The beginning will be Carl’s POV.
I had thought that he would change to attacking me with fists like before when he went unarmed, but…….
Him concentrating on avoiding in order to read my movements…….
……Although I was called a promising recruit, I’m still naive as well.
I didn’t hear it in detail, but it seems that he has wonderful Skills.
I heard the other day that using those Skills, he led in solving the case with Claude which the chivalric order has been pursuing for a while.
I heard that he negotiated with a black dragon, saved Adol, and was bestowed the title “Dragon Mediator”.
However, even he who had such military exploits is an ordinary commoner without his Skills.
Even though he’s just a poor hunter…… he could go so far as to marry Her Highness Sylphid who I long for.
Piling up achievements, becoming the leader of the knights, having military exploits that no one can complain about…… Her Highness Sylphid, who he’s marrying.
……Of course, I understand.
That this is merely a trivial selfish delusion of mine.
A man who crushed such dreams of a poor knight recruit…… That man is in front of my eyes.
There’s nothing I can say against him.
However, at least in this mock battle…… there’s no way I can lose to him!!!
I’m bitter that he saw through my attack and avoided it, but it’s not like I lost, and I’m having the advantage situation-wise.
Readying my short spear in front of me, I observed my opponent’s [Myne] movements as if slowly drawing a circle.
……He’s not equipping his dagger, and is still unarmed.
Since he used a dagger before, there shouldn’t be a doubt the weapon he is strong in is the dagger.
However, the punch he showed previously was quite sharp, so…… I cannot be careless.
At the moment I thought that, he moved.
He charged towards me with an intense force.
What? Did he give up on the battle and is rushing in, resolute in an honourable defeat?
No, that’s not it! He already saw through my technique, there’s no way he’s performing a kamikaze attack.
……However, what is with this charge full of holes? Good grief, I can’t read his intentions at all.
Yosh, I’ve roughly grasped Carl-san’s movements.
……I think I can probably do this.
It’ll be a godsend if this goes well! Let’s do this!
I played my movements over in my mind, and become confident that I can turn my thoughts into reality.
Now then, I’ll start counterattacking!
Unarmed, I charged towards Carl-san with all my might.
Fufu, I surely look desperate in Carl-san’s eyes.
As I predicted Carl-san’s mental state, a slight smile surfaced on my face.
Yosh, let’s make an emergency brake here…… and…… guh, the shock is harsher than I expected.
I slipped into Carl-san’s bust and turned in one go.
And in the middle of my turn, I equipped the dagger on my waist with my right hand, and made my “right leg the pivot” as I stabbed it out.
Carl-san will naturally dodge it, but I pulled back my right shoulder and stabbed the dagger in deeper.
……Yes, I returned the attack Carl-san showed me earlier.
The dagger I stabbed out directly hit the right part of Carl-san’s chest.
「Guwa!!」
I pursued Carl-san who fell backwards from the attack, and thrusted the dagger right at his face at the place he fell at.
「Stop!!」
The knight leader declared the end of the battle.
Phew, although it was ad lib, I’m glad that it went well.
I let out a deep sigh, and then sat down.
「……That was shocking, I never expected that you would use my technique against me」
Un, I was surprised as well.
Of course, I thought that I could do it, but I think it went better than I expected.
「As expected of the Dragon Mediator, I guess?」
「……That way of address…… please stop……」
Aah, just like Prime Minister-san’s plan, this title…… seems to have spread favourably〜〜.
It’s really embarrassing so I wish it’ll stop, though.
As I talked with Carl-san, Knight Leader-san and Brother-in-law-san, and also, Sylphy and Aisha, along with Waffle came to where we were.
……Huh? Why is even my family here?
Even told I told them not to turn up in the middle of training…….
「That was splendid! Myne-dono!!」
The knight leader held out his hand while speaking words of gratitude.
I gripped the hand he held out, and thanked him.
「No, it’s thanks to Carl-san! I only imitated Carl-san, after all!!」
「……You can’t imitate a technique you see for the first time so easily though」
Brother-in-law-san talked to me with an amazed tone.
……Well, even if you say that, I already did.
「Wafu!」
Waffle jumped greatly from on top of Sylphy’s head and flew towards me.
……Wait, Waffle? I said this many times, but the person you were on is this country’s princess, you know? Do you understand?
I wonder if he heard the voice in my mind or not…….
Waffle turned his cute round eyes towards me, saying 『What is it? What is it?』 as he wagged his tail wildly while climbing his way up me.
『……No, it’s nothing……』
Well, Sylphy doesn’t seem to particularly mind it, so it’s okay, I guess…….
