Conrad Alway speaks.
While he was practicing magic in the mansion, an enemy with murderous intent appeared, targeting him and his mother who was watching over him. A disfigured woman, her skin burnt, attacked Conrad, intending to kill him.
He couldn’t muster the courage to fight back, nor could he escape. He was frozen in fear, and just as he resigned himself to his pathetic, weak end, the burnt woman swung her sword down.
However, she did not harm Conrad.
This was because a woman with fiery red hair, clad in a combat uniform of the same color, protected him.
With a single flash of a fiery blade, the red-haired woman bisected the attacker with astonishing ease. Her upper and lower halves flew through the air and burned. Not content with that, they turned to ash, leaving no trace of flesh behind.
“Is this magic? Is this fire magic?” Conrad stood in a realm he could not have imagined.
He was captivated by her, as if she were fire incarnate. As she turned, a smile of relief on her face, he felt a pounding in his chest he had never experienced before. His cheeks, no, his entire body grew hot, his heart beating so furiously it felt like it would burst.
He offered his thanks and asked for her name. She replied,
“Rosa Roen.”
She introduced herself, explaining that she was his older sister’s fiancé and an ally of his brother, Jared, whom he admired.
“—And that’s why I want to meet you again, Lady Rosa! Please, Jared!”
“…Wow.”
Jared wore an indescribable expression after hearing Conrad’s story.
Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t just Jared. Olivier, Yeny, and even Trane wore faces of surprise and, more so, worried confusion.
Hannelore observed Conrad with a fond smile, remarking, “Oh my, first love is so nostalgic.” Tobias, who didn’t know Rosa, was inexplicably sweating cold.
“What should I do?!”
He looked around desperately for help and met Olivier’s eyes.
“Olivier… what should we do?”
“Don’t ask me! Don’t you even know if Rosa has a lover?”
“Huh?”
“She’s your aunt!”
“Th-that’s absurd!”
Indeed, Rosa was Jared’s aunt. Though they were only two years apart, she was his mother’s sister, making her a legitimate aunt. She tended to get angry if he called her aunt too often, so he didn’t refer to her that way recently, but it was the truth.
However, his first encounter with her was as an enemy, a member of Waalthe, hired by Cornelia Alway. She had also kidnapped Yeny and attacked him without provocation.
Relationships were strange. They ended up fighting side-by-side, and now they were even living together in the same mansion. He was amazed.
He had never imagined their relationship would turn out this way when they first met.
“Right, does Yeny know?”
He turned to his cousin, who was often close with Rosa, but she shook her head apologetically.
“I’m sorry, Older Brother. Rosa and I talk a lot, but we’ve never discussed romance.”
“You don’t need to apologize. But, what are we going to do…?”
Jared was truly at a loss, looking at Conrad with pleading eyes.
He couldn’t force them together. A union between the Alway Ducal Family and the daughter of the leader of Waalthe could pose problems, so he couldn’t act rashly.
Yet, he couldn’t dismiss the wish of his brother, who looked up to him.
“Um, why don’t you ask Pfeil?”
“Ah, right! —Hey, Pfeil!”
Following Yeny’s advice, he called out Pfeil’s name. Without a moment’s delay, the door to the drawing-room opened.
He always thought Waalthe members were just too quick to act.
“You could hear everything, couldn’t you?”
“Of course. For you to develop feelings for Rosa… Conrad Alway, you are in quite a predicament.”
Pfeil’s strangely sympathetic tone prompted Conrad to ask hesitantly,
“Um, who are you?”
“My apologies. I am Pfeil, Rosa’s colleague.”
“Rosa’s…?”
“As far as I know, Rosa has no set lover or fiancé. Satisfied?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Relieved to learn that the woman he fancied had no specific lover, Conrad’s words only deepened Jared’s quandary.
“Hey, Pfeil! Come here!”
“What is it?”
“Just come here!”
He grabbed Pfeil’s thin arm and pulled him to the drawing-room window.
“What are you implying? Are you trying to get Rosa and Conrad to be together?”
“I merely answered when asked. But, now that I think about it, it might be a bit problematic for a son of the Ducal Family to marry an assassin from our Waalthe.”
“No, it’s more than ‘a bit’.”
Since Jared’s mother was the daughter of Waalthe’s leader, Wahash, her position was the same as Rosa’s. However, Johan Daum, whom she married, was from a baronial family. It was different from the Ducal Family.
Of course, Jared didn’t want to crush Conrad’s feelings. He had heard from Conrad and his mother, Therese, that he wasn’t expected to inherit the aristocratic title. So, perhaps a marriage could be possible if Rosa responded favorably.
However, Rosa’s feelings were also important, as were the thoughts of Conrad’s parents. It was simply not within Jared’s authority to make any hasty decisions on their behalf.
If anyone were to offer an opinion, it would be Tobias, the eldest son of the Alway Ducal Family. But when Jared glanced at him, Tobias was pale and drenched in sweat.
It seemed he too was unable to cope with the situation.
“Jared, I understand you’re in a difficult position—but we’re running out of time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Rosa’s back.”
“…Crap.”
Jared, too focused on the present situation, hadn’t noticed Rosa’s return. Before he could panic,
“Were you here? I just got back—are you entertaining guests?”
Rosa Roen, her fiery red hair framing her face as she wore a frilled uniform, had returned from work.
“Lady Rosa!”
“Hmm? Oh, you’re Conrad Alway, aren’t you?”
Conrad cried out in joy at the appearance of the woman he admired.
Rosa, unaware that Conrad had feelings for her and was consulting with Jared and the others, greeted him.
As everyone, including Jared, watched with bated breath,
“Lady Rosa, thank you so much for helping me the other day.”
“Is that all? You already thanked me then. Don’t worry about it. You went through a terrifying experience, it’s best to forget all about it.”
“No, I can’t! I’ve never been able to forget about you, Lady Rosa!”
“Hmm?”
Jared thought, “This is bad,” but it was too late.
Conrad took Rosa’s hand, knelt before her, and then—
“Lady Rosa Roen, please go out with me, with the intention of marriage.”
He confessed.
