Chapter 7

[Seeking a New Husband.]

A shocking notice was posted all across the Empire.

Not only in city squares, but on bulletin boards along every street where large numbers of people were likely to pass, notices appeared one after another, drawing crowds.

And the contents were even more shocking.

[Recruitment is now open for the husband of Countess Riat Pshikia.

Eligibility: Someone who knows how to love.

Requirements: Unmarried applicants preferred; applicants aged 32 or younger given preference.

Application period: Until November 1, Imperial Year 519 of the Irmak Empire.

Schedule: After eligibility screening, three rounds of examinations will be held beginning November 15.

*The detailed schedule is subject to change.

Prize: 1 billion gold.]

Beneath the utterly absurd announcement, the name ‘Riat Pshikia’ was written in an elegant script, and an official seal had been stamped beside it, proving that the notice was genuine.

It was the very first document to bear the seal Riat had personally received from the Emperor when she was granted her title of Countess.

Sicarius was horrified by this fact.

Although she had gradually stopped trying to hide her exasperation in front of Riat, she had never gone so far as to say anything truly disrespectful.

But eventually, she could not hold back any longer and practically shouted,

“Have you lost your mind?!”

“Hahaha, I don’t know if I’m in my right mind, but this is what I want to do most!”

There were already rumors spreading throughout the Empire about the woman who had gone mad enough to cut off her husband’s head.

Surely, no one would be particularly surprised by something like this coming from her.

Riat wanted to experience love at least once before she died, and she did not want to waste what little time she had left simply waiting for marriage proposals that might come her way because of the chastity and decorum expected of a noble lady.

Besides, there was no guarantee that she would even like any of the men proposed to her.

So Riat decided to find someone she liked herself.

“Ten billion gold is comparable to the wealth of an ordinary noble family. And you’re offering that as the prize for this ridiculous competition?”

“Don’t dismiss love as ridiculous!”

“……”

“Mana stones continue to be discovered in the County of Pshikia, and even its current estimated value is five billion gold. I’m looking for the husband of a Countess who possesses that kind of enormous wealth. Shouldn’t I at least be able to offer that much?”

Even though Sicarius had not actually said anything, Riat felt as though an enormous shout had struck her ears.

Looking at the aide’s expression, which clearly suggested she had a great deal to say, Riat smiled brightly.

She had already been wondering what to do with her fortune after she died.

She had absolutely no desire to leave it to her father or her brothers, so she planned to give five billion gold to the Imperial Palace and donate everything else.

But now that she had finally found something she wanted to do, if she truly met someone she liked through this recruitment, she was even willing to increase the prize money.

“…There must be quite a few families who would send marriage proposals to Your Excellency.”

“They’ll probably keep quiet about it until all the turmoil caused by the recent rebellion dies down. And besides, I told you. I want to find someone myself.”

She sounded like someone dreaming of a love marriage rather than a political one.

Yet what she was actually doing was holding an absurd competition to select a husband.

Sicarius wondered if she was truly the only one who could see the enormous contradiction between those two things.

As she looked at Riat tilting her head as though she genuinely could not understand what the problem was, Sicarius began to feel ridiculous for getting angry.

In the end, she let out a deep sigh.

Before the aide, Riat smiled brightly.

“Hm? Just humor me a little. I won’t ask you to do anything unreasonable.”

“You should know that this alone is already an unreasonable request.”

Sicarius clutched her throbbing head and asked,

“So what will the first test be?”

“A swordsmanship competition.”

The answer came immediately, as though Riat had already thought it through.

Sicarius had been at a loss over how to arrange the schedule because the notice had only vaguely stated that there would be three tests.

Fortunately, at least the subjects of the tests seemed to have been decided in advance.

Whether Sicarius’s expression became increasingly complicated or not, Riat smiled brightly and continued.

“A husband should have a strong body, shouldn’t he? So first, I want to check their basic swordsmanship skills and determine whether they’re qualified to participate in the competition. Then I think I’ll hold a literature competition. It would be nice if they had a delicate and refined sensibility, too. After that, perhaps a general education competition…”

“…You do realize you’re asking for a ridiculously large number of things right now, don’t you?”

“Did you think earning one billion gold would be easy?”

“……”

Sicarius wondered whether Countess Riat Pshikia was a clever person or simply a strange one.

In the end, she concluded that Riat was simply someone outside the range of her understanding, and therefore decided to give up trying to understand her.

Thus began the recruitment for a competition so large that rumors would eventually spread beyond the Empire and into other countries as well.

The recruitment lasted for about a month.

Applications were accepted directly at the Count’s residence, and because of that, the temporary registration office was already swarming with people from the very first day.

The line stretched all the way outside the mansion, making it impossible to process everyone’s applications in a single day.

More and more people began searching for inns in the County of Pshikia, and as the number of visitors staying in the territory increased, business naturally flourished as well.

