“We suspect that the perpetrators may be Olwenian nobility. And, as you may have gathered, this is a need-to-know affair. We’d intended to keep it from you by limiting your official duties...” Alcede glanced at the emperor, who looked away awkwardly. “Yet because His Majesty opened his mouth not once, but twice in surprise, you now know the truth.”
What had the emperor been so surprised about? Lyse remembered that the first bark had come while Alcede was whispering to him. She was a bit worried. Was it because of her sword calluses?
“We’d like for you to remain silent about His Majesty’s condition, but it would be unfair to use stricture magic when we were the ones who failed to keep it quiet.”
Lyse gasped quietly at the mention of stricture. It was a powerful magic that restricted a target’s actions with a command. For example, someone under the stricture “you aren’t allowed to do anything but sit” would find themselves in agony should they try to stand. Within the empire, only nobles with particularly strong mana could use such magic.
As far as Lyse was concerned, she understood why the empire sought to hide His Majesty’s condition. Finding the cause of it would be especially difficult if word got out. But just as she resigned herself to her fate...
“Grr...” the emperor growled softly, giving Alcede a serious look before shifting his gaze to Sidis.
Lyse had no idea what he was saying, but it seemed that Alcede understood.
“Yes, that’s true. In which case, I have a good idea, Your Majesty,” he replied, then turned to Lyse. “His Majesty cannot bear having stricture magic used due to his mistake. It was an accident, after all, he says.”
The emperor was now looking apologetically at Lyse. It reminded her of how he used to look when he was scolded as a child.
“As such,” Alcede continued, “His Majesty would like to find another way to keep this a secret.”
“Another way?”
Lyse cocked her head quizzically at the suggestion, and Alcede simply smiled.
“Indeed. We’ll have you engaged to an imperial man.”
“E-Engaged...?” she stammered, eyes wide.
But it seemed Lyse wasn’t the only one shocked by that word...
“What do you mean, engaged?!” Sidis demanded, shooting to his feet in a panic.
Alcede waggled his finger, answering, “Whatever has you so flustered, Sidis? You understand the situation, don’t you? An imperial engagement is a matter of magical contract. If one party betrays the other, they will know. Also...” There, Alcede pointed his wagging finger at Lyse. “Miss Lyse here seems uninterested in...or rather, does not care for the empire. What do you think the cause of her dislike might be?”
A chill ran down Lyse’s spine. He must have been suspicious of what she’d said earlier.
“It isn’t that I dislike the empire...” she tried to clarify. “I only meant that I was unworthy...”
“You don’t say... Well, it matters not,” Alcede concluded with a meaningful smile. “When the consequences are severe, people try all the harder to keep their secrets. As someone who’s frequently been proposed to in other countries, I don’t think there’s anything remarkable about such an engagement, either.”
Lyse could appreciate that Alcede’s plan was a sound one. An engagement wouldn’t outwardly look bad, and it wouldn’t harm either party involved.
What should I do...?
If she’d had stricture magic used on her, Lyse knew her uncle would have quietly accepted the situation for what it was. But engagement was a different story. If he found out Lyse now had a connection to the empire, Baron Winslette might use it to make demands upon Sidis or the emperor. The Winslette barony was poor, after all, and Lyse knew her uncle’s eyes lit up whenever money was involved. And she certainly didn’t have to think twice about what her aunt, who lived for luxury, would do.
She had to get out of this engagement somehow. First, she thought, she’d try seeming overeager. Maybe it would give them pause...
“Um, I would love to get engaged!”
No, that would have been too easy.
“No objections, then?” Alcede said with an amused smile, crushing Lyse’s hopes in a second.
“But Alcede, who—” Sidis stammered in a tizzy, leaning toward the duke. As he was the last holdout against this plan, Lyse silently cheered him on.
“Either you or I, of course,” Alcede replied matter-of-factly.
Hearing this, Sidis calmed himself and took his seat once again.
What?
