Succession Round 2, Lord Ransel. (2)

2.

“We’re meeting for the first time… right?”

“No.”

That evening, Lancel Dante had to hear a resolute answer from Marigold, who was striding towards his bed.

“I’ve known Lancel for a long time. After countless times turning back time, I’ve come to this place today. We are destined to be together.”

“A long time ago?”

“Please listen, Lancel. I actually remember my past life. We’ve met countless times in it. It’s surprisingly true.”

“Are you serious?”

“Look at my face. I’m serious.”

‘This girl. She had no intention of hiding it from the start.’

Lancel was sweating as he watched Marigold slowly approach and eventually climb onto his waist.

“Living together, sharing love, promising a lifetime. All those lives where you said you would live only for me…! I remember everything. You may not believe it, but you will in the future.”

“……?”

Was that so?

“Please believe me, Lancel.”

There was a reason why he was keeping his identity as a Regressor a secret from Marigold.

Once it was known that he was a Regressor, he could never turn back. That’s why he had kept it as a last resort.

“I swear in this place.”

But Marigold was…

“Just as Lancel gave me all his lives, I will give Lancel all of my lives.”

Marigold’s body, which seemed to have been trained with a sword, had grown significantly in this iteration.

Most maids had to look up slightly to see her.

That was why Marigold’s presence on his body felt more intense than ever.

“Lancel.”

As she slowly lowered her upper body, her face came closer.

When they were close enough to feel each other’s hot breath, Lancel read a different emotion on Marigold’s face than he had ever seen before.

“Shall I tell you a secret?”

2.

———

[Fallen Noble Lady Simulation]

Creating the schedule for the 1st week of August.

Mon – Tour the mansion. (Location: Dante Family Mansion)

Tue – Rest at the mansion. (Location: Dante Family Garden)

Wed – Stroll through the Dante Territory. (Location: Dante Territory)

Thu – Swordsmanship training. (Location: Dante Family Training Grounds)

Fri – Part-time job. (Location: Dante Training Ground).

Sat – Rest at the mansion. (Location: Dante Family Garden)

Sun – Rest at the mansion. (Location: Dante Family Garden)

※You have welcomed your first week as Lancel Dante’s legitimate and rightful fiancée! You might get busy in the future, so you should enjoy yourself now!

———

-Monday.

For some reason, Marigold in the Dante Territory attracted fervent attention from the maids.

“We’ll do it! Miss Mary!”

“I was going to clean Lancel’s room myself…”

“Please rest comfortably, Miss Mary!”

Marigold, who was looking for Lancel’s belongings, was chased away and looked regretful.

In her hand was a handkerchief that Lancel usually cherished. One that hadn’t been washed yet.

“Can’t you leave Lancel’s things alone…! Just a little! Just a few more…!”

What was her purpose in trying to clean with her own hands? Lancel listened to her voice from afar and sweated.

-Tuesday.

“Miss Mary looks cool even when she’s napping!”

“Female knight, fateful romance, engagement… I want to be like Miss Mary…”

Marigold was lying in the shade, fast asleep, and the maids were stuck to the window like bees to watch her.

“She snored!”

“Cool!”

‘Is that cool…?’

Lancel, who happened to pass by and saw the scene, couldn’t hide his bewilderment.

-Wednesday.

“I’m right. What Pina says is always extreme. If I take Lancel with me soon and do it according to my plan… What? Wh-what are you talking about, I’m not really… It’s not like I don’t have those thoughts at all…!”

“Miss Mary is cool even when she’s arguing with herself!”

“They say nobles engage in verbal sparring in high society, so is that what she’s practicing!”

“Ah!”

“I thought Miss Mary was just talking to herself…!”

“There’s a reason for everything.”

Even Marigold’s muttering to the air from time to time was met with admiration.

“Hoo! Haa!”

When she was swinging her sword to train her body, almost all the young maids in the mansion gathered to watch Marigold.

Whoosh-!

A heavy lump of iron was wrapped in cloth and hung around the blade. From a distance, it looked like she was wielding a huge blunt weapon.

Whooom-!

The sound of cutting through the wind echoed fiercely.

“Heeup…!”

It was so heavy that even most adult men couldn’t lift it.

Marigold continued to swing it effortlessly. Without the slightest wobble, always in the same posture.

“Three thousand times!”

Finally, Marigold, having reached her goal, stretched out her arms and yawned.

Her hair, bathed in the sunset, sparkled with sweat.

“Haa, that was hard. I’ll stop here for today…”

As Marigold, soaked in sweat, put the sword back, the maids rushed out as if they had been waiting for that moment.

“Miss Mary! Here’s a towel!”

“I have one too! I have a wet towel!”

