Chapter 224

“W-well… Your Excellency. When you say I must take responsibility… I do not quite understand what you mean.”

It had to be shocking to a reasonable degree for me to accept it. This was far beyond that. “Take responsibility,” she said. If anyone overheard, they would misunderstand horribly.

That Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania—

“Oh? So you are going to deny it?”

“I am not denying anything. Am I not simply stating the facts? ‘Take responsibility,’ you say. If someone heard, they would misunderstand.”

“So you are saying you will not take responsibility? After stealing my purity, you felt so pleas—mmph, mmph!”

Aagh!

What was this young lady saying?! I was afraid someone might hear. In a panic, I clapped a hand over Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania’s mouth.

Then I realized my mistake and withdrew my hand even faster than before.

“Spit, spit, spit! Hey, you—!”

“I-I am sorry.”

“Sorrry? If you are sorry, do you think you can just cover someone’s mouth like that? Hmph.”

“You kept saying things that invited misunderstanding, so my hand moved before I could stop myself.”

“Misunderstanding? You keep saying misunderstanding, but what exactly is the misunderstanding? Surely you are not saying it is a misunderstanding that you stole my lips?”

“Ahem, that was for treatment….”

“Magician Agpiel said that the moment the light appeared was the moment I was cured, did he not? But when I woke up, did you not kiss me?”

“W-what?”

That old man Agpiel’s expression had seemed sly, but to think he told her every detail? That wicked man.

They say there is no one in this world you can trust, and now I felt as though an axe had struck my foot.

“It all happened at the same time, so it was unavoidable….”

“Oh, enough. Treatment? Miracle? Whatever. After it manifested, did you kiss me or not?”

“I… I did.”

“Ah-ha? Then that settles it.”

At my answer, Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania nodded as though satisfied. I, however, was terrified by the sight.

“If it is settled, then what…?”

“What do you mean, what? Hmph.”

Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania pursed her lips.

“My lips! And it was my first time, too. To lose it like that….”

“A-ahem.”

“Stop trying to change the subject with that ridiculous cough. You took my purity, so you have to take responsibility. Do not tell me you thought it would end with a simple apology?”

“O-of course not, Your Grace. That is a misunderstanding. I am simply confused about how I am supposed to take responsibility….”

I spoke as though making excuses, sweating in rivulets.

At the same time, I watched her mouth carefully, wary of what this unpredictable young woman might say next.

“Ah-ha. Then you are saying you will take responsibility?”

“Yes… but?”

“I do not like how limp that answer sounds, but at least I finally heard what I wanted, so I will forgive you.”

“?”

Her sudden relaxation made me suspicious. It felt even more ominous.

This woman….

What was she really about to say?

That mischievous smile brought back the memory of our meeting in the royal palace. That expression—was it not exactly the same as when she had proposed marriage to me?

‘Surely not. No, it cannot be.’

I rejected the conclusion forming in my head.

No matter what, she would not demand marriage over something like this, would she?

But as always, “surely not” was exactly what killed people.

“Let us get married.”

“Kuh—cough. Cough. Cough.”

“What is wrong with you? Why are you so shocked? I said let us get married. Mar-riage. Do you really have to make me say it out loud? Am I that unattractive?”

“N-no, that is not it.”

“Right? I thought so. I kept thinking you were putting saliva on my lips and then trying to slip away, so I wondered if I was unpleasant to you. Heehee.”

She was truly impossible to predict.

A lively, sparkling sort of woman, utterly out of place in this era.

But that impression did not matter.

What mattered now was—

“You understand, right? Marriage. You said you would take responsibility, so you will keep your promise.”

This marriage uproar.

It made me wonder whether something as momentous as marriage could be decided as though it were a childish game of teasing. But Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania seemed to think otherwise.

“Well, your face is fairly presentable, and I am attractive too, so it suits us perfectly. We are both great lords nearby, so our titles match as well. Right? It is perfect.”

