The Thick Wall Between Us
Cynthia Rebellion's engagement to Rian came with several conditions. Of course, these weren't imposed by the families, but by Cynthia herself.
First, since they would meet at least once a week, he must not pressure her to see him more often. It was an uncomfortable condition from the start, but considering her position, it wasn't entirely unreasonable. As the eldest daughter of a grand duchy, she had to maintain the conduct and dignity befitting her station. Just as men had their duties, women had theirs. Her status was far too high for him to insist on summoning her against her will.
'The second condition was...'
Second, they must absolutely avoid excessive physical contact until after the wedding. This, too, he could understand. As a man, it didn't matter much to him, but Cynthia needed to preserve her purity to maintain her value as a woman. Intense physical intimacy before marriage would only burden her.
'It can't be helped. If the young lady doesn't like it... But this one...'
The third condition. This was the one that left him somewhat dissatisfied...
"Hello, Sir Rian Veilburg."
"Ah... Yes. Thank you for coming, Lady Rebellion."
Tursten Territory, managed by the Veilburg County. A few days after their engagement was safely finalized, Cynthia came to see him first. It felt more like she was here on official business than anything romantic, but he was still quite happy that she had taken the initiative.
The problem, however, was this.
"Sir Rian. You remember the third condition, don't you?"
"Ah, yes. I do."
"This is my escort knight, Reiner. You'll be seeing him often, so please get along well."
The third condition: No matter when or where they went, her escort knight must always accompany them. Not from a distance, but staying within a two-meter radius to maintain absolute security. In simple terms, it meant that even on dates with Cynthia, they would never be alone together.
"I am Reiner, escort knight to Lady Cynthia."
"Ah, yes..."
There wasn't even a light bow. The knight Liner stared down at him with a rigid expression. It was obvious at a glance that he didn't particularly like Rian, but Rian couldn't show any discomfort in front of Cynthia, so he forced a smile.
"I'm Rian Veilburg. I'll be counting on you, Sir Reiner."
"......"
'Isn't this a bit too blatant?'
As if the greeting was already over, Sir Liner pressed his lips tightly shut and glared at Rian's face. No matter that he was a knight of the grand duchy, his attitude was clearly excessive, yet Rian said nothing. After all, today was supposed to be his first date with Cynthia.
"Then shall we go, Lady Rebellion? I'll show you all the best parts of our territory."
"It's a failure~"
"Did you really follow my instructions for the escort?"
"I don't think I made any mistakes... But Lady Rebellion didn't smile at all."
"Hmm... Was it boring?"
"Ugh!"
After his date with Cynthia ended, Rian went to Anna and reported everything that had happened. They had started with a splendid meal at a high-end restaurant, then moved on to the theater he had reserved in advance. Naturally, all the actors were top-tier A-class performers. Since Cynthia was a high-ranking noble, her standards were undoubtedly high.
After the theater, they went to a café for some light conversation. Since the afterglow of the performance would still be fresh, steering the talk toward it should at least prevent any awkward silence.
But then.
(I'll be going now.)
(Pardon?)
(We've had dinner and seen the play. Isn't that enough? I have family matters to attend to, so I must leave now.)
"That's what she said."
"Young master, are you sure you followed my advice exactly?"
"I didn't make a single stern face and smiled often, just like you said. I tried my best to accommodate Lady Rebellion."
"Hmm~ Maybe it's because it was the first day? Anyway, try not to show any discomfort. Lady Cynthia has quite a high sense of pride, so once she gets angry over something small, it won't fade easily."
"Yeah. Got it."
"It seems ordinary dates won't satisfy her, so let's pick a different location. Notebook, out please."
"Yes!"
Rian dutifully wrote down Anna's advice, but he had no idea. The wall around Cynthia was far thicker and taller than he had imagined.
Six months after Rian Veilburg and Cynthia Rebellion became engaged.
Clip-clop. Clip-clop.
'Rian Veilburg... What a strange man.'
Cynthia was riding in a carriage on her way to meet Rian, whom she was seeing for the 'first time in a while.' The meeting place this time was the imperial capital, Cheselo. The reason she insisted on traveling all the way to the distant capital was entirely on her side. Rian had wanted to visit the grand duchy after noticing that Cynthia always came to the count's estate, but she had stopped him.
(I'm sorry... but please don't come to the grand duchy.)
(!)
'He's noticed all these hints, yet he hasn't gotten angry even once.'
It had already been half a year since their engagement. Cynthia had been dropping hints little by little. That she had no intention of marrying him, so he shouldn't approach her too aggressively.
