Chapter 5: Tacky man
“The carriage for going back will come in a little while. It would be good to talk here until then.”
Saying that, the official stood up and left the room with his attendant, leaving only myself and Mr. Alex Peltra behind.
The door to the room is closed. The two of us, him and I, are trapped in a secret room within the palace. It is clear that they are carefully killing me as a lady.
On the other hand, he scratches his head and sighs deeply.
“What the hell… Hey, do you know why this happened?
Uh, let’s see… You are…?”
“Vilhelmina.”
“Oh, Vilhelmina-san. You are a noble… right? What is your family name?”
What is this person saying?
“Peltra. Husband.”
When I said that, he was completely choked.
“No, that’s not what I mean!”
“I was expelled from my home yesterday, so I don’t have any other family name. Before I was expelled, I was from the Periknen family.”
“Periknen! That’s a joke, isn’t it? Isn’t it a Duke family?!”
He stood up and shouted, I sighed.
“I was engaged to the crown prince, but I was framed to justify his infidelity. That’s how I was banished from my house and forced to marry you, a commoner.”
“That’s…! That’s illegal.”
It’s not illegal… It’s a traditional practice for royalty and nobility to arrange marriages. There are still some regions where such customs remain.
Of course, I never thought they would use such outdated laws.
I shake my head.
“In that sense, you are a victim caught up in my circumstances.
But if you were chosen, that means someone also dislikes you. Do you realize that?”
“… if a commoner researcher produces inappropriate results, they will be disliked.”
Yes, I don’t know much about the research world, but that’s how it is. I nodded, and he continued.
“Do we have to go through with this marriage? You don’t want to either, do you?”
“It’s difficult to refuse, or it’s already established. Divorce is also difficult, it’s the order of the Crown Prince. I’m not saying that there’s no possibility that the King and Queen will revoke it if they return, but the Church will oppose the dissolution of the marriage because it received the blessing from the Cardinal.”
He sighed again and sloppily sat down in the chair.
“I’m sorry for suddenly asking so many things. Is there anything from your side?”
“…Well, my husband is a tacky man.”
His shoulder twitched.
“What suddenly?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, are you offended?”
“Yes of course, I wouldn’t be in a good mood if I was suddenly told that I have an unwanted marriage partner and was cursed at on our first meeting.”
“Yes, I feel the same way. Do you agree that your previous statement to the lady was proper language?”
“…It can’t be helped. It was too sudden.”
I nod.
“I understand your feelings, but instead of apologizing, making excuses is tacky, as I said.”
He is at a loss for words.
“Hey, why did you come to the ceremony without wearing decent clothes and with your hair looking so disheveled?”
I grab him by the chest as I stand up. If he was wearing clothes that fit him properly, I wouldn’t even be able to grab him like this.
I let go and continue speaking.
“Well, maybe you’re a kind of genius? Your head might be filled with equations and magic squares and chemical reactions that I can’t even understand.
I guess you probably didn’t feel the need to spend time on your appearance.”
“…T-That’s right.”
I pressed my palm hard against his cheek.
It’s just a strike from an untrained slender arm, but he falls clumsily to the ground.
“…What!”
“Fool!
If you truly are on the border between genius and madness, then ceremonies like this are trivial, and you wouldn’t even come to a place like this!”
“Ugh.”
“Despite your lack of effort to make a good impression on royalty on your first meeting, acting like a common person with an unkempt appearance, you are rude!”
“W-What can I do?! After all, we commoners are not born as beautifully as you nobles!”
Oh, I suppose you think I am beautiful. But your understanding is too simple.
“Indeed, it can be said that the nobility have the aspect of raising a more beautiful next generation by mating beautiful people together.”
Yes, it’s like mating faster horses.
“But do you understand how much effort we put into being beautiful?”
I take off my gloves and roll up the sleeves of my dress to show my arms. The color of the veins that rise blue on my porcelain-like white skin.
“This blue blood is not blue from birth. It is made through constant effort and accumulating wealth.”
