Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Family Heir (1)
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Autumn Harvest Festival.
A time when nobles' coffers filled up from tax collection, allowing them to show off a bit more extravagantly than usual without worry.
Even the nobles I'd occasionally glimpsed during visits to the palace were wandering the banquet hall in far more splendid attire than before.
Most had brought along children about the same age as Lady Rozier.
'Every year, it's the same— their materialistic intentions are on full display.'
The cutthroat competition among noble ladies to claim the spot as my fiancée was already palpable.
The nobles who'd brought their daughters looked oddly anxious. They were probably fretting over the chance that their child might offend Lady Rozier.
Taming the stubbornness of girls this age wasn't easy. Even for nobles, they were at most around ten years old, and few were as well-mannered as Lady Rozier.
"Miss with eyes like jewels, if it's not too bold, might I have this dance?"
"I appreciate the sentiment, but you'd need to ask His Highness Prince Cedric beside me. As his partner's, I can't just take another man's hand."
"...M-my apologies."
A few men tried flirting with Lady Rozier, but she calmly used me as a shield to send them away.
After all, we'd only been engaged for a year, and the Rozier family, though dukes, were border nobles who rarely came to the capital.
After a few rejections, the other young nobles seemed to grasp our engagement and stopped pestering us.
'Having a fiancée definitely makes these events easier.'
In the past, turning down a single lady's dance request would have sparked all sorts of rumors.
Now, just mentioning I had a partner was enough for the girls to back off politely, making the banquet feel far more relaxed.
"Hey, don't stick so close—our skin's touching."
...Though the lady in question was utterly devoted to her role as a shield and showed not a speck of affection for me.
Yet oddly, watching her like that brought a strange sense of enjoyment.
Until now, I'd never felt the urge to possess an object or keep someone close upon seeing them.
But Lady Rozier had something that kept drawing me in.
"Hello~! Prince Cedric~!"
"...Greetings, Lady Vermoa."
"Hehe, I told you to call me Katrin, Prince Cedric~!"
"......"
"You're always so shy—it's adorable~."
It wasn't shyness; I just found her annoying.
I disliked whiny young ladies, but women like her—who emphasized their slight age advantage to assert superiority—were the worst.
Just one or two years older, yet she acted like she could treat me like a child. Anyone could see the anxiety in her expression.
'She must be desperate now that I've got a fiancée.'
Noble engagements usually happened before age ten. Some ladies had deliberately delayed theirs, hoping for me since I hadn't been promised yet.
Now, they'd missed their chance with peers of similar status and were probing for my spot.
"I've been watching you for a while now, Your Highness~."
"...And?"
"Your fiancée seems bored with the banquet. Why not let her rest and share a dance with me instead~?"
"...That would be for my partner, Elena, to decide, Lady Vermoa—not me."
Asking for a dance with a partner right beside you was rude to begin with.
The first few times could be excused as ignorance of our relationship, but Lady Vermoa's intent to drive a wedge between us was obvious.
Lady Rozier's softer appearance played into it somewhat. Though she was nearly eight, she was slightly smaller than her peers.
"Oh, right~. Lady Rozier, if you don't mind, I'll borrow His Highness for a moment..."
"Your face suggests you've eaten your years one by one, but where did you leave your manners, Lady Vermoa?"
"...Pardon?"
"I'm asking who taught you the brazen etiquette of trying to whisk away a man with his partner—his fiancée—no less, right in front of her. Does the Vermoa family skip etiquette and decorum lessons entirely?"
"W-what did you say?"
"I get that you're in a hurry with age creeping up, but don't eye another woman's fiancé. Pick your targets wisely, and that confidence you have in matching Prince Cedric—pfft—is impressive, to say the least."
...I thought she only played the bold or shy girl roles, but she could strike like this too.
Her measured tone pinpointed weaknesses, then a feigned slip of a sneer crushed their pride.
No wonder Lady Vermoa's face flushed red—she'd likely never heard such words before.
"W-what do you mean?! I-I just asked for a dance to build rapport with Prince Cedric! She's so short and childish..."
"Height grows on its own with time, whether you like it or not. Manners, though? Without the will to learn, you'll be vulgar even as a grandmother. Is that all you've got going for you—just a few extra years? If you're throwing yourself at an engaged man, at least fix that dry, split hair and the caked-on makeup."
"W-what...?"
"Choose your marks better next time. That gentleman over there seems just your level, Lady Vermoa."
With that, Lady Rozier smiled and pointed to a border viscount widowed three years prior.
"...Hmph! Fine! I didn't know Prince Cedric's fiancée was so nasty! You'll regret speaking to me like that!"
She had plenty to say but sensed she couldn't win, so she fled with childish curses.
"Yes, Lady Vermoa. Wishing you pretty love."
"Ugh...!!"
...Lady Rozier waved with a smile, landing the final blow without mercy.
"You certainly speak your mind, Elena."
"Would you just take the blatant insult in front of you? Sorry, but I'm not that saintly."
"I know. I just figured you disliked causing a scene."
"True enough, but letting it slide like a pushover just invites more trouble later. Avoid once out of annoyance, and a truckload of fools think they're in charge. Better to make an example of one to wake the rest."
...An example, huh.
The atmosphere had shifted noticeably after her verbal spar with Lady Vermoa.
Lady Rozier had spoken softly enough for just us to hear, but Lady Vermoa lost control and shouted.
Anyone could tell who'd won, so the stares from other girls eyeing me similarly had mostly turned away.
'...They were all waiting for a shot.'
In the end, I'd benefited more from Lady Rozier's help. I'd nearly faced that horde alone.
Last year had been similar. With anyone else as fiancée, it wouldn't have been so easy.
"I understand your point, but what do you mean by 'a truckload'?"
"...As many as fill a whole carriage."
Her odd metaphors sometimes threw me, but it was nothing new since our first meeting.
'A sham engagement feels like too little for this.'
...Was there no way to draw her heart to me?
"Elena, you're the star of the harvest festival—shall we at least share one dance...?"
"Condition one."
"...Understood."
...She wasn't some ordinary noble lady, so the path ahead would be tougher.
No matter how young, royal life was busy, and seasons flew by in the blink of an eye.
Two years had passed since I first met Lady Rozier. I was ten, and she was nine.
-Crunch.
"Hmm, so Light Magic and Dark Magic are weaknesses to each other. Makes sense for balance."
"......"
Whether in the palace guest room or the Rozier drawing room, she lounged sideways, engrossed in reading.
I always felt oddly sidelined as her fiancé, but at least she'd respond if spoken to.
"At what age does the Rozier family start teaching magic?"
"Hm... Twelve, I think? Three years before academy enrollment."
"...Pardon? Then what you're studying now..."
"I'm self-teaching. In a world with magic, who waits until twelve? Of course you'd want to learn and use it ASAP."
"......"
Was magic that thrilling?
Hard to say. From what she'd let slip, her original world had no magic.
I couldn't imagine it well... and her reactions to questions about her past life weren't great, so I didn't pry.
"Then you don't know your mana affinity yet. Studying all attributes just in case?"
"My affinity? Dark and Frost."
"...Pardon?"
"Oh, yours is Light and Flame, by the way. Light probably unlocks after academy, so just note Flame for now."
"......I'll keep that in mind."
...Yeah. Just keep it in mind.