Chapter 3
I sprang up from my chair and placed a hand on Sir Gold's forehead.
“You don't have a fever, but did you hurt your head when you fell off your horse?”
If not, I had to seriously consider whether he had finally gone senile.
“My lady, I'm perfectly fine.”
Sir Gold gently brushed my hand away and began explaining why I had to date the young man.
“First of all, do you know how much the by-products of the Snow Wyrm the young man defeated today are worth?”
“I vaguely remember.”
Back when knights still remained in the territory,
we once hunted a Snow Wyrm that had appeared near the territory.
At the time, the amount we obtained had definitely been….
“Around 50 gold, right?”
“That's right. As expected of you, my lady. Your memory is remarkable.”
“It isn't a small sum, of course….”
Snow Wyrms weren't magical beasts that showed themselves very often.
This one was the first I'd seen since then, too.
By simple arithmetic, hunting about 60 such beasts would be enough to repay the debt, but.
‘This isn't a game.’
More supply could only mean lower prices.
In the end, that meant I needed to hunt more than 60 before winter ended.
‘That's physically impossible.’
Even setting aside the time spent hunting, processing a single Snow Wyrm would take several days at least.
“However, this time is different. Unlike in the past, the Snow Wyrm is in perfect condition.”
“Pardon?”
“Normally, you hunt a Snow Wyrm by breaking its carapace with a blunt weapon like a hammer or mace, then attacking its flesh. Otherwise, it's difficult to inflict any meaningful damage.”
Gold pulled out a sheet of paper and began drawing on it with his uninjured hand.
“When you hunt one that way, only a tiny portion of the remaining carapace can be made into armor. But this time, the young man….”
He drew an arrow pointing from the outside toward the Snow Wyrm, then reversed its direction.
“He went inside the Snow Wyrm and defeated it. Thanks to that, the valuable Snow Wyrm carapace is….”
“Intact.”
“Correct. In that case, the Snow Wyrm will fetch… this much.”
“…A hundred million?”
I couldn't close my mouth at the number Gold wrote on the paper.
“Two hundred… gold?”
At that price, we'd only need to hunt 15 Snow Wyrms… no, since we'd already hunted one, only 14 more.
Hunt 14 Snow Wyrms.
It was still unrealistic, but it had become not quite impossible.
It was like going from needing to aim for first prize in the lottery to only needing third prize.
“And with skill like that, he should be able to protect the territory sufficiently from external threats.”
“Uh, yes, that's definitely true… but!”
I was nearly swept up in Gold's eloquence, but the last shred of reason helped me come to my senses.
“Even if I listen to you, Sir Gold, I'd still be getting married, wouldn't I?!”
Perhaps it was because I was beside myself.
I cast aside the dignity expected of the head of the family and shouted.
If he said something like, Wouldn't it be better to marry a young man than an old one? I had no intention of forgiving him, Gold or not.
“It's not the same. If you marry into that family, you would become a concubine rather than the legal wife. But if you marry that young man and bring him into the family as a son-in-law, you could not only protect the territory but preserve the family as well, couldn't you?”
….
I couldn't refute him.
Every word he said was perfectly logical.
“But I have an objection!”
Like the protagonist of some courtroom game, I slammed my hands on the table.
“Doesn't your plan assume that he likes me?”
And merely liking me a little wouldn't be enough.
It would only work if he liked me enough to accept a mountain of debt and the responsibility of protecting the territory alone.
“Assume he likes you? Ha-ha.”
After hearing my concern, Sir Gold snorted as though he had heard an amusing joke.
“Any young man with eyes in his head would fall for you, my lady.”
“What on earth makes you so certain he likes me?”
To me, that man seemed completely uninterested, unlike the men who had shown interest in me until now.
“Why, when we were returning to the mansion, that young man never took his eyes off you for even a moment.”
“…That's all?”
“What do you mean, that's all? If he wasn't interested in you, why would he keep looking at you?”
“No, maybe he was just staring into space because he was tired, and I happened to be in that direction.”
Surely everyone occasionally stares blankly into space.
“It takes thirty minutes to walk from the vineyard to the mansion, and he never happened to look away once during that time? We call that intentional, my lady.”
“Hmm….”
I hadn't realized he hadn't merely looked at me for a long time; he'd stared at me for the entire thirty minutes.
If that was the case, I was running out of things to say.
“Men understand men's hearts. You wouldn't know, of course, since you're a woman.”
‘But I lived as a man for over twenty years….’
However, if I said that aloud, Sir Gold would end up feeling my forehead again.
Well, it didn't seem as though he was saying something completely absurd.
The more I listened, the more plausible his reasoning seemed.
It did bother me that his reaction differed from that of the men who had liked me before, but perhaps that man was simply unusual.
Besides, my only remaining option was the worst one of being sold off to an old man.
Surely I had to try whatever I could.
“All right. I'll talk to him when he comes.”
“An excellent choice, my lady.”
That settled, we began preparing at once.
“Sir Gold. Go to the storeroom and bring out the finest wine. I'll change clothes in the meantime.”
“Yes.”