'If I were in his position, I probably would have complained at least once or twice.'
For the first month, they had met about once a week. Since they were engaged, the families would pressure them if they didn't maintain regular meetings. But after two months, it became once every two weeks. At three months, once every three weeks. At four months, once a month.
In other words, this meeting with Rian was the first in a month.
'He seems to have some interest in me, but it doesn't feel like he actually likes me. So why is he courting me so diligently?'
She reviewed her own actions once more. She had deliberately cut dates short, addressed him only by his family name, gradually increased the time between meetings, and avoided any physical contact or friendly conversation. Though they were engaged, their relationship was closer to that of strangers.
(By the way, Lady Rebellion. Do you know what day it is today?)
(...? I don't.)
(Ahem... It's the 100th day since our engagement. So I prepared a small gift... Ta-da!)
(......)
(S-Sorry. It was rather childish, wasn't it?)
"Pfft!"
A sudden burst of laughter. The image of him hastily stuffing the gift back into his pocket came to mind. When she first saw the gift box, she had honestly felt dumbfounded, but whenever she recalled his expression later, she couldn't help but laugh.
"It was kind of cute. I've never seen a nobleman bother with something like that before."
No matter who she was, when someone tried this hard, she couldn't bring herself to hate him. When she first met Rian, she had thought he was just an ordinary man you could find anywhere. But he was far better than the men who approached her purely for lust. No, comparing him to such trash in the first place would be an insult to Rian.
"...... I'm sorry."
Seeing how hard he worked as her fiancé filled her with guilt. No matter how coldly she behaved, no matter how many times she canceled their meetings at the last minute and pushed them back arbitrarily, Rian had never once gotten angry. He simply matched her pace, as if telling her not to worry because he wasn't upset.
Honestly, the guilt had grown so heavy that she no longer knew what to do.
"... There's still half a year left..."
"Haa......"
"Y-Young master... Fighting."
"Anna, you've lost a lot of confidence compared to the beginning, haven't you?"
Rian Veilburg, fully dressed for going out, looked at Anna with a completely deflated expression. With his pale skin and handsome features, he was widely regarded as quite the good-looking man, yet right now, that impression was nowhere to be found. His face was gloomy because of the woman he was about to meet.
"Ahem... S-Still, it's been a month. Maybe things have changed a little?"
"Are you saying that seriously? If so, I won't be asking you for dating advice anymore."
"Y-You're being very firm..."
"Haa, how else would I feel? At this point, I feel sorry just for going to see her."
"What!? No, why would you feel sorry, young master! The one at fault is that Cynthia or whatever her name is!"
"Shh!"
"Ah, I'm sorry. Please pretend you didn't hear that."
It wasn't unreasonable for Anna to curse. She had given most of the advice for his dates with Cynthia and had heard every detail of what happened. The person most upset by Cynthia's cold attitude was none other than Anna, the advisor herself. Of course, a commoner shouldn't speak ill of a noble, but still.
"Sigh. I should head out soon. If I leave now, I'll arrive right on time."
"... But what are you packing?"
"Hm? Oh, this?"
Anna made a displeased face as she watched Rian gather something. He held up the 'gift box' with a puzzled expression.
"It's almost Lady Rebellion's birthday. So I prepared this."
"... A birthday present?"
"Yeah. I'm her fiancé, after all. It's only natural to prepare something like this."
"No, that's true, but... aren't you upset at all!?"
"Huh? Where did this come from..."
"She sent a letter saying not to worry about her birthday because she doesn't usually celebrate it!"
"Y-Yeah, she did..."
"But when I looked into it later, that wasn't really the case at all~!"
Cynthia hadn't lied. She really didn't usually celebrate her birthday, and she had simply asked Rian not to prepare anything when he inquired. The problem was that instead of throwing a grand party, she held small private gatherings with close friends. Rather than receiving large-scale congratulations, a small number of acquaintances would gather for a quiet time together.
"And she didn't even invite you!!!"
"W-Well... there's still time left..."
"Then don't give her the gift until the actual day. Let's see how she reacts."
"But what if I can't give it to her then..."
"If you can't, then you can't! Why are you even worrying about something like that!? Why is our young master clinging to a woman like her in the first place! Our young master is so wonderful!"
"Thanks for the compliment, but didn't I learn all my dating methods from you? You're the one who raised me like this, aren't you?"
"Ugh...! What have I done!"
Anna began to regret the lessons she had taught him over the years. Leaving her behind, Rian stepped out of the family estate. Since the romance master was in a slump, he would have to handle today's meeting on his own.
"Whew... I'm nervous."