Chapter 99
Kyla had not had particularly high expectations when she received information about Abel.
After all, when it came to men, she only had to look as far as her own father, Adrian, or Kairun.
Moreover, it was hard to deny that the image of House Nebla had played a part.
'Maybe he'd have a gloomy, or perhaps somewhat dangerous, air?'
Poison and assassination.
Two words that could be considered symbols of House Nebla.
As the times advanced, it had become the norm for succession ceremonies or decisions regarding heirs to involve little or no bloodshed, whereas House Nebla was following the opposite path.
'An heir to a house where brothers kill one another...'
Of course, she had heard he was an illegitimate child, but that only made it more problematic in her eyes.
The mere fact that he had risen by defeating all his legitimate relatives despite being an illegitimate child was proof enough that Abel had a ruthless nature.
Of course, that was because Kyla did not know what House Nebla's circumstances had been at the time.
All the legitimate heirs had wiped one another out in a bloodbath, and then Abel had been made heir after three illegitimate children were hastily brought into the house...
Come to think of it, perhaps that wasn't so different from Kyla's idea?
...
In any case, even if he was the sort of person who would break an oath sworn to the gods.
Nebla.
Because of that one word, all her expectations were converging on zero.
In that state, meeting Abel, the heir to House Nebla, was enough to shatter her preconceptions in an instant.
"How do you do?"
Looks that instantly reversed her expectations, which had been converging on zero.
"I am Abel de Nebla, heir to House Nebla."
Moreover, his etiquette was quite decent.
There were still slight awkward spots, but knowing Abel was an illegitimate child, it was etiquette well within the bounds of understanding.
Contrast effect, or perhaps unexpected charm.
Preconceptions born from House Nebla's notoriety. And yet his conduct and appearance overturned them in an instant.
"Ah, um..."
Of course, Kyla had not fallen for Abel based on so little.
He was a man who matched her type, though!
Her father had vouched that he was her age and stronger than her, though!
Those decadent-looking eyes made it seem as if he were tempting her, though!
And with a face that would obviously become even more appealing once the color of age painted it over time!
She was absolutely not such an easy woman that she would succumb to so little temptation.
"H-hello...?"
So the only reason she was speaking with a trembling voice like this was that she was flustered.
That was what Kyla genuinely thought.
***
A few days after she accepted Adrian's request.
[House Nebla Visits House Stellaraim in the Empire?!]
[Is this the upheaval of a new era, or its downfall? An uproar ensues as an expert says, 'The balance of power among the Empire's Four Great Ducal Houses, maintained for so long, may collapse.']
[House Nebla's sudden move. This has never happened since Serban de Nebla took the position of head of the house.]
"Good grief..."
What had appeared in every newspaper headline over the past few days was the official contact between House Nebla and House Stellaraim.
"That's quite the ripple effect."
Or was it only natural?
They were ducal houses. And not just any two—the meeting involved two of the Four Great Dukes with autonomy.
And House Nebla, at that?
A ducal house that hardly ever appeared in official settings and operated solely in the shadows.
It was only natural, in a way, that there would be this much fuss when such a house engaged in outside activities.
As I slowly read through the newspaper, the appointed time approached, and I began putting on a suit bearing House Nebla's crest.
After all, the time Duke Stellaraim had requested was drawing near.
.
.
.
When I met Kyla in the reception room Duke Stellaraim had prepared, I quietly marveled inwardly.
Familiar black hair. Yet, strangely, it seemed even darker than the hair I had seen in my previous life.
Cold eyes, and features that held those eyes—among all the women I had met...
Put that way, it sounded strange, but in any case, she was a beauty who did not lose out even when compared with Mist, Ariel, and Bellias, the three of them.
Moreover, her own distinctive quality—or perhaps the comfortable activewear she wore—made her long, straight figure stand out even more, enough to inspire admiration.
But then.
"My lady?"
"Yes...?"
"Is something the matter?"
"No... No, it's nothing..."
For some reason, after exchanging greetings with me, she had been strangely avoiding my gaze and fiddling with her hands.
'Hmm?'
What was this?
Why was she reacting like that?
It was almost as if...
'She was embarrassed?'
Yes. She was acting as though she was embarrassed to meet my eyes.
Why?
She had entered looking like an exceedingly confident warrior woman, so why had she suddenly changed her attitude the moment she saw my face?
'???'
When my thoughts reached that point, a certain possibility began to bloom in my mind.
Could she have fallen for me?
'No way.'
But I discarded the thought immediately.
I was already fully aware that my appearance was on the attractive side.
For all I knew, perhaps I wasn't far behind Kairun and Wilhelm, the two men I had thought looked like male leads in a romance-fantasy novel?
Since my looks could be compared to those of a romance-fantasy male lead, I couldn't deny that I was handsome.
But who was the person standing before my eyes now?
The young lady of House Stellaraim, who must have seen that outstanding face every single day.
Without going any farther, even Duke Adrian's looks were enough to make women who liked middle-aged men come running with their eyes blazing.
She had spent her whole life seeing handsome men like that, and she had suddenly fallen for me at first sight?
Well...
That story wasn't particularly realistic.
"Ahem."
In any case, let's move the conversation along. If I dragged this out any longer, it seemed obvious we might never even manage to talk.
