Volume 3 Chapter 12 Engagement Ceremony
My room inside the mansion.
I was lying on the bed sprawled out as I enjoyed Amagi’s lap pillow.
It really felt like I was back home.
“Amagi, how’s Rosetta doing?”
“After finishing her tour of the mansion, she’s currently taking a break to catch up with her family.”
…boring.
I wanted her to either break down in despair or act more rebelliously.
But right now she just seems to be happy to reunite with her family.
Or should I just be a more patient?
“I see… try to keep an eye on her. I took everything from her, afterall.”
“Everything? Does that mean you’ve already embraced her?”
“Eh? What?”
Amagi made a troubled expression.
Isn’t she cute?
“Master, she’s going to be your wife in the future, if you continue to spend time with me like this, then friction might build between the two of you.”
“If that ever happens, I’ll just throw her away. Problem solved.”
“If you abandon Lady Rosetta, you’ll lose the trust of the n.o.ble society, Master.”
“Then, should I just put her under house arrest? I hate petty women.”
My previous life’s wife– she was one of them.
She always found some way to find fault with me.
I could still remember her taking the presents I gave her and throwing them in the trash.
My chest hurt just thinking about it.
If I ever saw her again, I swore I’d kill her with my own hands.
Maybe if I asked the guide, he’d bring her to me?
But now that I think about it, I don’t really want to see her, so wouldn’t it be better to keep the status quo?
Let’s just vent all my built up depressing feelings on Rosetta.
She’ll surely resist me.
And in return I’ll–
“Master.”
“Yes?”
Amagi’s words brought me pulled me back from my delusions.
“Lady Rosetta is going to become your wife. Please treat her gently.”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t answer that request, so I stayed silent.
After all, I only took Rosetta as my wife so I could break her.
Well, with Amagi and Brian always saying, “Take a bride already-!”, I can’t really deny that I was feeling a little pressured to.
Amagi was stroking my head,
“We’re planning to have your engagement ceremony after you graduate from elementary school.”
“…okay. No, wait.”
I sat up and turned to Amagi.
“Is there something wrong?”
“Let’s have the engagement ceremony as soon as possible. I want to do it during our vacation time.”
“That’s not enough time to prepare.”
“Don’t worry about it. Were you planning to have a luxurious engagement ceremony for Rosetta? It’s okay to be modest, just set it up quickly.”
“There’s also Lady Rosseta’s education to consider. She needs to spend at least three months inside an education capsule first.”
Rosetta has only gone through the minimum of physical enhancements and education through the capsules.
This was the main reason for her results in school.
Therefore, in order to improve her grades as soon as possible, we’re having her use an education capsule during the vacation.
“Quickly send her into the capsule and prepare for the ceremony.”
“…as you wish.”
No matter how strong Rosetta’s steel spirit was, once we had our engagement ceremony, she be forced to accept reality no matter how much she hates it.
I’d also be able to take the Claudia house’s Ducal status.
But we wouldn’t be officially married yet, so my position would be more like a future-duke though.
“Ah~ I’m looking forward to this.”
Rosetta– I will definitely break your spirit.
◇ ◇ ◇
The education capsule room in the Banfield estate.
Doctors, escorts, and maid androids were all present there.
Rosetta had covered her body with a thin cloth.
“It’s different from the basic capsule we have at home.”
The contrast couldn’t have been more distinct– a specialised female staff was currently preparing the high-end capsule for use.
A female doctor explained,
“This will be a short-term adjustment. Considering the rehabilitation period that comes afterwards, you should be done in about four months.”
“Most of the long vacation will be over.”
Looking at Rosetta, the female doctor began to comfort her,
“I heard about your grandmother. I’d like for you two to have more time together, but this is Lord Liam’s order.”
“Yes, I know. My grandmother wants this as well.”
She wiped her tears.
Rosetta was crying, but it was because her grandmother wasn’t feeling well recently.
Even if they used elixirs, they couldn’t fix her broken spirit.
Elixirs could cure any injury or illness.
However, all life had a limit.
It was possible to extend her life a little, but Rosetta’s grandmother was quite old.
Aside from her body, her mind and soul were at their ends.
She was running out of time.
“Lady Rosetta, we’ll do everything we can in as little time as possible, but please don’t forget that this won’t be enough. Your full use of education capsule will start after you graduate from elementary school.”
Rosetta raised her face,
“–I’ll leave it to you.”
