The Ring for Irina
After giving Luise Ring Unit 3, I took a moment to catch my breath.
I had actually considered riding the momentum and heading straight to Irina as well, but treating confession replies like a buy-one-get-one deal felt far too callous. It would have been like treating Irina as leftover stock on clearance, and that made me feel guilty.
I could hardly say that after meeting the Magic Lord and Luise on the same day, but Luise had been a special case. If I had postponed her back then, unwelcome misunderstandings would only have piled up.
There's the family issue, too.
Most important of all was the house standing behind Irina—Count Yorun's family.
Even if Irina liked me, I had no idea how Yorun felt. Thanks to the Third Department Head's spectacular track record of grievances, Yorun and I shared an awkward relationship.
That was why answering Irina required care. If I replied too quickly and Yorun later objected, only Irina would be left in an impossible position. Or he might interpret it as me simply informing him, I'd like to build a good relationship with your daughter—any objections?
I should at least meet him face-to-face.
Fortunately, Irina's father was a titled noble obligated to attend the New Year's Audience. Since I would see him then anyway, we could have a serious conversation. If I offered a sincere apology and asked for his understanding, he might grant permission.
The real question was whether Irina could wait that long. With both Margeta and Luise already wearing their spoils of war on their fingers, she would be burning with impatience if she alone received no answer.
"Please tell Irina for me. I've already prepared the ring—I'm just deliberating, trying to find the right moment."
"Yes! Leave it to me!"
So I asked Luise to casually drop the hint. A good outcome was already decided. The timing would simply be a little late.
That way Irina could rest easy. Dragging things out indefinitely was impossible, but waiting until the New Year's Audience should be manageable. Luise was already blazing with motivation for her friend's sake, so everything would work out.
"Oppa. Do you have a moment?"
There had been a time when I thought that.
"Yeah, it's fine. Come in."
I smiled as I answered Irina, who was carefully inquiring from the doorway.
That expression, equal parts excitement and anxiety, told me exactly why she had come.
It failed.
Unfortunately, even Luise's enthusiasm had been no match for Irina. Well—when a ring is shimmering right before your eyes, how are you supposed to hold out?
I had tried to wait until the New Year's Audience for Irina's sake, but if that very decision only made her sad, it would be putting the cart before the horse. Better to settle things now and pour everything into persuading House Yorun.
"Sit down first. Ah—want some tea?"
"Ah, yes!"
I pressed the fidgeting Irina's shoulders to seat her and headed for the shelf.
Conveniently, both the tea set and Ring Unit 4 were waiting there.
Watching Irina take a sip, I lifted my own cup.
Better to give it right away.
My mind was already made up. If she had come to me first even after Luise's gentle persuasion, her patience had reached its limit. Delaying any further helped no one.
Besides, on this continent it was the universal custom for a man to propose to a lady. Even in a political marriage—no, precisely because it was political—they valued that procedure. Yet Irina had shown the courage to confess first. I could not force a girl like that to also bear the humiliation of asking for the ring herself. A woman's pride would hit rock bottom.
I would speak once Irina calmed down. Whether she had rushed over in a hurry or was fretting over how to begin, her breathing was still rough. Speaking quickly was fine, but if I were too blunt it might be awk—
"I told my family."
ward...
"...Huh?"
The instant I put my lips to the teacup, Irina struck hard.
The unexpected sentence left my reply lagging. Even my thoughts seemed to have slowed as a bonus.
"That I like Oppa. I told my family."
But Irina did not wait; she launched a follow-up strike.
"To your family?"
"Yes. Even that I confessed."
The firm look on her face made it clear this was no joke. Of course no one would joke about something like this, but it was a declaration of war filled to the brim with sincerity.
"So Oppa doesn't need to worry."
She had known exactly why I was delaying my answer and had simply erased that reason.
Do real family members really take after one another?
Her fiery, decisive actions nearly drew a hollow laugh from me. She truly did carry the Yorun name.
House Count Yorun might have taken a one-sided thrashing from the Audit Department, but put another way, even when the Audit Department struck with full intent, they had endured without dying—a house of genuine prestige.
Moreover, after that beating the Golden Duke himself had moved, marking them as a powerful house within the Golden Duke's faction. Among count houses they ranked near the top—if I exaggerated a little, they were practically on par with a marquis house.
Being a member of such a house, Irina was no ordinary person either.
"Actually, I almost gave up on connecting with Oppa. If Irina hadn't told me, I really would have."
Luise's words came back to me.
During summer break, watching me grow closer to Margeta, Luise had tried to resign herself. It was Irina who taught her how to enter as the second or third wife.
Because of that, Luise considered Irina her benefactor. That was why she had so willingly agreed when I asked her to soothe Irina.
...Looking at it another way, it meant Irina had aimed from the very beginning for the position after the first wife—a true strategist.
Is this the Yorun average?
Terrifying. Even though she still had an older brother, and was not even an adult so her education was incomplete, Irina could make assessments like this.
What on earth was a Yorun?
My hands seemed to be sweating. It was the conclusion I had reached after racking my brains as hard as I could, but if I had misjudged, both Oppa and I would be left in an awkward situation.
But after a moment of fluster, Oppa soon smiled and said,
"Then there's no helping it. If you've already said it, I feel at ease too."
At those words the corners of my mouth rose of their own accord.
My prediction had been right. Oppa had delayed his answer for the sake of our family. Not because he disliked me, but because he was considering me and my family and giving us time.
Thank goodness...
I had worried that Oppa might be delaying for some other reason. Or that he wanted to refuse but was hesitating because I might get hurt.
Fortunately it was neither. Oppa was kind and gentle, so he had delayed his answer. A gentleman far removed from the vicious, merciless Audit Department—that was why he had stayed still.
