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nMy room inside the mansion.

nI was lying on the bed sprawled out as I enjoyed Amagi’s lap pillow.

nIt really felt like I was back home.

n“Amagi, how’s Rosetta doing?”

n“After finishing her tour of the mansion, she’s currently taking a break to catch up with her family.”

n…boring.

nI wanted her to either break down in despair or act more rebelliously.

nBut right now she just seems to be happy to reunite with her family.

nOr should I just be a more patient?

n“I see… try to keep an eye on her. I took everything from her, afterall.”

n“Everything? Does that mean you’ve already embraced her?”

n“Eh? What?”

nAmagi made a troubled expression.

nIsn’t she cute?

n“Master, she’s going to be your wife in the future, if you continue to spend time with me like this, then friction might build between the two of you.”

n“If that ever happens, I’ll just throw her away. Problem solved.”

n“If you abandon Lady Rosetta, you’ll lose the trust of the noble society, Master.”

n“Then, should I just put her under house arrest? I hate petty women.”

nMy previous life’s wife– she was one of them.

nShe always found some way to find fault with me.

nI could still remember her taking the presents I gave her and throwing them in the trash.

nMy chest hurt just thinking about it.

nIf I ever saw her again, I swore I’d kill her with my own hands.

nMaybe if I asked the guide, he’d bring her to me?

nBut now that I think about it, I don’t really want to see her, so wouldn’t it be better to keep the status quo?

nLet’s just vent all my built up depressing feelings on Rosetta.

nShe’ll surely resist me.

nAnd in return I’ll–

n“Master.”

n“Yes?”

nAmagi’s words brought me pulled me back from my delusions.

n“Lady Rosetta is going to become your wife. Please treat her gently.”

nUnfortunately, I couldn’t answer that request, so I stayed silent.

nAfter all, I only took Rosetta as my wife so I could break her.

nWell, with Amagi and Brian always saying, “Take a bride already-!”, I can’t really deny that I was feeling a little pressured to.

nAmagi was stroking my head,

n“We’re planning to have your engagement ceremony after you graduate from elementary school.”

n“…okay. No, wait.”

nI sat up and turned to Amagi.

n“Is there something wrong?”

n“Let’s have the engagement ceremony as soon as possible. I want to do it during our vacation time.”

n“That’s not enough time to prepare.”

n“Don’t worry about it. Were you planning to have a luxurious engagement ceremony for Rosetta? It’s okay to be modest, just set it up quickly.”

n“There’s also Lady Rosseta’s education to consider. She needs to spend at least three months inside an education capsule first.”

nRosetta has only gone through the minimum of physical enhancements and education through the capsules.

nThis was the main reason for her results in school.

nTherefore, in order to improve her grades as soon as possible, we’re having her use an education capsule during the vacation.

n“Quickly send her into the capsule and prepare for the ceremony.”

n“…as you wish.”

nNo matter how strong Rosetta’s steel spirit was, once we had our engagement ceremony, she be forced to accept reality no matter how much she hates it.

nI’d also be able to take the Claudia house’s Ducal status.

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nBut we wouldn’t be officially married yet, so my position would be more like a future-duke though.

n“Ah~ I’m looking forward to this.”

nRosetta– I will definitely break your spirit.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nThe education capsule room in the Banfield estate.

nDoctors, escorts, and maid androids were all present there.

nRosetta had covered her body with a thin cloth.

n“It’s different from the basic capsule we have at home.”

nThe contrast couldn’t have been more distinct– a specialised female staff was currently preparing the high-end capsule for use.

nA female doctor explained,

n“This will be a short-term adjustment. Considering the rehabilitation period that comes afterwards, you should be done in about four months.”

n“Most of the long vacation will be over.”

nLooking at Rosetta, the female doctor began to comfort her,

n“I heard about your grandmother. I’d like for you two to have more time together, but this is Lord Liam’s order.”

n“Yes, I know. My grandmother wants this as well.”

nShe wiped her tears.

nRosetta was crying, but it was because her grandmother wasn’t feeling well recently.

nEven if they used elixirs, they couldn’t fix her broken spirit.

nElixirs could cure any injury or illness.

nHowever, all life had a limit.

nIt was possible to extend her life a little, but Rosetta’s grandmother was quite old.

nAside from her body, her mind and soul were at their ends.

nShe was running out of time.

n“Lady Rosetta, we’ll do everything we can in as little time as possible, but please don’t forget that this won’t be enough. Your full use of education capsule will start after you graduate from elementary school.”

