Chapter 71: Differences between Different World Aristocrats’ and My Concepts

While Navi and I were talking about my history with women, I was able to gather my thoughts and make up my mind.

I have to note that Luke and I have very different views on marriage.

　For me, dating does not equal marriage, but for Luke, or rather for the aristocracy of this world, dating equals engagement.
And unless there’s a big reason, it’s natural to get married.

It reminds me of the last girlfriend I had–

　We started dating and became man and woman, but at the time I wasn’t thinking about marriage.

　Well, of course not…….
It had been about six months since we started dating.
We had only gone out on dates about a dozen times and had sex three times during that period.
I feel bad and a little sad when I think that I got into a plane crash.

　I had told my uncle that I was going out with the receptionist at my business partner, but I hadn’t told the rest of my family that I had a new girlfriend.
I was pretty depressed when I broke up with my childhood friend, and I worried about her.
My sister was especially angry at her for cheating since they knew each other.

Of course, I was not without fault for betraying her and getting a job, but since we had discussed it and she had agreed to it, I was the one who was betrayed.

“♪ By the way, master didn’t leave a will for her, right? 』

“No, I couldn’t afford to do that in that situation! I had my hands full just following the goddess’s orders and thinking about saving that girl! 』

“♪ That’s right……you didn’t even leave a will for your beloved grandparents, so you didn’t have the time or inclination to take into account many different aspects.”

“Yes.
But after talking to Navi and thinking about my death, I now feel that I want to cherish my relationship with Mifa”

“♪ Did you see some relevance in this story? Did you find any connection between your dead past and Mifa? 』

“It’s not about relevance or anything like that…….
I want to answer Mifa’s thoughts now when I think that I might die in the extermination of the evil god.
I just realized that Mifa is such a fine woman.”

　I thought it would be better for me not to get engaged until the defeat of the evil god comes true, for the sake of Mifa, because I don’t know whether I would die, but I heard that if I die, there won’t be any hope for this dimension.

“♪ The Goddess seems to think that humanity will be destroyed if Master dies.”

“Heavy! What’s with the extinction of humankind!? 』

　Well, there’s no point in thinking about what will happen after I’m dead.
I’ll just have to live my life to the fullest now.

Now that I’ve made up my mind, I call out to Mifa, who is looking anxious.

“Mifa, you ask Iris every morning if I did anything to her last night, right?”

“Huh…did you know? Did Iris tell you?”

　Now that I am conscious of getting married, Mifa, who was anxious in front of me, looked even cuter and asked me a nasty question.

Apparently this is an effect that resulted from Luke’s memory…I have to be careful.

“I didn’t say anything about–“

“Iris didn’t say anything.
And I’m not blaming Mifa.
In fact, I’m kind of happy about that jealousy.
I’m not very confident about myself, so it’s nice to have someone like Mifa who actually shows her affection in a way that’s easy to understand.”

“Is that so? My mother warned me that if I pestered you too much, you would end up hating me..”

“Ah, it might be annoying if it goes too far.”

“That’s it…”

“Yeah, I’m going to officially get engaged to Mifa after this.”

“Really! I’m so happy!”

“I’m glad to hear that, but as I said before, I’m not confident in myself.
So, just as Mifa is insecure and asks Iris questions every morning, I might ask you sometimes, “Do you like me?” 

“Yes! Please ask me every day!”

“Well, that’s too pathetic of me, so I’m going to make an effort so that Mifa won’t hate me.
I’m going to make an effort to lose weight, which is the most insecure part of my body, and I’m also going to study hard so they won’t say that you’re a foolish princess who fell in love with a foolish pig prince.”

“Ufufu, I’m happy with those words.”

Next is Emilia–

“Emilia, I’m also going to officially announce my engagement with you at this time.”

“…………”

Wow, it’s a recurrence of silence.

“To be honest, I don’t see much merit in getting engaged to you now, but I think Duke Guile would want to make it public at an early stage since there might be pressure from his faction if word of me got out.”

“Father? You mean a faction dispute?”

“Yes.
The other day when I went to the royal castle, the queens advised me against it.
It doesn’t seem to be as fierce as my family’s kingdom of Volg, but they told me to be careful because they all want to surround themselves with influential nobles so that they can have an advantageous say in regular assemblies and budget allocations.
The faction to which I belong, with my Divine Beast Hati, Black Emperor Dragon Diana, and Mifa’s Holy Beast Spinel, is in effect the highest force in this country.
If the world learns about today’s recovery seminar, my value will increase even more.
And I’m sure they don’t want Emilia, the daughter of a duke who belongs to the king, to be added to that list.”

　This area is similar to the parliamentary seat battle.
If you want a voice, you have no choice but to pull in a faction and increase the number of staff.

