MTMD 7

Chapter 7

So Eloise had thought he would treat her merely as a marriage partner and contract partner born of necessity, treating her as nothing more than a stranger.

“I will serve you to the best of my ability.”

But to her surprise, the servants were exceedingly attentive.

To the point where she wondered what on earth Castian had ordered.

However, she learned the reason before long.

“The eastern Tower Lord, Dofran Edvil, requests a meeting with the one who will become the mistress of Edgart.”

“What?”

Only a few days had passed, and rumors of the marriage had already spread?

In this noble society, announcing a marriage was usually done at a banquet.

Unless it was a case where a honey-sweet relationship in high society had culminated in marriage.

Before that, no one outside the direct family residing together within the estate would know.

…Dofran, an outsider—moreover, an enemy—how did he know?

She would resolve her questions after getting through this situation; for now, meeting Dofran seemed the priority.

In noble society, turning away a guest without reason was a breach of etiquette.

Even if he was an enemy, publicly that was not yet the case, so she had to be mindful.

“I’ll meet him.”

She rose from her seat.

The reception room prepared in the estate’s annex was somewhat chilly.

Whether because a sudden guest had not been anticipated, or because the fireplace that had originally been unlit had been hastily kindled.

To that extent, Dofran’s visit was unprecedented.

Even before Castian became head of the family, Dofran had clashed with him at every turn.

Because of that, while outwardly pretending to follow the Duke of Edgart, he had been reluctant to come to the Edgart estate.

There was no way Castian, the master of the estate, would welcome him either.

But the one who would become the new mistress of the estate had accepted his visit.

“Hmm…”

Dofran thought as he entered the reception room.

So this is what Castian was doing, wandering outside the estate—meeting a woman?

No.

The enemy Dofran knew was not the kind of man to waste time meeting a woman.

He was the kind of man who would use that time to devise even one more method to deal with this side.

Castian was not a man to take a wife carelessly, no matter how urgent things were.

No, before that—there couldn’t be a woman who would accept even Castian’s difficult personality while knowing the family’s secrets, and still marry him.

And even if she satisfied all those conditions, where would there be a mad woman willing to endure all the rumors Dofran himself had spread…?

“There was one.”

He had come to see just what kind of woman she was.

Dofran, who headed one of the towers split into east and west, examined the woman with sharp eyes.

“Greetings.”

Of course, that gaze was brief, and his greeting was natural.

“I am Dofran Edvil.”

The collateral branches of Edgart bore similar surnames beginning with “Ed-” and were settled on the borders of the ducal territory.

Dofran of the Edvil family was one of them.

Now only that one remained.

「Why is this bastard wearing the badge of a Tower Lord? Wasn’t it said that the people of Edgart cannot use magic?」

When Eloise’s gaze met Dofran’s.

She heard the murmuring of ghosts faintly reflected on the wall behind him.

It was certainly strange.

She could not discern his level of magical power, but in this world, those with vital energy could not use magic, and those with magical power could not obtain vital energy to build strength.

In short, one had to give up one of the two, and if it was something innate, giving it up was impossible.

Yet Dofran, a cousin of the head of the family, with the blood of Edgart flowing through him—a family that strongly inherited vital energy even in its collateral branches—had become a mage, and moreover, the master of a tower?

As she thought this, between his deep gray hair, red eyes—darker than Castian’s but noticeably red—examined Eloise.

It was the red eyes that only those who inherited the blood of Edgart possessed.

“Welcome.”

Eloise pretended to welcome him and smiled.

At the same time, she kept her ears open to the ghosts’ words through the reflections glimpsed here and there.

To that end, she had requested a mirror large enough not to seem awkward in the reception room.

Thanks to that, the ghosts’ voices came through clearly.

「This one doesn’t seem to be on good terms with the head of the family?」

「The servants aren’t even treating him properly.」

They were not openly hostile, but the servants were uncomfortable with him.

As expected.

Having made her judgment, she smiled slightly.

“What brings you here?”

“Ah, I apologize for the sudden visit.”

Dofran smiled as if responding in kind.

He pretended to smile warmly, but she could tell without the ghosts’ chatter that it was not sincere.

“It’s just that my cousin… the head of the family, I never thought he would suddenly deliver such joyous news.”

He cleared his throat and, pretending to be harmless, smiled softly again.

“I wished to meet the one who is to be his wife.”

At those words, Eloise made a quick judgment.

This one has come to probe what kind of person I am.

How close I am to Castian, or how useful a person I am to him.

“I am Eloise, from the Flodel family.”

Eloise answered, pretending not to know for now.

Even knowing that what he wanted to know was not her name.

Dofran examined her, then opened his mouth as if concerned.

“But if you decided to marry the head of the family, you must have spent a great deal of time together…”

He paused briefly, then lowered his voice and asked.

“Are you all right?”

“With what?”

Is he talking about his personality, perhaps?

The Duke’s personality was somewhat unique, but compared to being called a “mad duke,” he seemed rather reasonable, so Eloise was somewhat relieved.

As she tilted her head slightly, Dofran said.

“The head of the family’s vital energy. Have you… heard about that danger?”

Ah, so this is about the possibility of a rampage?

He intends to sow discord, asking whether she married him without even being told that.

“I know.”

This side knew, naturally. She had no intention of saying how she knew, though.

“Oh.”

Dofran’s eyes glinted.

“Then you must have accumulated enough training not to fear it.”

As he said that, what he examined was her hand.

But there could be no trace of training on her hand.

Yet Dofran, undaunted, continued smoothly.

“If not—”

That was when.

—Bang!

Someone threw open the reception room door, almost kicking it in.

There was only one person who could kick open the door of Edgart’s reception room like that.

“It seems my cousin has brought a late birthday gift.”

The one who entered the reception room with rough, quick steps was, of course, Castian.