She was fast—so fast it felt like she was roasting beans over a flash of lightning. She left me no room to form a normal thought, let alone rebut her.

All I could do was get dragged along.

“Ah! And before the wedding, kiss me again. My first experience… I do not want it to end like that. Understood? I will even choose the place. I want it at the top of a steeple, watching the sunset. Let us go tomorrow.”

As I listened to her, I thought:

This woman….

She was not going to be easy.

It seemed I had been thoroughly caught by the nose.

---

“Bwahahaha! So that is what happened?”

After hearing the whole story, Magician Agpiel roared with laughter.

He had roughly expected it from the expression on Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania’s face when she left, but nothing was clearer than hearing it directly.

Magician Agpiel felt as though a nagging tooth had finally been pulled out.

“…It is a story I can scarcely believe. Agpiel? Knowledge heard from others is sometimes inaccurate. Such matters, by nature, must be experienced directly…”

“Oh, come now. What do you take me for? I am Agpiel. Agpiel. When I was young, women followed me in droves.”

“Ah, yes. Of course, Great Sage Agpiel.”

Pursing my lips, I continued.

“Thanks to your detailed report to Her Grace, I am now very neatly hooked by the nose. Thank you.”

“Hah. What are you so dissatisfied with? From your perspective, it is not a bad match. Your ranks suit each other, and you are both of suitable age to marry. Besides, you two match each other rather well. It feels far more like free romance than those other political marriages, does it not? And is she not beautiful? Her temperament is good, she is beautiful, she likes you, and her domain is abundant. She is the finest bride one could ask for. Hm?”

“…….”

If I listed it all out, Magician Agpiel was right a hundred times over, a thousand times over.

In my current situation, it would be hard to find a better match than her.

And yet….

‘Can I truly get married?’

Even if a noble’s marriage was a political arrangement born of necessity, it was still a bond between two people. From my perspective, someone who intended to escape this world and return to my original one someday, marriage was, in a sense, a truly bad thing.

Would I not be abandoning the person I had promised to share life with, whether I liked it or not?

And it was not as though I could bring Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania into my real world.

“I do not know why you find marriage unappealing, but once you have spoken it aloud, you must keep it. You do not intend to disappoint the Duchess of Aquitaine, who is so excited and expectant, do you? A woman’s anger is sometimes more persistent and fierce than a man’s. Be careful.”

“Guh….”

It was all so painfully correct that I could not respond.

And if I was going to refuse, I should have done it then, not now. Truly, if I tried to back out now, I would deserve a sword from the enraged Duchess of Aquitaine.

In the end, I had to do it.

This marriage.

“I know.”

“Heh heh. Then ease that expression. Are you not a groom-to-be now? Bwahahaha. They say life changes once you live pressed close to a woman’s skin. You have children, raise them, and so on. That is what it means to live. Wealth and glory are not always the most important things in life. Family. Learn and feel the happiness of building that family.”

“Mm. Thank you. I will try.”

It was advice worth listening to, and I nodded.

Of course, with a reality waiting for me to return to, I wondered whether a life of building a family was a luxury I could afford.

Still, as I thought about how to prepare a wedding for Duchess of Aquitaine Maceania, who must be brimming with anticipation, another guest arrived.

“It has been a long time, Your Excellency the Margrave of Bellua. I heard you have won yet another victory. On behalf of the Duke of Bourgogne, I offer my congratulations.”

“Congratulations, you say. Thank you.”

It was a noble I had been supporting.

Lord Gertman, the second son of the Duke of Bourgogne.

---

The Duke of Bourgogne sending an envoy was quite unexpected—especially sending Lord Gertman, the second son.

After all, my expansion was not exactly good news for the Duke of Bourgogne, was it?

If he sent a congratulatory envoy at all, I expected it much later, or that he would send some insignificant noble.

And yet he sent Lord Gertman, who was rumored to be close to me?

