The next day, we visited Rod in the Royal Palace first thing after classes.
“Oh, there you are.”
Rod’s room, as befitted a member of the royal family, was spacious and filled with tasteful, expensive furnishings in warm colors. My own room was nothing to scoff at, but it certainly wasn’t as grand as a prince’s. Lilly—having led a humble life at the church—seemed uncomfortable in the lavish room. Rae, on the other hand, appeared rather unimpressed.
“I don’t care for small talk, so let’s get right to the point. Salas and Dole are embezzling,” Rod said with certainty. He always spoke with utter confidence, but this particular matter was something I simply couldn’t agree with him on.
“Master Rod, you say this because you have definitive evidence, correct?” Remembering Catherine’s advice from the previous night, I questioned Rod calmly.
“Nope. I’ve got nothing of the sort.”
“N-nothing?” Lilly said in disbelief. I felt the same way. On what basis were they suspecting our fathers if they had no evidence of wrongdoing?
“Well, kind of. I don’t have any definitive evidence. But I do have loads of circumstantial evidence,” Rod said, showing us documents with his findings so far. “Salas and Dole are both smart. They haven’t left a paper trail, and their underlings are the ones doing all the actual dirty work.”
The records showed that a significant amount of money tended to disappear around the two. The names of some nobles found to be involved were included, but there was nothing pointing directly at Salas or my father.
“Can’t you simply arrest the nobles named?” I said. Even now, I still believed my father was innocent.
“They may be the ones getting their hands dirty, but they’re not the masterminds. It’d be like cutting off a lizard’s tail—it’d just grow back,” Rod explained, “We learned that the hard way. Took in a batch, but more just popped up in their place.” He looked at Rae with a hint of a challenge in his gaze. “So, what’s the plan?”
“As I discussed with His Majesty, I’ll start with the underlings you mentioned. May I have a copy of these materials?”
“I figured you would want some, so I had one made. Here.” He rang a bell on the table, and a servant walked in carrying some papers.
Rae took the papers, then turned to leave the room. “If you have no further business, we will be going now.”
“Hold on, Rae Taylor,” Rod said, using Rae’s full name for some reason.
She looked back at him with a grimace. “…Yes?”
He hesitated, something uncharacteristic of him. “Oh, nothing. Just, well…there’s something I want to ask you while I have you here.”
“I’d rather you not. Rain check?”
“What? C’mon, it won’t take long.”
“I’m sorry, but I’d very much like to leave right this instant.”
“You can leave when I’m done with you,” he said. “Rae Taylor…would you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Lilly, Rae, and I were all left frozen by the sheer absurdity of what he’d just said. Had Rod Bauer just proposed? To a commoner, of all people?
I fought to recover my senses, then politely questioned Rod. “Have you gone mad, Master Rod?!”
…Now that I think about it, the inquiry might have been less polite than I would have liked.
“A-are you suggesting a commoner marry into the royal family?!” Lilly asked.
“I am,” Rod answered coolly.
What did Rae make of this? I looked over to see her deep in thought, face serious for once. I didn’t blame her. A member of the royal family had just proposed to her. It would be strange for her to not be bewildered.
After some pondering, she said, “Just to confirm, this isn’t some kind of joke?”
“No. I’m serious.”
“You’re kidding me… Just what is it you like about me?”
“Your personality and…well, I guess how capable you are. I’ve actually had my eye on you from the start,” Rod said. He looked like he was enjoying himself.
In contrast, Rae wore a complicated, unreadable expression. “I doubt I’ve done anything worth your attention.”
“Are you kidding me? You’ve done so many crazy things. You prevented an attack on the Academy, cured Thane when he was poisoned, saved the Aurousseaus from execution, pulled a fast one on Manaria, and got rid of that ghost ship in Euclid.”
He listed all of Rae’s accomplishments with great accuracy. There was no doubting Rae was exceptionally skilled. Perhaps it was no surprise Rod wanted her, given that he cared more about how talented and amusing someone was than their social background. But he couldn’t have Rae. Because Rae belonged to…
“I’m sorry, but almost all of those accomplishments belong to Miss Claire,” Rae said.
“Is that true, Claire?” Rod asked me.
Hearing my name pulled me back to my senses. I suddenly became aware of how flustered I was—which only made me more flustered—but I managed to compose myself and reply, “Not at all. Everything was made possible through Rae’s efforts.”
It was true that many of the things Rod listed couldn’t have been achieved by her alone—but just as true that none of those things could have been achieved without her. Much as it chagrined me to admit it, her accomplishments were rightfully hers and should be recognized as such—even if that meant she would leave my side.
“I see. Well, what really decided things for me was what happened with Yu,” Rod said. “You resolved a complex problem the palace had been wrestling with for years.”
“But that accomplishment isn’t mine alone,” Rae said.
“Don’t be modest. I know full well you masterminded things.”
Rod was right. If it weren’t for Rae, Yu would have had no choice but to continue living her life as a man against her will.
“I need someone like you at my side, not a dull noble lady who grew up coddled by a rich family,” Rod concluded. “So, how about it? Wanna marry me?” He took a teasing tone, but his eyes were serious. His proposal was genuine.
“Yeah, no. Obviously, I decline.”
“Wha—Rae?!” I was astounded. I hadn’t thought for a moment that she might turn him down. No commoner had ever risen to become royalty before. This was an unparalleled honor. Her parents would surely be thrilled. How could she say no? “Do you have any idea what you’re refusing?!”
“I believe so. He proposed to me, right?”
“You could become the queen!”
“Yeaaah, but I don’t want to become the queen.” She spoke with her usual indifference, like she had merely refused a request to help with someone’s schoolwork.