The Power of the Saint is All Around (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter 1

Act 1:

Betrothal

ONE SUNNY DAY, I was busily making potions, just like always—these were the mid-grade variety. However, the batch size was far smaller than usual, as the knights had been placing smaller orders. Monsters really did seem to be spawning less often these days.

I guess my job as the local black swamp purification squad has finally come to an end. I was beginning to feel like I might actually be able to lay down my Saintly duties sooner or later.

By now, I was so accustomed to brewing mid-grade potions that I could pretty much do it in my sleep, so before I knew it, my mind was drifting back to certain recent events.

A frozen cluster of trees sparkling in the light of the setting sun…

Albert, dressed far more handsomely than usual…

And…

“I love you.”

At the memory of his voice, my hands came to a standstill and warmth bloomed in my cheeks.

Gah! No! Stop! Don’t think about that right now! I’m supposed to be working!

The recollection filled me with a mix of giddiness and embarrassment that made me want to squirm. I shook my head back and forth, trying to extinguish the thoughts.

I had accidentally fallen into a reverie about my recent outing with Albert.

It had been just the two of us, and he had prepared a romantic scene where he declared his love for me. And it had been no mere profession of desire—he had asked me to marry him.

I’d been there the whole time and I still couldn’t believe it had really happened. But it had.

And ever since his proposal, I had been a bit busier than usual. I might have been in a different world, but even in this one, there was a mountain of things that needed doing once you got engaged.

For one, we had to inform his family of our engagement. This was common practice in both the world I’d come from and in this one. It turned out that here, though, marriages between noble houses also necessitated a contract between the involved families, so the whole thing was even more rigorous. Since it was a requirement, we had to arrange a meeting with Albert’s family.

However, it was quite a while after the proposal before we figured all that out, as his family was so busy.

It was understandable enough. Both the lord and lady Hawke were busy with their duties in their dominion, and his oldest brother was the minister of military services, and his other older brother was the magus of the royal magi assembly—meaning, in short, that they all worked for the crown. Albert himself was also the knight commander of the Knights of the Third Order, so honestly I was probably the one with the most wiggle room in my schedule. Some familiar voice in the back of my head was telling me that wasn’t true, but that was probably just my imagination.

“I can’t believe tomorrow’s finally the day,” I mused to myself, reflecting on that very upcoming meeting as I worked.

We were scheduled to convene at the Hawke estate in the capital tomorrow afternoon. Albert had handled everything, so all I really had to do was prepare a gift. There was also the matter of what to wear—which I still hadn’t decided.

I was actually kind of worried that I might be missing something. I mean, this country—in fact, everything in this whole world—was so very different from Japan. I didn’t really know what was common practice for this sort of thing back home to begin with, so I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to hear I’d completely dropped the ball somehow or another.

With that thought in mind, I turned to my greatest ally for advice: my etiquette teacher. I had been taking lessons from her for a while now, and I had no trouble approaching her with this kind of question. More importantly, she was an expert on precisely this matter. With her seal of approval, I was sure to succeed.

Turned out I’d been right on the money. As one might expect of a professional, she was able to get everything squared away at a moment’s notice. She declared that it would all be ready for me at the palace on the big day.

It won’t shock you to hear that when nobles meet with other nobles of high status—such as a count—you’re pretty much required to wear a fancy gown. The kind of gown you need help putting on. So, just as I did on the days when I had etiquette lessons, I needed the assistance of my maids at the palace to get me prepped. I hated squeezing into those things, but one had to dress appropriately for such occasions. As such, I humbly accepted my fate.

Perhaps it was because I showed so little resistance, or perhaps it was because we were preparing for a meeting with my future in-laws, but when the maids received their assignment from my instructor, they were even more enthusiastic than usual.

Even Marie, who rarely showed any emotion, seemed pleased by the task, going as far as to say, “I suggest that you stay the night at the palace so that we may begin the necessary preparations as soon as possible.”

How could I possibly say no to that level of ­excitement? “It’s a good thing I asked for an evening engagement instead of first thing in the morning.”

