A red spark appeared at the end of the cigar. Herald sat on the windowsill, looking at the stack of papers piled on the sofa table. They were all marriage proposals sent from families wanting to become in-laws with the Maximilian ducal family.

He had been uneasy since the Duchess said she would go to the Duke’s study together, and sure enough, the topic of marriage came up.

Most high nobles had fiancés arranged from childhood, and barring any major changes, they would marry as soon as they came of age. Even if there were unavoidable circumstances without a fiancé, it was common to marry within a year of becoming an adult.

Herald also had a fiancée, but she passed away in an unfortunate accident less than a year after their engagement.

Afterwards, the Duke and Duchess Maximilian tried to find a new fiancée for their younger son, but Herald postponed the engagement with all sorts of excuses.

After coming of age and receiving his knighthood, Herald joined the border guard in Cardin, a frontier region, leaving the capital despite his father’s suggestion to take the position of vice-captain in the Imperial Knights.

No matter how good Herald’s conditions were, there were hardly any parents who wanted to marry off their daughters to someone in the dangerous border region where he could die at any time.

Still, there were some who sent marriage proposals. They were impudent people aiming to benefit from the Maximilian ducal family even if Herald died, as long as their daughter bore his child.

It was better not to become in-laws with such people, so Herald had been free from marriage nagging for the past four years.

“I’d like you to have a wedding before the end of this year, Herald.”

He had expected marriage pressure when he returned to the capital, but he didn’t think it would come this quickly.

Why were there so many families sending marriage proposals? Herald clicked his tongue in irritation, as every single one was displeasing.

“Should I say I have no intention of getting married?”

It wasn’t difficult to say, but the problem was that his parents were very unlikely to accept his opinion. Both his parents were nobles to the bone, so they were extremely old-fashioned in this regard.

Then how could he escape the pressure to marry?

No matter how much he thought about it, there was only one way. To return to Cardin.

For that, he needed the help of Crown Prince Austin, but to get his help, he had to find out why the Second Prince was investigating the Benjamin Viscount’s residence.

“What a headache.”

Herald looked out the window, brushing back his disheveled hair. Seeing the trees with their thick greenery reminded him of Lily’s fresh green eyes.

“Her eyes were definitely pretty.”

They seemed even more charming as they matched well with the fresh green apple scent emanating from her body. It left a strong impression too. When thinking of Liliana Benjamin, the first thing that came to mind was her green eyes.

Knock knock—

Hearing the knock, Herald stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray and opened the window. The cool breeze that blew in ventilated the acrid smell unique to cigars.

“Come in.”

The person who opened the door and entered was Dillon. Herald’s face, which had been crumpled with irritation and annoyance, relaxed slightly.

“Did you escort her well?”

Knowing that Lily, who had no money on hand, couldn’t return alone, Herald had asked Dillon to take her to her destination before leaving the hotel.

In a way that wouldn’t hurt her pride and that she couldn’t refuse.

“Yes. I safely escorted her to the Benjamin Viscount’s residence. You can rest assured, as I watched her enter the mansion.”

“Any tails?”

“There were none when I escorted her to the mansion.”

“Is that so?”

He thought she was monitored every time she left the mansion, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

“But what are these papers?”

Dillon’s mouth gaped open when he confirmed the identity of the papers piled high on the table.

“No way, are there so many marriage proposals? Did every family with a daughter send one?”

Herald chuckled and lifted his bottom from where it had been perched on the windowsill.

“As if that could be. And these are ones my parents selected. They chose only those they thought would be fine no matter who I picked.”

“…If the two of them hadn’t selected, it might have filled this room, you mean.”

“Well, that could be the case.”

Feeling suffocated at the sight of the pile of marriage proposals, Herald took out a new cigar and put it in his mouth.

And as he was about to light it, Dillon stepped forward and took the cigar from Herald’s mouth.

“Please cut down on the cigars, Captain. Do you realize you’ve been smoking a lot more since you came to the capital?”

“Have I?”

“You have. If you smoke this much in front of me, I’m worried about how much you smoke when I’m not around. If your health deteriorates like this, you won’t be able to wield a sword, let alone get married. No bride would welcome a groom who’s in poor health and constantly complaining.”

Herald snatched the cigar back from Dillon and said,

“I don’t like not being able to wield a sword, but not being able to get married sounds good.”

