CH 322

“Hey, Margarete…, even if we worry about your love life alone, we won’t be able to come up with an answer. Is it okay if we call some people to help us?” I said, winking.

“Help?” Margarete asked, adorably tilting her head in confusion.

I call my wives in the meanwhile.

“So then? You want to hear our opinion?” Mikoto said.

“Yes. I do indeed…” I said.

I don’t expect much from Mikoto’s opinion, but… Rather, I feel that if Margarete does as Mikoto says, she will end up in serious trouble…

“I don’t think I can be of any help…” Louisa said.

“That’s not true,” I said. “Status, age, and gender have nothing to do with love. All you have to do is give your honest opinion, Louisa. There is a good chance that it will lead to something.”

Certainly, the love affairs of the common people and the love affairs of the nobility are different. There is a possibility that common people will be disliked among the nobility. But there is no distinction between status and gender in love and romance. Even if a commoner’s date doesn’t appeal to aristocrats, there won’t be much of a difference between commoners and aristocrats when it comes to heart-throbbing situations and scenes where they become aware of each other as romantic partners.

“Fuh! If that’s the case, leave it to me!” Claudia said.

“Ah~… well… in moderation…” I said.

Claudia is pretty self-confident, but Claudia may have had many romances, but they’ve never gone well… she said that I was her first lover, so she’s good at broken hearts, but is she good at romance, in contrast?

“This is what we have to do with a time like this, isn’t it?!” Alexandra cried. “First of all, correspondence! That’s the basics!”

“Umm, uh…” I said.

It’s true that Alexandra might understand the most in terms of aristocratic relationships and common sense, but… But Alexandra is too attached to the classic noble’s way of doing things. Graceful and verbose phrases and aristocratic behavior were highly valued.

Margarete and Ludwig are high-ranking aristocrats and royalty, so it’s natural for them to behave like that, but is it necessary to tell Margarete that now?

Even Margarete has been educated as a daughter of Duke Greif, so she should be well-versed in such behavior and etiquette. Even Ludwig was used to that sort of thing in the first place, so I don’t think he’ll suddenly become aware of Margarete’s womanhood after being treated like that.

“But Flora… is it okay?” Margarete said. “For you to do something like this for me…”

“I don’t mind,” I said. “Let me be clear at this point: I don’t want to marry His Highness Ludwig, so I would appreciate it if someone could marry him, instead. I would really rather do that. So this is for me, too.”

If you’ve gotten this far, it’s probably better to open up to each other. I don’t think Margarete will betray me just because I told her what’s inside my heart. Rather, it would be better for Margarete to know that I am certain to withdraw.

“Eh!? Is that so!? I was certain…” Margarete said.

“………… Hmm?”

Where’s the rest? I don’t have a good feeling about something. Tell me. Speak honestly? Hm?

“What? I’ll be honest with you, so please be honest with Margarete,” I said.

“Eh… ah… mn~… understood…”

Margarete seemed to have given up and began to talk. And it was an outrageous misunderstanding that I didn’t even expect…

“I was certain… you, Flora, will only surrender your position as First Queen to me, and you would marry as Prince Ludwig’s Second Queen… That’s why I thought that we would just have a good relationship with each other in the palace…”

“………… So I see,” I said.

I don’t know what to say to Margarete’s confession. I did encourage Margarete to marry Ludwig. Don’t worry about me and be the Queen, I said. But… I never thought that she thought I would still marry Ludwig just by becoming the second queen, instead…

Was this all… my fault as well?

In my sensibility, the idea of bigamy seemed to be unacceptable. I thought that if I recommended Margarete to marry Ludwig, it would mean that I had no intention of marrying Ludwig.

But in this world’s aristocratic society, bigamy is commonplace. Even if I recommended that Margarete marry Ludwig, it wouldn’t be strange for Ludwig to have a second and even a third wife, as well. Even if I give Margarete as the first wife, it may be unavoidable for her to think I want to marry Ludwig, still.

Then, isn’t it good that the misunderstanding has been cleared up?” I said. “I have no intention of marrying His Highness Ludwig. So it’s convenient for me to have someone else who will, in my stead. You’re of a good House, Margarete, and you and him also get along well. You’re the perfect match for him.”

“Aren’t you overdoing it yourself? Are you holding back for my sake?” Margarete said.

She’s skeptical… it’s because of my lack of interest in men… but I can’t say it…

“That’s not the case,” I said. “So, Margarete, you don’t have to worry about that. Instead, let’s think about how to capture His Highness Ludwig’s heart.”

Those who like Ludwig or who have an aristocratic way of thinking will not understand what I am saying. People tend to think that if they like someone, then everyone around them must like them, too.

For example, if you like an idol or an actor, and everyone in the world says they’re handsome, you’ll think that idol or actor is handsome, too. Japanese people read the air, and even if they don’t think they’re handsome if people around them say so, they’ll say they’re handsome idols or handsome actors, but in many cases, they don’t think that at all.

Now, if you ask about idols and actors who they don’t think are handsome, and tell them to be honest, the majority of people believe the favorites mass media pushes out as the “most good-looking” are not actually handsome.

I digress a little, but I think everyone must like the idols and actors that they love. From the perspective of Margarete, who believes she likes Ludwig, she guesses that Ludwig must like her back, too.

Besides, if you think about it from an aristocratic way of thinking, it doesn’t matter if you like or dislike that person. A good marriage for a noble is to be able to marry and connect with a more powerful family and a person of a higher status than them. Moreover, the partner is the crown prince, the next king, so there is no better partner in the Kingdom of Ploiss.