She then removed the cloth before entering the liquid inside the capsule naked.
Within the capsule, Rosetta was curled up like a fetus.
(Grandmother, I hope you’ll be able to partic.i.p.ate in the engagement ceremony…)
Falling unconscious, her body strengthening and studies in the capsule had begun.
◇ ◇ ◇
Liam’s merchant– Thomas was in a frenzy.
“Hurry it up! We need to get everything ready before the engagement ceremony!”
Count Banfield’s engagement had been announced.
Moreover, there was less than half a year before the actual ceremony happened.
The subordinates were rushing to load the containers onto the ship.
“Is there a reason why they’re in such a rush? Couldn’t they have just held the engagement ceremony after they graduated from elementary school?”
Thomas explained to his complaining subordinates,
“The daughter of the Ducal house– Lady Rosetta’s grandmother doesn’t have much longer to live.”
The subordinates fell into thought,
In other words, Liam was rushing the engagement that Rosetta’s grandmother could see her granddaughter’s proud moment before it was too late.
Thomas was trying to answer those feelings,
“Apparently they’ve been living quite the difficult life until now. If we don’t do our best here, we can’t call ourselves merchants of the Banfield house.”
The subordinates silently returned to their work.
◇ ◇ ◇
Something’s weird.
The territory has been strange recently.
Usually, around this time some kind of wacky fashion would be trending, but what was popular right now was– my story.
For some reason, the motive behind me rushing the engagement ceremony was suddenly because of Rosetta’s grandmother.
Watching the news on the monitor, the newscaster was explaining the event,
“Lady Rosetta, who Lord Liam had decided to make his fiancée, seems to have lived quite the harsh life until now.”
The report then starts to tell Rosetta’s circ.u.mstances, and explains in detail how the Claudia Ducal house has been treated.
They overdid it.
The things they were telling were way worse than what Wallace told me.
‘And to save such a Rosetta, Lord Liam decided to marry her!’– and so forth.
The ma.s.s media in the territory was under my control, but it was kind of unpleasant when they made the lies so obvious.
It’ll have the opposite effect and make me look more like a joke.
“And the previous d.u.c.h.ess– Lady Rosetta’s grandmother, isn’t feeling well.”
I’ve been told that we were using elixirs to prolong her life.
But this is the first time I’ve heard that this was the reason behind the rushed engagement ceremony.
I looked towards Amagi, who was currently attending to me,
“What’s the meaning of all this?”
“Because Master’s and Lady Rosetta’s story makes good gossip, isn’t only natural for it to become popular amongst your people? By the way, it looks like talks of turning it into a drama or a movie are in the works.”
“…you’re kidding me.”
They were making it sound like my meeting with Rosetta was fate.
Despite there being no such elements, it suddenly transformed into some kind of emotional story.
Are the people of my territory okay? Are they acting like this because they’re at the breaking point?
Did I tax them too harshly? Let’s take a break, and squeeze them again after a while.
“Amagi, let’s lower the taxes, but only a little bit.”
“That’s surprising. You want to lower the taxes during the engagement ceremony?”
“Precisely! Let’s make things a little cheaper so that my people can have a break.”
“In that case, I’ll arrange for it right away.”
I wiped my sweat.
My people were making me uneasy.
Although they were making things convenient, they were scaring me.
No, wait– I can use this situation.
To have made a good story out of Rosetta’s humiliating meeting with me, she would surely be mortified.
I’m looking forward to that.
“It looks like this engagement ceremony is going to be fun.”
As I grinned, Amagi silently watched over me with a smile.
◇ ◇ ◇
When the long vacation was almost over.
A large number of visitors had rushed over to the Banfield mansion.
Wallace was dressed in formal wear, and was currently enjoying a drink,
“I was expecting a more extravagant part, but this really gives off a calming feeling.”
Kurt was also invited, and attending the ceremony in his own formal wear.
“But isn’t it beautiful?”
“For a Count’s ceremony, it gives off an amazingly calming atmosphere. I’m not saying he skimped out or anything. It’s just happy to see that he didn’t do anything weird.”
Sometimes, n.o.bility made their parties too elaborate– often creating events that can’t be understood.
“The only kind of weird events that I know to have succeeded would be bucket parties.”
“Oh, but aren’t bucket parties cla.s.sics?”
