67 Suspicious Top Catch

The matchmaking list Kim Yang brought.

It was clearly just an ordinary file folder, yet for some reason it felt heavy.

[Matchmaking List]

- Night Archduchess Lumiere.

- Infinite Library Beloa.

- The Unfeeling Sword Maiden Namgung Hwaryeong.

- Neon Valkyrie Mosko Vichakos.

- Yaksha Ryu Seoram.

- Azure Wind Martial Empress Paeng Sorin.

- Elf Queen Renea.

- Yin-Yang Dual Meridian Baek Yeonhwa.

‘This is a fucking mess.’

If there were chaos in the world, wouldn't it be this list?

I smiled and handed it back to Reichen.

“I’m currently seeing the customer who arrived first, so could you take a look at this list and wait a moment?”

Reichen took the list and, following Kim Yang’s guidance, sat in the waiting area.

There hadn't originally even been a waiting area, but as customers started coming in, we bought a few chairs.

After I closed the consultation-room door again, Ophelia was sitting with her arms crossed, looking thoroughly displeased.

“Ahem, sorry about that, customer. You dropped by so suddenly.”

“No, it’s fine. I just hate that man.”

“Pardon? Do you mean Mr. Reichen?”

Since they were both mages, do they know each other?

Come to think of it, I suddenly remembered Ophelia had also made remarks showing hostility toward Reichen at the Tower Union’s White Rose Banquet.

“Reichen Spilcold. He’s the disciple of the Great Mage Gellerwind, isn’t he?”

“That’s right.”

Great Mage Gellerwind, one of the most influential figures in the magical academic world.

He was a man who could easily be called a living legend.

He’s retired from active duty now and is focusing on training successors.

“The Abyssal Reading Society was disbanded largely because of him. In the academic society, they wouldn’t recognize what we created as magic, and they even stripped us of our qualifications.”

“…….”

“Isn’t that reason enough to hate him? He cut off the guaranteed-success path of a mage, so now we’re down on the third floor doing office work?”

“I see. I understand.”

I’d hate him too if I were her.

“Be careful around that man. He’s the disciple of a stubborn old fossil who’ll stop at nothing for his own goals. And the fact that he’s a Sovereign-rank and still this desperate is suspicious too.”

I had thought about it.

I could tell from our very first meeting that he didn’t seem truly desperate to get married.

Then what is he doing this marriage hunt for?

I was curious.

But it wasn’t something to think about right now.

“Well, for now, I understand. Let’s finish up with Ophelia first.”

In the end, he was still just another customer to me.

* * *

Ophelia left after flashing the middle finger at Reichen’s back.

“…….”

“…….”

Kim Yang and Renea, who watched from the side, wore flustered expressions, but Reichen calmly walked into the consultation room.

He may have known, or he may not have.

But whatever it was, he would have reacted exactly like this.

Reichen sat in the chair in the consultation room where Ophelia had been sitting just moments before.

Seeing the matchmaking list in his hand made me smile.

“How about it, Mr. Reichen? If there’s someone on there you like, I can pull their profile right away.”

“Anyone is fine. The sooner, the better.”

“Is that so? Then please wait just a moment-.”

I stood up, opened the door, and called out at once.

“Renea, over here.”

“Huh?”

Renea hadn’t expected to be called so suddenly. After she toddled over, I quickly fixed her hair and brushed off the dust that had gotten on her while cleaning earlier.

“Fighting. Don’t be nervous. Okay?”

“Eh?”

“Don’t say weird things. Pull yourself together.”

After saying that, I brought Renea inside right away.

Possessed by a home-shopping host, I immediately began advertising Renea.

“Now, this lady here is none other than a former Elf Queen! Beautiful in true elf fashion, with a very gorgeous face! Cheerful personality, positive outlook! Not only that, but she’s even been building up her independence lately. Through part-time jobs, she’s learning the ropes of everyday life—an absolute top-tier catch.”

“This queen?!”

Renea was startled.

After giving her a look to shut up, I immediately smiled at Reichen.

“In fact, among the people on that list, she may be the fastest for you to meet, and she’s also the least demanding. Most of the others want you to prove you’re better than they are.”

“…….”

At my words, Reichen glanced through the list again.

“I really was a prime catch! So the boss really did think that!”

Ignoring Renea, who was muttering happily beside me, I asked Reichen.

“How about it? Would you like to meet her right away?”

“Sounds good.”

Reichen accepted.

I congratulated Renea with a broad smile.

“Congratulations, Lady Renea! First, let’s start with a date-.”

“This queen doesn’t want that.”

…….

………….

…………….

“What?”

My brain stopped.

For a split second, my mind refused to process what she’d said.

But my eyes and ears were making me face reality clearly.

“W-what did you say?”

“This queen said no. Didn’t I tell you last time that I wouldn’t be accepting introductions for a while-.”

I immediately grabbed Renea’s wrist and dragged her outside. After pulling her to a corner of the office, I hurriedly met her eyes and whispered.

“Have you lost your mind? Do you think top-tier catches like that come around whenever you want? He’s a confirmed S-rank man. For someone F-rank like you to be introduced to a man like that is literally a miracle from heaven. No joke, even if the consumer protection center or the Fair Trade Commission hauled me off, I’d have nothing to say.”

“I know, I know-.”

“Know what? You don’t know a thing! You sound like you’re getting dementia because you’re old, so pull yourself together! Pull yourself together!”

