Ch.44. Fiancée

Erick Wellesley’s fiancée, Ember Hyde, had never been satisfied with the life given to her.

She was a noble. At least, if you only looked at her status.

In a world where half the commoners couldn’t even manage three meals a day, being born a noble was certainly a privileged life. She could bathe in clean water every day, eat nutritious food, and sleep in a bed without fleas.

But for Ember, having basic necessities guaranteed wasn’t enough.

Her father was the third son of a baronial family.

He was a noble without a title. Though he was fairly intelligent and had studied law to become a prosecutor, serving for over 20 years, it honestly wasn’t a lucrative profession. He had some power, but in exchange, he had many enemies.

“Ember, I’m sorry, but we can’t afford Academy tuition with our circumstances. If you had talent in magic or swordsmanship, it might be different, but you don’t.”

“A social gathering…? I understand your desire, but you’ll only be ignored if you force yourself to go. Don’t invite unnecessary pain.”

“You need to find a job that suits your station.”

Her father habitually spoke of things like “knowing your place,” “staying within your means,” and “our circumstances.”

The career paths her father recommended didn’t satisfy her either.

Becoming a gynecologist for noblewomen would earn enough money and professional recognition, or perhaps becoming a teacher at a civilian school, or if she disliked both options, he could introduce her to a junior prosecutor for an early marriage.

Objectively, these were reasonable suggestions. After all, Ember was born into a modest family and had no particular talents.

Except for her extraordinary beauty, she had nothing to boast about. Apart from annual visits to her uncle’s estate where he served as lord, she rarely experienced the benefits of noble status.

But Ember simply couldn’t accept her father’s suggestions.

Becoming a gynecologist and examining between other women’s legs,

Becoming a civilian school teacher with a terrible salary, teaching letters and arithmetic to commoner children,

Becoming the wife of a man with an ordinary job like a prosecutor, doing housework and bearing and raising children—she found all these options utterly unacceptable.

She firmly believed she deserved a glamorous life.

If she had been raised by strict parents, she might have been corrected, perhaps even through somewhat violent means, but for better or worse, Ember’s parents deeply loved and cherished their daughter. They were the kind of parents ready to do anything to fulfill their only daughter’s ambitions.

Eventually, Ember’s father desperately mobilized his connections as a prosecutor and succeeded in securing an opportunity that matched his daughter’s wishes.

That opportunity was an engagement with one of the top members of the Royal Order, the Empire’s premier military force.

That person was Erick.

Though a commoner, he was a prodigy who had followed the path to success thanks to his exceptional talent with the sword since childhood. He had even almost become a knight in the Hero’s party. Though he ultimately declined due to concerns about the expedition to the Demonic Land.

Ember gave her father a rare bright smile, thinking this might be the opportunity for social advancement she had been seeking.

However, before finalizing the engagement, she didn’t forget to meet Erick in person to verify his qualities. If he was just a strong but dim-witted man, he wouldn’t be worth meeting.

While merely having one’s name on the Royal Order’s roster was considered an honor for three generations, Ember wanted something beyond mere honor.

Fortunately, Erick’s first impression was relatively satisfactory.

“…Keeping all limbs intact is most important. If I lose an arm fighting monsters, I’d spend the rest of my life surviving on a pitiful disability pension. I’m not someone obsessed with my specialty.”

“Then becoming the commander or vice-commander?”

“If I become a master, I’ll end up doing it whether I want to or not. But it doesn’t matter if I fail. You know that duchies operate their own knight orders, right?”

“I’ve heard rumors that Royal Order members are often courted by nobles.”

“With my position, I could be offered a commander position and transfer in my thirties. Once I become the commander of a ducal knight order, receiving a territory wouldn’t be difficult. There are precedents of people successfully changing their social status that way… By the way, I didn’t expect to have this kind of conversation at our first meeting.”

“Oh my, I’m sorry. Hoho.”

Ember belatedly covered her mouth in feigned modesty, and Erick nodded with a wry smile.

Afterward, Ember Hyde appropriately flattered Erick and acted coquettishly. He was worth it. A skilled warrior who had almost been selected for the Hero’s party, combined with a practical mindset.

A few meals together, one gathering with Ember’s family—after going through the typical process, they eventually held their engagement ceremony.

‘This is a good enough match.’

There was the drawback of having to live as the wife of an ordinary elite knight for nearly ten years, but he was a man who could provide a prosperous life from middle age onward. Though she had ruined their first meeting with her vetting process, she thought she could make up for it.

