“Did you say you got engaged to His Majesty?”

“I just mentioned it since I met him anyway. He would have found out eventually. Why, did His Majesty say something?”

“Yes. Briefly after the meeting.”

“Oh?”

“He said he once considered Alicia as a potential princess consort.”

“Did he now? Well, I suppose there could have been discussions, given how close the former emperor and the count were.”

“He mentioned that Prince Harry brought it up recently.”

“Hmm.”

The duke furrowed his brow.

“It can’t be for political reasons. While the Lancaster family is an old noble house, it’s hard to see how it would benefit the imperial throne.”

“That’s why it makes even less sense, doesn’t it? It must be a sensitive time right now.”

The crown prince had not yet been decided, and the nobles were secretly weighing their options between the two princes.

It was already common knowledge that the empress was approaching powerful noble families, using the next empress position as leverage.

So Eric thought that Prince Harry wouldn’t have mentioned it for any emotional reasons during such a crucial time.

“What do you think?”

“I’d like to remain neutral as much as possible. I can’t let the knighthood fall into confusion.”

If Eric, as the head of the knighthood, were to make political moves, it could greatly influence the knights from noble backgrounds.

Moreover, the commoner knights could get dragged in regardless of their own intentions.

“That may be so, but if House Gloucester makes a move, you won’t be free either.”

“……”

“Of course, I could use you as an excuse to maintain neutrality.”

William was flawless as the next emperor.

However, his birth mother, who had married the emperor for love, was not from a powerful family, and she passed away early due to complications during childbirth, leaving him without strong backing.

On the other hand, while Prince Harry’s mother was a former imperial consort, she was pregnant with Harry when she was crowned empress, so there were no issues with legitimacy.

Moreover, it was easier for his mother, the empress, to gather support through her powerful family connections.

“Don’t worry. I’m a duke and a branch of the imperial family after all. Do you think I can’t protect my daughter-in-law’s family?”

The duke’s voice was firm.

The Lancaster family would attract attention in noble society for the sole reason of being in-laws with House Gloucester.

However, given the count’s tendency to keep to himself, unlike his predecessor, he was likely to not want such attention.

“We can’t create a situation where Count Lancaster would object.”

“Ah, was that what you were worried about?”

“Of course. What else would be important?”

“Ah, yes.”

Eric had expected the range of concerns to be wider, but the duke’s words were still reassuring.

At that moment, the Duchess of Gloucester burst in, making a fuss.

“Oh my, our son is here?”

Judging by the upgrade from ‘that boy’ to ‘our son’, the duchess seemed to be in a very good mood.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Oh my, I’ve been so busy lately that even two bodies wouldn’t be enough.”

“Yes. I’m sure you have. How could it be otherwise?”

“Look at how he talks. Just try talking like that in front of our Alicia?”

Ignoring his mother’s scolding, Eric looked around.

“By the way, where is she?”

“Alicia? She said she had something to ask the butler. But why are you talking like that? Are you still uncomfortable?”

“I’m not uncomfortable.”

“Then what is it? Are you being formal because we’re here?”

“Of course not. Well, I’ll go look for her.”

Sensing that the nagging would continue if he stayed, Eric quickly left the reception room.

***

“Butler. Where is Miss Alicia?”

“She went to the library for a moment.”

“The library?”

“Yes. She seems to like books. The duke’s library has old books and is quite large, after all.”

‘So that’s why she’s not coming.’

“By the way, young master.”

“Hmm?”

“Your way of addressing her seems very awkward.”

“I’m just showing respect to my fiancée.”

“Pardon? Respect? At this point?”

However, the old butler smiled gently at Eric, who looked somewhat uncomfortable, and politely offered an excuse.

“It was just an old man’s concern, young master.”

“Thank you for your concern, butler. But I’m handling it well, so don’t worry.”

Eric nodded to the old butler and made his way to the library.

‘Come to think of it, our butler and housekeeper said similar things.’

***

Eric, sitting at his desk in the study, frowned as he saw the butler and housekeeper rushing in with serious expressions.

“Has a problem arisen?”

“Not at all.”

“Then why the expressions?”

“Ah, well, there is a problem.”

Eric’s face frowned again.

“The count is the problem.”

“Me?”

Eric asked back with a bewildered expression.

“Count. No matter what, you’re being too harsh to the young lady.”

“What?”

Eric quickly searched his memories, but couldn’t recall doing anything wrong.

“They say a single word can pay off a debt, but your form of address and tone are too stiff.”

“Me?”

“Good heavens, you’re engaged, how can you address her as if she’s a stranger?”

“I’m just being polite.”

“Then why have we never felt that way? Is calling her ‘Miss’ so awkwardly also part of politeness?”

“……”

“Moreover, that’s not the only problem. Your overall tone is an issue.”

“What did I do wrong?”

Try as he might to recall, Eric couldn’t remember being discourteous, and he was greatly perplexed by this unexpected criticism.

“Try calling her more affectionately and gently. The young lady calls you so sweetly.”

“That’s right. How can you address her so awkwardly? You’re engaged, not strangers. Even if you can’t be sickeningly sweet, at least don’t be so cold.”

‘Affectionate? Gentle? And what’s this about being sweet?’

How incompatible these words were with him.

Eric closed his mouth in bewilderment.

