Welcome Ceremony for the Prospective Daughter-in-Law (2)
“Haa… So, have you at least decided how we’re going to negotiate with the Lylia family?”
“We have. You, a marquis, will marry into their ducal house as a son-in-law. That way we secure the Lylia family as our backing. And the deputy head of House Lylia will use this engagement as a stepping stone to claim the family headship.”
Violet, desperate to steady a house that was listing under the discontent of its retainers simply because she was a woman—even as the eldest daughter of a family with no sons—and my own need to marry as soon as humanly possible meshed together so perfectly that the schedule was racing forward like a ship under full sail.
“Have you settled on a venue for the engagement ceremony? I was thinking either the Lylia estate itself, or perhaps that lovely lake nearby.”
“The engagement will be held tomorrow, at Lake Calion.”
“…Tomorrow? We haven’t even prepared the engagement rings yet.”
When I voiced my doubt, Silvia, seated beside Father, casually fluttered a luxurious sheet of purple stationery. From the seal embossed on it, the letter had clearly come from House Lylia.
“House Lylia is taking care of the rings. The deputy head is coming here in person tomorrow, so all you have to do is show up, Oppa.”
“Without even asking me…?”
“What? Isn’t a deputy family head the best bride you could ask for? Her hips look wide enough, too—perfect for bearing children.”
“…”
“Tomorrow you’ll get up first thing, put on a little powder, and head to Lake Calion with the deputy head. You’ll spend a cozy little while there, receive the ring, get engaged—and done. Got it?”
“Receive the ring…? Me…?”
“What can you do? That’s how they want it.”
In the Empire, presenting a ring at an engagement meant, I will stand ahead of you so that this ring never wears down or rusts.
In other words, it was a declaration of intent that the recipient would never have to lift a finger.
Since men tended to be more active in public life than women, it was almost always the man who gave the ring to the woman.
“And you’re saying Violet wants it that way?”
“Violet? Hmm… You’re already that close? I’m getting jealous.”
“…Stop talking nonsense.”
“Heh. It’s exactly as I said. The deputy head wants to give you the ring, Oppa. Lucky you. All you have to do is walk into House Lylia and play stud horse.”
“Hey… watch your mouth…”
“Why? Am I wrong?”
“No… you’re not wrong, but…”
Marrying a beautiful wife and living as a pillar-husband who never so much as got his hands wet had always been my dream, but hearing it come out of my little sister’s mouth left me feeling strangely complicated.
“And the wedding is the month right after the engagement.”
“Is it all right to do it that soon?”
“If anything, it’s late. The deputy head wants to marry as soon as possible, and so do you, don’t you?”
“Well… yeah. Fine, I get it.”
Somehow this was my engagement, and not a single scrap of my own opinion had gone into it.
Not that I particularly minded.
“Have you eaten dinner?”
“No. I was just about to go.”
“Then I’ll come with you. I haven’t eaten either.”
“Suit yourself.”
Clunk—!
When I opened the office door and stepped back into the corridor, the scene waiting for me was completely different from the one I’d walked into earlier.
“What is that painting? I don’t remember ordering anything like that.”
Along one wall of the hallway hung a portrait of me with a lavender bloom clamped between my teeth, wearing the most insufferable expression imaginable.
What era did they think this was, painting someone with a flower in their mouth?
“Heh-heh… Why… it’s cute… pfft—!”
“…”
Whatever I said here would only be spitting into the wind, so I simply let the strength drain from my eyes and walked straight toward the dining hall.
Along the way, pretending not to notice Silvia clutching her stomach and howling with laughter at the decorations the maids and butlers had put up was pure agony.
“Kya-ha-ha-ha!! Oppa, did you see? There’s a bust of your head, too! Pffft—!”
“…Yeah. Laugh all you want.”
Just wait until your wedding day.
I’ll show you what real fussing looks like.
“Hoho… Young Master, please don’t take it too hard. And Young Miss, you really are too mischievous.”
“But… kuh… heh… kya-ha-ha-ha!!”
“Haa… What’s on the menu tonight?”
“Avocado-glazed raw oysters with chives for wrapping, lightly boiled asparagus, and a whole roast pig. For dessert, banana, celery, and walnuts.”
“…Who put this menu together?”
“Well… in House Parsion’s kitchens, it’s tradition to prepare this sort of meal before and on the day of an engagement or wedding. I’m afraid I don’t know who decided on it.”
Avocado-glazed raw oysters. Never mind how they managed that—I was genuinely curious how they tasted.
“Mina. Do I have to eat that too?”
“No, Young Miss. Your meal has been prepared separately. Though if you wish, I can have the same dishes brought for you as the Young Master…”
“No thanks. I’ll eat mine. Oppa… heh… enjoy your meal.”
“…Thanks. I will.”
It was a thoroughly delightful dinner.
The avocado-glazed oysters were greasy beyond belief, the pork had been seasoned with something so aggressively sweet it made my tongue go numb, and when I left the asparagus untouched, Mina herself came over and stuffed it into my mouth.
…I am still the eldest son of a marquisate, you know.
At least the dessert was ordinary and delicious. Small mercies.
“Oppa. Did you enjoy dinner?”
“……”
“Are you sulking just because your little sister teased you a bit?”
For the record, Silvia had been eating Celian water buffalo meat taken right after a territorial fight.