No matter what, Waffle’s a Divine Beast, after all.
「Danna-sama! That’s amazing!! The fruits of these few days of training’s showing already, isn’t it!?
……You’re Carl, right? Sorry, are you hurt anywhere?」
「……I am alright.
More importantly, congratulations on your marriage, Your Highness Sylphid!」
「Mn? Aah, thanks」
「I have heard of Your Highness’ valour, and revere Your Highness from the bottom of my heart!」
It seems that Sylphy and Carl-san has started talking, huh.
「Myne-kun, thank you for your hard work!」
This time, it’s Aisha handing me a towel while greeting me.
「……It’s also difficult for Hime-sama, isn’t it?」
「Indeed, I never thought that that Carl would……」
Somehow, this time, Aisha and the knight leader are looking at Sylphy and Carl-san while conversing about something I don’t understand.
『Waffle, do you understand?』
『Nopeー！』
Is that so…….
Well, nothing I can do about it.
Rather than that, the mock battle’s ended after all, so that means my training is more or less completed, right??
As I enquired of Brother-in-law-san, he accepted it, saying “Yeah”.
「This training has certainly ended, but I hope you come here and participate if you have time.
I’ll run it by the knight units on my side, so don’t worry and come」
Although it was only for a short period, it was really enlightening! I even learnt a new technique, after all!
Furthermore, I can participate from now on as well……!
Brother-in-law-san, thank you for creating this opportunity for me, thank you!
「Eh? Sylphy? Carl-san is……?
But he said 『Congratulations on your marriage』 didn’t he?」
Uun, I didn’t notice at all…….
What Aisha and the knight leader was talking about was this, huh.
Tte! That’s not right!!!
Sylphy’s my wife, you know!? Even if you say that, I’ll be troubled, you know!!
As I was in a feverish haste, Aisha breathed a sigh as she said 「Please calm down」 before patting my head.
……Aisha, you’re becoming more like Waffle, you know…….
「It’s not that “Hime-sama has feelings for Carl-dono”, but it’s Carl-dono who has feelings for Hime-sama, you know.
Moreover, even the wedding has been decided, there’s no way the royal family will allow it.
Perhaps, I think that there may be a lot of other people who desire Hime-sama as well, you know?」
Aah, I see.
That’s right. That shocked me.
Once again, I realised the Princess Knight’s popularity…….
「By the way, Myne-kun? The Hime-sama we were talking about seems to be troubled, you know.
Isn’t it about time for you to bring her along, I wonder?」
Taking a closer look, Sylphy was glancing repeatedly at me, and was sending glances as if imploring me.
I wonder if she wanted to escape from Carl-san but can’t now?
Yosh, let’s go receive her!
I’ve also received authorisation from Brother-in-law-san that the training has been successfully completed, after all.
I’ll have to quickly return to the room and rest!
「Sylphy, it’s about time to return!」
As I called out to Sylphy, a really happy expression broke out on her face as she nodded strongly.
「Aah! Understood, Danna-sama.
That’s how it is, so I’m sorry, Carl. I’ll work hard form now on as well」
Sylphy said that and hurriedly grabbed my arm as she left Carl-san…… no, escaped from him.
As I took a peek at Carl-san, he was looking at me with an extremely disappointed, and on top of that, seemingly sad expression.
When he noticed me looking at him, he showed a scary expression for an instant, but immediately made a slight bow towards me.
Un, as expected, he’s a good person……. (TLN: Classic positive Myne)
Though of course, I will not hand Sylphy over!
Making such an ambiguous resolution in my mind, we returned to our room in the royal palace.
「Listen! That guy…….
When I tried to end the conversation, he skillfully mixed the conversation and changed the topic, and it won’t end!」
Since arriving at the room, Sylphy had been doing nothing but continuing on complaining about her conversation with Carl-san.
With her position, she can’t put it in words in public, huh.
This is a rare thing for her, and it’s also good for her to spit everything out here.
……By the way, Waffle and Aisha escaped, and I’m the only one who is listening to Sylphy’s grumbles.
The content of Sylphy’s grumbles are repeated over and over, and the two people (?) escaped the moment it entered the third repetition.
Eh? How many times does this make, you ask? ……It’s…… the fifteenth time.
I’m enduring quite a lot of stress.
「Excuse me! King-sama gave a summon.
Please make your way to King-sama’s private room immediately」
A maid’s call reached us.
……Somehow, I have a bad premonition for this summon from King-sama…….
Chapter 96 – House NameA summon from King-sama…….
I can only feel a bad premonition from it.
However, we’ve been summoned, so there’s no way we can not go.
