Chapter 109
『Translator: RainTL』
༺ Engagement Ceremony (4) ༻
Ever since the last day at Findias, Alicia spent every day feeling uneasy and distracted. It was partially because her body had yet to fully recover, but the other reason was that it was easy for her to be immersed in imagination when lying still, staring at nothing but the ceiling.
“Ah…”
These days, her emotions had been following a certain pattern over and over again.
It was a peculiar relationship starting from the start of the semester. After the Sword Challenge against Lunia, her heart would oftentimes turn warm and her face tended to turn hot on top of that.
『You can do it. You can do a lot better than what you’re doing right now.』
『I will protect you, so you focus on one thing.』
Even when she was up against John Doe the Murderer of the City of Fog.
『Alicia. You’re a lot stronger than someone like me who used to be a powerless kid back then. I want you to become someone who can be proud of themselves all the time.』
Also when she was trying to overcome Lunia in her Sword Challenge.
『Trust me if you can’t trust in yourself. I can assure you… You will do a great job. Everything will be fine.』
He had always been there, cheering and supporting her, while also telling her that she could do everything and that she would never go astray from the path, and…
“He said… he’ll be with me the whole time.”
A person who trusted her for no reason.
A person who supported her without anything in return.
A person who will gladly help her whenever and wherever.
That was who Korin Lork was. Coming across someone like that was a once-in-a-lifetime miracle.
And a person like that…
『What do you think about marrying me?』
Was getting engaged to her older sister.
She was going to become a family with him as an in-law.
That was something to be happy about. Korin was a great person, so Lunia would probably lead an immensely happy life after getting married to him.
It was something to be happy for; she had to cheer for them so why…
『Brother-in-law… Sister is not coming home tonight.』
Why was it that she had done something like that inside the illusion?
That was…
It’s probably because…
- Alicia. Are you there?
That was when the familiar voice of the boy echoed from outside the door. Alicia tried to immediately stand up from her bed but stumbled and ended up rolling on the floor.
- Kuguguugung!!
“Yess? Yepp! I, I’m here! Mr. Korin…!”
- W, what was that noise? Did you fall?
“Ye-no!”
-...What does that even mean?
As she was about to quickly leave the room, Alicia realized that she had just woken up and that she had yet to take care of her hair and clothes.
“W, wait! L, let me wash…! I mean, I’ll be out shortly!”
In a hurry, she stood in front of the mirror, tidied her disheveled hair with a comb, and applied makeup to hide the bags under her eyes.
And in case she smelled, she took a bottle of hair oil and applied a thin layer of it on her hair. The gentle fragrance of her hair seemed enough to hide any unpleasant scent.
- Alicia… Are you there? I’ve been waiting for over 30 minutes now.
“I, I’m coming out now! Sorry!”
She was trying to get herself ready as perfectly as possible and took a bit of time in the process. She quickly slid the door open and welcomed the guest.
Waiting in front of the door was the boy whose wild appearance was as attractive as always.
“What took you so long?”
“Haa, haa… Sorry. The room was a bit messy.”
“Really? Hoh? Do you usually put your hair down like that at home?”
She was in so much of a hurry that she even forgot to tie her hair into a ponytail.
“I, it is a lot more comfortable this way.”
“Is that so? By the way, why are you wearing perfume? Or is this hair oil?”
“N, no? I’m not wearing any perfume!”
“What do you mean no? Anyone would say this smells like some flowery oil.”
“T, this is my body scent!”
“...Really now?”
The boy asked with a mean smirk that reminded her of Immortan Lork.
“A, anyway…! Why are you here?”
“Oh yeah. I’m going to the town right now, and I wanted to know if there’s anything you want me to get.”
“Umm… How about we go together?”
“Nah. I have a date with Miss Lunia from now on.”
“Ah…”
Date.
Hearing that word made her head turn blank.
Right. She remembered that Mr. Korin was… the fiancé of her older sister.
****
“Goodness. Looks like I had you waiting already.”
Most of our regularly scheduled dates, which were in place to deceive the eyes of those around us, started like this.
“I’m thinking we should ride horses to the city. What do you think?”
“Sounds a lot more intriguing than getting on a carriage. By the way, what is that in your hand?”
Lunia asked while looking at my right hand. In my right hand was a ranunculus that was as red as a rose.
“Is that not one of the flowers in the garden? Why do you have it?”
“It was pretty so I took it. Would you please accept it?”
“Hmph. It belongs to our household in the first place though.”
“I heard there’s no lady who does not like flowers.”
“30 out of 100. That is very much outdated.”
“Really?”
I placed the flower in her hair, while being conscious of the eyes around us.
“Do you know what it means?”
“Huhu. Although I do, I will wait for the gentleman to finish his words.”
