Chapter 1

<Arsion Hastings is about to become a paladin.>

One day in March, the high society was turned upside down by a rumour that flew into the capital along with the warm spring breeze.

“Sir Arsion is trying to become a paladin? But I’ve heard that he’d return after he was done with his apprenticeship.”

“I know, right? I too thought he’d be back in the capital soon…….”

“No, more than that, isn’t Sir Arsion the sole heir to Duke Hastings? If he does become a paladin, then who will succeed the duke?”

The first thing people were worried about was who would succeed the Duke.

Duke Hastings had only one child, Arsion. This was why people unavoidably began to call Arsion “Little Duke Hastings” since they believed him to be the next duke. So, how could someone like Arsion become a paladin?

A person could only become a paladin if he decided to devote his body and mind completely to the goddess and pledged abstinence; by extension, celibacy in both body and mind and by logic it meant that a paladin couldn’t have a successor.

“If Sir Arsion really becomes a paladin, it will become hard to see him anymore, right?”

Despair tinged the face of the young lady as she asked that. The faces of the other accompanying young ladies were no different.

They couldn’t see Arsion anymore.

It was really something to despair over for the woman in the high society. Arsion wasn’t only famous because of his status as the sole heir to Duke Hastings. Of course, that fact alone would make him desirable, but the reason why everyone in high society liked him was because of his devastatingly beautiful and splendid appearance, which also earned him the nickname: “A gift from God”.

When he first debuted in the social circle, everyone irrespective of their age or gender just kept looking at him and no one danced that night even though music kept playing. Even now, after so many years, people kept on eagerly talking about it as if it were yesterday.

One of the women who was gushing over Arsion grinned and said, “By the way … what will happen to Lady Ariel, now?”

Ariel.

As soon as the name came out, the faces of the young ladies who were talking about Arsion turned stiff. The more praises poured for Arsion, the more they hated that name.

It was because Ariel was Arsion’s fiancée.

“Of course their engagement will be annulled.”

“Oh my! It won’t be easy for her to find a new marriage prospect now.”

There wasn’t a twinge of sad pity in the voice of the lady who said that. No, rather it was dripped with glee.

These young ladies of noble families were always envious of Ariel.

Ariel Bellford. She was the second daughter of Baron Bellford, a retainer of Duke Hastings. She had nothing to offer besides her pretty face. In fact, even though she was pretty, her appearance wasn’t good enough to be the talk of the social circles where there were many ladies who’d beat her in terms of appearance and beauty.

Nevertheless, Ariel received a distinctive special treatment in high society; the crown princess always had her by her side, and the duke’s main residence, which was an unreachable place for many, was like Ariel’s home.

They were already envious of the fact that she was Arsion’s fiancée, but when Ariel was treated like that, their envy towards her grew day by day.

“I heard that when she was six, Lady Ariel begged Sir Arsion to get engaged with her and he promised to do it. Their engagement is a result of that promise. ”

“I’ve also heard about it. In fact, even though they’re engaged, isn’t it actually that the Hastings haven’t promised to be engaged in writing?”

“So you mean to say that Lady Ariel has been going around getting treated as Sir Arsion’s fiancée until now even though their engagement has no legitimacy?”

“Oh my God! How shameless!”

“Well, the daughter of a baron, who has no fief, finally seized the opportunity to become the mistress of a duchy. Do you think she would let this chance go so easily? If that’s the case, she really doesn’t know her place……”

As time passed the young ladies’ voices grew sharper and sharper. Today, they were all determined to vent out all their hostility against Ariel, which they had held back for so long.

They were all so immersed and self-absorbed in their conversation that they didn’t notice Ariel, who was wearing a wide-brimmed hat, getting up from her seat not too far away from them.

“Ha…….”

Ariel left the palace after she was done listening to their gossip and sighed as soon as she got on her carriage. She told the coachman to head home and then closed her eyes. She felt nauseous and her head was dizzy. Ariel knew very well that it wasn’t because of the shaking of the carriage.

The words from earlier rang in her ear.

Shameless. Someone who doesn’t know her place.

Ariel bowed her head. She herself knew very well that she was such a person.

Ariel recalled the incidents from a time long ago.

Although her father held the title of Baron, his status was in fact close to that of a commoner. By her grandfather’s time, her family’s fortune had dried out, and they had long sold their palm-sized estate to make a living.

