Engagement Announcement
This continues from Chapter 9.
(Now then... shall we begin the finest stage of all!!!!)
A great many people had gathered in the grand ballroom, waiting for the event to begin, when a shock ran through the hall...
Suddenly, the lights went out, and beautiful music began to play.
Bathed in beams of laser light, the doors to the hall opened.
Walking at the front were the captains of each squad of the adventurer clan Shiranui.
Each of them strode in dressed to the nines, then split left and right at their assigned positions, forming a path.
Down that path appeared Julius in a black suit... but Julius was not alone!!
On his left, one young woman entered with her arm linked through his.
She was probably a little over one hundred fifty centimeters tall... petite, maybe, but with an extremely fine figure.
And what drew the eye most of all was, naturally, the formidable combat power of her chest armor.
That overwhelming presence captivated the entire hall.
Her arms and legs were long, extending from a pure white dress, and she possessed both alluring elegance and delicate charm.
Her face was lovely, with wide eyes that held both kindness and strength of will, a well-shaped nose, and small rosy lips with the soft fullness of mature sensuality.
Her beautiful long emerald hair was adorned with a Moon Enchanting Flower, glowing faintly and making her hair shine even more beautifully.
A woman in the midst of shedding the skin of a lovely girl and becoming a graceful lady overflowing with allure...
Princess Flora de Albul, the Jade Princess of the small Kingdom of Albul...
She was one of the most beautiful princesses on the continent, famous enough that no one could claim not to know her, and she turned seventeen this year.
Since childhood she had grown into a beauty, and even now marriage proposals from princes and powerful nobles across the world poured in endlessly... yet she had rejected every last one.
War was often nearly forced upon them because of it, but the Kingdom of Albul had survived through the power of information and the princess's schemes, being a kingdom of intelligence.
This Kingdom of Albul bordered the Forest of Demons, on the far side from Julius's South Territory...
The Kingdom of Titania did not directly border it and had little contact with them, yet everyone knew the rumors of Princess Flora.
Naturally, Crown Prince Erason had been utterly smitten with Princess Flora ever since seeing her once at a party, and had repeatedly nominated himself as a fiancé candidate, only to be magnificently rejected every time...
(Then why is she walking arm in arm with Julius, looking so close with him!?)
Unable to make sense of it, he stood there stunned...
Then Julius reached the stage and began his greeting.
“Everyone, thank you for gathering here tonight. I have important news to share with you all, which is why I have held this party today. First, we have reconciled with the Kingdom of Titania, and as of the other day, the South Territory has entered a period of complete autonomy for approximately three years.”
BOOOOM!! The whole hall erupted as if an explosion had gone off...
Everyone had expected war between the frontier and the kingdom, yet it had been avoided.
The nations that had been preparing to invade Titania clicked their tongues at that, but once they learned the South Margravate had become an autonomous district and would not join any war between the kingdom and invading nations, they hurriedly contacted their homelands... seeing opportunity.
“Next, I, Julius von South, have become engaged today to the Jade Princess herself, Princess Flora de Albul, standing beside me.”
The hall first fell utterly silent...
Then…
“WAAAAAAAH!!”
The people gathered in the ballroom burst into cheers.
The entire venue descended into pandemonium.
Some sincerely celebrated...
Some squealed excitedly...
Some wept bitter tears of frustration... (mostly young men, plus a few older guys.)
The uproar did not settle for quite some time.
“... Please quiet yourselves. Also, the wedding is planned for next year. Though she is not present here, another woman I became engaged to at the same time is Viscount’s daughter Nemesia von Zanger, captain of Shiranui’s Seventh Squad, the Holy Demon, who will become my second wife. Since they do not possess noble status, Captain of the First Squad Ginka, Yukimi, and Captain of the Third Squad Merchant Demon, Charlotte, shall become my concubines... Yukimi, Charlotte, come here.”
He called the two women to the stage, both dressed in beautiful gowns...
They stood beside Julius shyly... but even more than that, joyfully.
“And lastly, I am entrusting everything concerning the household to Princess Flora. Everyone, take care of her.”
Every member of Shiranui turned toward Princess Flora and knelt.
Then all of them bowed their heads to Flora.
“Lady of the house, we look forward to serving you.”
All of them offered the formal bow of retainers before Flora.
“The duty Lord Julius has entrusted to me, I shall surely fulfill it.”
Bathed in the ballroom lights and the glow of the Moon Enchanting Flower, her beautiful emerald hair shimmered brilliantly as it flowed and swayed silkily, and she answered with a splendid curtsy that left everyone entranced...
And amid that…
“No... no, this is a lie! The Jade Princess was supposed to marry me...! And I heard nothing of Julius's engagement! It's invalid! Invalid!!!!”
Crown Prince Erason clawed at his hair and shouted in protest. Never mind that he himself had come intending to flaunt Almeria and Milian.
“A noble cannot possibly become engaged without reporting it to the kingdom... Hey, civil officer, were the documents submitted?”
“No, Your Highness, they were not. However...”
“See!? Then this is invalid!”
The crown prince puffed out his nose smugly in triumph...
Yeah. Gross!!
“Ahh... it seems you've misunderstood something. I have no obligation to report anything to you people... Crown Prince.”
I made an exaggerated “good grief” gesture.
“Why not? You are a subject of the kingdom as well, are you not?”
Still doesn't get it...
The other participants from the kingdom were beginning to realize.
“The South Margravate was granted autonomy the other day, sadly for you, so I don't need to report today's engagement at all. Thanks to the Hero Party for exiling me back then... much appreciated!”
I gave an obviously exaggerated bow and tried provoking Crown Prince Erason.
“Y-you... you bastard! This is disrespect toward me, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Titania! I shall have you beheaded!!”
His face was bright red, spitting saliva while raging.
Filthy...
He's pale-skinned, yet bright red... your blood pressure's gonna spike.
Princess Flora stepped forward one pace, looked over the whole hall, then smiled sweetly at everyone present...
“I love Lord Julius. I am deeply happy that these feelings have borne fruit today... Might I ask all of you to please support us, though we are still immature?”
Her eyes glistened with tears as they caught the light, sparkling as she looked around the hall, then turned her smile toward Julius as she spoke...
The sight of the small yet lovely and beautiful girl linking arms with him so happily made everyone feel warm inside.
“I do not permit this! Why must I hand her over to you...!? Jade Princess, open your eyes properly and look at me. This man was nothing more than the baggage carrier of the Hero Party... your honor will be stained as well!”
The Crown Prince is as noisy as ever.
“Haaah... Crown Prince Erason. The one who needs to open his eyes and look properly is you, at the people around you... You really should take a look. Those are rather bold words to say in front of your own fiancées, aren't they? If you keep chasing only other people's fiancées, won't strange rumors begin to spread? The one whose honor will be stained is you, isn't it?”
He jolted and looked around.
His fiancées were staring at him with icy eyes... along with many women in the hall.
And the male guests were hiding their fiancées behind themselves so Crown Prince Erason couldn't see them.
After that, rumors spread that Crown Prince Erason only targeted other men's fiancées and was a “Holy Knight of Lust”, and whenever people visited the Kingdom of Titania, it became common sense not to bring one's fiancée along...
What an absolute idiot!!
What do you think about this chapter?
