DPAA 57

chapter 57

The invitation was decorated with all sorts of flowery words, but the content itself was simple:

Attend her tea party next weekend.

“Hey, hey. What’s this? Why did you get an invitation from Her Majesty the Empress?”

Felix, who was reading the invitation with me, asked in alarm. I just shrugged my shoulders at him.

“I dunno.”

The reason was obvious, of course.

“Either to sway me or to poison me.”

But in the latter case, it would be too risky—they wouldn’t attempt it right in the middle of the royal palace where they’d obviously be the prime suspect.

Statistically speaking, this was definitely the former.

“Hm, what should I do?”

Honestly, if the Empress offered me better terms… there really wouldn’t be any reason to remain loyal to Aiden.

I quickly shook the thought off.

“I’ll think about it later.”

I could make a decision when the time came, and choose the side that appealed to me more.

At the moment, my heart leaned toward Aiden.

And that was unavoidable.

He was a character from a novel I liked, one who retired early in the story.

Changing such a memorable death was precisely the kind of thing readers hoped for.

I hadn’t spoken nonsense about him using me without consequences for no reason.

“How long until the lecture starts?”

“About five minutes.”

Felix, answering my question, glanced toward the doorway.

“Where’s Aiden? Why hasn’t he come in yet?”

“He’ll show up when he wants. He’s not a kid.”

Surely he hadn’t gotten attacked while I was away.

Instead of worrying about Aiden, I checked my calendar.

It was Monday.

“There’s the round of 16 in the tournament, and on Wednesday… I finally face Aspodel.”

Claude was a bonus.

I noted “Visit the royal palace” in the calendar for this Saturday.

Aiden slipped in just as the lecture was about to begin.

Felix, who had taken the seat next to me, waved to him.

“Finally decided to show up, huh?”

“Mind your own business.”

Though curt, he still sat in the seat Felix had saved.

A narcissist with a tsundere personality—too much characterization, isn’t it?

“The author really packed the traits in because he dies early,” I thought.

But since his death was so impactful, maybe it was a success.

As I clicked my tongue internally, Felix, who had been squabbling with Aiden, turned toward me and shouted:

“Canis! I think he really likes you!”

And loudly, too.

“What?”

“Why are you so noisy?”

Loud enough for everyone in the lecture hall to hear.

“Aiden likes Escliff…”

“No way!”

“Have you seen Felix act like this before?”

“I’ve seen him once or twice.”

“No, but realistically, that’s impossible…”

The lecture hall instantly buzzed with whispers.

Just as people began glancing toward us, the savior appeared.

“What’s all this commotion?”

It was Professor Edward, in charge of “Practical Survival Skills.”

Dressed more like a warrior than a professor, he immediately dominated the room.

“Alright! The lecture is starting, so everyone be quiet.”

As the room gradually calmed, Aiden grabbed Felix’s hand, who was seated next to him.

“Flux.”

“Uh, huh?”

He pronounced it firmly through clenched teeth.

“See me after class.”

Felix shivered from the chilling tone.

Canis didn’t care much about the origin of the rumors.

After all, Canis Escliff was the kind of person who embodied all sorts of scandals, and a minor rumor attaching itself to her was like threatening to pull hair from a bald person—it was meaningless.

The person who would be hit harder by the rumor was Aiden.

Unlike Canis, he was mostly talked about positively at the academy.

To be honest, aside from the Swordsmanship Department, he wasn’t widely known, and most students considered him just another royal studying at the same time.

The fortunate part was that not many people took the rumor seriously.

“The third prince and a noble lady? That’s nonsense.”

“Right. Escliff has been rising recently, but still…”

“He was a troublemaker at school for three and a half years. It’s a miracle he wasn’t expelled.”

“Well, technically it’s not impossible… but heirs of high nobility usually already have fiancés, even before age ten.”

“Right. Without a fiancé, they can’t inherit the official title.”

“But who was Escliff’s fiancé?”

“Hmm… probably the second son of a count or marquis. Maybe even a fellow academy student?”

“Whoever it is, there must have been one.”

At first, that was the assumption.

“Nope. Canis has no fiancé.”

“What?”

“Does it make sense for a duke’s eldest daughter to have no fiancé?”

“How can she not have one?”

Until someone noticed that Canis, contrary to the norm of the Crocus Empire where noble heirs must have a fiancé, didn’t have one, people assumed she did.

“Aiden doesn’t have a fiancé either, right?”

“Right. Aiden isn’t a legitimate heir.”

“So… they could really get married?”

“True? Their social ranks are similar now.”

The conclusion reached after a day of speculation was:

“Even if romance is unlikely, a political engagement is possible.”

“Yeah. Escliff still needs a fiancé before becoming an adult to inherit the title.”

“Is there really something going on?”

And Canis, having overheard all the chatter, muttered quietly:

“What’s there to be going on, damn it.”

“Uh, Canis. I’m sorry…”

“Just stay quiet.”

“Yep.”

Though pretending to be angry, Canis wasn’t really.

She was thinking about something else.

‘I didn’t expect needing a fiancé to inherit a dukedom.’

She had never considered this condition.

There were a few reasons.

Most imperial nobles sought childhood engagements with families of similar status.

Especially the firstborns—almost without exception, they had a match.

In the rare cases of dukes or marquises, engagement could be delayed slightly, because finding an appropriate partner took time.

Being unmarried at the time of receiving a lesser dukedom wasn’t a major issue.

The problem arose with the formal title.

Except for honorary titles granted by the emperor, a lord needed to be married to properly inherit land.

Strict as it seemed, in practice, this rarely caused issues.

“Normally, titles are inherited after the predecessor dies… so the heir would be at least middle-aged.”

There was virtually no chance of the eldest child of a noble house remaining unmarried past forty.

“Any exceptions?”

“Probably none.”

Felix quickly cut off the hopeful thread in Canis’s question.

“Still, if both the duke and duchess died leaving only one heir… the heir could be a child, right?”

“Then they’d arrange a marriage. Bring in a peer of similar age.”

“…That’s it?”

Canis slumped.

Felix patted her back in comfort.

“Don’t worry too much. The Duke is still strong. You’ll only inherit the title twenty years from now, at the earliest.”

‘That’s the problem!’

The unfilial heir planning to seize the dukedom from her father squeezed her eyes shut.

She never imagined such a tradition existed.

‘Receiving the lesser dukedom right after graduation. Even if I aim to claim the dukedom the year after next, I need to find a partner before the year ends…’

She paused at the thought.

“Felix.”

“Yeah?”

“So… do you have a fiancé?”

“Uh?”

Felix blinked at the sudden question.

“No, I don’t.”

“Why not?”

“Well… I’m a second son. Usually, second sons find someone when they reach adulthood, unless they were betrothed to an heir of another family as a child.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Canis narrowed her eyes at him.

‘What’s this? Is he still mad at me?’

As Felix tensed, Canis spoke:

“Felix, do you like anyone?”