“That’s right… I’m also taught to be careful not to make easy remarks and use quality words.”

“If three years later, Emilia’s androphobia has not been cured, she can still marry me.
Let’s put aside the issue of the succession of Emilia’s family for the time being.
Even if she has a phobia of men, I’m sure we can become friends in three years.
We have a good relationship now that we can talk like this.
So, to put it bluntly, it’s a camouflage marriage.
It’s a marriage in form, but it doesn’t have to be a man and a woman.
Even if it is a formal marriage, it will eliminate those who are courting Emilia and maintain the Duke of Guile’s appearance.”

“But, my father is urging you to have a child, right?”

“You can ignore that.
“I’m trying my best, but it’s a gift from God,” I’ll tell him.
It is not necessary for my child to clean up the mess of Duke Guile, who has not taken a concubine in the first place.”

　Before the succession problem became serious…when Lara, the youngest child, was very young, the Duke of Guile should have gotten a concubine to make a successor.

　A noble family as large as a duke’s has many vassals.
If there is no successor and the family goes bankrupt, it will affect everyone below.
Even if he adopted a child from among his relatives, his vassals would complain because he was not a direct descendant of Duke Guile.
That’s why he takes a son-in-law for his daughter and makes the baby boy the next head of the family, but this is where the factions come into play.

　In the aristocratic society where there is male dominance,  even the son-in-laws would have a higher say than Emilia.
Although, the dark eyes of Duke Guile wouldn’t be so easy to take over.

“I understand.
I’ve always thought that I shouldn’t stay like this forever.
When I go home, I’ll show you my true face and tell you how I became scared of men.
I’m not much good at anything, but please be kind to me.”

I was surprised….what kind of change of mind is this?

“♪ It seems that master’s response was successful.
She felt that she shouldn’t keep receiving the kindness of Master while hiding her true face forever.
Ah, but absolutely don’t misinterpret that “I’m a humble wife” bit at the end.
It is a story that has to do with admitting the disguised marriage and getting married, so don’t get frisky with the merchandise.

“I know.
Well, I think she’s opened her heart a little again.
If she opens her heart, the magic of [Mental Recovery] will be effective, and it’s a step forward.”

What will happen to my position after that?—-

“♪ Will you use the family name of Duke Guile, or are you launching your new family name as Zeno said the other day …”

“That’s right.
When you start a house, you’ll get a bell, right? It’s a little tough if you think that all the servants prepared with it will monitor you.
“

“♪ But isn’t it better than living directly with Duke Guile in the same mansion? 』

“That’s a real problem! 』

“♪ The kingdom of Volg and the kingdom of Forrell are in a fuss because of Master’s divine beast.
It seems that tonight, the Kingdom of Forrell will bring together major powers to meet on what to do about Master’s position.
‘

“So the standing position will change depending on the discussion?….Well it was the goddess who gave me Hati though.
』

Well, Iris first–

“About Iris, I need a little time for this.
I have feelings for Iris, and I’m very happy about her feelings, but I can’t announce it now.
I’m sure the King will have his own agenda, and I’ll have to meet with Iris’ parents first.
Also, if I don’t have Mifa’s permission, I can’t accept it in the first place.
I don’t want to see my brides fighting each other.”

“I understand……”

Iris….don’t look so sad.

“I’m fine with Iris…”

“Hmm? What are your true feelings?”

While saying that it is okay, her cute face is frowning.

“… I don’t want anyone to have a concubine, but I’m in a situation where I can’t say that.
As you said earlier, I think your value will increase, more and more every day.
In that case, even though it’s a Count’s family, Iris’s parents may not be able to withstand the pressure of the people around them.
Iris’ Michael family is a vassal of the Forrell family, so it’s likely that you will be involved in a Faction conflict, as well as Emilia.”

“Oh, come to think of it he was Duke Guile’s vassal……Ummm, so Mifa is okay with Iris being one of my fiancées?”

“I’d much rather have Iris than a complete stranger in my side room.
But are you sure about that, Luke?　You said that you only needed one wife, but now you’ve suddenly thrown in so many, I’m worried that you’ll get sick of this country and run away.”

“I’m not thinking about running away at all.
Both of you are too good for me now.
That’s why I want to cherish this relationship.
My favorite word is” Ichigo Ichie “.
―― ”

“What does it mean?”

“‘Ichigo’ means ‘lifetime’, and ‘Ichikai’ means ‘one-time encounter’, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime encounter, and it’s a word to cherish never-ending opportunities.
I definitely don’t want to miss a relationship with women as wonderful as both of you.”

　After all, the engagement with Iris could not be decided by ourselves, so we decided to talk about it tomorrow.

We’ll have to ask for the opinions of Iris’ parents too.