The Princess's Husband Candidate (2)
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The moment I heard the warning about Morgan, I came face to face with the woman herself. What could she possibly want? The question rose naturally, but after hearing Freya talk about her “husband hunt,” an ominous feeling settled in my gut. On top of that, the memory of training her like a mutt right before we parted ways made my anxiety spike even higher. There was every chance she had come for revenge.
The abrupt visit left me scanning the surroundings for only a second. Daeho stepped forward first and offered a greeting.
“Greetings. First Imperial Princess Morgan, and….”
Unlike our last encounter, Morgan had brought a whole crowd. There were three or four escort knights alone, plus several faces I had never seen before. Though unfamiliar, their outfits were every bit as luxurious as hers, so I could guess their status at a glance.
Nobles…?
Their arrogant postures and the practiced ease with which they ordered people around marked them as high-ranking aristocrats.
“…Second Imperial Princess Nero and Duke Deloa.”
Daeho’s continuation revealed their identities.
Princess Nero?!
This was my first meeting with the protagonist of this world. I had never dreamed I would run into her here. She was a notorious hikikomori who hated going outside and stayed locked in her room. For her to appear on the street in broad daylight was like spotting a legendary Pokémon.
Princess Nero gave a small nod in reply to the greeting.
“Countess Baekya, you remain as beautiful as ever. I never imagined you would be in the capital. I was almost ready to doubt Princess Morgan’s words when I heard that the famous Countess Baekya was staying here.”
Duke Deloa possessed refined features, marred only by a few wrinkles. The name had sounded familiar; now I remembered. She was the leader of the noble faction and the person who had met Lucifer. A woman suspected of being a demon sympathizer.
“May I ask what brings you here today?”
Apparently thinking the same thing I was, Daeho asked the question with open suspicion in his eyes.
“There are many eyes on us here. Would it be possible to speak somewhere more private?”
Duke Deloa, who had been glancing around, smiled sweetly. She was right. The inn I was staying at sat smack in the middle of the busiest street. The number of onlookers was growing by the second, and the atmosphere was hardly suitable for conversation.
“We cannot offer proper hospitality, but you are welcome all the same.”
With Daeho’s permission we relocated. The new location was Daeho’s own room.
“So, Sir Sieg, the reason I came here today is none other than—”
“Allow me to explain, Your Highness.”
When Morgan hesitated, Duke Deloa smoothly cut in.
“Y-yes, please do.”
“Forgive my rudeness. Haha.”
It was surprising to see Morgan fold so easily. Had the duke found some weakness to exploit? Normally Morgan would have flown into a rage at such an interruption.
“We have come to pay the debt Her Highness incurred. The 13,000 gold for the Garcia necklace. The Deloa family will cover the cost.”
At a look from Duke Deloa, her attendants carried in a chest of gold coins.
Thud!
It landed with a heavy sound. The money had originally been mine, but the clink of coin was always pleasant to hear.
“With this, our business here appears to be concluded. Shall we move on to the next appointment, Your Highness?”
“Well, that is…”
Duke Deloa rose from her seat and urged Morgan along. But Morgan remained seated, eyes locked on mine. She was clearly sending me a plea for help.
“Ah, so this is the Sir Sieg I have heard so much about. The one Her Highness has recently taken an interest in…”
Duke Deloa looked me over. Her gaze was appraising, accompanied by a small sound of admiration. She dipped her head in a show of courtesy.
“A pleasure. I am Duke Emer Deloa. I must say, what a handsome young man. No wonder Her Highness has taken notice.”
“My name is Sieg. It is an honor to meet you, Duke Deloa.”
“Please continue to look after our princess. Though for today, I must ask you to be patient. My son has an appointment with her, you see.”
Duke Deloa winked. Morgan hurriedly explained.
“N-no, that’s not—Sir Sieg, it’s only a meal, nothing more…!”
“Since Her Highness is seriously considering a relationship with my son, today’s meeting is quite important. Isn’t that right, Your Highness?”
“Th-that’s correct. Yes. We’re simply meeting for now. You remember that, don’t you?”