‘It feels like he is trying to reassure me, but the trick is painfully obvious.’

A foolish, one-dimensional noble might not have thought so, but if the Duke of Bourgogne had sent him, it was hard not to read deeper.

And sure enough, even the content supported my suspicion.

“You mean the Duke of Bourgogne—no, the Lord Regent—reconfirmed my rights over the southeastern region?”

“Yes, Your Excellency. The Lord Regent sent great praise for the Margrave of Bellua’s decision to defend the eastern region against the Holy Empire Emperor’s invasion. Accordingly, he has solidified your position and authority as the protector of the kingdom’s southeast. If you deem it necessary, you may issue mobilization orders and levy taxes for the defense of the southeast. No one will dare dispute your command in the southeastern region. He also asked that you continue to defend the kingdom against foreign invasion.”

“Hmmm….”

It sounded grand, but in truth it was not very helpful.

Most of the southeastern region had already become my directly-managed land, and through the customs union it already moved like a single domain. Such hollow rights were little more than lip service, a way to wrap up this matter with flattering words.

‘Still, that is what passes for power in the era of [Pangea Universalise]….’

It left a sour taste in my mouth, but there was something good as well.

“And as accompanying treatment, he will open the northern trade network for you?”

“Yes. Do you not possess a relay market? And you also hold a southern trade port that leads abroad. The Lord Regent has offered to open the Duchy of Bourgogne’s northern trade ports. If your trade routes connect, you will be able to gain even greater profit.”

It was not a bad proposal.

The intent was clear—he wanted to skim sweet taxes from a connected trade network—but I would benefit as well. If I sent my manufactory goods through merchant guilds all the way to the north, the profit would be enormous.

Of course, these attractive offers surely contained something I was missing.

‘What is it? The Duke of Bourgogne is not the type to shower me with gifts just to display friendship.’

Was it not a house where schemes were the natural order? Even Lord Gertman, smiling pleasantly before me, was a man who could stab me in the back for the sake of his house at any time.

But I was not afraid.

‘Even if he schemes, my weight class is not something that can be tossed around by it anymore.’

Besides, I had already planted spies within the courts of the neighboring kingdoms that might try to check me.

If they abandoned me and chose the Duke of Bourgogne, the news would reach me at once. And when it did, I could respond immediately.

“Mm…. Is there something you find displeasing?”

“Ah? No. It is simply such a good offer that I am stunned.”

“Haha. I exerted myself a little. Convincing His Grace the Lord Regent and my eldest brother was not easy.”

Lord Gertman laughed, making lighthearted banter.

It was so natural that it almost made me wonder whether my suspicions were pointless.

But did Lord Gertman realize?

That very naturalness was what heightened one’s vigilance.

His former naivete had vanished; it seemed he had already become a solid noble.

‘Interesting.’

A smile rose to my lips without my meaning to.

If he continued to grow like this, he would not be an easy opponent.

The Duchy of Bourgogne would grow stronger under his rule. But was that not the thrill of competition?

“It is thanks to you. Thank you.”

“There is no need. You extended your hand to me first, so this is only repayment.”

“Haha. Is that so…. Then I feel oddly sorry to bring this up. It seems your work may increase.”

“What… do you mean…?”

Looking at the flustered Lord Gertman, I smiled awkwardly and spoke.

“Ahem. I am going to get married.”

“Pardon?”

At first, it was confusion.

Then—

“I was as surprised as you are. But what could I do? It happened suddenly. The bride is the Duchess of Aquitaine. Congratulate me. I had planned to send an envoy to the Duke of Bourgogne, but I can deliver the news through you. Haha.”

“Whaaat?????”

After that came shock.

He had gone to the trouble of soothing me and then planned to take Crown Prince Charles I by the hand from behind to check me—yet with this, would not everything collapse? It was the kind of development that demanded a drastic revision of a grand strategy.

In that instant, Lord Gertman’s vision darkened as he wondered how he was supposed to report this to his father.