Ch.280Side Story) Old Maid? (1)

[“Mother, I understand your feelings, so please stop…”]

[“What do you understand! How long are you going to live alone?”]

Sigh…

Certainly, I am getting quite old.

Mother married at the very late age of 21, and I’m already 22, a year older than that.

It’s an age where it wouldn’t be strange for me to have a child walking on two feet already.

‘But what can I do when there’s no one to marry?’

I can’t just grab anyone and ask them to marry me, can I?

I am a princess. A person of noble birth.

If Mother and Father were to find a marriage partner and command me, I would dutifully comply as befitting my status as a princess… but since they haven’t done so, what can I do?

[“Claudia, haven’t you found any man to your liking? If not… well, you can take your time. I’ll look into many candidates.”]

‘Ugh.’

…That makes me feel a bit guilty.

The truth is, I’ve met many potential marriage partners until now. Starting from within Lotaring, to our neighboring country Albion, and even the Empire, I’ve met with many arranged marriage candidates.

But… none of them ever worked out.

Not a single one of them met even my minimum requirements.

[“It is an honor to meet Your Highness the Princess. I am Louis of the Duke Foy family—”]

[“I am honored to meet Claudia, daughter of the great Emperor Claude. To strengthen the ties between our families and gain benefits—”]

Sigh…

I don’t expect to find a relationship like Mother and Father’s, where they truly love each other despite having no titles. At the very least, I wished they wouldn’t talk about national interests and such during our first meeting, but unfortunately, no such person has existed so far.

Of course, I can understand. I carry the noble blood of my father, no, the blood of the great Emperor who is only seen in history books—I am an extremely rare existence.

Anyone would focus on the benefits that could come from forming blood relations with the Emperor’s family rather than on me as an individual.

‘But why should I care about that?’

Understanding something and accepting it are completely different matters.

Why should I focus on the benefits they could gain from our blood relations? Our Lotaring Imperial Family is not so weak as to be swayed by such things.

I want a true family like Mother and Father have.

Of course, I’m a bit annoyed that Father has too many concubines for a “family man”… but at least his love for Mother is genuine.

“…Maybe I should go visit Liliane after so long.”

My head is too complicated. I need to meet Lili and heal this gloomy mood.

I’ll probably feel a bit irritated seeing that thief who stole my lovely Lili, but just meeting Lili will be enough to offset that, so it doesn’t matter.

……….

[“Welcome, Lady Claudia. We have various facilities to help you relax from your journey, so please enjoy them to your heart’s content.”]

[“Thank you, Your Grace Duke Akitan. However, before that, I would like to meet Lady Liliane, if that’s alright?”]

[“Of course. Thanks to prior notice, the First Young Master Ethan and his wife Liliane have finished their preparations to meet you, Lady Claudia. You can see them right away.”]

…Tsk.

Come on, Lili already knows everything, so why does she have to bring that guy along?

Well… naturally, since I’m visiting the Akitan duchy, it’s unavoidable for the sake of etiquette… but still, I can’t help feeling depressed about it.

“Claudia!”

“Lili, have you been well?”

Wow, Lili has completely shed her childish appearance.

Since I visit only once a year, it’s hard to notice, but compared to when she got married at 17, she’s changed so much.

That… well, certain parts of her body have grown in various ways.

“Mama…”

“There, there, good child.”

…And her child has grown a lot too.

I can hardly believe that this toddling, talking child is Lili’s. In my memory, Lili was always a fresh, beautiful girl like a young sprout…

“Hehe, isn’t he cute?”

“Yes, he takes after you a lot, Lili.”

“Oh… really? I thought he looked more like Ethan.”

…Ugh, it’s hard to continue the conversation.

If it were just the two of us, I could have somehow kept the conversation going, but that thief Ethan is standing right there beside us.

No matter how much I dislike him, I can’t openly insult him to his face—

“So… when are you getting married, Claudia?”

“Uh… what?”

What is this all of a sudden?