nRosetta raised her face,

n“–I’ll leave it to you.”

nShe then removed the cloth before entering the liquid inside the capsule naked.

nWithin the capsule, Rosetta was curled up like a fetus.

n(Grandmother, I hope you’ll be able to participate in the engagement ceremony…)

nFalling unconscious, her body strengthening and studies in the capsule had begun.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nLiam’s merchant– Thomas was in a frenzy.

n“Hurry it up! We need to get everything ready before the engagement ceremony!”

nCount Banfield’s engagement had been announced.

nMoreover, there was less than half a year before the actual ceremony happened.

nThe subordinates were rushing to load the containers onto the ship.

n“Is there a reason why they’re in such a rush? Couldn’t they have just held the engagement ceremony after they graduated from elementary school?”

nThomas explained to his complaining subordinates,

n“The daughter of the Ducal house– Lady Rosetta’s grandmother doesn’t have much longer to live.”

nThe subordinates fell into thought,

nIn other words, Liam was rushing the engagement that Rosetta’s grandmother could see her granddaughter’s proud moment before it was too late.

nThomas was trying to answer those feelings,

n“Apparently they’ve been living quite the difficult life until now. If we don’t do our best here, we can’t call ourselves merchants of the Banfield house.”

nThe subordinates silently returned to their work.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nSomething’s weird.

nThe territory has been strange recently.

nUsually, around this time some kind of wacky fashion would be trending, but what was popular right now was– my story.

nFor some reason, the motive behind me rushing the engagement ceremony was suddenly because of Rosetta’s grandmother.

nWatching the news on the monitor, the newscaster was explaining the event,

n“Lady Rosetta, who Lord Liam had decided to make his fiancée, seems to have lived quite the harsh life until now.”

nThe report then starts to tell Rosetta’s circumstances, and explains in detail how the Claudia Ducal house has been treated.

nThey overdid it.

nThe things they were telling were way worse than what Wallace told me.

n‘And to save such a Rosetta, Lord Liam decided to marry her!’– and so forth.

nThe mass media in the territory was under my control, but it was kind of unpleasant when they made the lies so obvious.

nIt’ll have the opposite effect and make me look more like a joke.

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n“And the previous Duchess– Lady Rosetta’s grandmother, isn’t feeling well.”

nI’ve been told that we were using elixirs to prolong her life.

nBut this is the first time I’ve heard that this was the reason behind the rushed engagement ceremony.

nI looked towards Amagi, who was currently attending to me,

n“What’s the meaning of all this?”

n“Because Master’s and Lady Rosetta’s story makes good gossip, isn’t only natural for it to become popular amongst your people? By the way, it looks like talks of turning it into a drama or a movie are in the works.”

n“…you’re kidding me.”

nThey were making it sound like my meeting with Rosetta was fate.

nDespite there being no such elements, it suddenly transformed into some kind of emotional story.

nAre the people of my territory okay? Are they acting like this because they’re at the breaking point?

nDid I tax them too harshly? Let’s take a break, and squeeze them again after a while.

n“Amagi, let’s lower the taxes, but only a little bit.”

n“That’s surprising. You want to lower the taxes during the engagement ceremony?”

n“Precisely! Let’s make things a little cheaper so that my people can have a break.”

n“In that case, I’ll arrange for it right away.”

nI wiped my sweat.

nMy people were making me uneasy.

nAlthough they were making things convenient, they were scaring me.

nNo, wait– I can use this situation.

nTo have made a good story out of Rosetta’s humiliating meeting with me, she would surely be mortified.

nI’m looking forward to that.

n“It looks like this engagement ceremony is going to be fun.”

nAs I grinned, Amagi silently watched over me with a smile.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nWhen the long vacation was almost over.

nA large number of visitors had rushed over to the Banfield mansion.

nWallace was dressed in formal wear, and was currently enjoying a drink,

n“I was expecting a more extravagant part, but this really gives off a calming feeling.”

nKurt was also invited, and attending the ceremony in his own formal wear.

n“But isn’t it beautiful?”

n“For a Count’s ceremony, it gives off an amazingly calming atmosphere. I’m not saying he skimped out or anything. It’s just happy to see that he didn’t do anything weird.”

nSometimes, nobility made their parties too elaborate– often creating events that can’t be understood.

n“The only kind of weird events that I know to have succeeded would be bucket parties.”

n“Oh, but aren’t bucket parties classics?”

n“Yeah, I’ve only participated in them a few times, but they’re amazing. Definitely classics. The person who thought of them must be a genius.”

