People who are quick-witted might ask: where did Ariel, the child who monopolized all the love and cuteness, go?
She’s currently staying at the mansion, receiving basic education and common sense lessons from my mother.
Although Ariel could speak fluently from the mont she hatched from her egg, she was still, after all, a newborn. Naturally, she lacked many things.
Thankfully, she had a proper sense of morality—she never thought it was okay to hurt others—but when it ca to common sense, she was almost completely ignorant.
She didn’t even know that you had to pay money to buy things, or that you shouldn’t casually reveal soone else’s feelings.
During the winter break, people around her, including myself, tried to fill those gaps in her knowledge, but it still wasn’t enough.
That’s why my mother personally took on the responsibility of educating Ariel.
Also, since it would be difficult for her to mingle only with adults, she planned to have Ariel et peers to develop social skills.
It wouldn’t matter if her true identity was revealed during this process.
The appearance of an angel would surely cause a big stir, but I planned to explain things well.
The only regret was that I couldn’t stay by her side.
From a parent’s point of view, separating from a child is never a good thing.
I had planned to take her with sohow, but my mother reassured , saying not to worry and that she could handle it.
“Besides, there’s Lily, so they’ll be good for each other,” she said.
Lily, the youngest late-born child, is more than 20 years younger than the eldest son, Dave.
She’s basically young enough to be my daughter too.
Thus, the relationship between Ariel and Lily is like that of niece and aunt. For the record, Lily is technically Ariel’s aunt.
You probably won’t find a more complicated family tree than ours.
On top of that, although Ariel looks like a five-year-old, she hasn’t even been alive for a full year yet.
Mother thought that if they polished each other and embraced each other’s flaws, they would get along well — and that’s why Ariel stayed at the mansion.
Of course, I visit the mansion every weekend to spend ti with Ariel.
Now there are two heart-lting creatures crawling around: Ariel and Lily.
Anyway, that’s the end of Ariel’s update. Back to the present.
“Is this how I should wear it?”
I was getting fitted for formalwear for my first ever debut in high society.
Naturally, the location was the Requilis Duke’s mansion.
Back at the freshman welco party, my sister Nicole had hastily put together sothing that looked good on , but this ti was different.
It was none other than the Duke of Requilis’s birthday, and countless nobles were expected to attend.
So, to look the part, I wore formalwear — but to be honest, it wasn’t much different from what I wore back then.
I was wearing an expensive-looking white shirt, but everything else was quite similar to before:
a crimson formal coat with golden patterns engraved on it.
A harmonious blend of gold and red.
It was too plain to be called flashy, but too flashy to be called plain.
The engraved gold shimred just enough to catch the eye.
“That’s good enough. Isaac, your hair makes you the most noticeable person wherever you go anyway. You don’t need flashy clothes.”
“Don’t people judge each other based on their outfits at these things?”
“That’s usually when soone wants to flaunt their wealth — kind of like how prey animals puff themselves up to survive predators.
True judgnt happens through conversation.”
Mari, who styled herself, explained with a satisfied smile.
Normally, she’d have a servant do it, but she had insisted on doing it herself.
The mont I said I would attend my father-in-law’s birthday party, she imdiately started arranging the outfit.
Thanks to the Requilis mansion being right across from the Academy, getting it fitted wasn’t difficult.
“Adele’s outfit doesn’t look awkward or anything, right?”
“Yeah. It’s perfect.”
Mari then asked Adelia.
She was currently not in her maid uniform but wearing formal attire styled by Mari.
Since she was officially my bodyguard knight, she wasn’t in a dress either.
Instead, she wore a frilled shirt and black silk pants.
It perfectly matched Adelia’s boyish style and also fit her knightly role.
If you just handed her a rapier, she’d be the epito of a lady knight radiating a noble aura.
Her looks were so outstanding that she surpassed the daughters of most noble families.
There wasn’t a single flaw you could find in her appearance.
“You really look like a knight now.”
“What did you think I was before?”
“A maid who bakes delicious cookies?”
“Want to punch you?”
“Sorry.”
Adelia responded to my teasing with teasing of her own.
She must have known I was joking, because she chuckled lightly.
Even now, she was constantly honing her skills. I wasn’t belittling her in the slightest.
It was more like an inside joke shared between people who trusted each other.
I chuckled and turned back to face the mirror.
Reflected in the full-length mirror, my image now truly exuded the aura of a noble.
At the freshman welco party, I had looked like a teenager pretending to be an adult.
Now, it was clear that I had truly grown up.
“Are we done now?”
“For the most part. We just need to touch up your makeup a little.”
“Hmm…”
At the ntion of makeup, I stared at Mari’s face.
Like , who had fiery red hair, she had hair that shone faintly blue in its whiteness.
With such a striking appearance, she stood out wherever she went.
Unlike my strong coloring, her pure white hair was an especially delicate shade.
Her skin was snow-white, so even a little makeup made a huge difference.
“Mari, are you wearing makeup right now?”
“I am. I just put on a little. If I overdo it, I end up looking like a ghost. Does it look weird?”
“No. You’re just too pretty.”
It wasn’t just flattery — she had always been beautiful, but today she looked even more stunning.
A refreshing charm that blended innocence and maturity.
Just like I had grown up compared to the freshman welco party, so had Mari.
She had tied her long white hair into a ponytail, revealing her slender, deer-like nape.
An impulse to leave a deep kiss mark there surged through — but I suppressed it.
Now was not the ti.
“I know I’m pretty. You know you’re handso too, right?”
“For the most part?”
