The Express Train to Marriage (1)
“Would you care to marry me?”
“...I must have misheard you.”
“Wh-wh-wh... U-Unnie...?!”
Princess Rio let her reddish-gold hair—the exact same shade as Princess Ekaterina’s—spill over her shoulders as she offered a captivating smile and shyly flushed.
If anyone else in the Empire received such a proposal from Princess Rio, more than a few would have accepted on the spot. But that was only because they didn’t know any better.
“Did you not hear me clearly? What I mean is...”
“N-No! Unnie, you already have a fiancé!”
Exactly.
As I mentioned before, in this Empire people became engaged around fifteen and married around twenty. Naturally, Princess Rio—older sister to Princess Ekaterina—was well past the age for marriage. The only reason she had not yet wed was that she had her own circumstances for delaying it.
“...I’m not so ignorant that I don’t know about Your Highness’s situation.”
“Heh... What a pity. If I had met Sir Evan before saying those words at my engagement ceremony, things might have turned out a little differently...”
“Haha. Even as a joke, I’m flattered, Your Highness.”
“Th-That’s right, Unnie! S-Sir Evan is m-mine!”
At that absurd declaration, not only the two people seated at the table but even Dalrim—standing behind them holding a war axe nearly as tall as he was—floated a question mark above his head and stared at Princess Ekaterina.
Only then did the princess realize her slip of the tongue; her face flooded scarlet.
“Th-That is... what I mean is, Sir Evan is my escort knight! S-So even if Unnie wants to marry him, it won’t work!”
“My, my? Is that why you keep disposing of every marriage proposal that arrives for Sir Evan... mmmph?!”
“Hoho... Whatever could you mean?”
“Your Highness, what did you just—?”
“Haha! Sir Evan, I believe our tea time is just about finished, don’t you think?”
“No, Your Highness, wait a moment—”
“Da-Dalrim!!”
Even while calling for him, the princess kept her hands clamped desperately over Princess Rio’s mouth. Princess Rio herself had already given up trying to speak and was simply smiling with her eyes.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“My sister Rio says she’s tired. Kindly escort her to her chambers at once.”
“Forgive me, Your Highness, but from where I was standing, the Third Princess never once said—”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
The princess narrowed her eyes at Dalrim in what she clearly intended as a glare. To both Dalrim and me—men who lived by the sword—it only looked adorable.
“Th-That’s not what I—”
“Has the knight order’s discipline slipped this much lately? Talking back to a princess word for word... Ah, perhaps I should mention this to Sir Dane while I’m at it...”
“N-No, Your Highness! Th-Then, Your Highness... s-shall we go?”
“Mmph...! Mmmph mmmph...”
“Ah, sorry.”
“Ahem... ahem. Very well. I suppose I should be getting up myself. Now then, Sir Dalrim—you’ll give me a proper escort, won’t you?”
“Y-Yes, ma’am!!”
The idiot—rather, Dalrim—bewitched by Princess Rio’s looks, practically skipped as he moved off, the corners of his mouth climbing toward the heavens.
Princess Ekaterina rose from her seat as though it were the most natural thing in the world, offered me a brief nod of farewell, and started toward the garden gate.
“Ah, that’s right. Sir Evan?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Rumor has it... the acting head of House Lailia is looking for you.”
“House Lailia is looking for me...?”
“Who knows... Perhaps she wants to hurry a marriage along and shore up her shaky position...?”
“What...? Is that true?!”
“Who knows~”
With that teasing smile still on her lips, the princess left.
As far as I knew, Duke Denil—once called the Flower Duke of House Lailia—had overused his ability during the war and had been ailing ever since, until he finally collapsed. His eldest daughter had taken over as acting head.
House Lailia had produced three children, all daughters, so Violet, the eldest, had inevitably assumed the role of acting head. The problem was that the retainers of a ducal house were far from pleased about a woman holding the position.
Under pressure and checks from those retainers, the house had begun to wobble—so Violet decided to take Evan Farcion, a war hero, as her son-in-law and set the house to rights again. Or so I guessed.
Well, it’s only a guess, of course.
But for me it was an excellent opportunity. I needed a child before the age of twenty-five; Violet needed to stabilize her claim to the headship immediately. Our interests lined up perfectly.
I would have to pay a visit to House Lailia soon and learn the details for myself.
“S-S-S-Sir Evan? Y-You’re not actually thinking of going to House Lailia, are you?”
“...Pardon? Yes. I’ll probably go before long.”