“Umm… Th-thank you?”

The maids’ eyes, looking at Marigold with an awkward smile, felt like those of followers towards an idol.

No knight or child in this mansion had ever received such devoted treatment.

Not to mention Lancel, who was treated like a precious son. The servants and maids often talked back to him.

-It’s because Lancel is comfortable with them, hehe.

‘Hmm.’

He had been living a little lazily, and his treatment in the house was terrible.

“Honestly, Miss Mary might be a little too good for you.”

“I can hear you.”

“S-sorry!”

The young maids ran away in a flurry.

“Lancel, you know I didn’t mean it, right? Here’s a madeleine I made. Yep.”

“……Okay.”

Even though anyone could tell she was serious.

Lancel accepted the maid’s apology without incident when she came to the tea party in the late afternoon.

Honestly, he didn’t feel bad. He had actually been living carelessly in this iteration. A loafer. A gambler. A wanderer. A kleptomaniac. A layabout…

“Still, it’s a good thing.”

Rio Dante, the eldest son of the Dante Family, threw a laugh from the side.

“It means your fiancée is that good. Honestly, I agree that Miss Mary is too good for you.”

“……Yes.”

“Thanks to Miss Mary, both my father and I have one less thing to worry about.”

He put down his teacup and continued, sounding relieved.

“When I heard that you were running away all the time and squandering the family fortune, I thought we finally had a good-for-nothing son in our family… But since you brought such a great woman, you’ll come to your senses now.”

Would he come to his senses now, after living for hundreds of years without doing so?

Lancel closed his eyes and let his nagging go in one ear and out the other.

“By the way.”

Kyle Dante, the second son, who was sitting on the terrace railing, opened his mouth.

“I wonder if that woman, Mary, is really skilled or not.”

“Didn’t you hear the maids say they saw her training? They say she swings a heavy sword thousands of times.”

“No, training and actual combat are different. Why don’t you talk to Father and create an opportunity? Lancel, you must be curious about how well your wife handles a sword.”

“I’m not curious at all.”

“I’m curious.”

“It’s a hassle.”

“Then, brother, please create an opportunity. It’s not just because of Mary, but the commander of the knights has come to his hometown for the first time in a while, so we should check the sword skills of the family members. Isn’t that right?”

The Dante Family, from the guards to the vassals, all possessed skills equivalent to knights or elite soldiers.

It was a family that had to be ready to participate in battle and achieve feats at any time.

Kyle Dante was using that point as an excuse now.

“And also, let’s see this guy’s sword skills. Do you even train, Lancel?”

He poked Lancel’s forehead.

“When was the last time you held a sword, you bastard.”

In the past, he hated Kyle Dante, who constantly bothered him.

But now, he didn’t have any thoughts about it.

He had already gotten rid of all the resentment he had accumulated by repeatedly overpowering him with his skills.

‘Okay. I’ve beaten him enough. I, a man of character, will endure.’

They were still brothers, so he didn’t want to treat him too harshly. That was all.

“It would be interesting if you were worse than your wife when you actually fought. Lancel. Puhaha! It’ll be a rumor all the way to the Imperial Capital. There’s a knight husband who gets beaten by his wife with a sword. Pooh, euhehehehe!”

……Should I beat him up one more time?

Lancel barely suppressed the rising anger by drinking his tea.

“Why bother with such a troublesome checkup? We could just gather and go hunting.”

“Aww, that’s no fun.”

“Still.”

Rio Dante looked at Lancel.

“Things always happen when you go hunting. Don’t you think so?”

Lancel frowned at Rio Dante, who was winking. What kind of sinister thoughts was he plotting again?

“Come to think of it, is it true, Lancel?”

“What is?”

“You and your fiancée. The story that you’re leaving home together next year. That you’re going around the continent to the Imperial Capital?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Lancel recalled the voice of Marigold he had heard a while ago.

Her ‘spoiler’ that she had whispered to him with all her sincerity.

.

.

.

“Shall I tell you a secret?”

“……What secret?”

Marigold’s expression was more serious than ever. Her eyes seemed to be wavering, and her lips seemed to be trembling slightly.

He realized that it wasn’t just his imagination through Marigold’s voice, which she opened her mouth to say while shrugging her shoulders a moment later.

“If we stay like this, Lancel will… Lancel will…”

“I will?”

“Lancel will…”

Marigold hugged Lancel tightly. “Cough!” It was such a strong force and momentum that he couldn’t breathe from the pressure.

It was Marigold in this route, who was thoroughly following the physical route.

Lancel was losing confidence in being able to handle this girl on the bed. If he had known this would happen, he should have trained in advance.

After patting her back and calming her down for a while, Marigold opened her mouth.

“……Lancel will die.”