“Hahaha, of course.”
With a relaxed laugh, Duke Deloa urged Morgan once more. In the end Morgan stood up and spoke in a rush.
“Sir Sieg! I would love to see you again. Would you allow me to invite you to the upcoming banquet? Together with Countess Baekya, of course.”
“If you extend an invitation, I will gladly attend. Sir Sieg will also attend under the name of House Baekya.”
Daeho answered instantly, placing special emphasis on the Baekya name.
“Then we shall take our leave.”
Morgan, Duke Deloa, and their entire retinue vanished in the blink of an eye.
The tension that had kept me on edge finally drained away, as if a storm had passed. I felt exhausted.
Rustle—
But it wasn’t over. I had thought they had all left, yet—
“Princess Nero?”
One person remained. Daeho tilted his head and called out to her. She stood there like a lost child, unsure what to do.
“Why are you still here?”
Princess Nero was peeking out from behind the sofa, staring straight at me.
Sieg.
The man suspected of being the cause of her older sister Morgan’s sudden change. There was no way Nero could not know him. Morgan sang his name like a broken record every single day; the sound had practically worn grooves into her ears.
In truth, Morgan’s behavioral shift wasn’t all that surprising. She had always been man-crazy, and Nero had assumed her sister’s periodic “golden retriever mode” had simply returned. Like the lingering aftertaste that followed reading a masterpiece novel, she had thought this too was merely one passing season.
That was why she had been able to endure Morgan’s tantrums for days on end, telling herself it would pass. But this time was different.
“Eek! Forgive me, Your Highness!”
“Hahaha, it’s quite all right. Everyone makes mistakes, don’t they?”
Even when a servant accidentally shattered her favorite glass bottle, Morgan had simply laughed it off without a trace of anger. That temperamental woman, laughing it off? It made no sense.
And that was not all.
“Sir Rose, would you teach me the sword?”
She had gone to the captain of the imperial knights and begun sword training.
“Little sister, would you teach me magic?”
“…What did you just say?!”
“Shouldn’t a princess at least possess basic knowledge of magic?”
The same Morgan who had ignored magic her entire life had come to Nero—the proud, stubborn Morgan—bowing her head and asking to be taught. She had become an entirely different person.
The change itself was positive, yet Nero could not believe it. No sage, no teacher had ever been able to reform Morgan. They only ended up badly burned, further cementing her terrible reputation. Nero had believed the only things capable of changing her sister were a powerful demon curse or the intervention of the One God. And yet here it was, happening right before her eyes.
At this point, curiosity was inevitable.
Just who is Sieg?
For the first time, Nero found herself interested in someone who had nothing to do with magic. Once she started researching something, she pursued it with absolute thoroughness. Even when studying standardized magic, she was a perfectionist who could not be satisfied until she had experienced it herself and understood the theory. So she had tried to investigate in her own way, but she ran into a fundamental wall.
What even is a man?
Magic was a discipline built on logic and reason, but living beings—specifically the creature called “man”—were an unknown territory to her. No matter how much she studied in the corner of her room, she could not understand. Instead her head only grew more tangled and irritation rose.
It was the first taste of defeat she had ever experienced. The genius known as Nero, crumbling like this? She could not accept it. Because it was a field she had never conquered, her competitive spirit flared.
So she made up her mind. She would meet him in person.
But one problem remained. Nero was a hikikomori who had never once spoken to a man. The only human relationships in the life of a girl obsessed with magic were other mages. And mages, of course, were all women. Men simply did not exist in Nero’s social circle.
“Princess Nero? Why are you still here?”
Nero could not bring herself to approach the man. She was like a mouse standing before a lion. Her mouth refused to open, her body trembled. An unknown terror had seized her and taken control.
“Um…”
But would she really back down now? If she did nothing here, she would lose. Life was real combat. The important thing was to challenge everything.
The first words she managed to squeeze out after gathering her courage were—
“H-h-hello there, good law?”
A trendy greeting she had recently learned from a servant. It was her secret weapon for approaching a creature called a man.