A Marriage Proposal

After the incident in the courtyard, I spent the time until nightfall in what had once been my room.

There was nothing in particular to do, so I read the book I had brought with me and chatted idly with Tanya, but even then, I was so bored I could hardly stand it.

Eventually, the sun set, and Rowen-san came to my room.

Apparently, Father had returned.

Led by Rowen-san, who had come to fetch me, I made my way toward the room where Father was waiting.

I had left Tanya in my room.

“Master and Madam are waiting for you inside.”

Rowen-san stepped aside beside the door, bowed, and gestured toward it with his hand.

After thanking him, I opened the door.

I entered Father’s study, a room I had rarely visited even when I lived here.

I had never liked this room much as a child.

Strict Father had been more an object of fear than anything else to the young me, and naturally, I had felt the same way about the room where he spent his time.

I had lost count of how many times I had entered only to shrink beneath the piercing gaze Father directed at me from behind his desk.

As Rowen-san had said, they were waiting in the room, where a large desk stood toward the back.

The master of the room, my father, Travis Fols, turned around as soon as he heard the door open.

He was not seated at his desk, apparently having stood to wait for me.

“It has been a while, Father. Lieselotte-sama as well.”

The moment I entered, I straightened my back and offered a formal noble greeting.

Father, who bore a scar across his cheek, fixed me with his piercing gaze. Beside him stood his lawful wife and my stepmother, Lieselotte-sama.

“Nova, I’m glad to see you are well. Sit.”

Father gestured toward the sofa in the corner of the room.

His blond hair, streaked with gray, shifted as he raised his hand.

“Yes,” I answered clearly before moving to the sofa.

After watching the two of them sit down, I took my seat as well.

(? What is it?)

Something seemed strange about Father, both in what he had just said and in the atmosphere around him.

He almost looked tired.

As the head of the family, Father sometimes attended the royal palace, so he probably had hardships I knew nothing about.

“Nova, I’ll get straight to the point. There is one reason I summoned you here today. Someone has proposed marriage to you.”

“…Excuse me?”

That was hardly an acceptable response to give in front of my strict father, but just this once, I wanted him to forgive me.

That was how little sense I could make of what I had just been told.

I had accomplished nothing noteworthy, and if I had any reputation at all, it was mostly the bad one of being House Fols’s failure. I could hardly imagine anyone wanting to marry me.

I was so surprised that I had no idea how to respond.

Without reprimanding me for my disrespect, Father continued with the same serious expression.

“The one who has approached us is… the head of House Ark Gate.”

“…………”

This time, my mind truly went blank.

Even someone as uninformed about noble affairs as me knew House Ark Gate.

And naturally, I knew even more about its head.

“Nova-san… do you know about House Ark Gate?”

My stepmother’s question finally snapped me back to my senses, and I somehow managed to form an answer.

“They’re a prestigious family of mages in the north, right? I’ve heard our families have been like old enemies for generations and don’t get along very well.”

“Do you know about their current head as well?”

Father asked immediately, and I nodded several times.

Rather, there was probably no one in this country who did not know of her.

“She inherited the position of family head about two years ago and brought the war with the Colle Lake Empire to the north to an end. I’ve heard that despite being only twenty years old, she’s an exceptionally gifted noblewoman.”

I still remembered hearing about the accomplishments of a woman my own age and thinking there really were incredible people in the world.

Apparently, she had become the head of House Ark Gate at eighteen, then soon afterward brought the long-running war against the northern Colle Lake Empire to an end.

As I wondered why someone so extraordinary would ever propose marriage to someone like me, I finally realized what had felt strange about Father.

He seemed nervous.

He let out a weary breath and stared directly into my eyes.

For a moment, I wondered if I had said something incorrectly.

“That is how the public views her, and none of it is false. To be frank, I have no idea why the head of House Ark Gate has proposed marriage to you. But listen carefully. Saying that House Fols and House Ark Gate are rival families is incorrect. No… more precisely, it became incorrect once the current head took over.”

“I-I see…”

I did not really understand what Father was getting at, so that vague response slipped out.

When I saw Lieselotte-sama’s expression grow stern, I quickly straightened my posture, but the person she admonished was Father.

“Dear, you need to say it clearly.”

“Ah… yes. You’re right.”

At Lieselotte-sama’s words, Father cleared his throat.

