CH 188

An Aristocrat’s Marriage 1

“I see.”

Changing the location, they are now at the fleet command center onboard the [Radiant]. The room which has already turned into Schleer’s office is filled with documents and empty cans of energy drinks. After hearing Nora’s plan, Schleer, who has dark circles formed under her eyes, nodded.

“Eleanor-san’s house…….that’s the Fafleta house, correct? If my memory serves me right, that’s quite a powerful house isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it only holds the rank of countess but they have a lot of rare minerals in their territory so they are very powerful in terms of financial power. Thanks to that, they are growing in power in Nored despite being a recently found house.”

“So to put it the other way, they are an upstart aren’t they.”

Said Solana, Schleer’s staff officer.

“The timing is great, their Head Retainer will be visiting us to negotiate the release of the POW. This would be our best chance to draw them in as our ally.”

A Head Retainer is the highest position given to a servant of a noble house. This may not be as good as the family head visiting them herself but a Head Retainer still holds a lot of authority in the house. As a negotiation partner, the Head Retainer would probably be good enough.

“But unlike Tersis-san, Eleanor-san is not the family head. Will it be so easy to negotiate with them? No, in the first place, will Eleanor-san really be willing to betray her country…….”

Of course, Schleer had already tried negotiating with her to see if she was willing to join Calencia but Eleanor stubbornly turned her down. She claimed that she can’t just betray her country.

“I have a plan for that.”

“So you have one………”

Schleer has already got a taste of what Diaroze’s schemes entail so she was drawn back a little.

“For the time being, I can do something about her house as long as we have Eleanor with us. After that, you can leave the negotiation with her house to me. I will serve them up on a silver platter for you.”

“Why are you so gung-ho about this…..”

Solana cast a suspicious gaze on Diaroze. Naturally, it’s obvious for her to doubt the former enemy general who is suddenly so willing to cooperate. The normal line of thinking would be that she’s pretending to side with them while waiting for a chance of betrayal.

“I’ve already shared a bath and even slept on the same futon as your princess you know! Besides, if I act suspiciously then you can detonate this collar at any time right. You can even attach someone to monitor me so just trust me on this.”

“Eh, same futon!?”

Said Solana as she looked alternately between Schleer and Diaroze with the eyes that say [You two have that kind of relationship!?].

In reply, Schleer shook her head sideways with her face bright red.

“W, Well, leaving that aside. Even if we can do something about the negotiation with the Fafletas, what are we going to do with Eleanor-san? According to what I heard about her, she seems to be pretty stubborn though.”

“Umu, about that……”

With an apologetic look, Diaroze glanced at Kisei.

Realizing that his turn has arrived, Kisei shakes his head.

“I’m thinking of arranging a marriage interview with her and Master. If Master and Eleanor get married, she would consequently become Schleer’s sister-in-law. That way we should be able to bar the Fafletas from entering the war.”

“Eh, In-law!?”

Solana looked at Schleer with a terribly shocked expression. Her expression says, [YOU TRAITOR!]

“N, N, No way, Your Highness! He agreed to marry you!?”

“Y, yes……”

Schleer replied with a blush.

“What, you still haven’t told her yet?”

Ignoring Diaroze who seemed to be baffled by that, Solana gazes imploringly at Kisei.

“It’s not Her Highness’s usual delusion!?”

“Umm, yes. We plan to submit the document after the war is over……….”

“U, Uwahhh!! I was too late!!”

Solana crouched down and held her head. Seeing her like that, Nora makes a nasty smile.

“Ah, I’m also engaged to him [DESU]. Man, what a shame isn’t it, it’s like I just took an idol from an otaku!”

“AHHHHHHH!! EVEN THE LITTLE BRAT FROM NORED!!”

Apparently, Solana was aiming for Kisei as well. Realizing that, Diaroze tries to comfort Solana who’s now rolling on the floor.

“I, I mean, we still haven’t submitted it yet, since you are such a loyal vassal we should be able to add your name to the paper…….”

While mumbling something incomprehensible to herself, Solana shakily stands up. She then stares intensely at Schleer.

“That’s a good plan for us to forge a tie with the Fafleta house but if that’s the case, won’t Prince Ao be better suited for this?”

It is not common to have a marriage be shared by that many houses. For a marriage that ties two houses together, it is customary that the partner is single. Fortunately, Schleer’s younger brother is still unmarried.

“You have a prince! That’s good. If that’s the case then we can leave this to him.”

Diaroze was reluctant about adding more brides to Kisei from the start. Since there are already so many, adding more would not be good for him. That’s why Diaroze’s expression immediately brightened. However, Schleer shook her head sideways.

“No, that is impossible……..it’s still unofficial but Ao is in a marriage talk with our neighboring country at the moment.”

Schleer’s expression was also complicated. On the personal level, she is also against Kisei having more wives but on the other hand, she’s also reluctant to leave her precious younger brother to a noble from an enemy country.

That being said, she can’t be immature here so she decided to state her thoughts as someone in charge.

“The country in question has been providing us with a lot of funds and supplies for this war. Even if it’s still unofficial, we can’t be the one to back out now.”

“………..”

With her hope shattered, Diaroze let out a deep long sigh…….