Chapter 149

 

* * *

 

“But actually, there’s something else I truly believe in.”

“…Truly believe?”

Ronny tapped the edge of the bathtub with his fingertips, still seeming deep in thought.

“Have you ever seen Melody play games?”

“Games?”

Isaiah tilted his head in puzzlement at the sudden change of topic from their engagement discussion.

“Yeah. She never loses, does she?”

After pondering for a moment if that was true, Isaiah soon nodded in agreement. Now that he thought about it, she didn’t.

When Melody played luck-based drawing games, she would routinely get the ultra-rare SSS-grade premium cards with abysmal odds of appearing. In dice games where you gain privileges for rolling doubles, she once won decisively by rolling ten doubles in a row.

“And there was a line in one of the books I read.”

Ronny cleared his throat and did an impression of some noblewoman.

“Ultimately, choosing a marriage partner is just participating in a game of probability. How dull.”

“A game of probability!”

Isaiah exclaimed, waving his arms frantically.

“That’s what Mel excels at the most!”

“Exactly!”

Ronny raised both hands to his forehead in anguish.

“She’ll probably end up drawing the most handsome, wealthy, devoted, and all-around amazing man in the entire capital!”

It was a highly convincing conclusion given Melody’s tremendous track record of beating the odds so far.

“In the worst case, the one who proposed might even be His Highness the Crown Prince himself.”

Ronny explained that around 14% of male leads in the novels he read were from the direct royal lineage.

“Cases where they get engaged to royalty in unfavorable positions like exile were even more common at 21%, but that likely doesn’t apply here.”

Isaiah asked if there were any other possible scenarios. Ronny announced with a slight raising of his chin that “Dukes” were tremendously popular at nearly 39.9%, clearly proud like when thinking of his father and brother.

“There were also Guild Leaders and Dragons at 3% and 2% respectively.”

“What about…Knights?”

“Not none, around 5%.”

“Oh, beating out Dragons.”

“Though it’s a pity that 98% of those were Imperial Knights.”

Ronny lightly patted Isaiah’s shoulder with a chuckle.

“In any case, there were various others too like mages and merchants. All decent men…except one.”

“One exception?”

“Yeah, there was one pathetic guy. I thought maybe he was just hiding his capabilities at first, but nope, just genuinely pathetic. But it wasn’t a popular book, so we probably don’t need to worry about that.”

To begin with, the odds of a man like that actually appearing as Melody’s fiancé were 1%, no, probably 0.1% at most.

“By the way, what if the person who really comes to meet Mel is His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Even if the Baldwin Duchy and Higgins Barony joined forces, they likely could not stop such a match.

“Though the Imperial Family requesting a marriage with the Higgins Barony also seems unlikely…”

“But Mel has beaten abysmal probabilities more than once before…”

The two sighed in unison before sinking their bodies beneath the bathwater surface. For a while, only the sounds of bubbles rising up could be heard.

 

* * *

 

Three days later, the day of Melody’s first date arrived.

Up until this point, Ronny and Isaiah had barely obtained any information about Melody’s prospective fiancé, except that he was from some small but reputable family.

They had only learned that much by overhearing Mrs. Higgins raging “If not for that so-called reputable tradition, I would have flown into a rage the moment this request arrived!”

The two hid themselves behind a large tree near the entrance, waiting for the other party’s carriage to arrive.

“No matter who it is, we need to approach with extreme caution,” Ronny cautioned the hot-blooded Isaiah.

“Of course. Do you really think I’d forget a knight’s duty and bring disgrace to the ducal household?”

When Isaiah mentioned a “knight’s duty,” Ronny openly scoffed at him.

“You do get a bit…off when Melody is involved.”

“Uh…well.”

Isaiah pondered briefly before lightly touching his chin.

“I mean, she is the most precious person to me, so I can’t help but worry constantly.”

“What?!”

Ronny asked in disbelief. The burly Isaiah Mullern was spouting such mushy words!

“What do you mean what? The most precious means all my thoughts start centered around that person.”

Isaiah even gave an answer reminiscent of recent novels Ronny had been devouring.

“Have you gone insane?!”