Why is my marriage… suddenly being brought up here?

“Why do you look like you’ve been struck by lightning out of the blue?”

“…Lili, why are you suddenly—”

“Suddenly? You’re the same age as me but still haven’t married. If you don’t get married soon, it might really be dangerous, you know?”

Hearing that Lili and I are the same age makes me see the nephew in Lili’s arms very differently.

How should I put it? It’s like he’s a living witness proving my age.

In other words, I’m at an age where it wouldn’t be strange for me to have a child like Lili’s nephew.

“Should I look for someone for you?”

“That’s… well…”

“It’s fine, I’ve met quite a lot of people while being here. The people in the southern region have quite a relaxed personality that might suit your taste—”

“Stop, stop—! Do we have to talk about this when we’re meeting after so long!?”

“Talk about this… I’m just doing this for your sake.”

“…Ugh.”

When I shout in frustration, Lili visibly deflates.

Her eyes, which had been smiling brightly until just now, suddenly droop, making me feel like I’ve committed a grave sin.

“I-I’m sorry, Lili. Did I startle you?”

“N-no, it’s okay. I should be the one apologizing for bringing up a topic you don’t like…”

“It’s not that I don’t like it, I was just taken aback… Anyway, shall we go out for a walk?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

It’s an obvious attempt to change the subject, but Lili seems to want to change the topic as well, so she doesn’t press the issue.

Ugh… I really did something terrible.

……….

“Haaa…”

I came all the way to Akitan to refresh my mood, but instead of feeling better, I’ve only experienced uncomfortable things.

Lili pretended nothing was wrong and guided me around Akitan, but I could clearly see from her attitude and expression that she was still bothered by my outburst.

I didn’t mean to yell at Lili… ugh…

‘…The night sky looks the same whether in Dijon or here.’

While sighing and thinking about how to make it up to Lili, I looked up at the sky and saw the same night sky I had seen in Dijon.

It looks more beautiful here in this outdoor garden than from the luxurious imperial palace in Dijon… Of course, today’s events probably influenced my perception, but human emotions are truly strange.

Rustle—

“—!?”

After admiring the night sky for a while, I suddenly hear an unnatural sound of bushes being crushed behind me.

It’s not an animal sound. Not the wind either.

This is clearly a sound made by a person.

If it were someone with no hostile intent, they would have said something to get my attention before approaching this close. Moreover, this is an outdoor area with bushes and no guards, which means—!

Shing—

Claudia, who had been leisurely admiring the night sky until just now, draws her defensive dagger and springs toward the source of the sound with rabbit-like acceleration.

This is certainly not a typical reaction.

An ordinary person would have turned their head to see what caused the sound, or perhaps fled in fear, but Claudia, who was born with a fierce temperament and further influenced by her mother Chloe, chose to fight the perceived kidnapper.

“The weather is nice—HURK?!”

And Claudia’s temperament leads to the worst unexpected outcome.

The person she had judged to be an enemy was not an enemy at all, but someone who had simply come out for a walk just like her, and to make matters worse, he was the noble heir to the duchy.

The reason Ethan hadn’t called out to Claudia was simply because he had been careless and hadn’t noticed her due to her lack of presence.

“Ugh—?!”

Upon recognizing the face of the supposed kidnapper, Claudia desperately twists the direction of the dagger in her hand while contorting her body to prevent it from stabbing Ethan.

If she had recognized him a bit earlier, she would have simply stopped in her tracks, but she was already too close and her feet were in mid-air, so this was the best choice Claudia could make.

Of course, that “best choice” was only relatively speaking; in absolute terms, it was still quite inadequate.

Thud—!

“Ugh…”

“Uh… I’m sorr— Huh?”

When Claudia comes to her senses, she realizes she’s nestled in the arms of the very thief she so despises.

And not just simply nestled—she’s in his arms like a puppy that has jumped into its owner’s embrace.

Claudia can only pray that Lili doesn’t discover this situation.