Chapter 332
Engagement 1
"In the meantime, we have to throw a party." (Marquis Bozes)
"E e e e eh~!" (Mitsuha)
I've conducted other people's parties a few times, but never a party of my own!
I mean, if I were to throw a party...
"...It costs money, isn't it?" (Mitsuha)
When I say that with a pitiful face...
"As your guardian, we will be the organizer, which means we will pay for it.
...Ah~, don't look so apologetic. That's a guardian's role.
If I let you pay for it, Mitsuha, I would completely lose face, and that would be more trouble than it would be worth." (Marquis Bozes)
"Ah~ I see......" (Mitsuha)
That's right, of course.
But then......
"What would you call that party?...
You're not calling it my [Fiancée selection party], are you?
In my country, the age for women to get married is 24-25 at the earliest, and 34-35 or older at the latest, so I don't plan to get married for a while yet, you know?" (Mitsuha)
"...Too late! That marriage age is way too late!!
...No, no matter how much you lie, that would be a little, no, it would be too unreasonable..." (Marquis Bozes)
No, well, it's no surprise that Marquis Bozes doesn't believe me. In this world, the ideal age for marriage is from around 15 years old, which is the adult age, to around 23-24 years old...
The only people over the age of 25 are those who remarried or had some other significant circumstance like they had to take care of their parents, or they lost their parents and had to raise their younger siblings, and so on...
Well, the social culture here is not designed for women to live alone, the mortality rate of children is high, so the idea is to have many children while they are young, and there's no medical system that can support giving birth at an older age.
I guess I shouldn't compare it to modern earth......
But I look about 12-13 years old here, so I should still not be ready for marriage.
However, it's not uncommon for nobles and royalty to get engaged right after they're born.
Beatrice-chan, whose parents are repelling applications, or the King's family, who are eliminating all engagement proposals for all their children because of the heartbroken Princess Ichi, who has lost her fiancé, are just abnormal.
......Or rather, His Highness, the Crown Prince is engaged. The only ones who are not yet engaged are the three princesses and the still-young Prince Luchen.
Even on the New Continent, many of the Society members had fiancés......
Some of the girls are so ambitious that they are willing to break off their engagement and go with someone better because the Society has increased their own commodity value......
Sorry, former fiancés......
Really, sorry...
"Well, putting that aside, I have no intention of choosing a fiancée just yet!" (Mitsuha)
......Or rather, am I going to get married here?
Aren't I going to find a marriage partner back on Earth?
Now that I'm fluent in the languages of each country, there's no need to limit myself to Japan, so I have a wide range of options for marriage on earth...
No, at the moment, I don't have anything to offer.
And it's not like I don't like the people of this world.
They may not have scientific knowledge of earth, but they're not stupid.
There are plenty of men here who're much more intelligent, respectable, and robust than the charlatans and idiotic ones from earth.
They will stand in the way of the flying bullets as they're protecting me... No, nah naw nah no!
Anyway, it's not that I don't want to get married here.
In that case, people in Japan would think that I would be single or an unmarried mother.
I wonder if my child's family register will be an illegitimate child...
Well, it would be better to have a family register on Earth. Just in case something happens...
I want them to receive their education on Earth...
"......~tsuha. Mitsuha, come back~!" (Marquis Bozes)
"Ah~......" (Mitsuha)
No good, as everyone says, I was too engrossed in my "delusion time"...
......And wait, I'm seriously thinking about raising a child? Me?......
"If I must get engaged, then make a backroom deal with some nobleman to get him engaged to me in name only, then break it off a few years later and have him marry another woman......
Like he found true love or something..." (Mitsuha)
"You idiot! A noble's marriage is for the connection between families.
If the engagement were to be broken off or something, that would mean that there was a major problem in one of the houses, and the family name would be tarnished.
If it's the eldest son and an heir or something, it's fine, but women will no longer be taken seriously in social circles.
I don't see how you can engage then break off so easily!" (Marquis Bozes)
Ah, is that how it is?
But still......
