Moon Enchanting Flower
[Julius’s POV]
In the Margrave house, it was custom that they would always take at least one bride from among their vassal nobles.
The Margrave family maintained its power through marriage, strengthening ties with those vassal houses.
Julius had fallen in love with gentle Almeria, who would secretly heal little animals and small birds with recovery magic so no one around her would notice...
“Good for you, little one. But you mustn’t overdo it.”
Almeria, talking to a baby squirrel while casting healing magic on it, shone like a holy mother, and year by year she grew more beautiful. (Her chest too... important, right?)
Honestly, I’d been torn between Almeria and Nemesia, but I’d known Almeria longer, and she was my age, so I chose her. (Nemesia was still just a little kid...)
Then, because Almeria couldn’t ignore injured people, both her healing magic and my magic became known to everyone, but ironically, that became the proof that she had been chosen as my fiancée.
Julius, dressed formally alongside his father Gray von South, current head of the Margrave house, and his mother Alice, came by carriage to the Zanger Viscount house.
Every servant of House Zanger came out to welcome the Margrave family, and Julius knelt before the family head Gulliver and Almeria’s mother Calmia.
“Please allow me to become engaged to Almeria.”
“Young master, please take good care of Almeria.”
Lord Gulliver shook my hand with a smile. (Honestly, I thought I might get punched a little. Not that I was scared... probably?)
Lady Calmia was crying.
At that instant, everyone there shouted, “Waaahhh!”
Almeria, probably embarrassed, lowered her reddened face.
Her maid was crying the hardest of anyone.
Nemesia, who had been listening too, was...
“Nooo! Sia is going to be Big Brother’s bride! Big Sister’s so unfair!”
She burst into loud sobs.
“Oh my,” said my mother Alice, going over beside Nemesia and whispering something to her.
“... Really?”
“Of course. But if little Sia...”
“Mm. I’ll endure it. For Big Brother...”
I couldn’t hear them clearly, but as expected of Mother.
When it comes to girls, I guess only girls really understand girls.
Feeling relieved, I looked back at Almeria. Her face was still red, her gaze flicking back and forth between my face and the ground...
So I knelt before her.
“Lady Almeria von Zanger, would you do me the honor of becoming the wife of Julius von South, eldest son of the South Margrave house? I swear that I will make you happy.”
I took out the flower hidden behind my back and held it out before her...
It was a white flower picked deep within the Demon Forest, known as the Moon Enchanting Flower.
As long as it had mana, it would continue blooming even after being cut. It stored moonlight when bathed in it, and once mana spread throughout all its petals, it glowed faintly...
Its flower language was: I will shine upon you, eternal love.
It only bloomed in places rich with mana. Where mana was thin, it would not bloom.
For generations, it had been the custom of the Margrave house to offer it during an engagement proposal...
Almeria accepted it, smelled the flower, then looked into Julius’s eyes...
“Yes, Julius. I humbly accept.”
With tears falling, she held the Moon Enchanting Flower and gazed at it with a smile.
A single tear ran down Almeria’s cheek and fell upon the flower. The petals glowed softly, and a pale blue-white light illuminated the boy and girl together...
The maid was crying even harder than Almeria...
At that time, no one doubted the happiness of those two...
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[Almeria’s POV]
Several years passed, and Julius had gained two other fiancées besides Almeria.
Then, at age ten, he received the class judgment and became a Job Changer.
At first, everyone had been excited and noisy over this never-before-seen class, but once they realized it had no obvious usefulness, everyone except the Margrave family’s vassal nobles vanished from around Julius like a receding tide.
But Julius didn’t seem bothered at all.
I was anxious, but Julius himself only said...
“Almeria, it’ll be fine. Believe in me! This class is amazing, it’ll just take a little time...”
His eyes sparkled as he spoke, excited and having fun.
In the Titania Kingdom, nobles had to attend the Royal Academy from age twelve to eighteen, and since the South frontier lands were far away, we had to live in the royal capital while going to school...
The academy was fully boarding, and students commuted from there.
The dorms were divided into upper dorms for royalty, dukes, marquises, margraves, and counts.
The rest… viscounts, barons, baronets, and knights, used the lower dorms.
Outstanding commoners also attended as scholarship students, so there was a commoner dorm just for them.
Outside long vacations, students could not return home, so all social circles existed only within the capital and the academy.
And for security reasons, classes were organized by noble rank, while practical training was grouped by ability.
Yes, the people who would later make up most of the Hero’s Party had gathered in the same classroom...
---
[Almeria’s POV]In the first exam after enrollment, Julius had placed first, but after a certain incident his grades never rose again...
Even in practical skills, he could not match other students who had gained their classes, not even in magic, which he had once excelled at. Only bad rumors spread ahead of him. (All because of the Curse of Obedience.)
I saw him desperately training in swordsmanship and magic on the practice grounds, trying to recover, but no one would approach him.
The prince who had once led Almeria out of her room was no longer there. All that remained was my childhood friend, crawling on the ground like a slime...
Before long, Almeria herself had begun to feel ashamed that Julius was her fiancé, and she started keeping her distance.
Even so, Julius would only say, “Believe in me. I’ll figure something out,” and nothing more... He never reassured me at all...
Compared to that, His Highness the Crown Prince had lost first place to Julius at first, but afterward he kept the top rank continuously, and I thought, What an amazing person...
Together with his best friend, Hero Sir Waltz, they were admired by girls all over the academy as the Handsome Duo.
Lately he had been speaking to me often, and all my friends envied me. I felt so proud...
I knew his fiancées didn’t look kindly on me, but what girl wouldn’t be swept away when treated gently by a real prince?
Especially when my own fiancé Julius had been so pathetic lately... it felt as though the scales were rapidly tipping.
“Julius... how long am I supposed to wait? I’m not such a strong girl... If a wonderful man keeps pursuing me...”
The Moon Enchanting Flower from that day, displayed in Almeria’s room, was faintly illuminated by moonlight peeking through the clouds... and weakly lit the darkness...
What do you think about this chapter?