"You do know why Duke Stellaraim put the two of us together, right?"
"Ah, yes."
Perhaps because we had moved on to official business, she immediately straightened up and looked at me, no longer avoiding my eyes or fidgeting with her hands.
"Clearly, it was to resolve the rumors surrounding House Nebla, which had come here for some reason or another..."
"Do you happen to know why I came to House Stellaraim?"
Kyla shook her head slightly from side to side.
"No. And you don't have to tell me. This is a matter between houses, and since I'm not the heir, I shouldn't intrude."
Oh.
At Kyla's composed reply, I smiled faintly inwardly.
It was almost a perfect answer to the question I'd asked just in case.
"That's a relief."
It really was. If she'd asked me to tell her the whole story, it would honestly have been rather awkward.
No matter how much it was an act, having a friendly conversation with the man who had beaten his own blood relative and hung him at the academy's main gate would have been difficult.
"Then, you see that over there?"
She turned her head in the direction of my fingertips.
She spotted a camera lens.
"It's a camera for taking pictures of us having a quiet chat or perhaps strolling through the garden."
So-called promotional photographs.
"Ah, of course, I hear they intend to keep our faces out of the pictures."
"..."
"Two people dressed in clothes bearing the crests of House Nebla and House Stellaraim should be enough."
Naturally, our faces would not be exposed.
If they were exposed, it would be judged to go beyond the pact between the Four Great Dukes and the Emperor.
Then what if our faces weren't shown?
People would simply think two people in house attire—a man and a woman—had met for a chat.
Of course, there would still be plenty of gossip.
Almost every noble knew that Duke Stellaraim had a real daughter besides the heir to the duchy.
In that situation, at a time when a car bearing a house crest had officially made contact with Stellaraim, a photograph of a man and woman bearing their respective house crests meeting was leaked?
It was circumstantial evidence, but not decisive evidence.
In other words, there was still plenty of room to wriggle out.
The other two ducal houses and the Imperial Family would seize on Stellaraim and Nebla without decisive evidence?
From that moment, a massive civil war breaking out would be as plain as day.
'Good grief.'
Of course, it was absurdly transparent, like covering one's eyes and pretending not to see, but what could I say? That was politics.
"Well, then."
Click.
As I poured tea from the pot into her teacup with my own hands, I heard the camera click.
"Let's begin."
Hearing the sound, I looked at her with a slight smile.
***
Before she had practically secluded herself in the family estate as a form of atonement.
As befitted the young lady of House Stellaraim, she had had many opportunities to speak with the sons of nobles from various houses.
[Lady Kyla...]
They were kind.
Noblemen were truly kind to her far beyond what was necessary.
Apart from being Duke Stellaraim's daughter, her appearance was dazzlingly beautiful as well.
Treating a pretty woman well and showing her more kindness than necessary was a man's instinct.
[Please accept this.]
However.
'Again?'
Kyla had grown sick of the kindness of those young noblemen.
Even kindness could become uncomfortable when there was too much of it.
The stress had been building up little by little from the way they treated her with consideration at every turn, as though she were a delicate flower in a greenhouse.
Moreover.
Kindness shown to a pretty woman?
Yes, she understood.
She understood it a hundred times over.
It was all well-intentioned kindness, and she had never accepted it as though it were only natural, either.
However.
'It's too obvious...'
Beneath the kindness they lavished on her lay a sticky desire to possess her looks, figure, family, and everything else she had.
So Kyla was not thick-skinned enough to enjoy their kindness with a carefree heart.
[I will marry someone my age who can defeat me!]
That was why she had put such an oath into words.
It had happened because she mistakenly thought her father intended to arrange a political marriage for her.
But her subconscious had expressed the desire that, if she were to marry one of the men she had met thus far, she wanted him to be at least stronger than herself.
If she was going to take as her husband a man who would lust after her looks, figure, and family—all of it—then this childish thought wished that, at the very least, his strength would be to her liking.
'A dark chapter...'
Looking back on it now, the thought was hardly undeserving of being called a dark chapter.
In any case, having once held such thoughts, she continued meeting Abel many times after their encounter in the reception room.
Sometimes in the reception room, sometimes in the garden, and sometimes even in the fitting room inside the mansion, they recommended clothes to each other.
...Though the last one had been done mostly so she could see Abel wearing different clothes.
In any case.
Even in such situations, Abel was considerate of Kyla.
Of course, it wasn't excessive consideration beyond what was necessary.
If the refreshments or tea ran out while they were drinking tea, he would silently refill them in advance.
When they went walking, he would naturally take the outside position and unconsciously look out for her.
Or he would listen attentively to her stories—such very ordinary considerations.
Consideration that was neither excessive nor lacking.
It was a secret that Abel's behavior like that had actually appealed to Kyla tremendously.
'Come to think of it...'
After spending several days like that, Kyla gradually grew curious.
'He said he was strong, didn't he?'
Her father Adrian's guarantee that he was the strongest in the North.
But the Abel she had seen was simply a man whose mannerisms matched her tastes perfectly...
Ahem, ahem. In any case, he just looked like an ordinary nobleman.
"May I ask one favor?"
A sunny afternoon.
Unable to suppress the competitive spirit rising in her chest,
Kyla finally let it burst out.
"Would you please spar with me?"