Chapter 1: A Business Negotiation under the Name of a Marriage Proposal

Ding dong, the temple’s bell – nicknamed as the bell of happiness – rings out.

This is Rosier, the capital city of the kingdom of Fleur.

Inside the castle, built on a small hill overlooking the capital, a wedding was being held in a temple dedicated to this country’s religion – the most sacred place.

I am currently standing at the entrance to the temple, being stared at by everyone in attendance. I am, after all, the bride in today’s wedding.

The priest stands on the altar, while the handsome groom stands next to it. He wears the official uniform of the Kingdom of Fleur Knights. He’s really dazzling to a stupid extent. Is this what you’d call being blessed by the gods? And wait a second, is this person really going to become my husband? No matter how rose-coloured your glasses, I’m completely average. The groom is more beautiful than the bride – what a painful truth…

No, no, this is not the time to escape from reality. The wedding ceremony has already started!

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The wedding ceremony where I, Viola Mandshurica Euphorbia, will be wed to Cercis Tinensis Physalis.

My father, Earl Euphorbia, slowly escorts me along the red carpet to Duke Physalis. The duke, sporting a soft smile, approaches us and extends a hand. He’s to take my hand from my father.

Everyone has their own purpose for this marriage.

Well, things will turn out the way they turn out. Resigning myself, I start taking things seriously. I hide everything underneath my mask – my smile – and take the Duke’s hand.

This marriage has never been anything but political in the first place. I am certain about this.

I, Viola Mandshurica Euphorbia, am a daughter of an Earl’s house that is prestigious but has no money. That’s right, we’re terribly poor. Partially because we were never a family that lusted for power, until now, we all lived modestly with ‘poor yet dignified’ as our motto. We had no luxuries or extravagances. We only made the bare minimum effort to participate in even high society. Still, my family of five – father, mother, me, my little brother, and my little sister – lived happily together.

But go back three years. Our lands faced the largest famine ever recorded, and in order to save the people, Father needed to go deeply into debt.

That debt is to blame for everything!

We had to live even more modesty than before – at poverty level, rather. No matter how hard we worked. I ended up just staring at my hands.

But everyone in the family still did their best! At times, I did the work of the maid, the gardener, and sometimes even the chef all by myself! Since I had always preferred working with the servants rather than living like a noble, it wasn’t tough for me at all.

That’s when the head of the House of Physalis sent me a marriage proposal.

That was exactly one year ago.

“I’m to marry Duke Cercis Physalis?”

I had suddenly been summoned to Father’s office only to be told something crazy.

My light blue eyes went so wide I worried that they would fall out of their sockets. I was just that shocked.

But I wasn’t the only one who was taken off guard.

“That’s right. He’s also perfectly aware of our current financial situation – he said that he will shoulder the debt, so in exchange, let him marry you,” says Father, looking bewildered.

It’s true that it’s sudden. This situation is akin to lightning coming down from a clear sky.

But a question rose up in my head.

“Have I ever met the Duke in person?”

I cock my head to the side and think, but I can’t recall any connections between us in the slightest.

“That’s right… you haven’t, right? We fell into poverty shortly after you made your social debut, so you haven’t attended many soirées either?”

Father cocks his head to the side as well.

“Right? And it’s not like I’ve ever been flirted with? And people don’t even gossip about me in high society, let alone spread rumours? So why? A Duke should have no shortage of marriage candidates to choose from.”

Father and I cross our arms in unison, as if we were mirror images of each other. “Hmm,” we say, trying to think up any ideas, but as expected we come up with nothing.

The Duke is very young, only twenty-four. Normally, he works as a knight in the castle. And not just any knight – an elite knight, the leader of a special force despite his youth. He’s handsome as well, with the knight uniform apparently suiting his tight, flexible body very well. Apparently young noble ladies swoon at the sight of him. Oh, but I’ve never met him myself so this is all hearsay – or rather, rumours.

Why would such an amazing thing like this Duke send a marriage proposal to an average noble girl from a poor and ruined noble house drowning in debt? (Just saying it myself makes me depressed.) I don’t understand at all.

“Well, we have no reason to decline on this side – rather, we need to happily accept it – but what do you think, Viola? I’ll decline if you don’t want to.”

My kind father respects my opinion, but it’s not like we can decline. There’s no way that a declining Earl’s house can reject an offer of marriage from a high class Duke’s house. And even if we turn the offer down, it’s not like anybody else is going to want to marry a dull girl drowning in debt. I had so few hopes I had even started thinking “I might not mind being single ☆.”  If it saves my family, go on, hand me over as many times as you need!

“No, Father. If it’s for our house, I will happily accept,” I say, smiling brightly. I nod firmly.

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading （＾＾）

I’ll be happy if you read through it quickly, just like usual ♪

This story is set in I guess the Middle Ages to the early modern period. It would be good if you thought of it as the country next to the main country in most stories （*＾－＾*）

I’m counting on all of you this time around again!

T/N:

This author really likes flowers! As you may know, fleur means flower and rosier means rosebush in French.

There’s a certain type of Asian violet known as viola mandshurica, or sumire in Japanese.

Euphorbia is the name for a genus of flowering plants.

Cercis chinensis is colloquially known as the Chinese redbud. Here the author writes the name as Tinensis rather than Chinensis, though.

Physalis is another genus of flowering plants, in the nightshade family.