Olivier Alway paced restlessly around the room, her displeasure evident.
The cause of her unrest was her fiancé, Jared Murphy.
She had been terribly surprised to hear that he was going to fight a Dragon Species at the request of the Mage Association. Furthermore, she was twice as surprised to learn that the battleground was the Alway Dukedom.
While she was angered by her father’s actions that would trouble Jared, she was also furious with Jared for not contacting her, his fiancée, at all, despite going into a life-threatening battle.
She had wanted to tell him to be careful, but before she knew it, she had finished writing a letter full of sarcasm and handed it to Trane.
Olivier, who had felt satisfied with her actions, regretted her behavior, exclaiming, “That’s not it!” only after Trane returned home.
“Young Lady, please calm down. It’s possible that the Duke could rejoin Jared any moment now, so you should receive word soon.”
Olivier was so worried about Jared’s safety that she couldn’t sleep or eat.
Her mother had noticed her distress, but there was no way she could say, “I’m worried because Jared is fighting a Dragon Species.” So, she desperately tried to hide it.
The communication she was waiting for was not a letter. It was a familiar sent by her father’s Court Mage. Through a familiar, she could obtain information quickly, but the contact hadn’t come.
Olivier was concerned about her fiancé, who was ten years her junior, to an extent that surprised even herself.
“Olivier, you are very worried about Jared, aren’t you?”
“I don’t care about rumors, but if Jared Murphy were to die, the rumor about me being the Grim Reaper would be added to the list.”
“Wouldn’t adding one more rumor at this point be neither here nor there?”
“How dare you… But that’s true. Jared is the only one who wasn’t bothered by my rumors, and who talked back to me like that the other day.”
“…You mean you’ve come to like him.”
“That’s not it!”
Olivier vehemently denied Trane’s whisper, her face slightly flushed.
Trane found Olivier, who was acting shy and unable to be honest, to be quite endearing.
“No, it’s not that. While I can’t say I’m completely free of prejudice, I was happy to be able to talk so freely with him. All the men I’ve met have only seen me as the Duke’s daughter. It was unpleasant, even if it was unavoidable. But Jared saw me as Olivier.”
“That’s what made your heart flutter, isn’t it?”
“My heart isn’t fluttering!”
“If you raise your voice too much, Hannelore will wake up.”
“… I’ll get revenge someday.”
“I look forward to it.”
Since it was still early morning, Trane was right, so Olivier lowered her voice.
Thanks to their silly exchange, she felt a little better.
“–Olivier. A familiar has arrived.”
“What about Jared’s safety!?”
“Please wait a moment.”
Outside the window, a small bird flapped its wings silently. Trane opened the window and gently extended her finger. The bird landed and pecked at her finger.
Simultaneously, information flowed to Trane. Though brief, it conveyed the information she most desired at that moment.
“Olivier, Jared appears to be safe. It seems the Duke managed to protect him.”
“… Was he in danger enough to need protection? I don’t quite understand how strong Dragon Species are, but since they have ‘dragon’ in their name, they must be quite strong.”
“I haven’t fought one myself, but from what I’ve heard, only one Court Mage has ever defeated one alone.”
“… He faced something like that?”
Trane continued to reassure Olivier, whose eyes widened in astonishment.
“However, since your friend Laurentz Herring accompanied him, he wouldn’t have undertaken such a reckless act as fighting alone. — Oh, another familiar has arrived.”
Trane spotted a bird pecking at the window from outside and extended her finger. The information conveyed by the familiar that appeared with the second bird, just like the first one, caused the usually expressionless maid to wear a rare wry smile.
“This is unusual, what’s happened?”
Olivier exclaimed in surprise at Trane’s visibly changed expression.
“No, I just found Jared to be a rather interesting person. He was supposed to go defeat a Dragon Species, but it seems he ended up helping an injured Dragon Species and then fighting and capturing adventurers who were targeting it.”
“–What is that?”
“It appears the report of a rampaging Dragon Species was false. The truth is that adventurers attacked the Dragon Species, causing damage to the town.”
Even so, hearing that he saved the Dragon Species he was supposed to defeat made her doubt whether the familiar had brought the correct information.
“Adventurers… I dislike adventurers.”
“I do too. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to deal with them.”
“Indeed… Anyway, Jared is safe, isn’t he?”
“Yes. He is safe.”
“Then I’m relieved.”
Having learned of her fiancé’s safety, Olivier let out a sigh of great relief and sank weakly onto the bed.
“If you’re that worried, you should just be more honest. Jared would surely be pleased.”
“You know why I can’t do that, Trane.”
“However, I believe Jared would be able to help if you explained the whole situation.”
“I don’t want to. He’s already unfortunate enough to be engaged to me, who is ten years his senior and has a terrible reputation, just because my father and grandfather are close. I can’t drag him into my problems as well.”
Olivier’s expression darkened, filled with sadness.
Trane was left speechless by her mistress’s words.
“I’m sorry for Jared, but since Mother likes him, let’s pretend to be engaged for a while. If a third party lives in this mansion, the attacks should stop. Until he comes of age and I introduce him to a kind young lady and we part ways, I want to enjoy myself a little.”
“Olivier, have you given up on everything?”
“No. I haven’t given up. It’s precisely because I’m fighting that I can’t do anything else.”
“If Jared, who said he was willing to marry you…”
“Trane.”
Olivier called her maid’s name in a quiet but undeniably forceful voice.
“I am not worthy of marrying Jared Murphy. I cannot involve Jared in my problems, as I must protect my Mother. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I apologize.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said to Trane, who bowed deeply. Olivier then rose from the bed and called out.
“Now that I know he’s safe, I’ve gotten hungry. Let’s have breakfast, a little early.”
“Then I will prepare tea and scones.”
“I’ll help too. Like Mother, I enjoy housework.”
Having confirmed Jared’s safety, Olivier left the room with a bright smile.
Trane, following behind her, knew that Olivier’s smile was not genuine.
While it was truly a relief that Jared was safe, this was the first time Olivier had worried about someone so deeply, excluding her Mother and Trane herself.
The clumsy young lady had, for the first time, taken a liking to her fiancé, who was ten years her junior.
Olivier would likely deny it, but Trane, who had known her for a long time, could clearly sense her feelings.
Trane prayed that Jared, however long he might stay at the mansion, would notice Olivier’s problem. And, having noticed it, she couldn’t help but pray that he wouldn’t run away from Olivier.
