Time passed, and we return now to the scene of my proposal to Carla...
“By my own name, I swear... I swear to make you happy! So please, I’m begging you—be my queen!”
I, Cian Friedonia, King of the Kingdom of Friedonia, stood before Carla as I made my heartfelt plea. She was dressed in her usual maid uniform, but even so, she looked lovely.
Carla Vargas, the woman I’d admired since I was a child. Because she was a dragonewt, she had barely changed in all those years. She was as beautiful as ever.
It might sound odd, but I grew up surrounded by beauty. My mothers, my little sisters...and in some cases even my grandmothers were stunning. My eyes had long been spoiled. Yet even so, Carla was in no way lesser than any of them. Perhaps I was biased by affection, but to me, she was incomparable.
In our younger days, she had cared for us like a gentle mother would, then watched over me and Father’s other children like a kind elder sister. And, of course, when I’d reached puberty, that warmth and strength naturally became something I fell in love with. The noble daughters who’d flirted with me back in my days at the Royal Academy couldn’t hold a candle to her. Only my fiancée, Sharan, could compare. Though our engagement had been arranged by our parents, Sharan was a kind and understanding girl. When she learned of my feelings for Carla, she even offered me advice on how to express them.
I cared deeply for Sharan too, and if I ever failed to treat her with the respect she deserved, I knew Kazuha, who liked her even more than I did, would storm into the governmental affairs office and set me straight with her fists.
“S-Sire...” Carla’s face flushed red at my proposal, her eyes darting nervously as she fumbled for words. “U-Um... I once rebelled against the former king...”
“That sin was long ago erased by your loyal service. You were even welcomed back into the House of Vargas.”
“I have a rather large scar on my chest, you know...”
“One you earned defending my father. I know about it, and it doesn’t bother me.”
“And besides...there’s quite an age gap between us.”
“If we’re going to worry about that, then Father couldn’t have married Momma Aisha or Momma Naden. I’ve finally grown enough that it looks natural for me to stand by your side. So please, Carla. Would you consider becoming my bride?”
I extended my hand towards her. Carla blinked, her tail twitching faintly as she looked at it.
“Y-You’re being...rather forward about this. Your father was so timid that even with Liscia and the others openly welcoming him, he still hesitated to lay a hand on any of them, you know?”
“Oh, I know. That’s exactly why my mothers told me not to follow his example—to be proactive when pursuing the woman I love. They told me to take after Uncle Julius and Uncle Hakuya.”
“Liscia! What have you been teaching your son?!”
I smiled faintly. “Would you please accept my feelings for you?”
Carla wavered, mumbling incoherently, her expression torn between joy and panic. She reached for my hand...then pulled back... Then tried again, only to stop herself once more.
After a long internal struggle, she finally blurted out, “Um...! Let...!”
“Let...?”
“Let me think about it!”
With that, she spun on her heel and ran off at full speed.
It was such an uncharacteristic display from the ever-composed head maid who constantly scolded her apprentices, Marin and Maron, for running in the castle halls that I could hardly believe my eyes.
I stood frozen where she had left me, staring down the corridor she had fled through in utter disbelief...
“My, my... Looks like you got rejected.”
“You have my condolences, Big Brother.”
“Well, cheer up, would ya, Brother?”
Three voices called out to me with a mix of amusement, sympathy, and exasperation. When I turned around, I found myself under the combined stares of three familiar faces.
“You were spying on us? Kazuha, Enju, Leon.”
They were my siblings (half-siblings technically, but no one in our family ever bothered with that distinction). Apparently, the three of them had been peeping on what was supposed to have been my once-in-a-lifetime proposal.
Kazuha was even holding a small, winged girl who looked about three or four years old. The child tilted her head, looking up at her blankly.
“Aww, Big Bwother. Wejected?”
“That’s right, Sayu. Poor Cian just got rejected.”
“I did not! Don’t lie to Sayu like that!”
Sayu, also known as Sayuri Haan Souma, was a celestial girl born to Dad and Momma Yuriga. Her mother had been a mage soccer athlete who got pregnant with my father’s child just as she was shifting from a power-based playstyle to a more technical one. Even after giving birth, Momma Yuriga continued to play while raising Sayu and her adopted son Suiga as siblings.
I crossed my arms and told my siblings firmly, “She hasn’t rejected me yet. Momma Liscia said, ‘Carla’s weak when pushed, so keep on pushing.’”
“Hee hee... Well, even when you were little, you were always bragging, ‘I’m gonna mawwy Cawla!’ so give it your best shot. But if you make my adorable Sharan cry, I’ll make you pay for it.”
Kazuha said this with a grin, then started shadowboxing with Sayu still in her arms. My little sister was always looking for a fight...
“Kazuha, maybe worry about yourself instead of me. Big Brother Ichiha and Big Sister Tomoe have been complaining that you’ve gone so long without settling on a fiancé the offers have stopped coming.”
“Nuh-uh, I can’t hear youuuuu!” Kazuha said, sticking her fingers in her ears.
“Can’t hewwww youuuuu!” Sayu mimicked, giggling as she copied Kazuha’s pose.
Leon chuckled. “Sayu’s such a little angel, ain’t she?”
“Yes. She is very cute,” Enju agreed.
They were both so charmed by her that everyone seemed to forget my proposal had been left unresolved. But honestly, I couldn’t blame them...Sayu really was adorable.
Still, I’ll just have to wait patiently for Carla’s answer. Momma Liscia told me “Carla’s a stubborn one, so you’ll have to be in for the long haul. You can’t rush things,” and I intend to follow it.