"......Even though you were in a marriage for love, yourself......" (Mitsuha)
"Wha~! Where did you hear that?!" (Marquis Bozes)
"Ah, as expected, it was a true story..." (Mitsuha)
"Gugh..." (Marquis Bozes)
"Also, it seems that he proposed to a naive student at the Academy in front of a large crowd so that it would be difficult to refuse..." (Mitsuha)
"Waa, wait! Who told you that! That's clearly an explanation by someone with malicious intent!!" (Marquis Bozes)
"He~eh... Then, are you saying that at that time, Iris-sama wasn't enrolled in a girls' school? And there was no one around when you proposed to her?" (Mitsuha)
"Kuh..." (Marquis Bozes)
Fuhaha, things have gotten worse for you, and you can't escape it anymore, Marquis-sama...
"...Well, if it's with Alexis..." (Marquis Bozes)
Are? Are you sure about that?
Oh, I guess it means that since the Marquis Bozes' House will be succeeded by Alexis-sama's younger brother, Theodore-sama if Alexis-sama left home after founding his own Viscounty, his own family, Marquis Bozes, will not be stigmatized even if the engagement is broken off.
...But I can't cause Alexis-sama that kind of trouble.
Moreover......
"Eh? But, Alexis-sama... The first princess is aiming for him, isn't she?" (Mitsuha)
"Eh?"
"Eh?"
"Eee~eh?"
""Eeeee~eh?""
Apparently, Count Bozes... No, I mean, Marquis Bozes wasn't aware of that.
......Even now, I carelessly call him "Count-sama"......
I heard that it's a great insult to mispronounce a title, even a lower one, but since it's a sudden change from what I had been accustomed to calling him, it's no wonder that I'll make a mistake.
Although the Count...~err, Marquis-sama doesn't seem to mind even if I make such mistakes sometimes...
However, he said "Don't make such mistakes in other places!", like I was about to be stabbed with a nail......
When it was revealed that I had misunderstood the first princess's age by nearly 10 years, Sabine-chan and Chii-neesama, the second princess, gave me an earful of lectures.
No, it's difficult for Japanese people to tell the age of a Western woman...
According to what I heard at that time, Princess Ichi-sama was madly in love with her fiancee when she was 10 years old. However, she continued to study social studies, political economy, industry, agriculture, and all other fields. And was praised as the [Princess of Efforts].
And even though her appearance isn't as healing as the second princess or Sabine-chan, she's a sufficiently beautiful woman with a distinguished and dignified feeling to her that seems to be strong-willed as a noble or royalty.
It's just that the direction is different... Yes, she's a beauty in Iris-sama's direction.
When her fiancé passed away, there was a flood of proposals, but the king was furious, saying, "You're rubbing salt in my daughter's wounds!" The king was furious, and the offers of marriage came to an abrupt halt.
......Nevertheless, it seems that they still come from other countries occasionally, but it seems that the king stopped them all and crushed their hopes......
And Sabine-chan, who was originally a genius, deliberately imitated the good parts of both the efforts of the first princess and the second princess, who has a little naturalness and is pampered without any trouble. It seems that she has become the genius little devil Sabine-chan that she is today......
......What the hell is she doing!!
......No, well, anyway, to Princess Ichi-sama, Alexis-sama, who is the eldest son of the Marquis Bozes family and a peerage noble in terms of family status, age, ability, and good looks. That's why he's a good match for her.
...On the contrary, no matter how much he's the eldest son of the Marquis family and has his own title, Alexis-sama is a little less powerful than his younger brother who'll take over his family's house, while he himself is a Viscount, but his family is broad... So if the royal family wants it, a marriage would be no problem.
He's the son of Marquis Bozes, who will be in a position to support this country from now on, and he's the older brother of Theodore-sama, who will inherit the Marquis' house in the future. The brothers are very close as well...
"............"
Ah, Marquis Bozes-sama, he's stuck in a daze, isn't he?
Is it really that surprising?
Princess Ichi-sama, had a pretty visible attitude all this time......
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