Of course, it’s true that he feels awkward every time he addresses her.

But what can he do about feeling awkward in a way that’s different from dealing with the female knights in the order?

“Then how should I address her?”

The housekeeper began to recall how her husband addresses her.

Honey (when asking for pocket money), Wife (when hungry), Woman (when irritated).

Somehow, recalling these made her feel worse, so the housekeeper quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts and fell into contemplation.

“Since the count’s usual tone is brusque anyway, if you consciously try to be affectionate, it might become even more awkward.”

“I suppose so.”

“So rather than her name, perhaps using a different, gentle form of address might be a solution. For example, how about calling her ‘darling’?”

“That seems a bit too much.”

“Given your personality, you probably can’t call her ‘honey’, can you?”

“Honey?”

“‘My lady’ sounds too old-fashioned.”

Eric stared blankly at the housekeeper who was muttering seriously to herself.

‘Is this how much thought needs to be put into forms of address when you get engaged?’

This contract was supposed to make things more comfortable, but Eric’s head started to throb even more.

***

When he opened the library door, Alicia was sitting on top of a ladder, trying to pull out a book from the very top shelf.

The slightly wobbling ladder looked dangerous, and a startled Eric urgently asked,

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, you’re here?”

“It’s dangerous to turn around like that-”

He tried to stop her, but Alicia’s body was already half-turned to greet him.

With that movement, the ladder suddenly wobbled, and Alicia’s upper body fell backward. Eric quickly supported her upper body.

Thanks to this, her legs remained on the ladder while her upper body was supported by Eric, their eyes meeting upside down.

“-that. Are you alright?”

“Ah, thank you. You saved me.”

Finding the current upside-down position with Eric quite embarrassing, Alicia lifted her head to avoid his gaze.

“First, relax your legs. I’ll catch you.”

“Uh-”

Thinking about being completely embraced made her feel a bit shy, and she hesitated, looking back and forth between Eric and the ladder.

“Do you perhaps think the wobbling ladder is safer than me?”

“Of course not.”

“It seems you do. My pride is about to be hurt.”

“Should I relax now?”

As Alicia quickly asked, Eric silently looked at her for a moment, then supported her upper body with one arm and the back of her knees with the other, lifting her off the ladder.

As her legs came free, they must have caught on the ladder, which fell sideways with a loud noise.

“That’s fortunate. We got out before that happened.”

Eric looked with an incredulous expression at Alicia, who spoke nonchalantly with a smile, then set her down.

“I’m glad I trusted Eric more than the ladder after all.”

“That’s quite a compliment. But why the ladder?”

“I was trying to get a book. I was worried because it was wobbling a bit, but I didn’t expect this to happen.”

“You climbed up even though it was wobbling?”

“I thought I’d get it quickly.”

“……”

“I’m used to climbing ladders, so I thought it would be fine. But I’ll be more careful next time.”

“Next time, just call a servant. Or me.”

“I will.”

“So what book were you trying to get?”

“That one up there. The Correlation between Geometry and Aesthetics.”

“Ah.”

Eric placed his foot on the fallen ladder, easily pulled out the book, and handed it over. Alicia quickly flipped through the pages.
Notes were visible here and there.

“Someone has read this.”

“Back in my military academy days. Since magic is based on mathematics, I thought I should know at least a bit for the sake of cooperation.”

“It’s quite a difficult book.”

“It is. To be honest, I didn’t understand all of it.”

He remembered reading it quite diligently when a magic user introduced it to him.

Looking back now, he wondered if introducing such a difficult book was intentionally meant to overwhelm him.

As Eric chuckled at the memory, Alicia looked at him and asked,

“If you had to choose between geometry and aesthetics, which would it be?”

“Hmm. Let’s see. If I had to say, geometry?”

“Why?”

“Because it has definite answers.”

“Wow, me too. That’s surprising. Not many people are like that.”

“You’re right. There aren’t many.”

Among those few people who like mathematics, such a woman was standing right in front of Eric.

Remembering his parents’ past scoldings, Eric smiled and asked,

“Do you like books?”

“Yes. You seem to as well? There are many good books in the count’s residence too.”

“Well, I read when I have time. Feel free to take and read any if you’d like. My parents don’t use this place much anyway, so you can use it as much as you want.”

“Can I really take them to read?”

“Of course.”

“Then could you get that one for me too?”

“Sure.”

Eric lightly reached up to the bookshelf. However, perhaps because the book had been on top of the shelf for a long time, it didn’t come off easily.

“Oh dear.”

“It seems stuck.”

“Uh-”

As soon as Eric pulled out the book, the books that were stuck to it tumbled down towards Alicia, who was looking up from below.

Sensing the danger instantly, Eric reflexively put his arm against the bookshelf, embracing Alicia and blocking the falling books with his body.

“Ugh.”

Blocked by Eric’s body, the books fell to the floor with various loud and soft thuds.

Getting hit by the books was fine, but the corner that hit his head hurt quite a bit.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

As he rubbed his sore back of the head, Alicia gently stroked Eric’s head where the book had hit, with a worried expression.

“You got hit by the corner, right? It must have hurt.”

“A little.”

“It doesn’t seem to have formed a bump. That’s a relief.”

“……”

Eric raised his head but froze in place.

Alicia’s face was closer than he had expected.