That was why I had fallen for Oppa. A position where no matter what he did, no one would ever blame him. And yet even in that position he apologized for the department's mistakes and sincerely felt sorry—that character of his.
Father knew that too.
The Audit Department that pursued absolute perfection. Because of that, even when they made mistakes, the Audit Department treated those mistakes as correct actions. The past Audit Department Chiefs' conduct had clearly been that way.
So Father said he had been astonished to receive the apology letter from the Audit Department Chief—Oppa. Since the Golden Duke had moved, compensation had been expected, but he never imagined he would receive an apology as well.
A firm apology, compensation, and the punishment of the hostile forces that had framed the house. With all of that in place, Father had been satisfied. He had truly received everything that could possibly be received.
—Who, you say?
Of course even such a father could not simply overlook his daughter meeting the Audit Department Chief.
In the past, on the day I had been spurred by Luise and confessed to Oppa, I had a long conversation with Father.
"Karl Crassius. The Audit Department Chief that Father also knows."
At my firm answer Father pressed his brow. Honestly, not understanding his feelings left me uneasy.
Even the news that Oppa had been dispatched as Academy inspector had left Father at a complete loss. No matter how much this and that he had received from the Audit Department, would no emotions remain?
And now his daughter had gone beyond mere contact with the Audit Department Chief and fallen for him. He could not help but be shaken.
—No. He's a dangerous man.
"I'm sorry. I know he's someone who harmed the family. But—"
—That's not what I mean. The Iron Blood Duke already has his eyes on him.
I had thought that was it.
An unexpected answer came out. An answer that looked somewhere else entirely, as though the incident with the Audit Department had already been forgotten.
Seeing my expression, Father continued in a much softer tone.
—Irina. Our house is merchants before we are nobles. Once grudge and favor have been thoroughly settled, there is no need to cling further. So my feelings toward the Audit Department Chief have already disappeared.
I had forgotten for a moment. That Father was neither a villain nor a cold-blooded man, but thorough when it came to calculation.
Moreover, among the family he prioritized above money, no one had been hurt, so there was no need to leave a grudge behind.
"Um, well... even so, the family was in danger. Are you really all right with it?"
Even as I said it, the words felt a little strange. I was supposed to be persuading Father, yet I was the one pointing out Oppa's shortcomings.
—We received benefits that surpassed the crisis. The family did not collapse from the crisis, but with those benefits we can leap to even higher places.
Saying that, Father lightly shook his head, as though that was not what mattered now.
—Anyway, the wife of the Audit Department Chief is likely the young lady of Valenti. You know what that means.
"I know. I'm prepared."
At that, Father let out a small sigh.
A count's daughter could never suppress a duke's daughter to become the first wife. Inevitably she would have to become the second, the third, or perhaps even later. Father was lamenting the situation in which his daughter would have to share the person she loved rather than monopolize him.
Knowing that heart of his, I smiled faintly. I could feel how truly he cherished and loved me.
—...You won't regret it?
Without hesitation I nodded. Even if I became only one of Oppa's wives, I would not regret it.
Actually, it had not been like this from the beginning. Unlike Father, I had still held feelings toward Oppa. I had resented him, feared him, wanted to avoid him.
But when I learned what kind of person Oppa truly was—when I could watch him with unbiased eyes—the resentment became liking, and the desire to avoid him became a desire to stay by his side even a little longer.
It was not simply because he had saved me from monsters, or because he was kind. As a member of a count house I had long been prepared to marry for politics rather than love. But Oppa, once connected, could produce results that surpassed any ordinary political marriage.
If the effect would be no different from a political marriage, then I wanted to be connected to Oppa. To a cool, kind man who made my heart race just by looking at him. Not to some blunt, loveless man, but to the man my own heart had chosen.
...Moreover, once I had held Oppa in my heart, I no longer believed any other man would even catch my eye.
—All right. If that is what you say.
Conveying those feelings, Father eventually accepted.
The permission of Father—head of House Count Yorun and Count Planbel. With that, no further obstacles remained. As long as Oppa had the heart, we could connect at any time.
"You were quite disappointed, weren't you? I'm sorry. I should have given it to you sooner."
Just like right now.
As Oppa slipped the ring onto my finger right now. As he put on the half-ring I had envied so much right now.
"As expected, Irina is bold. Forgiving even someone like me, and confidently saying what she wants first."
Chuckling, Oppa gently stroked my head.
"I'm a coward, so I couldn't do that. I should learn a lot from Irina."
"I'll teach you for life."
At those words both Oppa and I laughed.
I felt hollow. I had no idea why the world was like this.
Wow...
The young lady had been prepared. Of course I thought she would wear a ring.
But the pink-haired unnie and the blonde unnie also had rings on their fingers. Even people who had met Master later than Penelia unnie now had rings on their hands.
Woooow...
I felt dizzy. When Master came to the mansion I had planned to tell him that Penelia unnie and the blonde unnie liked him too.
What a joke. No news from Penelia unnie, and the blonde unnie had already received a ring.
"Yuris... are you okay? Your expression doesn't look good...?"
"I want to cry."
"Uh, does something hurt?"
When I spread my arms toward Sophia, who was fretting beside me, she warmly hugged me.
I really wanted to cry.
What am I supposed to do?
If only I could reach Penelia unnie, I would have exposed that she liked Master. Then Master would go find her and meet her, and unnie would finally confess her true feelings.
I can't reach her.
But I couldn't. Still couldn't.
Unnie... where on earth are you...? If you're not even at the starting line while everyone else is already running, what then...
Still, it's year-end, so you'll come back, right? Right? No matter how busy you are, unnie, you were always in the capital at the end of the year.
Please.