2-5 - Peaceful Days. And Then—

Life with Alice.

Whenever Marie wasn’t looking, I would secretly meet with Alice… No, that wasn’t quite right. I made it look as though I was having secret rendezvous with Alice every night, while actually learning all sorts of things from her.

Since I didn’t know much about elves, it wasn’t particularly surprising to me, but Alice was almost exactly as old as she looked. She was seventeen, eight years older than me.

Apparently, she’d spent only a few years traveling around the world.

Even so, perhaps because of her insatiable curiosity, she possessed an astonishing amount of knowledge. I was able to learn plenty about the crops and other things I’d been interested in.

Someday, I might even be able to obtain various plants and materials and start using my knowledge from my previous life to revolutionize the territory’s development.

Best of all, Alice knew about magic. Thanks to her, I was finally able to begin the magical training I’d always dreamed of.

Granted, she’d only taught me the fundamental exercises so far. I still hadn’t learned how to actually cast spells.

Learning magic without the assistance of a magician was difficult, and Alice couldn’t provide that assistance while her own magic remained sealed.

Still, she’d promised to teach me once I freed her from slavery, so I was already looking forward to that day.

And so, the months passed in a fulfilling blur—until another birthday arrived, and I turned ten.

“Haa… haa…”

“Come on, Alice. What’s wrong? You’re already out of breath?”

“Haa… H-how do you have so much stamina, Leon-sama? Haa… I run with you every day toooo!”

The weather had begun to warm, making it a pleasant season for running. Alice and I were jogging around the mansion grounds, but she’d been gasping for breath for a while now and looked utterly exhausted.

Our routine involved running approximately fifteen kilometers a day at a leisurely pace, repeating that for three days before taking one day off. It might have been an unreasonable distance for a ten-year-old like me, but I thought Alice, who had turned eighteen, ought to have gotten used to it by now.

Ah, but maybe it was just her constitution? Her arms and legs remained slender despite all the running, so perhaps she simply wasn’t suited to endurance exercise. Even so, I had no intention of letting her stop running with me.

After all, I’d discovered how enjoyable it was to run with someone else. Sorry, Alice, but I intended to keep making her accompany me.

With those thoughts in mind, I completed our final lap.

“Haa, haa… We’re finally doooone!”

“Hey, hey. You know you have to cool down properly after running, right?”

“I knooow…”

Despite her complaints, Alice sat down and began stretching.

Her endurance wasn’t particularly impressive, but her body was incredibly flexible. She spread her legs apart and bent forward until her upper body lay flat against the grass.

“Leon-sama, just wheeere are you looking?”

“Where…? Well…”

Alice looked at me with a mischievous smile as she repeatedly lowered her upper body toward the grass in a steady rhythm. Each time, her ample chest pressed against the ground and changed shape.

“…You’ve got the wrong idea, okay? I was just thinking how flexible you are.”

“That’s true. I suppose my chest is quite soft.”

“That’s not what I meant! Besides, you’re teasing me on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Ahaha, I’m sorry. But it’s your fault, Leon-sama. You were staring at me so intently. I thought perhaps you’d finally reached that age.”

She giggled. She still spoke formally, as always, but she’d become much more relaxed around me. And no, I wasn’t talking about her chest or her body. I meant the way she treated me.

While we were finishing our morning routine, Marie, my attendant and minder, arrived.

“Leon-sama, the head of the household has summoned you. Please prepare yourself and report to his office in the main residence.”

“Hmm? I wonder what he wants.”

“Please ask the master himself for the details.”

Marie answered curtly before turning toward Alice.

“It looks like another difficult day for you.”

“Running is exhausting, but I enjoy exercising with Leon-sama. Would you like to join us sometime, Marie-san?”

“No, thank you. I have work to attend to, so I’ll have to decline. If you’ll excuse me.”

Marie gave a slight bow and walked away.

She still barely exchanged more than the necessary words with me, so when had Alice managed to become friendly with her? Somehow, I felt as though I’d lost.

…Oh, right. It wouldn’t be good to keep Father waiting. I had no idea what he wanted, but I might as well find out.

“Sorry, Alice, but could you wait for me at the detached residence? Feel free to do whatever you like.”

“Of course. I’ll behave myself while I wait. Don’t worry, I won’t cause any trouble.”

Why did she have to raise such an ominous flag?

—Father’s summons turned out to be an announcement that arrangements had finally been made for me to meet Lady Sophia. Apparently, I would visit House Sphiel under the pretext of getting to know my future bride before our wedding.

