Chapter 14.1

The Grand Plan to Get Married: Cermiane’s Point of View (1)

To be frank, the chances of me being able to marry Ralphine were very slim. After all, I was a knight at the very bottom of the nobility and she was a Marquis daughter. I could even be treated with disrespect just for proposing. Fortunately, Marquis Caliente was relatively mild.

However, I was not ready to give up. If it came to it, I would rely on my father, the emperor. That was how determined I was. However, that was a last resort. I had a small chance.

That was because despite the harsh treatment Ralphsine was receiving, having been raised in a rural estate without a proper education and eventually to be married off to a commoner, Marquis Caliente seemed to dote on her. He seemed very worried and attentive to her, despite frowning at her rudeness. It was not the way to treat a daughter who had been treated almost like a castaway

Perhaps, as he had spent time with her in the capital, the bond between parent and child had grown. Perhaps he did not expect her to grow up to be such a beautiful princess. Rumor had it that the Marquis apologized to the Count, the parent of the victim, for the commotion caused by Ralphine. It means that he did not use the prestige of his rank to handle the matter in a high-handed manner. I think that by daring to apologize, the Marquis, who was of a higher rank, aimed to have the effect of weakening the antipathy toward Ralphine. There is no need to do such a thing if Ralphine will never appear in the social circles of the imperial capital again. He could have just put it all on Ralphine and never let her out of the territory again. Perhaps, there was a desire to bring her to the Capital once more.

Ralphine is an impeccably beautiful princess when she is sitting quietly. She would be the talk of the town and would be inundated with good marriage proposals. That is, if Ralphine would just sit back and keep her mouth shut. It would not be surprising if the marquis thought it was too good to marry her off to a commoner in his territory. The connection with the commoners in the territory is important, but not so important that he would give them his daughter. If he couldn’t marry her off to someone higher-ranking, he might have thought about marrying her off to a promising lower-ranking noble, thus creating a strong connection to his family and strengthening his power. The marquis might have thought so.

There was a slight chance there. I am a knight and just barely a nobleman. A knight is a position for children of noble blood who cannot establish a family, but it is also a position from which one can rise in the ranks if he or she takes credit. If you do good deeds and receive orders repeatedly, you can eventually rise to the rank of viscount. If you become a viscount, you will be given a fiefdom, and you will be an aristocrat. By the way, if a commoner achieves great success, they can become a Baron, but they cannot rise further without forming a relationship with a noble. This is due to the implicit understanding that those who possess magical powers are nobles. The reason why it is difficult to rise from Viscount to Earl is also because of the high wall of marriage with higher nobles.

I am still just a mere knight, but if I continue to make achievements, I can become a viscount. This will be my biggest selling point. In order to do that, I must quickly raise my achievements as a knight. I applied for all the recruitment missions (such as extermination of wild beasts or bandits). My superiors were surprised by my sudden enthusiasm, but they encouraged me, saying that it’s a good thing to have motivation. At the same time, I also devoted myself to training. I surprised those around me by going beyond my duties with things like running, muscle training, and mock battles with other knights. I most especially surprised the Crown Prince.

“What happened to you all of a sudden?”

He was surprised, but at the same time very pleased, and began to train me thoroughly. With enthusiasm, hard work, and excellent guidance, I grew up and became stronger and stronger. I was just growing up, so I became bigger and stronger. Within a year, I was able to compete with His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince on equal terms. His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince was exceptionally pleased. When it was just the two of us and no one was listening, he even told me, “I can rest assured that Cermiane will be my successor”. Regardless of the successor, I was happy to be recognized by His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince, and my training became more and more enthusiastic.

I also had actual combat experience on expeditions. When I exterminated an Ezo giant deer that had come near the imperial capital, I was the only one who came face-to-face with the giant deer, which was 7 meters in length, due to a coordination mistake, but I remained calm and dealt with it alone, and was praised by the knight commander. The Crown Prince was also overjoyed. When I went on a short expedition to exterminate bandits who were attacking the roads, I killed three, captured two, and succeeded in capturing the leader of the bandits alive. On this occasion, I was awarded the Order of Merit, which was conferred by the Emperor himself. The emperor seemed surprised and pleased.