“...”
It’s like hearing my sister talk... Maybe they read the same kind of novels.
“Her fiancé is also a friend of mine, which makes the idea of taking her from him downright abnormal,” I said, dejected, as I had to Sophia many times before.
“Stealing love interests is the next big thing!” she would then invariably reply, enthusiastically detailing her crooked ideas based on fiction. All those uncomely romance tales had tainted her poor soul...
But that is not what the girl in front of me did. Instead, she started giggling.
“Abnormal? What would you know about being normal? With that face and that seductive demeanor winning you fans left and right, women and men alike... You are just as they say.”
Seductive demeanor... Both my sister and my friends often used those words when describing me. They said that I was able to bewitch the people around me to an incredible extent. “Ridiculously seductive,” as Sophia put it.
At first I did not believe them. I was convinced that being pursued by complete strangers or even being nearly kidnapped, as had happened to me time and again since I was a child, was the norm.
As I later found out, this was actually abnormal. I had come to terms with that fact... but the girl’s “as they say” had made me curious.
“Have you heard about me from someone?”
“Indeed,” she replied. “The others in the student council often talk about you, Sophia above all...”
“You are in the student council at the Academy of Magic?!” My loud voice betrayed my surprise at her answer.
“Yes. I am positive that when we exchanged written introductions before our meeting, mine said as much. As expected, you barely read it at all, did you?”
“...”
I had actually read the whole thing, or at least tried to — the worse I felt about this whole engagement charade, the less anything I read would make it into my head. As my reading of the introductions had been less than thorough... I could not blame her for believing that I didn’t care about finding a fiancée.
But, if she is a member of the student council... then she must also know Jeord and Katarina. I shouldn’t have told her the truth... I considered asking her to keep our conversation secret, but I then realized that this would only make her more suspicious.
While I was busy worrying, she kept on talking leisurely. “After hearing so much about you, I wanted to meet you in person. But Sophia never mentioned that you were looking to be engaged... Did you keep it a secret from her?”
“...Yes.”
I did. Had I not, she would have opposed the idea and everything would have become even more troublesome.
“Of course... If she knew it, she would have probably done all in her power to stop you.”
Indeed. But how did she know this? “How?”
“Because there is someone that Sophia hopes will become your wife.”
My very short question had been enough to prompt the correct answer, but... to think that Sophia was speaking about things like these to other people... I’d hoped that, at least, she had the decency not to disclose the name of that someone.
“She is always singing your praises to Katarina Claes!” said the girl with a smile, at which point I felt like passing out onto the table in front of me.
Sophia... do you have any idea of the impact of what you have divulged? And at the academy! Where anyone could hear!
Despairing, I was still thinking of how to scold my foolish sister next time I met her when the girl in front of me offered a word in her favor.
“Sophia admires Katarina so much that she would love to see her married to Nicol,” she said, as if to excuse Sophia’s advertisement of her single brother as something cute. She was trying to make it sound less embarrassing for me, but hearing a younger girl having to choose her words so as not to hurt me only embarrassed me even further.
If we keep talking about this, she’s going to figure out that my love interest is Katarina herself... I have to switch topics.
“Earlier you said that you have no interest in finding a fiancé. Why is that?” I said, trying to divert her attention in a rather heavy-handed way. After all, I had been talking for so long that I hadn’t heard much about her.
And first of all, why didn’t she have a fiancé to begin with? She was from a high-ranking family, had magical aptitude, was talented enough to be in the student council. And to top it all off, she was a good-looking girl. She surely must have received a few marriage proposals already... Is she also in love with someone already engaged? I thought, but the truth was different.
“I do not want to depend on anyone,” she said proudly.
I was surprised, and I didn’t understand what that had to do with anything.
“...And that means that you will not marry?”
“Of course! If I married, I would become some noble’s wife, and nothing more.”
My suspicions were now confirmed. This girl was a bit... unique.
“...And would that be a bad thing? Being a noble’s wife?”
“Being a noble’s wife and dedicating oneself to one’s family and household are very respectable things in themselves. But that would be a life spent in one’s home. I want to go out to work!” she said fiercely.
“...Go out to work... like a man?”
“Yes! I have little interest in caring for a household from home. I want to work like a man!”
In recent years, the relative wealth of our country had given women the opportunity to work just as men would. The Magical Ministry, one of the most important organizations in the country, was even actively recruiting women and giving them positions of responsibility. Nevertheless, to nobles, who were extremely conservative in their ways, women were supposed to stay home with their children.
Most aristocratic ladies had but two choices: marry into a man’s house, or have a man marry into theirs. This was certainly the case for this young lady, as a girl of so high of a rank working outside her home was almost unheard of.