His Majesty isn’t just this country’s king, but will become my father-in-law as well.
However, I wonder what His Majesty needs?
His Majesty didn’t just call for me, but my whole family, good grief, I can’t think of anything.
Furthermore, the meeting isn’t in the office or audience room, but His Majesty’s private room.
It might be something His Majesty doesn’t want exaggerated.
「……Sylphy, have you heard of anything?」
As I asked that, she shut her eyes and pondered for a while, before shaking her head.
……I wonder what it is.
Did some big problem like Claude’s case happen?
However, if that’s the case, Brother-in-law-san would say something about it during training…….
「No use thinking about something we don’t know! Let’s hurry to King-sama’s place」
At those words, Waffle moved to the top of my head, and Sylphy and Aisha stood up and followed me.
「Wafuu!」
Waffle urged me to hurry up and go by patting my head as usual.
It’s not because I was urged, but we hurriedly moved to King-sama’s private room.
「Sorry for summoning you so suddenly」
When we arrived at the room, King-sama’s apology flew towards us.
Probably because I am his son-in-law, he somehow easily apologises to me, huh…….
As expected, even if I am his son-in-law, I am but an ordinary commoner…….
「King-sama, please do not fuss about a commoner such as I.
If anyone else sees this, they will surely not feel good about this」
As I reservedly said that, King-sama let out a 「Oh」, as if impressed, and after making a serious expression for a moment, His Majesty started laughing heartily.
「Uhahahahahaha, I know where I am.
Also it’s only because we’re in my private room」
……That’s not what I meant, but, well, if King-sama says that himself, then isn’t it fine?
And, the reason we were called here…… I wonder if it’s bad to mention it with this atmosphere?
「And, Chichiue, what’s the reason you called us here?」
As expected of Sylphy, so straight to the point!
……I wonder if it’s because they’re parent and child?
「Aah, that’s right! Sorry for digressing」
While King-sama said that, he sat down on a chair, and prompted us to sit as well.
「……Did some kind of big matter happen again?」
As I said that, Sylphy and Aisha’s faces stiffened.
Since the battle with the black dragon was dangerous, I requested them both to stay at home, but both of them have the blessing of Skills.
I think they both have the power to defeat Orc Generals by themselves, so no matter what happens, htey will probably follow me.
I think they’re nervous since they know that.
I don’t think it’s another dragon class case, but…….
「Hm? Aah, I see…… That’s why you have such nervous expressions, isn’t it?
If there are many cases at the class of dragons attacking in this period of time, even I can’t bear it, you know?」
……Un, it’s certainly as King-sama says.
If calamity class monsters like dragons frequently attack, it will be the end of this world.
However, if it’s not an incident, then why were we called here?
I can’t imagine the reason we were called here at all.
I certainly do not think that we were called to have a chat or something…….
Looking at our expressions of doubt, as if saying 「Then what is it?」, King-sama wryly smiled as he continued speaking.
「Umu, tomorrow will finally be your wedding ceremony, right?
I want you to decide on a house name by tomorrow morning」
House name, huh…… It certainly is necessary, but this is quite sudden, isn’t it?
I wanted more time to think about it, though…….
「Hm? I told Sylphy to decide on it, though……」
His Majesty probably saw my perplexed expression, that’s why King-sama said such a thing with a little worried tone.
……Aah, come to think of it, we did talk about such a thing a little.
I’ve forgotten about it completely…….
As I took a glance at Sylphy, her arms were folded as she looked back at me with reproachful eyes, as if saying You forgot, didn’t you?
……I was busy all this time as well. Won’t you please forgive me…….
「Understood! Tomorrow morning, right? I will work hard in thinking about it!!」
Cheerfully answering, I decided to quickly return to our room.
I’ll have to hurry up and think of one!
「Now then, let’s start our second family meeting!」
As we returned to our room and I immediately announced that, Aisha inserted a retort without delay.
「Second, you say? We didn’t do a first though?」
「Yeah, I don’t remember it either, you know?」
Huh? Did both of them forget it?
「The first one was when we decided on Waffle’s name!」
Their responses were exactly opposite, with Sylphy saying 「Oh!」 and Aisha「……That was a meeting?」.
Huh? Was that not a meeting?
「In any case, this is the second time! I was thinking of deciding on our house name!
Because of that, it’s become this hurried…… I’m really sorry」
As I lowered my head, Sylphy wryly smiled as if saying “Can’t be helped” as she called out to me.
「Danna-sama, raise your head
There’s still enough time, so let’s all think of a good house name」
『I’ll think about it tooー！！』
So said Waffle.
……I don’t mind, but Waffle…… Do you know anything about house names??
