Chapter 77
A room filled with silence.
Franz and Arian were facing each other.
“I stopped her for now, but…”
He was at a complete loss as to where to even begin. He was also worried whether it was right for him, someone who wasn’t family, to bring up such a topic.
But since he had decided to do something about it, he couldn’t just stay still.
“I rode the carriage with Marcel earlier, right?”
“Ah, yes. I was a little surprised, but… My brother didn’t cause any trouble, did he?”
“It wasn’t trouble. I offered to give him a ride.”
“That’s a relief. I was worried that might be the case.”
Arian let out a short sigh, as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
He felt a little sorry for her, but the main point started now.
“Anyway, I found out while talking with Marcel in the carriage. It seems the family is planning to arrange a marriage for you. I heard this party was also thrown to find you a husband.”
“…Excuse me?”
Arian tilted her head, expressing her confusion.
It seemed she couldn’t quite understand because it was such an unexpected topic.
'She really hadn’t heard anything.'
He had thought that if they were pushing for an arranged marriage, there would have been some talk about it beforehand, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
It wasn’t entirely incomprehensible, as families proceeding with matters on their own wasn’t that rare in the noble world. Of course, he couldn’t erase the thought that it was too much.
After continuing her thoughts in silence, Arian spoke quietly.
“…My Lord.”
“Yeah.”
“I know it’s rude, but couldn’t we just go back.”
She wasn’t joking; she was completely serious. It had been a really long time since she returned to her family home, so she could have been immersed in memories, but she hated the arranged marriage so much that she wanted to throw all of that away and leave.
To the family, it might just be a political tool, but to Arian, her entire remaining life depended on it, so it was only natural.
But that wouldn’t solve anything. No matter how much she struggled, the fact that she was a member of the Ducal House of Phrygia wouldn’t change.
“If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have come. I naturally wouldn’t have invited you either, Magic Tower lord. How could they do this without a single word…”
“Arian, calm down.”
At Franz’s words, Arian closed her mouth. Her expression wasn’t good, but she wasn’t at the point where she couldn’t make rational judgments.
“It probably wasn’t a choice the family made because they liked it either. You know what it means to live unmarried.”
In the noble world, someone who doesn’t marry is branded as having some sort of flaw.
Whatever the reason, the truth doesn’t matter. Just the fact that they are different from others is enough for the nobles to gossip about.
From the family’s perspective, weighing all the options, Arian’s arranged marriage was the best choice.
And usually, in such cases, one would follow the family’s will. Since the unmarried person themselves clearly knows their future.
“Even so, I hate it… It’s my life.”
Right, he knew Arian would say this. If her mind could be changed with a single word in the first place, she wouldn’t have held out until this age.
“I told Marcel for now that I would do something about it.”
“Y-you, My Lord…?”
“Yeah, because I figured you would absolutely hate an arranged marriage.”
“H-how are you going to do that…?!!”
Arian spoke in a flushed voice and took a large step toward Franz.
Franz was momentarily flustered by the suddenly closed distance, but he soon maintained his composure and answered her question.
“We’ll have to find someone close to your ideal type.”
“…Excuse me?”
“That’s the point. Let’s buy some time for now.”
“Is that all?”
“It’s your marriage, so it’d be weird for me to just do whatever.”
“It’s fine if you just do whatever.”
What was she saying right now.
Franz was simply bewildered by Arian’s words, but thinking about how desperate she must be, he could understand to some extent.
“Let’s look within the Magic Tower first, and if there’s no one, we can turn our eyes outside…”
“My Lord, I’m really sorry to interrupt. You can take responsibility, right…?”
It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about responsibility.
Words naturally carry responsibility, and since he said he would do something about it, he would have to take the corresponding responsibility.
But that was strictly a matter for after they failed.
It was too early to worry when nothing had even started yet. He thought that rather than spending time on such thoughts, finding a match for Arian was the priority.
'Well, I do understand why she’s worried.'
To Franz, Arian’s arranged marriage was, strictly speaking, truly someone else’s business.
But to Arian, it was her life itself, so it was only natural to worry about what would happen if it didn’t work out.
However, who would have known Arian was having these thoughts.
