Ch.218218. Gifts and Answers (2)

The incident began when I discovered a few sheets of paper tucked between gifts during what had become an almost daily gift-opening ceremony.

These items, reminiscent of money envelopes, were neatly folded papers sealed in the middle with melted wax stamps.

“….Letters?”

That is, letters that were tucked among the gifts they had sent.

‘Sending letters along with gifts?’

From a modern perspective, sending gifts and letters together wouldn’t seem particularly strange, but considering the complex political messages entangled with “gifts” in this era, this was, so to speak, a tactless action.

In aristocratic society, where dignity and face are extremely important, bribes and solicitations might be tacitly accepted, but the reality is that openly giving or receiving them would never be viewed favorably in society.

Nevertheless, even people of this era generally understand that solicitations and bribes are not right, which is why they choose this method of “gifts” as a pretense, transparent as it may be.

When someone sends a “gift,” the high-ranking noble who receives it is expected to figure out what the sender wants and respond with a “return gift” or position.

This culture originally started as a dirty means to provide excuses for solicitation and to avoid leaving evidence, but now it has established itself as a kind of social custom and culture of the upper class.

In short, enclosing a letter so openly like this….

“….A nouveau riche family?”

“Perhaps their title was formally approved recently?”

No matter how I thought about it, this seemed more likely to be from a newly established family unfamiliar with these implicit customs rather than from some historic prestigious house.

“As long as it’s not an outright solicitation….”

Well, considering the situation, I could somewhat predict the contents of this letter.

They probably committed this act thinking they would ask for future favors or try to sell their name.

So without thinking too deeply, I removed the red wax seal and intended to quickly skim through the letter inside….

“….?”

As I mindlessly read through what started with conventional phrases, I suddenly realized the intention contained within and was shocked.

“Gregory? Is something wrong?”

“Sophie? Would you… like to see this yourself?”

When Sophie expressed her curiosity at my reaction, instead of explaining, I handed her the letter I was holding….

“….Huh?”

As Sophie read through the letter, at some point her expression hardened coldly, and she gripped the letter as if about to crumple it.

This was because the letter was filled with nothing but impure intentions.

[….Therefore, we hope that the descendant of the Great One would be joined with our family….]

-….Crack!

Sophia was visibly angry, hiding her rage behind a smiling face.

And while I too felt displeasure toward whoever sent this letter, what I felt even more strongly was bewilderment.

The act of trying to arrange a marriage proposal for me, from a political perspective, isn’t an incomprehensible choice.

Since ancient times, marriages between those in power have been used as means to form friendly relations or unite forces, and are commonly used for the purpose of making connections.

The term “marriage alliance” didn’t come about for nothing. Since marriage is one of the few family relationships that can be formed artificially, the marriage of those in power goes beyond personal matters to become a national issue.

Especially in the Frankish Kingdom, where leadership ability is more important than anywhere else, marriage for the purpose of leaving descendants is somewhat flexibly tolerated.

While monogamy is encouraged from a social order perspective, it isn’t completely religiously solidified, so it’s not unheard of for people who can afford it or have sufficient ability to have multiple wives or husbands.

But… even so, isn’t there a minimum level of propriety in this world?

The reason the Pantheon encourages monogamy is none other than the instability inherent in polygamy or polyandry.

Human emotions are far from rationality or reason, and naturally, the emotion of love is as intense as it is selfish.

If multiple wives and husbands were taken for political reasons, they might manage by finding their own lovers and affairs, but imagine a scenario like in harem or reverse harem stories where multiple people love one person of the opposite sex.

In reality, as in most countries, one would marry just one person, but in a society where it’s legally acceptable to have multiple wives or husbands, such marriages might legally come about somehow.

But… this is where the real problem begins.

Frankly speaking, who could bear to see someone whispering sweet nothings to their wife (or husband)?

Naturally, wanting to monopolize someone’s love is inevitable for humans, and when issues like succession rights or economic rights get involved beyond love, the situation becomes even more complicated.

Even children from the same parents frequently fight over inheritance, so what would happen if one of the parents was a completely different person?

This is why there are concubines separate from official spouses, and why adulterous relationships attract attention in social circles—they risk plunging an already unstable succession into ruin.

….Though there are exceptions like the legendary aristocrat Casanova (gender unknown), a historic madman who had 6 wives and 4 husbands.

Anyway, back to the main point. Throwing out a marriage proposal like this is nothing short of an insult to that person and, by extension, to their lover.

Even if done unknowingly, one’s reputation would plummet, requiring enormous political resources to recover.

Moreover, since Sophie and I were practically inseparable during the Great Invasion, anyone with common sense could guess we were in a relationship, so wouldn’t it be proper not to make marriage proposals?

Therefore, feeling that terrible fear rising from deep within my heart, I slowly turned my head toward Sophie, making a sound that would have been a metallic “screech” if I were made of metal.

“Haha, hahaha….”

“….S-Sophie?”

Sophia’s face was smiling brightly, but contrary to her expression, she seemed to be feeling some emotion while being extremely angry inside.

And as a result of her magic responding to these emotions, various mysterious phenomena were occurring around Sophia.

The mass of the atmosphere intensified, and the surrounding air gradually heated up. The density of moisture in the air thickened, making the surroundings gradually humid, while something quite sticky slowly spread out.

“Sophie…?”

“….Ah. I’m sorry, Gregory. I momentarily lost control of my emotions.”

Of course, when I called out to her, looking at her fearfully, Sophie immediately regained her composure, but noticing the still-hot air lingering around, I swallowed nervously and carefully opened my mouth.

“Um… shall I deal with these people?”

Expressing concern to the visibly angry Sophia, she smiled in objection, still hiding her anger behind a smiling expression.

“What? Oh, that won’t be necessary. After all… I should handle these impure creatures myself. …Those thieving cats too.”

About 12 letters were delivered to me. About half of them were formal marriage proposals, while the other half included love letters, or what would be called romantic letters in modern terms.

“Ugh, just don’t be too harsh. Go easy, go easy on them. That’s all I ask.”

“Yes, leave it to me. I’ll ‘handle it properly.'”

Sophia, maintaining an expression that made even the animal friends in my head tremble in fear, responded to my desperate plea with a chilling smile and then called for Minerva.

“Minerva, transport me.”

“….Yes.”

As Minerva, visibly trembling in fear, moved, Sophia entered a portable basket that reduced the size of whoever entered it, and the creature, looking at me with desperate eyes, spread its wings and took flight.

‘….Sorry, Minerva. I don’t think I can handle this one either.’

‘I trusted you, trusted you, trusted you…!’

Though no mental connection existed between us, our thoughts seemed to be shared as if our minds were linked, and the creature eventually resigned itself and began carrying the basket Sophia was in.

“….”.

I bowed my head, praying for the souls of those who would be caught up with the fierce and ferocious Sophia.