27

“…Beth?”

Noel sighed, thinking that Beth’s face, as she simply blinked her large eyes speechlessly in surprise, was the most beautiful in the world.

“I-I have no education, and I am just a plain country miller, you know? Noel-sama, you are a noble and beautiful magician of the Royal Capital. We do not match.”

Beth was flustered and blushing, so cute and dear that the corners of Noel’s mouth lifted.

“Then if I quit being a magician of the Royal Capital and become a plain country miller, we will match perfectly. I do not know whether I am beautiful or not, but to me, you are the most beautiful person in the world, so that should be enough, should it not?”

“If it is me, I can keep the cottage warm with magic even in winter, and I will train so I can grind flour well too. I will replace the waterwheel parts for you, and I can repair the roof as well. Ah, and also, yes, I will bring many books with me when I marry into your family.”

Noel gently plucked a small violet blooming at his feet.

“There are other things too. I am good at making medicine, so I can be useful to the villagers you hold dear.”

Beth’s Village had no doctor.

“I also promise to devote myself to cooking, cleaning, washing, and anything else so I can be useful to you. So, Beth, please do not go to Oberon.”

“B-But…”

“Are you dissatisfied with me? Do you dislike me? Then what on earth should I do? What must I promise you for you to marry me?”

“D-Dissatisfied? Dislike you? No, that is unthinkable. I love you, Noel-sama! But, but…”

At the words that had slipped out of her mouth reflexively, Beth turned so red it was almost pitiful.

“Then what on earth is troubling your heart? Tell me.”

Noel adorned Beth’s shortened hair with the violet he had plucked.

Beth hesitated, then timidly said,

“…Noel-sama, will you promise not to leave me behind and go ahead first?”

Noel remembered the illusion of Beth he had glimpsed.

Everyone leaving Beth alone. Death. Parting. Beth’s anguished cry from the heart, saying she never wanted to be alone again.

Noel digested the meaning of Beth’s words, and after thinking a little, answered honestly.

“…I will do my utmost, but I cannot make that promise. I may depart before you. In the first place, if I may wish for it, I want to die before you. A world without you would hold no meaning for me.”

“Y-Yes, of course… I am sorry for saying something impossible.”

Beth’s eyes grew moist, and tears gathered in them.

But the next instant, Noel happily embraced Beth and spoke.

“But, Beth, do not worry. I have a brilliant idea. The two of us can become family together and increase our family greatly. Let us have many children. Let us keep pets too. Livestock as well, and then let us create a beautiful greenhouse together, filled with many plants. Even if I depart first, the family we raised together will surround you, and they will never let you be all alone again.”

Noel wondered how many children would be good, then said that now that he thought of it, he had wanted to try keeping a dog too, since cats were aloof, and patted Dora’s head as she passed by beside him suspiciously.

Dora, annoyed at being touched by Noel, gave a troublesome-sounding meow.

Then Noel turned back to Beth, threw himself down at her feet, and bowed his head deeply.

“Hey, Beth. Please, I am begging you like this. Do not go to Oberon. I love you from the bottom of my heart. Please marry me and make me the happiest man in this world.”

(Noel-sama really is… as hasty and selfish as ever.)

At this man’s shameless, desperate proposal, Beth remembered the day she had met this somewhat arrogant man and could not help giggling.

“What is it? What on earth is funny?”

Noel lifted his head with a blank look.

Even though it was the most serious confession of Noel’s life, Beth’s unexpected reaction left Noel bewildered.

Beth made Noel stand up from the ground and said,

“Listen, Noel-sama, to begin with, I never once said I would live in the forest of spirits. That place is beautiful to visit, and painful or sad things never happen there, but I do not want to become unable to meet everyone in the village or everyone at the Magic Institute. Besides, I like working. There is no work there, and that place is actually rather boring.”

“Huh… Is that so?”

If she became Oberon’s beloved child, she would be attended by spirits her entire life until her lifespan ended, cherished in a beautiful place, and simply live at play. There was no way she would not find that appealing, or so Noel had selfishly thought.

However, to Beth, the treatment of becoming Oberon’s beloved child apparently did not seem all that appealing.

“And besides, Noel-sama, you truly are hopeless. Do you remember what the magician-sama in that story said when he proposed to the princess?”

“Um, I think it was something like, let us walk together…”

It was the adventure tale Beth loved. Noel had looked through it several times as well, but that was all.

But to Beth, it was a precious story she had read so much that she could recite every word.

Beth said,

“The magician-sama took the princess’s hand at the top of the tower and said this. ‘Beautiful princess. I will surely make you the happiest bride in the world. So please, marry me.’”

Beth burst out laughing.

“Noel-sama, you said the exact opposite of that magician-sama.”

Marry me and make me the happiest man in the world.

Crawling on the ground, with no concern for appearances, it had been Noel’s desperate proposal, terribly effeminate, pathetic, and selfish.

Looking embarrassed, Noel scratched his head.

“Beth, this is the kind of man I truly am. I am far removed from the brave magician-sama who is the protagonist of your book. I am a lowly man who would not even hesitate to prostrate himself to gain your love. I am the one who does not match at all with a girl who possesses a soul as beautiful and kind as yours.”

After scratching his head again, Noel seemed to have decided to stop caring.

Taking a deep breath, he put his hands on his hips with complete confidence and shouted arrogantly in a voice loud enough to echo throughout the greenhouse.

“But!!!! I love you more than anyone in the world!!! Make me happy!!! Marry me!!! Beth!!!”

(He really is a hopeless person.)

With her face a mess of tears and laughter, Beth threw herself into Noel’s chest with all her might, hugged him as tightly as she could, and shouted in a voice just as loud as Noel’s.

“Gladly!!!!”

Noel’s face went from an expression of disbelief, gradually became a crying face, and then turned into a huge, huge smile.

Noel’s beautiful smile, without the slightest cloud in it, slowly approached Beth’s face, and their lips gently overlapped.