“‘You are charming’.”
“60 points. That is a pass mark.”
“Where’s the other 40?”
“I might give it to you depending on how you perform today.”
Getting on our horses, we slowly rode towards the town.
“By the way, where have you learned such things?”
“From a book.”
“That is a nice teacher to have.”
What I realized by going on dates with Miss Lunia a few times was that she was more fond of quiet places than loud ones, and that she preferred simple over fancy.
She was the exemplar of a typical proud and traditional beauty. She was such a wonderful lady in all aspects that she was awe-inspiring.
After having a meal at a traditional eastern-style restaurant, we drank tea in an open room of a teahouse.
“...”
“...”
She elegantly raised the cup of tea like the refined lady of a renowned household she was.
“Why are you looking at me and not the tea? Does it not suit your tastes?”
“No, I was just thinking you were very cool.”
“Hopefully the date was not too boring. It is rare for me to go out on occasions like this with a gentleman, you see.”
“It’s my honor.”
Something I noticed even back in the last iteration was that she had no relationships with men nor the desire to have one.
Unlike the last iteration, the survival of Alicia caused pressure from the family which led to the threat of a semi-forced political marriage. If not for that, Lunia wouldn’t even be here going out on dates.
“I like spending some leisure time like this as well. Honestly, I would have enjoyed anything whatever they were.”
“I respect your positive mindset towards everything.”
“Or more like, it’s important who I am with. I’m sure any man going on a date with you would think the same, Miss Lunia.”
“Huhu.”
As if she was pleased by that, Lunia let out a gentle chuckle. Then, she gazed at me for a while before slowly resting her head on my shoulders.
“Miss Lunia?”
“There are still eyes on us. Let us put on a show for them to see.”
Was there someone from her family looking at us? In that case, there was a need to put out a better act for this fake engagement.
- Tap
Putting my hand on her shoulder, I pulled her towards me until we were so close that we could feel each other’s breath.
“Right. Great work. If this engagement goes through, I will surely repay the debt by fulfilling your side of the contract.”
“You’re ruining the mood by saying that.”
“Goodness. It seems that it was inconsiderate of me to say that.”
“Well, it’s good that we are talking about something at least.”
After similarly wrapping her arm around my back to my shoulders, she also pulled me in towards her. This in fact suited her a bit more.
“I assume your conditions are probably related to ‘those guys’. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“Haa~. Seriously, I wonder what kind of enemy my fiancé has.”
“I’m not doing this for myself. It’s something that has to be done for everyone.”
“What kind of people are they? I can tell just by looking at them that they are very powerful.”
What kind of people, huh.
How should I reply to that question? Their existence itself was so nonsensical in the first place that it was hard for me to explain them.
However, the most accurate description for them would probably be…
“Evil. Absolute evil.”
“...Considering how that is coming from someone like you, I suppose they are not your run-of-the-mill foes.”
“If I have your help, Miss Lunia and the Arden Family… or even just the Sword Squad that is directly under your command, it would alleviate a lot of my burden.”
“There is no need for you to worry. I will certainly help you without you even having to say that. However… I definitely was not expecting you to go against the ‘Royal Family’.”
“If you think that’s crazy, you don’t have to be a part of this. I don’t want to cause you that much trouble either.”
“Indeed, going against the 2nd Princess who has deep connections with the Old Faith is very concerning. Although they have fallen compared to the past, they still have a great amount of support both in the kingdom and continent.”
My side of the contract that I introduced during the talk about the fake engagement with Lunia was this: a military movement of Lunia and the Arden Family when I called for it.
Before becoming the family head, all she could mobilize were probably the 1st Sword Squad that was directly under her command and a few demon-hunting troops that were a lot weaker than sword squads but… those would be plenty of help already.
“Is that perhaps… because of the 2nd Princess and her supporters’ hatred against demons?”
Lunia knew that Marie and Hua Ran were demons and that the Royal Family of this kingdom… especially those on the 2nd Princess’ side would feel threatened by it.
There were a lot fewer than before, but the reason why the old-fashioned Old Faith still had support from so many people was because of their consistent oppression against demi-humans.
Except for unique cases like Marie, demi-humans were all ostracized and hated. People considered demi-humans to be a part of demons just like demonic beasts and spirits, and the consistent demi-human oppression of the Old Faith in contrast to the standpoint of the New Faith made faithful believers stand against one another.
“Something I heard from the Guardian Alliance is that the Tower of Mages will soon start to move. They are one of the powerful sponsors of the Old Faith and the 2nd Princess. If you truly wish to protect your friends, you will need to keep an eye out for them,” said Lunia.
Of course. I knew about that already.
The main story of the 4th Arc - the stir in the Tower of Mages and the murder of Chairman Eriu Casarr.
