CH 226

I relax over a cup of tea in the salon with Ludwig and Rutger. I wanted to do something about the relationship between Ludwig and Margarete, but I didn’t know what to do when we got here.

If I hadn’t been invited out of the blue, I would have thought about this situation in advance. I know exactly what my overarching goal is, and what I’m thinking of doing, but I don’t know what to do at the moment.

Should I ask Ludwig what his ideal image of a woman should be? Or should I try to have some guy-to-guy talk, and push Margarete as a nice girl he should take a look at?

Even if I include my past life, I’m a beginner in love and I’ve never even done such love banters with someone of the same sex as me.

In my previous life, I was an otaku-oriented person who aimed for everything outside real-life, so all my friends are similar. Surrounded by friends like that, there’s no way we’d have such love banter. I, myself, have no such experience, so there is no way I can get along talking about girls just by having talked to girls.

I’m lucky to be surrounded by cute wives in this life, but I’ve never done anything like love banter, so I don’t know what to do. In the first place, in this world, I don’t even know what to do at times like this… ah!

That’s right……. come to think of it, I don’t know the common sense of love in this world, do I?

Of course, I have never experienced it myself, and I have never learned such manners and common sense. Olivia had taught me how to deal with men at night parties, but I hadn’t even learned anything about men and women in love.

Generally speaking, in this world, marriages are arranged, or rather, it is normal for parents to decide who you’re going to marry without consulting you. Marriage for love is unlikely. I don’t know about the general public, but it’s natural for royalty and aristocrats to marry for convenience, and it doesn’t include things like your personal likes and dislikes.

If you really want to flirt with someone you like, it’s normal to make them your mistress or concubine, and it’s a natural world for couples who have married for convenience to surrounding each other with their lovers outside the union.

So maybe there’s no point in pushing Margarete to Ludwig? The Royal Family of Ploiss would decide who would be the most beneficial woman to marry Ludwig, the next king, and will choose his partner for him.

Is it better to check that area as well…? That’s right… the stability of the Kingdom of Ploiss should be considered the #1 priority when choosing a marriage partner, but if Ludwig does his best, he might be able to do something similar to marriage for love.

“What do you think about marriage, Prince Ludwig?” I asked.

Let’s start with a light jab. If Ludwig puts a political marriage first, Margarete and House Greif should be the best for the Royal Family of Ploiss. On the other hand, if you want to get married for love, it’s a good jumping-off point to make him fall in love with Margarete.

“Oh! Finally, Flora…” Ludwig said.

I pretended to have a casual conversation with him but now he was clenching his right hand over his chest.

“I think it would be fine to remain an official couple for a while,” Ludwig said. “We are all still young. I know the surroundings have been clamoring for an heir but I’d like to spend a few years as just newlyweds.”

“Huh?” I asked.

I don’t get it… I didn’t ask him about his ideal after marriage. I asked him about his views on marriage. I haven’t asked anything about married life, after the union. But Ludwig didn’t stop talking.

“I don’t care how many children I have, but I’d like to have as many as I can… I want to create a close-knit family so that brothers and sisters don’t argue. You may think it’s not terribly convincing considering how my siblings are, but I don’t want my children to suffer the same situation I have. That’s why I don’t need a second queen, a concubine, or a mistress. I’m fine with loving only my wife for the rest of my life and only her children.”

“Is that so……?” I said.

I didn’t ask for any of that! But, I couldn’t say it to the face of the Crown Prince who’s speaking so passionately. Even with this situation, I am still just a knight in this country. There’s no way I can meddle with the next king as if I’m so influential.

And for some reason, Rutger has been making an angry expression since a while ago. He is most certainly upset. I guess it just makes him uncomfortable to hear Ludwig talk like this. He’s also Ludwig’s vassal, so he’s supposed to be a close friend and confidant who grew up with him like a blood brother…

“Your Highness Ludwig…” I said. “What do you think about, say, marriages for love and political unions?”

All right! Let’s just force our way to the point. I explicitly said this is what I wanted to hear about. Now Ludwig will understand what my questioning is about.

“I see…” Ludwig said. “Certainly from my point of view, no matter who I marry, I can’t escape the accusations of a political marriage. But! I will be married to the woman I love! I want you to keep this in mind. I certainly do not deny that there are certainly reasons for a marriage of convenience, but it’s also a marriage for love!”

“Huh…?”

No… what is this guy talking about? Aren’t I asking if he’s amenable to a marriage of convenience or if he wants a marriage of love?

Is it useless to attack with this angle anymore? … It would be useless. Let’s change the subject for a moment. Even if I ask the same question to this disappointment of a prince, I don’t think he’ll understand what I’m asking.

“Umm… then, what would you say is your ideal image of a woman, Your Highness…? what kind of woman do you like?”

Let’s ask him about his type. This can be used for the Margarete Remodeling Plan. If it’s a hairstyle or a body type, it will be possible to get closer to the ideal to some extent. Personality is a bit difficult but it’s not impossible to change her behavior.

There is a high possibility that it will not work well even if she is made to seem like his taste on the surface. Even if you force yourself to act out the other person’s ideals, the performer will get tired, and there will be times when you make a mistake and the mask slips somewhere. When this happens, it can become a factor that makes the relationship between husband and wife worse.

But that doesn’t mean it’s better not to do things that suit the other person’s tastes better. Everyone wants to be seen as good to each other at first and will push things a little too hard.

Even people who usually wear sloppy clothes will go on a date in proper attire, and even people who don’t know where to go out will probably research various places for a date. Everyone initially tries to get the other person’s attention by using unreasonableness and lies.