My meeting with my future in-laws was officially tomorrow. It was almost time to begin the ordeal.

The looming date was making me nervous, but at the same time, I felt like I was walking on air.

Nothing on the docket was especially different from my usual lesson prep work, so it was weird that my feelings on the matter had taken a 180-degree spin.

“Not long before it’s go time.” What I needed to do for now was pull myself together and focus on work. I mulled over how much I could get done before evening fell and zeroed back in on potion brewing.

And then the day finally arrived.

My maids woke at the crack of dawn and really put their all into dolling me up, so thankfully I actually looked really nice, instead of like someone had slapped lipstick on a pig.

The gown the palace had prepared for me was lemon-yellow layered with white chiffon. The chiffon was embroidered with little white flowers, which were the perfect touch for this time of year. My hair was drawn into a half-up style and adorned with white carnations. I honestly loved it.

I was a bit exhausted by the time we reached the end of the whole process, but I was reenergized by the sight of myself in the mirror.

Once I was ready to go, I stepped into the carriage provided for me by the palace and rode to the count’s estate in the capital. I also went by myself. Strictly speaking, I was accompanied by some guards and attendants, but it was really just me by my lonesome.

By all rights, I should have had a guardian at my side, but I had politely declined the offer. After all, that guardian would have been His Majesty the King himself.

I’d declined first and foremost because I would have felt awful asking him to put off any king business just to accompany me to meet my future in-laws. But I also had to assume bringing the king to meet your new family would be unspeakably awkward. Then again, maybe I would have felt that way even if my legal guardian weren’t a ruling monarch.

In any case, I had decided to go alone.

We arrived at the entrance to the count’s estate to find the entire Hawke family lined up to meet me. I got kind of nervous, seeing every single member of his family. After Albert, there were his parents, his brothers, and even their servants, all waiting for me as I stepped out of the carriage. However, their reception was both immediate and warm, and my anxiety melted away at once.

The meeting itself went off without a hitch. I had already met Albert’s parents in their domain, and I’d met his eldest brother, the minister of military services, and his lady wife at a party. I was also well acquainted with his other older brother, Lord Smarty Glasses, as he was the magus of the Royal Magi Assembly, which I worked with all the time.

It was kind of odd seeing both Albert and Lord Smarty Glasses dressed up like gentlemen, but they were still entirely themselves.

Also, since I knew everyone already, we got straight to a lovely luncheon. As we ate, we discussed all kinds of things, like Albert’s recent expeditions as knight commander, what life was like in the world I’d come from, and recent goings-on with the rest of the family.

I did get the feeling that Albert’s mother, father, and eldest brother and his wife were smiling a bit awkwardly while I described my life back in Japan, but that was probably just my imagination.

I absolutely loved listening to Albert’s mother talk about him and his brothers. The boys positively squirmed as she told her tales—with the oldest wearing a crooked smile, Lord Smarty Glasses furrowing his brow, and Albert looking faintly embarrassed. I hesitated for a moment, but I totally joined the minister of military services’ wife as we begged Lady Hawke for more stories.

Before I knew it, we had finished dessert.

“Time certainly flies in such pleasant company,” Lady Hawke said.

“So true,” my future sister-in-law enthused. “Please forgive me—once I started asking you for stories about my husband, I couldn’t resist.” 

“Why, the pleasure was all mine. You’re my darling daughter now, after all.” Lady Hawke then turned to me and inclined her head. “However, there is something I must discuss with you. Would you mind joining me in the parlor?”

What was this now? And here I’d thought we’d accomplished all our goals. What else could there be? But if she said something needed doing, I wasn’t going to argue.

I agreed to accompany Lady Hawke, and she smiled and encouraged everyone to join us as we headed into the other room.

Once everyone was settled with plenty of tea and cookies on hand, Lady Hawke said, “Now, let’s discuss how things shall proceed from here.”

“How things shall proceed?” I echoed, having no idea what she might be referring to.

