Contract (4)
After thoroughly routing Yuna with just a few choice words, Father settled his stomach with another gulp of cold water before breaking the silence.
"Here I thought you were living like a complete fool, but it seems you're finally doing something resembling a proper human being."
"I've always worked hard."
"You whined every single time you contacted home."
Father snorted.
It was a strange thing to realize, but talking face-to-face like this was genuinely pleasant. Perhaps, without even knowing it, I had missed my family.
"Come to think of it, where are Mother and Chris? Didn't they travel with you?"
"They should be unpacking at the inn by now. That's why I came ahead alone. Keep them waiting too long, and they'd start worrying."
"I see. Still, it's impressive you managed to secure rooms at an inn during this rush."
"Ah, good fortune was on our side. The heavens never close every door, as they say."
"That sounds ominous."
"It was a stroke of good luck, son. Why must you always jump to the worst conclusions?"
"Well, let me hear it first before I decide. What kind of stroke of luck was it?"
Running into someone at a time like this felt thoroughly unsettling. Given the vast distance they had traveled, crossing paths with someone along the way wasn't strange in the slightest. If anything, I was the abnormal one for getting anxious over it. Or rather, I should direct my curses at the bastards who had wired my brain to be this paranoid in the first place.
"We helped out a merchant caravan under attack by bandits. One thing led to another, and they personally guided us to an inn."
"Was it the Andvaranaut Merchant Guild?"
"Oh? You've heard of them?"
"Yeah, well..."
See? I had every reason to be anxious. No wonder their name had kept catching my eye lately, like some heavy-handed foreshadowing waiting to ensnare me.
To be fair, if you ran into anyone on the road right now, the odds were high they belonged to that outfit. Andvaranaut was practically foaming at the mouth trying to snap up the prime imperial real estate hollowed out by the recent wave of terrorism. Crossing paths with an Andvaranaut merchant caravan heading up to the capital from the countryside or the coast wasn't exactly rare.
"Did you happen to meet the guildmaster?"
I asked just in case. It was also a litmus test to see just how thoroughly screwed my luck was. If even the guildmaster of Andvaranaut had gotten tangled up in this, there would be no other explanation: my luck was officially dead and buried.
"Well, now. I didn't ask, so I couldn't say for sure. But she was a relatively young lady, so she couldn't have been the guildmaster, could she?"
If it was a young lady, it almost certainly was the guildmaster. The head of Andvaranaut was an aristocratic daughter whose house had been exterminated on a whim by the Emperor. She wasn't my age, but I recalled her being a woman with a certain decadent, world-weary allure.
"Think you know her? Want to drop by and see her later?"
"No, thanks."
"Then we'll have you meet your mother and Chris tomorrow, and..."
Father wetted his throat with cold water, let out a heavy sigh, and cut straight to the point.
"So, why don't you want to get married?"
"Please look over these documents."
"Wait, you even prepared a dossier for this?"
I was always dead serious. If I didn't go this far, I would die.
"Hmm..."
Father skimmed through the papers I handed him, his eyes widening like saucers one moment and his brow furrowing deep the next.
"Admittedly, it does look dangerous."
"You understand now?"
Getting entangled with Ariel—no, with the Ducal House of Aether—was dangerous. Not just for me, but for our entire family. Normally, nobody gave a damn about a backwater noble house like Damus County out on the fringes. But tack on a connection to the Aether Ducal House, and we became an irresistible target for every terrorist faction under the sun. It wasn't as if our house possessed defense capabilities anywhere near Duke Aether's, either.
"I understand the risks, yes. But it's abundantly clear that refusing them would be far more dangerous."
"Tsk."
"Son. Between putting just you in danger and putting our whole family in danger, which do you think you'd pick if you were in my shoes?"
"...If it were me, wouldn't I protect the heir, the very future of the house?"
"Is that so? Well, not me."
Father shrugged, ruthlessly brushing my plea aside. To think he'd be this decisive. Was the Ducal House truly that terrifying to him? I mean, they terrified me too, but...
"Son."
"Yes?"
"Don't you think you left out the most important detail?"
"Pardon? What did I leave out?"
"The reason why the Ducal House of Aether proposed a political marriage to you in the first place."
