The Dagger of Oath
In House South, as soon as an engagement was made, a gift would be given. And there was one thing that absolutely had to be presented at that time…
A dagger forged from materials gathered by one’s own hand.
Because it was a land full of monsters, it was meant to let one’s fiancée protect herself, and at the same time serve as a weapon in emergencies like bandits or kidnapping.
And if she were ever carried off, she was to take her own life with it…
Yeah, it’s a bit heavy, but that’s frontier life for you.
Julius too had gifted Almeria a dagger made from mithril he had gathered himself, and explained its meaning to her…
This was the very first dagger Julius had forged himself, after going to mine mithril while getting covered in wounds.
It wouldn’t be called fine craftsmanship even as a compliment, but Julius believed that only meant his feelings were packed into it that much more.
“Julius, thank you for doing this for me. I’ll treasure it and keep it with me always.”
Almeria tucked it carefully into her clothes. She was smiling brightly…
But her face was red.
Embarrassed Almeria was adorable!
He had given one to Elizabeth and Milian as well when their engagements were made…
“A present for me? I wonder what it is… Oh my, a dagger. The decoration is sparse, rather cheap-looking, but it’s mithril, isn’t it? I suppose I’ll accept it.”
Princess Elizabeth… was she tsundere? Was she really tsundere?
Her lips were puckered in a pout, insisting “I’m displeased,” yet her face was red as she turned away…
And I know this, you know…
The “Moon Enchanting Flower” I gave her at the engagement, she kept it in a special case and would admire it happily on moonlit nights…
I heard it from Princess Elizabeth’s personal maid.
Mmm… Tsundere Princess. That works for me…
“… You’re giving this to me? It isn’t food…”
The purple-haired Duke’s daughter Milian stared sleepily at the dagger, looking disappointed.
Yeah, I’d expected that reaction…
“Yep. I want you to carry this, Milian.”
“… I see. Okay…”
And then, unbelievably, the dagger was swallowed into the valley between the mountains of her chest, still not fully grown, but with terrifying future potential.
“Eh? What? Where did the dagger go?”
“… It’s here. Look…”
The dagger came out from between the mountains?
“Why? Is there an item box entrance hidden in there or something? A mystery… But let me say just this… thank you very much!”
When I kept staring, Milian looked over at me.
“… Pervert…”
Yeah, I know.
Probably the greatest one in this world.
In return for receiving the dagger, Almeria had also given Julius a silver bracelet.
In the frontier, there was a custom of sewing one’s own hair onto the inside of the bracelet before gifting it.
Because there were so many monster hunts in the South Territory, it doubled as a charm for safe return.
Naturally, Julius always kept it on him…
Elizabeth and Milian had each given him return gifts too.
Back in childhood, all my fiancées were so cute like that…
So why bring all this up now?
“Julius, simply because I am your fiancée, people look down on me. If you hadn’t become a failure-class, even I would not be insulted. What do you think about that?”
Right now, Princess Elizabeth and Milian were cornering me…
Apparently, after that pathetic result in the recent swordsmanship tournament, Princess Elizabeth could no longer stand being mocked by those around her.
“I’m sorry. With my current strength, I couldn’t win. I caused you trouble.”
“Don’t give me ‘I’m sorry.’ I never should have gotten engaged to you… Honestly, learn some shame.”
She had been happy when I gave it to her.
Now, with the face of a demon, she threw that dagger at me.
“Ow! Princess Elizabeth, what are you doing? That hit me, you know…”
I picked up what had been thrown and looked at it.
It was the dagger I recognized immediately.
I worked hard to make that thing.
“I don’t need this anymore. Something like this. Hero Waltz looks far more likely to make me shine. You understand that yourself, don’t you?”
… Yeah.
I understand.
But I’ve got things I can’t yield on either… so it can’t be helped.
Right now I have to break the curse on the South Territory…
Princess Elizabeth is royalty, yet she doesn’t know about the curse?
Well… maybe not knowing is happier for her.
“I see. Sorry for making you feel ashamed. Milian, do you feel the same?”
“… Yeah. Father told me to give it back…”
And then, from the Demon Realm Mountains that had grown even beyond expectations, the dagger emerged.
No matter how many times I saw it, I couldn’t understand the principle behind it.
The Demon Realm truly was terrifying…
“I see. So Duke Alex von Gulf has abandoned me too.”
“… Yes. Here…”
I accepted the dagger.
It was a little warm.
And somehow smelled nice.
“… Pervert…”
Yeah, I know.
I know very well.
“It’s unfortunate, but let me say just this. I intended to make both of you happy, and I never stopped trying to do that. I’m sorry for being inadequate. What will happen with the engagements?”
“Who knows!? It seems King Jimetz is thinking about it. I didn’t hate you… but as my husband, you were lacking. I’m sorry…”
“… Bye-bye…”
Watching the two of them leave…
“I kind of had a feeling it’d end up like this. Why doesn’t King Jimetz just break the engagements immediately? Is he still planning to pull something against the South Territory? For now, someone should still be in the South Territory, so it’ll probably be fine… I wonder if Almeria isn’t coming to return her dagger?”
Staring at the daggers that would never be used again…
I found myself thinking of my childhood friend, who still held the matching one…
What do you think about this chapter?
