episode_0081

A few days after I started taking horseback riding lessons from Dietermayer.

It was about a week after the day when Edan and I defeated King Serpent at Seraphine’s masquerade ball.

From the rumors coming from the palace, it seemed like the incident at the masquerade ball was being somewhat resolved.

It was almost certain that the incident was caused by the demons, starting from the night of the palace attack and the investigation that followed.

Currently, they must be conducting additional investigations to confirm the details.

And apart from the investigation, it seemed that the fallen palace guards and some servants had been mourned and honored with a funeral for three days after the incident.

Queen Eleanor, who had briefly participated in overseas diplomatic affairs, hurried back to attend the funeral.

As for the rest of the situation, I wasn’t sure. I could only speculate that Seraphine, who witnessed the situation firsthand, was leading the efforts to sort things out.

Well, since the detailed information was not mentioned in the game story, there was nothing I could do about it.

The information I had gathered so far was not from the game’s knowledge. I simply confirmed various stories through rumors I heard or letters coming from Edan.

As a full-time maid, it was also part of my job to check the letters coming from Edan.

“If it were Edan, I would have received some strategic marriage-related letters with little value.”

As Edan had been quite active, after the masquerade ball incident, various letters had been pouring in from different places.

Starting from an apology letter from the Auguste family to a letter from Orion expressing a desire to build a friendship, and various noble ladies sending letters related to Edan’s engagement.

I had anticipated some of it, but it seemed that appearing at the official banquet had worked in a favorable image.

Previously, Edan had rumors circulating that he was a lowly piglet from the Blackwood family. In fact, shortly after Edan woke up from the curse, many humans visited the mansion to see him in person.

Even though the frontier nobles, who were keen on power, forcibly tried to link their daughters with Edan by sending engagement-related letters, it was just that.

At least there had never been a letter expressing a desire to meet or establish a relationship from noble ladies…

“Today is no joke…”

Looking at the letter envelope sealed with heart-shaped wax, even before opening the letter, I could sense the blatant intention seeping out of the paper.

Carefully removing the seals imprinted with such intentions, I was going through the task of checking each letter inside.

I apologize to the ladies who are not the intended recipients of the love letters being read by me first, but what can I do, it’s my job.

In reality, only about 10% of the letters were actually delivered to Edan. Most of the time, I would just read the contents and summarize them for him.

…Just to clarify, I wasn’t cutting off other women getting involved with Edan out of jealousy. It’s just that Edan didn’t have time to read these letters, so I handled them.

Even responding with a ‘polite reply’ to the noble ladies who sent the letters was part of my role. Edan was truly busy with sword training and etiquette lessons.

Thinking about how to reject this letter, possibly including some flowery language, my mind went blank.

“…The Barburg Count’s family must have some influence in the story, so I should set this aside to show it to Edan later. …The Burko Viscount’s family? Where is this place?”

Although she was still naive about the ways of the world, who would have thought that a Viscount’s family would boldly mention engagement in a love letter like this.

It was only natural that she had to send a rejection letter in response to such a letter.

Even among the noble families, it was an unreasonable story for a nobleman from the powerful Blackwood family to engage with a lady from an unknown Viscount’s family.

Well, Harold’s wife, Tanashia, was technically from a lesser noble family, but their marriage was based on a story of meeting and falling in love at the academy.

Even if she were to show it to Edan, there was a high possibility of rejection. Just recently, she had sent a rejection letter in response to a correspondence letter presumed to be from a lady of a noble family.

Of course, as the other party was of a noble status, she personally wrote the response rather than having it dictated.

Their conversation two days ago about this matter was roughly like this.

“Here are the letters from the high-ranking noble ladies, sir.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you for sorting them out today, maid.”

“…And these letters here are from the ladies of the lesser noble families, should I continue to respond with rejection letters as before?”

“Yes, please do. I’m glad the maid is able to read and write, it makes things easier.”

With those words, Edan was seen rereading only the letter sent by the lady of the Brimton Marquis family among several letters.

He couldn’t help but wonder if she might be his fiancée.

“The lady from the Brimton Marquis family is quite a reputable lady, isn’t she? I remember the letter being more of a friendly correspondence rather than a direct mention of engagement, but even if you’re not interested in the engagement itself, how about meeting her once?”

