“Marry me!”
I was so taken aback by those words that I was speechless.
Afterwards, I agonized over how to respond and ended up returning home without an answer. I thought the atmosphere would become awkward, but…
“Mhm! Delicious!!”
That wasn’t the case at all.
The very person who said those words was completely impressed by Himik’s cooking, as if she had forgotten what she had said, and was thoroughly enjoying a very late dinner.
“Himik-san! Won’t you please become my wife?”
“Unfortunately, I am Jiro’s wife. I cannot marry into your household.”
“Jiro-! Please give Himik-san to me!!”
“That’s a man’s line. And besides, those are not words you should say to your fiancé, are they?”
Before I could confirm if her words were serious, she left me with a single word, “Think about it,” and walked away. I had lost the timing to restart the conversation.
Normally, after such words, the atmosphere should have become tense. But Keiri-san, as if unbothered, boldly knocked on the door of my mansion. Sehas let her in, and now she’s savoring the food, even jokingly proposing to Himik with a smile.
Her demeanor made it seem as if our previous conversation never happened.
While lightly wetting my tongue with the Japanese sake served with dinner, I felt the slowly spreading alcohol and observed the situation.
Logically, one would normally dismiss those words as a joke.
However, her atmosphere, attitude, and gaze did not seem like she was joking.
I could have dismissed Keiri-san’s proposal to Himik as mere nonsense and retorted. But instead, she pouted charmingly and began to eat her meal.
Honestly, it’s bothersome to be so swayed by a woman’s single word, I thought, sighing inwardly, and tried to accept her words as a joke.
“Keiri, did something happen?”
However, Suella, sensing something was amiss, asked.
After dinner, we put the child to sleep, had the little spirits watch over them, and sat down at the same table.
A teacup filled with roasted green tea sat before her, steam rising from it.
Without even touching the freshly brewed tea, she gazed at her best friend with a look of confusion and concern.
“Mmm, I just misspoke a little.”
Though she could have chosen to say it was nothing, Keiri-san, understanding that hiding it was futile, offered a wry smile. After taking a bite of Himik’s cooking and chewing to buy time, she spoke.
“It wasn’t work, was it?”
“As expected of my best friend, you know me well.”
“Yes, we’ve known each other for a long time.”
Suella, accurately sensing the nuance that Keiri-san didn’t want to say but found it difficult to, looked at me once, then pondered what had happened.
“If you misspoke, it means you want me to know. The fact that Jiro-san has a subtle expression on his face suggests that’s the case.”
“Oh dear, you had another source of information. How careless of me.”
I thought I had maintained my poker face reasonably well, but Suella laughed, as if to say it was obvious.
“Yes, the emotions of someone you like tend to make a woman like me sensitive.”
“You have a point there.”
“Yes, I’m not the same person I was in the past either.”
Her words, spoken with a cute giggle and a nuance that suggested she was deeply loved, made my cheeks flush.
“It’s enviable, truly. To the point of having such a cute child…”
Keiri-san stopped eating and glanced towards the door on the other side of the living room.
It was obvious what she was looking at, or rather, what she was trying to look at.
“You’ve become more composed since becoming a mother. You used to have more of an opening before.”
“There have been various things besides becoming a mother. I can’t remain weak.”
I’ve been envied by children many times, but this was different.
Her words held a sense of loneliness.
“…Did something happen with your family?”
“Mmm, they haven’t said anything. It’s like they’re not expecting any more grandchildren from me? They already have grandchildren. Rather, they were delighted that I became Jiro’s subordinate and were more concerned about that. They were happy about my promotion as if it were their own.”
Suella, who seemed to know something I didn’t, inquired about Keiri-san’s family.
I only knew about Keiri-san’s family structure from documents.
Her family wasn’t particularly prominent, but they weren’t an ordinary family either.
I recall Keiri-san’s family being a branch family of the village chief of a certain Dark Elf village.
“The ones who are troublesome are those above and below. Honestly, they should just leave me alone.”
However, it wasn’t a family that would be so overbearing, and I heard she had a good relationship with her parents.
But.
“Is your relationship with your sisters not good?”
“It’s not that it’s not good… it’s more like they have to put me down to feel good? They probably don’t like that I just ignore them and don’t care.”
Even as a branch family, they carried the village chief’s bloodline.
Keiri-san’s real family had two mothers, and Keiri-san was the daughter of the second wife.
And she has half-sisters…
It’s rumored that they are the daughters of a noble family from another village and are very proud.
Well, I haven’t actually met them, so I can’t say for sure, but that’s what she told me.
They say children resemble their parents, and her half-sisters, who inherited that bloodline, have a relationship with Keiri-san that can at best be described as strained, not exactly friendly.