Her evaluation of Erick grew higher as time passed.

Naturally, this was due to the rapid price increase of Cordana. Erick’s value, which had been merely decent, had risen to exceptional or even beyond.

She didn’t like that when she asked, “Tell me exactly how many you have,” he consistently evaded the question—

‘But he didn’t deny having a lot.’

Even assuming just 100, at current market rates, that would be over 30 billion Lyra. It was a sum that most baronies and viscounties, struggling to manage their territories, would never see in a lifetime. Even most counties would have to scrape together all their assets to raise such an amount.

With that much cash, one could live a splendid life even in the imperial capital.

A massive mansion? A four-horse carriage with dozens of servants? Those would be nothing.

And it wasn’t just about living luxuriously. With such wealth, even the haughty noble ladies of the capital might send invitations asking her to attend their social gatherings. She could live the true noble life Ember had always longed for.

With her heart swelling, Ember had been urging Erick to marry for the past couple of months.

Erick was also in his mid-twenties—an age where it wouldn’t be unusual for an ordinary person to already have a couple of children. The sooner they held the wedding and combined households, the sooner she could share in that immense wealth Erick possessed.

‘Hurry, we need to settle this quickly.’

She had made every effort to hear the words “Let’s get married” from Erick.

She tried to meet him at least twice a week and subtly attempted physical contact each time. She was even prepared to give up her virginity if Erick made an aggressive move. Once he took her virginity, he wouldn’t be able to break the engagement.

But the cruel Erick never uttered the words she wanted to hear. He didn’t even try to spend the night with her, as if he had no sexual desire.

‘Is he so old-fashioned that he’s trying to protect me?’

Though nearly extinct, she had heard that some men placed great importance on preserving their fiancée’s virginity.

If so, she couldn’t ask for more. It meant he valued her that much.

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. Not only did he avoid sex, but he also never showed any particular affection.

Though Ember had unwavering confidence in her own charm, the continued lukewarm relationship inevitably sprouted seeds of anxiety.

And today, something happened that fueled her suspicions.

Erick’s colleague, the female knight “Selin,” visited her without warning.

“Ember… right? I know you’ve been engaged to Erick for quite some time, but this is our first meeting. We could have met casually like friends, and it wouldn’t have been strange.”

“Erick seems to be very cautious when it comes to relationships with the opposite sex.”

“Was Erick that type of person? If so, then during his first year in the order, in the western expedition with that village girl… Ah, no. I shouldn’t say such things when we’ve just met. Anyway, you don’t seem to know much about Erick for a fiancée. What do you two talk about when you meet?”

“……”

“You don’t talk much? Well, these days Erick is busy checking Cordana prices.”

Ember flinched involuntarily at the mention of Cordana.

Lately, all her attention had been focused on the Cordana that Erick possessed. Selin seemed to read Ember’s anxiety and smiled knowingly before whispering:

“You’re probably filled with unrealistic dreams right now, but don’t get your hopes up too high. Erick has no intention of sharing all that wealth with you.”

“How would you know that, Lady Selin?”

“Think about it. Hasn’t Erick’s attitude grown colder since the Cordana price suddenly surged? Meeting less frequently, being evasive during those rare meetings, and postponing answers when asked about marriage?”

“……”

“You understand what I’m saying, right?”

In truth, Erick had never been affectionate from the beginning. He had never given thoughtful gifts or taken her to social gatherings.

But listening to Selin, it felt as if Erick had truly changed his heart.

‘That’s right. Something was definitely off.’

Her doubts grew as she heard that even within the knight order, people found Erick’s attitude suspicious. The words came from one of the Empire’s finest female knights, so they seemed credible. After all, Selin had no reason to lie.

After meeting with Selin, she finally couldn’t hold back and rushed to Erick’s lodgings.

However, she hadn’t come mindlessly. To avoid suspicion that she was there because of the Cordana, she had even prepared a script.

She planned to disguise herself as a maiden gathering courage to win the heart of her indifferent fiancé. She would also claim that it wasn’t her but her parents who had conducted that off-putting interrogation during their first meeting.

‘I shouldn’t mention Cordana directly. I need to probe indirectly.’

But then.

“Ember. You came because of the Cordana, didn’t you? You must have been in quite a hurry.”

Erick’s question, delivered with an expression that suggested it was obvious. Ember unconsciously furrowed her brow. Though she quickly managed to control her expression, Erick’s gaze had already turned cold. It was the moment her carefully prepared plan fell apart.