Marriage Proposal And Confession

Two weeks had passed since Jonah vanished.

Count Hagenberg had spared no effort in searching for Jonah, yet they had found no trace of him.

They had asked the townspeople, wondering if he might be staying with the relatives he had mentioned, only to learn that neither Jonah nor any such relatives even existed.

“In the end, who on earth was that child…?”

The small boy who had appeared before Marguerite and Count Hagenberg and performed a miracle.

The Count occasionally wondered if Jonah might have been an angel sent by the gods, only to shake his head, telling himself such a thing was impossible.

“Phew…”

Standing before the door, Count Hagenberg let out a deep, troubled sigh.

Knock, knock.

“Marguerite, how are you feeling?”

After knocking and entering the room, he found Marguerite sitting on the bed, hugging her knees and looking down.

“Ah… F-Father, there is no need to worry.”

Marguerite gave her worried father a lonely smile.

Yet no matter how one looked at it, she appeared utterly exhausted.

Marguerite and Jonah had known each other for less than a week.

Even so, it had been more than enough time for their hearts to connect and for each to become irreplaceably precious to the other.

“…I sent out messengers and searched every corner of the territory, but as expected, no one has seen him.”

“I… see…”

Both of them understood that Jonah possessed ancient magic and could teleport anywhere.

He had most likely already left this land.

Even so, Marguerite could not give up on Jonah.

At only twelve years old, she was utterly convinced that there was no boy in the entire world better than him.

“Do not worry. If he is no longer within the territory, we simply need to extend the search further.”

The Count said this to comfort her, but where exactly were they supposed to extend their search?

Both the Count and Marguerite knew deep down that blindly searching would never find him.

They simply could not accept it.

Then—

“My Lord, a letter has arrived.”

“Hm…”

Hans entered the room, bowed, and handed over the letter.

Ever since the locust swarm had been incinerated and Hagenberg territory saved, a great many letters had been arriving.

The reason: Hagenberg was the only territory in the western part of the Estraia Empire to escape the locust plague unscathed.

Because of the resulting food shortages, the lords of the affected regions were now making overtures to Count Hagenberg.

Of course, the Count was providing as much aid as possible to the various regions within the Empire, thereby saving many lives.

There were even rumors in the imperial capital that he would be promoted to marquess for his achievements.

Among all this, what troubled the Count the most were the marriage proposals for Marguerite.

It was only natural for nobles to want familial ties with the Hagenberg family—the only House in the west to protect its lands and now on the verge of becoming a marquessate.

Moreover, Marguerite was twelve years old—an age where it would not be strange for her to be engaged.

“…Are they serious?”

Frowning at the letter, Count Hagenberg muttered.

The sender was Duke Langheim, head of one of the five great ducal houses. The content was a marriage proposal for his second son, Siegvald Klaus Langheim—who had been presented as the next heir just a month ago.

From the Langheim perspective, once Hagenberg became a marquessate, the Houses would be of suitable rank.

Absorbing the currently thriving Hagenberg family would also allow the Langheims to stand head and shoulders above the other four great ducal houses.

Yet doing so would clearly create friction with the other four houses, whose delicate balance of power was not in the empire’s best interest.

The Langheim family must surely understand that.

“Father…”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

He did not want to show such a thing to his daughter, who was already suffering from Jonah’s absence.

The count put the letter away and shook his head… but—

“There is no need to spare my feelings, Father. That letter… is a marriage proposal for me, isn’t it…?”

“Hm…”

During the recent locust crisis, the Count had already recognized just how capable Marguerite was.

Above all, as the daughter of a count, she surely understood her own position.

“…I am sorry, Father. I have no intention of marrying anyone.”

Marguerite got off the bed and bowed deeply.

Her ruby eyes spoke eloquently that she would never yield.

“Oh? Marguerite, are you sure you won’t regret saying that?”

“Yes, of course.”

She answered firmly to her father’s slightly teasing question.

Yet she felt a little annoyed that her father, who should understand her feelings, would say such a thing.

Of course, she did not let that show in the slightest.

“I see, I see. To think that Marguerite had already given up even on marrying Jonah…”

“Wh-wh-wh-what!? What are you saying!?”

Completely unprepared for those words, Marguerite turned bright red and rushed toward her father, whose shoulders shook with laughter.

“It is true that Jonah may be a commoner, but differences in status can be resolved—adopting him into a branch family, for example. As far as I’m concerned, there is no man more suitable for you than Jonah… What a shame…”

“W-wait just a moment!”

“Hm? What is it?”

Count Hagenberg peered into the face of Marguerite, who had frantically interrupted him.

Flustered by this unexpected playful side of her usually stern father, she steeled herself and looked up.

“I… I want… to marry Jonah…”

Gathering all her courage, Marguerite confessed to her father.

“Hmm, I see. Then this letter is no longer necessary.”

Count Hagenberg smiled warmly and tore up the letter from Duke Langheim.

“U-um, I know it is not my place to say this, but… is that really all right…?”

“It’s fine. I’ve never liked the scheming and socializing among nobles anyway.”

Rejecting Duke Langheim’s proposal so bluntly could mean being targeted and losing standing within the empire in the future.

Even so, Count Hagenberg chose his daughter’s happiness. That was all.

“That’s how it is. So when Jonah eventually returns here, you’ll have to do your best too, Marguerite. Next time, don’t let him get away.”

“Of course! I will absolutely make him say, ‘I never want to leave your side’!”

For the first time since Jonah left, Marguerite’s face lit up with life.

Seeing his daughter recover her spirit, Count Hagenberg’s cheeks softened into a smile.