Chapter 4: The Proposal (3)
He had hoped to meet again if I ever came to the Capital again, but there hadn’t been the slightest hint of that happening. So, he thought of sending me a letter at least, but getting a letter individually delivered would cost a lot of money; as a new knight, he did not have that money. He also thought of getting it delivered with goods that were getting transported to the territory, but he didn’t have the connections to get that done. As a last resort, he asked Father to send his letter to me, but Father refused, saying that he didn’t want me to see any personal letters from my marriage candidates.
“Ral, you probably do not know this, but there were a lot of nobles asking for your hand in marriage.”
“Huh? Really?”
Apparently, the young lady from the barony I rescued at the banquet spread stories about how I was her hero and her goddess to the other lower-ranked nobles during social events. Since that young lady was the only attendee among the lower-ranked nobles, the truth about how I caused chaos like a barbarian wasn’t widely known, and instead, a fake image of how I was an excellent lady overflowing with a sense of justice who cannot condone any acts of bullying due to noble rank was spread far and wide.
A young marquis lady who does not look down on lower-ranked nobles. Moreover, she was the sixth daughter, so it could well be possible for her to marry into a lower-ranked noble family. A good opportunity to make a connection with the Caliente marquisate. With these ulterior motives, many lower-ranked nobles reached out to Father to ask for my hand in marriage. No wonder Father was being so indecisive about the proposals from the commoners when he came to visit. Apparently, the older brother of the girl I helped was passionately asking for my hand in marriage, as a way of showing his appreciation, and he was Cermiane’s biggest rival. I didn’t know such a contest was happening without my knowledge.
As a knight, Cermiane’s noble status was the lowest. On one hand, the young baron had just inherited the barony from his father. The two were around the same in terms of status. That’s why Cermiane poured a lot of effort into rising the ranks as a knight all while going to the marquisate daily. He proactively completed a lot of assignments, volunteered, and went off to deal with things like bandits. He put many accomplishments under his name, received medals in acknowledgment, and became the youngest decurion in the history of the Empire. That was indeed impressive, I must say.
As a result, Father attended and saw the conferment ceremony, and when the Commander of the Knights fiercely praised Cermiane, that was when Father reached a decision. As a knight who seemingly had a bright future ahead of him and was also acknowledged by the Commander of the Knights, Father predicted Cermiane would continue to rise the ranks, and having experienced Cermiane’s passionate proposals, deemed he would never treat me wrong, so he finally gave his approval to Cermiane.
“Ral, you were the one who told me this: since I had become a knight, I should aim to be the best knight in the Empire. Since that day, I’ve worked tirelessly to reach this goal. Now, I’m known as the best youngest knight. I was able to do this because of you, Ral.”
Urk. I did say that. To work hard to become a knight so strong that he could beat His Majesty the Emperor. Since I had said this to him, I couldn’t possibly tell him that he should have slacked off and visited me instead. And although I hadn’t the slightest clue about this, it was true that he worked really hard in order to make me his wife. I didn’t want to deny that.
“…So, what do you like about me, anyway? I only have memories of wreaking havoc in front of you?”
When I asked this, Cermiane’s expression brightened, as if he was waiting for this question. A beautiful man’s sparkling smile. Even I had to look slightly away since it was too bright.
“I was deeply moved the moment you landed a flying kick on that boy.”
What part of that flying kick was so moving? It was such a weak, flimsy kick.
“At that moment, I had seen the young baron lady getting bullied and foolishly thought, ‘It can’t be helped because of the difference in noble status.’ But Ral, you thought differently. A young lady you didn’t know was getting bullied. Just with that fact, you immediately went in to help her.”
It was true that I didn’t think about status and all that, but that was because I didn’t understand it. I still don’t understand it, to be honest.
“You fearlessly took action based on your beliefs, scolded and encouraged those who had forgotten their honor, and courageously faced off against a crowd of opponents who were bigger than you. Do you understand how moved I was, seeing your beautiful self valiantly do such things?”
He was apparently talking about the mess I made at the banquet, but hearing him interpret this in that way made me think that this was someone else’s heroic tale. I feel like there’s a big misunderstanding going on.
“I only acted the way I wanted to; there was no such deep meaning behind my actions.”
“I know, and that is why this is all the more valuable.”
Cermiane came up to me and dreamily smiled down at me. In these two years, he had gotten significantly taller. His aura was more intense too. I had noticed he had gotten remarkably stronger, but now, I don’t think I would be able to win against him with bare hands anymore.
“At that time, I had promised myself that I would be stronger like you, where I wouldn’t be held back by differences in status, and I thought that I wanted you right by my side when that happened.”
Mia took my hand. I somehow felt intimidated, and couldn’t escape.
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