“Another letter from the king,” Claus muttered with annoyance, looking at the envelope in his hand. He and Jeanette were currently having breakfast.
After their visit to the palace, they had returned safely to House Guivarch. However, from the following day onward, Claus had begun receiving numerous letters from the royals. And each message summoned him to the palace.
Jeanette gulped.
“Looks like Princess Meltia won’t give up on you after all...”
“Yeah.” Claus sighed.
Half a month had passed since they’d met the princess. Since not even Claus could refuse a summons from the king, he had no choice but to travel to the palace day after day. Yet whenever he made it there, the person waiting for him wasn’t the king, but Meltia herself. Claus refused her advances even more firmly than before, but the girl behaved as if that weren’t the case. He was at a complete loss as to what to do.
I caught the eye of a troublesome woman... he thought, rubbing his temple.
He wasn’t one to boast, but countless women had tried to court him over the years. Some had gone after him with pure, genuine feelings, whereas others threw money at him upon finding out about his family’s debt. Yet others tried to use their seductive wiles to get their way. Indeed, he had interacted with many types of women. That said, all of them had been fellow nobles, so it had never escalated into a serious matter. Even when some of the higher-ranked aristocrats had tried to threaten him, their tactics had had no effect because House Guivarch had long since fallen into bankruptcy.
But Princess Meltia was a whole other matter. She was royalty.
For now, I’m just dealing with her. But if His Majesty himself actually steps onto the scene, things could get bad...
For nobles, royal orders were absolute. If a king were to say that white is black, a noble would have to agree. There were even examples in history of women being forced to divorce their husbands and become the kings’ lovers. Claus himself would be in no position to refuse if the king ordered him to marry the princess. One word from His Majesty, and Claus’s engagement to Jeanette could be destroyed.
With such loathsome thoughts swirling in his mind, Claus opened the newest letter. As he read the contents, his brows furrowed.
“Oh no...”
“What’s wrong?” Jeanette asked, sounding concerned. She leaned in closer to take a look.
Claus couldn’t even find it in himself to smile at her.
“It’s a royal order. From now on, I must serve as Princess Meltia’s economics tutor.”
“Huh?”
The letter did indeed state that Claus was to teach the princess economics for the sake of deepening her education. Obviously, however, that wasn’t the true goal. It was just a pretext to get Claus into the palace.
“Good grief... Both the king and the princess are being difficult. I mean, I have my own job to do as a feudal lord,” Claus said. In fact, because they kept summoning him, his productivity had slowed down recently. Thankfully, he had excellent vassals, so they were managing things for now. But if this continued, the common folk would be the ones suffering.
“As her tutor, will you have to visit the palace several times a week?” Jeanette inquired.
“The letter doesn’t say. It’s just demanding that I go to the palace.”
“I see...” Jeanette’s shoulders drooped. Claus’s lips quirked up. He brought her closer and kissed her round, smooth forehead. “Eek?!”
Her little shrieks are adorable, he thought. No matter how many times he hugged or kissed her, Jeanette couldn’t seem to get used to it. She brushed through her messy bangs to hide her embarrassment.
“This isn’t over yet,” Claus said. “His Majesty must be aware that I have work to do. I’ll use that as an excuse to negotiate with him and reduce the number of times I have to visit the palace as much as possible.”
“But Lord Claus...” Jeanette’s shoulders sank again. “If you keep refusing, it could harm your reputation, and that of House Guivarch... I’m worried you might be treated coldly by everyone as a result,” she said dejectedly.
Claus chuckled at her. Come to think of it, Jeanette was worried for me back then too.
When Jeanette’s father had gone missing, Jeanette had been cast out of House Roussel by her stepmother Leila. Claus had been in a frenzy trying to find Jeanette, until she appeared at his residence out of the blue and said, “Please cancel our engagement!”
Those words had nearly killed Claus then and there. Thankfully, once he heard her reasons, he realized that she didn’t hate him, nor had she fallen in love with someone else. Rather, she had been worried about him. He had been so relieved to hear that. The memory made him smile.
“Are you saying that if my family falls again, you wouldn’t want to marry me?”
“Of course not! That’s not it at all! Whatever happens, I’ll stick with you, Lord Claus!” Jeanette insisted, wide-eyed.
“I was just teasing you. I knew you’d say that,” he told her, kissing her on the lips this time.
Jeanette immediately stiffened up, her cheeks flushing. Even after they parted, she remained as stiff as a board, and her face looked close to boiling.
“Besides, Jeanette. Did you forget?” Claus asked her.
“F-Forget...? Forget what?”
“What I said before. That I’m not marrying you for the sake of my family, and if it meant I could be with you, I’d throw my rank away.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. She’d clearly just remembered.
“So if the price of marrying you is simply being treated coldly by others, I see it as a blessing,” he said sincerely.
“Lord Claus...!” Jeaenette called out, her eyes glistening.
Claus gently stroked her cheek.
“It’ll be fine, Jeanette. There are plenty of paths we could take. For now, I’ll visit the palace and figure out what they’re thinking.”
Jeanette clenched her fists.
“All right. Please take care and have a safe trip!”
“Thanks. I’m off.”
And with that, Claus left the Guivarch residence.