The Tyrant Empress is Obsessed with Me - Chapter37

37 – Finding a Bride

It was their first meeting as rich men in a long time.

The two men, who should have plenty of stories to share, sat quietly in the reception room, making eye contact without speaking a word.

It wasn’t because they understood each other’s thoughts just by looking into their eyes as men often do.

There was simply nothing to say.

“So you went to jail. How’s your body doing?”

“Yes. Prison life was bearable, more than I expected.”

“Yeah. A man should go to jail once in his lifetime and experience that.”

“True.”

He took a sip of tea.

A minute went by.

“The house has changed quite a bit.”

“Um, I didn’t really think about it, but your sister spent quite a bit on the party.”

“Lucia does have that side to her.”

Gulping.

This time, Arthur took a sip of tea.

Five minutes passed.

Only then Arthur glanced at Ascal’s right.

There, Lia was present.

Lia, whose eyes met his, bowed her head slightly.

“Who is that young lady over there?”

“I am Lia Sinas. I am humbly serving as Ascal’s aide.”

“Arthur Devre.”

The conversation stopped after that.

Arthur Devre, although nobility, was essentially close to being a military officer. He preferred using his body once more than speaking a hundred words.

In the first place, in the countryside, where using the body is more common than speaking, there was no reason nor opportunity for Arthur Devre to learn conversation skills.

However, since she was his long-lost child, he tried his best to continue the conversation somehow.

The word ‘holy night feast’ came to his mind, which was as solid as stone.

“Come to think of it, it’s almost the holy night feast.”

“Yes.”

“Usually, the holy night feast is spent with family. Do you not have a family?”

“Pardon?”

In Arthur’s straightforward question, even Lia, who was usually not flustered, became flustered with an overwhelming force.

Ascal hurriedly stepped forward and translated Arthur’s words.

“So, usually, the Holy Night Feast is spent with family by tradition, but is there any special reason why Lia came down to the Devre house together?”

“Um.”

Barely, the crisis of miscommunication was averted.

Ascal wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

“My father was uncomfortable and decided to focus on recuperation. Instead, I had some free time during the holy night feast, so I asked Ascal, a dear acquaintance, to come and pray together.”

“I see.”

“But looking back, I realize I didn’t ask for permission in advance from Baron Devre.”

“That’s true as well.”

Arthur nodded his head.

No, he spoke as if talking about someone else.

Ascal looked at Arthur as if he couldn’t believe what he just heard.

“My father doesn’t pay attention to such things, so you can be comfortable, Lia.”

“That’s true.”

“…I understand. Thank you, Lord.”

The conversation came to a halt once again.

After a while of silence, Arthur noticed the self-defense sword tied to Ascal’s waist and his expression changed.

“It’s been a while since we practiced our swordplay. How about we spar for a bit?”

“When we spar, we sweat, and we have to wash. And we have to change into dry clothes. I don’t really want to do it.”

“Why do you have to change clothes? You can just let them dry in the sun.”

There were times when Ascal felt the generation gap when talking with adults, but this time it was different. Instead of a generational gap, he felt a gap in hygiene.

“I find it uncomfortable. Spar with the knights later.”

“Fine.”

Arthur was convinced.

Time passed.

The awkward Lia fiddled with her fingers.

‘Please, someone break this awkward silence…’

Then, from afar, they heard footsteps.

Fastpaced steps approached them.

It had been a while since he heard those footsteps, but Ascal knew who they belonged to right away.

“Brother!!!!!! Let’s get married!!!!! Get married!!!!!!!!!”

It was Lucia Dever.

Ascal’s younger sister.

“I hope everything has been well. Occasionally sending a letter would have been nice. If I don’t send a letter first, you never contact me, which makes you a very cold-hearted brother. But it’s a relief that everything was resolved well with the prison incident. I couldn’t visit you at Zurat prison, so all I could do was pray from afar. You were in my thoughts and prayers. To be honest, I didn’t think you’d come back home for the ball, but I was surprised when you did.”

Ascal looked at Lucia who had entered the parlor.

Lucia, who naturally sat in an empty chair as if she was the mistress of the house, spoke for a while.

Technically speaking, Lucia was indeed the mistress of this house. In the absence of their mother, Lucia was the one who had been managing the Dever household.

She might have been the one to actively push for the ice investment and the jewel frog case.

“Anyway, the saying goes, ‘Strike while the iron is hot’, so how about getting married now that you’re here? You’re not exactly young anymore, are you?”

Ascal listened to his sister, who had taken the role of the mistress of the house.

Ascal was grateful for Luscia.

If it hadn’t been for her, the Viscount de DeVre would have gone bankrupt a long time ago. Thanks to Luscia, the household was still running.

Nevertheless, Ascal wanted to avoid Luscia as much as possible.

It was because she was terribly talkative.

“Here’s the list of young ladies of marrying age that I’ve compiled. Fortunately, your current reputation is so high that we were able to choose ladies from well-off families. In short, you have the possibility of a social climbing marriage.”

