoen’s relatives.

From where I sat, I could only see his profile, but he looked about old enough to be her father.

He was a middle-aged man with a lean frame, thinning hair, and sharp features.

And yet.

How should I put it? He was calm.

Normally, if one’s daughter had her engagement broken off right in front of him, he would either fly into a rage or grab King Noie and demand to know what was going on.

But Lord Balimore kept his eyes fixed forward in silence.

At first I wondered if he was a cold man.

But seeing how tightly his jaw was set and how finely his arms trembled, I realized he was simply enduring his anger with all his might, and that left me with a strange feeling.

Lady Shitoen and Lord Balimore alike.

They were nothing like the impulsive House of Luminous.

“You need not apologize, King Noie.”

A full several minutes had passed in silence, and during all that time King Noie had kept his head bowed.

Then, without warning, Lord Balimore said that and stood.

“I shall take my foolish daughter home. Shitoen.”

Lord Balimore smoothly extended an arm.

As expected, even through his clothing, I could tell it was a solidly muscled arm. It spoke of a disciplined life and constant training, which made him far more likable than that idiot crown prince.

“Let us go home, to the Kingdom of Tania.”

Ah, so this gentleman was connected to one of the five kingdoms, the royal house of Tania.

Apparently, a third of that country is mountainous, but it is rich in mineral resources.

Many people there also raise livestock in the mountains, and I had heard there are many with strong legs and powerful lungs.

Looking at Lord Balimore’s build, I could believe it.

“Please wait!”

“Lord Balimore, I beg you! Please, I beg your pardon!”

King Noie and his senior retainers tried to stop Lord Balimore as he stepped onto the aisle laid with the red carpet.

Looking at the aisle, the white cocoon wriggled.

Apparently, she meant to go to Lord Balimore of her own accord.

And the moment the white cocoon moved away from Crown Prince Arios— honestly, it made me sick— that Crown Prince Arios and the woman called Mail both broke into radiant smiles.

No, do you two even understand this situation?

Because of you, people all over this place are apologizing, getting angry, laughing, and scheming, you idiots.

“Forgive me, but may I speak, King Noie? Lord Balimore?”

The one who raised her voice was Mother.

Startled, I looked to the side and saw her holding out a hand toward me.

Ah, escort duty. Right, right.

When I placed my hand beneath the one she offered, Mother rose with perfect grace.

Then she bent her knees slightly in greeting.

“This is… Your Majesty the Queen of Tidros. What an unfortunate scene for you to witness…”

Sweat poured from King Noie’s brow like a waterfall as he returned the greeting.

“As for Lord Balimore, I believe it has been since last year’s… yes, since the evening gathering of the Karaban Union Kingdom, has it not?”

Keeping her mouth hidden behind a slightly opened fan, Mother addressed him. Lord Balimore first gave a salute with his right fist pressed to his left chest, then opened his mouth solemnly.

“It is the highest honor that one such as myself should receive your words. Your Highness appears to be in excellent health. That is above all a blessing.”

See? This is how it normally goes.

You are speaking to royalty, you know?

You two are the strange ones.

I shot a glare at Crown Prince Arios and Mail, but those two were busy gazing into each other’s eyes and giggling together.

A sigh escaped me.

When I shifted my gaze, the white cocoon had stopped moving as though troubled, and was looking back and forth between Lord Balimore and Mother.

“By the way, King Noie, is it correct to understand that this engagement is to be broken off?”

Mother from our house really just said it outright…

“No, no, no! Certainly not!”

King Noie panicked, but Lord Balimore gave one great cough.

“Broken off is fine. I shall take my foolish daughter and return to the Kingdom of Tania as things stand.”

Lord Balimore’s voice and expression were both unyielding.

At that, voices leaked out from the assembled guests.

Most of them carried the sense that this was bad.

“What do you think, Lord Balimore? As it happens, I am currently looking for a wife for my foolish son. His Majesty has entrusted this matter entirely to me.”

The ominous murmuring was cut off in an instant by Mother’s words.

As for me, I went speechless for an entirely different reason.

Huh.

My wife, you say?