Lady Hawke didn’t even frown at my bewilderment. “First and foremost, we must see to the formalities of your betrothal, yes?”

“Oh, yes. His Majesty mentioned that to me the other day.”

“Ah, Albert explained that the king would act as your guardian in this matter.”

“That’s right. I heard that you and he would be the ones sorting it out.”

“I see, I see. I shall be sure to contact him posthaste to discuss the details.”

As I had just explained, the king was handling all formalities regarding my betrothal in his capacity as my guardian. Though I had declined his offer to accompany me today, he had insisted on taking care of other relevant obligations. This included my dowry, as well as other things that noble families traditionally arranged when their daughters become engaged.

I tried to pay for my own dowry at first, since I was so grateful for everything else he’d done for me, but His Majesty refused.

I had been informed that I was owed a great reward for, among other things, creating the panacea, purging all the kingdom’s monsters, and various other contributions to Salutania, and since I had refused a title and land, the king had been striving to figure out another way to repay me. Thus, he strongly urged me to accept this proposal as his way to make good on his debt to me, and despite my reservations, I felt compelled to agree.

Well, it’s just a dowry. Not a title or land or anything. Just money. It’s not something I feel ill-equipped to handle, so it should be okay.

“In that case, I shall leave the handling of these things to you. However, we also need to host an announcement party.”

By that, I was fairly certain she meant announcing the engagement itself. The king had described these parties when we discussed the terms of his guardianship in this matter. I was pretty sure I remembered him asking if we wanted to make the announcement during a ball they would be hosting at the palace—a celebration for the final elimination of the miasma.

Albert had been present for this conversation as well, so I figured I ought to double check with him. He was sitting right next to me, so I turned to him and said, “Lord Hawke.”

As one, the men shifted their focus onto me. I flinched, taken aback for a moment, but I swiftly realized what was going on. In short, all of the men in this room were “Lord Hawke.”

What should I do? The knight commander is the one I’m trying to talk to…

The eldest Hawke brother, the minister of military services, was the first to notice my troubled look, and he offered me a way forward: “Why, Lady Takanashi.”

“Y-yes?”

“We’re all about to be family. Please, do me the honor of calling me Josef.”

Josef. Lord Josef.

I nodded, agreeing to the cheerful suggestion of the minister of military services—a.k.a. Lord Josef.

His wife, who was sitting right next to him, immediately piped up with sparkles in her eyes, “In that case, please, call me Elfriede!”

“Thank you! Likewise, I would very much like it if you all called me Sei,” I responded with a smile.

A lovely smile spread across Elfriede’s face in turn. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, of course!”

After them came Lady Hawke, chiming in with a positively dazzling voice, “My, what a loving family we’re becoming! Please, I must insist that from now on, you refer to me as Mother.”

“And call me Father.”

Mother and Father… Yeah. Now that I think about how my life’s about to change, those aren’t unreasonable requests. I’m a bit shy about doing it, though.

The two of them beamed at me. When I nodded and agreed that I would do so, someone quipped, “Now, that’s not fair.”

I turned to the speaker, Josef, who gazed back at me serenely. “If you’re going to call my parents such things, then I’d much rather you call me ‘Brother.’”

“But wouldn’t she have to call me the same thing?” Erhart asked.

“True. Very well, call me Elder Brother Josef.”

“And likewise, call me Elder Brother Er.”

Whoa, hold on just a moment there, guys! That wasn’t the kind of thing that the minister of military services and the magus of the Royal Magi Assembly should say with completely straight faces, right? What in the world had gotten into those two?!

They continued their discussion as I watched with an awkward smile on my face. Josef turned to look at me with a much more relaxed smile than mine.

Huh? Wait, were they just bantering? Was Lord Josef actually more of a joker than his appearance let on?

I was beginning to feel fidgety about this unexpected turn of events when Josef swiveled his attention to Albert instead. Since they had grown up together, Albert must have known what Josef wanted without him even needing to speak, and he frowned even more deeply than he already had been. Whatever it was that Josef was trying to communicate, it seemed that Albert didn’t care for it.

