Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: The Mage's Heart (3)
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Diana freaked out.
"Married woman? What kind of crazy talk is that!"
"…Wasn't it?"
"No!"
"Then, what about this?"
"Ch-check the contents of that thing!"
Under the heading "Marriage Registration," I checked the contents.
It was a standard form. The front had the marriage vows, the middle had blanks for the groom's and bride's names, and the end had a section for signing with blood to seal the oath.
But...
"…The groom's section is blank."
On top of that, the oath section was empty too.
"Yeah!"
Diana snatched the marriage registration from my hand.
"This is something I've had for a while!"
Diana's face turned red.
"To commemorate the day I reunite with the knight who saved me back then... I wanted to feel like... doing that with him!"
"…That knight."
Coincidentally, Diana's knight was someone I knew very well. After all, he was right here.
Tiona peeked over from the side and raised her eyebrows.
"What is this?"
"It's a marriage registration... For people who can't get married in church right away, it's a way to report directly to the Heavenly God."
"Gasp…!"
Tiona was startled and peered even more intently at Diana's marriage registration.
"So, just writing down the man and woman's names here makes the marriage take effect!?"
"It's not quite that simple…"
No, if it were that simple, famous people would end up with unknown husbands or wives popping up left and right.
"Arthur! Get me one of these marriage certificates too!"
"It's a registration, not a certificate. And I'll tell you ahead of time, just writing names doesn't make it effective."
Obvious. She was probably planning to scribble my name and hers on it.
"Pout…"
Tiona pouted again. I poked her cheeks on both sides to let out the air.
Psssh…
'Marriage with Tiona.'
If I actually went through with it, the Duke would put every ounce of effort into smashing me to pieces. Something like, "I assigned you to teach my daughter, and you seduce her?"
Then I'd have no choice but to flee, sobbing "Arthur's done for~."
The other option would be confronting the Duke directly…
No matter what I'd accomplished so far, going head-to-head with a duke was no easy feat.
Of course, if it was just me against one middle-aged duke man-to-man, I'd win without question. I could pulverize him, bones and all.
But behind a duke stood his ducal house, the nobility itself, and the empire's entire system.
The saying that individuals couldn't beat state power—barring a tiny handful of exceptions—applied here too.
Which was why, when high nobles tormented commoners, it was often simpler to just find those commoners a new place to start over.
"For now, shall we have breakfast? The cake's waiting."
I'd been nervous since it had been so long since I last made one, but the chiffon cake was a hit. They loved its signature soft, chewy texture.
After we finished eating and Tiona headed upstairs to change out of her pajamas, Diana asked me,
"But hey, Arthur, you have elf friends too?"
"I do."
"Who? That Granola girl from before?"
"Her, and her sister too…"
"You're full of surprises. What, did you save their sacred deer or something?"
"…"
"Wait, for real?"
Diana shook her head right after asking.
"No, that's not the point… Arthur."
"Yes."
"I'll just ask you straight up."
Diana's eyes peered into mine.
A serious atmosphere.
I swallowed without thinking.
'Did she figure it out?'
That I was the very knight she was waiting for.
Getting caught now would be bad in all sorts of ways.
Tiona's budding feelings for me were already getting thicker by the day and causing enough trouble. If that turned into a love triangle with Diana too?
Please, no.
It'd be like the original protagonist's party—Cynthia and the rest—falling apart in a hail of drama.
Couldn't they hold off on realizing until after I'd beaten back all the Outer Gods?
After that, I'd take responsibility and sort out any triangles or quadrangles.
"By any chance…"
Diana took a deep breath and blurted it out.
"Do women with small breasts not look like women to you?"
"…"
Give me back my tension.
"You built up all this gravity just to ask that?"
"What're you saying? What's more important to a woman than her breasts!"
"D-Diana, has anyone ever called your views a bit extreme?"
It was like one of those radical gender-swap adult stories that judged a man's worth solely by his dick size.
Huh? Was this not a romance fantasy but a gender-reversed world? Where men just sat demurely in the corner going "teehee"?
"Girls who have 'em wouldn't get the shame of those who don't…!"
"Don't know about shame, but seems like shame's messed up your head."
"Argh! Fun teasing flat girls?"
"No, when did I tease…"
"And they're not totally gone, okay? Look!"
Diana pressed her upper body right up against me.
"Don't do th—"
…Why's it so hard?
Oh, ribs.
Still, the center had a little soft give.
"Phew…"
This was maddening.
An absurd situation, but it clearly meant a lot to Diana.
"Diana, listen well. Even if your breasts are underdeveloped, you're an attractive woman."
I hadn't wanted to go this far, but she was insisting.
"So, don't obsess over it."
"…Thanks, but why do you keep dodging? I'm asking what you think of me."
Ah.
Back to square one.
"I…"
Looked like I'd have to answer honestly.
"Think you're attractive. You, Diana."
"…Really?"
"Yes."
Diana really was an attractive woman.
Even in her male disguise, she was so pretty it made you wonder if she was really a guy.
If she let out just a bit of her hidden beauty and femininity, she'd be an instant star in high society.
"Then."
Diana's lips tried to form some shape.
The pink flesh pitifully shifted, desperate to voice the next words.
"Me and—"
Thud thud thud. The sound of Tiona coming downstairs.
"Arthur, can you make that ice cream from before again?"
"Ice cream in this chilly weather? Next time."
I knew Diana had been about to say something to me.
I knew, but I decided to play dumb.
Even setting aside any love triangle, we just didn't match, no matter how you sliced it.
She was high-born, and I was low.
Diana thought to herself.
'It really seems like it…'
That the knight who saved her was standing right in front of her.
But.
If it was true, what would she do?
Tiona's crush on Arthur was obvious to anyone watching from the side.
Not that she was even trying that hard to hide it.
But even brushing aside the issue of a love triangle with her friend…
No matter how she looked at it, she and he didn't match. He was high-born, and she was low.
'Ugh…'
Her loathsome ties to her birth family.
If she'd known it'd be like this, she wished she'd been born to some ordinary elf lineage instead.
Or even better, a plain commoner girl. Then she could've boldly proposed to Arthur. Even as a maid, she'd beg him to keep her around.
Diana's shoulders slumped, her head hanging low.
"Diana."
At the voice calling her, Diana lifted her face without thinking.
"We're starting the Young Lady's morning lesson. Would you like to join too, Miss Diana?"
She'd heard Tiona took all sorts of classes every day. Though Diana didn't know the specifics.
She put on a tough front to keep the quiver out of her voice.
Just like she always had.
"What're you talking about? Me, join a lesson?"
"Because today's lesson is Elemental Magic."
Elemental Magic was a type of magic with no founder.
Sure, someone must have discovered it first in history, but their name hadn't come down to us.
And even if it had, it wouldn't mean much.
"Elemental Magic is the easiest type of magic to pick up naturally."
In communities without systematic magic studies, someone with innate mana sensitivity would occasionally be born and develop their own magic independently.
Ninety out of a hundred cases were some form of Elemental Magic.
So the name of the first discoverer didn't matter.
Countless people had independently stumbled upon Elemental Magic in completely unrelated places, eras, and civilizations.
"What are the substances of the world made from? It's born from that curiosity about their origins."
Classifying substances, dividing them, breaking them into combinations, and questioning what lay at their root.
That was the origin of Elemental Magic.
Depending on how they answered that question, the systems of each Elemental Magic varied.
"Today's goal is for Lady Tiona and Miss Diana to create a new form of Elemental Magic."
Arthur flashed a mischievous smile.
"The one who does better will get a special prize."
The hearts of the two noble ladies pounded.