Chapter 69
After hearing Coleman’s words, Robert and Frostis could only stare at each other with expressions even more bizarre than before.
「Marry me, Young Lady! Or I shall die right here on this spot!」
「Will you be the only one to die? I shall die as well! I’ll bite my tongue and bleed profusely, in agony! No matter how painful it is, it won’t compare to the pain in my heart at having my proposal rejected!」
Robert, who had hurried out of the villa following Coleman, faltered for a moment at the sudden rush of heat.
As his eyes adjusted to the sunlight that abruptly pierced his vision, the scene in front of the villa finally came into focus.
Robert’s mouth fell wide open, completely forgetting his dignity as an aristocrat.
「Fine, you all die then! Once everyone else is dead and I’m the only one left, I’ll be the one to marry the Young Lady!」
Coleman’s words hadn’t been an exaggeration.
It wasn’t just twenty people.
A massive crowd of young men, easily numbering more than double that, was gathered in front of the villa, clamoring loudly. Instead of cold steel, they held bouquets of flowers in their hands.
‘All these men… came here to propose to Charlotte?’
「Th-the Young Lady has shown her face!」
「Young Lady! Please accept my proposal! I will give you anything you desire!」
The young men began to shout, waving their arms toward the second-floor balcony. No longer able to think straight, Robert looked up at the second-floor balcony as if possessed.
As if she had expected this to happen, a young girl stood on the balcony, braving the wind in a deep green dress and full accessories.
It was unmistakably Robert’s only daughter, Lottie.
「Wh-what on earth is… this grotesque…」
Frostis, standing beside Robert, couldn’t even finish his sentence. His face wore an equally bizarre expression. However, instead of pointing that out, Robert simply stared blankly up at his daughter on the balcony.
Lottie, who had been counting the number of suitors without a single hint of surprise, felt his gaze and looked down at her father.
Lottie smiled. She looked slightly bashful, but it was a smile closer to one intended to ease her father’s worries.
“….”
Only then did he realize.
The situation before his eyes was by no means a coincidence; it was the will of his daughter, who sought to protect everyone while standing her ground.
「Of all days, for suitors to swarm on the day I arrived! And so many at once!」
“….”
「Say something, Count! Surely you didn’t plot this to defy Her Majesty’s wishes? How dare you deceive the Royal Family…」
「Has the dirt on your shoes gotten into your eyes as well? To call this a plot after seeing this heated spectacle.」
Robert replied vacantly, his eyes still fixed on the balcony. Frostis’s face crumpled instantly.
As Frostis opened his mouth to snap back, Robert slowly turned to look at him. His face was devoid of emotion, unrecognizable as the man who had been so compliant just moments ago.
「Sir.」
Frostis flinched at Robert’s low call.
「The scene you are witnessing now—return to the Capital and report every single detail to Her Majesty. How many suitors there were, how passionate the proposals were. All of it.」
「You… right now…!」
「Ah, one more thing.」
Robert added with a cynical smile.
「Be sure to tell Her Majesty that from now on, I too have decided to follow the direction the truth points toward. Her Majesty is wiser than anyone, so she will understand exactly what that means.」
Frostis’s mouth, which had been so full of sarcasm until moments ago, now ceased to function. Robert watched in silence as Frostis merely gasped like a fish out of water.
Robert’s gaze swept over him from head to toe, stopping at Frostis’s dirt-stained boots.
「Regrettably, I find it difficult to provide someone to guide you on your way back. As you can see, there are countless young men who desire my daughter.」
「…! You…!」
「Farewell then.」
With a slight tilt of his head to finish his greeting, Robert hurried back into the villa and disappeared.
Frostis belatedly shouted at the top of his lungs, venting his fury, but his voice was immediately drowned out and forgotten amidst the clamor of the young men.
The sweltering summer was nearing its end.
An unprecedented event that would stir not only Dempis but the entire continent was about to begin.
Glaster Castle, which had been bustling since morning, only became quiet toward evening as the sun began to set.
“….”
Inside the study of Count Icks.
Robert looked at Lottie, who sat across from him, in silence.
She was still wearing the tight deep green dress and uncomfortable jewelry she had on when she first stepped out onto the balcony.
Despite having dealt with numerous suitors one by one in that attire, his daughter showed no signs of exhaustion. Her appearance was immaculate, and her posture was upright.
「The suitors who came to propose to you.」
Pushing aside the feeling that he was looking at a wax doll with his daughter’s face, Robert spoke his first words. Sitting with the sunset at her back, Lottie merely offered a faint smile, as if ready to answer anything.
「It wasn’t a coincidence, was it?」
After a moment of silence, Lottie answered readily.
「Yes.」
“….”
「What you’re thinking is correct, Father. I planned it all.」
Instead of launching into a long explanation, Lottie pushed something toward her father. It was a letter. Though it hadn’t been sent because the ink had smudged, the recipient’s name was written on the envelope in Lottie’s distinct handwriting.