Ariel’s family somehow managed to make ends meet thanks to her father’s talent in accounting. It was only when Duke Hastings recognized her father’s abilities and made him his retainer that their lives changed and they no longer had to help their distant relatives in a rural village.

Her father was given the retainers’ lodging that was located in the remote corner of the duke’s estate. While the main household was off-limits for most of the staff, the duke’s large garden was open to all servants. Because of this, Ariel was excited about the new playground and was busy wandering around from morning to evening.

One day, Ariel saw a small building on one side of the garden. It was quite clear that it was a shrine built in the duke’s mansion. The building had no doors but there was a large statue of the Goddess inside, like the ones she had seen at the shrines every weekend.

‘Is there no one here?’

The shrine near her previous house always had villagers in it, but in this shrine, there was no sign of life, only burning candles occupying their place inside the shrine.

Ariel was used to always wandering alone. The shrine had a different air around it from the shrines she had seen and she soon felt sleepy. She thought it must have been because she ate a lot of lunch before going out.

‘Shall I get some sleep?’

The silence inside made her feel drowsier. Ariel looked around the shrine and noticed something like a large basket covered with a soft cloth. It was big enough to fit a 6-year-old child if he or she’d curled up.

Ariel climbed up without even knowing what it was and laid down in it. The soft cloth that rubbed against her face felt good. It smelled good too.

“Hmm …”

Ariel closed her eyes and fell asleep very quickly.

How long has it been? Ariel woke up and rubbed her eyes. Her little head couldn’t remember where she was, or why she had slept here. All she knew was that it was getting dark because the sun was already setting.

Ariel was suddenly terrified.

‘Mom said that if I walk around late at night, a monster will come and eat me.’

Of course, this was inside the dukedom and if she went back by the path she came here she’d be home in no time, but a 6 year-old’s mind couldn’t think that far.

In addition, the chilly evening air brushing against her just-woken-up warm body intensified the terror. Just when tears started to well up in her frightened eyes, “Don’t cry.”

“……Huh?”

Ariel turned her head to the sudden voice. At the moment, she had every right to scream from the sudden surprise, but instead, she just kept blinking her eyes without saying anything. It was because…..

“…….Mister Angel?”

……Because a boy—with a face so unbelievably beautiful that he couldn’t be mistaken for a human—was looking back at her.

‘Even though he’s an angel, he doesn’t have wings?’ 

Ariel with her mouth agape stared blankly at the boy who told her not to cry. That was Arsion’s first encounter with Ariel.

Arsion lightly kissed a mesmerized Ariel’s cheek while comforting her not to cry. When Ariel mentioned she had to go home, he asked what her name was, where she lived, and how she got here.

“I’ll take you there. And my name is Arsion.”

“Arsion?”

Has there been an angel with that name?  Anyway, her fear of waking up in an unfamiliar place had completely disappeared. It was the first time she was not afraid of monsters while walking on a dark road.

She thought it was all thanks to the mister angel holding her hand.

She wondered what she would do if by any chance Mister Angel disappeared after taking her home. Ariel tightened her grip on Arsion’s hand. Her sweaty palms must’ve been unpleasant, but Arsion did not show any signs of disgust. Rather, he held her hand tightly as if to comfort her.

Ariel told Arsion as they arrived at her home after walking for some time at a slow pace.

“That’s my house!”

Just then, Ariel’s mother, who was pacing around anxiously in front of their house, found her daughter. She ran towards Ariel frantically and hugged her.

“Ariel, where have you been? Your dad went out looking for you!”

Ariel’s mother, who hurriedly checked her daughter for injuries, picked Ariel up and smacked her on her butt after confirming that Ariel was fine.

Ariel’s father, who had returned to his house after searching for his daughter for a long time, looked worriedly at his daughter who held onto the little duke’s hand and was saying, “The angel brought me here!” The scene caused his face to almost look as if he was about to breathe his last.

Only then did Ariel learn that the boy was not an angel, but the only son of the duke.

“Li-Little Duke1, if by any chance my daughter was rude……”

Ariel’s father carefully asked Arison, already imagining being fired from a job he had just found. Contrary to her father’s concerns, Arsion smiled and turned to Ariel.

“Let’s play together tomorrow!”