How much time passed in that next stretch? It felt like forever, but I was sure it was only just a moment before Albert cleared his throat and gathered his resolve to say to me, “And you should call me Al.”

“Al,” I slowly repeated—and then, for some reason, was overcome with embarrassment. I mean, all I had done was say his name!

Albert’s lips curled into a smile that grew in direct proportion to the heat in my cheeks.

It took a few seconds before I realized that everyone else was looking at this interaction with true warmth—at which point I started internally screaming.

***

Not long after my luncheon with my future in-laws, I began to receive frequent summons from the palace. While the king and prime minister were taking care of the nitty-gritty details of my marriage into House Hawke, there were still some things that I had to do myself. The most important of these was to sign the engagement contract. You should always read the fine print before signing any kind of contract, so this took some time—especially since this contract had far more pages than I had imagined it would. This was because it had to clearly state who owned the rights to my company and the products that it sold in partnership with my new house.

I had assumed that since I was the one who owned the rights, we wouldn’t need a contract, but that turned out to be a bit naive. Something to do with the laws of the land.

I did manage to read through it, more or less. However, if you can keep a secret, I actually skimmed most of it—I was always utterly exhausted by the time I got to read it. Besides, the king and prime minister had prepared the contract, and they had always treated me well. I wanted to trust them, and I doubted they would sneak any strange clauses in there.

Thus, as I spent my days juggling my work for the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora with whatever needed doing for my engagement, I received an invitation from the palace to a ball. This was the celebratory event for the purification of the miasma that the king had discussed with me. In other words, the Saint’s engagement announcement party.

Naturally, as the central figure in the end of the ­miasma problem, as well as one of the key people involved in this engagement business, I couldn’t possibly duck out on this one. And, as always, as the Saint, I would arrive at the same time as the king.

I passed through the doors just behind him. After a moment, the hall was awash with murmurs. They weren’t loud, but I could tell from the fact that they were whispering amongst themselves that a number of people were shocked. I had a feeling I knew why they were surprised, and I nearly broke out in a crooked smile—but then I imagined how mad my etiquette instructor would be if I lost my composure, and I managed to suppress it.

“I’m sure that by now you have all realized that, despite the many long years for which the monstrous hordes have plagued us, their numbers have at last diminished.” The king stood on a platform raised over the crowd, and the murmurs went silent as he addressed the guests. “For many terrible years, we were unable to discern the cause of their increase, but not long ago, we identified their source: They were born from what we call the black swamps, which were composed of concentrated masses of miasma.”

I remembered the very first time we discovered a swamp—it was by accident in the Ghoshe Forest, to the west of the capital. We’d watched as all kinds of monsters spawned from it, one after another. I believe it was Grand Magus Yuri Drewes who identified that the swamp was made of miasma.

“While we hoped that we could dispense with our monstrous foes once we identified their source, this was easier said than done. Establishing an effective solution always takes time, and the matter of the black swamps was no different. As this was a new discovery, we had no experience in dealing with them.”

The king was right: Just because you know what the problem is doesn’t mean you’ll figure out how to solve it right away. That was what had happened as we struggled with the riddle of the black swamps.

If we’d been facing a monster made of concentrated miasma, then we could have defeated it like we had every other beast up until that point. However, you couldn’t exactly rely on those conventional methods to defeat a swamp. It took a great deal of study and testing to figure out how to get rid of it.

“It was the Saint herself who destroyed the first, and in one fell swoop. Just as the legends of old have come to tell, the powers of the Saint have eradicated the black swamps and the monsters at astounding speed.”

Your Majesty, aren’t you embellishing a bit there?

From the way he said it, it sounded like I had defeated all the monsters in the kingdom single-handedly. Granted, it was true that once I purged the black swamps, all of the monsters in the vicinity disappeared. However, the knights and mages who had escorted me on these expeditions had also played their part.