“It seems you don’t want to get married.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, I’m just not particularly eager to. The moment you get married, you have to shoulder numerous duties and responsibilities.”

And every single one of them was rigid, dull, and uninteresting. That’s why he had fled to Cardin on the border, so there was no way he’d want to get married now.

There was also no woman he liked enough to give up everything and marry.

“I fully understand your desire for freedom, Captain, but you should still get married before it’s too late. In fact, you’re already late in age.”

Herald was 26 years old this year, which was somewhat late considering that nobles usually marry before 22.

When Dillon pointed this out, Herald looked at him with incredulous eyes.

“I believe you’re even later than me. You’re a year older, aren’t you?”

“Come on, how can you compare me, a commoner, to yourself? And in my case, it’s not that I haven’t, it’s that I couldn’t.”

“Why couldn’t you?”

When Herald asked with genuine curiosity, Dillon shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, because no woman wants to marry a common man guarding the dangerous border region. If I happen to die, she’d become a widow.”

“By that logic, I’m in the same boat, aren’t I?”

Dillon waved his hands dismissively.

“Come on, you’re different, Captain. You’re the second son of the Maximilian ducal family, and now that you’ve received your title, you’ll settle in the capital.”

“What are you talking about? I’m going back to Cardin as soon as I receive my title.”

“…What?”

As Dillon looked at him in surprise, Herald tilted his head.

“Why are you so surprised? Did you think I was going to stay in the capital?”

Dillon scratched his surprised face and stammered.

“It’s not just a possibility, I thought you’d definitely stay. You’ve received your title, and there’s no reason for you to go back to the dangerous border region anymore…”

“Then do you think I had a reason to go to Cardin four years ago?”

“…”

Dillon closed his mouth, at a loss for words because that wasn’t the case.

Herald asked with a seemingly serious face.

“Don’t tell me everyone is hoping I won’t return to Cardin?”

“That’s not it at all! Absolutely not!”

Worried that Herald might misunderstand, Dillon explained frantically, almost spitting.

“On the contrary, everyone desperately wants you to return to Cardin… but if we think about what’s best for you, we’ve given up because it’s better if you don’t return. The capital is safer than the border region where anything could happen at any time. Here, you can get married and start a family…”

“Pfft.”

As Herald suddenly burst into laughter, Dillon stopped talking and looked at him. With his head slightly lowered, covering his mouth with his hand, and his shoulders shaking slightly, it didn’t seem normal.

“Don’t tell me… you were teasing me?”

Instead of answering, Herald looked at Dillon with a smiling face. It was an affirmation.

Realizing there had been no misunderstanding from the start, Dillon sighed in relief and complained.

“How could you tease me with something like that? Do you know how surprised I was? I was worried that you might have some strange misunderstanding and grow distant from the unit members!”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I was acting because I wanted to know your true feelings, but I went too far. I apologize.”

Dillon narrowed his eyes and looked at Herald, then shook his head with a sigh.

“I always think this, but Captain, you seem to have too much of a playful side, unlike your appearance.”

“Do you dislike it?”

“I should dislike it… but strangely, I don’t mind when you play around, Captain.”

Dillon said with a bright face, as if he had never frowned.

“So please, make sure to come back to Cardin, Captain. Not just me and the unit members, but all the people living in Cardin are desperately hoping for your return.”

The meeting with Countess Baliman was unpleasant and uncomfortable, but it wasn’t all bad.

Thanks to Samantha being bedridden after suffering a great shock from having her pride mercilessly scratched by the Countess, Liliana wasn’t scolded for staying out overnight.

Not only that, she learned that knowing the Garta language could be more profitable than she thought. Until now, she had only been translating novels because she didn’t know anything else, but now that she had learned good information, she planned to look for more lucrative work. It would be great if she could gain experience too.

That way, she could live without Fredrick’s help. Of course, it would be nice if she could cover her mother’s hospital bills on her own, but that might be asking for too much.

And her mother’s hospital bills were the price for making Fredrick the Viscount Benjamin, so she shouldn’t worry about it.

…Should she really not worry about it?

“Young Mistress, a letter has arrived.”

“…”

Awakened from her thoughts by the maid’s words, Liliana frowned as she checked the recipient on the letter handed to her by the maid.