“B-But... Sir Evan is supposed to be my escort...”
“Well. If marriage talks actually get underway, I doubt I’ll be able to keep the escort post while the wedding preparations are going on.”
“B-But...”
“Still, talking about it like this is basically counting chickens before they hatch. Even so, I hope the discussions go well.”
Clunk—!
“I-I’m leaving now!”
“H-Huh? Your Highness! You should wait for me!”
“Sir Evan, do not follow me!”
Why on earth did Rio Unnie say something like that...!
Rio Unnie had always been like that. The moment something caught her interest, she would throw a wrench into it just to watch how the person involved would claw their way out.
I even brought Sir Evan along thinking she might help me this time...!
To treat even her little sister’s love life as just another toy—how very like the twisted members of the imperial family.
Now that things had come to this, I, a princess, would simply have to solve House Lailia’s problems myself.
That meant every last issue had to be settled before Sir Evan ever set foot on Lailia land.
Sir Evan had three days off from escort duty each week. Ordinarily, unless something special came up, he returned the leave and stood guard all seven days—but this time he wouldn’t.
So the time left to me was two days. I would have to finish everything in a lightning campaign.
Clunk—!
“Hmm.”
It was only around lunchtime. Plenty of the day left. Why not head over to House Lailia and at least request an audience?
Normally a ducal house required an appointment requested a week or two in advance, but they were supposedly looking for me anyway. There was no harm in testing the waters.
House Lailia stood a little distance from the imperial capital, but at my speed the trip would be nothing.
“Whoa...! It’s Sir Evan! Sir Evaaaan!!”
“He’s so fast, Mom! Faster than a carriage!!”
“Haha... Hello there.”
After a few awkward greetings to passersby, my steps finally stopped before a massive manor.
“Halt! State your identity— Sir Evan?”
“Haha... Good day. I realize this is rather abrupt, but would it be possible to request an audience?”
“B-Before that, please release the mana circulating through your body. We need to confirm whether you’re in disguise...”
“Ah, of course.”
After the gatekeeper’s various checks and a look at my identification, the guard finally snapped into a perfectly angular salute and sent a runner to request the audience.
“It is an honor, Sir Evan. To think I would see the war hero himself here...”
“Haha... You’re making me blush.”
“Ah, the runner has returned. The audience is granted, Sir Evan. Please follow this messenger.”
“Thank you.”
I answered the messenger’s excited questions one after another as we walked, and before long he ushered me straight into the reception room where Violet waited.
Dreamlike violet hair. Dark eyes that seemed both resolute and refined. A crisp, unyielding charisma that hardly felt like it belonged to a ducal daughter.
Everything about the woman seated in that room declared that she was Violet Lailia.
“Welcome to House Lailia, Sir Evan Farcion.”
“I barged in without warning; you would have been well within your rights to be displeased. I’m grateful for the warm reception.”
“I would love nothing more than to hear the stories of the war hero who protected the Empire, but unfortunately my time is limited. Therefore I would like to ask why Sir Evan requested an audience with our house.”
Lady Lailia lifted her teacup with elegant poise and drank. Swallowing hard at that composed figure, I answered.
“I heard that House Lailia has been looking for me. Is that correct?”
“...It is. It shames me to admit it, but I have been unable to steady my faltering house, and so I felt the need to solidify my own position. To do that, I decided the first step was to obtain the headship properly.”
“Certainly. Marrying a suitable partner would make it far easier to claim legitimacy.”
Violet’s problem was singular and simple: she was a woman.
The conservative retainers deeply resented a woman leading the house they served, and they intended to use this opportunity to rock the family and expand their own influence.
If Violet married a proper man and then declared that their child would succeed as head, no one would be able to raise an objection. Having a war hero like me as that man would only make the arrangement stronger.
“I need to have a child before I turn twenty-five...”
“I welcome that, actually. The sooner the better for me as well.”
“But... are you truly all right with this? Rushing into marriage so quickly—as a person, not merely as head of a house, it feels a little...”
Across from me, Violet crossed her legs—stockinged and held by a garter belt—and folded her arms beneath her ample chest in a way that seemed almost deliberately seductive.
“Sir Evan... is it that you find me unappealing?”
“N-No, that isn’t it at all...”
“Then that settles it.”
The moment she heard my answer, Violet returned to her original blank expression and upright posture. Even so, she could not quite erase the flush that had risen to her cheeks; a faint smile touched her lips as she spoke.
“I like you as well, Sir Evan.”