Episode 4

A silence ruled the room for a while.

Not knowing what to say, I froze, and Lady Alicia, looking flustered, shook her head.

“I-it’s not in a weird way—I want you to become my fiancé!”

“Th-that sounds like the same thing…”

“N-no! A fake fiancé!”

“A fake… fiancé…?”

“Y-yeah… that’s it. I-I have lots of fiancé candidates, but none of them are someone I want to marry… So I want you to be my shield! And, well, Faik is a blacksmith, so my father would be convinced.”

“……”

Originally, Lady Alicia’s family began as small blacksmiths, or so I had heard.

Because they also had talent in combat, while doing blacksmithing and hunting monsters they caught the favor of the nobles of the time… and after various twists and turns, they rose to the position of duke.

“You want to marry a skilled blacksmith… right?”

“Yes. There are fiancé candidates and other marriage meetings and it’s a lot to deal with… If possible, I want to marry someone I love… So until then, I want you to be, um, a decoy, a fake fiancé… If you have nowhere to go, I’ll prepare a place for you…”

It seemed Lady Alicia was well aware that she would inevitably be used as a tool for a political marriage in the future.

This was apparently why she had come to this neighboring country as well—partly to search for a future husband.

“S-so, s-so… won’t you come with me?”

In short, that’s what it boiled down to.

I could more or less understand what Lady Alicia was saying—aside from how far-fetched it was.

“But I’m not exactly a skilled blacksmith—”

“I’ve watched Faik’s work a lot… and I think you’re more talented than anyone in this blacksmith division… you know?”

Her face was still flushed.

Her earlier comment must have been replaying in her head, and seeing that face made me feel embarrassed too.

Saying that, Lady Alicia squeezed my hand tightly and giggled softly.

Her shy smile squeezed at my chest.

…She really is cute. And not just that—she’s kind.

Whenever she came to visit, she would stay near me and speak kindly.

…That’s why I ended up falling for Lady Alicia.

I knew it was an impossible love. There was a class barrier between Lady Alicia and me—commoner and noble.

I had tried not to think of her as the opposite sex, but…

“A fake… fiancé?”

“…Y-yeah. How about it?”

When I said that, Lady Alicia blushed to her ears and slowly nodded.

“…What if, by some chance, the arrangement progresses while we’re still just fake fiancés?”

“Um… well. It’s better than being forced to marry some stranger… I-I think if it’s with Faik… it might be okay.”

Lady Alicia scratched her cheek and was completely red-faced.

She probably wasn’t used to having that kind of conversation with the opposite sex.

…Also, please don’t say things like that so plainly.

If you’re a man, you’d get the wrong idea…

A fake fiancé, huh.

Lady Alicia’s reaction was so adorable it almost led me to misunderstand, but this was supposed to be purely a fake arrangement.

Maybe Lady Alicia would hate the idea of having that sort of relationship with me.

Still, perhaps she pitied my lack of a place to go and offered this suggestion.

…Besides, I don’t want to part ways here either.

I don’t for a moment think I could marry Lady Alicia, but maybe I could live near her and work as a blacksmith.

It’s much healthier to bet on that possibility than to stay here.

“If I am acceptable… I’d like to be your fiancé.”

“…R-really!?”

“Y-yes.”

I was surprised by how eagerly she latched on to the idea.

When Lady Alicia heard my answer, her face filled with overwhelming emotion.

“W-well then! After tonight’s ball ends, let’s go home together, okay?”

Yeah… If I don’t leave at the same time as Lady Alicia, it’d be hard for me to get to her house on my own.

“Y-yes, understood. Departure is Monday morning, right? I’ll talk about resigning then… I don’t know if I can quit immediately, though.”

After all, I’d been told it’s customary to give two weeks’ notice when leaving.

“Got it. …I’m sorry I never really noticed before.”

I shook my head at Lady Alicia, who had a guilty look and averted her eyes.

“I didn’t want Lady Alicia to notice. If I managed to hide it until now, that’s actually fine.”

“…Huh? You hid it? What do you mean?”

“W-well… um. Men don’t like showing their pathetic sides to women, I guess.”

When I said that, Lady Alicia nodded as if satisfied.

Phew, that was close. Somehow I managed to bluff my way out.

As I let out a relieved breath, Lady Alicia looked at me.

“Um… please don’t call me ‘Lady Alicia.’”

“…Huh?”

Did she suddenly dislike me? I almost felt like crying, but Lady Alicia laughed as if joking.

“I’m… Lady Alicia. We’re engaged, so positions and that kind of thing… don’t matter.”

“Ah, y-yes… that’s right. No, um, yes.”

When I awkwardly said that, Lady Alicia—Alicia smiled happily.