「Hime-sama, it’ll be fine as long as we think of a good name, so let’s do our best!」
「……Un, that’s right」
That being the case, we will think of our Clan’s name, but…….
「Let me see, I think クラ○ト(Kura○to)’s a good name though…….」
「No! Hime-sama, please think about it!
Isn’t “Myne Kura○to” weird?!」
『Wafu! I think す○ーぱー(Su○paa) is good!!』(TLN: Yeah, I have no idea what these censored words are supposed to be.)
U~n, isn’t “Myne Su○paa” weird? (TLN: Probably sleeper, the jp name for the pokemon Hypno)
「Isn’t Bennett better than those?
It’s not bad, isn’t it?!」
『Myne, is Su○paa not good?』
「No wait, Aisha! I think a house name needs to be majestic.
How about Rembrandt?」
Three hours passed like this.
……Un, this is certainly chaotic.
「……Umm, how about Fortuna?」
It’s my first time giving my opinion, but is it okay?
「……Un, it’s not bad」
「That’s right, it sounds right as well」
『Wafu?』
Un, their reactions doesn’t seem too bad.
“Fortuna” …… The name of the goddess who rules over destiny.
My fate has been greatly changed after obtaining my Skills.
Also, the fate of my two fiancees have changed a lot as well.
Our encounter, and even our marriage is destiny.
……That’s why I wanted to make this name our house name.
After that, we discussed for about another hour, but in the end, we finalised the house name as “Fortuna”, which I had proposed.
Waffle was adamant on “Su○paa” until the end, though!
Chapter 97 – Wedding Ceremony (1)Uーn, I stretched my arm above my head as I took a deep breath.
I was steadily getting less drowsy, and my mind gradually became clearer.
Sylphy and Aisha who had been sleeping beside me haven’t seem to show any signs of waking up.
……This day has finally come.
It’s finally the wedding, huh. Somehow, I feel like it finally feels real.
The ceremony will be held in the morning at the shrine, and it seems like my two wives need to be there ahead of time.
I’ve heard that it’s because there’s a formal dress for marriage ceremonies, and changing into it and putting on makeup will take time.
I myself also have formal clothes exclusive to marriage ceremonies, but it seems to be easy to put on so it won’t take that much time.
It seems to be quite difficult, as both of them seem to have practised putting them on a few times when I went for the game with Claude and the others at the Divine Spirit Forest.
……To need prior preparations, being a woman is quite tough, huh.
However, both of them were delighted, even with the preparations, so as expected, a wedding ceremony’s a special thing to women, isn’t it?
……On the contrary, from my point of view as a man, honestly, it’s something I don’t really get.
For now, I think that it will feel way more real compared to now once the ceremony starts, though…….
Now then, at any rate, let’s enter the baths to clean off sweat and any other thing.
I carefully slipped out of the futon so that I don’t wake them up.
As I did that, from a basket which had been placed a little further away from the bed came rustling noises, and Waffle crawled out from it.
In order to not wake the two up, he let out a soft bark, 「Wafu!」, and lifted his paw while showing me his pawpad, probably greeting me for the morning.
By the way, due to the request of the girls, Waffle sleeps in an exclusive basket bed.
Why? ……Of course, that is a secret.
『Myneー, where are you goingー』
『The baths, are you coming too?』
『Ohー, bathsー, I’m goingー！ I’m going tooー！』
I lifted Waffle up, and happily headed towards the baths.
As expected, freshening up in the morning by entering the baths is good!
I am really glad that I came across this thing called baths at the Town of Adol.
Usually, it’s about time for Aisha and Sylphy to come in, but…….
For some reason, they’re not coming in today, huh? I wonder why?
Are they perhaps still asleep?
Come to think of it, after finishing last night, both of them didn’t really went to sleep.
……Perhaps they couldn’t sleep because they were thinking about the wedding ceremony or something?
It might be bad if I don’t quickly get out and wake them up.
…… If it doesn’t go well, they might not make it in time to change into the garments.
As I started thinking that, I wasn’t able to sit still, and decided to quickly get out from the bath.
I told Waffle who had been happily dog paddling in the bath and making “splish-splash” noises about it, and as I asked “What about you?”, he thought for a while before saying 「I’m going tooー」 and swam to my side.
『It’s okay to stay for a while longer, you know?』
As I said that, he reasonably replied 『It’s boring aloneー』 so I promised to enter together next time, saying 『Sorry, let’s enter and relax next time』, and stepped out of the bath.
Yosh, I’ve also finished wiping my body, and as I faced the other way to call out to Waffle, and say “Let’s go look at the both of them!”…….