“Yeah, I’ve only partic.i.p.ated in them a few times, but they’re amazing. Definitely cla.s.sics. The person who thought of them must be a genius.”
The partic.i.p.ants were enjoying the food and drinks that were set up in a buffet-style.
Kurt looked around,
“There sure are a lot of aristocrats in attendance. My father seems to be making a lot of greetings.”
There were a lot more n.o.bility attending than in the last ceremony.
And Wallace knew why.
(Liam… were you aiming for this?)
Liam had declared himself as hostile to the Berkley family.
With them having a common enemy, the sensible n.o.bles were gathering around Liam.
Although they were still in a phase of wait-and-see, Wallace was still surprised.
(This doesn’t bode well… the war between the Banfield and the Berkley houses, this will no doubt become a proxy war that’ll involve the other n.o.bles of the Empire.)
This will become a war between the virtuous n.o.bility and the unscrupulous ones.
The representative of the virtuous ones being Liam.
“Ah, Liam’s here.”
Liam had appeared in the video projected into the sky.
Both him and Rosetta were dressed in clothes of pure white.
◇ ◇ ◇
The engagement ceremony.
Apparently, both Earth and the Intergalactic Empire had the tradition of taking kisses and vows in front of a great number of people.
They were quite similar in that aspect– as I thought so, I felt the desire to see Rosetta’s face, which was currently hidden behind a veil, grow within me.
A man who had taken the role of priest told us to say our vows and face each other.
“Rosetta, how are you feeling?”
When I called out to her, she didn’t answer back.
Surely, that was because she must be making an amazing face full of regret right now.
“Everything of yours will become mine. Both your family and the status you were supposed to inherit– all of it was taken by me.”
As I slowly lifted the veil, Rosetta’s face was visible from the jaw.
Just from that, I could see that her makeup and skin was clear and beautiful.
Her fresh lips were brightened with lipstick.
…huh? Isn’t something wrong here? I thought she’d be clenching her teeth right now, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Or was this a state of lethargy?
Well, as long as her spirit was broken, it’d still be worth seeing.
As I slowly lifted the veil and revealed Rosetta’s face– her cheeks were flushed.
Her moist eyes were shining as she looked straight into mine.
…hey, wait a second! Something’s wrong!
Did she already give up?! I thought she was a woman with a spirit of steel!
And when I looked a Rosetta’s face–
“–Thank you for accepting me as I am! Darling, I… I! I promise to always be by your side!”
…Darling?! Did she eat something strange?!
This change was at a level where I suspected the doctor might’ve brainwashed her in the education capsule.
However, the maid androids told me, “We did the usual treatment.”
So that’s proof that they didn’t do anything.
They can’t lie to me, so I know that what they told me is correct.
Rosetta closed her eyes and leaned in close.
I thought she’d be disgusted by this, I was completely caught off guard.
In anycase– looking at her up close, rather than cute, wasn’t she like insanely beautiful?
No matter how I looked at her, she was gorgeous.
And so, I kissed her to advance the ceremony.
A tear fell from her eye.
Don’t tell me, was she was doing all this to trick me?
E-even that would still be okay.
That’d be proof that her spirit hadn’t broken and she was looking to stab me in the back.
Our lips parted.
“Rosetta, I’m looking forward to our future together.”
It was a phrase said with all my feelings of making her surrender to me.
As I smiled while saying that, Rosetta wiped her tears with her finger— and sent her own glowing smile right back at me.
“Yes, darling.”
…wait a second! D-did she actually fall for me?!
◇ ◇ ◇
At the venue, there was laughter at the sight of Liam getting fl.u.s.tered.
It wasn’t a laugh made to make fun of someone, but more of one made when watching over another with a smile.
Meanwhile, Wallace was observing Liam’s knights.
The head knight was Christiana.
Marie was her deputy.
Both were talented female knights that just suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“Where does Liam find such people? Two knights at that level are rarely seen even in the palace.”
Then, at the engagement ceremony, congratulatory messages were being read out.
Some of them came from ministers.
Wallace silently continued to drink,
(Does this mean the prime minister also has expectations for Liam? No, that old fox isn’t that nice of a guy. I’m sure he’s trying to keep the balance with the Berkley family.)
However, if the prime minister did have expectations for Liam…
Wallace smiled,
“Well, as long as my patron is competent and happy, I’ll cooperate a little. –I’d be troubled if he suddenly disappeared on me afterall.”