When Celian water buffaloes battled for dominance, they gored each other with their distinctive short horns; the struggle tenderized the meat until it was extraordinarily delicious.
Silvia, who normally barely touched meat, had been savoring every bite so ostentatiously that when I finally cracked and asked for just one mouthful, she immediately whisked the plate away. Infuriating.
“Ahh… and here I was, moving out of consideration for my one and only big brother… yet he doesn’t even appreciate it…”
“You little… come here.”
“Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha! Daaaad!! Oppa’s bullying meee!!”
Thud!
“Guh—!”
A fountain pen that had come flying out of nowhere buried itself in my side.
The moment I collapsed, the pen, as if its duty were done, floated back to its proper place.
“You… when I catch you, you’re dead…”
“Wonder if you can even catch me~ See you tomorrow, Oppa.”
Thump-thump-thump-thump— Bang—!
“That… that… Haa… I’d rather die than suffer this… just die…”
Even if I went to Silvia’s room, the door would be locked tight. I headed straight for my own chambers instead.
Flump—
I sank onto the top-grade bed Mother had bought for me after I came back from the war and started suffering nightmares.
My heart thudded with no small amount of anticipation about the engagement.
My obsession with marriage was partly due to my ability. When the blood flowing through a lineage could not continue downward, it manifested as a restless urgency.
It was milder for women, but for a man like me it was pure torment.
If anyone asked how such a thing was possible… well, you could probably get an answer if you asked Livia.
The ability didn’t appear only in the Empire; from ancient times to the present, anyone with a deep bond to a god could inherit it. She would know.
I suspected Galardision was the same sort of case.
Which was why, in the ancient kingdoms of old, when a suitable match couldn’t be found, they had sometimes married within the bloodline itself.
That custom had all but vanished by now, of course.
My brother-in-law and Silvia are sickeningly sweet together… I wonder if Violet and I will end up like that…
I’d never had a girlfriend growing up, let alone a fiancée, so I was a little excited.
Big day tomorrow. Maybe I should turn in early…
I just hoped Violet wouldn’t laugh when she saw our house tomorr—
Clunk—!
“What? Silvia? What is it… something you didn’t finish saying earlier?”
“……Let’s… sleep together…”
“What?”
“I said let’s sleep together…”
“Huh?”
Silvia, in her nightclothes and carrying her own pillow, had appeared in my doorway with roughly that request.
Apparently the butlers and maids, over-excited about decorating most of the mansion, had gone completely overboard and festooned every room that could be called a room—starting with studies that didn’t even need decorating.
Riding that momentum, the maids had set about dressing up Silvia’s room and accidentally spilled an entire bottle of lavender air freshener. The scent was so overpowering now that her head ached too badly to sleep there.
“Then just use a guest room. Have the maids who spilled it dust it off a little.”
“No… you know me… I can’t sleep in strange places. Especially not without someone next to me…”
Ever since she was little, Silvia had been used to sleeping with Mother. After Mother passed, she had taken to sleeping with a trusted maid.
“So you’re too scared to sleep alone, Father’s too awkward, and after going all the way around you wound up at me.”
“…If you don’t want to, I’ll just sleep alone.”
“Haa… Fine. We’ll sleep together. Turn off the light and come on.”
“…Okay.”
Whirr—!
Silvia fed mana into the magic lamp, snuffing the light, and climbed into the bed where I already lay.
A faint dampness and a sweet fragrance drifted from her side; she must have just finished bathing.
…Come to think of it, I still haven’t washed.
There were still basic courtesies to observe toward the person you were sharing a bed with.
“I haven’t washed yet. I’ll just rinse off real quick—read a book or something in the meantime.”
I pushed the covers back and started to get up, only for Silvia to frantically seize the collar of my clothes.
“It’s fine. Just stay lying down.”
“…But I was running all over the place today. I must reek…”
“I said it’s fine. Just lie down.”
“All right. Whatever…”
Only after I pulled the blanket back over myself and settled down did she finally release my collar.
“Oppa… can you hold me like you used to…?”
“What? We’re siblings, sure, but men and women are still different…”
“You won’t…?”
Until I left for the battlefield, Silvia had been a frail child plagued by an unexplained illness.
On the rare occasions I came home from the front, I would sleep like the dead in my room; Silvia, wanting to play with me while I did nothing but sleep, had started curling up and holding me instead. Eventually it had become something of a tradition.
So even though ordinary siblings might have grown into quarrelsome frenemies, illness on her side and the constant shadow of death on mine had left us a little more tender with each other than most brothers and sisters.
Of course, after the war ended and she got engaged, we hadn’t done it again.
“Why all of a sudden?”
“Just… once you get engaged and married, I won’t get to see you much anymore…”
“Oh, please. Since when have you ever thought about your big brother?”
“Are you going to keep picking at every word I say?”
Silvia looked at me with what seemed like mild irritation. Or at least I thought she did—it was too dark to be sure.
“Fine, fine.”
“…Nn…”
I pulled her against me and held her tight enough to leave her breathless. She had always liked being held this way; she probably still did.
The sweet scent of shampoo and a faint fruity note clung to her. Soft places of her body pressed against mine here and there, but none of it stirred anything in me.
It just felt like a soft, antiseptic-scented pillow.
“Good night.”
“Mm… you too, Oppa…”
Feeling her slender arms return the embrace with what little strength she had, I drifted off to sleep.