I felt a little uneasy about using alcohol and feminine wiles, but if I was going to do this, I had to do it properly.
After Sir Gold left, I opened the wardrobe in one corner of the study and looked for something to change into, but.
“Good grief….”
Between my memories of being a man in my previous life and our family's poverty, every last outfit was plain.
I chose the prettiest one among them, changed into it, and hid the armor haphazardly in the wardrobe.
When I had finished changing, Sir Gold returned with the wine, and all we had to do was wait for the young man to come.
“Do you suppose something happened?”
Otherwise, could someone who had gone to bathe really stay away for three hours?
“Perhaps….”
Sir Gold seemed to have another guess in mind.
“Perhaps he passed out while bathing? It was such a fierce fight, after all.”
Come to think of it, it was only natural to feel sleepy after exercising strenuously and taking a hot bath.
Besides, if he had fallen asleep in the bathroom, there was nothing Ruby could do about it either.
“That could be it. I'm sorry, but could you go check the bathroom for a moment, Sir Gold….”
Knock, knock.
At that very moment, as the saying went, speak of the devil.
A knock sounded from outside.
“Yes, come in.”
Ruby would never knock on the door in such a refined manner, so that left only one person.
Creak.
As expected, the door opened, and the young man who had defeated the Snow Wyrm entered, but.
“Huh?”
“Hmm?”
He wasn't the same person we knew.
“You cut your hair?”
“That maid said she was also a master hairdresser, so she cut it for me.”
His golden hair, once shaggy and well past his shoulders, had been neatly trimmed just above his eyebrows, revealing jade-colored eyes.
Once he had shaved and cut his hair, he looked exactly like the young master of some noble family.
“Heh-heh, he really looks just like I did in my younger days.”
Gold murmured with satisfaction at the sight.
‘I don't think so.’
Speaking of which, why was someone who looked like that and had such skills wandering around?
With credentials like that, he could choose any place he wanted among noble houses, mercenary bands, knight orders, and the like.
“If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?”
“I turned twenty this year.”
“Gasp….”
His voice had made me think he was young, but I never expected him to be the same age as me.
‘And he has the skill to hunt a Snow Wyrm on his own?’
Only now did I understand why Sir Gold had been so adamant about keeping him.
“First of all, let me thank you once again for protecting Sir Gold and our territory.”
“Ah, yes.”
He was as expressionless as he had been when his bangs covered his eyes.
‘This man really likes me?’
No matter how I looked at him, it didn't seem that way.
When I glanced at Sir Gold, he nodded as though urging me to trust him.
‘Right. Once a man draws his sword, he has to at least cut a radish.’
I rose from my seat and took out the wine and glasses Sir Gold had brought.
“Do you like wine? I'd offer you something better, but this is all I have.”
“I do.”
“That's a relief.”
I poured wine into a glass and brought it to him.
“Here, have a drink. Um….”
Huh?
I froze in place.
Come to think of it, when we'd first introduced ourselves, I had only given him my name and never asked for his.
‘Good heavens. Am I trying to propose to someone whose name I don't even know?’
I was seriously beginning to wonder whether this was really all right when.
“Heter. Please call me Heter.”
He told me his name.
That was all well and good, but.
‘That's obviously an alias….’
What kind of parent would give their child a name so lacking in effort?
“I have my reasons for hiding my real name.”
“I see.”
Perhaps noticing my reaction, he offered the excuse calmly.
Then again, he must have had a reason to hide his name, which was probably why he wandered from place to place.
Only now did I understand why someone with that appearance and skill was wandering.
But even if he was a criminal, we had no choice but to hold on to him.
I wet my throat with a little wine and gauged the timing.
“So, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask about the reward now.”
‘Now's the time!’
As soon as the topic of a reward came up, I tentatively broached the subject.
“Of course I should reward you. However, since our territory is in a difficult situation, unfortunately, we don't have much to offer in return.”
“That seems to be the case.”
I flinched.
My expression faltered for a moment at his words, but I somehow maintained my poker face.
“So, while it may not really count as a reward….”
I looked at Heter with the most alluring smile I could manage.
“How about marrying me and becoming a member of the Fortune family?”
Ah, fuck.
I want to die.
No matter how dire the situation was, I couldn't believe I was making my first proposal ever—including my previous life—in such a way.
Dribble.
The moment he heard my proposal, Heter's eyes widened, and he dribbled the wine in his mouth out.
Seeing his flustered reaction, my mind actually grew cold and clear.
Right. If the people of the territory could live well just because I was embarrassed, wouldn't I still be coming out ahead?
I steeled myself.
I was prepared to completely give up my life as a man…!
“I'm sorry, but I must decline.”
“Neh?”
A dazed sound escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
“Marriage isn't something to decide this way, after all.”
….
I turned my head and looked at Sir Gold.
“Ahem. My arm is hurting. I'll go see the physician for a moment. And while I'm at it, I'll supervise the processing of the Snow Wyrm….”
Gold cleared his throat, then promptly left the study.
‘Fuck.’
Should I just slam my head into the table and pass out right here?