"That's..."
Because Ariel fell in love with me.
Summed up in a sentence, that was the long and short of it. Yet the moment I tried to say the words out loud, my mouth refused to open. It wasn't out of bashfulness. Well, in a sense, it certainly was embarrassing.
"Is it really right to reject someone's feelings for reasons like that?"
"..."
"Or is it because you still can't forget that girl?"
"That's not it."
"Then looking her in the eye and sorting it out properly sounds like the right way to go."
"..."
I had no rebuttal. Every single word he said hit dead center.
Though, in my own defense, it wasn't as if I hadn't thought about talking to her. I simply hadn't been able to see her. Of course, bringing that up would sound like nothing more than a cheap excuse.
"Aside from being scared of getting targeted, do you have any actual reason to dislike Lady Ariel?"
"..."
"You little punk, you're not some beastkin-discriminating bigot, are you? If you value remaining in the family registry, don't you dare say yes."
"Just what kind of monster do you take me for...?"
"Then out with it. What do you think of Lady Ariel?"
Father's question prompted me to genuinely pause and ponder. What was Ariel to me? A friend? Or merely an acquaintance?
"...I honestly don't know."
Everything felt ambiguous. She was far too deeply tangled in my life to be called a mere acquaintance. To call her a simple friend felt off too—something had shifted between us while concocting that cure. The bond ran deep.
"Then you'll just have to talk to her face-to-face, won't you? Let's leave it at that, then."
"..."
As if he couldn't be bothered to entertain this topic any longer, Father waved his hand dismissively, snatched the drink right out of my hands, and began chugging it down.
Dammit.
He wasn't wrong... Every word he said made sense, but why did I feel like I was getting played?
The next day, I reunited with the rest of my family.
Mother gave me a squinting, appraising look before launching into questions about whether I was keeping up with my studies and taking proper care of my health. Her words were laced with motherly concern. But...
"Yohan? You are making the medicine to cure our Chris's side effects, right...?"
There was definitely a subtle hint of reproach in her tone.
Sigh. Even without a cure, wasn't it enough that Chris was healthy? It was a shame his former boyish looks were gone, but the guy himself seemed to love his new body.
"Bwahaha! Brother! No need to burden yourself! I am thoroughly happy as I am!"
"Glad to see you in good health, Chris. Just... don't stand so close. It's overwhelming."
"Yes, Brother!"
Before I knew it, Chris had grown taller than me, and he let out a hearty, booming laugh. Glancing at forearms thicker than my head, thick veins writhed grotesque beneath the skin like creatures crawling under the surface... His face was so rugged and menacing that you couldn't even catch a trace of the pretty boy he once was.
If he walked into a mercenary guild right this second, everyone around him would instinctively lower their voices and read the room.
This was my little brother.
Brother, my ass—it felt like I should be calling him "Big Bro." Anyone passing by would mistake him for a barbarian warrior. Fortunately, my dear Chris was well-dressed and living a civilized life. Regardless, it was good to see him after so long.
"Yohan, what on earth are you wearing to an arrangement meeting?"
"Isn't the academy uniform respectable enough?"
"Your partner is from the Ducal House of Aether."
"Well, I doubt the ducal family cares that much about such things."
"Is that so? Hmmm..."
Mother kept giving me that narrow, skeptical squint.
"You seem to know them quite well. Then again, I suppose that explains how you managed to charm the Lady..."
"It's not like that."
"Oh? Your father said you had the young lady completely under your spell. And not just her, either..."
"It's all based on misunderstandings."
"Is Lady Ariel having feelings for you a misunderstanding, too?"
"That... might actually be true."
"...?"
I couldn't deny it. Things had already escalated this far; trying to refute it now was pointless.
"Are you all ready?"
Just then, Father made a late appearance, dressed to the nines in sharp, stylish noble attire.
"If I say no, can we arrive late?"
"Fine by me. By the time you get there, the seal will already be stamped anyway."
"..."
I couldn't win. Resigning myself to silence, I climbed into the carriage.
"Wait, did our family always own a carriage this nice?"
"We borrowed it from the young lady we rescued. Mind you don't get it dirty."
"..."
Damn Andvaranaut.