Lying to deceive others and try to bend them to like you may not be a good thing, but everyone should lie to the extent that it’s just a bit of a lie to make them look better than they really are. Lies and facades that make you look like a completely different person are not good and won’t work, but if you don’t try to match the other’s tastes a little, there’s a high chance that the other person won’t like you.

“My-My ideal is… right before me, how should I put it…?” Ludwig muttered.

“Huh?” I went.

Even though he had been talking about his ideals until a while ago, when I asked him what type of woman he liked, he turned bright red and started fidgeting. I feel sick! If you’re a man, be sharper about it! Stop acting so wimpy! A girl blushing and fidgeting is cute, but it’s just frustrating when a guy does it.

“Umm… I like every aspect of the person I fall in love with, but… the kind of woman I like is strong and rugged, but… she’s kind-hearted, and she’s actually very easily hurt, so I want to protect her. It’s like… the thing is… even though she knows everything and can do anything, she’s actually unexpectedly lacking in places and doesn’t notice or forget the important things, which makes her so cute.”

“Huh…” I mutter.

No… what can I say? I mean, what kind of person is that? Strong and rugged… is that a macho older sister type? But she’s a maiden at heart? Arousing a desire to protect? She knows everything and can do anything, but is she still clumsy and forgets things? A woman that’s insensitive and a bit of an amnesiac?

I have no idea. I mean, is there such a person? Where is this monster?

What is it…….? It’s that she’s tough and macho but goes, “Aa~hhh! So scary!” and though she’s incredibly capable with everything, she can screw up like a natural klutz?

No, no, no……. Ludwig… what kind of strange taste for women do you have? With a face and status like yours, you can marry someone better, right? Why would you go out of your way to step on a visible landmine like that?

………… No, wait? Could it be…….

Ludwig is, to put it bluntly, popular. Wherever he walks, women scream in delight at the sight of him. That’s right. He looks refreshing and he’s a man, but even I can admit he has the type of face that’s popular with both genders. There is no problem with his height. And he is the crown prince who is promised to be the next king in this country’s royal family. There’s no way he won’t be popular.

In other words, Ludwig usually has beautiful women and pretty girls smitten with him. Does that mean that he doesn’t care about someone who’s just a little pretty or cute now? On the contrary, he probably got tired of the calculating beautiful girls who swarmed around with ulterior motives and would prefer a simpler girl. Then it would make sense.

That means it’s a little different from what I imagined earlier. When he says strong and rugged, he doesn’t mean macho and muscular like a gorilla, but I think it means a woman who can live a robust life like a rustic farmer’s daughter in the countryside.

She’s a simple girl from the countryside, she’s a little bubbly, she’s a cultured clumsy girl who pretends to be ignorant even though she really understands, and she’s like “I don’t know!.” and “What’s that~?”, is that the type of woman he likes?

Hmmm… If this is the case, it’s still more possible than before… right?

I can’t help but think that if I only look at glamorous women in the city, I’ll be able to see the innocent girls in the countryside in a better light. In this world, Ludwig, who lives in the big city of the royal capital, prefers simple girls from the countryside to the daughters of the noblest of nobles who live in the same area as him.

I see. Then I’ll understand. I think I’m starting to understand. Should I check just in case?

“That… what do you mean by strong and rugged…?” I said.

“She’s someone who can face the most heinous monsters in the region and defeat them with a single blow, even if she’s unarmed,” Ludwig said.

Huh?! What in the hell!? A strong and rugged woman who kills vicious monsters with her bare hands!? Isn’t that just a macho gorilla type?! I don’t know what Ludwig likes anymore…

He’s blushing and talking with excitement, but what kind of monster does Ludwig like? Don’t you have more normal tastes?

Developing Margarete into a warrior capable of taking down vicious monsters with a single bare-handed blow is no mean feat. I would even say that it is impossible. This doesn’t help anything. After all, there is no choice but to change Ludwig’s thinking and tastes.

“Eh… um… more like this… a more ladylike woman… do you have any specific tastes about them?” I asked.

“Hmm… Ah! That’s right! The woman I like is the one who uses eccentric ideas to invent unprecedented products and technologies one after another.”

Huh!? What in the hell all over again!? Does he want someone who keeps making never-before-seen inventions? A genius or something? I’m worried because “eccentric” and “unprecedented” don’t sound very good. What kind of things is he imagining?

“Ah… what do you mean by unprecedented invention?” I asked.

“Perhaps something like sweets that have never been made before, or something so large it changes the landscape?”

Is it an unprecedented invention to make a large sweet candy that has never existed before…? No… I mean, wouldn’t you be a big eater and a larger woman to invent and eat something like that?

I see! That’s what he means! I thought he was saying strong and rugged like a macho gorilla, but he means someone fatter and larger… what the hell does he mean?! What kind of monster do you like?! Stop screwing around with me, already.

… Could it be that I’m being teased by Ludwig?

I see……. then it doesn’t make sense on purpose. Ludwig doesn’t take my question seriously. I was being teased…

“… Please excuse me, but I’m going to have to leave now,” I said.

“Aah, pardon for saying all of this out of the blue,” Ludwig said. “Do go home and think it over.”

…… What? Are you telling me to sit at home and ponder over those obscure preferences like riddles? Is there some kind of hint hidden? Or maybe I was just being teased…

I’m not sure what Ludwig was thinking when he said such nonsense, but I was so exhausted that I left the inner palace much earlier than Katharina came to pick me up, and waited at the doorway until she arrived with the carriage.