After we’d enjoyed the tea for a while, the marquis spoke up. “Your Grace...you said as much in your letter, but have you come all this way simply to meet my daughter?”
Yeah, after I’ve ignored her completely all this time, of course you wouldn’t expect me to suddenly pay her a visit now. Hmm... I’d love to just get straight to the point, but Angelica and Vim are right here, and Craig’s on guard behind me too. I really can’t let him overhear this... I’ll try and bring it up in a roundabout way and then wait for a moment when the marquis and I are alone.
“Indeed. As it happens, my liege—that is, His Majesty, King Eberhart—chided me about our betrothal not long ago. ‘The day of your wedding is fast approaching, and yet you seem to have forgotten your fiancée entirely,’ he told me. ‘What is the meaning of this? My patience is wearing thin.’ I realized, to my shame, that I’d been so preoccupied with my work that I’d neglected to find the time to even meet her, so I rushed here as quickly as I could.”
Well, that’s not really how it went. The truth is, Eberhart couldn’t have cared less whether I remembered the marriage or not.
Anyway, now that I’d brought up Eberhart, my plan had been to segue from there to my actual business. But before the marquis could react, Angelica put a hand to her mouth with an “Oh, my” and a graceful smile.
“How wonderful that the two men who stand at the head of our kingdom should have me in their thoughts so! Why, I must be the luckiest girl in all of Amagis!”
As I watched her beam at me, I found myself at a total loss.
What? No, it’s the exact opposite! Sure, they’ve got more power than anyone, but if those two are thinking about you, that’s already a ticking bomb! Staying completely out of sight and out of mind from the two of them is definitely better for your well-being and your life expectancy.
But I genuinely couldn’t see any fear on Angelica’s face. No normal girl would be able to smile and talk like that if she’d heard even a hint of the rumors about Heinreid.
Is she just incredibly sheltered or something?
“I... I see... His— His Majesty... And so...”
In stark contrast to Angelica’s warm smile, the marquis was looking ill. He’d been pale to begin with, so it was hard to tell, but even more of the color seemed to have drained from his face as soon as I’d mentioned Eberhart’s name.
Shit, I shouldn’t have brought up the Tyrant of the Century so suddenly. The guy’s basically a living avatar of terror...
While I was trying to figure out how to salvage things, a voice came from an unexpected direction.
“Duke Heinreid! Duke Heinreid!” Angelica’s brother, Vim, called out my name a few times.
“Hmm?” I turned toward him.
“Are you going to be my sister’s husband, Duke Heinreid?” he asked nervously.
“Indeed, I will be—when the new year begins.”
Right, a kid his age wouldn’t really understand how engagement works. I’m absolutely never going to be her husband, but I should nod along anyway.
Vim gazed up at me excitedly. His eyes were sparkling for some reason.
“Then that means you’re going to be my brother, right?”
B-Brother? I mean, you’re not wrong... But seriously, did the marquis keep his kids totally cut off from society?
I stared down at Vim in a daze, but he kept chattering without a care, his eyes shining even brighter.
“My sister told me that whoever becomes her husband is going to be my brother! I like my sister, but I’ve always wanted a brother too, so I—”
“VIM!”
The boy’s excited voice was cut off by a furious shout slicing through the air. Startled, I turned to the marquis—his sunken eyes were wide as he glared angrily at his son.
“How can you be so discourteous?! Who do you think this man is?! We would normally never be permitted to so much as exchange words with a man of His Grace’s station, and yet you call him ‘brother’?! I warned you time and time again to keep quiet! Why can’t you do as I say?!”
This wasn’t the voice of a parent scolding their child for a mistake. The marquis’s hysterical shouts were filled with terror—he’d completely lost his grip on himself. The calm, relaxed mood fled in an instant, and Vim visibly withered as his father yelled at him.
“I-I... I’m sorry...” Vim stammered, tears welling up in his eyes.
“Father.” Angelica’s gentle voice rang out across the terrace an instant before the first teardrop could spill down Vim’s cheek. “Please, you mustn’t raise your voice like that in front of His Grace the Duke. And Vim, you mustn’t cry either. You’re a boy, so be strong for me, all right? Just go back to your room for now.”
She spoke calmly and tenderly, as though untangling a knotted thread, and her carefully chosen words settled over the table to ease the commotion. At his sister’s urging, Vim gulped as though swallowing down a sob, then pressed his sleeve to his eyes to dry them.
“I... I’m very sorry, Your Grace...” he said, bowing to me and then leaving the table.
The marquis had also recovered a bit of his composure thanks to Angelica’s soothing demeanor. His face had gone past green and straight to white, but he stammered out an apology as well.
As I nodded vaguely at him, I glanced at Angelica out of the corner of my eye. She was as serene and relaxed as ever, but she was unmistakably the one who’d brought the marquis back to his senses and soothed her teary-eyed brother.
What’s going on? Is she really just a sheltered heiress?
She noticed my confused gaze, and her eyes met mine.
“I’m terribly sorry for that shameful display, Your Grace. If you’d be willing, might I suggest a change of scenery? By way of an apology, I can give you a tour of our estate’s prized flower garden.”
I definitely wasn’t going to be able to have a proper conversation with the marquis until he’d had time to calm down a bit more. I had a feeling Angelica’s train of thought was exactly the same. I was getting curious about her as well, so I took her up on her invitation.
“By all means, then. Lead the way.”
“Of course, Your Grace. Would you join us as well, Sir Knight?” she asked, deliberately meeting eyes only with Craig.
The reduced security was fine by me—as far as I was concerned, the fewer people around, the better, and this marquessate seemed more peaceful than the duchy of Rodvelia. Honestly, it would’ve been even better if we could’ve had someone other than Craig accompanying us, but it’d look unnatural to push back on that, so I just went with it. I instructed the other guards to remain here, then followed after Angelica.