Ch.322Chapter 322 – Sense of Crisis

The news of Pathos and Karen’s engagement spread throughout the Empire in an instant.

The person with the highest possibility of succeeding to the imperial throne after the Crown Prince.

The person who cured what seemed like an incurable disease of baldness and achieved the great feat of defeating a demon.

The engagement between the eldest of the imperial family and the Empire’s hero was naturally a topic of interest for those who enjoyed discussing others’ affairs.

Even if Karen, the eldest of the imperial family, had gotten engaged to someone from an ordinary noble family, it would have been a topic of conversation.

Even if the Empire’s hero had married those he had previously introduced as his fiancées, it would have been a topic of conversation.

But the engagement between these two people, who seemed to have no connection whatsoever, became an even bigger topic of discussion.

“It’s truly fascinating. When did those two become involved with each other?”

“How would I know? Royalty always meet in private, away from our eyes, don’t they?”

“Hahaha, that’s right.”

People in taverns, on streets, at inns, in restaurants, at washing places—

Wherever people could gather and talk, they were discussing this engagement.

Needless to say, news of the two’s engagement also reached Glesius Academy.

Since their engagement was both an imperial family matter and a joyous occasion for the Empire, the information was officially delivered to Glesius Academy, where many noble children attended, in the form of an official document.

Perhaps that’s why there were unusually many people gathered at the bulletin board today.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

“I heard an official document from the Imperial Family arrived?”

“Really? Let’s go take a look.”

Though inconvenient compared to digital notifications through the student management system, they had to come to the bulletin board to see the analog-style posted announcement.

Many students gathered in front of the bulletin board.

Their gazes were all fixed on the imperial announcement posted there.

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Notice from the Gelebrio Empire Administrative Office and Imperial Committee.

The Imperial Family of the Gelebrio Empire hereby announces the following to Glesius Academy on this joyous occasion.

We are pleased to announce the engagement of Viscount Pathos Severio, currently enrolled at Glesius Academy, and the Imperial Family’s eldest, Karen Lucien Decatro Gelebrio Aurelios.

On this joyous occasion, the Imperial Family has decided to provide scholarships to the students of Glesius Academy, with the following amount:

The scholarship amount will be five gold coins, and His Imperial Majesty hopes that the academy’s students will also participate in this celebration.

The scholarship will be provided to all students currently enrolled at the academy, regardless of academic performance or disciplinary records.

Additionally, those who are graduating or completing their studies this year will receive one extra gold coin, and His Majesty requests that graduates and completers work even harder for the Empire.

The scholarships will be distributed sequentially, with priority given to upper-grade students.

Thank you.

Gelebrio Empire Administrative Office and Imperial Committee

◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈◇◈

The students who read the announcement on the bulletin board were confused.

There is only one person in this world who uses the name Karen Lucien Decatro Gelebrio Aurelios.

And there is only one person in the Empire who holds the title of Viscount and uses the surname Severio and the name Pathos.

The Empire’s First Princess and the Empire’s hero are engaged!

The students were confused, unable to believe the contents of the announcement they had just read.

“Have the two of them ever met before?”

“As far as I know, only at banquets, and even then, only twice.”

The reason was that the two hadn’t met frequently.

Officially, Pathos and Karen had only met a couple of times at banquets.

Moreover, both were so busy that it was nearly impossible for them to make time to meet separately.

So when did they meet and become engaged?

“Wait a minute. What about the two people he introduced as his fiancées?”

“Huh? The Viscount had fiancées?”

Next came discussions about Regina and Cheonhyeryeong, who had been introduced as his original fiancées.

“Didn’t you know? The Chancellor and the Viscount are involved.”

“Was I the only one who didn’t know?”

“I heard there was another person besides the Chancellor. What happens to them now?”

The students’ interest quickly shifted from Karen and Pathos’s engagement to the story of the two original fiancées.

Everyone who was part of the academy or noble society knew that Pathos had promised marriage to two people.

Of course, there were some who didn’t know this fact due to having few friends.

While everyone was worrying about what would happen to the two left behind, someone’s words caught everyone’s attention.

“But isn’t this actually a good thing?”

“What do you mean?”

People turned to look at him as he suggested that Pathos’s engagement to Karen might be a positive development.

The emblem on his chest was the imperial crest, proving that he belonged to a family working for the imperial household.

“The Viscount is becoming the husband of the Princess, right? Doesn’t that mean the restrictions of the marriage law disappear, allowing him to take wives without limitation?”

“Uh… is that so?”

As everyone was confused by his words, a student opened the Imperial Law book he usually carried around as a pillow substitute.

“It’s true! According to the marriage law, those belonging to the imperial household are not subject to the marriage law.”

“Then…”

“Is this really a good thing?”

Even after confirming the contents of the Imperial Law, they were still uncertain whether this was correct.

They wondered if the parties involved would accept this.

“Hmm, sister. I have confirmed that news of our lord’s engagement has spread throughout the Empire.”

“What’s the reaction?”

“One-third are surprised, one-third are puzzled, and one-third are thinking about you and me.”

“Is that so?”

Regina smiled at Cheonhyeryeong’s words.

“There must be more people looking up the marriage law.”

“Even among students, there were those who opened law books to check the marriage law.”

“Good. Now no one will oppose you and me becoming Pathos’s wives.”

Despite their marriage order being pushed back, Regina and Cheonhyeryeong showed no signs of irritation.

Rather, they were pleased that the number of people who could “legally” become Pathos’s wives had increased.

However, one person was taking Pathos and Karen’s engagement differently.

“…She beat me to it.”

Emelda Carmen.

She couldn’t hide her frustration at the news of Pathos and Karen’s engagement, feeling that Karen had stolen a march on her.

She had wanted to get revenge on Karen, who had provoked her, but instead, she felt that Karen had gotten the better of her.

Already spending sleepless nights wondering how to get closer to him, this engagement news came as a significant shock to her.

Crisis.

What she was feeling was a crisis.

A crisis that she might not be able to connect with Pathos at this rate.

The first and perhaps last person to come into her life after reaching this age without any romantic connections.

The thought that she couldn’t lose him began to fill Emelda’s mind.

‘What should I do? Should I just go to him and confess?’

Although Karen was the first to announce the engagement news, there were already people who would effectively become his first and second wives.

If they were to marry, those people would become the actual first and second wives, while Karen would be the nominal first wife but effectively the third wife.

Then what about herself? Shouldn’t she at least be the fourth wife?

‘No one else has appeared yet, so I should go and confess first.’

Emelda Carmen felt anxious about falling behind, so she planned to clearly confess her feelings to Pathos as soon as possible.

But she needed to confess to him within this year, as his wedding was scheduled for the end of the year.

Along with the engagement announcement, the date of Pathos’s wedding was circulating privately among the nobles.

If he were to marry Karen, they would start their newlywed life, and she wouldn’t be able to approach him for at least three months.

By then, she would be busy starting a new semester as an academy professor and might not be able to make time.

So… there was only one option.

‘I’ll go to him when he arrives at the academy.’

Karen decided to visit him on the day he arrived at the academy to clearly show her feelings.

But contrary to her expectation that he would arrive early, Pathos didn’t arrive at the academy until about two months after the engagement.