Let’s go back a bit.
“Faaather!”
My dear daughter showed up at our residence in the royal capital while the academy was preparing for the upcoming festival. Seeing her burst into tears upon returning home, I was too flustered to do anything. How was I to make my darling daughter stop crying? No, more importantly, I had to know why my beloved girl was crying in the first place.
“What’s wrong, Darnir? Ohh, there, there. What happened to make you cry like this? Did someone bully you? Did your friends do something to you?”
“Sh-She...” Darnir said between sniffles.
“She?”
“That Lowell girl.”
“What?! You were bullied by that wretched woman’s daughter?!”
“Y-Yes.”
Damn you, you deplorable girl.
My dearest Darnir was the child of Maesoya, the woman I truly loved. Sadly, I couldn’t marry Maesoya on account of her being a commoner, but I never thought of anyone but her as my wife. That wretched daughter of mine was born from Hepiner, the woman I had been forced to marry. We didn’t have any need for another child. We already had our son, Taeid, yet that woman had gone and had another. Despicable.
When she was three, our daughter underwent a change known as a “pigment shift.” It’s caused by some sort of sudden mana increase. Supposedly Hepiner’s family had a history of it, but none of their cases had been so dramatic.
In just a night, the girl’s chestnut hair and hazel eyes became a silver-blue and a deep azure. It was like she had become someone entirely different. That’s why it was the right decision to send her away. I’d heard she had since received a good upbringing in Peylon.
And yet she came here and mistreated my daughter?! Didn’t she know her place?!
“Darnir, take a brief reprieve from the academy.”
“Father?”
“While you’re away, I’ll chase that girl out.”
“Really?! Thank you, father! I love you.”
Darnir smiled through her tears. Oh what a wonderful thing her smile was. It instantly cheered me up. If I was to protect this smile, I would have to rid the academy of that girl.
As it just so happened, a certain someone had granted me a plan to make that happen. In fact, it’s strange that it took this long. This person understood me, so I needed to talk with them.
The noble academy generally did not permit withdrawals. The only exceptions were children removed for misbehavior or some physical reason, such as being unable to do coursework on account of illness. However, there was one more exception—a girl could be permitted to leave if she was getting married. Most people now waited until after graduation, so very few ever took advantage of this system. That obscurity is what allowed the policy to survive this long.
“I’ll get her married, then she’ll be gone from this house and the academy.”
Being an earl, finding her a partner wouldn’t be difficult. We held fairly high status, giving us a number of houses interested in forming connections with us. I was only trying to get rid of that deplorable daughter of mine, so anyone would do just fine. They could be from a lower house, a knight’s house, or anything—it didn’t matter.
However, I was told to make sure it still looked like a proper affair, so that’s what I had to do. That certain someone helping me introduced me to a good candidate. It was Qualos, the sixth son of Viscount Boht. House Boht was neutral, but leaned toward the noble faction.
Being a sixth son, Qualos wasn’t going to inherit his house. What he did have was a job as a civil servant. He wasn’t high up in the ranks, but that was fine. All I needed to finalize the deal was include a dowry from our house. On top of that, he had been promised preferential treatment from the one aiding me. Qualos was quite pleased to see that he had a shot at a promotion at the ministry of domestic affairs.
So I sent the freak at the academy a letter telling her that her marriage had been arranged. Given what she was, she should’ve been glad to see that she could have a normal marriage. And yet...
“A letter for you, your lordship.”
“Hm? Who would send me a letter via messen— Eek!”
I couldn’t help but screech when I saw who it was from. The crest on the wax seal left no room for doubt.
Why did Viltheoshila send me a letter?!
Viltheoshila was a distant relative of mine from House Peylon. Because our houses were connected, we had known each other since childhood. This woman had always had a violent streak and had caused me pain of all sorts on a number of occasions. Don’t all boys engage in skirt flipping at some point? Once, I’d told her to stop hitting me, so she instead blasted me with a spell. Not a peaceful bone in her body.
With those memories engraved in my bones, I still had trouble dealing with her.
“Your lordship, may I suggest you show courage and read the letter?”
“S-Silence! I know!”
With trembling hands, I broke the seal and removed a single card containing only a sentence. Keep your hands off Lera.
That reminded me, I had heard that Viltheoshila still cared for House Peylon. Aspozat and Peylon were tightly knit. The former, her husband’s house, ran the royal faction. The latter, her birth house, hosted the annual hunting festival, an important event among the royalists. That must have been why she sheltered that deplorable girl.
However, as much as it bothered me, the girl still belonged to House Duval. It was a father’s job to decide who his daughter would marry. The royal family couldn’t interfere with that, and the other houses certainly couldn’t either. I didn’t spare the letter another thought.
After that, I set up a meeting with Qualos. I told that despicable girl where to be and when, yet she stood us up! Honestly, what did they teach her out in Peylon? Without any other options, Qualos and I headed to the academy. It’d been a long while since I’d seen her—she wasn’t too bad on the eyes. Qualos reacted positively as well. That reminded me: I believe she was at Hepiner’s funeral.
Since first impressions are vital, I scolded her for being late and making us wait. But that damnable girl, she treated me like a monster of all things! The complete lack of manners!
O-Oh forget it. I’m a forgiving man. I’ll overlook her discourtesy.
“Hey, girl—”
“Excuse me?”
What did she just say to me?
Her voice low, she looked at me with a steady glare. Ah, she was just like that fearsome woman!
I managed to push the conversation along, but that wretched girl insisted no arrangements had been made. The gall!
“Of course we did! I’m sure I had a message sent to you! Girl—”
“Excuse me?”
Again! This accursed freak! She should show a little respect to her father!
Despite everything, Qualos picked up the conversation. It was there that we found that the letter and message had both reached her, but she had ignored both. Not only that; she told House Aspozat about them! The nerve of her!