Because of this, Ariel’s father’s complexion turned paler and paler by the second. Next day, he visited the duke at the crack of dawn, telling him what had transpired yesterday and sought for his forgiveness. However, contrary to his concerns, the duke listened quietly and told him not to worry and let the two kids do what they wanted.

Ariel’s father didn’t notice because he was bowing his head, but the duke’s expression was full of surprise when he said that.

Perhaps it was due to the lack of other children their age, after that fateful encounter, Ariel and Arsion quickly became close and spent more and more time together. As a result, Ariel began to call Arsion by the nickname, ‘Sion’, and Arsion also began to call her ‘Riel’.

Then one day, Ariel’s birthday came. Her parents gave Ariel the big doll she wanted, and her sister gave Ariel her favourite fairy tale book.

She didn’t expect Arsion to come because she knew he had left together with Duke Hastings to inspect their ducal territory.

‘Still, I wish Arsion was here……’

Ariel was sad, but her mother’s cake filled with only her favourite fruits soothed her a little. So, she tried hard to forget about Arsion’s absence due to work.

It was when she picked up the toy knife, laughing at her sister’s urging to cut the cake.

Bang bang bang!

“Riel!”

When everyone was wondering who had come visiting, they heard a voice from outside.

“Sion? Is it Sion?”

Arsion was the only one who called her Riel. Ariel threw away the cake knife in her hand and ran to open the door.

There stood Arsion, in a state completely in contrast with his usual neat appearance. He had come to her in haste so his hair was messed up and his forehead glistened with sweat.

“I’m sorry, Riel. It’s your birthday and I couldn’t even prepare a gift…….”

Tears welled up in Ariel’s eyes at those words. Actually, she had never considered wanting a gift from him. She was just upset that Arsion, who was with her every day, was not by her side today.

The sorrow she had forgotten suddenly came back rushing at the words of his apology. Eventually, Ariel ended up crying her heart out before Arsion. Seeing Ariel like that, Arsion was flustered and he didn’t know what to do.

“Riel, I’m sorry. I’m terribly sorry. I’ll always be by your side on your birthday from now on.”

“Sniff, sniff……”

That didn’t stop Ariel’s crying. Then Arsion hugged Ariel and lifted her up. Even though they were of a similar size, he lifted her up so easily as if he was lifting a cotton doll and soothed the crying Ariel.

“I’m sorry. I’ll give you anything you want. Everything you want.”

Because Arsion’s voice soothing her was nice, Ariel sniffled a little more and soon stopped crying. Then she said to Arsion,

“Then marry me!”

Ariel didn’t know what marriage was. She just knew that they could sleep in bed together at night if they were married. And when she heard that, she told her father, “Then I will marry Sion!” She didn’t know why, but her father scolded her to death and warned her not to say this in front of anyone even as a joke.

Maybe Arsion would marry her if she begged him now.

Worried that Arsion might be angry like her father, Ariel secretly studied his face. But he glanced at her with bright eyes and replied with a bright smile as if he had gotten a present.

“Okay, let’s get married.”

This was how Ariel and Arsion’s marriage was decided. After a while, Ariel’s father immediately knelt down when he saw the Duke following Arsion. It was because when the duke saw Arsion smiling while holding Ariel in his arms, his face turned stiff as if he had seen something unbelievable.

The baron wondered what to do.

‘What on earth should I say to apologize for this rudeness? Would I lose this job right away from tomorrow onwards? If I crawl on all fours and apologize, would the duke let this go? If I had known this would happen, I would have quit my work and left from here before Ariel could become friends with Little Duke.’

When Ariel’s father was at a loss as to what to do, Duke Hastings turned around and shouted at his vassals.

“From today onwards, you will treat Ariel as a member of the Hastings ducal family.”

At that, everyone present in the room opened their mouths in amazement. They knew that the duke cherished his son very much, but they found it hard to believe that the duke would accept just any woman as his son’s fiancee just because his son wanted it.

Anyway, that was how Ariel became Arsion’s fiancée. It had been 14 years now since that incident.

Hello everyone. I was stockpiling for this novel but I just got to know that another group has picked it up. I did try contacting the translator of that group but I couldn’t find any means. Well, I don’t know what to do for now. I’ll just post whatever I’ve translated.

Hope you guys enjoyed the novel.^_^