Raising Simulation: Queen of Maryland Maker (4)
“So, I didn’t realize you and my daughter were that close. To think she even told you about the marriage proposal.”
“Yes, Lady Riana provided tremendous help in creating this cube. Without her, the library wouldn’t be swarming with visitors every day.”
“I’ve heard about that peculiar magic tool myself. A cube, was it? The rumors are flying not just among mages but even the other nobles. They say you can’t get one anywhere.”
Pavel Ishinkiore fiddled with the cube the young mage had handed him.
He had no connection to magic whatsoever, but even he could sense this magic tool was no ordinary item.
Eugene Paltrow added in a soft voice,
“Unlike standard cubes, this Gaming Cube can currently only be used by mages. However, this particular cube was specially made for Your Grace alone. It connects to an external magic stone to run the game.”
In other words, it was custom-ordered.
At those words, the Golden Duke broke into a wide grin.
It was such an unfamiliar sight that even Eugene was a little taken aback.
Pavel Ishinkiore had an obsession with the exceptional.
He loved everything in the world that held material value.
Gold coins and titles. His territory and vassals. All sorts of jewels and masterpieces. Artifacts and magic tools.
That was why he was called the Golden Duke.
Not just because he made a fortune, but because he saw everything through the lens of gold.
“Sir Eugene, I thank you for your kindness. But… why give such a gift to me instead of Riana?”
Separate from his appreciation for the gift, the Golden Duke read a different intent in Eugene’s eyes.
Gifts inherently carried meaning on their own.
A plea for favor, forgiveness, a deal…
So, was the sender Arkisiya? Or the young mage before him?
Pavel gazed at Eugene Paltrow.
If it was the former, the question was what that eccentric grand mage wanted. If the latter… it would be quite intriguing.
Eugene paused for a moment, then spoke in a voice more serious than ever.
“Please cancel the engagement.”
“Pardon?”
It was so utterly unexpected that even the Golden Duke let out a foolish sound.
He hadn’t been caught off guard like this in ages, leaving a brief blank in his thoughts.
“Young man, do you even know what that means?”
Pavel’s voice rumbled low.
“Are you perhaps smitten with my daughter? I don’t know if it’s arrogance or courage on your part, but to my ears, it sounds like a grave insult.”
The marriage talks were as good as settled.
The kingdom of Calvac in the east.
A powerful nation that had waged war against the empire itself, even in defeat.
An engagement to their royalty.
No matter how charitably one viewed it, he was merely a merchant guild affiliate—no place for him to meddle.
It was plenty enough to take as an insult, and Pavel did.
Yet even against the fierce aura of his full-throated fury, Eugene didn’t yield an inch.
“You must have heard the rumors sweeping the council and the capital lately.”
The atmosphere shifted.
Just moments ago, he’d seemed like a refined young noble from a decent family.
More aristocrat than mage.
But now, he was unmistakably a mage.
His eyes gleamed with that peculiar madness unique to them, and beyond it, a deep-seated conviction.
“……”
Pavel swallowed.
As one of the three dukes, he’d long heard that Cassian Valerius had reached 8-circle and turned the council upside down.
And that it all stemmed from a mere “librarian at the Central Magic Library.”
“Sometimes, the truth can’t be hidden.”
That librarian was known in the world as the “Prophet of Ruin.”
Personally taken in by Arkisiya and hidden away in her library—a rogue mage.
He’d made even Cassian Valerius, a thorn in the Golden Duke’s side, bend this way and that.
And he’d drawn mages from all six towers, high and low alike, to the library.
Pavel reined in his anger and shifted in his seat.
Perhaps, just as this man had uncovered and exposed something in the council, he was issuing the same warning to him.
“So? If my daughter marries that eastern kingdom’s royalty, will war break out? But that’s just some distant prophecy, isn’t it?”
It foretold 500 years in the future.
Fine for mages, but 500 years was an eternity to Pavel.
Honestly, after that, it was up to Riana and the kids to handle.
That’s why he’d never raised any of them weak.
“No, I’m not talking about war. I’m worried about the two of you. Lady Riana Ishinkiore and Your Grace—you’ll both end up unhappy. And it won’t be that far off.”
“……Hm?”
“The cube I gave you has a game installed called Queen of Maryland Maker. A game where you raise your daughter to become queen.”
“Become queen?”
Pavel expressed his displeasure without restraint.
To anyone’s eyes, it perfectly exposed his ambitions.
Eugene Paltrow had “observed” that future and, like with Cassian, sublimated it into a game?
He’s lost his mind.
Pavel could only judge it that way.
No, perhaps Riana had tipped him off about the marriage talks long ago.
If his suspicions were right, then his own daughter was a problem too.
Leaking family affairs to an outsider like Eugene.
But one unresolved question lingered.
Why would that girl choose this man? As a final card to reject the marriage?
Surely not.
As his thoughts grew tangled, the young mage rose from his seat.
“You never know, Your Grace. You might sense something yourself.”
“Are you testing me—House Ishinkiore—right now?”
“It all depends on Your Grace’s will. Life is far too short for regrets.”
It was an insult with no precedent before or after, but Pavel said nothing.
Instead.
“……Indeed, the madman of the rumors.”
The duke activated the cube in his hand.
If challenged, he had to crush the fool’s head to satisfy his nature—that was Ishinkiore.
Ding, da-ra, dara-lan, ding-ding-da~.
An elegant orchestral melody filled the duke’s ears.
Pavel had a certain appreciation for art.
The instruments blend harmoniously. You can feel the composer’s skill.
As he savored the music, a bulletin board-like screen appeared before him.
What is your name?
“Pavel Ishinkiore.”