At least Franz didn’t know.
“Since you said you’d do something about it. If nothing works out, are you, um, are you going to marry me, My Lord…?”
Does it work like that?
Since he delayed the arranged marriage, he should take her himself - was it something like that?
It felt a bit weird, but thinking about it, she wasn’t wrong, so he had nothing to say.
“Shall we think about the case where we succeed first? Someone who perfectly fits your ideal type might appear…”
“Then you’re saying you will do it?”
Ssssp-.
It was a question he couldn’t easily answer, so he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth.
“How do I even think of Arian in the first place…?”
Not as a secretary, not as a colleague from the Magic Tower, but Arian as a marriage partner.
First of all, her face is quite pretty. To the point where she’d quickly become popular wherever she went.
Looks don’t carry that much weight when it comes to marriage, but it’s still nice if she’s pretty.
Then what about her personality?
In the past, it was so bad that he wondered if someone like her could really exist, but recently she had become quite docile.
Except for acting aggressively sometimes, it wasn’t bad.
Plus, they had shared quite a lot of time together.
Looking only at this, she was truly a perfect match as a marriage partner, but.
The important thing was feelings, or rather, he had never once harbored romantic feelings for Arian until now.
Because of that, he couldn’t imagine marrying her.
But he couldn’t just blindly refuse either because…
“As time passes, Arian will get older, right…?”
Even now, Arian was cutting it very close for marriage, right on the verge of becoming an old maid.
It was fine for Franz, who had a 21st-century mindset, but the world’s gaze wasn’t like that.
In other words, if she missed this chance, Arian’s marriage prospects might become even worse.
Since the only men who would take an older spinster would be men of that level.
The Ducal House of Phrygia wouldn’t want that either, so it was truly akin to a gamble against the family. of Phrygia wouldn’t want that either, so it was truly akin to a gamble against the family.
Huu-.
Franz erased his negative thoughts with a short sigh.
“When have I ever jumped in knowing I would fail.”
If he was going to weigh the possibilities, he wouldn’t have even attempted the subjugation of the Demon Lord.
“Arian.”
“Y-yes?!”
At Franz’s call, Arian, who had been keeping her head down, was startled and raised her head.
Her face seemed strangely flushed, but Franz didn’t pay it any mind and continued speaking.
“Let’s do our best together. We’ll definitely be able to find a marriage partner.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think someone will appear that quickly… Still, thank you for thinking of me. As expected, there’s no one but you, My Lord.”
Arian smiled brightly.
Seeing her smile even in a difficult situation somehow reminded him of Yuna.
It had decreased a lot recently, but in the past, she used to always walk around smiling.
“Then I’ll be going now. I’ll come find you when the meal is ready, so please get some good rest until then.”
“Yeah. You go back and get some rest too. You must have had a hard time coming all this way.”
“Yes, I will.”
With those words, Arian left the room.
Left alone in the room filled with silence, Franz sat on the edge of the bed and fell into thought.
“I should talk to the family head first.”
I should go see him after dinner.
Unlike his fierce appearance, his personality seemed good, so maybe it could be resolved without much difficulty.
* * *
Stepping out of the room, Arian gently closed the door without making a sound.
And immediately covered her face with both hands.
Because the corners of her mouth kept going up, she was worried she might show her goofy expression to others.
“What in the world is happening…?”
When Franz first mentioned the arranged marriage, she thought her world was collapsing.
But when he subsequently said he would do something about it, she felt like she had gained everything in the world.
She had truly gone back and forth between heaven and hell with just a single word from him.
It couldn’t be a dream, right?
Arian pinched her cheek with her hand, and fortunately, she felt a stinging pain.
Reality, this was truly reality.
Come to think of it…
“Marcel did a really great job.”
The last time she saw Marcel was when he was two years old, probably.
Back then, he was just small and cute, but to think he had grown up and helped his older sister, time really flew by.
She had aged just as fast and was now close to being an old maid, but…
Well, so what?
She could marry Franz.
Arian had absolutely no intention of trying.
No, rather, she was beaming at the thought of rejecting every man and ultimately marrying Franz.
As time flowed on, mealtime arrived.
Arian went to his room to call Franz.