“…Huh? Oh, this letter? I appreciate the advice, but I will definitely send a clear response from this end. It’s better to draw a clear line rather than forcing time for unnecessary opportunities when we’re both busy.”

“…Is that so?”

“Why, maid? Do you happen to have an interest in being my fiancée?”

“As a servant, it would be the right answer not to have any curiosity… but honestly, I’m not entirely uninterested.”

“Really, maid…?”

Why was he suddenly puzzled about my curiosity about who his fiancée might be?

Isn’t it a reasonable question for a regular servant? At least, considering that the person they are serving might become someone’s wife.

Anyway, since I was actually curious, I conveyed my answer without any denial.

“Yes. As a personal maid, it’s natural to wonder who might become the lady of the house someday.”

“Oh, I see… That’s what you meant by interest…”

“However, if you reject even the engagement letter from the lady of the Marquis family, could it be that you are considering someone of higher status as a potential romantic partner, Edan?”

“What do you mean?”

“I just had a sudden thought that maybe you might be interested in Princess Seraphine. Although we met with masks on last time, she still exuded incredible beauty even behind the mask. With your status and looks, you might consider a serious relationship with her…”

“No, maid! There is no relationship with Princess Seraphine!”

Although he said that, deep down, he might have some feelings.

Originally, she was called Seraphine. Unlike Lilith, who simply ranked in the top three in user evaluations, Seraphine was an official character known for her beauty.

Even among the nobles, Seraphine possessed a beauty that was fundamentally different from Lilith, who was often described as a “fairly balanced maid.”

So when Ethan asked if he was enchanted by her when he actually saw Seraphine in person, the response he received was surprisingly indifferent.

“Princess Seraphine is indeed beautiful, but I don’t have feelings for her, so I haven’t chosen a fiancé.”

“Is that so?”

“I have other goals that prevent me from choosing a fiancé. I hope others won’t misunderstand me like they do with Lilith.”

“…I understand. Since you, Sir Ethan, have said so, I won’t dare to speculate on the reason why you don’t choose a fiancé.”

“Thank you, maid.”

I couldn’t argue with Ethan’s statement that he didn’t have feelings for Seraphine, even though I suspected there was more to it.

This led to the conclusion of the engagement discussion between Ethan and me two days ago.

Recalling that day, I continued to read the remaining letters from Ethan.

“Perhaps you are interested in a love marriage rather than a strategic marriage?”

If it were a strategic marriage among nobles, it would be considered a relationship based on interests.

In reality, even students attending the academy, despite being nobles, sometimes engaged in love marriages.

The most prominent example was Ethan’s father, Harold, and Tanasia. If Ethan grew up with a personality similar to his father’s, he might have fantasies in that direction.

As the saying goes, “blood will tell,” Ethan might also be harboring delusions that he could have true love with a partner he met through a love marriage, unlike a strategic marriage.

“Well, it doesn’t matter who Ethan dates or marries, but…”

…Nevertheless, the family background is quite important, so there should be a certain level of status. At the very least, she should be pretty enough not to be unworthy of Ethan. She doesn’t have to be as beautiful as Natalina or Seraphine, but she should be at least a sub-heroine level.

Personality is also quite important. An understanding and accommodating personality like Lizzie’s made me somewhat uneasy. A high-maintenance personality like Katarina’s would be exhausting for a fiancée. A kind and affable personality like Isabelle’s would be ideal.

Well, as long as she meets these minimum criteria, it doesn’t matter who Ethan’s fiancée is. After all, I won’t be the one taking care of her for the rest of my life.

With these thoughts in mind, as I organized today’s letters, I came across a rather peculiar name in one of them.

“Peshnal Jajak Family…?”

What kind of awkward family name is this?

My head automatically tilted at the awkward-sounding surname that didn’t seem to fit in a medieval fantasy world.

On the other hand, it had a somewhat familiar feeling, as if I had seen a character with this surname in the game at least once.

It felt like a name that was made up by rearranging existing words, so could it be…

“Ah.”

Yes, I remembered. Peshnal Jajak Family.

Of course, it would feel awkward as soon as you heard it.

That’s because the Peshnal Jajak Family was a fabricated family that didn’t actually exist in this world.