<To the Dear Young Lady of House of Viscount M.>
How did his daughter know the House of Viscount M, which was based in the southern part of Matila?
Robert stared intensely at the envelope before glancing at Lottie. Lottie merely sat with her hands folded demurely, wearing a soft smile.
With a sigh, Robert opened the neatly folded letter.
As he read through the letter at a rapid pace, Robert’s eyes gradually widened.
<…I respectfully decline any reward for the matchmaking. Seeing you happy after meeting your lifelong partner is reward enough for me. Knowing that marriage is a very difficult task, I am simply glad to have been of help to you, though on the other hand, I am also quite envious…>
The fact that Lottie had acted as a matchmaker for the daughter of Viscount M behind the adults’ backs was shocking enough, but it was just a drop in the ocean compared to the words that followed.
<…As you know, I must marry to pass down the family title and vast estates to my husband. Yet, I simply cannot find a gentleman who truly captures my heart. My father is so exhausted by my whims that he seems ready to hand over the entire family to any young man who succeeds in winning my heart, regardless of status or background.>
Following that was a list of the businesses owned by the Count, their scale, the cash and jewels held, the income from the territory, and expected future earnings.
She wasn’t making things up, but the descriptions were so flowery that Robert’s face turned red of its own accord.
‘If the person involved feels this way, imagine someone who heard this story without knowing better…’
Robert involuntarily caught his breath as he recalled the suitors who had swarmed like ants, shouting wildly.
This alone was enough to guess the inside story of the situation, but his daughter’s letter continued.
After finishing the unnecessary descriptions of assets, his daughter began to vent a series of seemingly unintentional complaints.
Things like how the second son of House of A had made something like a proposal but it wasn’t to her liking, and how wealth and honor would all belong to the man who could steal her heart, so why were there no courageous suitors…
<P.S. Please, absolutely do not tell the third son of House of J that the second son of House of A proposed to me. Since the two of them are so close, I worry that my complaints might reach the party involved.>
There was no one in the upper class who didn’t know that House of A and House of J were bitter rivals who had competed for generations.
His daughter had taken a story that even commoners with no connection to high society knew secretly, and not only brought up the name of the son of House of A—who had never proposed—but also specifically pointed out the third son of House of J, asking for the secret to be kept.
「It’s human nature to want to talk more when told not to.」
Lottie spoke, as if guessing which part her father’s gaze had stopped on.
「It’s also human nature to be unable to stand by when someone lesser than yourself is about to snatch the cherry off the cake.」
Her voice was as soft as the pouring sunset.
「In the letters I sent elsewhere, I only swapped the names of House of A and House of J.」
“….”
「If the two families had met in person to coordinate their stories, the false information would have been exposed immediately, but that could never happen. They are rivals who are solely focused on keeping each other in check.」
Robert, recalling the sons of House of A and House of J among the suitors gathered below the balcony, forgot how to speak.
‘She must have specifically mentioned sons who aren’t the firstborn because she guessed the desires of those whose paths to success were blocked.’
How many of these letters had his daughter sent?
Just how many mouths had spread the story of the Evanshire family, fanning the flames of men’s ambitions?
‘If today’s events… were not the end, but merely the beginning…’
「Just… what do you intend to do?」
Green eyes, mixed with fatigue and fear, captured the daughter sitting across from him. Robert felt as though he could accept whatever his daughter said now.
「I am certain there is some kind of conspiracy surrounding my marriage. I also know that as long as I do not marry someone, the Royal Family will constantly pressure me and our family.」
Lottie gazed at her father, who seemed to have aged ten years in a short time, with a heart full of apology.
But she had to say what needed to be said. Firmly, and clearly.
「I will marry.」
“….”
「However, I wish to choose that person myself.」
Following that, Lottie began to explain the plan she had devised in a calm tone.
She wanted to hold a competition to select a husband from among the numerous suitors.
The venue would be here in Dempis, and the entire process of the competition would be open to the public for free.
On the surface, it was a place to choose a son-in-law for the Count, but on the other hand, it was also a festival that could boost Dempis’s tourism revenue.
「Looking at the craftsmen of Elga, I felt admiration and regret at the same time. They are clearly pearls. However, they were pearls buried in the mud called Dempis, never knowing when they might see the light.」
“….”
「I want them to be recognized for their value. I want to widely publicize the fact that not only them, but Dempis itself, is gold dust, not mud.」
The study, where the sun had almost completely set, was now dark.
Even in the dim surroundings, Lottie’s eyes shone like the morning star.
「I will recruit the outstanding craftsmen of Dempis and prepare for the competition with them. If we can showcase Dempis’s technological prowess before a large audience, there will be no better promotional effect. While the eyes of the entire Kingdom are fixed on me because of the competition, Father, please find Tom Philson.」
“….”
「Leave it to me, Father. I’ll do a good job.」