“As you see, Miss Lyse, both of us are bachelors and thus free to get engaged. Which one of us would you prefer as your betrothed?”
“Which one...?”
Pressed for a choice she couldn’t make, Lyse shook her head. When she looked pleadingly at Sidis, he turned away in embarrassment. It seemed he was no longer opposed to the idea of her engagement, leaving Lyse at her wits’ end. How had it come to this? Kicking herself wouldn’t do any good now.
“I could never choose! It’s far too much for me! I’d feel guilty! Why don’t we call this off and you can use stricture—”
“Hwnnnnn...” the emperor whined cutely as he looked at her sternly. The adorable disparity between his appearance and his voice was so striking that she momentarily forgot what she was saying.
“Oh, you needn’t be so opposed... What are you worried about? Fret not—this is no mere superficial arrangement. We wouldn’t leave you high and dry. We shall take you back to the empire for a proper wedding to follow. Despite the strange circumstances that have begotten this engagement, I don’t think it’s a bad deal for you. I promise to devote myself wholeheartedly to you as your husband.”
Being taken back to the empire was precisely what Lyse wanted to avoid, but if she said as much, she’d only be playing into Alcede’s suspicions. She desperately racked her brain for a way out of this mess.
“Why are you so enthusiastic about this, Your Grace? We’ve only just met. What would you do if I turned out to be some wicked woman?”
That would indeed spell trouble from a crisis management standpoint, but Lyse’s argument only made Alcede laugh.
“A wicked woman would never suggest such a thing, now would she? To do so would be adorably careless of you.”
“Ngh...”
Lyse was at a loss. Alcede had a counterargument for everything.
For now, she was left with no choice but to play along and find a way out of it later. Steeling herself, Lyse glanced between the two candidates. Alcede was looking back at her in amusement, while Sidis was looking at her most earnestly. Had either been against it, she happily would have picked him. Yet for some reason, neither man seemed to have qualms about the arrangement.
“It’s not a difficult question, Miss Lyse,” Alcede prompted her. “Which one of us would you rather kiss?”
“What?!”
Lyse felt like her head was about to explode. Even in her past life, she’d gone unwed. Any time she’d gotten close with a member of the opposite sex, the child of the imperial family she was tasked with looking after would get in the way. Thanks to that, she’d never been kissed in all her years.
“It’s a necessary element of the engagement, after all. Ah, but I suppose you wouldn’t know, would you, Miss Lyse? Imperial engagements take the form of a magic contract. They require a kiss to be sealed. So...care to practice with me?” Alcede asked, leaning forward and touching Lyse’s chin with the tips of his fingers.
“Li—!”
She was about to scream that he was a liar. The kiss required to seal an engagement was merely a kiss on the hand, so why on earth was he touching her chin? Nevertheless, Lyse had to stop herself. She couldn’t betray the fact that she had such knowledge—although holding back on it only mired her further.
Suddenly, Sidis grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her close, declaring, “If she cannot choose, then I shall take her hand.”
Lyse reflexively looked up at him.
“In order to hide His Majesty’s affliction, you’ll be attending many banquets and other events in his place, Alcede. And if you were engaged, not being accompanied by Miss Lyse on such occasions would warrant a breach of contract.”
“Ah, that’s true.” For some reason, Alcede now looked like he was having even more fun than before. “I can’t attend such events alone—I am filling in for His Majesty, after all. But if I were to take another woman, much less say that I didn’t have a fiancée in order to hide my relationship with Miss Lyse...that would indeed constitute a breach of contract, wouldn’t it?”
“And taking Miss Lyse along to avoid that would be all but naming her as your fiancée. She might just let His Majesty’s secret slip in desperation.”
Alcede nodded in agreement and said, “I wouldn’t mind accepting the punishment for breach of contract in order to keep our engagement secret, however. It’s a small headache at worst. Even if I breach the contract repeatedly, the mark of my crime on the back of my hand would only last for a few years. Not that anyone in Olwen would know what it meant anyway.”
“No!” Lyse cried in a fluster.