Chapter 7

2. Political Marriage (3)

On the morning of the wedding…

Mirane awoke earlier than planned.

After receiving the day’s visitors, he changed into his knight’s uniform.

Once he had finished dressing, he stood silently before the mirror.

The young man reflected in the glass looked perfectly composed.

No trace of the turmoil raging within him could be seen.

After quietly studying his reflection for a moment, Mirane turned toward the window.

A cool blue wind swept through the towers of Wicker Castle.

“So…”

“In the end, the Grand Duke still isn’t coming.”

The elderly housekeeper answered gently.

“If the two of you are destined to meet for the first time at the most beautiful moment…”

“In the most sacred of places…”

“What could possibly be wrong with that?”

Mirane smiled faintly.

“You have quite a way with words.”

Unexpectedly…

Laisa did not respond.

Sensing something unusual, Mirane turned to look at her.

Her face had gone deathly pale.

Meeting his gaze, she finally spoke.

“Do you… hate me?”

A strange expression crossed Mirane’s face.

He remained silent for a long while.

Laisa was the Grand Duke’s closest attendant.

The mistress of the household.

The one who almost certainly oversaw every corner of the estate.

Even now…

She was probably responsible for keeping him under watch.

Then why…

Why ask me something like that?

Why expose your own feelings?

Suppressing his confusion, Mirane finally answered.

“If I hated everyone for reasons like that…”

“How could I ever have become Commander of the Imperial Third Knight Order?”

Laisa’s expression became complicated.

Mirane chuckled softly.

“I don’t want to hate people.”

“Because I don’t want people to hate me either.”

“So I do my best to like them.”

Then, smiling with quiet playfulness, he added,

“Actually…”

“I simply like people.”

The gentle smile lingering on his lips held Laisa’s gaze for a long time.

Eventually…

A hoarse whisper escaped her.

“…I’m sorry.”

Mirane merely shook his head.

He said nothing.

After a quiet sigh, Laisa spoke again.

“You’re beautiful.”

Mirane laughed softly.

“Really?”

“That’s reassuring.”

Laisa hesitated.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“…I am.”

His voice remained calm.

“But overcoming fear…”

“Is what we knights do.”

“We.”

He wasn’t speaking only for himself.

Laisa once again fell silent.

Time passed before she quietly spoke.

“To tell you the truth…”

“I was very worried.”

“Worried?”

“…Hehe.”

Mirane raised his head.

Her whisper drifted away like the wind.

“But now I realize…”

“I was worrying over nothing.”

“Just like back then.”

The old housekeeper’s face looked peaceful.

Or perhaps…

Filled with regret.

Only then did Mirane notice…

Her aged eyes remained astonishingly clear.

Then she spoke once more.

“Still…”

“There’s one thing I must ask.”

Her gaze never wavered.

“I ask this…”

“To the son of Count Laster.”

Mirane unconsciously stiffened.

“If you had the chance…”

“Would you avoid this marriage?”

Silence.

Mirane looked directly into Laisa’s clear eyes.

She was perfectly calm.

Avoid the marriage…?

The very idea was absurd.

The ceremony was only moments away.

Even if he wished to escape…

How could he possibly flee Wicker Castle, defended by some of the finest soldiers on the continent?

And yet…

Confronted with such a ridiculous question…

He found himself unable to answer.

If I truly could avoid it…

Would I?

Then…

A quiet laugh escaped him.

“I don’t think…”

“This is an interrogation.”

“For some reason…”

“You don’t strike me as that kind of person.”

Laisa served the Grand Duke directly.

Logically…

This question should have been a trap.

One wrong answer…

And he would destroy himself.

Yet…

Mirane saw genuine sincerity in her eyes.

At last…

He made his choice.

“I won’t run.”

His voice was steady.

“Even if it brings me pain…”

“For the sake of the people waiting for me in the capital…”

“I’ll begin a new life here in Wicker.”

He had already accepted the end of his former life.

Without regret.

“I’m not in despair.”

“My future won’t necessarily be as terrible as everyone believes.”

There was no turning back now.

“I’ll live…”

“Here.”

“In Wicker.”

A quiet smile touched his lips.

If he fled now…

He might survive.