Whoosh!

I clamp both hands hard onto her cheeks.

Her cheeks are squished flat as she startles.

“Mmph?!”

“Right. Now. Go. And please. Tell him you want to meet him.”

“Mmmph!”

This is really-!

“Why?! I said I’d get you married, didn’t I? You were whining that you wanted to get married after seeing Hyojae’s wedding!”

“W-what I want might not be that kind of marriage, you know!”

“What?!”

She was mumbling marriage, marriage a second ago, and now what is she talking about?

I let go, and she grumbled while rubbing both red cheeks.

“This queen is in the process of finding herself right now. And isn’t that man the furthest thing from the kind of marriage this queen wants?”

“What do you mean, finding yourself at 1,900 years old?”

The first meeting between Renea and Han Hyojae.

He, who had seen marriage as a business, and Renea parted ways after just a few minutes of conversation, realizing they weren’t compatible.

Reichen did seem like an even tougher case than Han Hyojae.

Much colder, and more calculating.

“So you’re going to throw away this great opportunity?”

“I mean it may be a great opportunity, but it’s not the opportunity this queen wants.”

“Hah.”

A sigh escaped me.

That meant she’d been persuaded.

No matter how much of a hard-to-sell case he might be, if she didn’t want him, I couldn’t force her.

Besides, what Renea wanted was, quite literally, a 'married life.'

Not a transactional marriage, but a life where affection is shared.

“Understood. But no backing out later, okay?”

“Don’t worry— Ah!?”

I gave the smug Renea a light forehead flick and thought for a moment.

'If I want to call someone right now, I need to be on the third floor—.'

“Ow! That hurts!”

“Ho, ho! Ho!”

Ignoring the two of them making a fuss, I took out my phone.

The person I called was none other than Ryu Seoram.

- Hello? What’s up?

“Hey, Seoram. Are you busy by any chance?”

- Right now? Hngh, a little busy. I’m pretending to work at the office while secretly watching a baseball replay.

He’s not busy.

I could even hear him standing up from his seat, as if he’d already known I was going to call.

- What is it?

“I’ve got a really good match coming in, so if you could just-.”

- Go fuck yourself.

“I’m in front of a customer right now, so I can’t take my pants off.”

- Get lost.

The call cut off with the sound of him sitting back down.

In the end, it looked like it wouldn’t work right away, so I sighed and carefully returned to the consultation room.

Reichen was waiting for me with the same expression as before.

He looks like a badly made game character.

It feels like he only has one expression slot.

“Ahem, sorry about that, Mr. Reichen. I accidentally showed you an ugly side of myself.”

“Not at all. More importantly-.”

Reichen shook his head and held the list out to me.

“The people on this list seem difficult.”

“Pardon? Ah, no. These people may be a bit picky, but if it’s Mr. Reichen, you should be able to—.”

“I want someone I can meet right away. It would have been nice if that elf queen had accepted me just now, but if not, I need someone else I can meet immediately.”

“You mean right this instant?”

“Yes, right this instant.”

I quietly closed the door and sat back down.

It seemed a little hard to keep treating him favorably without reservation now.

“Mr. Reichen, if you come at me like this, then even if I wanted to close my eyes and introduce just anybody, I can’t do that.”

“…….”

“The people I showed you earlier were those who wouldn’t be shaken even by someone like Mr. Reichen.”

A fruit that tempting can only make you wary.

A man with such good conditions suddenly rushing to get married was suspicious no matter who looked at it.

“Of course I do have customers you can meet right now. But I have a responsibility to introduce you to the right person.”

Isn’t that obvious?

The person I introduce could suddenly turn into a robber, or maybe rush to kidnap someone for human experimentation.

“Sovereign-rank in the Tower Union. It’s certainly impressive, but for the sake of Meracle’s reputation, I can’t set up a meeting right away without proper consultation and certainty.”

No matter how...

“Even if I hear that Mr. Reichen is a very high-end catch in the marriage market.”

At my words, Reichen fell silent for a moment. But just from the atmosphere alone, I could tell he understood.

“Then how about this?”

What Reichen pulled from inside his coat was a seven-pointed star badge.

This is a badge issued by the Magic Tower that identifies mages of the Lazesta Continent, and for a mage it is as important as life itself.

From the three-point star to the nine-point star.

An item used to rank mages.

“I know I’m being unreasonable. So I’ll put forward an unreasonable condition.”

“…….”

“This is my seven-pointed star badge. And I swear here that if I ever hurt or harm the person you introduce me to—.”

He glanced at Renea, who was rubbing her head outside the door, and declared.

“Even if the elf queen’s arrow pierces my heart, so be it.”

“……Are you serious?”

You’d stake a mage’s honor and life on this?

“Yes, I’m serious.”

What is this, some kind of gambling den?

The fact that he was putting everything on the line meant there was definitely something there.

But his expression remained cold, and his tightly shut mouth said nothing more.

“Hah.”

This feels like I’ve gotten tangled up in something complicated.

After pressing a hand to my forehead, I thought for a moment and nodded.

“Understood. But I’ll explain the situation to the person you’re matched with first. And if they understand, I’ll introduce you. How does that sound?”

That’s my minimum condition.

Even if you’ve staked your pride and life as a mage, I still have to take care of our customers, don’t I?

If you refuse, that’s the end of it.

At my firm response, Reichen slowly bowed.

“Thank you.”