From an aristocratic point of view, if you can marry the next king, you’d bite the proverbial bullet to make it happen. That’s a natural thought, and I don’t like Ludwig, so I want to dissolve the marriage, but I don’t think anyone will understand that if I said so outright.

Margarete, who loves Ludwig and has such ideas and thoughts as a high-ranking noble, can’t understand what I’m saying. It’s unavoidable.

“Ah, enough~,” Mikoto said. “Why don’t you confess? That’s the best, isn’t it?”

“Mikoto…” I said.

If she could have done that, we wouldn’t need to bother. In the first place, a noble marriage is not such an easy story. If that other family is the royal family, and that individual is the crown prince and the next king, it will be more complicated. It doesn’t matter what their intentions are. After all, only political marriages decided by political interests are possible.

“Miss Flora, I would like to apologize for speaking without permission,” Katharina said. “That Lady Margarete has been living in the royal castle for a long time means that the people around her are also thinking Prince Ludwig will marry her, yes?”

“That’s……” I said.

That’s right… It’s certainly as Katharina says. Maybe people are thinking of Margarete as Ludwig’s marriage partner. That’s why they invited her to the royal castle and let her live with them for a long time. No matter how much she is a daughter of a duke whose territory is close to them, there is no way she would be invited to live in the royal castle for this long if there wasn’t intent to marry.

So the political background is enough. Political lobbying seems easy. Just ask the King to make Margarete his son’s wife. After that, it would be perfect if I could persuade Dietrich and the rest of the nobles, as well.

However, even if Margarete is married to Ludwig as a political union, there is a possibility that it will be unhappy. Margarete is a friend of mine, too, so I don’t want her to be unhappy. In that case, I want Ludwig to fall in love with Margarete properly, have a happy romantic relationship, and then get married.

What should I do about that…? That’s why we’re discussing it, if we knew the answer, we wouldn’t be struggling.

What Mikoto said is the best. Once you confess, you can clearly understand the other’s feelings, and it will be the best way to increase Margarete’s appeal as a woman. If Ludwig is not conscious of it, then he must be crazy.

But… it’s a double-edged sword. Certainly, you can clearly convey your feelings and that you want to be romantic. But usually, confession is something you do at the last minute, with a chance of success. It would be the worst if you confessed and got rejected when you had no chance of winning is the most irreversible negative outcome.

If the confession fails, in the worst case it will be difficult to maintain the original relationship. Even if they promised each other to pretend like nothing happened, there’s no way it’ll go that way. Absolutely, they will be awkward with each other and it will not go well.

Confession is the very last moment. It’s a gamble when you have a chance. It’s too risky to force things here, as they probably aren’t even conscious of being romantic partners yet.

“Let’s wait until we have a better chance of success before confessing. Right now, the danger is too great,” I said.

“Since you’re saying that, it won’t work no matter how long it takes,” Mikoto said. “If she really likes him, just say it now.”

What Mikoto said is correct. She’s right. But the human heart is easily broken. Well then, if she’ll confess anyway, it won’t be like that.

Even if she doesn’t fail, she will feel uneasy, and in the first place, if she could confide her thoughts so easily, we wouldn’t be so worried. I have to think more about Katharina’s personality and the relationship between the two…

“Big Brother likes Margarete, right?” Eleanore said.

“””……Huh?”””

I and Margarete harden at the unexpected words from the side. I calmly thought that it was what a child would say, but Margarete didn’t seem to think so.

“Princess Eleanore! Details! Please, tell me more about that!”

And she’s taken a big bite of the bait. Well, it would be unreasonable to say that the person she loves might like her back, and if that person’s beloved younger sister said it, why wouldn’t you trust it?

“Huh…?” Eleanore said. “Nmm, ah… Big Brother likes Margarete!”

“Um… more like this… what does he like about me, why does he like it, what else does he like, is there anything else he likes?” Margarete said.

Margarete is too desperate! Even if you say that to Eleonore, who is still 5 years old or so, there’s no way she’ll understand. In the first place, can Eleonore understand “like,” not like “love,” but “like”? As a friend, as a relative, as an acquaintance, there is a high possibility that she confuses those kinds of love.

“Come now!” Mikoto said. “Even this little girl is saying it, too. Now’s the time to confess!”

“Oh, that’s right!” Margarete said.

Even Mikoto is on fire… am I the one ignorant here? Because you don’t know even if you’ll fail and cry? It’s up to you, so it’s fine to decide for yourself, but even if you fail and tell me to do something about it, I don’t know anymore, right?

“Flora! I feel like I can do it!” Margarete said.

“Is that so…? It’s up to you, so you can decide for yourself… but even if you fail, please don’t come crying to me later, okay?” I said. “It’s your decision, take responsibility for your actions.”

“Oh, absolutely not! Anything but that! So please, don’t abandon me! I’m begging you, Flora!” Margarete cried, suddenly weak and clinging to me.

Which one is it? Are you going to confess to him with all your might…? So if it blows up in your face, that’s then that’s the time to figure out what’s next, right?

It’s difficult to give love advice to a girl… After all, it doesn’t work for me. In the first place, I never confessed to the other person, but there was no way I could give advice to people.

“Haa… For now, let’s discuss it a little more calmly. I don’t know if you’re getting ahead of yourself…”

“I understand! So don’t abandon me!”

I don’t know why Margarete is counting on me so much… I’m a beginner with almost zero love experience…