I realized that the king was probably obliged to commend me in exaggerated tones in a public speech, but I still felt awful, because it sounded like I was robbing everyone else of their contributions.

My cheeks were beginning to cramp, but I did my best to not let my expression falter as the king continued.

“After healing Ghoshe Forest, the Saint traveled across our lands. I’m sure many here today met with her when she came to your domains.”

Looking around the venue, I saw many people nodding. I recognized them all. These were the lords and ladies who ruled the lands that I had visited on my monster-slaying expeditions.

When I had first met these nobles, many had worn smiles on their faces, but I had seen the desperation in their eyes, and their imploring gazes. They had all carried terrible tension.

Now they looked different. They seemed at ease, and the smiles on their faces were genuine. And I was sure that the peace that they had come to know would continue.

My relief lasted only a brief moment. I would like to omit what the king talked about next! He started talking about how I first went to Klausner’s Domain and then all the things I’d done in the other regions after that—but why in the world was he bringing up things that had nothing to do with monster-slaying?! In fact, the majority of it had to do with, of all things, food.

Would that I could just disappear right now…!

After regaling everyone with all the embarrassing things I’d done, the king finally brought his speech to a close. He ended it by saying that the final black swamp had been purged just recently and that the palace had confirmed that the numbers of monsters had decreased to their old levels. And…

“I hereby declare that the monster plague has come to an end.”

With that, the entire venue broke out in applause. Everyone I could see was overjoyed, their expressions sparkling. It had taken so much to get to this point, but seeing their happy faces and knowing that I was the reason for their smiles made it all worthwhile.

I was feeling all warm and fuzzy inside as I gazed out at them. When the applause came to an end, the king said, “And today, I bring you yet another happy announcement.”

Which meant that it was my turn.

Everyone’s excited murmurs were instantly silenced, and a portion of the crowd turned to stare at me. The gravity of their gazes made the air itself grow heavy.

“The Saint is now betrothed to Knight Commander Albert Hawke of the Knights of the Third Order.”

The crowd erupted in murmurs again—much louder ones than when I had initially entered the room. However, Albert, who was standing at an angle from me, didn’t seem remotely fazed.

Once the murmurs had just about died down, he came to stand next to me and bowed to the crowd. Normally, someone of his station would never stand on the same platform as the king, and people had likely started talking amongst themselves the minute they noticed him enter on my heels.

But today was a special day, because the fact of the matter was, Albert was m-my—my fiancé.

There was one other reason they’d all started whispering: my dress.

My outfit was appropriate for an evening ball, but the people in the know had evidently noticed something else. 

I was wearing a ballgown that, as usual, the palace had prepared for me. In the Kingdom of Salutania, it was the typical custom for the man’s family to supply his bride-to-be with the dresses and accessories that she wore at social events. However, there hadn’t been enough time for the Hawkes to order me new dresses, so I’d decided beforehand to stick with the one the palace already had for me. Both Albert and Mother had seemed terribly regretful that they hadn’t been able to prepare my attire, but there was nothing to do about it.

So, as a compromise, I was wearing jewelry that had been passed down in the Hawke family for generations.

I was incredibly worried about possibly losing them, but Mother had refused to let me go without. Specifically, she had lent me a necklace with a matching bracelet and earrings. Each featured a clear blue-gray stone as its centerpiece, with numerous colorless, translucent gems arranged around that main stone. Maybe they were diamonds? Either way, I’d only seen this kind of jewelry in museums.

Meanwhile, my gown was made of several layers of the same thin chiffon as the dress I had worn when meeting my in-laws. As was appropriate for an evening party, this one was far lacier, with more embroidery, and it was all around way fancier. Importantly, the undertones were blue-gray.

That’s right—both my dress and accessories were the same color as Albert’s eyes, a defining trait of House Hawke. And, as it so happened, adorning yourself in the colors of your betrothed’s hair and eyes was common practice in the Kingdom of Salutania.