“But my parents oppose this choice... They are pressuring me to marry as soon as possible, and I know how unrealistic my dream is.”
“If you know, then why...?” Society would not look kindly on her for choosing to work like a man.
“There is someone I look up to. She worked hard and now holds an important role in the Ministry. I want to become like her.”
A hard-working woman with an important role in the Ministry? I was friends with someone like that, but this person was always tired and complaining about her work... It must be someone else.
I removed the thought before the girl in front of me could catch on, and she kept on passionately talking about her idol. “She is not from a particularly high-ranking family, and I had worried that since I am, I could not join the Ministry. But recently I heard that Katarina Claes is going to set a precedent, which gives me hope.”
Despite my efforts to change the topic, Katarina’s name had come up again... Indeed, it had just been decided that, after graduating from the academy, she would start working in the Ministry.
However, she had a familiar of darkness at her bidding, and a certain superior of my friend had probably insisted that she be hired. Most likely, Katarina’s stay at the Ministry was planned to only last until her marriage with Jeord. I had never heard of a married noble woman holding a job.
“That is true, but I think that there are special motivations behind her being hired, and that it will only be for a limited period of time.” I wanted to tell her of these facts so that she would not have unrealistic expectations, which would then hurt her once betrayed.
“I know, but I will not give up. I will do everything I can to succeed,” she said unfaltering, her eyes flaming with determination. Her expression proved to me how serious she was.
And at the same time, I felt envious of the courage to follow one’s ambitions despite what society might think. My ambition, my love — I was trying to sacrifice them for the sake o
f my household, struggling to find a lady to become engaged to.
The gaze of that brave girl was blinding in its fierceness, but her lips then curled into an allusive smile. “I think that you, too, should not give up. Go to the girl you love and speak your feelings to her. If you do not, how will you ever know whether your love is requited?”
Far from having forgotten the initial point of our discussion, she had now completely returned to it, and, if her grin were to be believed, she had been planning to do so all along.
“Neither Keith nor Mary are going to give up anytime soon, so why should you?” she went on, showing that she knew not only about my love, but also about that of her friends, who both happened to be in love with the same Katarina Claes. Her real calculating personality had shown through the facade of delusional ambition.
“But I am an adult now, and I shoulder the responsibility of succeeding my father as count,” I said with a sigh. She already knew everything. There was no point in hiding the truth anymore.
“There are many adults who are not engaged, and I do not see why you should have to be forced to for the sake of your family’s title,” she responded dryly. This girl was not a bit unique. She was very unique.
“I know that there are some who are still not engaged despite being of age, but marrying to preserve one’s title is the norm for nobles.”
“...Such an antiquated way of thinking.”
As her words hit me once again, I realized that girl showed absolutely no restraint in choosing them.
“And... a lot of people who are forced into finding a partner will ultimately be unhappy with their marriages,” she continued.
“Forced into an unhappy marriage...”
Her grave expression reminded me of the incident that had taken place almost one year before, involving a friend of mine, who was a hard-working member of the student council.
The person of the center of it all was the wife of a marquess who had been cast away by her husband, and who lost her mind and eventually began meddling with Dark Magic. I did not personally know anyone in an unhappy marriage, but in our aristocratic society, where couples were routinely put together for strictly political reasons as had happened with the marquess, stories like that were common.
“And that is why I say that you should not marry against your will. Think also of the poor wife whose husband loves someone else.”
This point of hers was the one that most resonated with me. I had only considered my feelings, not those of the girl who would become my wife. Of course I intended to love and respect her, but... would I really be able to do it? My lack of interest in them was apparent to the girls after we had met only one single time...
“...You are right. I have been only thinking of me and my feelings, completely ignoring the other party. I would not have realized it without your help. Thank you,” I told her, bowing my head in gratitude.
“As long as you have realized it, there is no problem. And you did not only think about yourself. You also had your family in mind, after all,” she said somewhat awkwardly.
My family? Of course... My parents brought me up with love and kindness, and I deeply respect them. If I wanted to marry and succeed Father as count as fast as possible, it was also for their sake. But...
“That, too, is fundamentally for my own sake. It was I who wanted to make them feel happy and relieved,” I said to the girl, who started giggling again.
“You really are as diligent as they say! But does your family really want you to meet lady after lady in a rush to marry?”
“...Well...” I don’t know. When I first told Father about my intentions, he had indeed seemed vexed.
“Your priority should be confirming that with them, should it not?” she said with a smile, bringing an end to that discussion.
We then kept talking a while longer about the academy and other harmless topics before parting ways, because, as she said, “meetings too long or too short both cause their own problems.” She was obviously much more used to matchmaking dates than I was.
I raised a hand to call on the servants, who were far away from us. But before they could reach us, she spoke again.