“To put it plainly, if the current House Ark Gate wished it, House Fols could be destroyed. Their wealth, political influence, and sheer power are all on an entirely different level.”

“Even with you and my brothers able to use Aura…?”

I found that difficult to believe.

No matter how much of a hero their head was, Father led House Fols, a family with a long and distinguished history, while Zeroad-nii-sama was already rumored to possess talent that surpassed even Father’s.

I had also heard that Kairas-nii-sama was extremely powerful.

At the very least, the three of them with their Haki unleashed seemed overwhelmingly powerful to me, and yet the head of House Ark Gate was supposedly beyond even them.

I was filled with disbelief, but Father nodded firmly.

“Yes. And the current head is the one who brought House Ark Gate to that level.”

“…………”

I see, I thought.

They were once our sworn rivals, and now they stood overwhelmingly above us.

In other words, they wanted me to sacrifice myself.

It was probably something like marrying me into a family with which we had feuded for generations to improve relations.

It was sad from my perspective, but it was not as though I felt no gratitude for being raised by this family.

And as the third son of a noble house, even a failure unable to use Haki had been allowed to live an excessively comfortable life.

Though one could also say they had merely provided me with that life, without ever behaving much like a family.

“…If it is for House Fols—”

“No. You are misunderstanding something.”

Just as I was reluctantly prepared to offer myself for the sake of the family, Father shook his head.

All I could do was furrow my brow in confusion.

“It seems the head of House Ark Gate has no intention of forcing you. She specifically emphasized that she wishes to deepen her relationship with you first, and that she would like to marry you only if you yourself are willing.”

“What? Uh…”

I could not understand what Lieselotte-sama meant, and questions only swirled faster through my head.

“It seems their head intends to respect your wishes. To be frank, the terms could hardly be more favorable. Personally, I think you should at least meet her. What do you think?”

“I have no objection.”

“Are you truly sure? Is there perhaps someone you are already in love with?”

At Lieselotte-sama’s question, I shook my head.

The image of Shia as she had been all those years ago crossed my mind, but that was already a memory from long ago.

Aside from her, there was no one for whom I held such feelings, so I gave a firm nod.

“There isn’t. So I’m fine with it.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll send our response to their head myself. You may be traveling to their estate before long, so keep that in mind. It’s already late, so stay here tonight. I’ll have a room prepared for Tanya as well. We’ll have dinner prepared, so wait in your room.”

“Thank you.”

Father smiled as he explained the plans from here, as though a weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders.

I had never seen him like this before, but at least everything seemed to have concluded smoothly.

Still, what sort of person was the head of House Ark Gate, the woman hailed as both a hero and a great lady for ending a war?

My anxiety only continued to grow.

When I returned to my room, Tanya was sitting on the bed waiting for me.

I told her we would be staying here tonight, explained that a room had been prepared for her as well, and then finished telling her about the marriage proposal Father had received.

“So when someone suddenly says ‘marriage,’ of course I’m confused. It feels unreal considering we were just talking this morning about me becoming an old bachelor. Maybe talking about it somehow made it happen?”

“…………”

“Tanya?”

Tanya had been silently listening ever since I began explaining Father’s story, but she gave no response.

Finding it strange, I called her name, and she suddenly seemed to snap back to herself.

“My apologies.”

“Are you tired?”

“No, nothing like that… By the way, Nova-sama, is there anything you absolutely need to do immediately after returning to your territory?”

“Hm?”

I wondered why she was suddenly asking, but apparently Tanya was concerned that her master might have forgotten something important.

She could be troublesome sometimes, but she was such a capable maid that I hardly deserved her, and I smiled as I shook my head.

“I’m a master with far too much free time, remember? There’s nothing.”

“I knew that.”

Then why ask? I thought with an inward laugh, but I was relieved to see that Tanya seemed back to normal.

“That’s cruel…”

Just as I muttered that, there was a knock at the door.

When I answered, an unfriendly maid opened it.

“Excuse me. Master ordered me to show Tanya to her room.”

“…Understood.”

The moment the maid entered, Tanya’s demeanor turned cold.

Without another word, she followed the maid out of the room.

After that, I ate at my family home for the first time in quite a while, and for the first time in just as long, I slept there as well.

Since I had spent the previous night sleeping in a carriage, I quickly sank into a deep sleep.