I checked the letter first thing after getting back to my attic room, and the seal did indeed bear the crest of our house. Seeing no reason not to, I performed a magic scan to make sure there was nothing funny inside. I found nothing but paper and zero traces of magic, so I opened it up...
What’s this?
All it said was: Your suitor has been selected.
I flipped it over, but there was nothing on the back. I set it on the table and stared for a moment before heading to the transmitter to contact the Aspozat residence. With any luck, Thand or Sheila would be around. The call was picked up by the servant on duty, and after asking her to relay my message to one of them or to Ville, I found myself talking to the lady.
“Lera? Did something happen?” she asked.
She skipped the greeting, but in all fairness, I wouldn’t have contacted her otherwise.
“Uh, today I received a letter from my house. It said ‘Your suitor has been selected.’”
“I see.”
Just by the brief answer I could tell she was furious. Good thing I told her over the transmitter—her angry silence was chilling.
“Keep the letter. And ignore them, no matter what else they say.”
“Understoood.”
“Though I don’t plan to let them say any more.”
That last line actually terrified me.
Three days after getting the letter, as I was returning to the dorm, I was told I had received a message this time, not a letter.
“Here you are.” I was handed a slip of paper with a date, time, and place. “They ask that you head to the stated place at the designated time.”
“All right. Thank you very much.”
Returning to my room, I headed straight to the transmitter. This time, Ville was able to join us.
“And that’s all the message said,” I finished.
“I see.”
Over the transmitter, I heard a snapping sound. That was definitely Sheila’s fan that just broke.
“Uh, Lera?” came Ville’s voice. “You probably already know this, but you don’t have to do what that message told you.”
“I knooow.”
I wasn’t going to walk into what was absolutely a trap. Not that I’d let them have their way even if I did walk into it, but I didn’t want the headaches that came with dealing with my family. While I had permission to use force, making a break for it sounded like the easiest solution to me.
“We’ve determined which house is involved here, so we’ll take care of this. Don’t do anything to make the situation worse.”
House that’s involved? Oh, the house of whoever my father plans to marry me to.
“Don’t worry, I’ll behave myself.”
“I’m going to make sure Colny knows about this.”
“Don’t you trust me at all?!”
What a terrible man.
“I noticed just how happy you were when I gave you permission to use force.”
Oh? That’s funny.
“Don’t worry. I won’t get anywhere near them unless they do something like come to the academy.”
“Be sure to remember that, okay?”
I’ll remember.
Still, I couldn’t escape the feeling a flag had just been triggered. Maybe I was imagining it.
Two days later, they came to meet me at the academy. Classes were done for the day, so I thought I could just head to the dorm, only for someone from the faculty to call me over.
“Lowell Duval, there’s someone here to see you in one of the meeting rooms.”
“There is?”
Meeting room? Maybe it’s Ville. Or Sheila?
Tilting my head, I asked who it was.
“I’m told it’s your father and your fiancé,” they said with a smile.
My father? And my fiancé?!
“Now then, take care,” they said, leaving me in my stunned silence.
There were still some people hanging around the general education classroom, so I now had some very curious gazes on me.
These people. They really like to gossip.
The first question came from Lanmia.
“Lowell, when did you get engaged?!”
“I’m not.”
“But that person just said...”
“I think my father made some decisions without talking to me.”
“Oh... But if it’s your father’s decision, doesn’t that mean it’s settled?”
Yeah, in a normal noble house, the father had the final say when it came to marriages. It’s just that our house wasn’t normal.
As I considered whether or not to try and explain this, the third prince approached us. “Miss Lowell, did I hear something regarding a fiancé?” His handsome brow was furrowed. Being from the royal family, he probably knew a bit about my circumstances.
“Uh, my father’s been talking about finding me a suitor. I’ve never had the chance to meet them.”
“Lord Duval has? Do Houses Aspozat and Peylon know about this?”
“Yes, they’ve been notified.”
I thought Sheila had intervened, but it seemed that wasn’t enough. Sheila wasn’t enough? To me, that sounded unbelievable.
Well, let’s go and see what happens.
If things took a bad turn, I could blast them away with magic. I just had to be careful not to ruin the building.
The meeting room was deep within the same building that had the staff room and all that. I had been here just the other day, when Ville and the black knight came by. The meeting rooms all had unique names. This one was called the Violet Room, like we were in some Japanese inn.
I knocked, then opened the door, only to be immediately yelled at.
“You’re late! Do you think we’ve got all day?!”
Huh? Which one of us unilaterally set this meeting up, asshole? I nearly blasted you with a fire— Hm?
“A miorc?”
Sitting on the sofa was a short, stout man that looked like a miorc. Next to him was a twiggy man in his twenties with a mean expression and sharp, high-angled eyes.
Could this miorc-looking man be my father? I had barely seen him in the last ten years, so I had forgotten what he looked like. I think the last time I had seen him was five years ago at my mother’s funeral. Except when I say I saw him, I don’t mean I met with him, I really just mean he entered my vision. Hence my inability to recall what he looked like.
“A miorc? What’s that?” my father asked while I stood absentmindedly in the doorway.
Huh? You’re technically a distant relative of Peylon and your territories are right next to each other, yet you don’t know what a miorc is?
“Miorcs are classified as a minor monster and believed to be a smaller breed of orcs. They’re exceptionally timid and have keen hearing and noses, meaning they flee the moment a human gets near. Therefore, attacking from range with magic is recommended. The meat, by the way, has a nice texture and tastes wonder—”
“Y-You’re calling me a monster?!” he said, utterly infuriated.