But at what cost?

The Grand Duke would be disgraced before the entire continent.

The capital had already mourned his departure.

This marriage itself was political gunpowder sent by the Emperor’s faction into Wicker.

If he escaped now…

He alone might be safe.

But countless others would bleed.

Perhaps…

It might even spark a war.

To ignore all of that…

Simply to preserve his own happiness…

Mirane couldn’t live with such shame.

“Everything is already beyond my control.”

“No one—not even the gods—knows what kind of life awaits me in Wicker.”

“Even if I’m unhappy…”

“Even if this marriage only brings sorrow…”

Taking one quiet breath…

He finished.

“I’ll endure it.”

Because…

There was no road back.

Lifting his head again, Mirane looked calmly at Laisa.

After a long silence…

She answered.

“It won’t be…”

“As unfortunate as you think.”

The awkward attempt at comforting him made Mirane smile softly.

Ordinarily…

A wedding would be attended by both families.

Even when marrying into a distant noble house, the head of the bride’s or groom’s family would normally be present.

But Wicker’s nobles viewed House Laster with deep suspicion.

They demanded that only Mirane Laster attend.

Partly because they had no desire to celebrate a marriage involving an illegitimate son.

Partly because Wicker still followed ancient customs.

Among all the lands of the Obert Empire…

Nowhere preserved the old traditions more faithfully than Wicker.

Long ago…

Marriage had simply been a vow exchanged between two lovers.

Even after the spread of the Faith of Eloi, a marriage remained valid so long as it was recognized by a priest and consummated afterward.

Wicker still honored that tradition.

And so…

Mirane’s wedding took place in a modest chapel.

One astonishingly simple for the marriage of the Grand Duke of Valenstein.

The choir began singing hymns.

Mirane lowered his eyes.

He remembered Laisa’s words.

It won’t be as unfortunate.

But he knew.

Those words were merely meant to comfort him.

He refused to indulge in comforting fantasies.

Mirane was a realist.

At the very least…

He never turned away from reality.

He fully expected the future awaiting him to be miserable.

Rumors or not…

This marriage was the gate to hell.

One day…

Someone may poison me.

One day…

I may be stabbed to death in the dark.

Who would investigate the convenient death of an illegitimate son?

Even if the people of the capital cherished him…

Personal affection meant nothing before imperial politics.

And if even half the rumors surrounding the Grand Duke were true…

His future would be bleak indeed.

Still…

He couldn’t run away.

Maintaining perfect composure…

Mirane waited for the ceremony to begin.

He remained calm.

Until…

The Grand Duke finally appeared.

It was only then…

That Mirane lost his composure.

…What?

The moment he laid eyes upon the infamous Grand Duke Valenstein…

It felt as though someone had struck him across the head.

The bishop continued reciting the ancient history of House Valenstein.

“Blessed by God…”

“May the glory of the Grand Duchy of Valenstein endure forever…”

But Mirane heard none of it.

The words entered one ear…

And flowed straight out the other.

He simply stood there.

Frozen.

It took him a long while to recover.

…This is the Grand Duke?

Standing before him…

Was a man wearing a silver mask.

His eyes…

Clear as the sea.

Sparkling like the stars themselves.

The scent of cedar drifted toward him—

Like a deep forest at dawn.

That captivating fragrance…

Combined with the sacred bells echoing throughout the chapel…

Carried Mirane’s thoughts far away.

The Grand Duke’s gaze was calm.

Yet intensely powerful.

Powerful enough to make anyone shiver.

Powerful enough…

To steal away one’s thoughts.

At least outwardly…

He looked nothing like a monster.

Not even remotely.

Then…

Mirane’s lips parted.

Then closed again.

He couldn’t understand.

The Grand Duke’s posture was perfectly straight—

As flawless as a finely crafted halberd.

His deep, composed eyes were cold.

He possessed all the dignity expected of one of the Empire’s greatest nobles.

But beyond that…

Nothing.

…Where is the monster?

Only then…

Did Mirane realize…

Laisa had been telling the truth.

It won’t be as unfortunate.

Those words had not been empty consolation.

At that realization…

Mirane made an expression that was neither a smile…

Nor tears.