In response to my question, Keiri-san began to ponder with her arms crossed, unsure how to explain.
“Keiri’s sisters are bothered that Keiri is being promoted. While her parents gave permission for her to join the Demon Lord’s Army, her mother seemed to have reservations.”
“Why would that mother interfere?”
“Well, among Dark Elves, there are those with old-fashioned ways of thinking. She’s one of those who believes fighting is a man’s job and a woman’s duty is to protect the home.”
“Except for certain parts, that’s a common sense that would be called impossible in Japan.”
While Suella explained Keiri-san’s family circumstances, I couldn’t help but wonder if such a family environment was a reason for Keiri-san to say those things to me.
“So, Jiro-san, what did Keiri say to you?”
“Mmm, I wonder if I should tell you.”
It would be cruel to ask Keiri-san, who was already agonizing over it.
Therefore, it was natural for Suella to ask me, who could explain.
I picked up my teacup, took a sip, and glanced at me, Suella asked, her expression conveying her curiosity about what Keiri-san had said.
I didn’t feign ignorance.
I could have said I couldn’t say, but I worried that doing so would be disloyal to Suella and others. I pondered what I should do.
“Ah, don’t worry about Keiri. That way of worrying is just an act. She’s just waiting for the conversation to progress while pretending to worry like that.”
Given that I had been told words close to a proposal, it was natural to worry about whether to say it or not. Suella, as if shaking off such worries, described Keiri-san’s usual tactic with a touch of exasperation.
“When she finds it difficult to say something directly, she asks someone to pass on a message like this.”
“It’s difficult to say…”
“Otherwise, she wouldn’t be having this conversation right next to us and you wouldn’t notice. Normally, you’d stop her.”
“That’s true.”
Her years of acquaintance were not for nothing. Suella quickly grasped Keiri-san’s intentions and glanced at Keiri-san once, but received no reaction.
As if that were proof, I had no choice but to nod.
“Actually…”
In that case, it would be better for me not to hide anything.
So, I decided I should tell her and recounted the conversation on the way home.
Honestly, it wasn’t my fault, but I felt like I was confessing to something wrong.
Is this how it feels when infidelity is discovered? While wondering that, I watched Suella’s reaction.
“I kind of figured.”
After a big sigh, she fixed her gaze on Keiri-san with a stern look. Keiri-san, who had been pretending to worry, suddenly started whistling to distract herself.
I see, so this was all part of Keiri-san’s plan.
“I suppose you took the bait from your sisters, didn’t you?”
“Bait?”
“You could call it a ‘quarrel of words’, but sigh. I thought you had found someone good…”
“What else could I do? I’m busy with work, and they kept nagging me persistently.”
“There’s no need to involve Jiro-san. If you were serious, I’d consider it, but it looks like you’re just seeing him as a convenient person.”
“But! But! There are no good men around!”
“Don’t say ‘but’, sigh.”
As soon as I understood that, my shoulders drooped, and I felt foolish for seriously considering it, so I downed some Japanese sake.
Suella seemed to feel the same way, as she started drinking her roasted green tea.
“So, what did you say?”
Suella, although she probably had a rough idea, decided she needed to confirm and urged me to tell her the remaining part with a stern gaze.
“She said that a good man wouldn’t come to a muscular woman like me, so I got a little offended and said I have a good man I’ve promised marriage to.”
“You said it, didn’t you? And then they probably provoked you by saying that a man who won’t even come to meet your parents cannot be a good man.”
“Yes, and they even set a deadline. A week after the marriage hunting party.”
“What?”
“Sigh. I think it would be best to apologize sincerely.”
It seems there was a hidden motive behind her looking at that matchmaking photo, but this feels like it’s Keiri-san’s vanity causing the problem…
“No! If I apologize now, they’ll definitely tease me until I’m an old hag. I have to catch a good man no matter what.”
“Then why did you involve Jiro-san?”
“Eh? He’s the closest, and he’s definitely a high-quality prospect who wouldn’t mind being a concubine.”
“Sigh.”
“What is it! I didn’t seriously mean it when I told him! I just felt a little bad because he’s Suella’s husband!”
“I understand. If you were serious, you wouldn’t have told me this way.”
And then, as a man, I couldn’t understand the emotional exchange that unfolded in the women’s world. I resigned myself to it and focused on enjoying the Japanese sake and Himik’s cooking.
Suella let out a big sigh and made a gesture as if enduring a headache. Keiri-san panicked, but she should resolve the mess she created herself.
As for me, I’m currently feeling self-loathing for being momentarily smitten with Keiri-san.
Is it my imagination that tonight’s sake tastes a little bitter?
Today’s word:
There are things that must be done, even if they are awkward.
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