The Story of a Modest Young Lady Who Formed a New Engagement the Day After Her Engagement Was Annulled - Chapter 10

At the entrance of the lord’s manor, the entire Lotus Margrave family and all those working for the household came out to welcome me. Neither my younger brother nor mother had told me why Lord Fels chose me, or why the Lotus Margrave family selected the Narcissus Count family.

Though I asked for the reason, they only smiled faintly and said it wasn’t a bad one, refusing to elaborate. My marriage to Lord Caius was due to my relatively high magical capacity, so perhaps Lord Fels had the same reason.

“Lady Eleanora, my apologies for making you come all this way. It may not be as comfortable as your home, but please make yourself at ease,” the Margrave said with a smile as he welcomed me.

I bowed my head at his words and began to respond, but he told me there was no need to be so formal.

With Lord Fels escorting me, he stood by my side, clearly radiating an atmosphere of “Please don’t say anything unnecessary, Father.” The Margrave’s wife watched the two of them with amusement before turning to me.

“You must be tired from your long journey, Eleanora. I truly can’t believe Fels brought a woman home,” she said.

The Margrave’s wife was a beautiful woman. Lord Fels’ silver-thread hair seemed to be inherited from her, and her appearance showed no signs of age. She continued speaking while looking at me with gentle eyes.

“Many things will surely happen to you both from now on, but if Fels proves unreliable, please rely on those around you whether it’s us or the Narcissus Count family.”

I expressed my gratitude for her providing me an escape route and concluded my greetings. While I had already met the Margrave, this was my first time meeting his wife, and I needed to be thankful for her warm welcome. I’d heard from friends who married earlier that they sometimes clashed with their mothers-in-law, so I’d been anxious, but this first greeting seemed to go well, which was a relief.

The atmosphere around Lord Fels standing beside me turned slightly awkward, as if he wanted to say, “Mother, that’s unnecessary.” After his two younger brothers also finished their greetings, Lord Fels, who had been silent until now, stepped half a pace forward.

“Father, Mother, Eleanora is tired from her long journey. She also has luggage, so I’d like to show her to her room first.”

Lord Fels seemed more exhausted than me as he tried to wrap up the occasion. The Margrave and his wife, along with his two younger brothers, watched him with amused expressions.

I bowed to the household staff with a “Pleased to meet you” before being guided to the guest room where I would stay for a week. I exchanged greetings with the maid assigned to my room and also with my personal maid from the Narcissus Count family, combining it with coordination. Feeling relieved that things seemed okay, I thanked Lord Fels for showing me to my room.

“No, this is my first time too, so there might be many oversights. If anything is inconvenient, feel free to tell the staff, or if it’s hard to say, call for me. I wanted to show you around the capital, but Mother told me not to push you,” he said.

Scratching the back of his head and slightly slouching, he explained that the Margrave’s wife had warned him last night after hearing today’s plans. That men and women have different stamina, so he should be careful. He told me this with an expression I’d never seen from him, whether on the battlefield or at soirées. It was somewhat amusing. I narrowed my eyes as I looked at his face.

“Thank you for your concern. I served in the military for a year, so if you wish, Lord Fels, I can go out immediately.”

I had been sent to the front lines after accelerated training to stand in for my father on the battlefield. I have more stamina than other young ladies, and my body can handle a bit of recklessness. The absolute authority of superiors is ingrained in me, and since I’m engaged to him, in a way, he’s my superior now.

“Ah, no. It was my selfishness wanting to show you the territory quickly. I wanted to use teleportation magic for travel, but I couldn’t arrange it—my apologies. Please relax in your room today,” Lord Fels said, raising one eyebrow and one arm before. They lost many skilled mages in the recent war. Before the war started, it was apparently prized as a means of transportation for nobles. Substantial rewards were available, and mages with high magical capacity eagerly accepted requests. Now, with fewer mages available, carriage travel has become the norm. For personal travel, I could have used movement magic a few times to reach the Margrave’s territory, but I didn’t have enough magical capacity to bring everyone along.

I let out a sigh and looked out the window at the Margrave’s manor garden. The well-maintained garden had roses planted, blooming with large flowers.

“Beautiful…” I murmured.

Roses were favored and cultivated among nobles, seemingly cherished both at the Narcissus Count family and the Lotus Margrave family’s garden.

My personal maid, hearing this, smiled and asked, “Shall we take a stroll in the garden?” With my luggage unpacked and time before dinner, it would be perfect to pass the time. It might cause some slight inconvenience to the manor staff, but it should be less burdensome than going outside the manor. When I said, “Please,” she went to fetch the room maid to get permission.

“Then, I’ll guide you,” she said after a while, returning and bowing gracefully.

“Thank you very much,” I replied, also bowing to the maid before heading out into the Margrave’s manor garden.