“What do you an ‘for the most part’? Even if Zenon wasn’t around, there would have been plenty of won throwing themselves at you just for your looks!
It’s a good thing I snatched you up first.”
“Hahaha…”
I let out a soft laugh at Mari’s playful words.
Adelia also chuckled quietly behind us, finding it amusing.
“Anyway, since we’re all ready, let’s head to the waiting room. Anything else you’re curious about?”
“What about the family?”
I’ll say it now: I’ve already t with the Duke of Requilis. He was quite surprised when I said I’d be attending the birthday party.
Honestly, I wanted to prepare a birthday gift, but my father-in-law, Dmitri, firmly declined.
Instead, he said that if I could bring him a grandson within a year, he wouldn’t need any gifts for the rest of his life.
When he said that, Mari jabbed in the ribs as a bonus.
“The family is waiting in the lounge like us, and after so ti passes, they’ll co in too. The guest of honor is always supposed to make a late entrance, right?”
“That’s true, but I’m going in with you, right?”
“Yeah. Whatever happens, we need to avoid upstaging. Even if you’re more famous than my dad, today’s main character is my dad.”
To reiterate, today is Mari’s father Dmitri’s birthday. I’m rely attending as Mari’s fiancé.
“I know what you’re worried about. You’re afraid the attention will shift from my dad to you, right?”
“Yeah. Of all days, it had to be his birthday. I wonder if I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“No, no. It’s the opposite. This is a good opportunity to show the relationship between you and the Requilis family.
People are spreading rumors that you’re a playboy, but I’m your official fiancée, right? Besides, the ‘playboy’ image mostly cos from not being able to handle your stamina at night, so everyone already understands.”
“……”
I gave a wry smile, not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
As she said, it’s not that rare for a wife to bring in a mistress because she can’t keep up with her husband’s nightti needs — especially among forr knights.
Knights aren’t just human weapons — they’re practically living war machines — and ordinary people have a hard ti keeping up with that.
The mont that thought crossed my mind, I turned my head back.
That’s when I locked eyes with Adelia, who had been following behind .
Adelia blinked her sky-blue eyes at , then tilted her head.
“What’s wrong? Do you not like being seen as my mistress?”
“It’s not that, but I was worried you might feel bad about it.”
“Feel bad? Not at all. Just the fact that I’m with you makes happy.”
Adelia chuckled cutely at my unnecessary concern and gently pinched my cheek.
At night, she calls “oppa” shyly, but during the day, she acts like a proud older sister — that’s just her charm.
My heart ward seeing how Adelia had overco her tragic past and beco soone I could proudly call mine.
“Even if it’s revealed that I’m an illegitimate child of the Teres royal family, I don’t mind. Everyone who needs to know already knows, right?”
“Are you sure?”
“If you’re worried about , you don’t have to be. I let it all go the mont Friedrich knelt before .”
There was a ti when just ntioning the Teres royal family would trigger anxiety in her. Now she speaks of it with confidence, having overco her trauma completely.
I smiled gently as I gazed at Adelia.
Seeing soone so dear to finally happy made my heart feel warm.
“There will be a lot of talk besides that, too. Rember what Mother-in-law said? That other families have been asking to arrange marriage etings. As long as we handle that well, everything will be fine.”
While we headed toward the lounge, Mari gave tips on things to watch out for.
It was my first social debut, and considering my reputation, there were many things to be mindful of.
First was my already infamous womanizing reputation, then etiquette, the relationships between noble families, and so on.
Since it was my first ti stepping into high society, even morizing people’s faces would be a challenge.
Usually, people introduce themselves with their na and family when greeting, but there were a few people I needed to pay particular attention to.
“The ones you need to watch out for the most are three marquises — Matthius in the north, Klose in the east, and Gotz, who controls the southern seas. They’ll probably be more concerned with my dad than with you, but you should still stay sharp.”
“Marquises are usually military families, right? I thought they were more into military affairs than politics?”
The Minerva Empire’s military strength is enormous, so military families wield a lot of power.
But they’re so busy with their own regions that most have withdrawn from politics.
The northern region, where the Navy Knights are stationed, used to be a hellish pit. The east is constantly clashing with Stavirk, and in the south, the Terrican family oversees the seas.
Even though the influence of the seas is weaker compared to my previous life, it’s never sothing to be taken lightly.
Moreover, across the sea lies the Teres Kingdom, which is renowned for its powerful navy.
While long-distance navigation hasn’t developed much because of the demons infesting the oceans, the waters between the Minerva Empire and the Teres Kingdom aren’t that wide — sailing along the coast is enough.
Given all that, these marquises don’t have the energy to get involved in politics.
Each of them is busy managing their territories.
“It’s not that they don’t care about politics — they just don’t have the luxury to. Still, they’re always looking for opportunities to grab more budget. Except for the south, the north and east are in bad shape and desperate for more funding.”
“That makes sense.”
The Requilis family acts as the Imperial family’s business partner.
In other words, if anyone wants to convey sothing to the Imperial family, they must go through the Requilis family first.
Even a marquis would find it difficult to contact the Imperial family directly unless it was through so special procedure.
Because the Requilis family holds that kind of authority, this situation has developed.
“But this isn’t sothing you need to worry about — just leave it to my dad. The Kerrison family is also starting to waver, so things will sort themselves out.
You just stay still and answer questions when people ask you sothing.”
“Got it.”
“Oh! One last thing — don’t smile casually in front of other noble ladies. A friendly smile is fine, but don’t laugh in front of them, okay?”
“Ahaha……”
Of course, when it cos to jealousy, Mari takes the crown.
I laughed awkwardly.
★★★★★
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