And so, several days later…

Accompanied by guards—though whether they were there to protect me from bandits or prevent me from escaping, I couldn’t say—I set off by carriage for the Sphiel territory.

Incidentally, the Sphiel territory bordered our own, so it was surprisingly close. After three hours of riding in the carriage, I arrived at the Sphiel family mansion.

“My name is Leon, the second son of House Granches. Thank you very much for accommodating my sudden request.”

“Welcome. I’m Carlos, the head of House Sphiel, and this is my wife, Elise. We’re delighted to have you here.”

“Thank you.”

I bowed once, then looked at the two of them again.

Carlos-san had blue eyes and brown hair. Since blond hair was supposedly common among old noble families, I found it a little surprising that the head of House Sphiel had brown hair.

Ah, but his wife, Elise-san, had brilliant golden hair.

“Leon-kun, I imagine you saw the town in the Sphiel territory on your way here. What did you think of it?”

“Um…”

Frankly speaking, it had struck me as a peaceful rural town. But describing a territory as rich in natural surroundings probably wasn’t considered a compliment in this world, was it?

“Dear, Leon-kun is only ten years old. Asking him something like that will only put him on the spot.”

“Ah, you’re quite right. My apologies. I was simply curious how our territory would appear to the son of the renowned Count Granches.”

“I think it’s a wonderful land.”

“Heh, I see. Thank you.”

Since I’d hesitated before answering, he probably thought I was merely being polite, but I’d meant every word. With land this fertile, I could grow all sorts of things Alice had taught me about.

That was assuming I married into House Sphiel, of course.

“Now then, about Sophia, whom you’ve come to meet… I’m sorry. My daughter is rather shy around strangers. When she heard you were coming, she hid in her room.”

She hid… in her room? Could this mean Sophia didn’t want this marriage either? …Actually, I didn’t even need to think about it. There was no reason for a girl who’d never met me to be in love with me, and from her perspective, this was probably another marriage arranged entirely by her parents.

“Then… would it be difficult for me to meet her?”

“About that… Would you mind going directly to her room? I’ll have our butler show you the way. …Regis, please escort him.”

Carlos-san addressed an older man who had been standing quietly in a corner of the room.

He was supposed to be a butler, but he had an unusually powerful build. He looked more like a retired veteran knight.

“Certainly, sir. Now then, Leon-sama, I, Regis, shall escort you to the young lady’s room. Please follow me.”

“Thank you. I’ll be in your care.”

I followed the butler out of the reception room and down the mansion’s corridors.

“Regis-san, may I ask you something?”

“I am merely a butler. Please address me simply as Regis. There is no need for you to use such polite language with me, either.”

Ah, of course. That made sense. Because I was the son of a concubine, I hadn’t really been conscious of my position, but to outsiders, I was still the second son of a count’s family. Using honorifics with a butler would only make things awkward for him.

“All right, Regis. Can I ask you something?”

“Please ask whatever you wish.”

“Then let me ask you this. Sophia isn’t happy about this marriage, is she?”

“…If you are asking such a question, I suspect you have already guessed the answer.”

“Pretty much. Being told you’re going to marry someone you’ve never even met would be frightening. Especially since Sophia is only seven years old. I can’t blame her.”

“As I recall, Leon-sama, you yourself are only ten, yet you seem remarkably mature for your age.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah… Well, a lot has happened.”

“Hmm. It seems you have endured considerable hardship despite your young age.”

That’s right. Like suffering from an incurable illness, spending years fighting it, dying, and then being reincarnated into another world. I was almost tempted to say that out loud. Not that I actually would, of course. He’d undoubtedly question my sanity.

“However, there is something I do not understand. If you are aware of all this, why did you come to meet Sophia-sama?”

“If we’re going to have to get married anyway, I thought it would be better if we could both accept it willingly.”

“And you believe meeting her will accomplish that?”

“Who knows? That’s precisely why I want to meet her. There’s always a chance we might fall in love at first sight, isn’t there?”

Thinking of it as a political marriage made me instinctively view the situation negatively. But if I considered it an arranged introduction, a girl three years younger than me from a family of similar standing didn’t sound like such a bad match.

Of course, this was an arranged introduction where I knew nothing about the girl’s appearance or personality beforehand, and I had no right to refuse regardless of what she turned out to be. …Actually, when I put it that way, I was starting to feel nervous.

No, no. I needed to stay positive.

“Anyway, I intend to make an effort to get along with her.”

“An effort, you say?”

“You could also call it a little trick. Before we go to her room, could you let me use the kitchen? I’ve got a special secret weapon I want to prepare.”

And after that, it would finally be time to meet my fiancée.