“You are keeping your love a secret from everyone, are you not? If you ever feel the need to talk about it, I will be most glad.” Her smile had a hint of malice, like a child whose prank was successful.
“...”
I stumbled in finding a response, and, having put her mask of noble innocence back on, she said her farewells with the elegance of a proper lady.
Thus ended my meeting with this very unique girl.
My peculiar encounter with that girl had made me reflect on many things, so as soon as it was over, I spoke to my father.
“I’m sorry for doing this despite having asked for it in the first place, but I would like to take a break from the matchmaking meetings for a while.”
He looked relieved, and said “Of course! You’re still young, and there’s no rush. I’m sure that one day you’ll meet the right person.”
His reaction was so unlike him that I had to make sure.
“Will that really be alright? Shouldn’t I look for a wife to succeed you as count as soon as possible?”
“Is that what worried you? There’s no need to sacrifice yourself that much for something so petty in this day and age. If you don’t care for the title, we can always adopt someone from our relatives to inherit it,” he replied with a heartfelt laugh. Then he concluded, “Nicol, you really are every bit as diligent as your mother!”
After how much I had worried about having this conversation, the actual turn of events proved disappointingly anticlimactic. That girl was right. What my family really wanted was different than what I thought.
I really respected my father, an individual talented enough to be chosen as the king’s counselor... but the laid-back view he shared with me today showed that he actually had a far laxer personality than I thought.
I had always wondered who Sophia had gotten her act-first-think-later mentality from, but perhaps I had finally found the culprit...
I was going to my room after having spoken with Father, but Sophia stood menacingly in the hallway, blocking my path.
“I heard that you were meeting potential fiancées! Why wouldn’t you tell me?!” she said, visibly angered. She had heard about my matchmaking meetings from somewhere.
Was it the girl from today? But we only just parted ways. That would be surprising.
I asked her how she found out, and she told me that, worried about my recent unusual behavior, she had gone to Father for an explanation. Knowing how soft he was with her, that fact that he immediately told her the truth came as no surprise.
“Well...?” she said resolutely, as if threatening to block the hallway until I gave her all the details, which I promptly did.
I told her how I had felt the pressure of having to find a wife in order to succeed Father as count, especially because I had received several remarks about my lack of a fiancée since I had started working.
Sophia listened carefully until I was done talking, before commenting in the same way as Father had: “You really are diligent, huh!”
They resemble each other so much...
“Father told me the same thing. And also, that I could just wait for the right person. You wouldn’t expect a count to say something like that...” I said.
For some reason, my sister seemed surprised. “What? You expected Father, of all people, to tell you to marry for the family’s sake?”
“What do you mean?”
“How could he say something like that, when he himself fell in love at first sight with an already engaged girl and then took her from her fiancé?”
This was the most surprising thing I had heard today, if not one of the most surprising things I had heard in my entire life. So much so that I couldn’t utter a response.
“You... You didn’t know?”
She had said it so innocently that I became dizzy from the shock
.
“Wait, is that true? Did Father really take Mother from...?” Saying it myself made me feel even worse.
Father... taking her from her fiancé...
The two of them had always been so close with each other that I had been embarrassed to watch them as a child. But I would have never thought that their past could be made into one of Sophia’s romance-triangle novels.
“Yes. Mother was engaged to another man, but Father fell in love with her and went to Grandfather to ask for her hand. Grandfather refused and told him ‘I’ll let you marry my daughter the day that you become counselor to the King!’ Of course he was only taunting him, but Father actually went and became counselor. So Grandfather admitted that he was worthy of Mother.”
I did know that he rose through the ranks incredibly quickly, but I had never suspected that Father had become counselor so that he could marry Mother. Then again — I’m feeling even dizzier — of all possible reasons, actually... wait, more importantly...
“...Is that common knowledge? Why have I just heard this story for the first time?” I had spent eighteen years in this household and not once had I heard of my parents’ romantic history.
“Naturally, Father took all the precautions he could so that the story wouldn’t get out to the public. After all, stealing a girl from her fiancé is not something you want to advertise. But if you ask Mother, she’ll be more than happy to bore you with the details... although I’m sure that she has removed anything even remotely negative about Father from her memory...”
If Father had taken precautions, that story would surely never be heard outside of this house. But what about Mother? My calm, reserved mother, passionately recounting her past with Father? I let out a long sigh.
Hearing for the first time the outlandish story of how my parents met each other had made my head hurt. Sophia, who had been furious moments ago, was now smiling at me.
“I thought that you knew everything, but I guess there are some things that even you don’t know!” she said, obviously pleased about being able to patronize me for once. “If there’s anything more you want to know, just ask me!” she added proudly, with an annoyingly satisfied expression.
My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Volume 5 Page 8