nThe participants were enjoying the food and drinks that were set up in a buffet-style.

nKurt looked around,

n“There sure are a lot of aristocrats in attendance. My father seems to be making a lot of greetings.”

nThere were a lot more nobility attending than in the last ceremony.

nAnd Wallace knew why.

n(Liam… were you aiming for this?)

nLiam had declared himself as hostile to the Berkley family.

nWith them having a common enemy, the sensible nobles were gathering around Liam.

nAlthough they were still in a phase of wait-and-see, Wallace was still surprised.

n(This doesn’t bode well… the war between the Banfield and the Berkley houses, this will no doubt become a proxy war that’ll involve the other nobles of the Empire.)

nThis will become a war between the virtuous nobility and the unscrupulous ones.

nThe representative of the virtuous ones being Liam.

n“Ah, Liam’s here.”

nLiam had appeared in the video projected into the sky.

nBoth him and Rosetta were dressed in clothes of pure white.

n◇ ◇ ◇

nThe engagement ceremony.

nApparently, both Earth and the Intergalactic Empire had the tradition of taking kisses and vows in front of a great number of people.

nThey were quite similar in that aspect– as I thought so, I felt the desire to see Rosetta’s face, which was currently hidden behind a veil, grow within me.

nA man who had taken the role of priest told us to say our vows and face each other.

n“Rosetta, how are you feeling?”

nWhen I called out to her, she didn’t answer back.

nSurely, that was because she must be making an amazing face full of regret right now.

n“Everything of yours will become mine. Both your family and the status you were supposed to inherit– all of it was taken by me.”

nAs I slowly lifted the veil, Rosetta’s face was visible from the jaw.

nJust from that, I could see that her makeup and skin was clear and beautiful.

nHer fresh lips were brightened with lipstick.

n…huh? Isn’t something wrong here? I thought she’d be clenching her teeth right now, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

nOr was this a state of lethargy?

nWell, as long as her spirit was broken, it’d still be worth seeing.

nAs I slowly lifted the veil and revealed Rosetta’s face– her cheeks were flushed.

nHer moist eyes were shining as she looked straight into mine.

n…hey, wait a second! Something’s wrong!

nDid she already give up?! I thought she was a woman with a spirit of steel!

nAnd when I looked a Rosetta’s face–

n“–Thank you for accepting me as I am! Darling, I… I! I promise to always be by your side!”

n…Darling?! Did she eat something strange?!

nThis change was at a level where I suspected the doctor might’ve brainwashed her in the education capsule.

nHowever, the maid androids told me, “We did the usual treatment.”

nSo that’s proof that they didn’t do anything.

nThey can’t lie to me, so I know that what they told me is correct.

nRosetta closed her eyes and leaned in close.

nI thought she’d be disgusted by this, I was completely caught off guard.

nIn anycase– looking at her up close, rather than cute, wasn’t she like insanely beautiful?

nNo matter how I looked at her, she was gorgeous.

nAnd so, I kissed her to advance the ceremony.

nA tear fell from her eye.

nDon’t tell me, was she was doing all this to trick me?

nE-even that would still be okay.

nThat’d be proof that her spirit hadn’t broken and she was looking to stab me in the back.

nOur lips parted.

n“Rosetta, I’m looking forward to our future together.”

nIt was a phrase said with all my feelings of making her surrender to me.

nAs I smiled while saying that, Rosetta wiped her tears with her finger— and sent her own glowing smile right back at me.

n“Yes, darling.”

n…wait a second! D-did she actually fall for me?!

n◇ ◇ ◇

nAt the venue, there was laughter at the sight of Liam getting flustered.

nIt wasn’t a laugh made to make fun of someone, but more of one made when watching over another with a smile.

nMeanwhile, Wallace was observing Liam’s knights.

nThe head knight was Christiana.

nMarie was her deputy.

nBoth were talented female knights that just suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

n“Where does Liam find such people? Two knights at that level are rarely seen even in the palace.”

nThen, at the engagement ceremony, congratulatory messages were being read out.

nSome of them came from ministers.

nWallace silently continued to drink,

n(Does this mean the prime minister also has expectations for Liam? No, that old fox isn’t that nice of a guy. I’m sure he’s trying to keep the balance with the Berkley family.)

nHowever, if the prime minister did have expectations for Liam…

nWallace smiled,

n“Well, as long as my patron is competent and happy, I’ll cooperate a little. –I’d be troubled if he suddenly disappeared on me afterall.”

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