For some reason, a large splash of water flew towards me.
「W, what!?」
What my eyes landed on was Waffle’s “shaking” his body violently.
……Aah, so that’s the case…….
「Wafu?」
After wiping Waffle’s body with a towel, I re-wiped my own body and put on my clothes before heading to wake them up.
……As expected, they’re still asleep.
As expected, they weren’t able to fall asleep, huh…….
Wait no, this isn’t the time to be saying something so leisurely!
We really won’t make it!
「Sylphy, Aisha, wake up! Wake up!! We won’t make it for the wedding ceremony, you know!」
As I shook both of them who had been naked, Aisha was the first to open her eyes.
「Aisha! We’ll be late, you know, quickly wake up!」
「Huh? Myne-kun……」
She was still half asleep for a while, but once she woke up and understood the situation, she screamed as she jumped to her feet.
「Kyaーーーー！We’ll be late!」
Hearing Aisha’s scream, this time, Sylphy jumped to her feet.
「W, what!? What happened? ……Huh, Danna-sama……」
「Sylphy, hurry up, we’ll be late to the wedding ceremony, you know!」
「Hi, Hime-sama, this is bad, the time……」
Seeing my panic and Aisha who was at her wits’ end, she probably understood the situation.
At last, Sylphy also started acting in a fluster.
At this point in time, there is about an hour left until the appointed time.
It will take roughly 30 minutes to reach the temple with a carriage.
There’s the fact that we will be our unveiling to the citizens, so it has been planned that we will head there slowly.
「For now, enter the baths and wash of the sweat!」
As I said that, both of them rushed into the baths in a panic.
……Will today really be alright??
「……Wafu」
In the end, both of them finished their morning preparations with an unbelievable speed.
As expected, we didn’t have time to eat breakfast though…….
……If the situation at the time is to be put into one word, it would be “tempestuous”.
It’s a secret that I felt surprised as I looked at their figures which is fresh and different from usual.
Waffle and I could only look at them, astonished.
I never imagined that Waffle, who is a Divine Beast, would be confused and astonished.
And right now, we are in a carriage which had come from the temple to pick us up, and is now heading towards the temple.
I could hear blessings from the crowd of the people on our route there.
We also showed our faces a little from the window and lightly waved towards the people who were giving us their blessings.
For some reason, me waving my hand at such a large crowd of people feels really strange.
Receiving such a large number of blessings, the carriage we were on safely arrived at the venue of the ceremony, the temple.
……For some reason, I recalled the time when I received my Skills here.
Come to think of it, this is where my life changed greatly.
As I thought that, I felt deeply moved.
As we alighted the carriage, we were guided to different waiting rooms, separated by gender.
Aisha and Sylphy will hence change into the formal clothes exclusive for wedding ceremonies, and has been arranged to received blessings from the head of the temple.
Waffle is following me.
After that, the three of us once again received blessings from the head of the temple in front Kami-sama on the altar.
As the established routine, the brides will receive blessings two times, it seems.
……Why, I wonder, I don’t really understand it, though.
Originally, it was only the people who are getting wed and the temple head who can enter the altar, but our wedding ceeremony is a special case, and Waffle’s presence is also acknowledged.
Even though Waffle is a child, he is still a real Divine Beast-sama.
There isn’t a more suitable candidate to give blessings along with Kami-sama so the temple head requested us.
By the way, the only one who knows that Waffle is a Divine Beast other than royalty is the temple head.
Now then, I finished changing and it didn’t take even five minutes, just as planned…….
However, I have plenty off time until the real thing, but…… what should I do?
As I pondered on that, a knock came from the door.
Who is it, I wonder, is it Temple Head-sama?
In a panic, I replied and as I opened the door…….
There stood the male members of the royal family with King-sama leading them.
Receiving congratulatory words one by one starting from King-sama, followed by Brother-in-law-san, His Highness Lewis, and His Highness Lecter, I was deeply moved and as usual, Brother-in-law-san hit my back.
It hurt just like every other time, but for some reason, the pain felt pleasant today.
By the way, the two Queen-sama and Ari seem to have went to Sylphy and Aisha.
「Which reminds me, Myne. You have decided on your house name, have you not?」
King-sama enquired of me.
「Yes, we have decided, it will be “Fortuna”」
「Oh, you have decided on quite the good house name, have you not? Very well」
Receiving King-smaa’s acknowledgement, from today one, my name will be changed to “Myne Fortuna”. (TLN: smh I can only read this as Myne For Tuna)
Today is literally a new step in my life.
The beating of my heart quickened as I will step onto the big moment in my life in a few hours.