That all being said, it was pretty easy to guess why people started talking the second they saw me, right? I was decked out from head to toe in my fiancé’s colors—so much so that, when Albert came to fetch me as my escort and first laid eyes upon me, he had gone wide-eyed and been momentarily too stunned to move.

Then that shock had melted into the most heart-pounding of smiles.

A part of me felt uncomfortable in such a lovely dress and jewelry, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t happy to wear them. I was also over the moon when Albert complimented my appearance. But whether that made me feel shy or not was a completely different matter… Urk!

“Furthermore…”

I got so lost in remembering everything that happened just before I arrived that I belatedly realized the king was still speaking.

Huh? I’m pretty sure the end of the monster crisis and my engagement was the whole story, right? I didn’t hear about any other announcements, at least. Is there some kind of urgent news he has to relay? I wondered as I turned back to the king. 

The next thing he said left me completely stunned.

“Second Prince Rayne is now betrothed to Elizabeth of House Ashley.” 

The second the king finished speaking, we heard the biggest commotion thus far today.

I wasn’t the only one caught off guard; a ton of others were stunned as well.

Wait, Prince Rayne? Engaged to Elizabeth of House Ashley? Elizabeth Ashley? Huh? Wait, does he mean Liz?! Upon realizing that the prince’s betrothed was my close friend, I searched for her in the crowd.

I spotted the two of them right away. It didn’t take much looking. They had suddenly appeared at the bottom of the platform we stood on. They turned toward the crowd and bowed, at which the audience broke out into applause. It was just a few people at first, but eventually the whole crowd joined in.

After receiving the people’s blessing, Liz and the prince exchanged smiles with one another.

Meanwhile, all I could do was stare, stupefied by the new couple.

***

In a corner of the palace, I was holding what one would call a tea party with my dear friends. In other words, I was having yet another girls’ day out at what had become our usual spot: a gazebo in one of the gardens.

“You really caught me off guard there. I had no idea,” I said.

“I apologize for that. We kept the whole thing private,” Liz confessed.

“Ooh. So you didn’t know either, Aira?”

“No! But I had heard a rumor from one of my seniors at work, so I knew it was a possibility.”

Right from the start, we jumped straight into discussing Prince Rayne and Liz. To me, the announcement of their engagement during the celebration had hit like a bolt from the blue, but Aira had already known a bit.

By her “senior at work,” she doubtless meant one of the mages at the Royal Magi Assembly. If they’d been talking about it, then it was likely most of the nobility had also already been in the know. A lot of mages in the Assembly were nobles, after all.

Of course, there were also nobles at the Research Institute of Medicinal Flora, but we only ever talked about herbs and potions. We hardly ever discussed high society. At least, I hoped I wasn’t the only one ignorant of the goings-on in the greater world.

“Have you guys been negotiating it for some time, then?”

“Yes. But it was only just recently that everything finally aligned. We decided that since a celebration was already being held, we would take the opportunity to announce our engagement at that time.”

“Just like us, then.”

“Oh, that’s how it went for you too?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

When I thought about it, Liz had probably been planning her engagement to Prince Rayne ever since her original engagement to the crown prince, Kyle, was broken. When I asked about it indirectly, she confirmed my suspicions. By “everything finally aligned,” she was likely referring to some behind-the-scenes maneuvering she had been doing. When they’d finally reached the point of announcing their engagement, they’d come up with the idea of using the party to do so, just as it had happened with me.

But why did she break off her engagement to Prince Kyle? The question popped into my mind, but I didn’t ask it out loud. I had a feeling I knew why, and that even if I were to ask, she wouldn’t give me a straight answer.

What if, for instance, it was because Prince Kyle had lost his right to the throne after he had treated the Saint with such insolence? If that was the case, then I doubted she would admit it to me, since I was an involved party. Liz, considerate as she was, wouldn’t want to make me feel guilty by association.

“Were you okay with folding your announcement into another celebration?” I asked. (The question had just popped into my mind while I was trying to think of another topic.) “I heard the proper thing to do is to have a party specifically for the event.”