“I’m not thinking about marriage yet……”

“You must be joking. In this society, marriage isn’t a choice, but a necessity. I’ve told you in my letters, haven’t I? If you’re not going to get married now when your value is at its peak, then when are you planning on getting married?”

It was a valid point.

Unlike modern society, marriage in this pseudo-medieval world similar to the pre-modern times was a strict family affair.

It was more of a union between families than a marriage between individuals.

If you looked at it closely, it was quite reasonable.

One family has an incredible group of knights, but no money. So it was hard for them to provide armor for the knights.

But another family has a lot of money but not enough soldiers to protect their territory. And they were being targeted by those who coveted their land.

Both families have sons and daughters of marriageable age.

It’s a match made in heaven.

The two nobles naturally set a date for the wedding.

But suddenly the son brings home a farmer’s daughter whom he fell in love with and wants to marry?

Unless the nobleman is out of his mind, he’d be furious.

Understanding this reality, Ascal couldn’t simply insist on not getting married. Instead, he desperately tried to postpone it.

“I’ll do it next year. Next year.”

“Do you realize you’ve been saying that for the past two years? There’s nowhere left to retreat, brother.”

Luscia pulled out a neatly folded parchment from her bosom.

And she began to read the unfolded parchment.

“Lady Isabelle of the Baron’s family. Background 5. Intelligence 6. Looks 6. Personality 4. Special notes: There are rumors she has a lover. She was a neighbor with an advantage, but now it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Then Luscia drew a line through the place where Lady Isabelle of the Baron’s family was written with her quill pen. It was a merciless attitude of a cool-headed matchmaker.

“Lady Helen of the Count’s family. Background 7. Intelligence 4. Looks 8. Personality 5. Special notes: She is ill and at risk of dying prematurely. There’s a high probability that you should meet her sooner rather than later.”

Luscia silently crossed out Lady Helen of the Count’s family as well. Honestly, Ascal was curious.

“Why her?”

“She passed away last year.”

“Oh…”

From No ble mt L dot c om

I shouldn’t have asked.

“But don’t worry. As I mentioned earlier, thanks to your recent success, you have many more options. This time, the young lady I personally recommend is this one.”

Lucia held her breath.

“Senestia Ducal Young Lady. Background 9. Intelligence 4. Appearance 9. Personality 6. Special remark: working as an imperial administrator. Just like you, right?”

It was a familiar family name for some reason.

For a moment, Ascal performed logical inference in his head.

As far as he knew, there were only two families named Senestia Ducal in the Empire.

And among the Senestia Ducal young ladies, there was only one person working as an imperial administrator.

“Siusia…”

“Oh, do you know her? Then things must be easier, right?”

“I can’t choose her.”

“What is the reason?”

“Anyway, she’s not an option.”

Ah, just not possible.

Angrily reacting to his irresponsible refusal, Lucia stood up from her seat and approached Ascal.

As she was about to scold him, she finally noticed Lia, who had been unable to find a chance to interrupt.

Lucia had a habit of not paying attention to her surroundings when she was engrossed.

Seeing Lia, Lucia bowed and introduced herself.

“I must have missed you earlier. I am Lucia Dever of the Dever Baron family. Who are you, young lady?”

“No, I’m sorry for my delayed greeting too. I am Lia Sinas of the Sinas Viscount family.”

As if competing to see who could greet more perfectly, the two women politely exchanged their introductions.

Then, after finishing her greetings, Lucia approached Ascal and whispered in his ear.

-You should have told me you brought a woman. Brother.

-I didn’t bring her.

-Anyway, um… she’s quite impressive. Appearance 10.

Lucia said with a smile.

“Do you happen to know where the current allied countries with the Empire are?”

“Officially speaking, it’s the Rudive Kingdom, the Keli Kingdom, and the White Tower.”

“What’s the name of the trade route to the north of the Empire?”

“The Northern Sun Road.”

“Which domain has recently produced the highest-rated wine in the Empire?”

“It’s the Baitz wine from the House of Retail, but technically, the land where the wine is produced is owned by the Empire, under Imperial Territory.”

“Intelligence 10.”

Lucia scribbled with her quill pen on parchment.

-Lia Sinas. Background 7. Intelligence 10. Appearance 10. Personality ?

“What if, on the first night, your husband suddenly disappeared and when you found him, he was having an affair with a prostitute? How would you deal with it?”

“Lucia. Stop.”

Lucia closed her mouth, realizing that she had gone too far with her question.

Ascal once again saved the family from the brink of extinction…

“Just pour oil over them and drop the candlestick you’re holding to burn them. Then, take care of your paralyzed husband for the rest of your life.”

“…”

Ascal silently wrote ‘1’ next to Personality in his mind.

Lucia played with her quill pen.

-Swish.

-Lia Sinas. Background 7. Intelligence 10. Appearance 10. Personality 10. Remark: Well-spoken.