“I’m perfectly sane. Even if I was insane, I’d never forget to prioritize Mel. Just like the young master, right?”

“Quit the nonsense! Why would I…”

Ronny ended up raising his voice, forgetting their promise to stay hidden.

Isaiah stared at him for a moment before carefully asking a question.

“Then why is the young master here doing this?”

“…Huh?”

“I’m asking why you’re here if you claim it’s nonsense to think of Mel as precious or important.”

Ronny opened his mouth prepared to say “Well, of course!” but then fell silent, unable to continue.

‘Why indeed?’

Now that he thought about it, ever since Melody mentioned meeting a prospective fiancé, he had been fervently researching and investigating all this time…but never actually considered why he was doing it.

‘Well…I guess it’s natural to pay attention to matters happening in the household.’

Ronny had earned his father’s recognition by carefully tending to the ducal members after all.

‘Melody is part of this household Father acknowledged. And above all else…’

Ronny recalled the promise he had made with her long ago, back when he first learned Melody’s tastes and preferences as a child. The two had vowed to be friends.

Nodding firmly, Ronny declared confidently,

“Melody and I share a noble friendship.”

It sounded like he was boasting about a prized treasure, but Isaiah just shook his head with a somewhat pitying expression.

“Why make that face over someone else’s friendship?”

“No…it’s nothing.”

Isaiah seemed to reconsider saying more and stopped himself.

“I just think the young master is quite adorable.”

Though Isaiah smiled as he replied, Ronny felt extremely displeased for some reason he could not identify!

Gripping the sturdy tree tightly, Ronny tried to figure out the source of this complicated feeling.

But he did not have to ponder long before abandoning that train of thought entirely. A carriage was approaching in the distance.

The two carefully observed the approaching carriage. It seemed like an ordinary, unexceptional carriage. If anything, it had a rather dated design with the fringed decorations adorning the rooftop looking quite antiquated, or rural put less charitably.

Ronny recalled a line from some novel about how members of the Imperial Family utilized old-fashioned carriages when trying to conceal their status.

“Could it really be…?”

Struck by a worrying thought, Ronny issued the same caution to Isaiah as before.

“No matter who it is, don’t rashly engage them, understand?”

“Don’t worry. For now, we just agreed to confirm their face, remember?”

As the carriage drew nearer, they checked but saw no family crests anywhere.

“It’s almost here.”

Soon, servants came out to the entrance to receive them, Mrs. Higgins among them with a stony expression.

The carriage soon came to a halt before the entrance.

“Act like gentlemen. Like gentlemen…” Ronny tried to steady his shaky breathing as the carriage door swung open.

The first thing visible was flowers. It was considered basic etiquette to bring flowers when visiting to propose marriage.

Ronny gave the male visitor some positive points for displaying proper capital decorum. On top of that, he was proposing to Melody. The guy seemed to have at least respectable taste.

After all, Melody was the lovely lady the Baldwin Duchy and Higgins Barony took pride in.

‘So he can’t be that bad a guy.’

Just as Ronny was thinking that, the visitor finally revealed himself fully.

“…!”

In that moment, Ronny and Isaiah’s gazes met each other in shock. They must have been doubting their own eyes.

Because if this was reality, then Melody had beaten those 0.1% abysmal odds yet again!

Their eyes turned back towards the entrance once more. The flower-holding man was shiftily fidgeting about in an extremely awkward manner.

Isaiah briefly clicked his tongue and shook his head. Even from the perspective of the commoner-born knight, the man’s conduct completely lacked dignity or grace.

He would never receive a warm welcome from the ducal household like that.

Isaiah’s prediction proved correct, as before long Ronny had already leapt towards the male visitor, grabbing him by the collar and…

“…Huh? Y-Young master?!”

So much for acting like gentlemen!

With a face like he might faint, Isaiah chased after Ronny towards the entrance.

Soon, Ronny was violently shaking the male visitor while shouting,

“What are you doing coming here?!”

And nearly simultaneously, Mrs. Higgins’ palm was heading straight for Ronny’s back.

Unable to bear witnessing that dreadful scene, Isaiah covered his face with both hands.

SLAP.

The sound of Ronny’s broad back being struck echoed through the entrance hall.