IMHMF 15

Chapter 15

“Oh my, is Your Grace actually admitting it right now?”

“Whatever could compare to you.”

It was a slip uncharacteristic of himself. She likely had no feelings for him yet, and he could not afford to carelessly let his true feelings show.

‘I must hold the engagement ceremony as soon as possible and keep her by my side.’

The reason he wanted to hold the engagement ceremony at the temple was simple. He had wondered whether her frequent collapses might be because of him, given how close she was to magical energy, and thought that if she received even some divine power, perhaps she would not collapse. That was why he had cleared the path to the temple in advance, and had also pushed back the date of Siobhan’s imperial knighthood assignment to after the engagement ceremony.

If only it had not been for Ter Giuo, whom he had not anticipated at all.

This was entirely his own oversight.

He had seen her slender fingertips trembling in the face of the fear of death.

He needed to get her out of the forest quickly, but not only had the distance between them grown, the transport magic stone was also inside the carriage.

The moment he swiftly retrieved the transport magic stone and went back to find her, what met his eyes was her, in contact with the blade that a bandit was driving hard toward her.

“Loa!”

“E…den…?”

He pulled her roughly into his arms from where she had been held in Siobhan’s.

Hah.

A shallow but unmistakable sound of breathing. She was clearly alive.

“Siobhan.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Make sure not a single one who was in this forest leaves it alive.”

Siobhan, having received the order, moved swiftly. Unable to delay even a moment leaving the collapsed Loa behind, he moved to the ducal residence rather than the temple.

“She has simply fallen into a brief sleep, so she will wake soon.”

Schmitz’s prompt visit and examination allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

There were times when he could not trace the source of her actions and the things she said. Siobhan’s imperial knighthood appointment was something only he and Siobhan knew, yet she had known about it.

‘Just what is her true identity? Is she a spy sent by the anti-faction who had been targeting me from the start?’

Trust and misunderstanding, suspicion and love for her began to tangle together and dance in his mind.

Thoughts that had become entangled once showed no beginning, like a knotted skein of thread. The more he tried to unravel the skein to find the starting point, the more tightly it bound itself. What had been able to untangle that knotted skein in his mind all at once was her, meeting his eyes with her own wide open, speaking with an unwavering gaze.

Whatever she might be hiding from him, he would likely believe anything she said. Even if it were an utterly absurd and fantastical claim.

She, who spoke to him only of divorce, smiled whenever she spoke of Siobhan. Seeing that smile, he simply could not let it pass.

Jealousy.

This was unmistakably jealousy.

He had pushed back Siobhan’s imperial knighthood assignment date to protect her, and now he had the childish thought of whether he should move it up again. She had done nothing, yet she made him jealous, and made him childish.

Right.

Perhaps it was time to admit it a little.

He liked her. Without a doubt.

He raised himself from the sofa where he had been lying after some time had passed.

What was meant to be a brief moment of gathering his thoughts had turned into a full nap.

“You are awake?”

Welcoming the newly roused Eden was Eloa, who had at some point taken a seat right across from him.

“Lunchtime had passed and you were not coming, so I came to check.”

“……”

“I did knock, and when there was no answer I thought perhaps you had collapsed, so I came in.”

“I am not like you in that regard.”

“Yes, yes, I am well aware that Duke Hylus has a sturdy constitution.”

Rising from his seat, Eden quickly made himself presentable and drank the water sitting on his desk in a rough gulp.

“I thought about waking you, but Alb told me.”

“What did he say?”

“That it has been fifteen years since you last lay down here, or fell asleep here.”

“……”

Eden felt a little nervous about what she might say to him.

Just as he thought she might say she was disappointed…

“Why on earth? It is such a plush sofa! If it were me, I would have been lying on it every day saying I did not want to work.”

She had already moved to the sofa he had been lying on and was bouncing on it.

That was so like her.

“Then come and lie on it whenever you feel like it.”

“Oh, that is alright.”

“Why?”

“Because if someone comes and lies down while you are trying to work, it makes you not want to work either and want to lie down yourself.”

Eden thought carefully about Eloa’s answer.

If it were anyone else lying down, he would not care in the slightest, but if it were Eloa, he thought it would be different. He would probably end up lying down all the time, just as she had said.

Leaving her behind as she kept touching the sofa and lying down and getting up again, saying how plush it was, Eden rang the bell on his desk.

At the sound of the bell Eden rang, a servant gave a brief knock and opened the door, just as they had when I had first visited.

Now I understand. The servant I had seen last time was Alb.

At Alb’s appearance, I stopped bouncing on the sofa and quickly composed myself into an elegant posture.

I am the Duchess. I am the prospective mistress.

“You called, my lord.”

“Alb, go and fetch Dias.”

“Yes.”

Not long after Alb left, a cheerful knock was heard and the door opened. The person who appeared through the doorway was a woman dressed in a knight’s uniform.

“My lord, I was told you called for me.”

The woman gave me a light bow from where I sat on the sofa. Just as I was reminding myself to act as dignified as possible, as I had when Alb had come.

I am the Duchess. I am the prospective mis…

“Dias will be by your side starting from today.”

“Pardon?”

“How do you do, Duchess. I am Dias Shaga of the Hylus ducal knighthood.”

“Please call me simply my lady rather than Duchess. May I also call you Dame Dias?”

“It is an honor. My lady, if I may have your hand for a moment…”

At Dias’s request I extended my hand, and she swept her cape back and knelt before me. Just as I was thinking how impressive the cape looked as it swept through the air, she gently brought my hand to her forehead.

“Dias Shaga vows to serve the young lady with absolute loyalty, without a single falsehood, until the last breath of her life.”

It was a knight’s oath.

Wooow…

Wooow, that is incredible!

So this is what a knight’s oath is. I had only ever seen it in novels and thought I would never receive one in my lifetime, but receiving it in person made it all the more moving.

Perhaps sensing my sparkling gaze, Dias’s face quickly turned red.

“My, my lady…”

“Yes?”

“You need only give your response.”

A response? A response… In novels everyone does it like this.

I knelt down, took Dias’s hand in mine, and brought it to my lips. Her expression made it seem as though she did not know what I was doing, but she followed along with my touch without resistance.

“I shall pray that the blessings and peace of the divine descend upon the loyal Dame Dias Shaga.”

I gave the right response, didn’t I?!

My heart was pounding as I waited for Dias’s reaction, but her expression did not look well. She even hurriedly excused herself from the spot.

“Then I shall stand guard at the door.”

Hm? Wha…?

Excuse me, Dame Dias, were you not satisfied with my response? Dame Diaaas.

As I cried out inwardly, Eden slowly approached.

“It seems she is taken with you.”

“Pardon?”

“She walked out with her face as red as a tomato. Did you not notice? Dias is not good with words. But her expressions give everything away.”

Only after hearing Eden’s words did I understand Dias’s flushed face.

Oh, is that so?

In the meantime, Dias, who had hurriedly left Eden’s office, had to spend a good while calming her pounding heart outside the door.

“I heard from Siobhan, but she is truly a dangerous young lady in a different sense.”

Back inside the office.

“Eden.”

“Loa.”

Just as silence was about to settle after Dias left, Eden and Loa called each other’s names at the same time.

“You go fir…”

“Please go ahead.”