The incident caused by the Red and Black mage factions of the Tower of Mages led to the official death of Chairman Eriu Casarr. Following that were serial attacks of demons, and the actions of the incited group of werewolves from the demi-human village resulted in a terrible public perception of demi-humans.
What I had to stop was the death of Chairman Eriu Casarr. To be exact, I had to stop Master Erin’s clone from being crushed.
Originally, it was an unstoppable event in the main scenario. The game had certain scenarios that could only be attended by the permitted party members but… as long as I had Lunia Arden and a group of elite swordsmen, modifying the scenario would no longer be impossible.
The stir in the Tower of Mages would be the first place where I gather all the connections and forces that I had built up over the past year.
In return for becoming Lunia’s fake fiancé, I would receive military support from her, under the pretext of her helping out her fiancé.
No matter how I saw it, that was way too good of a story for me.
“Korin. Someone I know is very close. We need to be closer.”
“Alright.”
Grabbing my arm, Lunia brought her face towards mine. Depending on the angle, some might even think that we were sharing a kiss. Although I was slightly surprised by it, I gave a natural and fitting response.
“Hmm. That was a good response.”
“Well, I believe I am quick-witted enough.”
“Quick-witted? Not sure about that.”
“Huh? Is there something I missed?”
“Nothing. Looks like there’s a long road ahead of my sister.”
Lunia muttered while glancing somewhere. She was still tightly holding onto my arm so I gently tapped hers.
“Miss Lunia. Your hand.”
“Ah, my apologies. Did that hurt?”
“You have calluses on your hands so it did hurt a bit.”
“I apologize. And I know they are unsightly for a woman to have.”
“What do you mean? They’re cool.”
There were a lot of calluses on Lunia’s hands. These took a lot more than a day or two to form.
Those had layers and layers that were formed by her continuing to push herself beyond her limits consistently for a very long time. The training I had done for 3 years in the last iteration added to 1 year in this iteration was still far from reaching all the hard work Lunia had gone through.
“Open your palms for me.”
“Hmm?”
Despite her doubt, Lunia obediently opened her hands. While touching her hands, I stroked the thick and rough calluses.
“As I said, these are awesome.”
“Is that… so?”
“When you look at someone’s hands, you can tell how diligent they have been.”
That was the case even for students studying with a pen, let alone warriors. Having this many calluses would require an unbelievable amount of hard work.
“Each and every one of these calluses prove your hard work and experience. What’s the reason you should be embarrassed by them?”
“I see…”
“If someone says something about them, that just means they are narrow-minded as heck. This is a beautiful charm that only you have.”
“Huhu. You are very smooth with words, are you not.”
She seemed pleased by my compliments.
Both in the last and this iteration, there were a bunch of things I had learned from her. How could I not respect this master of swords, who endlessly trained herself despite never being able to fully reach the Domain?
“Well. That was very sweet of you. So sweet… that it even made me ponder whether I should take you as is.”
“Aye~. Now that’s an overstatement.”
“Huhu,” she chuckled before opening her mouth again. “You should go home first for today. There is a place I need to be.”
“Sending the lady off home is the duty of a gentleman though.”
“I will gladly accept just your thoughtful consideration.”
Saying that, she stood up and left first. It seemed that she really did have a place to be at.
Just like that, our last date before the engagement ceremony came to an end.
Soon after, we had a very simple engagement. Since this was, after all, just a means to officially state that Lunia had a fiancé, the ceremony was held with very few members of the household.
“Are you ready, my fiancé.”
“Uhh…”
When my engagement partner walked into the venue, I was so shocked that I was momentarily lost for words.
Because she always wore suits and martial uniforms, I had rarely ever seen her all dressed up beautifully.
Her bare face was already beautiful enough and even when counting all the years I had spent with her in the last iteration, I had rarely seen her dress up like this in the span of 4 years.
Starting from the fancy decorations and a hairpin on her hair to a traditional costume of red silk and golden strings. A layer of lipstick was faintly brightening up her reddened lips.
“You look beautiful.”
“Huhu. You are indeed a gentleman who knows how to make a lady happy.”
“I am not joking. You are truly and seriously… beautiful.”
Even she seemed embarrassed by my straightforward compliment and her cheeks turned red. She then opened her mouth and started speaking as if it was a shame.
“How unfortunate. I have actually started to think that taking you for myself would not be a bad option.”
“Sorry?”
Before I could even fully understand her words, Alicia appeared from the other side of the hall.
“What the heck is she doing there?”
Alicia Arden - she was Lunia Arden’s younger sister, who should be helping out and putting a crown of flowers on her head as the bridesmaid… So why was she here without even wearing a suit?
As if she resolved herself for something, Alicia resolutely lifted her head and—
“I, I am against this engagement…!”
W, what?