Why did our paths keep crossing? I mean, since they had a stranglehold on imperial commerce, running into their assets wasn't shocking, but...
I had a sickening feeling that an unavoidable stroke of unfair fate was headed straight for me.
And so, we set off for the villa prepared by the Aether Ducal House.
Honestly, I was nervous.
Even from afar, the estate was on a completely different dimension from our family manor. Compared to Duke Aether's villa, our house was practically a doghouse.
"Ah...!"
As we drew closer, a picturesque lake came into view. And standing in the distance was Ariel, beaming brilliantly the moment she spotted me.
Dressed not in her usual academy uniform and witch hat, but in an elegant, beautifully tailored gown, she was undeniably breathtaking. Still, as if she simply couldn't bring herself to abandon that damned doomed anime hairstyle, her hair was neatly braided and draped over one shoulder. Regardless, she had clearly gone out of her way to dress up. It was glaringly obvious just how much she had been anticipating this meeting.
"My goodness."
Beside me, Mother nodded approvingly, taking in Lady Ariel's radiant, blossoming smile.
"She's adorable, Yohan. What could you possibly find fault with in a girl like that? Is it her personality?"
"Her personality isn't bad. Her circumstances are the problem."
"All the more reason to embrace and protect her. Husbands and wives are meant to lean on each other through life. You should do the same."
"If Lady Ariel leans on our family, we'll capsize and sink. The difference in weight class between our houses is astronomical."
"Don't go shattering your mother's romantic illusions with such dreary realism."
After trading banter with Mother for a moment, Ariel approached with a bashful smile.
"H-Hello, Sir Yohan. And esteemed members of the Damus family. It is truly an honor to meet you today. I am Ariel Aether."
"Oh, my..."
Gathering the hem of her skirt, Ariel offered a refined, graceful curtsy. Accustomed as I was to seeing her snap and fuss, this demure side of her felt entirely foreign. Seeing Ariel behave so politely made Mother practically tap her feet in delight.
"Thank you for the warm hospitality, Lady Ariel. I am Samuel Damus."
Father stepped forward to represent our family and return the greeting. From the brief look on his face, it was clear Father was quite fond of Ariel as well. Not that... well, not that I disliked her either.
While the two exchanged pleasantries, the villa doors swung open, and two men stepped out.
"Oh! You've arrived! Haha!"
The man laughing with a genial, good-natured grin was none other than Rascal Aether—the mastermind who had orchestrated this entire marriage proposal.
And the green-haired man standing beside him was...
"..."
Tronios Aether.
I never imagined I would end up standing face-to-face with him like this. He was the one person I had desperately wanted to avoid. The strongest mage of the current era, a monster hailed as the Emperor's left hand—and the supreme Logokinesis master who had restructured chant magic from scratch when not a single formula existed.
He was surveying our party with an expression devoid of all emotion.
"A-Ahaha! This is Duke Tronios Aether. He's a man of few words by nature, so please don't take it the wrong way."
"...A pleasure to meet you."
Prodded by Rascal Aether's urgent side-glance, Tronios Aether offered a greeting with apparent reluctance. Did he dislike us? Could this actually be a good sign?
"Oh, looks like you've finally arrived. Yohan Damus. Was your journey pleasant?"
"Greetings, Your Imperial Highness."
While greetings were being exchanged between the two families, Lobelia herself strode out from the villa. She had apparently arrived a step ahead of us. Having made a contract with me, she had come to meddle in this engagement affair in person.
"G-Greetings, Your Imperial Highness!"
Caught completely off guard by her presence, Father bowed belatedly, his eyes darting toward me with a furious glare even as he kept his head low.
How ridiculous. He was the one who told me not to say another word on the matter yesterday.
"Your Highness."
Before the pleasantries could resume, I stepped up to Lobelia and whispered softly into her ear.
"I think this place is about to be attacked."
"What...?"
My instinctual six senses were screaming at me.
The guild crest I had seen far too often lately. The merchant guild my family had 'coincidentally' crossed paths with.
The carriage we had borrowed.
"Our location got leaked."
"You didn't resort to extreme measures just to sabotage this wedding, did you?"
"Absolutely not."
"..."
I swear I didn't.