CH 175

「Ash, what do you wanna do? 」

I asked the most crucial thing for now.

「I will obey the orders of the Royal Family and return as a member of the Duke’s family. 」

「Ash, they banished you from the duke’s house, remember? 」

「Mm… 」

Ash fell silent with a scary face, the furrow between her brows deepening.

When we first met, she was no longer part of the duke’s family, so she couldn’t even use recovery potion despite being severely wounded.

「Ash, Jean wants to know what you want to do yourself and not just out of your sense of duty, right? It might be difficult to answer because of the way you’ve been raised, but if you can do whatever you want, what do you wanna do? 」

Great followup from Dinosso.

Not sure if it’s just the way she had been raised, or if it’s because of her personality, but she doesn’t assert herself that much. She does what she’s supposed to do detachedly, and even her expressions are quite scarce. Well, I can sense she’s in a good mood when she’s eating sweets, though.

「What I wanted to do… 」

「Yup. What Ash wants to do herself. I’d like to grant that, but I can’t move without knowing what you want. 」

「Jean’s snacks — I wanna eat them. 」

「Ojou-sama… We’re not in the knight’s barracks, so… 」

Butler gently warned her.

「Mm. I think that’s it generally, was it weird? 」

「It is quite improper as an example. 」

「Let me rephrase it. I want to stay beside Jean. 」

Eh, wait, did I just get a confession burning with passion? But then, I thought I won’t be able to believe a true confession if I were to receive one given my past experiences.

「I can guarantee the snacks and meals, and you can touch my hair from time to time, I’m fine with that. Collarbones… Well, the weather’s getting hotter, so —”

It’s a bit of a problem doing the rest between an unmarried guy and girl… Ack, it’s kinda difficult to say that because she’s making an expression similar to when I served the strawberry shortcake to her.

「I’m really enjoying being able to do all the things I want to do, so I can’t give up this freedom. Honestly, it’s far more important to me than love. Although I do think it’s unfair if I don’t make things clear now, but… 」

「Ash, I also want you here. 」

「Mm. I’ll just show my face, check on Father, then return here. 」

Huh?

「Hm? Can you come back? 」

Dinosso asked before I could.

「Aside from those aristocrats who behaved strangely, many nobles were also in liaison with Torum Kingdom. They can no longer hide it from the citizens, and the incident has been publicized. Ah, but I heard they did try to block it from being known just before the scandal broke by pretending and exaggerating propaganda that all is well within the kingdom. They even spread an impressive tale about Father, my adopted brother, and me; one that brings down my brother while lifting me up so I’m gonna use that. Besides, with the current situation in my kingdom, only a handful of people can stop me by brute force. 」

I don’t know what I can do for her, so I just decide to give it my all to support her. Turns out she already has a plan to deal with it.

「Erm, is there anything I can do to help you? 」

「It’s definitely gonna be far more dangerous for Jean if you got discovered by the kingdom, right? 」

Ack!

「Jean-sama, how about being betrothed to Ojou-sama? 」

「What? 」

Huh? What are you suddenly saying, Butler?

「It’s not a formal oath sworn in the 『Fae’s Bough』 and in temples, but a documented engagement — a contractual betrothal, if you will — among nobles. It can be voided should the interests between the two parties fall through and they wish to terminate their agreement. If Ojou-sama has that, she will be able to avoid any marriage-related surprise attacks such as an engagement with one of the Royal Family. 」

「Yeah, that’s going to be a huge help for sure but — Jean’s not a noble, so that sort of thing must be disgusting for you. 」

Butler gave a suggestion, but Ash immediately turned it down.

「I believe that Ojou-sama will certainly be married off to the Royal Family. Status isn’t a problem at all. Matrimony is a matter of duty for the royalty and the high-ranking aristocrats, so they do not honor the wishes of the individuals involved. In fact, before she had been disowned, Ojou-sama’s fiance was His Highness the Second Prince. 」

Oh, my apologies. I didn’t associate a lot of things with Ash. I finally understood after Butler’s explanation.

「Well, it’s not absolutely necessary to prepare documents of engagement; however, it would be desirable for Ojou-sama to have a betrothal accessory that will serve as proof. Please allow us to use your name as the gifter of that accessory. 」

Betrothal accessory is what we call the engagement ring. It is customary here to give the woman a precious metal she can pawn off for a huge sum that’s enough to last a minimum of three months if the engagement or marriage is broken. There are also cases when women from merchant families are usually the ones giving it to the men.

Hmm, is it a tradition that came to be because of this world’s harsh reality — the huge disparity of wealth and status among the people? Nobilities mostly send engagement rings during betrothal, and it’s required to use a magic stone. It’s just that Ash wields the sword, so a ring with a huge stone will get in her way. Maybe something other than a ring is better? By the way, they also exchange rings in weddings here.

「Noth, it’s not something you should force him to do. 」

「Actually, we will not be using your name per se; we will just tell them that we cannot reveal the identity of the person in Ojou-sama’s heart…. When Ojou-sama informed Reid-sama that she will be returning here, she told him that ‘I have someone I swore to protect’. Reid-sama promised to help her flee when he heard that. 」

Butler whispered that second half so that Ash won’t hear him. Not sure if it’s an ability he has, but strange, it’s as if Butler’s voice is only audible to the person he is facing.

「So manly. 」

Dinosso muttered beside me, half awed, half baffled.

Ack, I won’t have anything to do at this rate!

「Gotcha. Okay, I’ll not only lend my name, I’ll prepare the accessory. What do you want? 」

Ash is bad at lying, so it’s probably better for me to give it to her myself.

「Jean, you don’t have to do anything you don’t like. 」

「Nah, I also want to help. 」

It’s not because I cave in to Butler’s pressure.

「…Bracelet. I’ll give it back as soon as I return. 」

I felt a bit disappointed for some reason when Ash said that. And Dinosso, stop grinning!!