The atmosphere in the territory had been gloomy because of the disturbing events that had recently taken place there, but Riat’s unexpected actions breathed new life into the entire county.

At first, the territory’s residents had criticized their new lord for finally losing her mind.

But one by one, they stopped talking and returned their attention to business.

Perhaps because this was a competition to choose a husband, the number of people buying clothes also increased noticeably.

Completely unaware of the ripple effect she had caused, Riat happily left the mansion.

She pulled a hat deeply over her head to conceal her brilliant platinum-blond hair and wore a modest dress with almost no lace or frills.

Even plain clothing could not completely hide the beauty of her face, but it did reduce the number of eyes drawn to her.

Riat was sneaking out to take a look at her potential husbands.

At first, her aide Sicarius had tried to figure out exactly why she wanted to do this, but eventually gave up trying to understand her and followed along with an utterly resigned expression.

“Sis, you’re curious about my husband candidates too, aren’t you?”

“I’m accompanying you because I’m worried you’ll cause trouble, Countess. I’ll have to decline that sense of camaraderie.”

At Sicarius’s firm response, Riat merely laughed happily.

When she had first posted the notice, she had worried that there might not be enough applicants.

Fortunately, an enormous number of people had shown up.

Were all these people really capable of love?

If so, that was truly amazing.

Riat had never experienced love even once, so she found it fascinating that so many people had confidently stepped forward claiming that they knew how to love.

Since watching the applicants from inside the mansion risked exposing her identity, Riat had come outside instead.

She stared in wonder at the long line stretching outside and called out to her aide.

“So many people want to marry me!”

Riat smiled shyly, but Sicarius merely gave her a businesslike nod.

For an instant, Riat thought she saw an answer flash across the aide’s face.

They want to marry the one billion gold.

But Riat was used to such reactions and simply ignored it.

They found a suitable café in the square and went inside.

Every restaurant seemed packed with people, which made Riat feel strangely fascinated.

It was the first time she had actually looked around the territory she governed.

To be honest, the people who lived here felt endlessly unfamiliar to her, so Riat looked around at them with curious eyes.

So people live here too.

They eat, talk, laugh, and go about their lives.

Some of these people had probably come from far away hoping to become her husband.

Riat looked around with a shy feeling in her heart.

And then a conversation she desperately wished she had not heard reached her ears.

“This is all you brought out?! What do you take me for?!”

“I’m going to be the Count’s husband, you hear me!”

Riat’s eyes widened.

The shock was plainly visible on her face.

Judging from his clothing, he appeared to be a nobleman. Since his face was unfamiliar, he was probably a minor noble who had come from a distant region.

For the first time, Riat discovered that when she was severely shocked, the corners of her eyes trembled uncontrollably.

“Do you think you can treat me like this when I’m about to become the Count of this territory?!”

Again!

Riat glared at the man with wide eyes.

Her gaze landed directly on his neck.

She barely managed to restrain herself before asking,

“I’m the Countess, so why is that man saying that he’s going to become the Count?”

“Lordships have traditionally been inherited by men. So I believe he assumes that if he marries Your Excellency, he’ll inherit the title of Count.”

“Why would I give it to him?! And I’m already giving him one billion gold. Isn’t he being far too greedy?”

She was destined to die in one year and three months anyway, but she had no intention of handing over her title even after her death.

And in the first place, this title belonged to her because she had personally cut off Count Vortus’s head!

Riat genuinely wondered how a human being could be so greedy and say so much nonsense.

Besides, that man was not even handsome!

“I don’t like men with inflated opinions of themselves.”

Riat whispered seriously.

He had not even met the most basic requirement—appearance—and yet he had the nerve to come here!

Her anger had gone beyond irritation and turned into outright offense.

“Take down that man’s description. If he’s on the applicant list, disqualify him. If he hasn’t applied yet, don’t accept his application at all. It’s obvious he’ll fail the tests anyway, but I don’t even want to hear him bragging about having been a candidate, even for a moment!”

As Riat’s voice began to rise, Sicarius hurriedly gestured for her to lower her voice.

Riat eventually took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

This time, even Sicarius seemed to agree with her.

Without saying anything, she carefully recorded the man’s appearance.

Riat took a sip of tea with trembling hands before speaking.

“I thought the husband candidates I imagined would smile shyly or look nervous when they applied. But what on earth was that? It was like, like…”

“Like a drunk middle-aged man?”

“Mm-hmm. Exactly.”

Thinking that she and Sis were strangely in sync today, Riat hurriedly nodded along.

No matter how much tea she drank, she still could not calm down.

“This won’t do. I think we need a character test too. I could probably forgive a handsome man for having a bad personality, but seeing an ugly man with a bad personality too is shocking.”

“Why not add a test of basic manners and common sense as well?”

“Good idea. Let’s put all of that into the general education test.”

Riat made a mental note to give Sis a bonus.

Then she began revising the list of examination categories.