If they had been planning this for a while now, then surely they could have arranged their own special party just for them. Engagement parties weren’t really a thing back in my original world, so I didn’t have any emotional attachment to the idea, but I thought Liz might.

Liz smiled and shook her head. “Oh, I wasn’t bothered at all. As it happens, when a member of the royal family gets engaged, it’s typically announced at the annual ball hosted by their family.”

“I see.”

“It’s also more cost and time efficient to wrap all of these sorts of things into a single event rather than hosting several.”

“Oh, Liz. There you go again.”

That sounded weirdly pragmatic. She said it in a joking tone, so surely that wasn’t the main reason. I certainly hoped that was the case.

“What about you, Sei? You could have hosted your own special party as well.” Liz turned my question right back on me, but honestly? I had no problem with it either.

“I was grateful for the way it came together, actually. My guardian is the king, after all. I’m sure it would have been a pain for him to make time to attend multiple parties.” I was surrounded by my close friends, so I answered honestly, eliciting their lovely laughter.

“Now that you’ve announced your engagement, are you going to start preparing for the ceremony?” Aira asked excitedly.

“I guess that’s how it goes, right?” I had assumed as much myself, but I had yet to hear about anything from anyone, which made me wonder if there was another step to the process. I looked at Liz for confirmation. 

“Indeed,” she said. “I am planning for our wedding to be held next spring, so I’m already in the thick of preparations.”

“Whoa, that was fast!”

She didn’t mention the date, but at the soonest, it would be nearly a year from now. Hearing that she was already gearing up for the wedding, I couldn’t help but tease. But Liz stared at me with open shock. 

“What do you mean? Selecting and preparing the venue, determining the guest list, having your dress made—it all takes quite a lot of time.”

“Right, I suppose you have to do all that stuff yourself, don’t you?” I had never had to pull a wedding together, so I didn’t really know just how much work it entailed. But I got the gist well enough; it was clearly going to require a lot of time and energy. The venue stuff alone was sure to require a whole slew of things to be picked out and decided.

Back in my old world, royal weddings had involved sending invitations to a ton of people from both inside and outside the country, and I was sure that in Salutania, it was more or less the same. Part of my old job back in Japan had involved organizing drinking parties between multiple departments, which hadn’t exactly been a cake walk, so I could easily imagine how much more difficult this would be.

And as for having your dress made? Well, I wasn’t so sure about any of that. I imagined I’d just leave everything like the design and so forth to Mary and her crew, just like I usually did. Which meant that all I had to do was let them take my measurements, then come back again later for the first fitting. But there was no way they could have a custom dress made in only a couple of days, so that part would definitely take a lot of time too.

Furthermore, this time they would be making my wedding dress. Even back in my old world, women fantasized about the day they’d get to wear that kind of dress, so this time, I doubted I would be able to leave everything up to my maids. They were probably going to ask me all kinds of things, like what kind of cut I wanted, etc., etc.—all things that I doubted I would be able to actually answer.

Back in Japan, I had never experienced any kind of romance, and I had never once pictured myself getting married. So, I had never daydreamed about what I’d like for my wedding dress, let alone the ceremony. It would be a bit troublesome, but perhaps I needed to start thinking up some answers now so that I was ready for the inevitable questions.

I grew weary as I imagined what awaited me in the coming months, which prompted a chuckle from Liz.

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to figure it out all by yourself. I myself have received a great deal of help.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yes. I’ve been given all manner of advice as to the design of the dress and the arrangement of the venue. And as for guest list, we are obliged to invite all the associates of our families, so we have, of course, been consulting with our houses.”

Hearing these words gave me at least a bit of relief.

Right. I could just ask for help with all that, just like I did for my wardrobe. Also, though it had only just occurred to me when she mentioned “consulting with our families,” I wasn’t the only one getting married here! The knight commander was too. Which meant I should consult with House Hawke.

We continued discussing wedding ceremonies as I started plotting my strategy in my head. Thus, the day after our wonderful tea party, I decided to go and speak directly with Albert.

But then the unthinkable happened.